Xbox Game Pass Is Quietly Adding the Most Time-Saving Retro-Inspired Action RPG of the Year

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Xbox Game Pass Is Quietly Adding the Most Time-Saving Retro-Inspired Action RPG of the Year     Time is money, and most of us don't have enough of either. This is exacerbated by the staggering amount of choices we have to make everyday on food, on tech, and our entertainment. Even our distractions can’t distract us from our predicament. Too many of them demand too much of our time, especially RPGs. What do you do when you want a nice RPG experience but don’t have dozens of hours of free time to spend? You hop on Xbox Game Pass and check out Anuchard, that’s what.Retro action RPG Anuchard, developed by stellarNull, is new to Game Pass in February. It’s styled after the SNES cult classic Soul Blazer, a 1992 RPG from Quintet. Both games are organized around dungeon-diving in various towns and villages in order to rescue hapless townsfolk who got trapped in the subterranean subterfuge, which unlocks new NPCs and improvements for the town. Anuchard is very much a modern game though, with sharp aesthetics and a phenomenal soundtrack that give it the rarified air of a solidly interesting indie. Continued here

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South Africa's military is expected to do more than ever with tighter budgets: how the force has declined over 30 years     The South African National Defence Force marks 30 years this year, having been established on 27 April 1994. It’s as old as the country’s constitutional democracy, the result of a negotiated political settlement that ended apartheid. The defence force consists of the army, air force, navy, and military health service.It’s an amalgamation of the former apartheid era South African Defence Force, the militaries of the former nominally independent Bophuthatswana, Transkei, Ciskei and Venda, and the former liberation armies of the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania. It’s currently ranked third in Africa, after Egypt and Algeria. Continued here

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'True Detective's Darkest Conflicts Are All About to Collide     True Detective: Night Country is now halfway over, and the mystery tying so many factions of the Ennis, Alaska community together is escalating. With the crew of Tsalal Station apparently frightened into the grave, a torrid love affair revealed, and more and more protesters surrounding the local mining company, everything seems like it’s about to reach a boiling point. With only three episodes left, what other clues will emerge, and how will the seemingly supernatural elements that keep appearing be resolved? Here’s everything you need to know about True Detective Episode 4, from when you can watch to what it will be about. Continued here

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The Bias Backfire     Opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1991 was vociferous, with critics branding it a “quota bill.” That concern turned out to be unwarranted, but the legislation has hurt some of the people it was meant to protect, according to our study of pre– and post–Civil Rights Act employment data. Continued here

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Treat Employees like Adults     People aren’t getting dumber, but they’re often treated that way. Politicians, educators, and the media assume the public is uncomfortable with nuance and grateful for prescribed solutions. Business, too, is being progressively dumbed down, not only by book authors who teach management by parable but also by managers themselves. Ironically, the infantilization of work is happening at the same time experts tout employee skills and knowledge as a prime source of corporations’ intellectual capital. Continued here

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Indigenous trailblazer Lowitja O'Donoghue dies aged 91     Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name and images of a deceased person.One of Australia’s most highly-regarded Indigenous leaders, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue, has died aged 91. Continued here

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50 Years Ago, a Brutal Martial Arts Thriller Quietly Influenced Quentin Tarantino     The popularity of Bruce Lee ignited a martial arts movie boom around the world. Many of these films were imported to America on the cheap and became exciting staples of grindhouse theaters (and the eventual subject of copious parodies). But in the mid-’70s, one man stood out in the suddenly crowded field: Sonny Chiba. And the thrilling film that made his name in the post-Lee era of the kung fu flick was The Street Fighter.The Street Fighter’s plot isn’t too different from many of its peers: it’s a bloody tale of revenge and redemption in which the gifted Takuma Tsurugi must deal with the villainous yakuza while simultaneously honoring his own impenetrable moral code. He might be open to viciously mauling gangsters and henchmen, but betrayal and hurting the innocent? Tsurugi simply can’t stand for that. As such, much of the appeal of The Street Fighter comes from what seems like Tsurugi fighting off the entire world. Many might fall prey to greed, lust, and insecurity, but not Tsurugi. And he’s got the body count to prove it. Continued here

