Hasta La Gadget!

Lucky Chloe, who so happens to be the newest character in the upcoming Tekken 7 title that was revealed over this weekend, did not receive too good a treatment judging by the reaction of Western gamers. Hence, this has led the game’s lead designer to respond in kind, dropping a hint that she as well as other characters who have not been on the receiving end of praise might not be included in the North American version of Tekken 7. Bummer, as this would mean that Lucky Chloe is not so lucky after all.

Just who is Lucky Chloe, anyway? She happens to be your typical Japanese teenager complete with a pair of headphones, cat ears, cat paws, wearing knee-high socks and a miniskirt. It looks as though she was plucked from a traditional Japan pop-idol stereotype, and has been on the receiving end of some rather harsh as well as profane criticism which frankly, remain unfounded.

Katsuhiro Harada, retorted, “Hello small world. I’ll make muscular & skinhead character for you.” Seriously, don’t you think that we in the 21st century, going through globalization at such a fast rate at the moment would still have such narrow thoughts on a video game character?

Lucky Chloe Might Not Make It In North American Game Version

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Earlier this year in October, Microsoft did introduce a spanking new Surface Hub app on their Windows 8.1 operating system, where it was mentioned back then that the design of the app will hopefully be able to assist users to maximize the use of their Surface Pro 3 tablets. The app itself did not come with too many functionalities, however, where users were only able to play around with the configuration options for the Surface Pen.

It looks as though Microsoft has decided to roll out an update for the app now, which would deliver a slew of new features that include the ability to turn off the Windows button. This Windows hardware button does have its endearment, but it also happens to get in the way whenever one is writing or sketching something on the display. Since the new Surface Hub app would let users switch off the button completely, it is definitely a boon.

Apart from that, there will also be a brand new ‘User Education’ section that can be found within the app, boasting of links to information when it comes to using and configuring the tablet, while catering also to additional apps that arrive pre-installed on the tablet. Anyone wants to give the Surface Hub app a go?

Surface Hub App Updated

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Organizations around the country are hemorrhaging talent because women are leaving the American workforce to start their own businesses. Looking at the statistics, it’s easy to understand why.

Here are the hard facts: 21% of C-suite executives are women. This is a drastic improvement since the 1950’s, but still not very inspiring. Less inspiring still is the fact that women are currently paid, on average, only three-quarters of what their male colleagues make.

What doesn’t add up is that according to the Research from the Russell Sage Foundation, young women today are just as likely to hold bachelor degrees as men, and 50% more likely to hold graduate degrees than men. Also, 40% of women are the breadwinners in their family. While female educational and financial responsibilities quickly increase, moving into executive positions and earning salaries equal to their male contemporaries slowly lags behind.

This is not a new trend. In 2003, The Center for Women’s Business Research estimated that, as of 2002, the number of women owned businesses was 6.2 million. These same women-owned businesses employed 9.2 million workers and generated $1.15 trillion in annual revenue. Right now, we have 8.2 million women-owned businesses, and that number is growing 50% faster than new business growth overall. Women now control almost $6 trillion in assets. That’s a lot of purchasing and investment power.

As women leave the corporate world to follow their entrepreneurial pursuits, they don’t just take their talent with them. They also take their positive impact on organizations as a whole. Catalyst took a good look at Fortune 500 companies with women on their board of directors and found that these companies had a higher return on equity by at least 53%, they were superior in sales by at least 42%, and had a higher ROI, to the tune of 66%. Those are not small numbers.

Research reported by The Guardian shows that the top three career motivators for women are: 1) challenging, passion-driven work 2) making a difference, and 3) recognition. With that in mind, how does a corporation attract and retain female talent? A decade of discussing the pay gap and rampant gender bias just isn’t working. We need to change the conversation.

It’s time to start conversations about creating purpose driven organizations as a way to retain female talent. Aaron Hurst, author of The Purpose Economy and founder of Imperative, explains that finding purpose at work is to find meaning in what you do by prioritizing relationships, impact and personal growth.

