A ChatGPT Bot Interviews a ChatGPT Bot and Demonstrate the Real Problem with AI Solutions

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A ChatGPT Bot Interviews a ChatGPT Bot and Demonstrate the Real Problem with AI Solutions There's nothing new under the sun, and there's no follow through. Continued here

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100 million Nigerians are at risk of neglected tropical diseases: what the country is doing about it Neglected tropical diseases are a group of communicable diseases found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. They are classified as “neglected” because they have received little or no attention in terms of prevention and control for several decades. The World Health Organization guides the way they are identified and managed. These 20 conditions mostly affect impoverished communities, women and children. Most people affected by them live in rural areas where houses are overcrowded, and basic infrastructure such as water and toilet facilities are lacking. More than one billion people are estimated to be affected globally. Continued here

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The Strategic Secret of Private Equity The huge sums that private equity firms make on their investments evoke admiration and envy. Typically, these returns are attributed to the firms’ aggressive use of debt, concentration on cash flow and margins, freedom from public company regulations, and hefty incentives for operating managers. But the fundamental reason for private equity’s success is the strategy of buying to sell—one rarely employed by public companies, which, in pursuit of synergies, usually buy to keep. Continued here

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Giving and Receiving Feedback: Our Favorite Reads Learn what to take, and what to leave behind. Continued here

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Independent voters can be decisive in elections - but they're pretty unpredictable, not 'shadow partisans' Pollsters and pundits were counting on independent voters in the 2022 midterm elections to swing to the Republicans as they did in 2014 when Barack Obama was president. That’s when independent turnout in the midterms added up to 29% of all voters, and the GOP won an additional 13 seats in Congress. Expectations for the 2022 midterm elections also were based on a similar pattern in the 2018 midterms, when Donald Trump was president. Independents then represented 30% of the voters, and they broke for Democrats 54% to 42%. Continued here

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Do This for 6 to 9 Minutes Every Day to Improve Your Memory and Brain Function, New Study Shows Even if you're super-busy, you can manage this. Continued here

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Corporate Alternatives to the Compliment Sandwich A recent survey of our employees indicated that people are sick of the “compliment sandwich”—negative feedback sandwiched between compliments. The executive team is pleased to offer some alternatives that we hope will be effective for managers serving up constructive criticism in the workplace. This cheesy open-faced option has no meat. Perfect for employees who enjoy being regaled with hours of stories from your past, like how you “worked your way through college” (when it was $2,350 a year) and the time you met Lee Iacocca. This crusty sandwich is one-sided, with hints of nuttiness. Pairs well with a cup of day-old coffee from the break room. Continued here

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LA's long, troubled history with urban oil drilling is nearing an end after years of health concerns Los Angeles had oil wells pumping in its neighborhoods when Hollywood was in its infancy, and thousands of active wells still dot the city. These wells can emit toxic chemicals such as benzene and other irritants into the air, often just feet from homes, schools and parks. But now, after nearly a decade of community organizing and studies demonstrating the adverse health impacts on people living nearby, Los Angeles’ long history with urban drilling is nearing an end. Continued here

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Pope Francis Speaks Out on Homosexuality—and Further Angers Traditionalists On Tuesday, Pope Francis took part in an interview with Nicole Winfield, the Vatican correspondent for the Associated Press. After the interview was published, commentators in the United States focussed on the Pope's answer to a question about criminal laws against homosexuality, which exist in some sixty-seven countries—among them, Sudan, where he will travel next week, which forbids sodomy and applies a sentence of life imprisonment for a third offense. In his response, Francis extemporized. "Being homosexual is not a crime. It's not a crime. Yes, but it is a sin," he said. "First let's make a distinction between sin and crime. But it's also a sin to lack charity toward another. So what about that?" Those remarks were one more instance of Francis's incremental approach toward acceptance of gay people, which has involved expressing compassion for them and support for them in civic matters, while leaving aside the Church's stern teaching that homosexual activity is "intrinsically disordered." The interview as a whole, which was conducted in Spanish with an American reporter, for a U.S.-based news organization, represented a riposte to his critics. The weeks since the death of Pope Benedict XVI have been open season for Catholic traditionalists opposed to Francis, and the roiling intrigue, rancor, and partisan jousting in Rome have offered a preview of what life in the Church might be like in the coming years. Continued here