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50 Clever Things That Make Your Home So Much Cooler for Under $35     Your home reflects your personal tastes, so it makes sense that you’d want it to look as unique and cool as possible. Unfortunately, “cool” can occasionally come with a high price tag. That’s where this list of carefully curated home goods comes in. It’s bursting with eye-catching items that will make your place stand out in the best way possible. So whether you’re in the market for futuristic storage solutions, kitchen items that double as art, or bedding that makes a good night’s rest even better, there’s something here for you. And better yet, everything rings up at $35 or less, which is also pretty cool. Turn heads with these clever floating shelves that come in a set of two. They feature wood panels with iron brackets, but what sets them apart are the unique elastic straps on the bottom. Simply slip your books through the straps and the shelves will create the illusion that they’re hanging like icicles, all while freeing up additional storage on the top. Continued here

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'Dune 2's Biggest Change to the Book's Ending Guarantees 'Dune 3'     The sleeper must awaken! By this time next month, the full cinematic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s first Dune novel will be complete. And, while we should expect an ending that is mostly faithful to the book, Denis Villeneuve has hinted that there’s at least one way in which the new film differs from the text. And, in this revelation, it seems like a third Dune film almost has to be completed, otherwise, everyone is just going to be too depressed. Book spoilers ahead.In the latest issue of Total Film, Denis Villeneuve lays out why he feels Dune: Part Two will hit differently than the original book, which seems to make the possibility of a third Dune film not only more likely, but possibly necessary. Continued here

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When the Red Phone Rings: Three Questions to Ask in a Crisis     “It’s three a.m. and the phone rings. Who do you want to answer it?” asks a baritone voice over an image of a red phone. Walter Mondale first used this scenario in an campaign ad in 1984. Hillary Clinton just used the same image in her campaign against Barack Obama. The inference is that it takes an experienced hand to pick up that phone. Continued here

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Does Your Office Have a Jargon Problem?     While most people find jargon (not to be confused with slang) to be annoying, it remains a staple of the modern workplace. It does have its uses — for example, air traffic controllers use the phonetic alphabet for clarity and accuracy. But, according to the authors’ research, jargon can also result from insecurity and a desire for professional status. If you’re concerned about the potential negative effects of jargon on you or your organization, there are four steps you can take to mitigate them. First, be aware of context to know whether jargon might be helping or hurting you. Second, ask yourself if there’s a simpler way to communicate the same idea or if the audience commonly uses the same jargon. Third, use executive communications that use clear and unambiguous language to set the tone for the organization. Finally, send a message by letting others know why you or your organization don’t espouse excessive jargon. Continued here

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eBay's Disappearing Customer Focus     Everyone has less acute hearing as we grow older. Include eBay in this group as well. New eBay chief John Donahoe has recently done several things to decrease his maturing company’s ability to listen to its customers. In doing so, he has put the company on a path toward a more “traditional” e-retailer at the very time the market for social media–arguably something eBay helped create–is taking off. Continued here

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Build a Strategy for Sustainability     Adam Werbach, Global CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi S and former Sierra Club president, is the author of Strategy for Sustainability. Continued here

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Getting Unusual Suspects to Solve R&D Puzzles     For even the toughest of R&D problems, there are often people out there with innovative solutions already on their shelves or in their back pockets. The trick for corporate executives is finding and gaining access to those individuals. Our research with a company that broadcasts technological problems into the ether—and gets back solid results—has given us a profile of the kind of people most likely to solve R&D puzzles. We wonder whether firms might be able to emulate this method to draw new insights from the talents and expertise of their own employees. Continued here

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Stop Undervaluing Exceptional Women     Despite progress toward gender equality at work, it still takes women longer to get promoted than men, and few make it to the top of the corporate ladder. The authors’ research suggests that the reason why comes down to gender-biased assumptions about how challenging it will be to retain them. Their findings illuminate how standout women employees can be taken for granted by companies because of gendered beliefs about who is and who isn’t a flight risk. Moreover, such gendered dynamics likely contribute to the glass ceiling and gender gaps in earnings. If companies assume women will place loyalty to the firm over advancing in their careers through outside opportunities, they won’t engage in preemptive retention efforts like bonuses, raises, promotions, or increased responsibility like they will for men. To stop taking talented women for granted and to avoid losing them to other firms, companies need to do more to recognize and address these biases. Continued here

