Friday, April 29, 2022

Quotes of Note: Isaac Asimov, "Foundation" I

Quotes of note from Foundation by Isaac Asimov:

(Page numbers gleaned from the March 1983 Ballantine mass-market paperback.)

"[C]hildishness comes almost as naturally to a man as to a child." (p. 5)

"[P]sychohistory [is] that branch of mathematics which deals with the reactions of human conglomerates to fixed social and economic stimuli... ." (p. 14)

"A further necessary assumption is that the human conglomerate be itself unaware of psychohistoric analysis in order that its reactions be truly random... ." (p. 14)

"[P]sychohistory is a statistical science and cannot predict the future of a single man with any accuracy." (p. 21)

"Calculations upon one man mean nothing." (p. 21)

"Scientific truth is beyond loyalty and disloyalty." (p. 23)

"[T]he overall history of the human race [can] be changed ... with great difficulty." (pp. 24-25)

"The psychohistoric trend of a planet-full of people contains a huge inertia. To be changed it must be met with something possessing a similar inertia. Either as many people must be concerned, or if the number of people be relatively small, enormous time for change must be allowed." (p. 25)

"The fall of Empire ... is a massive thing, however, and not easily fought. It is dictated by a rising bureaucracy, a receding initiative, a freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity—a hundred other factors. It has been going on ... for centuries, and it is too majestic and massive a movement to be stopped." (p, 27)

"The sum of human knowing is beyond any one man; any thousand men." (p. 28)

"We're all scholars more or less." (p. 43)

"Encyclopedias don't win wars." (p. 47)

"[W]hat ... made physical scientists such poor administrators ... might be merely that they were too used to inflexible fact and far too unused to pliable people." (p. 50)

"A great psychologist ... could unravel human emotions and human reactions sufficiently to be able to predict broadly the historical sweep of the future." (p. 55)

Things were different in the old great days. We aren't the men we used to be. (p. 60, paraphrased)

"Violence ... is the last refuge of the incompetent." (p. 65)

"[P]ure deduction is found wanting. ... [W]hat is needed is a little sprinkling of common sense." (p. 67)

"We cannot stop the Fall. We do not wish to, for ... culture has lost whatever virility and worth it once had." (p. 74)

"It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for sublety." (p. 89)

"Courtiers don't take wagers against the king's skill. There is the deadly danger of winning." (p. 97)

Book Review: "The Door into Summer" by Robert A. Heinlein

The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein (Doubleday, 1957)

In one of the apae in which I’m involved through the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, there was some confusion recently between Heinlein’s 1940 short story “The Roads Must Roll” and his 1957 novel The Door into Summer. So I read both. The latter, which was originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and more recently adapted into a movie, is a slightly dated but wonderful read that combines engineer as hero, corporate espionage, and time travel.

The gist of the book is that engineer and inventor Daniel Boone Davis loses control of his housekeeping robot company through some underhanded contractual dealings involving his partner and their bookkeeper, who is also his fiancee—but not for long. To exact a revenge of sorts, Davis elects to go into suspended animation for 30 years. However, his former partner and fiancee trick him into doing so through another service provider, in order to further cheat him out of his shares of the company.

When Davis comes to 30 years in the future, he discovers that not only are some of his patents still incorporated in commercially available consumer technology—perhaps still a source of income for him—there are also some eerily similar patents that could very well be his own work, as well. Through a colleague at one of the companies still licensing technology he had a hand in developing, he learns about a professor who’s discovered a mode of time travel—and is able to get sent back in time to several months before he first went into suspended animation.

Falling in with a group of nudists in Colorado, he develops similar, competing technology, establishes another shell company, and does everything he can to provide for the future he encountered—interpreting and claiming it as his own—before he gets pulled back into the future.

