How To Run a Meeting

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How To Run a Meeting Why is it that any single meeting may be a waste of time, an irritant, or barrier to the achievement of an organization’s objectives? The answer lies in the fact, as the author says, that “all sorts of human crosscurrents can sweep the discussion off course, and errors of psychology and technique on the chairman’s part can defeat its purposes.” This article offers guidelines on how to right things that go wrong in meetings. The discussion covers the functions of a meeting, the distinctions in size and type of meetings, ways to define the objectives, making preparations, the chairman’s role, and ways to conduct a meeting that will achieve its objectives. Continued here

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How National Champions Kirby Smart and Nick Saban Use Process Goals as Their Competitive Edge Leverage the science of progress goals to achieve organizational success. Continued here

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Choose Courage Over Confidence Self-doubt is a pervasive and often paralyzing concern, and research has repeatedly shown that it impacts women more than men. So what makes high-achieving women power through their self-doubt? According to the author’s research, they focus on building up their courage, not their confidence. She offers three strategies to help women take bold actions in the face of self-doubt and fear: 1) Don’t underestimate the impact of small, yet significant, acts of courage; 2) Practice courageous acts in all areas of your life; and 3) Try again tomorrow. Continued here

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Power and Politics in Organizational Life There are few business activities more prone to a credibility gap than the way in which executives approach organizational life. A sense of disbelief occurs when managers purport to make decisions in rationalistic terms while most observers and participants know that personalities and politics play a significant if not an overriding role. Where does the error lie? In the theory which insists that decisions should be rationalistic and nonpersonal? Or in the practice which treats business organizations as political structures? Continued here

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Why You Already Forgot That Book Plot This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning. Before writing this newsletter about how hard it is to remember things, I decided to test myself. I wasn’t sure how much of the recent culture I’d consumed would jolt back into my brain; if it turned out I was a memory savant, I figured I should mention that here. Continued here

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The best chef in the world | Psyche Films Although her name might not be familiar, if you’ve ever dined ‘farm-to-table’ you’ve likely tasted the influence of the visionary chef Sally Schmitt (1932-2022). She and her husband Don Schmitt founded the renowned restaurant the French Laundry, putting the Napa Valley outpost on the map as a culinary destination, and transforming an unassuming stone cottage in Yountville, California into one of the most exciting restaurants in the world. But, as The Best Chef in the World attests, this was not a title she ever aspired to hold. Filmed two years before her death, the short documentary celebrates her legacy and captures her sage perspectives on food, family and ambition – including her decision to sell the French Laundry at the peak of its success. The film’s opening minutes provide a culinary tour of Schmitt’s kitchen, and beyond, to explore where her love of food began. In quick close-ups, butter melts on the hob, fresh peppercorns grind in a pestle and mortar, and bright, home-grown leaves tear, ready to be plated. Viewers travel via archive footage and photography to 1930s California, the time and place of Sally’s birth. It was an era marked by the dawn of supermarkets and a move away from a soil-to-table connection to food. However, growing up in a ‘food-centric family’ that lived off the land, Sally’s enthusiasm for fresh, seasonal ingredients started early, and sprung from necessity. From braised meats to citrus fruits, the dishes served up throughout her childhood inspired the menus that would later dazzle diners at the French Laundry. Continued here

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Time Is on Ukraine’s Side, Not Russia’s The war in Ukraine began trending toward the defenders soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24. In the summer and fall of last year, Ukraine rapidly recaptured territory that Russia had seized in the war’s early days. Yet the relative stability of the front line in recent weeks has fueled fresh suggestions that Russia may soon go on the offensive again. Many analysts were hypnotized a year ago by what they saw as Russia’s overwhelming firepower, modern weapons, and effective planning and leadership. Although the Ukrainians almost immediately proved far more formidable than nearly anyone had anticipated, lulls in the war play to the expectation that Russia will soon start massing its supposed great reserves and recover the situation on the battlefield. The underlying assumption is that Ukraine has little hope of ultimate triumph over a fully mobilized Russia. In this account, the longer the war goes on, and the more rounds of forced conscription that Vladimir Putin and his military impose on the Russian population, the more decisive Russia’s supposed advantages will be. In reality, the logistical, planning, and organizational failures that stalled Russia’s advance and allowed Ukraine to recapture territory are likely to keep occurring. As long as its NATO partners keep increasing their support, Ukraine is well positioned to win the war. Continued here

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After a slow start, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is about to hit its stride Nearly five years have passed since the massive Falcon Heavy rocket made its successful debut launch in February 2018. Since then, however, SpaceX's heavy lift rocket has flown just three additional times. Continued here

