Eggnog latte with an extra shot? Check. Scented holiday candle? Check. Weekly wrap-up of all the news that's fit to tweet? Let's do this! And just so you don't miss out on all our brilliant Twitter chatter in the future, make like a stalker and follow us @BWCnews.
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| Credit: PD&D |
2. Unemployment Drops in Regions with Manufacturing on the Bishop-Wisecarver Daily: While national jobless figures remain more than a little depressing, states with thriving manufacturing sectors are seeing an uptick in employment. Good news — and proof that it pays to invest in industries that actually create things, not just supply a service. This LA Times article says the auto industry's driving the recovery. In the spirit of that recovery, do your part — buy your mom a car for Christmas!
3. 'Mythbusters' Cannonball Crashes Through a Roof, Into a Minivan on the San Francisco Chronicle: So this one hits close to home (pun intended) ... the Mythbusters of Discovery Channel fame are based right here in the San Francisco Bay Area. So, they do a lot of their crazy experiments in the area near us, literally a half-hour-or-so drive from the Bishop-Wisecarver headquarters. This week, one of those crazy antics went awry when a cannonball missed the mark and crashed through a residential roof. It made headlines and top stories on all the local TV news stations. We're glad those homeowners are safe. And come on, it's kind of a cool story to tell the grandkids!
4. Beemer Drivers are Road Roage-aholics on The Telegraph: Speaking of loose cannons! A survey concluded that BMW drivers were the most volatile on the road. So keep your eyes peeled, commuters, and resist the urge to cut in front of drivers of fancy German cars.
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| Credit: Ted Sabarese |
6. World's First Fully 'Rapid Prototyped' Air Vehicle in the Product Design and Development mag: Engineers flew the first-ever air vehicle of its kind this week as part of a project to create an unmanned platform to probe the earth's atmosphere. The balloon-borne pod took its maiden flight on Wednesday in front of a bunch of students. Must have been cool to see!
7. Great Minds on Innovation Featuring Dean Kamen on AdvantageBusinessMedia.com: We haven't signed up for this webinar yet, but it's definitely on our to-do list! Dean Kamen is a renowned inventor, design engineer and storied founder of the FIRST robotics nonprofit. We sponsor a few local FIRST teams and we're 100 percent behind Kamen's vision to encourage innovation in our youth and in our country as a whole. If you take the on-demand webinar, tweet us your thoughts about it!
8. How to be a Social Media Powerhouse on Forbes.com: Obviously, we're pretty passionate about social media marketing, especially for niche markets like manufacturing since we've seen so many good things come out of it. This article picks the brain of some very influential social media mavens who discuss the importance of online network-building and personal brands. Good read!
9. Factors That Contribute to Back Injuries tweeted by @ToyotaEquipment: One of our Twitter BFFs Kyle Thill — a.k.a. @ToyotaEquipment — posted a link to this write-up about how to avoid back injuries. Since we're a manufacturer, we got a lot of folks out on the floor operating machinery, lifting heavy equipment and doing all that needs to be done to make our motion control products. So their physical health is a definite concern and this article offers some practical advice on how to keep your back in tip-top shape. Straighten up!
10. Theater Seats Set Aside for Twitter Users on the LA Times blog: How cool! As hardcore tweeps, our ears perked up when we heard this. Designated "Tweet Seats" seem like a win for everyone. Why? Whoever is putting on a show gets free publicity, the rest of the audience doesn't get distracted by the blue-white glow of cell phone screens and the Twitter addicts get to unleash their 140-or-less-character quips on the world. Good times are had by all!
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| Credit: LA Times |
