You’ve got a great idea for a new business, one that’s going to light the world on fire. But even if your instincts are correct, there are still 100 reasons why the new endeavor won’t succeed. The saddest part is that a majority of those reasons don’t have anything to do with the viability of your idea — and most of those failures are also easily avoidable. A huge piece in the success or failure of a new business is just knowing what steps to take to get your enterprise started on solid ground....

“Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.” – Mark Twain Look, not everybody is in love with numbers. Some people don’t trust ‘em. Others just don’t have a head for ‘em. Unfortunately, the importance of having a firm grounding in the fine art of numerical analytics is an increasingly important business world skill set. And when you’re talking business numbers, that conversation usually starts with Microsoft Excel. Whether you’re a little hazy on the world’s premier spreadsheet and data analysis tool or even just trying to figure it out for the first time, The Complete Excel Pro Tip Certification Bundle ($19, over 90 percent off from TNW Deals) serves as a comprehensive insider’s guide....

Creative types seldom know their final destination when they first pull the car out of the driveway. Sure, they may have a direction in mind, but artistic expression often leads to wild flights of inspiration, wrong turns, experimentation and maybe even a few dump-it-all-and-start-over moments before a project reaches a successful conclusion. Of course, one thing those visionaries need to take that far-ranging journey are resources. Lots and lots and lots of resources....

Igor Musatov, former professional ice hockey player from Russia, has been detained in Moscow for swindling 45 million Rubles ($700,000) from the CEO of an IT company, Crime Russia reports. The alleged crime was first reported last year by the IT professional, but after months of trying to rectify things directly with Musatov, he turned to the police. According to Sport Express Russia, the businessman met with Musatov in January 2018, and told him that he was “engaged in the cryptocurrency business....

This is a weird bit of news. We all saw it coming the moment Microsoft tossed Open AI a cool $1B for “pre AGI technologies” (AGI, artificial general intelligence, doesn’t exist yet, so literally everything is a pre AGI tech lol). But it’s unclear exactly what this means for OpenAI going forward. Back in 2019, when the two companies inked the partnership, it seemed like OpenAI was going to beef up Azure’s backbone....

An Italian museum has started using AI-powered cameras to measure the “attraction value” of works of art. The ShareArt devices collect visual data on spectators, such as how long they look at a painting and where on the canvas their attention is focused. “Thanks to simple data elaboration, an observer’s gaze can be translated into a graphic,” Stefano Ferriani, one of the researchers behind the project, told Bloomberg CityLab. “We can detect where most of peoples’ attention is concentrated....

Gates’ millions ensure the Serum Institute of India can produce enough volume once a vaccine acquires regulatory approval, and ultimately keep the cost of each dose below $3. The end goal is to deliver doses to 92 vulnerable countries around the world — so that they aren’t left behind once an effective vaccine hits the market. Gates-backed non-profit Gavi will also contribute funding. [Read: Bill Gates to fund 7 coronavirus vaccines for quicker results, likely ‘wasting’ billions] “Researchers are making good progress on developing safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19,” said Gates....

As businesses find their feet, now is the moment to shift gears from adapting to accelerating. Enter Boost Couch Conference – an online event from TNW bringing together CMO’s and leaders from companies like Uber and Klarna to define tactics for maximizing your marketing ROI. Expanding on Re:Brand (one of the most popular tracks at TNW’s flagship event), Boost will cover an even greater scope of digital marketing content, breaking new ground on both brand and data-driven growth marketing....

We don’t need to tell you…but every day, your phone inches closer and closer to being the absolute center of your universe. It’s understandable. It’s happening to all of us, so there’s no need to fight it. In fact, just turn into the skid. To help, we’ve assembled 10 phone accessories that you definitely should consider that are not only already discounted, but now have added savings as part of the TNW Three-Day VIP Sale....

