The Internet has been the catalyst for many new ideas, project and businesses. It has also been the main reason for the demise of countless others. Newspapers are an example of this. People have been talking about the death of Newspapers for some time now. This applies to many other industries such as books and postal services. I myself have never been a fan of reading newspapers that much except for the sports section. How can printed news survive now that you can get every single news update from every online news media by a simple click?

Both the Former editorial director of News Corp in Queensland David and the 19 year-old journalist intern at The (Springfield, Mass.) Republican, share the same opinion (1)(2). They believe in continual need for “clear and sharp” journalistic writing and the inception of many new strategies and journalistic streams. They also talk about the alarming shrinkage that the newspaper market is suffering. The generational divide from people that have grown accustomed to getting their news from printed sources and the younger crowd, that has access to fast and updated news reflects this situation. It seems like the loss of newspaper popularity has become irreversible. The way out of such hard times appears to come from the source of detriment. Newspaper companies have to adapt to the market demand and find forms to be online, available through many other media streams.

(1)  https://theconversation.com/newspapers-are-dying-but-long-live-the-news-19106

(2)  http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102124/Are-Newspapers-Dying-The-View-of-an-Aspiring-Journalist.aspx

I’ve always had doubts about supplements, their safeness and effectiveness. In fact many people to have the same distrust and disbelief as I have. It has been hard for the nutrition supplement market to overcome the association with steroids. People also have the impression that the supplement industry is completely unregulated. A blog entry by 3FU3L emphasizes the rigorous process that supplements go through to reach the shelves like any other dietary product. As explained in the blog, there is so much the DEA and other agencies can do to oversee the dietary supplements. This is when unregulated supplements thrive in the market.

Some people seem desperate to gain muscle mass in short periods of time. When the ad promises “mutant gains”, they can be reckless and unconcerned with the fabrication and ingredients involved with the supplement putting their health to risk. This multi-billion dollar industry continues to grow and impress with each new year’s astronomical numbers. However, it’s still an extremely under-regulated industry that feeds of people’s desire to achieve a better aesthetical appearance and athletic performance. Spending time with people that work out frequently and consume nutrition supplements I have come to understand that it is safe. Even so one has to understand the composition of these supplements together with the right method and right frequency to consume them.

http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/features/health/story.html?id=17fcbece-c678-4b00-afad-0d2471d45c3a

The release of the new Playstation 4 (PS4) this Friday adds another chapter to the war between video game consoles. After the release of the Wii U by Nintendo this year, and now Sony’s PS4, the last console to make up the eighth generation of consoles is the Xbox One by Microsoft, scheduled to be released on November 22, 2013 (1). Sony reported sales of 1 million PS4 consoles in its first day of sale humbling Nintendo’s 3.91 million units sold as of 30 September 2013 (1) (2). The new Xbox One is also predicted to do well in the gaming market, being surpassed only by Sony and leaving the Wii behind in terms of market shares. This is a big change from last year’s demographics where Wii dominated the market.

Despite the new Playstation being cheaper than the Xbox One by $100 US dollars, the lack of compatibility with past Playstation 3 games and devices (a weakness also shared by the new Xbox One) and the inception of online gaming fees have set gamers weary of Sony’s console (3). System issues with faulty HDMI ports and mere 26 games in the market for the PS4 also deteriorate Sony’s appeal (4). It seems like the new Xbox could compete and even surpass Sony’s sales to revive this more than 20-year-old dispute between the 3 gaming powerhouses.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_U

(2) http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/sony-sells-more-than-1-million-playstation-4-consoles-in-first-24-hours-on-market-1.1547146

(3) http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-9020_7-57612317-222/ps4-everything-you-need-to-know/

(4) http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2013/11/14/some-ps4s-shipping-with-faulty-hdmi-ports/

(5) http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/11/16/xbox-one-vs-ps4-the-console-wars-are-just-getting-started/

Foxconn is an electronic manufacturing company located in Tucheng, New Taipei, Taiwan. It employs more than 1.2 million workers producing electronics for companies such as Apple, Sony, Nintendo and Amazon with an estimated $81 billion dollar net income in 2011 (1). Its Shenzhen facilities cover approximately 1.16 square miles (2).  These are impressive numbers, but not all of them are positive. Unfortunately 18 attempts of suicide were reported in 2010 with at least 14 deaths (3). The guardian recounts the struggle of a 17-year-old Taiwanese teen factory worker who attempted suicide and is now paraplegic (4). Her story is the same as countless others who work at Foxconn. Workers face Poor labor conditions, 12 hours of work 6 days a week, punishments involving public humiliation, isolation from other workers and low wages.