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Writing a Rejection Letter (with Samples) I have a friend who appraises antiques — assigning a dollar value to the old Chinese vase your grandmother used for storing pencils, telling you how much those silver knickknacks from Aunt Fern are worth. He says the hardest part of his job, the part he dreads the most, is telling people that their treasure is worthless. Continued here

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The Origins of Joe Biden’s Document Mess On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the handling of classified documents found in the private office and home of President Joe Biden. The documents are believed to date from the Obama era, when Biden was Vice-President. In early November, less than a week before the midterm elections, Biden's legal team uncovered the office documents and turned them over to the National Archives, which then alerted the Department of Justice. (The Biden team did not itself reach out to D.O.J.) A month later, the legal team discovered additional classified documents in Biden's garage. The initial White House statement on the matter, which was made on Monday, mentioned the office documents but omitted the garage ones. (On Thursday, the White House confirmed the existence of the garage documents, and of one additional classified document found in an adjacent room.) This is the second special counsel that Garland has appointed to look into cases involving Presidents and documents. Late last year, he asked Jack Smith to oversee the case involving Donald Trump and the classified materials he had stored at Mar-a-Lago. (In that case, Trump refused for many months to turn over all of the documents, which led to an F.B.I. search of the property.) Robert K. Hur, who served in the Trump Administration, will oversee the Biden inquiry. Continued here

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Biden’s Classified Documents Should Have No Impact on Trump’s Legal Jeopardy Given the facts as they are now known, only the most superficial parallel can be drawn between the two situations. The recent discovery of a small number of classified documents, left over from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president and found at his private office and home, has injected confusion into the public’s understanding of whether any criminal liability might be appropriate for former President Donald Trump in connection with the huge trove of classified documents found last year at Mar-a-Lago. Continued here

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The Great Resignation Didn't Start with the Pandemic Covid-19 spurred on the Great Resignation of 2021, during which record numbers of employees voluntarily quit their jobs. But what we are living through is not just short-term turbulence provoked by the pandemic. Instead, it’s the continuation of a trend of rising quit rates that began more than a decade ago. Five main factors are at play in this trend: retirement, relocation, reconsideration, reshuffling, and reluctance. All of these factors, the authors argue, are here to stay. They explore each in turn and encourage leaders to examine which of them are contributing most to turnover in their organizations, so that they can adapt appropriately as they move into the future. Continued here

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California flooding reveals an unexpected solution to endless droughts California has seen so much rain over the past few weeks that farm fields are inundated, and normally dry creeks and drainage ditches have become torrents of water racing toward the ocean. Yet, most of the state remains in severe drought. All that runoff in the middle of a drought begs the question — why can’t more rainwater be collected and stored for the long, dry spring and summer when it’s needed? Continued here

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You need to play the gnarliest shooter of the decade ASAP Adrenaline is awesome. For our ancestors, it gave them the juice they needed to stay in trees and avoid predators. For us, its an excuse to go skydiving. We chase adrenaline now because there is very little chasing us. This is why we love a movie with a great chase sequence or thrash to heavy metal. Video games are great at tweaking our adrenal glands, though one recent title stands out among all others. Doom: Eternal from id Software is the epitome of first-person shooting prowess. It’s a carnal, chaotic smorgasbord of brutality and velocity, pitting players against the forces of hell as they invade Earth. Its intensity belies its delicate balance and bold innovation, especially for a franchise that could trade on name recognition alone. Pick it up and your pulse quickens. Continued here

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Leading People When They Know More than You Do If you’re a manager in a knowledge-driven industry, chances are you’re an expert in the area you manage. Try to imagine a leader without this expertise doing your job. You’ll probably conclude it couldn’t be done. But as your career advances, at some point you will be promoted into a job which includes responsibility for areas outside your specialty. Your subordinates will ask questions that you cannot answer and may not even understand. How can you lead them when they know a lot more about their work than you do? Welcome to reality: You are now the leader without expertise—and this is where you, possibly for the first time in your career, find yourself failing. You feel frustrated, tired and disoriented, even angry. This is the point where careers can derail. If you get to this point, or see yourself headed in this direction, what can you do? Continued here

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The Overwatch League ruled esports. Then everything went wrong Since its formation in 2017, the Overwatch League—the professional esports program for Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch hero shooter—has drawn frequent comparisons to traditional sporting institutions. Its stated aim, as WIRED put it in a 2017 feature, was to become the new US National Football League. Continued here

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Why Do Kids Hate Music Lessons? | The Walrus As a former violin student, I decided to investigate why so many promising players quit early In Bob Rafelson’s 1970 film Five Easy Pieces, the hero, Bobby Dupea, abandons a career as a promising concert pianist to live life as an itinerant labourer. His belligerence is as deeply rooted in him as is his innate musicality. We’re left to understand it wasn’t music Dupea rebelled against but how it was delivered. Despite his skill, he turned away from the environment he associated with music, an environment he found distasteful and anti­thetical to his being. Continued here