Some readers might find the protagonist’s love interest problematic. Were it not for his preteen, perhaps distant relative also taking the cold sleep to reunite with him in the future—where they can finally marry as adults—most of their time together was spent as a man in his 30s and a girl of perhaps 12 or younger. He even agrees to marry her—in the future—while visiting her at a Girl Scout camp—having traveled to their past. The situation is somewhat uncomfortable and not entirely gracefully resolved through time travel. The other women portrayed in the book are either receptionists or his duplicitous bookkeeper fiancee, who’d been involved in similar crimes. 

The novel is an intriguing piece of fiction with two different forms of time travel, an interesting untangling of the time-travel paradox, and plenty of commentary on the positive contributions of engineering and engineers in overcoming challenges, solving problems, and creating a positive future. The details surrounding the “cold sleep” technology are also interesting, with its emergence from the military during a nuclear conflict that is largely glossed over.

Daily Headlines for April 29, 2022

How to heal a divided world

How it became normal for public officials to attack journalists

A California sheriff’s targeting of a reporter is the latest instance of authorities misusing power. ‘These are steps toward autocracy,’ says one press freedom advocate.


Fleeing Russian bombs while battling Facebook. A Meta problem Ukrainian journalists did not need.

Facebook says it’s fighting disinformation and blocking Russian propaganda. But independent newsrooms in eastern Ukraine say they’re being restricted under the same rules.


How Female Correspondents Are Defining War Coverage in Ukraine


China’s Covid Lockdown Outrage Tests Limits of Triumphant Propaganda

Public anger and grief over the bungled lockdown in Shanghai is creating a credibility crisis for the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, and his zero Covid policies.


Turkish Court Acquits Bloomberg Reporters Over 2018 Lira Story


Elon Musk Isn’t Buying Twitter to Defend Free Speech

Business moguls tend to be big on protecting speech, right until it hurts their bottom line.


Why connected TV is relevant for game developers and marketers


China Computerworld, the only official Sino-US joint publication, ceases operation amid financial losses

China Computerworld was created in 1980 by US media firm IDG and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

At least 40 employees have not been paid since February, and about 20 are considering legal actions, according to an employee


​​Can semiconductor makers meet surging demands sustainably?

It will likely take more than pledges to make the chip industry sustainable.


Insomnia, addiction, depression: The dark side of life trading crypto

Crypto was going to make them rich. Instead, therapists say, more people became depressed and addicted.


Most New Crypto Is Underwater Relative to Bitcoin Within a Year

Jump examined token performance versus largest digital asset

Market appears efficient, though not predictable, report says


Second country to adopt Bitcoin as national currency is the Central African Republic

One of the world’s poorest countries, with only 11 percent internet penetration


This is exactly how long your meetings should last

There is an ideal length for a meeting, suggests author Donna McGeorge.


Helping women return to work isn’t a ‘women’s issue.’ It’s a business imperative

Rebuilding this part of your workforce makes your company more competitive.


Hiring friends and family might be good for business, research suggests

Is it smarter to hire for ability or shared values?


Pandemic pet boom breeds desire for dog-friendly offices

Millions of new dog owners want workplaces that include their furry friends. But not everyone is a fan.


Airbnb joins Twitter, Reddit, Dropbox; finally admits remote work wins

The new 5-point WFH policy will affect at least 6,000 US-based Airbnb employees


Ex-Blizzard, Apple employee files labor complaint against Epic Games


Netflix Begins Layoffs in Marketing, Tudum Fan Site

The streamer’s layoffs of 25 full-time and contract employees were part of a broader reorganization of the global marketing department’s structure


16 states sue to block USPS plan to buy hundreds of thousands of gas-guzzling mail trucks

The states claim that the USPS failed to consider the environmental impact of its plan


Mobility-as-a-service still fails to address women’s safety

Effective mobility needs to factor in women’s safety and transporting children


Go read this exposé on how FAFSA got caught sending personal info to Facebook

An unknown number of students may have been affected


How to change your personality, according to science

Significant changes to personality like becoming more emotionally stable, self-confident, pleasant, and less impulsive have been documented by recent research.


California takes on Big Plastic over recycling myths

Recycling was never really going to solve plastic’s problems


Meet the plastic-eating enzymes that can fully break down garbage in days

Researchers hope the enzymes could create a truly circular system for the PET plastics that are still manufactured.


