Cop’s tip kickstarts smart idea

BOULDER – Boulder High School graduate and Stanford University student Daniel Haarburger on June 11 launched his second Kickstarter project, the Handleband, a device that attaches any smartphone to a bicycle.

Haarburger got the idea for the product when he was pulled over for biking after sunset with a faulty bike light. The police officer gave Haarburger some advice instead of a ticket: If you’re in a bind, use your smartphone as a light.

The Handleband is a single-piece silicone band that wraps around itself to secure a smartphone to a bike for all sorts of applications, from using the phone’s light to listening to music while riding.

Haarburger is aiming to raise $12,000 through Kickstarter.com, a site where entrepreneurs can crowdsource their funding. For $25, backers can pre-order one of the first bands made. For $50, they receive a light/mount setup.

Haarburger’s first Kickstarter project was the WINGStand, a plastic stand that connects mobile phones and touchscreen tablets to Bluetooth keyboards. Haarburger raised nearly $60,000 for that endeavor, far surpassing his goal of $9,500.

More Americans are finding work right now, which is good news. The bad news? We may not be behaving ourselves while we’re there. Reports of workplace-ethics lapses are dropping slightly as backlash against those who speak out is rising — and there are more ominous signs on the horizon.

Bolt Insurance in Connecticut created an infographic that highlights the current state of business ethics in the United States and offers tips for business owners to clean up their organization. Here are a few facts:

1 in 2: Employees that have seen misconduct in the office

1 in 5: Whistleblowers say they have faced some form of retaliation, up from just 12 percent five years ago . Top five forms of retaliation have been exclusion of decisions and work activity by supervisors, cold shoulder from other employees, verbal abuse by management, almost lost job and not given raises or bonuses.

Forty-two percent of employees say their company’s ethics cultures are weak.

You can view the infographic at https://www.boltinsurance.com/news/miscellaneous/business-ethics-infographic.

on Facebook on LinkedIn