He explains the purpose economy as, “… an economy where value lies in establishing purpose for employees and customers–through serving needs greater than their own, enabling personal growth and building community.”

While creating a purpose-driven organization may sound idyllic, it is actually very attainable. But how do you do it?

Hurst invited forty-nine thought leaders and myself to a Purpose at Work Summit to share best practices for creating purpose driven organizations. Here are some of the ideas that came from the group:

• Create a “purpose review” in addition to a performance review, to help the organization know if the employee still feels purposeful at work.
• Find ways to increase organizational trust and transparency, where mistakes are applauded and difficult conversations are rewarded.
• Attract, hire and retain prospective employees and freelancers by emphasizing the importance of their growth, impact and peer relationships.
• Redefine the organizational chart and office space, so it reflects purpose driven conversations, instead of just departmental conversations.

To be sure, this isn’t the only solution to a complex situation. The gender pay gaps and glass ceilings that women face in the workplace are serious and will take a broad effort to rectify. Yet it’s clear that focusing on gender alone isn’t working, and hasn’t been working for over a decade.

Let’s start a new conversation about women in the workplace, one focusing on both gender and purpose.

Books have always played a gigantic role in my life. In a lot of ways, books helped me decide what kind of person I wanted to be. When I was a kid my mother used to tease me about how seriously I internalized books. One night I evidently came into the kitchen and, deeply troubled, announced, “I just don’t think I have it in me — I just couldn’t have beaten those giant spiders like Bilbo did.” While these may be pretty heavy thoughts for a 10-year-old, the truth is that great books call these kinds of questions for all of us. Do we have what it takes to step up in the face of adversity? Will we be willing to take action against great odds? To be heroes?

But then we grow up and get busy. The grand notions of these books fade and the challenges we face seem less dramatic. We face board meetings rather than giant spiders and earnings reports replace the Battle of Waterloo.

But I believe that today we are facing our own Lord Voldemort — and one that demands action.

Right now, there are more than 32 million children in the U.S. growing up where books are not just a luxury — they are virtually non-existent.

In this country we are so proud of, almost 45 percent of our kids are growing up in families termed “poor” and “near poor.” These kids are, in large part, excluded from the power of books. Books are not readily available — in their homes, at school or in their neighborhoods.

For most of us, that is almost impossible to fathom. While that may be a shocking revelation, here’s one that isn’t: Kids need books to learn to read and to love to read. Studies confirm: Access to books is a key to developing reading skills, and the number of books in the home directly predicts reading achievement. Yet EVERY DAY at First Book, the nonprofit social enterprise I lead, we hear from educators right here in the U.S. that the books they receive from us are often the very first books their students own.

The repercussions are everywhere. More than 80 percent of low-income fourth graders score at “below proficient” reading levels; and an estimated 1.2 million students drop out of high school every year — one every 26 seconds. Poor reading skills impact health outcomes, future education, job opportunities and more. For those who prefer an economic perspective, McKinsey & Co reports that our failure to elevate the education for children in need results in the economic equivalent of a permanent recession.

The good news is this is a problem we can solve.

I launched First Book to tackle the barriers that are keeping books out of kids’ hands. Part of the problem is the price of books. Premium picture books have an average retail price of $18.00. By its very nature, the publishing industry is designed for those who can afford to purchase books, not for families at the base of the economic pyramid.

We realized that by aggregating the educators and programs serving kids in low-income families, we could lower the cost of books, not only bringing brand new books to a whole new demographic, but also creating new content to meet their specific needs. Our focus is to open access from both sides: to give educators serving families in need with unprecedented access to books — and to provide the publishing industry with the opportunity to reach a part of the market they have never before been able to serve. We all win.

This week our team at First Book is celebrating an enormous milestone: we are now working with over 150,000 classrooms and programs serving children from low-income families – who are now connected with free and low-cost brand new books and educational resources for children ages zero to 18!