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Boards Can't Wait for CEOs to Prioritize Digital Change     Boards need to take a proactive role in digitization of legacy businesses. If they don’t, activist investors and shareholders will. Starting with their own education of how digitization will affect the business, boards should make sure they have the right CEO and that the CEO has a bold vision for reimagining the business. They will have to be prepared to defend the CEO against backlash from the inside, outside, and investment community. And in some cases, boards may have to evaluate and refresh their composition – resisting the reality of digitization is a good reason to expedite a change. Continued here

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Why Good Companies Go Bad     Many leading companies plummet from the pinnacle of success to the depths of failure when market conditions change. Because they’re paralyzed? To the contrary, because they engage in too much activity—activity of the wrong kind. Suffering from active inertia, they get stuck in their tried-and-true activities, even in the face of dramatic shifts in the environment. Instead of digging themselves out of the hole, they dig themselves in deeper. Continued here

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Strategy is Different in Service Businesses     Many managers of service businesses are aware that the strategic management (by which I mean the total process of selecting and implementing a corporate strategy) of service businesses is different from that of manufacturing businesses. This article discusses how pure service businesses are different from product-oriented businesses and why they require different strategic thinking. A pure service business is one in which the service is the primary entity that is sold. Continued here

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When Should Multinationals Move Back into Venezuela?     Venezuela’s economic and political crisis is unlikely to become top of mind for Latin America regional executives and corporate centers, at least from a business standpoint. Most multinationals have fled the Venezuelan market over the last three years, amid growing difficulties to repatriate profits, import raw materials and finished goods into the market, get paid by local partners and the Venezuelan government, and more recently due to full-fledged expropriations and factory confiscations — all problems stemming from the abrupt reduction of U.S. dollars in the Venezuelan economy since oil prices started to plunge in April 2014. A return to growth will likely be long and painful. Companies should hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Continued here

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Competing Through Manufacturing     Manufacturing companies, particularly those in the United States, are today facing intensified competition. For many, it is a case of simple survival. What makes this challenge so difficult is that the “secret weapon” of their fiercest competitors is based not so much on better product design, marketing ingenuity, or financial strength as on something much harder to duplicate: superior overall manufacturing capability. For a long time, however, many of these companies have systematically neglected their manufacturing organizations. Now, as the cost of that neglect grows ever clearer, they are not finding it easy to rebuild their lost excellence in production. Continued here

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A West African ode to a spicy and tangy chicken dish     Beyond its rough translation of "good hospitality", the West African philosophy of teraanga (sometimes spelled "teranga") means giving without expecting anything material in return, rooted in the deep cultural belief in the reciprocity of blessings. In Senegal it is a way of life, a commitment to offering the best of what one has to guests, treating them with unparalleled kindness."There's a word in Wolof, the syrupy mother tongue of my native Senegal in West Africa, that perfectly describes the spirit of our food culture. That word is teraanga," reflects Senegalese author, chef and restauranteur Pierre Thiam in the introduction to his cookbook, Simply West African, published in 2023. This guide to West African cuisine celebrates Senegalese culture, as well as the culinary treasures that span the African diaspora, from Thiam's vegan entry into the Jollof rice wars, to his iconic piri-piri chicken – a West African ode to a spicy and tangy southern African dish. Continued here

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CBGB: The scuzzy 1970s New York club that ushered in a new age of rock     Now renowned as one of the most vibrant cultural epicentres on the planet, in the early 1970s New York was a very different city. Gig venues for alternative music were sparse rather than plentiful. While Max's Kansas City was a go-to hangout spot for the bourgeoning glam rock scene – with the likes of David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Andy Warhol and Lou Reed all frequent attendees – they booked established acts with record deals, leaving aspiring young musicians with restricted avenues.The Mercer Arts Center was a vital breeding ground for bands such as the New York Dolls to flourish but in 1973 it collapsed, leaving even fewer options for a new generation of bands. "There were no rock venues at the time," Lenny Kaye, the long-time guitarist for Patti Smith tells BBC Culture. "With Patti we were mostly playing folk clubs or strange venues, like in a restaurant. There were no places for a band to go and make a stand." But a new one was about to provide them with just that: CBGB. Continued here