Mars helicopter spots wreckage from Perseverance landing

The aftermath of a nail-biting landing process


Hatching finds horror in grotesque acts of self-care and violence

Director Hanna Bergholm’s Hatching will disturb you



How Hatching’s charmingly terrifying monster was brought to life

Animatronics designer Gustav Hoegen talks monster making


Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ latest teaser would like you to meet the Illuminati

The Illuminati will see you now




Thursday, April 28, 2022

LOC for Perryscope #21

The following is a letter of comment sent to Perry Middlemiss, editor of Perryscope, commenting on #21.

Dear Mr. Middlemiss:

I’m glad to see that ANZAPA is still active! I included the apa in my Blue Moon Special directory of apae back in 2009 (mayhaps it’s time for another update; I gafiated from apahacking for about 12 years), and it’s inspiring that ANZAPA is still thriving. It has quite an impressive history dating back to 1968. I consider myself lucky to have received Perryscope #21, my first introduction to your perzine. I’ll have to check out The Alien Review, your genzine, as well. 80 pages is an impressive page count; how often do you publish issues of TAR? That page count might even qualify as a BFF, per recent discussion in the letter column of Nic Farey’s This Here… #51. It’s been a long time since I’ve published anything close to a BFF.

While I’m sorry to hear about the 2020 death of your father, the recent ceremony and family gathering sounds worthwhile and meaningful. The remains of my grandparents and other relatives of their and previous generations are scattered throughout various cemeteries in the Midwest, but my parents, my wife, and I plan to be cremated. (My wife’s father donated his body to a local university to be used for scientific research.) My wife and I have an estate plan in place, but I haven’t given any thought to what to do with my ashes at all whatsoever—and I should check in with my parents to learn their wishes, too. They’re pretty well organized as they approach 80, so I’d be surprised if it wasn’t already documented. Oh, the plans we make! I’ll also have to explore C.J. Dennis’s The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke. I belatedly condole with you and your family, though we haven’t met.

I thoroughly enjoyed your book reviews, a serious highlight of the issue. Becky Chambers’s A Psalm for the Wild-Built has popped up in a number of places, so I was familiar with the cover, at least. Otherwise, Peter F. Hamilton and Gareth L. Powell’s Light Chaser, Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light, E. Catherine Tobler’s The Necessity of Stars, and Samuel R. Delaney’s The Einstein Intersection seem most promising based on my current tastes—even with your relatively negative reviews of the Zelazny and Delaney titles. In recent months, I’ve returned to contributing to the National Fantasy Fan Federation’s reviewzine, The N3F Review of Books. (You can browse recent issues at https://tinyurl.com/N3FReview.) We’re currently looking for new reviewers for the zine, and based on your book reviews, I’m curious whether you’d be open to some of your Perryscope reviews being reprinted in the N3F Review. We’d welcome the fresh eyes and mind, and it’d help us move beyond the borders of the United States in terms of contributors. Let me know what you think of the idea, and we can discuss.

Your exchange with John Hertz about Isaac Asimov’s writing style in the letter column gave me light food for thought. I’m currently reading Foundation—for the first time!—and will pay more attention to his writing to determine on which side of the debate I fall. I’m also somewhat into Lee Gold’s Valhalla: Absent Without Leave, so it was fun to see her book mentioned. (That reminds me; I need to swing by her house to pick up an apa!)

Thank you for contributing your perzine to ANZAPA and eFanzines. I look forward to future issues—as well as The Alien Review.