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3 Toxic Phrases People With High Emotional Intelligence Actually Use On Purpose, and Why It can be used for good or ill, and for altruistic or self-serving goals. Continued here

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Will milk and orange juice curdle and make you sick? Here's the truth about the breakfast combo Milk and orange juice are staples of the classic American breakfast, along with eggs sunny-side-up, and bacon, of course. Some believe, however, that chasing OJ with milk is a recipe for puking. The idea behind this myth is that when you mix orange juice with milk, it curdles in your stomach, making you feel nauseous. Continued here

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How to Approach an Office Romance (and How Not To) Should you date a coworker? Before you act on your feelings, it’s important to think through the risks — and there are quite a few. If you still want to move forward, research shows that your intentions matter. Your coworkers’ reactions will reflect what they believe your motives to be. It’s also important to know your companies policies. Many companies prohibit employees from dating coworkers, vendors, customers, or suppliers, or require specific disclosures, so be sure to investigate before you start a relationship. And if you do start dating someone, don’t try to hide the relationship from your manager or colleagues — it will only erode trust. Continued here

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What is it like to be a paramedic, navigating human emergency? | Aeon Videos The short documentary Blaulicht (Blue Light) follows two paramedic teams in Switzerland, one in the country’s mountainous centre, the other in the city of Zurich. With a fly-on-the-wall style, the Swiss filmmakers Roman Hodel and Lena Mäder capture the first responders’ work as they aid those in need, in situations that range from a traffic accident to an at-home fatality. As the teams focus their attention on their patients, Hodel and Mäder focus their cameras solely on the paramedics. In doing so, the directors capture their emotions as they provide everything from wellness checks to life-saving care with a mix of expertise, compassion and composure – and attempt to find respite in the quiet moments in between. Fifty years ago, a train collided with Jack and Betty’s car. Here’s how they remember it Continued here

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Amazon keeps selling out of these 50 weird but genius products with near-perfect reviews I love finding things on Amazon that may seem a little weird or slightly quirky, but they’re actually so helpful around the house. Probably the best part about these finds is that when you have people over. Why? They’re bound to point out how fun, on-trend, or adorable it is, and then you get to show off how useful it is. That’s probably why Amazon keeps selling out of these 50 weird but genius products, and I’ve rounded up all of the rave reviews to let you know just how useful they are. Continued here

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4 Simple but Powerful Tools That Will Help You Keep Track of Everything You Want to Remember They're free or cheap and they'll keep you amazingly organized. Continued here

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How Should Leaders Prepare for The Challenges Ahead? LinkedIn Execs Offer 3 Key Workforce Strategies Three strategies to build a more resilient organization for the future. Continued here

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Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans’ Rocky Road Ahead The simplest thing, usually, for a new congressional majority to do is elect a Speaker of the House. Often, the choice has been made in advance: the candidate grins, the chyron gives the tally, a press conference announcing the legislative agenda awaits. This month, the House Republicans, who won a slim majority in November, took fifteen votes and nearly a week to settle on Kevin McCarthy, even though he has led the Party since 2019 and had no serious opponent. The holdouts were about twenty members of the Party's far-right wing, but, even as each vote ended and the next one began, no one really seemed able to say what the conflict was about. John James, whose election in November made him the first Black Republican to represent Michigan in Congress, and who supported McCarthy, pointed out that the last time it had taken so many votes to pick a Speaker was in 1856. "The issues today are over a few rules and personalities," James said. "While the issues at that time were about slavery and whether the value of a man who looks like me was sixty per cent or a hundred per cent of a human being." The dividing line between the large number of Republicans backing McCarthy and the smaller, obstinate group standing in his way wasn't exactly ideological. Each camp included some of the prominent election deniers of the House Freedom Caucus. Ohio's Jim Jordan, long one of the most prominent hardliners, was in position to chair the Judiciary Committee, and had allied with McCarthy; so had the Georgia conspiracist Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had reportedly been promised a top committee assignment. The rebels included the Stop the Steal stalwarts Paul Gosar and Scott Perry, as well as the media-focussed right-wingers: Lauren Boebert, of Colorado, who faced calls to be stripped of committee assignments after making anti-Muslim slurs about her Democratic colleague Ilhan Omar; and Matt Gaetz, of Florida, who has been the subject of a federal investigation for sex trafficking but has not faced any charges. Up close, the distinction between these factions sometimes collapsed into personal grievances or turf war. The most dramatic moment came when the McCarthy ally Mike Rogers, of Alabama, lunged toward Gaetz, and was physically restrained. Only later did Politico report that Gaetz had been lobbying to run a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, which Rogers was set to chair. Continued here