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Researchers Created the "Ideal" Astronaut Diet And Turned It Into This Salad Recipe     Though floating among trillions of stars, the International Space Station (ISS) will probably never earn even one Michelin star. The epitome of efficiency, astronaut cuisine prioritizes nutrient density and minimal waste.But expanding capabilities in space exploration are bringing a burgeoning need to develop nutritious and, yes, tasty meals that can fuel astronauts without taking up too much real estate or energy. Using the latest data on astronaut nutritional needs and space agriculture, researchers in the U.S., U.K., Spain, and Australia created what they are calling the optimal space food, which they made into a salad. The researchers published their results (which conveniently doubles as a recipe) in the journal ACS Food Science & Technology in December 2023. Continued here

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Collaborating with Someone You Don't Really Know     When we are meeting a new collaborator for the first time, many of us are inclined to dive in and “get to work” after quick introductions. But taking a step back to get to know your colleague will help you get to know each other better and work together more effectively.  Start with these five questions: What are our goals and process for this project? Who will do what and by when? What are our individual preferred work styles and strengths? When and how will we give each other feedback on our working relationship? And what do we need from each other to do our best work? Continued here

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The Future of (Steve) Jobs: The Appatar     What multi-billion dollar techno-baby might be birthed if James Cameron and Steve Jobs had a passionate collaborative affair? No, not a “Titanic Tablet.” But how about an “Appatar”? Sometime in the next two years, appatars will emerge as perhaps the most innovative, and productive, way for people to get value from The Cloud. Continued here

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How Anger Poisons Decision Making     You’re late for work, and it’s pouring rain. In the parking lot, a car speeds around you and takes the last spot near the building entrance. You end up trudging from the back of the lot and get soaked to the skin. You’re mad, and you know your judgment at the moment is probably impaired. Worse, the leftover anger will continue to color your decisions at work, our research suggests, without your awareness—not a good thing for anyone trying to steer the best course through the day’s business problems. Continued here

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Disney's Crist     Born in a small Basque fishing village on the northern coast of Spain at the end of the 19th century, Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972) went on to become one of the most innovative and influential fashion designers of the 20th century – and the king of fashion in Paris.His dedication to the craft of dressmaking and tailoring was fostered by his seamstress mother and acknowledged by local Spanish aristocracy who recognised his talents. A marquesa’s patronage led to a tailoring apprenticeship in San Sebastián, where he opened his first dressmaking business in 1919 at the age of 24, and later an atelier in Madrid. Continued here

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SPACs: What You Need to Know     Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, have been around in various forms for decades, but during the past two years they’ve taken off in the United States. In 2019, 59 were created, with $13 billion invested; in 2020, 247 were created, with $80 billion invested; and in the first quarter of 2021 alone, 295 were created, with $96 billion invested. In 2020, SPACs accounted for more than 50% of new publicly listed U.S. companies. Continued here

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Where to Launch in Africa?     Should an entrepreneur scale up his business across several countries or focus on the largest one? Continued here

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Driving Sustainability Strategy Home: Effective Practices That Take Businesses' Impact Beyond Profit - SPONSORED CONTENT FROM Brightline     Research Report Sponsored By Brightline Continued here

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Don't Cheer Yet for Microsoft's Bet on Yahoo     On Friday, Microsoft shocked the technology world with a surprise $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo!. The move amounted to an admission that Microsoft’s largely organic efforts to compete against search king Google were falling short. It is unlikely that snaring Yahoo! will meaningfully improve Microsoft’s long-term forecasts–unless it simultaneously finds a way to improve its ability to enter new markets. Continued here

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How to Avoid Becoming the "Isolated Executive"     Far too many senior executives at large companies become isolated in the corner office. Their professional lives involve a series of handlers — people who take their calls, screen their email, drive them places, run errands for them, etc. They live in gated communities, travel in first class, and stay at five-star hotels. They have worked hard for these privileges; few would suggest that they don’t deserve them. However, executives often find themselves living and working in a bubble. They lose touch with their front-line employees, their customers, and their suppliers. Continued here

