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Finding all the paperwork in your business a hassle? Struggling to keep up with the mountain of management associated with employing people that isn’t directly related to the work they’re doing for you? Then you might want to consider a professional employer organization (PEO). A… Read More
The post How To Decide Whether or Not to Outsource Your HR Department appeared first on Business Pundit.
via Business Pundit
How To Decide Whether or Not to Outsource Your HR Department
Ohio wants help designing an electronic database to track the state’s medical marijuana industry.
The state is looking for contractors to design and implement systems to track marijuana "seed-to-sale," from its start as a plant to its sale to patients and everything in between.
The system will monitor a lot of important facets of the industry. Responsibilities include tracking the medical marijuana supply chain, the cultivation and harvest of marijuana, the transportation to dispensaries, and the…
via Columbus Business News – Local Columbus News | Business First of Columbus
Ohio wants IT help with medical marijuana seed-to-sale tracking system
In 2015, to make extra point plays after touchdowns more uncertain, the NFL moved the extra point distance from the 2-yard line to the 15-yard line. Since the rule change, the expected points from an extra point attempt has fallen from 0.99 (averaging between the 2002 and 2014 NFL seasons) to 0.94 (averaging the 2015 and 2016 NFL seasons) while the expected points from the two point conversion remains 0.95 (averaging between 2002 and 2016 NFL seasons). While the total number of two point conversion attempts per season has almost doubled, most coaches still rarely attempt 2 point conversions when it would be point maximizing (and win maximizing under risk neutral or risk seeking preferences). Using dynamic programming, this paper argues that this result is evidence of a conservative bias and that teams could improve expected wins by attempting more two point conversions.
Hartley is at the Wharton School, here is the link (pdf).
The post The prophet Jonathan S. Hartley appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
It should be no surprise to anyone that the Trump administration’s ATF would be a kinder gentler regulator to the firearms industry. The NRA-backed pro-gun president made eliminating wasteful, useless…
The post BREAKING: Leaked ATF Memo Reveals Planned Pro-Gun Moves appeared first on The Truth About Guns.
via The Truth About Guns
BREAKING: Leaked ATF Memo Reveals Planned Pro-Gun Moves
The debate over on-site vs. cloud ERP software has now been settled. Companies of all sizes and in every industry prefer to rely on the cloud for its ability to lower costs, increase functionality, simplify maintenance, and amplify the benefits of enterprise resource planning software overall.
In practice, however, cloud ERP software is able to deliver even more benefits than even the most enthusiastic adopters expect. It is worth being aware of the overlooked benefits early so that you can begin taking advantage of their full potential starting on day one.
Data security is a paramount concern for every business. The risk of a breach is greater than ever, and the consequences range from disruptive to catastrophic. Cloud ERP software actually enhances the level of data security that companies can depend on by bundling a number of security resources together into a single package. Cloud service providers have invested heavily to secure their clouds, and to manage and monitor those clouds according to the direction of world-class security experts. In almost all cases, it will be too costly for companies to invest in similar capabilities just for the protection of their own data.
Since the heavy lifting of managing and monitoring your cloud enterprise resource planning software is handled by the provider, your in-house IT team is liberated from a lot of time and labor-intensive work. That means that rather than having to install updates and patches, they can spend their time working on IT initiatives that can deeply impact your bottom line. You free your IT team up to utilize the full extent of their credentials rather than handle an endless stream of rote assignments.
Being able to access mission-critical apps from anywhere at anytime is no longer just an exciting capability for today’s businesses. It is an imperative for any company that hopes to remain competitive and avoid the slow slide into irrelevance. Cloud ERP software has been built from the ground up with mobility in mind. That means companies can instantly embrace a mobile strategy, and evolve that strategy as new devices, data sources, and client expectations are introduced into the mobile ecosystem.
Perhaps the single biggest advantage of cloud ERP software over any other type of implementation is how seamlessly it can change. Since the cloud offers on-demand access to a pool of computing resources, companies can match their exact capabilities to their exact needs at all times. As a result, when growth suddenly accelerates, new markets open up, or the industry landscape takes a turn to the left, companies are not stuck with IT that is no longer relevant. The cloud puts these companies in the perfect position to adapt to changes over the short-, medium-, and long-terms.
Cloud ERP software is often viewed as an in-house resource. It is designed to improve communication, collaboration, processes, and strategies for everyone on your team. But as a result of these refinements and enhancements, the overall customer experience improves significantly as well. Issues in the financing, distribution, sales, and marketing departments can easily be resolved so that every customer interaction is as efficient and effective as it can possibly be. And once you begin basing strategic decision making on data rather than assumptions, you’re in prime position to adapt what you do to the exact needs and wants of the customers you serve. The effect on the bottom line is immediate and lasting.
These are the most commonly overlooked benefits. But many companies find that once they implement cloud ERP software, it also leads to unexpected improvements and opportunities that are specific to their operations and goals. Anyone looking to reap the greatest rewards from ERP specifically and IT generally should be very enthusiastic about the capabilities of the cloud.
via Business Opportunities Weblog
The Overlooked Benefits of Cloud ERP Software
Summary: this tutorial introduces you to the MySQL COALESCE function that allows you to substitute NULL values. Introduction to MySQL COALESCE function The following illustrates the COALESCE function syntax: [crayon-5897278041ff1597035468/] The COALESCE function takes a number of arguments and returns the first non-NULL argument. In case all arguments are NULL, the COALESCE function returns NULL. […]
The post MySQL COALESCE Function appeared first on MySQL Tutorial.