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Subway Just Ran a Very Strange National Contest, and I Have to Admit It Was a Stroke of Genius No more than 10,000 winners, they said. Continued here

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How to watch 'The Last of Us': HBO’s next mega-hit is finally here The wait is nearly over. After much hype and fan-fueled expectation, the highly anticipated live-action adaptation of the beloved video game The Last of Us kicks off soon on HBO and HBO Max. Based on the Naughty Dog title first released on the PlayStation 3 a decade ago, The Last of Us drops audiences into a post-apocalyptic United States where civilization has been ravaged by a mutant strain of the Cordyceps fungus that transforms infected humans into zombie-like cannibalistic creatures. HBO and the show’s creators (Craig Mazin of Chernobyl acclaim and Neil Druckmann, the original writer and co-director of the game) will hope to avoid the typical problems with video game adaptations — and initial reviews of the big-budget series agree the network has another blockbuster genre hit on its hands that will more than satisfy diehard fans and new viewers alike. Continued here

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How to Ask for a Promotion First, reflect on what you want. Is there a job you covet or do you wish to create a new role? Do you want to move up — or might a lateral move interest you? Answering these questions helps you position your request. Second, build a case. Prepare a memo that outlines your strengths, recent successes, and impact. Next, talk to your boss and make your intentions clear. Beware that asking for a promotion is rarely a “one and done” discussion; rather, it’s a series of ongoing conversations. Your objective is to plant the seed and then nurture that seed over time. Finally, don’t get discouraged if you don’t get what you want right away. Continue to do good work and look for ways to elevate the level at which you operate. Continued here

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You need to watch the best vampire dystopia movie on HBO Max ASAP Vampires invading the realm of science fiction aren’t unheard of. Colin Wilson’s 1976 novel The Space Vampires became the basis for the 1985 sci-fi bomb Lifeforce. Both the 1966 Star Trek and the 1979 Buck Rogers dealt with sci-fi vampires in different guises. But it wasn’t until 2009 that mainstream science fiction really took vampires into the future. Daybreakers is both a massively underrated vampire flick and a fascinating sci-fi movie, and it’s well worth another look on HBO Max. Continued here

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Sam Raimi tried to make a 'Last of Us' movie — and it was almost a disaster HBO is poised to break the stigma surrounding video game adaptations with the long-awaited premiere of The Last of Us. The series, which comes from Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Last of Us game creator Neil Druckmann, is a big-budget adaptation of the post-apocalyptic game. Early reviews suggest it may very well be HBO’s newest smash hit. For fans of Naughty Dog’s games, that likely won’t come as much of a surprise. The 2013 original has long been regarded as one of the best games ever made, and discussions about adapting it circulated throughout Hollywood for years. Mazin isn’t the first high-profile Hollywood name who tried his hand; shortly after the game was released, a highly esteemed filmmaker signed on to oversee an adaptation that never saw the light of day. Continued here

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You need to watch the most brilliantly stupid thriller on HBO Max ASAP It seems unlikely the pioneers of 3D cinema ever envisaged their technology being used to gross out audiences with a disembodied penis belched up by a prehistoric piranha. Still, you can’t stop progress. Now streaming on HBO Max, Piranha 3D arrived in 2010, a year after the monumental success of Avatar left every major studio haphazardly attempting to capitalize on the returning appetite for all things three-dimensional. While a handful of films managed to create a similarly impressive immersive experience (see Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, space disaster Gravity), the majority – particularly those converted to the format retroactively – were ugly-looking affairs that left cinemagoers reaching for the aspirin. Continued here

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To Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking, Stop Thinking About Yourself Even the most confident speakers find ways to distance themselves from their audience. It’s how our brains are programmed, so how can we overcome it? Human generosity. The key to calming the amygdala and disarming our panic button is to turn the focus away from ourselves — away from whether we will mess up or whether the audience will like us — and toward helping the audience. Showing kindness and generosity to others has been shown to activate the vagus nerve, which has the power to calm the fight-or-flight response. When we are kind to others, we tend to feel calmer and less stressed. The same principle applies in speaking. When we approach speaking with a spirit of generosity, we counteract the sensation of being under attack and we feel less nervous. Continued here