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Why the Wall Street Journal Online Will (Eventually) Go Free     It’s not often that the conventional wisdom in business gets turned on its head not once but twice in a month’s time. But Rupert Murdoch’s recent statements, following News Corps’ acquisition of Dow-Jones, that he intends to keep the Wall Street Journal’s website a subscription service certainly qualifies. Continued here

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US raids in Iraq and Syria: How retaliatory airstrikes affect network of Iran-backed militias     The views, conclusions, and recommendations in this article are the authors’ own and do not reflect those of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.U.S. bombers struck dozens of sites across Iraq and Syria on Feb. 2, 2024, to avenge a drone attack that killed three American service members just days earlier. Continued here

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Why Social Applications Will Thrive In A Recession     Josh Bernoff is a vice president at Forrester Research and the author, with Charlene Li, of the forthcoming book, Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies Is a recession coming? Don’t ask me — I’m not an economist, and even the economists don’t really know. But if it’s anything like the last recession, […] Continued here

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How to Encourage Small Innovations     The announcement of Apple’s iPad is turning many people’s thoughts to the innovations behind big ideas. Innovations such as these play a critical role in a company’s future, but companies often hinder themselves by focusing on finding the next big thing, when in reality, the next small thing might be more beneficial. Continued here

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Bringing the Environment Down to Earth     The debate on business and the environment has been framed in simplistic yes-or-no terms: “Does it pay to be green?” Many business school academics and environmental leaders have answered yes. Yet businesspeople are skeptical—and rightly so, since they instinctively reject such all-or-nothing thinking in other contexts: Does it pay to build your next plant in Singapore? To increase your debt-to-equity ratio? To sue your competitors for patent infringement? The answer, of course, is “It depends.” And so it is with environmental questions: the right policy depends on the circumstances confronting the company and the strategy it has chosen. Continued here

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Don't Let a Good Story Sell You on a Bad Idea     Stories are powerful — they were probably a key factor in our species’ evolution, and they’re undoubtedly an important tool in any leader’s toolbox.  However, they can also be  dangerous, because they can be misleading in subtle ways. These include but are not limited to the following: they tend to make success and failure seem more predictable than they actually are (hindsight); they assert causation where only correlation exists; they look at data sets in blunt, unsophisticated ways; they’re often based on anecdotes; they explain “success” based on factors that many failures in the same cohort display. Don’t ignore stories — but approach them with a critical, skeptical eye. Continued here

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An Animal Psychologist Reveals Why Cats Are So Insecure     When they act out, our kitties aren’t conveying resentment, according to a pet psychologist. All cat owners have days where their feline acts as petty as a bad roommate. They poop outside the litter box or scratch your precious couch. In human terms, this is spite through and through. Continued here

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Lessons from Andy Pettitte: How Not To Apologize     In deciding to make a public statement about his use of human growth hormone, New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte did the right thing — and the hard thing. Given his apparently more forthright approach to dealing with his situation than that of friend and teammate Roger Clemens, Pettitte went into his apology with a well-deserved halo effect. But by the end of his statement and interview, his halo had slipped off and rolled away. In fact, to call his statement an apology is to mischaracterize it. It was a self-protective string of explaining, backpatting, and minimizing — with a small, wan apology tucked in. Pettitte’s is an approach we can learn much from, however, in what not to do. Continued here

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Which Connections Really Help You Find a Job?     Experiments involving 20 million people generated a surprising finding: moderately weak connects — and not strong connections — are the most useful in finding a new job. To be more specific, the ties that are most helpful for finding new jobs tend to be moderately weak: They strike a balance between exposing you to new social circles and information and having enough familiarity and overlapping interests so that the information is useful. The findings are important not just for job seekers; they also have implications for managers seeking to hire new people. Continued here

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Three Tips to Start Facing Down the Recession     Have you noticed how many people are responding to the economic crisis in the same way they would deal with the sudden death of a loved one? In fact, the Kubler-Ross model of the five stages of grief seems incredibly appropriate to the times. Most people appear to be stuck in one of the first […] Continued here

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The Cryptic Crossword: Sunday, February 4, 2024     By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.© 2024 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices Continued here