Quotes of Note: A.E. van Vogt, "Mission: Interplanetary" II

Quotes of Note from Mission: Interplanetary by A.E. van Vogt:

"You live in a universe; and within you, you form pictures of the universe as it seems to you. And of that universe, you know nothing and can know nothing except for the pictures. But the pictures within you of the universe are not the universe... ." (p. 81)

"How could you influence another's mind? By changing his assumptions. How could you alter another's actions? By changing his basic beliefs, his emotional certainties." (p. 81)

"[T]he pictures with you do not show all about the universe, for there are many things which you cannot know directly, not having senses to know. Within the universe there is an order. And if the order of the pictures within you is not the order of the universe, then you are deceived... ." (p. 81)

"In the history of life, few thinking beings had done anything illogical—within their frame of reference. If the frame was falsely based, if the assumptions were untrue to reality, then the individual's automatic logic could lead him to disastrous conclusions." (p. 81)

"[L]iving organisms can have satisfactions that do not require machines: food and drink, association with friends and loved ones." (p. 83)

"Everything must be investigated." (p. 92)

"[M]ilitary men have not properly appreciated scientists in the past." (p. 97)

"[S]cientists can find trouble where it never existed before." (p. 97)

"There is a reason why intelligent beings make mistakes... ." (p. 98)

"[L]ife proceeds upward—whatever we mean by upward—by a series of cycles." (p. 99)

"It is expected that grown men know their own minds. The whole idea of democracy is based on that supposition." (p. 115)

"In dealing with human beings, I've noticed there is usually not only a problem to be solved but the matter of tension among those who have to solve it. ... During danger, hard work. During work, relaxation in every practicable form." (p. 115)

"[T]he will to survive was built-in in the nervous system." (p. 118)

"In a crisis, a man protected himself. He couldn't help it. Like an animal, he fought blindly for his life." (p. 120)

"Only an event would change the minds of some people." (p. 121)

"It was not enough to have information and knowledge, not enough to be right. Men had to be persuaded and convinced. Sometimes that might take more time than could safely be spared." (p. 122)

"[S]cientists are constantly on the defensive about their alleged unfeeling intellectualism. So they like to have someone fronting for them who is emotional but whose scientific qualifications cannot be questioned." (p. 144)

"It's not their devotion to the scientific method that defeats the technologists. It's their integrity. The average trained man often understands the tactics that are used against him better than the person who uses them, but he cannot bring himself to retaliate in kind without feeling tarnished." (p. 144)

"[P]eople who are wrapped up in pleasure, excitement, or ambition are easily controlled." (p. 164)

"We must make men skeptical." (p. 164)

"On every level of understanding, the skeptic partly makes up for his lack of specific knowledge by his attitude of 'Show me! I've got an open mind, but what you say cannot by itself convince me.'" (p. 164)

"You can't expect to condition the whole human race." (p. 167)

"People think a thing ethical or unethical depending on the associations that come to their minds at the moment, or while they're considering the problem in retrospect." (pp. 168-169)

"[O]ur ethical measuring rod should be that which benefits the greatest number, provided that it doesn't include extermination or torture of, or denial of rights to, individuals who do not conform." (p. 169)

"When I firmly believe ... that any actions are justified, there is no internal nervous or emotional problem." (p. 169)

"Man has divided life and matter into separate compartments of knowledge and being. And, even though he sometimes uses words which indicate his awareness of that wholeness of nature, he continues to behave as if the one, changing universe has many separately functioning parts." (p. 174-175)

Book Review: "Dark Satanic" by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Dark Satanic by Marion Zimmer Bradley (Berkley, 1972)

After reading Moira Greyland’s memoir, The Last Closet: The Dark Side of Avalon, I read Dark Satanic, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s 1972 occult novel now self-published by her trust. I chose to read it because it was one of the titles named in a court deposition. 

The novel tells the tale of ​​an editor and publisher of the occult who obtains a controversial manuscript just before its author dies under mysterious circumstances. The text in question reportedly reveals too much about hidden occult secrets, as well as practitioners in New York City, and the editor/publisher becomes embroiled in a battle of good and evil involving two different occult groups. After encountering representatives of both camps, it’s not entirely clear which side is a force for good, and our hero risks his life trying to learn more—and to decide whether to publish the book.

Dark Satanic mentions the Sexual Freedom League, a real-world organization active in the ’60s, and shows a rudimentary working knowledge of cultic groups, which came up in Bradley and Breen’s court cases. It’s also an interesting commentary on the publishing industry, as well as the relationships between authors, editors, and publishers.

