:buisness in brief
BUSINESS
Big business in bite sized snippets
IN BRIEF
how brain training can make
you significantly smarter
A new San Francisco web-based company has taken
thinking a step further and developed the first "brain
training program" designed to actually help people
improve and regain their mental sharpness. Called
Lumosity, it was designed by some of the leading
experts in neuroscience and cognitive psychology from
Stanford University.
Lumosity is far more than an online place to exercise
your mental skills. That's because they have integrated
these exercises into a web-based program that allows
you to systematically improve your memory and
attention skills. The program keeps track of your
progress and provides detailed feedback on your
performance and improvement. Most importantly, it
constantly modifies and enhances the games you play
to build on the strengths you are developing - much
like an effective exercise routine requires you to
increase resistance and vary your muscle use.
www.howlifeworks.com
Do you
care about
sustainability?
Businesses have had a sharp wake up call with a new survey
showing fewer people than last year think their workplaces
are sustainable.
The Sustainable Business Council/Fairfax Business and
Consumer Behaviour Survey shows the number of people
who think their workplace is sustainable has been steadily
sliding on measures ranging from general impressions to
procurement policies, to limiting carbon emissions, water and
waste. Part of this may be down to the ongoing recovery from
the Global Financial Crisis but there is also the risk that it is
because people and businesses are becoming blase about the
issue.
www.stuff.co.nz
Quick links
Each year, Forbes ranks
the 25 fastest-growing
technology companies. They
comb more than 5,000
publicly traded technology
companies, looking for
profitable companies with a
minimum revenue of $150
million and a minimum
market value of $500 million.
They then look for firms with sales growth of at least 10%
for each of the past three fiscal years and over the latest 12
months. Finally they rank companies based on their three-year
average sales growth rates in descending order.
New Zealanders might believe they live
in an egalitarian nation but a worldwide
"better life index" shows the quality of life
here is being significantly harmed by the
gap between the rich and poor. The top
20 percent of the population earn five
times as much as the bottom 20 percent.
www.stuff.co.nz
12 | www.h e rmagaz i n e . c o. n z
No. 1 is LinkedIn
Founded in 2003, LinkedIn operates the world's largest
professional network on the Internet with more than 150
million members in over 200 countries and territories.
Members are able to create, manage and share their
professional identity online, build and engage with their
professional network, access shared knowledge and insights,
and find business opportunities. Its platform provides members
with solutions, including applications and tools, to search,
connect and communicate with business contacts, learn
about career opportunities, join industry groups, research
organizations and share information.
www.forbes.com