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On Bear Stearns, the Democratic Primary, and Other Avoidable Disasters     “The wise men were all fools…What to do?” So sings Bruce Springsteen in his searing rocker, “Last to Die,” a lament about the endless miscalculations that led to our endless war in Iraq. That line was ringing in my ears as I read this morning’s headlines about the fiascoes gripping almost every element of our […] Continued here

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Chad: promises of a new chapter fade as junta strengthens its hold ahead of elections     It’s been three years since Chad’s former president Idriss Déby Itno died. A transitional authority took over after his death. Yet the transition to democracy that was on the cards following his 31 years in power has failed to materialise.But the fulfilment of this plan has hit the wall. Chadians are concerned that the transitional authority isn’t acting in their interests but rather in the interest of transitional president Mahamat Idriss Déby. Continued here

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How to Invent the Future     The ideas industry needs to stop monkeying around. Continued here

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How the Carl Icahns of the World Benefit Firms but Not Workers     There are two stories you can tell about finance in America. In the first, the financial sector helps grow the economic pie by shifting resources to the people and firms who can put them to the best use. In the second, Wall Street is capturing value rather than creating it; as economist Tyler Cowen once put it: “It’s as if the major banks have tapped a hole in the social till and they are drinking from it with a straw.” Continued here

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Considering a Start-Up? Think Again.     It’s been a banner year for start-ups. With the JOBS Act, the rise of international accelerators, the upcoming Facebook IPO, and the mind-blowing $1 billion Instagram acquisition, you can be sure that droves of young, ambitious founders will be jumping on the start-up bandwagon. The refrain is all too familiar: If you want to change […] Continued here

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Chobani Founder Hamdi Ulukaya on the Journey from Abandoned Factory to Yogurt Powerhouse     Today Chobani is a global player and has more than 20% of the U.S. yogurt market. But it was a long, difficult journey (that began in an antiquated, abandoned yogurt factory in upstate New York) to get it there. CEO and founder Hamdi Ulukaya shares his thoughts on how to be a successful entrepreneur. He has always done things his own way. He wrote a piece for HBR nine years ago in which he said he was proud of the fact that Chobani didn’t have outside investors and that therefore he could run the company as he saw fit. Now Chobani is on track for an IPO, which means he’ll have plenty of new investors and outside scrutiny. Why the change? “In the early days, I wanted to have the freedom and flexibility to be able to make decisions fast and go forward,” he says. “Now we are in a place where the company is sizable, we have greater market share. Our growth is really, really good. And there’s still a long way to go. I celebrate people coming and being partners and being shareholders. It’s a perfect moment for us to be able to have others to come and join.” Continued here

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New Criteria for Market Segmentation     The director of marketing in a large company is confronted by some of the most difficult problems in the history of U.S. industry. To assist him, the information revolution of the past decade puts at his disposal a vast array of techniques, facts, and figures. But without a way to master this information, he can easily be overwhelmed by the reports that flow in to him incessantly from marketing research, economic forecasts, cost analyses, and sales breakdowns. He must have more than mere access to mountains of data. He must himself bring to bear a method of analysis that cuts through the detail to focus sharply on new opportunities. Continued here

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Google's Stock-split Plan Would Replace Stewardship with Dictatorship     When Google introduced a controversial dual-class share structure at the time of its IPO in 2004, I had reservations (as you would expect of someone whose specialty is corporate governance). But the founders’ passionate advocacy of the need to follow a “long-term, innovative approach” resonated with me. However, its recent proposal to effect a 2-for-1 stock split by issuing non-voting shares is an abhorrent idea that should be rejected. Continued here

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Newspoll shows support for Albanese's tax decision, as the PM defends his reputation as 'an honest person'     Newspoll has found that more then six in ten Australians (62%) believe the Albanese government did the right thing in reworking the Stage 3 tax cuts.The poll showed no change in the two-party vote, with Labor retaining a 52% to 48% lead compared to the last poll, taken in late 2023. Continued here