The revealing of what was happening inside the plants created mass outrage forcing Foxconn to raise wages and open its doors to meticulous audits, some commended by Apple itself. Rina Shimizu blogged about China changing some of its policies regarding social media to seem more attractive for business investors. Taiwan (which is governed by China) has to do the opposite in this situation by enforcing harsher laws with serious penalties against the inhumane and abusive treatment received by workers. Considering that Apple is the second-most profitable company in the world and that Foxconn was ranked as the 40th by Global Fortune 500, it is clear that there is a misdistribution of wealth between the corporations and its workers. It disgusts me to know that 7 more workers have committed suicide since then and that Foxconn hasn’t paid any penalties for what has happened other than installing safety nets and implementing an anti-suicide pledge which was retracted after public outcry.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn

(2) http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20067246-1/just-how-big-is-foxconn/

(3) http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_162-57597168/what-happened-after-the-foxconn-suicides/

(4) http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/05/woman-nearly-died-making-ipad

Countless visionaries and risk takers seek funding for their creative projects. Many of them spend countless years and resources in projects that fail to ever see daylight. Kickstarter was created back in 2009 with the aim of solving these dilemmas faced by creative entrepreneurs. Now, four years later, Kickstarter has become the biggest crowdfunding platform in the world, with more than 51,000 funded creative projects and nearly $868 million dollars raised (1). The website is simply; first, project creators set a funding goal and a deadline for their creations, then people can back it up with pledge money, and finally if the project reaches its funding goals it makes money for the creators and investors. Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform, which they admit can be risky, but advertise as extremely successful rallying great amounts of investors in a small period of time.

Kickstarter has been going through some rough moments recently following a CEO change, however, the company has guaranteed that it will not deviate from its mission (2). Media sources such as IGN and Forbes have expressed concern about Kickstarter recent letdowns in projects returns and the possible dangers in funding projects after “hoax” incidents (3)(4). Still the company continues to impress with the quantity of funded projects and its 44% success rate of projects that reached their funding goals. There is still much to explore in a world of possibilities between new projects genres and improving interface communication between creators and funders.

(1) http://www.kickstarter.com/hello?ref=nav

(2) http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/30/after-nearly-5-years-and-5m-backers-kickstarter-gets-a-new-ceo-as-two-founders-step-back/

(3) http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/10/09/how-hype-is-killing-kickstarter

(4) http://www.forbes.com/sites/investopedia/2012/11/07/is-kickstarter-a-viable-platform-for-business-startups/

(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickstarter

What started as a joke during a party back in 2009 has now turned into a multimillion-dollar costume company. Three young entrepreneurs from Edinburgh, Scotland decided to invest £1,000 each in developing what is now known world wide as Morphsuits. Since then their profit has grown astronomically; last year selling £10m-worth of these suits. The company endorses the quality of their product, which feels comfortable due to a special spandex mix with 4-way stretch. They also allow its user to breathe comfortably and even drink through the suit if he or she is so inclined. There are many suits designs, which range from The Power Rangers to vampire bats in 200 different models to pick. Another factor boosts their sales, the anonymity provided by the suit. Even if this seems like a random element, it is one of the benefits that the creators advertise and explore the most.

After quadrupling its sales in Britain each year, the sky is the limit for this young and growing Scottish company. Despite joining with Lego and Disney in some products and introducing new digital dudz t-shirts, there is still much room to grow.  With more than 1.3 million likes on Facebook, no execs, marketing department or export team the company is basically run by social media. Morphsuits has the market to expand into one of the biggest costume manufacturers in the world, but could still incorporate elements of a business model to maximize its profits.

(1) http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/15951-wonga-future-50-morphsuits

(2) http://www.morphsuits-canada.com/faqs

(3) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/business/international/uk-makes-halloween-big-business.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1383542118-LZKURCarcSfMuPRY8laAXg

(4) http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-1706816/Friends-morph-into-potential-tycoons.html

(5) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-14252711

It really bothered me when Disney bought nearly all of Marvel’s heroes a few years ago. To me, it seems like a great for Disney and a bad one for comic book fans. A roster of more than 5,000 characters cost Disney $4 billion (1). Apart from Spider-Man, which is owned by Sony Corp., Disney now owns the entire Marvel Universe and can unfortunately do with it as it pleases.

Why Unfortunately? As a comic book reader when I was young, it seems wrong to me that a company associated with Hannah Montana and High School Musical now has the rights to control the paths of such important characters. Considering that super hero movies alone have the potential of making $1 billion ($1,511,757,910 in The Avenger’s case), a company like Disney might want to make these characters simpler and more relatable to specific audiences; children and teens. Don’t get me wrong; I love many Disney characters like Tarzan and Hercules. However, most of Marvel’s characters have been constructed under dark and complex roots, with complicated story lines and truly evil villains

There might be some positive aspects to Disney’s acquisition after all like more movies featuring Marvel’s beloved characters being produced. These Movies however, will have great special effects but no script, PG ratings for all audiences ruining characters and storylines that are violent by nature, and other modifications simply to make more money. The chart below how profitable recent super hero movies have been, with an average of 225.80% of profit.