Here’s the best article you are likely to read about the absurdity of calling ANY American president Hitler. This is the sort of persuasion (sprinkled with facts) that can dissolve some of the post-election cognitive dissonance that hangs like a dark cloud over the country. Share it liberally, so to speak. You might save lives.
Speaking of Hitler, I’m ending my support of UC Berkeley, where I got my MBA years ago. I have been a big supporter lately, with both my time and money, but that ends today. I wish them well, but I wouldn’t feel safe or welcome on the campus. A Berkeley professor made that clear to me recently. He seems smart, so I’ll take his word for it.
I’ve decided to side with the Jewish gay immigrant who has an African-American boyfriend, not the hypnotized zombie-boys in black masks who were clubbing people who hold different points of view. I feel that’s reasonable, but I know many will disagree, and possible try to club me to death if I walk on campus.
Yesterday I asked my most liberal, Trump-hating friend if he ever figured out why Republicans have most of the Governorships, a majority in Congress, the White House, and soon the Supreme Court. He said, “There are no easy answers.”
I submit that there are easy answers. But for many Americans, cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias hide those easy answers behind Hitler hallucinations.
I’ll keep working on clearing the fog. Estimated completion date, December 2017. It’s a big job.
—
Scott Adams
Co-founder of WhenHub
Author of How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big
Despite being made of plastic, Nerf’s dart blasters look incredibly realistic and detailed—as long as you can ignore their garishly bright colors. Adam Savage apparently could not, however, so he spent an entire day giving the Nerf Longstrike CS-6 a fantastic facelift to make it look like a prop from of a scifi blockbuster.
Nerf blasters come with those bright color schemes as a way to catch the eye of little kids in a toy store, and because of government regulations preventing toy weapons from looking too much like the real thing.
Savage’s makeover of the discontinued Longstrike CS-6 doesn’t end up looking like something you’d find in a gun store. Instead, it resembles a sci-fi prop it definitely comes across as a weapon you’d expect to see a space marine carrying into battle. If you’re not already jealous of this creation, you will be after learning this was actually the Secret Santa Christmas gift Savage created for a lucky Imgur user who posted his unboxing of the magnificent prop online.
[YouTube]
via Gizmodo
Watch Adam Savage Give a Nerf Blaster an Impressive Scifi Movie Prop Makeover
I’ve been a huge fan of the Arduino for quite a few years now. It allows me control cameras and lights in ways that would be otherwise impossible. As an open source project based on the Atmel AVR microcontrollers, compatible boards come in all shapes and sizes now. One such incarnation is the Adafruit Trinket, a tiny Arduino clone based on the ATtiny85. It’s extremely small, and ideal for projects like this one.
To show off the Trinket’s abilities, the folks at Adafruit built a tiny timelapse camera. Using a mini spy camera module with a built in microSD slot, the Trinket controls all the timing for when shots are taken. The whole thing fits inside a matchbox, but Adafruit are a little more practical than that. They designed a custom case for 3D printing and made the plans for that available, too.
To make the camera, you only need a few components.
Total cost is around $30 plus a memory card. The camera module accepts microSD cards up to 32GB in capacity. Given the relatively low resolution (1280×720 for stills), that will let you record for hours. This camera module has three connectors. One is positive power, one is ground, and one is the trigger signal. When the trigger signal is connected to ground for a brief moment, it fires a shot and saves it to the microSD.
This is the mechanism the Adafruit Trinket takes advantage of, as there doesn’t need to be any real communication between it and the camera. And it’s also not having to process any image data itself. This is essentially the same way I’ve controlled DSLRs and other cameras with Arduinos myself.
Power comes from a 100mAh 3.7v LiPo battery. This goes into a little charging circuit, so that it can be charged while the system is in use. Otherwise, it would probably run flat in about an hour. To charge the battery, power simply comes from a USB cable plugged into the Trinket. Power to the system, then gets sent back out from the charging circuit to the Trinket and the camera module. This way, whether the power is being pulled from the battery or USB, everything gets the power it should.
You could actually save yourself a little money if you already have a USB battery or intend to keep it permanently on USB power. You can completely eliminate the 100mAh battery, charging circuit and on/off switch, saving yourself about $12.
As ground is common, only a single wire is required between the Trinket and the camera module. The camera module’s trigger goes into digital pin 0 on the Trinket, and then it’s just a case of programming it. The code is extremely simple.
The init and setup() function tells the Trinket what port we’re using and to set it as an output. The loop() function runs continually while the Trinket has power. Every five seconds, it sends the signal low for 50ms, causing it to take a shot which then saves out to the microSD.
There’s no manual control over things like exposure, although the camera seems to do a pretty good job of metering exposure all by itself. You do get to choose your interval, although if you want to change it, you’ll have to edit the code, recompile and upload again.
As mentioned, they also build a 3D printed enclosure for the camera, which you can see in the animation above. Adafruit also posted a video showing how it was designed, and have made the plans available here to print your own.
While you’ll only get the equivalent of 720p footage, there are other camera modules out there that you could use. Although they do tend to increase in cost quite rapidly, and most don’t have internal storage. So, then you’re moving onto something like the Raspberry Pi Zero and suddenly your total cost has gone from around $30 up to around $100.
So, it’s a handy little project for a basic timelapse camera. It’s small, unobtrusive, and cheap to build. I could see a few of these being very handy as wildlife or security cameras with slight modification, too. All you’d need to do is hook up a PIR sensor to the Trinket, and modify the code a little, to have it send a shot when something moves in front of it, rather than on a timer.
[via Adafruit]
via DIYPhotography.net – Photography and Studio Lighting – Do It Yourself
Build your own matchbox sized DIY timelapse spy camera for only $30