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US launches retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria - a national security expert explains the message they send     The United States mounted more than 125 retaliatory strikes against Iranian forces and Iranian-backed militias at seven military sites in Iraq and Syria on Feb. 2, 2024, after a drone strike killed three U.S. soldiers and injured 34 more in Jordan on Jan. 28. The retaliatory strikes, which U.S. military officials say hit 85 targets, including command and control operations centers, intelligence centers and munition supply chain facilities, are the latest chapter in the Middle East conflict, which President Joe Biden has tried to avoid escalating. Continued here

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The Best Data Scientists Know How to Tell Stories     When hiring data scientists, people tend to focus primarily on technical qualifications. It’s hard to find candidates who have the right mix of computational and statistical skills. But what’s even harder is finding people who have those skills and are good at communicating the story behind the data. Continued here

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To Make Real Progress on D&I, Move Past Vanity Metrics     Using data in diversity and inclusion initiatives can help organizations move beyond tick-the-box exercises. It can enable them to take an honest look at where they’re falling short, assess the experience of specific groups in the company, and prevent employee attrition before it happens. Start by identifying data gaps in your HR systems. Determine the relevant information you have and what you’ll need to understand the makeup of your employee base. If you’re not collecting data about age and race, for example, it’s impossible to know where you are and measure improvement. Work with HR and legal to ensure that you’re capturing the right data and allowing people to opt-in appropriately. Use the data you’ve collected to build a single source of truth that is based on facts. Honest, accessible metrics around your diversity progress and remaining gaps are critical to ensuring the work is measurable, targeted, and impactful. Continued here

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6 Signs You're Living in an Entrepreneurial Society     In his landmark 1985 book, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, famed author and educator Peter Drucker wrote about an entrepreneurial society and its impact on economic development. “Entrepreneurship rests on a theory of economy and society,” he wrote. “The theory sees change as normal and indeed as healthy. And it sees the major task in society — and especially in the economy — as doing something different rather than doing better what is already being done.” What does it mean, then, to live in a society that is becoming more entrepreneurial? I see six major signs: Continued here

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How E-Commerce Will Trump Brand Management     It is little wonder that marketing has become the subject of much debate. At a time when productivity in manufacturing is rising steadily, marketing seems to be getting more expensive and less effective. Over the past 20 years, annual advertising spending in the United States has quadrupled in current dollars to more than $200 billion. The budgets for some major brands now sound like the GDPs of small nations: Sears—$664 million; Chevrolet—$656 million; McDonald’s—$580 million. Total nonadvertising expenditures, such as for promotions, trade allowances, coupons, sweepstakes, and sponsorships, exceed even those amounts. But the results have been disappointing. Continued here

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How To Moderate a Panel Like a Pro     Dealing with an inherently weird discussion format. Continued here

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What to Do When an Employee Cries at Work     There are lots of reasons someone might be upset at work, from the personal (divorce, illness, kid troubles) to the professional (a failed project, bad review, or nasty colleague). Given how much time we spend in the office, it seems inevitable that people will occasionally get emotional. But how should you handle tears as a manager? What should you do with a distraught employee? Continued here

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Mortgage and inflation pain to ease, but only slowly: how 31 top economists see 2024     Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University A panel of 31 leading economists assembled by The Conversation sees no cut in interest rates before the middle of this year, and only a slight cut by December, enough to trim just $55 per month off the cost of servicing a $600,000 variable-rate mortgage. Continued here

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Animals keep eating precious plants - we used 'smell misinformation' to keep them away     In places where we need to protect valuable plants – whether for ecological or economic reasons – local herbivores can cause significant damage.Current solutions often involve killing the problem animals. But this is increasingly unacceptable due to animal welfare concerns and social pressures. Physical barriers such as fences can be expensive, and aren’t always practical. We need other options. Continued here