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How Eric Adams Started Mentoring a Con Man About a year ago, not long after Eric Adams was sworn in as the mayor of New York, an old friend and church leader named Lamor Whitehead went to an auto shop in the Bronx, to drop off a Mercedes-Benz G-Class S.U.V. that had been in a crash. Whitehead led a small church in Brooklyn called Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries. People called him Bishop. The shop he visited, No Limit Auto Body, was operated by a man named Brandon Belmonte, who was involved in real estate. Federal prosecutors would later refer to Belmonte as “a businessman.” The Mercedes was a twenty-five-thousand-dollar job. Belmonte paid the thirteen-thousand-dollar bill for a rental replacement while the work was getting done. Whitehead wanted more. “He basically says, ‘You got to give me another five grand,’ ” Belmonte recalled. “I said, ‘Bro, the job was only twenty-five thousand. Thirteen and five is eighteen. The parts were seven grand. I’m gonna make zero.’ ” It occurred to Belmonte that Whitehead wasn’t trying to negotiate—he was asking for a kickback. He promised to make it worth Belmonte’s while. “I got City Hall in my back pocket,” Whitehead said, according to Belmonte. Continued here

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How much microplastic are we inhaling? Scientists still aren’t sure Any plastic product you interact with, be it a trash can or coffee maker, or lamp, is jettisoning little bits of itself as it ages. Take a look around. If you’re on a bus or train, you’re likely sitting on a plastic seat surrounded by people in synthetic clothing, all of it shedding particles as they move. If you’re on the couch or in bed, you’re sunk into the embrace of microfibers. The carpet underneath you is probably plastic, as is the coating of a hardwood floor. Curtains, blinds, TVs, coasters, picture frames, cables, cups — all of it’s either wholly plastic or coated in plastic. Continued here

