Family man
A US study by the Academy of Management Perspectives, released this month, reveals that working fathers who spend time with their children each day are happier in their jobs, less likely to be looking for a new employer and experience less work-family conflict. The study also shows that the more hours men devote to their children, the less they view their careers as central to their identity. Seems achieving a work-life balance might just be kids’ play.
Investment tracker
What’s your motivation to exercise? In Russia, Alfa-Bank is rewarding customers who exercise with a high interest account that pays in every time they sync their Jawbone, RunKeeper or Fitbit fitness tracker. Using the bank’s activity software, customers can transfer cash to the account which is topped up by 6 per cent for every recorded step, walk or run – in essence, the more that customers exercise, the more they save. In beta trials at the moment, it’s an added reason to hit the road.
Technological solutions
A group of individuals from leading organisations including GoogleVentures, the Big Lottery Fund, Wayra and Stanford University have worked with Nominet Trust to identify 100 inspiring ventures from around the world which are changing lives. In the UK, projects to transform health, education, social welfare, security, energy and climate change were singled out by the Nominet Trust 100 (NT100) annual report which showcases technology that is being utilised to make a positive difference.
Simon Devonshire, director of Wayra Europe and entrepreneur-in-residence for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, said: “Many of theseprojects are beginning to scale up, or have the potential to do so in the near future. Given the right support, they will reach a point where their global social impact can match their ambition.”
One such project is Euan’s Guide (euansguide.com) which was created by brother and sister Euan and Kikki MacDonald as a real-time disabled access review site.
Easy reader
It’s estimated that we’re exposed to around 3,500 messages each day, but finding enough time to read those that interest us is an increasing challenge. A new system developed for smartphones and watches streams text to enable us to read up to 600 words per minute. Spritz (spritzinc.com) is based on the theory that most of us are slowed down as our eyes scan lines of text, and so instead flashes each word individually for a fraction of a second. One letter – the optimal recognition point – is highlighted to increase focus and speed significantly, and some users have achieved speeds of up to 900 words per minute.