With this being shown, I truly hope Disney respects Marvel’s history by attempting to improve it, not only to make large amounts of money.

(1) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125172509349072393.html

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_(2012_film)

It’s no novelty that more European football clubs have been spending their pre-seasons in Asia. The biggest clubs in the old continent have invested heavily in the promising Asian Market. However it’s the British Premier league that has delved deeper in developing a very profitable connection with its neighbor continent.

As crazy as it might sound, there are tons of Tottenham fans in Hong Kong and thousands of Liverpool fans in Jakarta who know all the words to “You’ll Never Walk Alone (1). However, behind these strange realities, a long ongoing “romantic” relationship between the league and the Asian countries has delivered enormous revenue to the clubs, organizers, investors and sponsors.

There are two factors that have paved the way to such success. First-mover advantage given that the premier league was the first foreign league to be transmitted in Asia. Also the style of English football compared to other leagues around Europe being more “dramatic and exciting” (2)

The fan base for the clubs in Asia is growing; appreciation for the sport has also improved with better campaigns from the national teams and the increase of friendly matches featuring British clubs keeps drawing more attention from the spectators. Sid Mookerjee blogged about football turning into a business where clubs have to function as true companies when hiring skilled professionals to manage and play for the club in order for it to excel. The connection between league managers, TV broadcasters and clubs with the Asian market uses the same philosophy where the sport has turned into a very profitable business.

No wonder companies like Samsung, Chang and Goldenway are sponsoring Chelsea, Everton and Swansea accordingly. This impressive partnership between the league and the Asian nation’s spectators seems like it has only begun, with much promise in future developments.

(1)(2) http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1731081-asia-and-the-epl-how-a-continent-fell-in-love-with-the-premier-league

A giant in the world of technology, Microsoft was once the biggest company in the world with market capitalization of $510 billion in 2000. According to Kurt Eichenwald’s article titled Microsoft’s Lost Decade, “Today, a single Apple product—the iPhone—generates more revenue than all of Microsoft’s wares combined.” What generated this colossal downfall? From lack of innovation to internal destructive ambition the company has been reduced to a mere competitor in a market, which it ruled. Programmers stopped developing products in search for improvement, but rather to beat their co-workers in a feisty fight for career development. A new management system called “stack ranking” was implemented, which compared employees and encouraged unhealthy competition.

The maintenance of windows and office and the lack of development are also said to be causes that have “frozen” Microsoft in time. It’s even been found out that Microsoft had initial projects in 1998 of developing a sort of touch pad, similar to today’s Ipad by apple, but Bill Gates himself shut down this bold proposal because he thought it didn’t look like Microsoft (2). Recent problems with some of the company’s products, including the infamous “red ring of death”, a defect in the Xbox 360’s hardware, have left the company with an even bigger market share loss.

Microsoft’s negative example should serve as a lesson to all, that no company that has reached a pinnacle of dominance over its competition will always be sovereign.

(1)(2) http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2012/07/microsoft-downfall-emails-steve-ballmer

Corruption is a problem that many developing countries face continuously and Brazil, being an emerging powerhouse, is deeply affected by it. Politicians are under the same ethical codes as businessmen if not more grave ones. They handle huge amounts of resources that have to be distributed evenly and wisely among its people and territory. However, Many news reports share a common and recurring theme over Brazilian politics, money laundering. An example of this is the upcoming world cup of 2014 which will cost approximately $22 billion reais to federal banks. This value is completely overrated if compared to past world cups; Japan 2002 R$ 10,1 billon reais, Germany 2006 R$ 10,7 billion reais, and South Africa 2010 R$ 7,7 billon reais (1). Stadium prices have tripled since their plan of inception, materials were bought at astronomical prices and quantities and many of the constructions originally intended to be completed by now are either late or will not be ready on time (2). All this spells out is incompetence and dishonesty. The lack of transparency and morals in our government resulted in the world wide known 2013 Brazilian protests which seem to have started a powerful and hopeful front against corruption in Brazil.

(1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/noticias/2013/06/130626_copa_gastos_ru.shtml

(2) http://www.futebolnaveia.com/index.php/copa-2014/83-previsao-atual-de-custo-dos-estadios-da-copa-e-o-triplo-da-primeira-estimativa-da-cbf