Weekend Digest: The Razorback Hype Video Edition
by September 5, 2015 8:55 am 188 views
TV PREVIEW: CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL IS GROWING UP
On this week’s TV edition of Talk Business & Politics:
Arkansas Children’s Hospital is growing up – up into Northwest Arkansas. But, the moves may not stop there. CEO Marcy Doderer discusses the future of the pediatric hospital and the direction that healthcare reform is leading this important institution.
A KATV town hall explores all sides of the medical marijuana issue with plenty of input from experts, advocates and opponents. Plus, new Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College-Impact Management Group polling on this subject and much more.
In our Talk Politics roundtable. TB&P contributors Jessica DeLoach Sabin and John Burris join host Roby Brock for a rundown of the biggest political stories of the week. Highways, political races, and additional poll results are subjects of our discussion.
Tune in to Talk Business & Politics on KATV Ch. 7 Sunday at 9 a.m.
6 THINGS THE NFL’S FOCUS ON ‘FAN ENGAGEMENT’ CAN TEACH SMALL BUSINESS
For all of its critics – from its handling of domestic violence to Deflate-gate and more – the National Football League has managed to make football America’s favorite sport. One of the major reasons for that is “fan engagement.”
Entrepreneur magazine takes a look at 6 lessons businesses can learn from the NFL’s fan engagement playbook, such as: “the game works to stay fresh.”
The NFL frequently updates the game to keep it interesting and appealing. Back in 1912, for example, touchdowns went from four points to six points. In 1965, the NFL and AFL merged to add more excitement to the game and grow its fanbase; the Super Bowl was launched two years later. Other innovations have included the introduction of Wild Card teams, modifications to overtime rules and the frenzy free agency creates every March when the new season begins.
Apple is one more example of a brand that keeps updating its products. Every year, it releases a new operating system with new features to enhance the user experience. That’s why you have to keep purchasing a new iPhone every other year. Recently, the brand embraced the popularity of streaming music by unleashing Apple Radio.
What other NFL tips could help your business keep your “fans” engaged? Read more here.
GOOGLE SHOT THE SERIF
Gizmodo reports that Google killed serifs in its logo “because serifs had it coming.”
Google debuted a serif-free logo this week — the first real change to its logo since 1999. And although it’s much prettier than the 16-year-old wordmark, the company claimed it was more about functionality than looks.
Loosing the serifs from its logo helps with mobile design and readability, Google said, but does this mean that serifs are forever gone?
There’s something to be said about serifs and readability. Is the age of the serif logo over? Why would a company add the typographical equivalent of bells and whistles when those superfluous spindles will have to be shed eventually for screen optimization? We’ve seen the same changes happening in other tech logos, especially the ones that will need to be summoned on a smartphone or smartwatch: simpler, streamlined, always sans serif.
U.S. GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO HIRE MORE GEEKS
Harvard Business Review illustrates a number of ways that technology can or could improve the delivery and cost of government services. A program launched in 2012 is tapping the lessons learned from Silicon Valley startups.
Randy Watson is choking back tears. He is a proud and grizzled Vietnam veteran, standing in front of an audience of hundreds. With the help of his daughter, Randy has just driven 1,100 miles from his home in Joplin, Missouri to Washington, DC to tell the story of how he almost died. But as he stands on stage overcome with emotion, Randy is very much alive. And he wants to thank the people responsible: policy wonks and data geeks.
Three years ago, the White House welcomed the Presidential Innovation Fellows program to the world. The mission was simple: save lives, save taxpayer dollars, and fuel job growth in the private sector. By applying proven methods from Silicon Valley — such as lean startup, agile development and design thinking — inside government itself, the executive branch has since been able to do things long thought impossible. Despite ambitious goals and few resources, the 18 inaugural Presidential Innovation Fellows that started work in the summer of 2012 were able to make game-changing progress in a matter of months.
How much progress? Read more here.
HOW FORCE TOUCH WILL CHANGE HOW YOU USE THE iPHONE
A new iPhone feature — expected to be announced next week — could give your phone a very different feel.
It’s called Force Touch, a technology the company has baked into its Apple Watch and newest MacBook trackpads. It’s a strong candidate to be the benchmark feature in the widely anticipated iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.
How could Force Touch change your experience? Read more from Fast Company here.
BEN CARSON’S COLLISION COURSE WITH DONALD TRUMP
Donald Trump and Ben Carson appear to be on a collision course, says Politico.
The two outsiders have yet to butt heads – but that may be about to change. Republican activists and operatives are reporting that at the grassroots level, Carson’s gentler and more faith-oriented approach is winning over voters at Trump’s expense, particularly in Iowa.