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The Last of Us: HBO's adaptation elevates the video game's themes of love and family From the widely panned Super Mario Bros. movie (1993) to Netflix’s Resident Evil (2022) releasing to decidedly mixed reviews, game adaptations have historically been cursed on both big and small screens. HBO’s series based on the hugely successful PlayStation game The Last of Us, is the latest entry into this genre. Early indications from critics and viewers suggest it has broken the dreaded video game curse. Continued here

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Two Key Things to Know About This Confusing Economy Among the noneconomists I’ve recently interacted with, there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty about how the economy’s doing and where it is heading. Among economists, it’s pretty much the same. Some of them are predicting a recession starting later this year. Others are predicting a soft landing or a “slowcession,” when economic growth “comes to a near standstill but never slips into reverse,” as Scott Hoyt, a senior director at Moody’s Analytics, describes it. The world economy is still emerging from an unprecedented pandemic, Europe is experiencing its biggest war since 1945, and many countries have been recording inflation rates not seen in thirty years, so it’s hardly surprising that the economic picture is blurred. Since the coronavirus started to spread, in 2020, some long-standing economic relationships have broken down. Other, new trends have emerged, and they could turn out to be temporary. But, in looking through this haze of conflicting data, two things stand out. Continued here

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Managers and Leaders: Are They Different? Managers and leaders are two very different types of people. Managers’ goals arise out of necessities rather than desires; they excel at defusing conflicts between individuals or departments, placating all sides while ensuring that an organization’s day-to-day business gets done. Leaders, on the other hand, adopt personal, active attitudes toward goals. They look for the opportunities and rewards that lie around the corner, inspiring subordinates and firing up the creative process with their own energy. Their relationships with employees and coworkers are intense, and their working environment is often chaotic. Continued here

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FDA advisory committee votes unanimously in favor of a one-shot COVID-19 vaccine approach - 5 questions answered The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s key science advisory panel, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, met on Jan. 26, 2023, to chart a path forward for COVID-19 vaccine policy. During the all-day meeting, the 21-member committee discussed an array of weighty issues including the efficacy of existing vaccines, the composition of future vaccine strains and the need to match them to the circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2, the possibility of moving to an annual-shot model, the potential seasonality of the virus and much more. But the key question at hand, and the only formal question that was voted on, following a proposal from the FDA earlier in the week, had to do with how to simplify the path to getting people vaccinated. Continued here

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Deep Fake Neighbour Wars: ITV's comedy shows how AI can transform popular culture ITVX’s Deep Fake Neighbour Wars is the breakthrough in television’s use of artificial intelligence that experts in the cultural use of deepfakes like myself have been waiting for. In this six-part series, celebrities have apparently invaded our everyday lives. Presented as a reality TV show, we meet suburban neighbours in Catford, south London. Idris Elba (handyman/delivery driver) takes pride in the garden behind his ground-floor flat, until new upstairs tenant Kim Kardashian (bus driver) starts to exercise her right to use the shared space. They recount the story of a dispute that ultimately turns to violence. Continued here

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Biden and Trump are both accused of mishandling classified documents - but there are key differences When the US Department of Justice revealed on January 21 that its investigators had found classified materials in Joe Biden’s Delaware home, there was outrage – or, to be more accurate in most cases faux outrage – in Republican party circles. They wasted no time in demanding further investigation into what appeared to be a mishandling of classified documents. Republicans see a double opportunity in the US president’s sloppy handling of what is reported to be a small number of papers from his days as vice-president. It was a God-given opportunity to embarrass a sitting president gearing up to launch his re-election bid. But many in the GOP hoped it would also take the heat off an outwardly similar investigation into former president Donald Trump. Continued here

