Protecting your knees is part of protecting your overall health, and protecting your health helps ensure your financial security. For runners, joint problems can creep up slowly, and runner’s knee is among the most common. Even if you don’t have minor pain or signs of weak knees, you’ll want to take proper care of those joints — especially if you’re a runner. Bad form, injuries and nutrition can all contribute to gradually sorer knees, and sometimes osteoarthritis. You may think it’s just a little pain to work through, but sore knees are often a sign of serious problems in the future. Ignoring that sign may cost you, in the form of a serious injury in the near future or a serious surgery in the more distant future. Either way, pretending it’s no big deal is a risk you shouldn’t take. For you, devoted runner, prevention and appropriate care mean you’ll be a runner much longer. It means more miles, more races, more hours and more of that runner’s high. It just might also mean more money in your pocket later. Here’s why. 1. Knee surgery is insanely expensive. Not taking care of your knees can result in more than pain. Your knees might become deformed, or “bowed,” from joint degeneration. Chronic inflammation might also result, which can make knee pain even worse. When that pain starts limiting your ability to carry out daily activities, or becomes unbearable, you might need knee replacement surgery. This is a major surgery with weeks of recovery […]

Google Inc. (GOOG) said it’s acquiring satellite company Skybox Imaging Inc. for $500 million as it works to bolster its mapping services and improve Internet access. The all-cash deal is subject to adjustments, the Mountain View, California-based company said on its website yesterday. Skybox has designed satellites to capture images and deliver them to customers with details down to less than a meter. “Skybox’s satellites will help keep Google Maps accurate with up-to-date imagery,” Google said on its site. “Over time, we also hope that Skybox’s team and technology will be able to help improve Internet access and disaster relief — areas Google has long been interested in.” Google is scouring the technology universe for deals that push into new markets and bolster its traditional services, including mapping and search. The company is also looking for new ways to offer online services to users through Project Loon, which it unveiled last year to help connect people in rural or remote areas to the Web using balloons and other machinery. In April, Google said it bought Titan Aerospace, a maker of high-altitude, solar-powered drones that provide access to data services around the world. “They’re just growing the number of eyeballs and clicks potentially by billions,” said Scott Hubbard, a consulting professor at Stanford University in aeronautics and astronautics. “That has to be good for them.” Facebook Counters The acquisitions follows moves by rival Facebook Inc. (FB) to get more people on the Internet through an effort called Connectivity Lab. In March, the company acquired Ascenta, a U.K.-based aerospace company, which will transmit data using infrared […]

For many, smartphones and tablets have become so integral to everyday life that “mobile” is no longer considered a separate entity from the rest of one’s marketing strategy. In this vein, mobile and marketing have become nearly synonymous, with it being impossible to think strategically about marketing while ignoring mobile altogether. To help businesses gain a firmer grasp on the mobile landscape, we’ll go over 10 mobile-related statistics that every marketer should be aware of, along with some key takeaways to consider as you fine tune your mobile strategy. Monetizing on Mobile 82% of mobile shoppers use search to influence their purchasing decisions. (Google) 52% of mobile shoppers realize that they buy more with cross-channel personalization. (MyBuys) 79% of smartphone owners also use their devices to shop. (Google) Key Takeaways: Today’s mobile users are also mobile shoppers, turning to their devices to inform purchase decisions and complete purchases. Aside from having a mobile presence, e-commerce companies should also leverage first party data to personalize shopping experiences and encourage future purchases. Mobile Usage Nearly half of American smartphone owners used shopping apps in June 2012. (MarketingPilgrim) Smartphone use most often occurs during travel (72%), in restaurants (64%) and in stores (63%). (Vocus) 62% of emails are opened on mobile. (Econsultancy) Tablet users access search 73.9 percent of the time, more than any other activity. (eMarketer) Key Takeaways: Mobile users are shopping, reading emails, and searching for information on their devices, among other activities. By understanding how consumers are interacting with their devices, businesses […]

Twitter keeps pumping money into its mobile ad business. The microblogging company today announced that it has agreed to purchase Namo Media, a native advertising startup. Neither company disclosed the terms of the deal. Back in September 2013, Twitter bought advertising firm MoPub for $350 million to begin advertising outside its own properties. Namo Media will end its autonomous operations and integrate fully with the MoPub platform, the native ad company said in a blog post. At Twitter we’ll continue to work on building the best native advertising platform for app developers with the goal of continuing to improve the native ad landscape for all mobile app developers. Combining our technology with MoPub will offer our current and future customers a more powerful platform to generate revenue, all while preserving an amazing user experience. Namo Media has focused largely on native mobile ads. That makes it a logical acquisition target for Twitter, which has a mobile userbase of around 198 million users — or around 78% of people on Twitter — according to the company’s latest earnings report. Over 75% of Twitter’s ad revenues come from mobile. Unlike banner ads, which a lot of folks have learned to ignore, native ads attempt to match the context of peoples’ experience wherever they appear, blending seamlessly with (or even mimicking) the other content. The most widespread example of native advertising is on Facebook, which inserts sponsored posts into users’ news feeds. But lots of other platforms and publishers are readily adopting the new form of marketing, because it typically offers publishers more control — and often more […]

Coaching has achieved buzzword status in business circles. As with many ideas that acquire this near-mythical standing, there’s a core of effectiveness behind their elevated reputation. But to get there, you’ve got to cut through a lot of hype. Feel Free To Dabble Coaching isn’t a magic bullet that turns poor performance around on its own. But, as Henry Ford reportedly said: If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Coaching can give you some tools to do something different. Without wanting to do myself out of a job, there are plenty of tools you can apply yourself. I wouldn’t suggest you take your medical care into your own hands after reading an article on the Internet, but thankfully, the worst that can happen with coaching is that there’s no improvement. But the best you can hope for is transformational change. Why Bother? Coaching works: A 2006 study by the Open University saw researchers study two groups: those managed using coaching methods and a control group, which was left to carry on as usual. Not only did the group who used coaching tools see better outcomes, they also saw more confidence in their own abilities to set goals and get the job done. Coaching is the gift that keeps on giving: Once you start using it, others start to use it on themselves. It creates a kind of perpetual-motion machine of improvement and delivery—a business holy grail. Build On A Framework When you’re starting out, it helps to have a framework on which you can hang the process. The OSCAR model, developed […]