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3 Simple Reasons So Many Adults Still love LEGO. Its a Lesson for Every Brand It's not an accident that everyone loves LEGO.Continued here S60 An aviation expert explains how the FAA's critical NOTAM safety system works Late in the evening of Jan. 10, 2023, an important digital system known as NOTAM run by the Federal Aviation Administration went offline. The FAA was able to continue getting necessary information to pilots overnight using a phone-based backup, but the stopgap couldn’t keep up with the morning rush of flights, and on Jan. 11, 2022, the FAA grounded all commercial flights in the U.S. In total, nearly 7,000 flights were canceled. Brian Strzempkowksi is the interim director of the Center for Aviation Studies at The Ohio State University and a commercial pilot, flight instructor and dispatcher. He explains what the NOTAM system is and why planes can’t fly if the system goes down. Continued here S29 How to Stop Saying "Um," "Ah," and "You Know" When you get rattled while speaking — whether you’re nervous, distracted, or at a loss for what comes next — it’s easy to lean on filler words, such as “um,” “ah,” or “you know.” These words can become crutches that diminish our credibility and distract from our message. To eliminate such words from your speech, replace them with pauses. To train yourself to do this, take these three steps. First, identify your crutch words and pair them with an action. Every time you catch yourself saying “like,” for example, tap your leg. Once you’ve become aware of your filler words as they try to escape your lips, begin forcing yourself to be silent. Finally, practice more than you think you should. The optimal ratio of preparation to performance is one hour of practice for every minute of presentation. Continued here S7 Farming in South Africa: 6 things that need urgent attention in 2023 Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC). South Africa’s agriculture remains an important sector of the economy and holds great potential to reduce poverty. It’s also central to the political economy of the country, as evident in the governing African National Congress’s (ANC) recent policy documents. Continued here S38 Our Social Media Addiction As an introverted, socially awkward teenager whose in-person interactions never seemed to go right, I liked the way Facebook allowed me to portray myself as I wanted. I created a profile that showcased my favorite quotes from classic movies and the music I had on repeat. In the digital world, I was more open and candid. I got to know people that I wouldn’t talk to face-to-face—and I often used the platform to vent about my classes. Continued here S15 The best Tom Cruise sci-fi movie on Netflix predicted a chilling technology Can you arrest someone for murder before they’ve even committed the crime? It might seem like a farfetched notion, and when 2002’s Minority Report came out, it probably seemed like just that — a Hollywood sci-fi interpretation of policing gone rogue. But twenty years later, this futuristic Tom Cruise sci-fi thriller feels chillingly relevant to our modern world. In the movie — based on a short story by Philip K. Dick and set in the year 2054 — special humans known as “precogs” predict the future. Police officer John Anderton (Tom Cruise) pieces together the precog’s visions in his “Precrime” unit to identify murder victims and stop perpetrators before the crime actually occurs. Continued here S53 AI Isn't Hollywood's Villain—It's a Flawed Hero Disruption is one of the few constants in the history of cinema. Early film theorists considered silent cinema a universal language until "talkies" transformed storytelling for the big screen. The domestic proliferation of TV after World War II drew audiences away from theaters and in the process helped dismantle the old studio system. The "digital revolution" has recalibrated where, when, and how we watch, even as it has caused cinephiles to mourn the loss of celluloid. Joining this line of creative destruction, the rise of AI-enabled (or "synthetic") media suggests that cinema is, once again, under threat. Synthetic media rely on machine learning tools that perform a range of tasks. They enable micro-targeted systems of distribution; streamline production and post-production workflows; and animate, edit, or even create entire audiovisual works from a text prompt. Continued here S13 15 years ago, a spacecraft swung by Mercury to beat the Sun's gravity The MESSENGER mission needed a few gravitational assists to enter orbit around the smallest planet. Anyone who has visited the small island of Venice, full of its romantic canals and pedestrian paths with abrupt dead ends aplenty, knows that distance does not always go hand in hand with navigational ease. Fifteen years ago, NASA performed one of its most complex navigational routes to reach the Solar System’s smallest planet: Mercury. The MESSENGER mission made its first flyby of Mercury 15 years ago today, January 14, 2008, with two more flybys of the planet after, with NASA finally inserting it into orbit on April 4, 2011. Continued here S21 2,454 years ago, one eerily familiar event led to the downfall of Ancient Athens During the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Thucydides was cited frequently, and for a good reason. The second anniversary of the January 6, 2021, insurrection is upon us. And each new revelation about that brutal mob assault on our government raises a host of fresh questions about what transpired in the days prior to January 6, notably who was involved in planning the events of that day. Why, for instance, did former President Donald Trump reportedly consider a blanket pardon for all the insurrectionists? Continued here S41 Storytelling That Moves People Persuasion is the centerpiece of business activity. Customers must be convinced to buy your company’s products or services, employees and colleagues to go along with a new strategic plan or reorganization, investors to buy (or not to sell) your stock, and partners to sign the next deal. But despite the critical importance of persuasion, most executives struggle to communicate, let alone inspire. Too often, they get lost in the accoutrements of companyspeak: PowerPoint slides, dry memos, and hyperbolic missives from the corporate communications department. Even the most carefully researched and considered efforts are routinely greeted with cynicism, lassitude, or outright dismissal. Continued here S14 How to choose between the male and female protagonists in 'Persona 3 Portable' The Persona series is full of complicated mechanics and systems to master, and players will spend hours making constant choices related to combat and forming social links. But before you even get started in Persona 3 Portable, the game will ask you to choose between playing as a male or female protagonist. While there are some similarities between the two paths, each protagonist has unique experiences that the other does not have access to — and the game doesn’t tell you this beforehand. Here is a guide to help you decide if you should play as the male or female protagonist in Persona 3 Portable. In its original release for PlayStation 2, Persona 3 had only one protagonist. Like the rest of the modern Persona games (4 and 5), players could only play as a male protagonist. With Persona 3 Portable, those who have never played the game might want to consider