| Hesitant To Hire? Posted: 13 May 2012 11:30 PM PDT 
Here is why some of your counterparts may feel the same way, as reported by The Times-Tribune. The economy is growing, but that growth has slowed – and so has the pace of hiring among businesses with fewer than 500 employees. The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 2.2 percent from January through March, according to government figures. That’s down from the moderate 3 percent growth during the last three months of 2011. Making things worse, the pace of hiring by small businesses is slowing, according to the payroll company ADP, which issues a monthly report on employment at companies in the private sector. ADP says that employment at small and medium-sized businesses rose by 181,000 in March. Employment rose by just 116,000 in April. Small-business owners don’t want to take chances because they can see how troubled the national economy is, says Paul Merski, chief economist with the Independent Community Bankers of America, a banking trade group. “If you go through the litany of economic data, it is just not giving small businesses the confidence to hire, to expand,” Mr. Merski says. “They don’t see the future return on that (expansion), or the future cash flow to take on additional debt.” One sign that small businesses may be poised to do more hiring is that they would take out loans to fuel expansion.
Photo by Bart Everson 
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| Inventor Of Modern Skiing Featured On Mad Men Posted: 13 May 2012 11:00 PM PDT 
It’s not everyday an inventor receives a small feature on television, but we can add the inventor of modern skiing to the list, reports DCist. In 1954, Head was awarded a patent for his design that pressed a plywood core inside two aluminum sheets which were then covered by a shell of laminated plastic. The new skis were lighter, more durable and made it easier for skiers to turn while descending the slopes. By the mid-1960s, in time for Pete Campbell’s run-in with the equipment, the Head Standard was used by over 50 percent of skiers in both the United States and the United Kingdom. And skiing wasn’t the only sport that “some schmo from Luthersville, Md.”—as Roger Sterling called Head—reinvented. After selling his ski company in 1969, Head went on to do for tennis rackets what he did with skis—replace wood with aluminum and later synthetic materials.
Photo by amira_a 
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| Strapless iPod Nano Watch Posted: 13 May 2012 10:30 PM PDT 
This approach isn’t for the queasy. However, if you’re sick of being limited to straps for turning your iPod Nano into a watch, one man has created what he calls the iDermal, reports Time. And, on first glance, the idea of iPod magically attached to your wrist as if it's being held by magnets may sound sleek. Problem is, Hurban, the iDermal's inventor, did have to insert four magnets into his arm to get the desired effect. So, no, that doesn't sound that cool anymore. Unless you can endure what looks like no small amount of pain and a bit of blood, you won't be "wearing" an iDermal. Understandably quizzical, places like Gizmodo have pointed out the obvious: well, um, what happens when Apple releases a new iPod Nano that comes out in a different size? Hurban dismisses the idea. "To be honest, if they come up with a new one, and it's bigger or smaller, I probably won't change it," he told Digital Trends.
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