What You Need to Know Today

Good evening, Early Risers!

 

Tech

The truth about wearable technology. All great fads – seashell necklaces, Tamagotchis, and Abercrombie & Fitch stores included –  come to an end. Why are wearables any different? The truth is they’re not. Tech gadgets marketed to help form habits are really just one more rabbit hole Alice can escape down while not having to face her real problems. Here’s the latest in habit forming technology to be wary of.

No more shoebox full of ‘keepers’. Remember that scene in Dodgeball when Vince Vaughn opens the closet at Average Joe’s and out pours boxes of receipts, tax returns and ‘keepers’? If that scene is all too familiar, you’ll like this free app called Stuffcard. The app stores and indexes all your important receipts, product information, and appliance instructions so you no longer have to keep that shoebox full of ‘keepers’.

Career

Sex, drugs, rock & roll, and the unlikely survivors in the music biz. The average concert technician (roadie), makes $57,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (not including self-employed roadies). “Front of house” live-sound engineer – the person who controls what concertgoers hear – earns at least $60,000 a year, and can top $120,000. Road managers can earn $125,000 or more. Tour coordinators? $175,000, says the Wall Street Journal. “The ascent of the concert technician reflects a seismic shift in the economics of the music industry.”

Is this guy the best in Shark Tank history? Brian Lim is the real deal. A guy we should all be studying. Lim has built two electronic music lifestyle companies up to $7M in total annual revenue with just $100. Watch him work his magic in the tank as he gets four sharks fighting for his business.

Personal Development

Fact: People with no friends die earlier than people with friends. Loneliness now affects 40% of the population, up from 11%–17% in the 1970s. That increase has real health consequences. When we think lonely, we often think of elderly people who live alone, but an interesting find in the research shows that if you’re lonely in your thirties, you may not die immediately but it could contribute to a shortening of years later on. Trouble making friends? Try this social networking app.