playing as the male protagonist to experience the game’s original narrative. Continued here S6 Why cholera continues to threaten many African countries Cholera is a disease caused and spread by bacteria – specifically Vibrio cholerae – which you can get by eating or drinking contaminated food or water. It’s an old disease which has mostly affected developing countries, many of which are in Africa. Between 2014 and 2021 Africa accounted for 21% of cholera cases and 80% of deaths reported globally. Continued here S69 Why Tim Cook’s $50 Million Pay Cut Is the Best Example of Emotional Intelligence I’ve Seen Yet Shareholders expressed concern over Apple's CEO pay. His response was good leadership. Continued here S58 Starts With A Bang podcast #89 - The active threat of the Sun For life on Earth, there’s no more important source of energy than the Sun; without it, it’s doubtful that life would have arisen on Earth, and it certainly wouldn’t have evolved to give rise to the wild diversity of biological organisms seen today. But the Sun is more than just a constant source of heat and light; it also emits particles, and there’s a darker side to that activity: flares, coronal mass ejections, and the threats this space weather poses to living planets like our own. It turns out that for technologically advanced civilizations like our own, the threats that arise from the Sun are far greater and more dangerous than at any time prior in Earth’s history, and despite the knowledge we have of what the Sun can do to the Earth, we’re woefully unprepared for the inevitable. Thankfully, there are not only people studying it, but many of them are also fighting and advocating for solutions and planetary protection, including Sierra Solter, a plasma physicist specializing in solar plasmas, who joins us on this edition of the Starts With A Bang podcast.  Continued here S56 A Russian Ransomware Gang Attack Destabilizes UK Royal Mail A WIRED investigation this week found that the app SweepWizard, which some US law enforcement agencies use to coordinate raids, was publicly exposing sensitive data about hundreds of police operations until WIRED disclosed the flaw. The exposed data included personally identifying information about hundreds of officers and thousands of suspects, including geographic coordinates of suspects’ homes and the time and location of raids, demographic and contact information, and some suspects’ Social Security numbers. Meanwhile, police in the Indian state of Telangana are using grassroots educational initiatives to help people avoid digital scams and other online exploitation. And the industrial control giant Siemens disclosed a major vulnerability in one of its most popular lines of programmable logic controllers this week. The company does not have plans to fix the vulnerability because, on its own, it is exploitable only through physical access. Researchers say, though, that it creates exposure for the industrial control and critical infrastructure environments that incorporate any of the 120 models of vulnerable S7-1500 PLCs. Continued here S19 This bold new mission will try beaming solar power down from space While the technology behind solar cells has existed since the late 19th century, generating solar power in space presents some serious challenges. Solar power, long considered the leading contender among renewable energy sources, has advanced significantly over the past few decades. The cost of manufacturing and installing solar panels has dropped considerably, and efficiency has increased, making it price competitive with coal, oil, and fossil fuels. However, some barriers, like distribution and storage, still prevent solar power from being adopted more aggressively. In addition, there’s the ever-present issue of intermittency, where arrays cannot collect power in bad weather and during evenings. Continued here S47 How to Write a Winning Business Plan You’ve got a great idea for a new product or service—how can you persuade investors to support it? Flashy PowerPoint slides aren’t enough; you need a winning business plan. A compelling plan accurately reflects the viewpoints of your three key constituencies: the market, potential investors, and the producer (the entrepreneur or inventor of the new offering). Continued here S54 17 Great Deals on Headphones, Gaming Gear, and Switch Games If you didn’t spend all your time over the holidays hunting for deals (like we do), you’re in luck. Plenty of gadgets that normally go on sale later in the year—including headphones and video games—are already dropping in price again. The deals just can’t hide for long. Be sure to check out our deals on WFH gear and phones from earlier this week for more savings. Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day. Continued here S2 Emotionally Intelligent People Know How to Listen. Here Are 5 Things They Do Different Emotional intelligence gives you the knowledge and power not just to listen, but to learn. Continued here S26 The First Americans – a story of wonderful, uncertain science | Aeon Essays Footprints dated to 23,000-21,000 years ago at the White Sands National Park, New Mexico. All images courtesy Matthew Bennett/Bournemouth University Footprints dated to 23,000-21,000 years ago at the White Sands National Park, New Mexico. All images courtesy Matthew Bennett/Bournemouth University Continued here S50 The Making of a Corporate Athlete If there is one quality that executives seek for themselves and their employees, it is sustained high performance in the face of ever-increasing pressure and rapid change. But the source of such performance is as elusive as the fountain of youth. Management theorists have long sought to identify precisely what makes some people flourish under pressure and others fold. We maintain that they have come up with only partial answers: rich material rewards, the right culture, management by objectives. Continued here S20 These 50 things on Amazon are so damn good at fixing problems around your home Sometimes, living in a house or apartment requires hiring a full-time maintenance person. The sink is clogged, there are drafts coming through the doorway, you need shelves hung properly, and there isn't nearly enough storage space. But it isn't a repairperson you need — it's these Amazon products that can help fix your household problems. Thankfully, I've included a bunch right here on this list. Whether it's hair in the drain or bathroom counter clutter that's making you want to throw a shoe through a window, the products in this roundup can help solve your household issues. There's even a vacuum made specifically for pet hair — but if most of your frustrations can only be solved through plumbing and tech fixes, don't despair. These things will come to your rescue, and nothing here is too expensive or hard to use. Continued here S43 What Is a Business Model? A look through HBR’s archives shows that business thinkers use the concept of a “business model” in many different ways, potentially skewing the definition. Many people believe Peter Drucker defined the term in a 1994 article as “assumptions about what a company gets paid for,” but that article never mentions the term business model. Instead, Drucker’s theory of the business was a set of assumptions about what a business will and won’t do, closer to Michael Porter’s definition of strategy. Businesses make assumptions about who their customers and competitors are, as well as about