10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs

Written by Michael Awada on . Posted in Business, Music, Social Media

With the news of the FBI releasing a dossier on the late Apple founder, here’s a list of little known Steve Jobs facts.
Steve Jobs Apple

The 191 page document can be found here.

10. Jobs studied calligraphy in college, this was a major influence on many aspects of the Apple interface.

9. He was Disney’s largest shareholder at 7%. This happened when Disney acquired Pixar (a spin-off company Jobs started) in 2006.

8. He held the patent to the glass staircase, which can be seen at Apple stores nationwide.

Performance Enhancing Beef Jerky

Written by Michael Awada on . Posted in Business, Social Media

perky jerky

Aside from vegans, vegetarians, sloths and couch potatoes, most people can agree that energy and meat are two of their favorite things. Who doesn’t want the boost to hit a couple extra runs on the mountain, or an additional mile on the pavement? Who doesn’t enjoy a juicy, tender filet seasoned to perfection? Well when some of the world’s brightest minds get together, great things are possible. In this case: Performance Enhancing Meat Snacks.

What else could you possibly want in a pre-workout snack, or before setting sail on an arduous task? High in protein? Check. Lack of preservatives? Check. Low in fat to maintain your slender physique? Check. Low carb and low calories for your diet de jour? Check. Great, addicting taste? Check.

Disappearing Currency?

Written by Michael Awada on . Posted in Business

nickel penny

Since 1982, when penny composition was shifted to a mix of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper, the mixture of metals that goes into pennies and nickels has remained steady. Believe it or not, the U.S. Treasury today spends ¢2.4 for every penny, and ¢11.2 for every nickel that it produces.

In 2011, the U.S. Treasury produced 4.3 billion pennies and 914 million nickels. For you non-math majors, that means we lost over $116 million just to produce pennies and nickels last year alone. The Treasury stopped using copper in pennies because of it’s increased value and utility, but nickels are still made of 75% copper and only 25% nickel.

3D Printing Coming To Your Life

Written by Michael Awada on . Posted in Business, Technology

3D Printer

We are incredibly lucky to be living in the golden age of technology, where things that we once knew were impossible are becoming reality. Thirty years ago, would anyone have ever imagined that you could create a 3D file in a computer, and immediately create a corresponding object? Even though most people have never seen them in action, 3D Printers have actually been around for over a decade. While most uses to date have been industrial, this technology is becoming more affordable and making it’s way into many of our offices and living rooms.

3D Printing is a form of additive manufacturing, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing. Subtractive manufacturing is what we’ve been doing for thousands of years; cutting, drilling and shaping objects from metal and other materials. This is not only more time consuming, it also wastes up to 90% of the material byproducts. Additive manufacturing requires less raw materials, less assembly, and allows the flexibility of creating the same object in many materials.