The bad news: We estimate there are more than 1.3 million classrooms and programs serving kids in need.

But here’s what we know:

We know that books and educational resources — including great digital products – can breathe life into programs and classrooms and literally transform the lives of children all over the country.

We know that when a child learns to read, it can start to break the cycle of poverty for a family.

And we know that with the collective power of publishers, corporations, foundations, educators, researchers and a host of supporters — there is both the understanding and the will to address this opportunity gap.

Together, we have the ability to bring the power of books to every child — and help them uncover the mysteries of science, elevate democracy, support economic and social mobility and most importantly, unlock their inner heroes and a brighter future.

To put this in Hobbit terms, we are holding our sword, “Sting” — and the future of our story is hanging, waiting to see if we will step up.

What are we waiting for?

So come on all you Bilbo Baggins, Captain Ahabs, Harry Potters, Anne of Green Gables and Katniss Everdeens. I know you are out there and we need you to win this one. Because how this story ends affects us all.

This Christmas while my military husband is safe at home, I remember the Christmases he was not and the spouses and families who are celebrating their way through challenging holidays. The ghosts of my Christmas deployments past remind me of the military families separated from someone they love this season.

Late at night, someone is up longer than he planned to be. He might be assembling a toy that didn’t look nearly so complicated in the box, or hoping he has enough wrapping paper for the last few presents. He’s singe-handedly manning his branch of Santa’s workshop while his wife is deployed, and he’s not forgotten.

Somewhere there’s a young mom whose little one wakes during the night on Christmas Eve with an ear infection. As Christmas Day dawns, she might be waiting at the emergency room, with one sick child and two more sleepyheads in tow. She has plenty of friends, but which one could she ask to babysit in the wee hours of Christmas morning? And how does Santa come while she’s at the ER? I remember her.

And there’s a parent who has to fly solo when a sweet innocent voice asks this question: “If Santa Claus brings all the presents, why are all those toys in the back of your closet?” I remember you too. While you’re facing a large absence and the small questions alone, you are not forgotten.

Perhaps there’s a family, one person shy of being whole, invited to have Christmas dinner with friends. Surely their generous hosts will understand if the children are a little too quiet, too cranky or not too appreciative of dinner and all the trimmings. No matter how kind the friends, how delicious the pie and how fun the games, the festivities don’t feel quite right when someone is missing. Yes, I remember this family.

Somewhere a phone is ringing. “The Christmas package got here today,” says the voice on the other end of the long-distance line, so clear it’s hard to believe that thousands of miles stretch between.

“I love the card and the pictures. I hung up the decorations. I miss you. I love you.” Sometimes a phone call or a package that arrives in the nick of time are all that keeps Christmas from being just another day on both sides of the world. Miracles still happen, and sweet memories are sometimes the dividends paid by hard times.

Perhaps there is a wife at home who is discouraged because those who should understand just don’t. Sometimes even loved ones go about their Christmas plans without realizing the void she is trying to fill by herself. She looks like she’s managing everything. Maybe she is, but late at night when she’s tired and the house is too quiet, the loneliness is loud. I remember her today.

At a holiday dinner party there could be one lone person whose spouse is deployed. Casual conversations about upcoming assignments or deployment conditions sound different to the one who drives home alone on a cold night. Christmas carols on the radio can’t fill the empty seat or drive away the worry.

No matter how many deployments come and go, the absence of the most important person in our lives leaves us vulnerable in ways hard to express. These ghosts of my Christmases past remind me. If your spouse is deployed this Christmas, I don’t know what you face, but I remember you.

If your family is together this Christmas, be thankful and be mindful of those who are not, even if they appear to be doing just fine. Compassion still matters. So does the simple stuff: Shovel snow. Offer babysitting, a cup of coffee, or a listening ear. Move Christmas decorations out of the attic – and back in again. Think before you speak. Listen more. Forget politics. Give support, not pity.

Most of all let them know that they and their sacrifices are not forgotten.