technology and their own strengths and weaknesses. Joan Magretta carries the idea of assumptions into her focus on business modeling, which encompasses the activities associated with both making and selling something. Alex Osterwalder also builds on Drucker’s concept of assumptions in his “business model canvas,” a way of organizing assumptions so you can compare business models. Introducing a better business model into an existing market is the definition of a disruptive innovation, as written about by Clay Christensen. Rita McGrath offers that your business model is failing when innovations yield smaller and smaller improvements. You can innovate a new model by altering the mix of products and services, postponing decisions, changing the people who make the decisions, or changing incentives in the value chain. Finally, Mark Johnson provides a list of nineteen types of business models and the organizations that use them. Continued here S44 How Effective Managers Use Information Systems Advances in computer-based information technology in recent years have led to a wide variety of systems that managers are now using to make and implement decisions. By and large, these systems have been developed from scratch for specific purposes and differ significantly from standard electronic data processing systems. Too often, unfortunately, managers have little say in the development of these decision support sysems; at the same time, non-managers who do develop them have a limited view of how they can be used. In spite of these drawbacks, the author found that a number of the 56 systems he studied are successful. And the difference between success and failure is the extent to which managers can use the system to increase their effectiveness within their organizations. Thus, the author suggests that this is the criterion designers and managers should jointly ascribe to in exploiting the capabilities of today’s technologies. Continued here S48 Pricing and the Psychology of Consumption For example, suppose that Mary and Bill join a health club. Bill pays $600 on enrolling; Mary selects the $50-per-month plan. Who’s more likely to renew their membership? Mary. Every month, she’s reminded of the cost—so she works out more, to get her money’s worth. And members who frequently work out tend to renew. Continued here S55 When Did the Anthropocene Actually Begin? This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Exactly where and when did the Anthropocene begin? Scientists are attempting to answer this epochal question in the coming months by choosing a place and time to represent the moment when humanity became a “geological superpower,” overwhelming the natural processes that have governed Earth for billions of years. Continued here S45 Could Getting Rid of Old Cells Help People Live Disease-Free for Longer? Researchers are investigating medicines that selectively kill decrepit cells to promote healthy aging James Kirkland started his career in 1982 as a geriatrician, treating aging patients. But he found himself dissatisfied with what he could offer them. Continued here S51 5 Ways to Acquire New Skills Without Going Back to School Whether you want to change jobs or prepare for the next-level role, the most important thing to know about upskilling is that every employee needs to be doing it all the time. Jobs are changing as business demands change, and employees are expected to prove their value with increasingly higher expectations. There are plenty of ways to educate yourself and upskill without going back for a traditional undergraduate or graduate degree. The author presents five ways to upskill without going back to school. Continued here S57 5 great (and underrated) songs about cities Though it comes in a wide variety of styles, music tends to be quite repetitive when it comes to topic selection. One study from June 2014 in the Journal of Advertising Research found that the primary themes in the most popular songs from 1960 to 2009 were loss, desire, aspiration, breakup, pain, inspiration, and nostalgia; the secondary themes included rebellion, jadedness, desperation, escapism, and confusion. In other words, if we aren’t singing about love, we’re singing about how terrible life is — which means the book I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You’ve Ever Heard roughly captures the modern musical zeitgeist. Continued here S59 Krispy Kreme donuts to be filled, frosted, and packaged by machines Donut chain Krispy Kreme has had a rough year, but it has a plan to get profitable again — and it includes a $6 million investment in automated systems to frost, fill, and package its donuts. The challenge: Krispy Kreme’s shops are set up so that customers waiting in line can watch as rows of freshly fried donuts ride a conveyor belt under a waterfall of silky, sugary glaze.  Continued here S52 How Transparent Should You Be with Your Team? Transparency is a critical leadership attribute. It helps to build trust, and it’s a prerequisite for building a constructive, high-performance culture. But it’s easy for leaders to get into trouble if they don’t understand the nuances of transparency. When is it critical to demonstrate full transparency? When is it more appropriate to offer no transparency at all? First-time leaders need to learn to make sound decisions about how much transparency is appropriate under a few different scenarios. Continued here S49 A Study of 597 Logos Shows Which Kind Is Most Effective Great logos help sell products. But what kind of logo is right for your brand? Researchers analyzed 597 companies to answer this question. They discovered descriptive logos (those that include visual design elements that communicate the type of product) more favorably affect consumers’ brand perceptions than nondescriptive ones (logos that are not indicative of the type of product). They also found that descriptive logos are more likely to improve brand performance — unless consumers associate your product with sad or unpleasant things, in which case a nondescriptive logo is probably better. Continued here S39 Leading People When They Know More than You Do If you’re a manager in a knowledge-driven industry, chances are you’re an expert in the area you manage. Try to imagine a leader without this expertise doing your job. You’ll probably conclude it couldn’t be done. But as your career advances, at some point you will be promoted into a job which includes responsibility for areas outside your specialty. Your subordinates will ask questions that you cannot answer and may not even understand. How can you lead them when they know a lot more about their work than you do? Welcome to reality: You are now the leader without expertise—and this is where you, possibly for the first time in your career, find yourself failing. You feel frustrated, tired and disoriented, even angry. This is the point where careers can derail. If you get to this point, or see yourself headed in this direction, what can you do? Continued here S46 How to Write a Winning Business Plan You’ve got a great idea for a new product or service—how can you persuade investors to support it? Flashy PowerPoint slides aren’t enough; you need a winning business plan. A compelling plan accurately reflects the viewpoints of your three key constituencies: the market, potential investors, and the producer (the entrepreneur or inventor of the new offering). 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