Were it not for the controversy surrounding Bradley and Breen, the book was a relatively good read and could easily be adapted for film along the lines of The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby. It will most likely not be. That said, Bradley wrote a couple of other books in the series, including The Inheritor and Witch Hill, both of which are also available from her trust. (This review was previously published in slightly different form in the APA-L apazine Telegraphs & Tar Pits #4.)

Daily Headlines for April 28, 2022

An Heir, a $25 Million Giveaway and 30,000 Unopened Letters
In 1970, Michael James Brody Jr. announced he would give away his fortune to anyone who asked. The letters he received are a time capsule of the setting of the Age of Aquarius.

The restorative power of medical tattoos


Leftist gimmick accounts want their tweets to influence politics, too

Libs of TikTok wasn’t the only anonymous political tweeter — but may be the most successful


Best podcasts of the week: Cate Blanchett gets curious about climate change

In this week’s newsletter: The actor takes a hopeful look at the ideas to save our environment. Plus: five investigative podcasts we couldn’t switch off


Call of Duty anti-cheat system makes legit players invisible to cheaters

Its latest creative anti-cheat measure


Can a video game tell if you’re depressed?

An AI-driven start-up uses games to detect danger signs of mental illness. It’s a novel approach, but not everyone is sold.


Why IP Addresses Aren’t Going Away Any Time Soon (Yes, You Heard Me)


Hackers Linked to Russia Launched Hundreds of Cyberattacks in Ukraine, Microsoft Says

Flurry of malicious activity often coincides with Russian military operations, researchers say


Russia wages “relentless and destructive” cyberattacks to bolster Ukraine invasion

Cyberattacks complement and are sometimes timed to military actions.


Report: 78% increase in ransomware attacks in last year


Unlimited holiday schemes sound like a dream — until you’re picking up someone else’s slack

Not to burst your bubble


3 science-backed ways to help you run better meetings

Miro’s Shipra Kayan explains the simple principles that successful facilitators apply to make meetings more engaging for everyone.


4 ways to show your leadership skills in a job interview

These techniques will help you impress the hiring manager.


Gen Z is going to reinvent the supply chain

With 35% of Gen Z admitting to spending six to ten hours per day on their mobile devices, it’s no wonder they are accelerating digital transformation.


Apple to face fresh antitrust charges in Brussels

EU will accuse tech giant of blocking financial groups from its Apple Pay mobile system


​​Netflix’s Battle for Asian Subscribers Pits It Against Rich Rivals, Hundreds of Local Upstarts

The competition is cutthroat across Asia, the world’s key streaming battleground, with a crowded field of foreign and local services


How Natalie Portman and her Angel City FC cofounders are changing the game for women’s soccer

Professional women’s soccer has been undervalued and under-resourced. The high-profile owners of L.A.’s new NWSL team are rewriting the rules of the game.


Dear governments, ride-sharing is not a fix-all for poor public transport

Public transport needs investment and infrastructure


Should escooters be banned at night? Some cities think so, but we need more data

Nighttime use could have a higher risk of accidents


As the sea level rises, this new South Korean neighborhood will float

A city in South Korea plans to build new development on large, buoyant concrete platforms anchored to the seabed, which can rise and fall with the water.


Want to burn less fossil fuel? Use body heat to warm buildings instead

The human body produces energy, most of which is released as heat. Buildings can—and should—harness that.


A warming world gives viruses more chances to hitchhike from species to species

That puts humans at greater risk, too


How green tech can help the U.S. gain traction on climate change


How the sci-fi tech in Marvel movies influences real-world products

One day we could all be Iron Man


Netflix anime Bubble turns post-apocalyptic Tokyo into a colorful playground

Exploring the new movie with director Tetsuro Araki




Wednesday, April 27, 2022

LOC for Wild Ideas #22

The following is a letter of comment sent to Henry Grynnsten, editor of Wild Ideas, commenting on #22.

