Open Bionics has created a 3D-printed arm inspired by Luke Skywalker and the jump to hyperspace, as part of a fashion collection called Fashion Finds the Force, which honors the new Star Wars The Force Awakens film, due for release in December.

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When Jack Clare joined Dunkin’ Brands, holding company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins in 2012, he did so after a stint as CIO of Yum! Restaurants International. He took over a traditional IT function, but two and a half years into his time at Dunkin, there was a need for someone to lead corporate strategy for the company. The leadership team called upon Clare to take on these added responsibilities. The leadership team was impressed with the job he had done as CIO, but also were pleased that he had management consulting experience, and had worked on matters of strategy in his past.  The fact that so much of business strategy is enabled by information and technology was an added reason. As such, Clare, now the Chief Information and Strategy Officer of Dunkin’ Brands, is part of a small but growing group of CIOs who have taken over the strategy function. In this interview, he describes the reasons why he feels he got the combined role, the reasons why CEOs he spoke with were not surprised, and his thoughts about whether other CIOs will increasingly follow in his footsteps.

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A diamond ring startup has been using WhatsApp exclusively to talk through some of its deals, and says more clients want to do the same.

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Google’s recent appointment of VMware cofounder Diane Greene to run its growing cloud business creates an opportunity to build a high-growth rival to Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud computing. Greene and former colleague turned investor Jerry Chen

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In Why Your NDA Does Not Work For China, I explained why Western-style NDA Agreements do not work for China. Then in How To Protect Your IP From China With An NNN Agreement, I explained China-centric NNN Agreements and why those are what you need for China instead of an NDA Agreement. In today’s post, I explain how to draft an NNN Agreement that China courts will actually enforce.

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Have you ever wondered what the world looks like from the boomerang’s perspective? It’s very loud, for starters.

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How come we’re only finding lots of exoplanets now? Why didn’t we have this many discoveries before we launched the Kepler satellite?

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Sportsman Tracker, a Grand Rapids-based startup, wants to help hunters and fishers find the best locations and times to achieve results. To determine the best times to fish and hunt, Sportsman Tracker observes weather and moon patterns, which influences movement. Sportsman Tracker has apps available for iOS and Android so that hunters and fishers can determine the best times and locations while on-the-go. So far, Sportsman Tracker’s apps have been used for over 5 million predictions across 1.5 million locations since 2013.
After downloading the app and creating an account, you can then drop a pin on the map, such as a specific deer blind or spot on a lake, or search for your hunting or fishing location by address. Once you select the location, then you will be asked to pick a species like Whitetail Deer. From there, the app will give you a weekly outlook with the best times to go hunting and fishing along with a day-by-day prediction. This saved search becomes a “location” and you can save as many of your favorite fishing and hunting spots as you want.
The Sportsman Tracker mobile app can track the peak wildlife activity times for over 200 different species. To improve predictions, the current locations, dates and weather details are automatically captured in each of the logs. Locations can be shared with friends or set as private.
The Logs section of the app has a News Feed of photos featuring successes by Sportsman Tracker users. There are “Instant Buddy Notifications” that lets users see fishing and hunting photos from friends and other outdoor enthusiasts in real-time. The “Me” section of the app shows you information about your logs, who you follow and who is following you.
The apps use a proprietary prediction algorithm called Wildlife Intelligence Technology that predicts wildlife behavioral patterns based on eight environmental variables like weather patterns and the solunar calendar. These factors are applied to specific species levels and user locations to determine the best times for hunting and fishing. The Wildlife Intelligence Technology algorithm handles hourly, daily and weekly predictions; hourly weather with 10-day forecast; lake contours provided by Navionics; log activities; and instant buddy notifications.
Back in January, Sportsman Tracker raised $950,000 in funding led by Huron River Ventures and Start Garden. Detroit Innovate, Muskegon Angels and Karis Capital Partners also participated in the round. Sportsman Tracker started out at the Start Garden accelerator program in Grand Rapids. 
To learn more about Sportsman Tracker, I reached out to founder and CEO Jeff Courter for an interview. Below is the Q&A from the interview:
AC: How did you come up with the idea for Sportsman Tracker?
JC: My buddy and I were driving to a hunt at 4:30AM. That is when we started to decide which stand to sit at. I told him, ‘I wish there was some sort of program that would help me choose which spot was the best.’  That was the thought that lead me to create the first prediction formula for Sportsman Tracker.  Everything was built on that problem solving moment.
AC: Are there any stories from a Sportsman Tracker user that stands out?
JC: Yes. There’s a father and son team who own a furniture business down in Tennessee. One day in the fall, the dad didn’t show up for work. This was pretty rare according to the son. Rather than call his father to see what was going on, he said he just pulled out our app and saw that it was a 4/5 star day for the whitetail prediction. And sure enough, he was right. His dad had cut work based on the prediction score. The dad in this story wishes to remain anonymous. It’s funny to see how our app is actually changing human behavior!
AC: Why is your company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan? What are some of the benefits of that location?
JC: Being in GR, we are close to our customer. Just about everyone has a brother, father, uncle, or sister that is into hunting or fishing.  Also, the investment culture in Grand Rapids understands the importance and value of the hunting and fishing markets.  Plus, it’s just a great place to be.  It would be hard for me to leave my home hunting and fishing grounds!
AC: Can you provide details about how the $950,000 investment round came together?
JC: We had been working inside Start Garden’s investment community for about a year and half, building upon several rounds of smaller funding. As our product and user base grew, we attracted the attention of some other investment firms including Huron River Ventures. Huron River Ventures had a personal connection with the product and saw the large market opportunity. They led our seed round, and 4 other entities including Start Garden, followed suit in funding this round on January 5, 2015.
AC: What is the business model behind Sportsman Tracker? Given that the app is available for free, will there be premium features offered in the future?
JC: We are working hard on making a product that people love and can’t do without. We having been testing different models of revenue generation that fit the target demographic and are confident in our approach. We cannot fully disclose our plans at this point, but we are working diligently to make it a positive transition for our customers and future partners.  
AC: What makes Sportsman Tracker more useful/better than other hunting and fishing apps? What sets you apart?
JC: Sportsman Tracker is the only company that offers Wildlife Intelligence Technology. Our proprietary algorithms take into account all of the moon and weather variables that affect animal movement. We call them “rotating, stacked variables.” This means that the variables work together but also change in importance over the course of a year. Our goal is to provide the most accurate way of predicting for success for a hunter or fisherman.
AC: What species are the most popular for hunting and fishing right now?
JC: Whitetail deer and largemouth bass
The Sportsman Tracker app is available for free on iOS and Android. If you are into hunting and fishing, it is definitely worth checking out. Below is a YouTube demo of the app: 

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