Both are drawing from the same broad pool of voters who are angry at the GOP establishment, but Trump’s bombast, name-calling and more secular outlook is driving many of them to the soft-spoken, retired pediatric neurosurgeon.
The real estate mogul is now damning Carson with faint praise, recently telling the Daily Caller that Carson is “a wonderful guy” and “really a friend of mine” but also “a doctor who wasn’t creating jobs.”
Is more in store? Read here to find out.
JOHN KASICH’S NOVEL PITCH TO VOTERS: HE’S A POLITICIAN
Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich is wooing voters with a Presidential pitch that is a bit unorthodox in the current political environment. With a touch of charisma, pragmatism and moderation, Kasich is telling people he’s a politician, and a good one at that.
Outside the town hall, the voter backlash against professional politicians was raging. Inside, Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) was talking about how he has always wanted to be president. With no notes, Kasich described the friendship, the letter and the plane ticket that got an 18-year-old kid to the waiting room outside President Richard Nixon’s oval office.
“The security guy walks up to me and says, ‘You get five minutes alone with the president of the United States,’” said Kasich, pacing the floor and wearing a loud white-and-purple golf shirt. “Wow! Wow, right? Really unbelievable! I’ll tell you what I’m thinking. I’ve got a new shirt, a new tie, new pants. I’m not comin’ out in five lousy minutes!”
Kasich’s audience, packed with retirees who remembered Nixon, rumbled with laughter. “Five minutes!” Kasich said. “What can you do in five minutes? They open up the door, the president greets me, and I spend 20 minutes alone with him. Eighteen years old.”
Read more of Kasich’s stump speech replete with examples of how his time in Congress and as Governor have been about problem-solving.
HILLARY CLINTON ON BERNIE SANDERS: WAVING YOUR ARMS DOESN’T MEAN A LOT
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is seeing her lead shrink as withering attacks surrounding her email controversy continue. The heat has also limited her press interaction, still she sat down last week and sounded off on her Democratic and Republican rivals.
In the third sit-down national TV interview of her presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton said the candidacy of Donald J. Trump was a “bad development for our American political system,” rejected the implication that her campaign was irrevocably damaged by the email controversy and took a veiled jab at Senator Bernie Sanders, whose populist message has drawn big crowds and given him a lift in recent polls in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“You can wave your arms and give a speech but at the end of the day are you connecting with and really hearing what people are either saying to you or wishing that you would say to them?” Mrs. Clinton told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Friday, without directly naming Mr. Sanders.
Read more of Clinton’s comments here.
KENTUCKY COUNTY CLERK CONTROVERSY SPILLS INTO GOVERNOR’S RACE
You’ve likely heard the controversy surrounding Rowan County (Kentucky) clerk Kim Davis‘s decision to not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on her personal religious objections, She’s in jail and has a variety of national politicians weighing in on the lighting rod topic.
The brouhaha has entered the Kentucky governor’s race now between Republican nominee Matt Bevin and the Democratic nominee, state Attorney General Jack Conway,
Read how the controversy is playing out in this piece from National Journal.
THE RAZORBACK HYPE VIDEO
It’s the start of college football season and Arkansas’ first game against UTEP has Hog fans ready for action. Saturday Down South captures the Razorbacks’ hype video, which you can watch here.
THE MOST INTELLIGENT PRESIDENTS IN U.S. HISTORY
While a high IQ does not guarantee success, it is true that intelligence is often associated with effective leaders. But does that trend hold true for U.S. presidents? Are the most successful presidents also the most intelligent?
With that question in mind, InsideGov ranked the 27 smartest presidents in U.S. history, using data from UC Davis professor, Dean Simonton. In a 2006 study, Simonton used historiometric methods to estimate each president’s IQ, analyzing information from their biographies and writings that would indicate a higher-than-average intellect.
InsideGov says, “Interestingly, eight of the presidents on this list either never attended college or dropped out before finishing their degrees.”
Who do you think topped the rankings as the smartest? Find out here.
CRACKING THE MYSTERY OF BLACK HOLES
Genius scientist Stephen Hawking has an incredible theory for black holes.
Hawking provided a ground-breaking solution to one of the most mysterious aspects of black holes, called the “information paradox.” Black holes look like they “absorb” matter. Every time a star falls into a black hole, it seems like the star is completely lost – but according to the basic laws of physics, that’s not possible. Matter and information can’t really disappear. And black holes are no exception.
Hawking explains, “I propose that the information is stored not in the interior of the black hole, as one might expect, but on its boundary, the event horizon.”
So in simpler terms, what could a black hole actually be called? Read Hawking’s stunning answer at this link from AOL.