Dear Mr. Grynnsten:

Wild Ideas #22 was my first exposure to your personal essay-driven fanzine, and I was so inspired by your approach that I am writing a letter of comment. I thank Bill Burns for including it in eFanzines; Wild Ideas isn’t quite like any other fanzine—perzine or genzine—I’ve ever encountered but is fandom-adjacent and focusing on fannish themes enough that it’s an awesome companion to other fannish fare.

Immediately, I was struck by the cover. Initially seen as an abstract line drawing in which the inked hash marks provide the overall hue, it took me a moment to see through or beneath the inking to discern the text beneath. A wonderful effect, and one I might try my hand at in the future. After eating an early afternoon lunch of salad made with cabbage, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and apples—accompanied by Triscuit crackers—the subtly square-shaped patches also make me picture Triscuits now, as well. I am sure that was unintended. Regardless: Triscuits!

Once past the cover, I misread the issue listing at the bottom of page 1 as pieces or sections and page numbers in thish, so I was concerned that my downloaded nine-page PDF was incomplete. In fact, I had almost reached the end of the ish when I realized that it had been an issue listing—and I had to turn back to confirm. The range of topics addressed over time is diverse and intriguing—and makes me wonder what inspires you to pick a given issue’s theme. Do you maintain a running list? Are they based on connections you make in various books or articles you read, movies you see? Is Wild Ideas intertextual mortar for your House of Ideas? I shall have to seek out back issues—as well as forthcoming issues—to further explore your thought process, interests, and ideas.

In thish, which focuses on strangers, there is so much to explore, learn more about, ponder, and process. Whether you’re commenting on the concept of the noble savage, the Piraha, the Korowai, the Mashco-Piro, the Ashaninka, the Finnish, or the Swedes, several themes arise. (And you offer much more food for thought than that provided by my previous exposure to the concept of indigenous people yet to encounter surrounding civilization: The Gods Must Be Crazy.)

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my brief sojourn into considering whether there is a natural state for mankind generally; the purpose of life and time; the causes of happiness; who we’d be, how we’d be, and what we’d do were it not for the workaday responsibilities and dross of our current civilization and society; and the very selves we bring each other upon First Contact, even if with a similarly civilized other. “‘Is it because us foreigners are here that you’re not wearing clothes?’” “Busted!” 

Not only do we make assumptions and presumptions about others based on our own backgrounds and experiences, we bring a different self to the people we meet and interact with—based on our assumptions and presumptions about them and who we might need to be for and with them. In addition, we make those assumptions and presumptions based on whatever limited set of the Other we’ve already encountered. For example, recently online, I watched a brief video of a standup comedian who described her limited exposure to Jewish people growing up—and her resulting misled expectation once she was in college, based on a single Jewish classmate, that all Jews liked guacamole.

We also bring a different self to the people we meet and interact with based on why we’re engaging. You raise the example of our vacation selves: We’re among people we don’t know and might be uncertain about, we’re looking for fun, and we have money to spend. Even in the civilized everyday world, we bring a different self to our families, neighbors, fellow pedestrians or drivers, coworkers, merchants, friends, and fellow fans. We are different online than we are offline. I am different writing a letter than I am an email. We are more or less relaxed based on the reason for being together. We are more or less self-centered. We are more or less transactional. Rarely do we—or are we able to—bring the same self to everyone we interact with throughout our daily lives.

In the end, we only know those whom we’ve met, and they only know the self we’ve presented them, consciously or unconsciously. If I’m always stressed out when I spend time with you, you’re likely to think that I’m always stressed out. And if I only know one Jewish person, and they like guacamole, maybe guac is a Jewish preference and not a personal preference.

Thank you for the ideas and information in Wild Ideas. I look forward to future issues.

