It's Wednesday before New Year's Eve and likely for many the last work day of the year unless you're in the travel, delivery or hospitality industry. Yesterday I spoke with my UPS route manager and he revealed just how busy they are getting. Normally his heavy period ends just after New Years, but UPS is scheduling his helper though March.  That's based on predictive analytics and the volume velocity they are seeing, not only from Amazon but just about every online retailer and products company. To me, we're now at a tipping point of online and bricks and mortar retail where the real money is being made in the middle with logistics, not simply retail. And you wonder why Amazon wants there own planes…But I digress…below are some stories you may want to peruse as you clean up your desk(top) get ready for next year and look back on what has been a great year for many.

Have a view on the news today? Please let me know what you think….Andy Abramson

Inside the $1.1 Billion Startup Behind Nearly Every App You Use-Twilio

Developers want the customers using their apps to be able to communicate with the businesses that deploy them, whether that's through voice, text, or video. If that seems obvious, it is. And it's one of the reason's that Twilio, the communications development platform, based in San Francisco, California, has been so outrageously successful in recent years.

New Wireless Tech Will Free Us From the Tyranny of Carriers

Cell coverage can be fickle. You might get great reception at home but spotty coverage at work or at the gym even though other carriers work fine. And even if your carrier has your entire city pretty well covered, all bets are off when you travel.

Global mobile: why 2016 is the global tipping point for the mobile economy

Scientists in Antarctica are downloading mobile games. Parents in Syria worry about kids using too much tech. Islanders in American Samoa connect with 4G, and sherpas in Nepal chat on their smartphones while lugging 75-pound loads. What's happening? The mobile economy is reaching a global tipping point.

Airbnb is becoming a real threat to the hotel business in big US cities

Altogether, 2015 was a good year for the US hotel industry. For the month of November, US hotels improved on three key metrics: room occupancy, average daily rates, and revenue per available room, according to STR Global, a hotel industry research firm. Year to date, hotel performance is also up across the board.

How does the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 change the Internet surveillance laws?

The Omnibus Appropriations Act that President Obama signed into law last week has a provision called the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. The Cyber Act, as I'll call it, includes sections about Internet monitoring that modify the Internet surveillance laws. This post details those changes, focusing on how the act broadens powers of network operators to conduct surveillance for cybersecurity purposes.

Countries Rush for Upper Hand in Antarctica

On a glacier-filled island with fjords and elephant seals, Russia has built Antarctica's first Orthodox church on a hill overlooking its research base, transporting the logs all the way from Siberia.

15 Reasons Why Your Sales(people's) Numbers Might Not Add Up

When I write articles like this I sometimes feel that I may have regressed into my former roles as the whining sales manager. While there may be some truth to that, the following also represents me looking into the mirror and not liking what I see since I have personally committed each of these selling sins and, believe me, have done so more than once.

Cyber Security for Family and Teens [Infographic] 

The internet is a very vast place where parental boundaries are hard to make. In today's internet culture of cyberbullying, sexting, social media addiction and inappropriate content it has never been so hard to censor what your child is exposed to.

Meet The Winners: The Coolest Israeli Startups And Innovations Of 2015

2015 was a stellar year for Israeli innovation. Over the past year, the Israeli startup ecosystem has made global headlines with a host of new cutting-edge technologies that include breakthrough medical devices, FinTech solutions, cyber-security systems, Internet of Things (IoT) gizmos, and a long list of cool gadgets and apps that have gained immense popularity around the world during 2015.

5 Apps to Help With Your New Year's Resolutions

Want to make your New Year's resolution last more than just a few days? While it ultimately comes down to you, there are plenty of apps that can provide the extra motivation you need to stay the course. Whether it's quitting a bad habit or building a healthy new one, check out these five apps to help you reach your goals.