“To do great work a man must be very idle as well as very industrious.” Samuel Butler, Further Extracts from the Note-Books of Samuel Butler ... read more
Is It Time to Break Up Google? NYT. Yes. Next question? And for those who might have missed this Matt Stoller piece– linked to last week– read it now. The evidence is piling up — Silicon Valley is being destroyed Business Insider
Scope of Data Breach at Intercontinental Hotels Expands
Scope of Data Breach at Intercontinental Hotels Expands
More than
1,200 hotels in the InterContinental Hotels Group fell victim to a 3-month-long
malware attack that targeted customer payment card data, the global hotel chain
said Wednesday. InterContinental, which includes the Holiday Inn and Crowne
Plaza brands, said in February only 12 hotels were affected by the cyberattack.
The malware attack lasted from September 29 to December 29, searching for data
stored on cards' magnetic stripes, such as the cardholder's name, card number,
expiration date and internal verification code, the company said. The company
said Holiday Inn, Crown Plaza, Hotel indigo, Candlewood Suites and Staybridge
Suites were affected by the breach.
IS THE SILICON VALLEY DYNASTY COMING TO AN END? Vanity Fair
Elizabeth Warren on Big Banks and Their (Cozy Bedmate) Regulators NYT. Gretchen Morgenson’s latest
Pew: Despite the seeming ubiquity of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, many in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan do not report regularly visiting social media sites. But majorities in all of the 14 countries surveyed say they at least use the internet. Social media use is relatively common among people in Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia and the U.S. Around seven-in-ten report using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but that still leaves a significant minority of the population in those countries (around 30%) who are non-users. At the other end of the spectrum, in France, only 48% say they use social networking sites. That figure is even lower in Greece (46%), Japan (43%) and Germany (37%). In Germany, this means that more than half of internet users say they do not use social media. The differences in reported social media use across the 14 countries are due in part to whether people use the internet, since low rates of internet access limit the potential social media audience. While fewer than one-in-ten Dutch (5%), Swedes (7%) and Australians (7%) don’t access the internet or own a smartphone, that figure is 40% in Greece, 33%
Pew: Despite the seeming ubiquity of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, many in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan do not report regularly visiting social media sites. But majorities in all of the 14 countries surveyed say they at least use the internet. Social media use is relatively common among people in Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia and the U.S. Around seven-in-ten report using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but that still leaves a significant minority of the population in those countries (around 30%) who are non-users. At the other end of the spectrum, in France, only 48% say they use social networking sites. That figure is even lower in Greece (46%), Japan (43%) and Germany (37%). In Germany, this means that more than half of internet users say they do not use social media. The differences in reported social media use across the 14 countries are due in part to whether people use the internet, since low rates of internet access limit the potential social media audience. While fewer than one-in-ten Dutch (5%), Swedes (7%) and Australians (7%) don’t access the internet or own a smartphone, that figure is 40% in Greece, 33%
There is substantial and significant information in a recent article on Quartz about how our demeanor at work impacts us, others, the workplace and our work product. Contrary to popular belief…”research shows that forcing workers to appear more pleasant and more cheerful than they actually feel can lead to a whole host of negative consequences—from emotional exhaustion to withdrawal. And women in particular suffer from the expectation that they should constantly demonstrate happiness.” Does this concept resonate with you…does it remind you of what transpired in our recent national election..does it remind you of every time you have been called curt or abrupt when you were being factual, concise and focused on delivering value within the context of an assignment…The case for being grumpy at work discusses and provides a range of references on the realities of the emotional contours of our lives at work that illuminates how we engage in effective analysis, deliver creative work, and remain focused, even when we are not smiling.
- Also via Quartz – The Happiness Experiment – “Humans are obsessed with happiness—how to find it, how to keep it, and how to define it. We examine happiness from the perspective of economics, history, and evolutionary psychology to understand how our notion of happiness has changed over time.”
“The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) launches a newly
designed, user-friendly agency website for customers, vendors, Federal
agencies, libraries and the public looking for access to Government
information, the latest GPO news, and GPO products and services. The
beta site features a simple, mobile-friendly structure that connects the
user in a more streamlined digital manner with GPO. Once out of beta,
this site will replace the current site that was launched in 2009. Try
our new site: https://beta.gpo.gov/
Some of the new features include:
- mobile friendly
- improved internal site search
- improved user experience
- easy access to GPO products and services
- easy access events and training
- easy access to GPO social media platforms
- locating Federal Depository Libraries”
New York Post of Secrets. Put down your coffee….
The real 'Secret' of a happy and fulfilled life, revealed by renowned
Kabbalist Michael Berg, author of the acclaimed and bestselling book, The
Way. Containing a simple truth, simply explained through moving tales, this
book cuts across religions and has a powerful and inspirational message -
for the whole of humanity. Like a jewel that has been painstakingly cut and
polished, The Secret reveals life's essence in its most concise and powerful
form. It is a saying that Berg's teacher, the late Rav Ashlag, learned from
a mysterious stranger who became his own teacher, years ago in Jerusalem:
"The only way to achieve true joy and fulfilment is by becoming a being of sharing." Our destiny is to experience joy, not suffering, if we know how to connect with the Secret. Michael Berg shows us how our everyday understanding of our purpose in the world is literally backwards. Whenever there is pain in our lives - indeed, whenever there is anything less than complete joy and fulfilment - this basic misunderstanding is the reason. The strength and significance of this simple truth unfolds through the sheer inspirational power of the stories and insights from the greatest sages of Kabbala. The Secret is a guidebook for applying the principles of Jewish mysticism to everyday life with a universal truth, whatever your religion
MORE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PEOPLE ON THE SPECTRUM: Students who avoid making eye contact could be guilty of racism, Oxford University says. “The university’s Equality and Diversity Unit has advised students that “not speaking directly to people” could be deemed a ‘racial microaggression’ which can lead to ‘mental ill-health’.”
Oh, there’s some “mental ill-health” there, all right