Song of the Day: Batida, "Bom Bom"

 


Daily Headlines for April 27, 2022

‘Bossware is coming for almost every worker’: the software you might not realize is watching you
Computer monitoring software is helping companies spy on their employees to measure their productivity – often without their consent


Online Privacy Protections Gain Traction With Lawmakers, Tech Industry

Disclosures of social-media harms to young people put pressure on Congress, tech companies to safeguard personal information


Outside the US, Elon Musk’s vision of a rules-free Twitter is expected to unlock violence and civil strife

Musk’s free speech absolutism could stoke conflict in countries like India and Ethiopia


Twitter shouldn’t exist, no matter who owns it, and it’s on VCs to not fund harmful tech in the future

VC Bradley Tusk makes a case for putting the onus on investors to stop funding potentially harmful tech—and, given what we know now, to not build that kind of tech in the first place.


Twitter Admits It Hid Tweets About HBO's QAnon Docuseries

Twitter told the director of "Q: Into the Storm" it had "made the decision not to allow promotion of this documentary" when he tried to advertise the film.


Trump’s Twitter dilemma: will he rejoin after Elon Musk takes over?

If the ex-president rejoins he will once again have access to a tool he acknowledged helped him win in 2016 – but it will also be an admission that Truth Social failed


Gibraltar became a hub for crypto — now it wants to tackle attempts to manipulate the market


Wisq’s social platform aims to help workers connect on non-work things


Reggie Fils-AimĂ© gauges gaming’s biggest disruptors


​​I’m trying to educate my son in sport using video games. He’s having none of it

For his own good, my soon-to-be-18-year-old needs to understand sport. It’s the only way he’ll survive. Unfortunately, 90s video games are of limited use


10 best Kirby games of all time: From his first adventure to Forgotten Land

Kirby has been in over 30 adventures, but these are the best of the best.


How to use ‘daily quadrants’ to get more done each day

It’s worth considering your natural rhythms when writing your to-do list.


How the battle for talent is widening the pay gap

As companies use wage increases to lure in job candidates, they may be inadvertently creating huge pay gaps with existing employees. Here’s how to make sure things stay equitable.


Still struggling with finding talent? Try casting a wider net

Now is the time to change your expectations for what new employees should bring to an open role.


How the Great Resignation is turning into a great opportunity for leaders

A CEO notes that there is no training ground for the breadth of workforce, recruitment, and employee-engagement issues hitting the leaders of today. But what if the Great Resignation is an opportunity in disguise?


It may be time to let your employees quit. Here’s how to know

The CEO of Lever argues that resignations are a normal part of change for both the employee and the company to grow, and it’s important to understand when personal and professional goals are no longer aligned.


Elon Musk and tech’s ‘great man’ fallacy

Jack Dorsey called him the 'singular solution’ to Twitter’s problems. But no leader can go it alone.


The next frontier in branding? Logos you can see from space

Rooftop solar panels are giving companies like Tesla, Target, and Disney a way to supersize their branding.


The $682 billion home decor industry has a surprising new player: Disney

Disney Home is launching with rugs, wallpaper, and sculptures, but it has much bigger plans for the future.


The ridiculously simple way to make streets safer for pedestrians

Cities don’t need expensive new traffic signals or road blocks to keep pedestrians safe. They just need a bucket of paint.


A secret weapon helping Ukrainians fend off Russia? Subterranean mazes

Tunnels have long been an effective tool in resisting oppressors.


Reading Around New York (November 2021)

Even amid the clamor of a city of millions, New Yorkers have always been able to escape into a good book.


Chris Sacca believes the next trillion-dollar companies will be focused on climate change

The billionaire investor, an early backer of Silicon Valley success stories like Twitter and Uber, is focused today on green energy and carbon removal.


One in five reptile species threatened with extinction

We finally have comprehensive data on reptiles


Time travel could be possible, but only if parallel timelines can coexist

Back to the Future couldn't have happened


Jimmy Wang Yu, Seminal Figure in Kung Fu Films, Dies at 79

He changed the nature of Asian martial arts movies, which had been relying on sword fighting and fantasy, by bringing hand-to-hand combat to the fore.


Netflix’s summer 2022 movie slate is full of star power

All the original films coming to Netflix between May and August