Want to delete your social media accounts? Ready to be rid of the friends lists, the ads, the notifications? We hear you. Here are all our guides on how to do it. Frankly, we wouldn’t blame you for wanting to get off the crazy rollercoaster that is social media. Between the myriad misinformation and privacy issues, not to mention the targeted advertising, social media can be an uncomfortable experience for many....

The Store Wars of 2019 continue to bubble beneath the crust of the gaming industry — forever brewing into the next big shitstorm should someone dare to declare platform exclusivity. Being upfront, I only care about it on a philosophical level, in that I like to examine the arguments, but it has no bearing on my day-to-day gaming. That being said, there is one annoying side effect of said Store Wars, and that’s launcher fatigue....

For those purposes, Google introduced Plus codes five years ago, allowing you to share your location in a short alphanumerical format, whether you simply can’t find an address or are in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem they were actually used all that much, so now Google is making it easier to share the Plus codes than ever. Starting today on Android, whenever you want to share your exact location, you can simply tap on your blue location dot within Google Maps....

The search giant released a bunch of features today that’ll help you decide when to visit a particular place and easily find out what area suits your needs. The new ‘When to visit’ feature gives you a sense of when is the peak traveling season in a city, and how much you’ll have to shell out during that month. For me, this is quite important as I mostly travel solo, and backpack my way through....

That’s finally changing — for users that opt-in, anyway. After rolling out a dark theme for Google’s mobile apps, the company is finally bringing some eye relief to desktop users too. You know, so you look up critical information like the history of the empanada at 3 AM without blinding yourself in a sea of white nothingness. Notably, the dark mode setting doesn’t just turn the background into a deep shade of grey, it also turns the Google logo all white, giving the site an extra-minimalist look....

Been on the internet recently? Then you’ll be aware that the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones is all wrapped up. And you know who was happy with how one of the most popular and expensive series ever created ended? If social media is to be believed, no one. You might think HBO – the network that created the show – would be happy, but you’d be wrong....

Details of the bug are scarce, but Mozilla has described it as a “type confusion vulnerability” that could occur when interacting with JavaScript objects. “This can allow for an exploitable crash,” reads Mozilla’s latest patch note. “We are aware of targeted attacks in the wild abusing this flaw.” Samuel Groß, one of the security researchers who found and reported the bug, confirmed he did so way back on April 15 — over two months ago....

The links between cryptocurrency and crime have long been documented. Silk Road’s infamous collapse after it was shut down by law enforcement in 2013, for example, highlighted how the technology was being exploited by criminals in the hidden corners of the internet. Criminals use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for various purposes: laundering dirty money, scamming victims out of funds, defrauding investors, monetizing ransomware, or buying illicit goods. For years, reports have also suggested that well-known terrorist organizations such as ISIS or Al-Qaeda were using cryptocurrencies to procure funding....

Today, becoming a “startup nation” is a public policy objective in virtually every country in the world, be it Morocco, Bangladesh, Mexico, or Peru. They are all rushing to follow the nations that have led the way – the United States, China, South Korea, Israel, Canada. France got off to a laborious start in the early 2000s, but has recently reactivated this goal. On October 10, 2018, President Emmanuel Macron addressed an audience of digital entrepreneurs at Station F, which calls itself the “biggest startup campus in the world,” and announced an ambitious roadmap to assist and promote entrepreneurs in France....

The chip uses a 60 GHz ISM band which is not listed for commercial use in India as per National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP). The company said in a statement it decided to not launch the phone in India based on various factors: The Soli chip enables various features on the device including face unlock and gestures. Without the sensor, those key features might not work as intended. This means people in India will have to wait and see if Google releases the Pixel 4a, a cheaper variant of the flagship, to experience the phone’s camera....

Hola pandemic pals, When flu season hits this year, are we going to update the novel coronavirus to COVID-20? I’m only asking because I’ve been reading a lot of research papers and press releases from epidemiology reviews and it appears as though we’re headed for a second wave pandemic. But nobody wants to hear that. Science schmience, amirite? The politicization of COVID-19 has resulted in a complete side-lining of science and technology....