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When the Party's Over     The writer-director Molly Manning Walker perched on a stool at the Bushwick bar Mood Ring the other night, trying to talk her way out of doing karaoke. "I'm not a singer," she said, apologetically, after the bartender encouraged her to make an attempt. "I'm pretty tone-deaf." Growing up in London, in the two-thousands, she'd filmed her brother's punk band from the pit; finding a way to get involved without playing an instrument, she said, had been a matter of urgency: "I was, like, 'Fuck, give me a camera, quick!' "The camera worked out. Manning Walker shot music videos for such artists as A$AP Rocky, became the cinematographer for the Sundance award winner "Scrapper," and, last year, won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes for her début feature, "How to Have Sex." The film, which opened this week, follows a trio of British girls through a Dionysian rite of passage: the post-exams holiday. In 2010, Manning Walker took hers in the Majorcan town of Magaluf; she went back years later to conduct research for the movie, this time taking notes on her nights out. "I was constantly writing down what people were saying," she recalled. The plot, ultimately set in Crete, tracks the complicated bonds between teens—shaped by petty jealousies, easy intimacy, and try-hard posturing—at a pivotal moment. Continued here

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How to Dispel Distrust at Work     In 2009, security staff at a Texas bank smelled something funny in the air and asked customers to evacuate because they suspected a carbon monoxide leak. Thirty-four people were rushed to the hospital complaining of chest pains and headaches. Of course carbon monoxide is odorless; the cause of this sudden hysteria turned out to be a strong whiff of a lady’s perfume. But by announcing that there might be something harmful in the air, the context was created for people to think the worst — and they did. Continued here

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10 Ways to Mitigate Bias in Your Company's Decision Making     Compliance measures focus on the biggest personnel decisions a manager makes – who gets the promotion, who gets the biggest bonus – while overlooking all the smaller decisions that affect employee performance towards those metrics over time. Gender-based disparities in sales performance might be traced back to managerial distribution of leads, access to coaching and feedback, or opportunities to get in front of existing clients. Likewise, differences in experience and skill level at the time a promotion is made may have resulted from informal managerial decisions early on about who gets a high-profile assignment, or another chance after a big mistake. The key to addressing these disparities is to look at the small, daily decisions that are made in your workplace, and to ensure that those decisions are equitable. Continued here

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A Crisis of Long-Term Unemployment Is Looming in the U.S.     The stigma of long-term unemployment can be profound and long-lasting. As the United States eases out of the Covid-19 pandemic, it needs better approaches to LTU compared to the Great Recession. But research shows that stubborn biases among hiring managers can make the lived experiences of jobseekers distressing, leading to a vicious cycle of diminished emotional well-being that can make it all but impossible to land a role. Instead of sticking with the standard ways of helping the LTU, however, a pilot program that uses a wider, sociologically-oriented lens can help jobseekers understand that their inability to land a gig isn’t their fault. This can help people go easier on themselves which, ultimately, can make it more likely that they’ll find a new position. Continued here

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DNA: Handle with Care     The genetics boom is upon us, promising everything from cures for inherited diseases to smarter children. But companies must tread carefully as the ethical debate plays out. Continued here

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How Crowdsourcing a "Daily Twist" Paid Off for Nabisco     It’s easy to forget that companies have been inviting ideas from “the crowd” for a very long time. If you’re in doubt, read The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, a memoir of 1950s America in which the author’s mother writes advertising jingles for contest after contest. Years before Jeff Howe coined and defined the term “crowdsourcing,” marketers knew its power. Continued here

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Argylle's Beatles Easter Egg Could Be The Key To Its Biggest Twist     Despite multiple twists and turns, the vast majority of the new meta-fictional spy-comedy (romance?) Argylle makes sense. At least, that is, until the mid-credits scene. After several twists about the nature of the story, and what’s real and what’s not, Argylle connects itself to another cinematic espionage universe and seems to tease a sequel that blends this fictional world with another. But, earlier in the film, there might be another Easter egg which foreshadows an even bigger twist. And if this theory is correct, maybe the meta-fiction is even weirder than it seems. Spoilers ahead for Argylle. Continued here

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Startups, It's Time to Think Like Camels -- Not Unicorns     Covid-19 and the global recession it has caused have us all girding for a long period of extremely challenging conditions in the global market. This situation is uncharted waters for the traditional Silicon Valley startup model, which is geared toward fast growth and creating “unicorns.” Instead of the unicorn, the camel is the more fitting mascot. Camels can survive for long periods in extremely adverse conditions. Startup camel enterprises offer businesses in all industries and sectors valuable lessons on how to survive and grow in adverse conditions. They do this with three strategies in mind: they execute balanced growth; they take a long-term outlook; and they weave diversification into the business model. Continued here