Hate to break it to you, but if you want one of the best jobs you'll have to learn how to code. Or do complex math. Or decipher data. Or all of the above.

For those that already have these skills, your bank balance probably shows it. According to CareerCast's "Best Jobs of 2014" report, employers are paying big bucks to lure employees that understand data, code and math (which really translates to "data analytics"). In fact, jobs that depend on these geeky skills comprise half of the top 10 jobs of 2014.

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TAMPA, Fla., April 28, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Should universities change their faculty tenure and promotion calculus based on research and publication to one that recognizes and includes faculty research activities that translate into patents, licensing and commercialization of products? 

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Venture funding is going strong in Silicon Valley — but not if you are a woman or minority entrepreneur. A study by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire found that of 67,000 angel investor deals in 2012, 4 percent involved women-owned startups and less than 1 percent involved minority-owned ventures.

Image: Photo by Womble Carlyle - “There are plenty of good companies out there that are not getting this capital,” said George Scott Jr., a corporate transaction attorney with Womble Carlyle who will moderate an event aimed at linking investors with minority- and women-owned startups. 

When running up against a deadline, pulling an all-nighter may seem your only option to complete a project, but a recent study published in the Swedish journal, Sleep showed that, rather than boosting productivity, staying up all night is actually harmful to your brain.

The researchers measured blood levels of certain proteins associated with brain injuries such as concussions and found protein levels were 20% higher in those who pulled all-nighters compared to when they got a full night's rest. Although not as high as protein levels post-concussion, the study proves skimping on sleep can do real brain damage.

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The UpTake: When an entrepreneur launches a company, he or she is taking a gamble that their idea will work, but what happens if it fails? We asked a professor who analyzes startups about business failure and how to deal with it.

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"Silicon Allee," Berlin's burgeoning tech scene, has become a global hotbed for start-ups. Revenue from IT, the city's fastest growing sector, rose 20 percent last year to €2.2 billion, according to Investitionsbank Berlin. Cheap rent, an affordable infrastructure, and a creative culture have attracted young entrepreneurs and developers with ambitious start-up ideas to partake in the city's thriving digital landscape. 

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There is widespread consensus that crowdfunding is a boon, an egalitarian means for bringing great products and services to market without relying on banks, venture capitalists, or established financial angels. Myriad platforms now allow people with stunning epiphanies and folks with a little (or a lot) of cash to get together without the red tape and angst that so often accompanies the soliciting and procuring of start-up funds.

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Academic researchers, by nature, pursue scientifically interesting discoveries that could have a long-term impact. Meanwhile, investors and companies are interested in technologies that fill a very clear and immediate need in a market.

That difference in perspective is one thing that makes translating discoveries at academic institutions into viable products so challenging, as I learned at the Association of University Technology Managers‘ partnering forum in Cleveland last week.

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I recently had the pleasure of being part of a panel for Generation W, a wonderful event held in Jacksonville, FL, where women were inspired to impact change for themselves, their communities and the world. My panel focused on social entrepreneurship, a topic I know well since launching GreenHouse Eco-Cleaning, a company that is built upon the principle of doing well while doing good.

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Over the last several days, the Social Venture Network (SVN), a national association of social entrepreneurs held its spring conference in San Diego and I had the opportunity to attend.

The membership of SVN has a palpable passion for organic food, protecting the environment and changing the world. Below are some of the messages I picked up at the conference.

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Over the last decade, entrepreneurship has come to the fore, not simply as a means of job creation and reviving the economy, but also as a means of introducing new ways of thinking and problem solving. Some experts have also suggested that entrepreneurship ought to be a way of life.

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India is right now in the midst of a major golden rush: Entrepreneurship. As per a recent report by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, almost 100,000 new companies were registered in India last year! Never before in the Indian history, has such entrepreneurial fever been witnessed. As per the report, a total of 98,473 new companies were registered last year, which collectively raised Rs 39,000 crore of capital in different segments of business.

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It is a frequently made mistake. When the Bank of England recently announced that one of the most striking features of the economic recovery has been the record 4.5 million Britons who are now self-employed, Iain Duncan Smith claimed that this was evidence that the Coalition was “reviving Britain’s entrepreneurial spirit”.

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Bill Gates posted the graphic below to his blog on April 25.

It shows how many people are killed by different species of animal every year. The big red block at the bottom might surprise you:

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and Angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles. More executives, or other more creative titles are seen as a big red flag.

When you have a minute to spare here and there, it can be easy to succumb to checking Facebook or playing a quick game on your phone. After all, that's all you have time for, right?

Wrong.

In fact, there are plenty of productive ways you can use those minutes of free time—and since they can really add up over the days and weeks, we recommend you spend them wisely.

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A long-distance swimmer seeking to become the first British man to complete the Ocean's Seven, a group of seven long-distance swims around the world, was protected on his journey by a pod of dolphins who scared off a shark, according to the swimmer's support team. Adam Walker was swimming the approximately 16-mile long Cook Strait off the New Zealand coast last Tuesday when he spotted a shark in the water below him. Just as his fears began to rise, Walker said he was surrounded by a pod of around 10 dolphins that swam with him for more than an hour.

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The 2014 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) awarded nearly $2.9 million in cash and prizes in a record number of prizes this weekend at Rice University. Medical Adhesive Revolution of RWTH Aachen University, Germany, who developed a high-strength biodegradable surgical adhesive that can be used inside the human body to seal wounds within seconds, emerged as the top startup company winning $507,500 in the world's richest and largest student startup competition held April 10-12. This is the first time an international team has won the completion and the first time two international teams finished in the top six.

While classified as a high-income country by the OECD, youth unemployment rates in Greece persist at around 60 percent. Despite gains in economic freedom, major fiscal weaknesses remain. With more people finding it acceptable to start a business, Greek entrepreneurs are taking their economic transformation into their own hands with networks well beyond their borders.

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Statistics from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) show that the tendency to be self-employed increases with income. IRS data inform our understanding of self-employment because individual income tax filings reveal which taxpayers took the self-employment tax deduction, and which did not. Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes take 15.3 percent of workers’ pay to fund social security and Medicare, with half of these taxes paid by employers and half by employees. (In tax year 2013, high income earners have to pay an additional 0.9 percent Medicare tax).

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