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Power struggles in nature can be more subtle, nuanced and strategic than just dog-eat-dog Scientists used to think power in animals played out in a tidy and simple way. Nature is a dog-eat-dog place. Rams butt heads in a thunderous spectacle, and the winning male gets to mate with a female. Bigger, stronger, meaner animals beat up smaller, weaker, more timid ones, and then walk, fly or swim away with the prize. All that’s certainly going on in the wild. But the natural world, it turns out, is so much more interesting than simply squaring off in brutish battles. As in tales of palace intrigue, the quest for power among animals is subtle, nuanced, strategic and, dare I say, beautiful. 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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4 best weapons to upgrade first in the 'Dead Space' remake The Dead Space remake is here, serving as an enhanced version of the 2008 original. Much like the first installment, the remake is tough, but thankfully, you’re able to upgrade your gear, giving you a fighting chance. But with so many weapons, and so few upgrade resources, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. These are essential upgrade tips along with a list of weapons you should prioritize leveling first in Dead Space. Upgrading your gear is an essential part of Dead Space. But even if you’re familiar with the original, you’ll lack the credits and nodes on your first run to upgrade every single item the game has to offer. With this in mind, it’s best to fully upgrade a handful of weapons first, rather than spending credits and nodes on many firearms. You’ll get much more out of two or three powerful weapons than you will with five or six mediocre ones. Continued here

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Modern mafia: Italy's organised crime machine has changed beyond recognition in 30 years The arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro, one of Sicily’s most infamous mafia bosses, has reminded many Italians of the extreme violence he was associated with when operating as a leading figure of Cosa Nostra. Denaro appears to belong to another time – when the mafia brutally killed at will. And it is indeed true that the period of extreme violence with which he is associated has been confined to the past. But that does not in any way mean Italy’s organised crime groups have disappeared in the 30 years Denaro has been in hiding – they’ve just had a rethink about how they operate. Continued here

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What Is “Woke”? Lately, conservatives have blamed "wokeness" for everything from deadly mass shootings to lower military recruitment. Still, few have a ready definition for what the word means. "I think 'woke' is a very interesting term right now, because I think it's an unusable word—although it is used all the time—because it doesn't actually mean anything," the linguist and lexicologist Tony Thorne tells David Remnick. Thorne traces the term's evolution and explains how it's become such a compelling tool of the right. Plus, the contributing writer Eren Orbey discusses the false promise of rape exceptions in abortion laws. "The reality is, these exceptions are far less effective than we assume they are," Orbey says. "They create the false impression that we're taking care of all rape survivors when we're not." Once women give birth, they are often tied to their assailants—through the legal system and the family-court system—for the next eighteen years. And the staff writer Hilton Als talks with the writer Robin Coste Lewis about how suffering a traumatic brain injury led her to a career in poetry. For many on the right, the problems America faces mostly stem from wokeness, a word that means . . . what? David Remnick talks with a linguist of slang to unpack the power of a word. Continued here

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The 'levelling up' bidding process wastes time and money - here's how to improve it Renaud Foucart works for Lancaster University, a partner of Eden Project North in Morecambe. The UK government recently announced the results of the second round of successful bids for for its £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund. This money is provided to local governments with the ambitious (but pretty unspecific) aim of “creating opportunities for everyone” by addressing economic and social imbalances across the UK. Continued here

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The Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer Diversify your product line. Stick to your knitting. Hire a professional manager. Watch fixed costs. Those are some of the suggestions that entrepreneurs sort through as they try to get their ventures off the ground. Why all the conflicting advice? Because in a young company, all decisions are up for grabs. Continued here

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Somaliland's oil find could reset the regional balance: here's how The presence of oil in Somaliland has been confirmed by a recent exploration. The discovery has raised the stakes in Somaliland’s claim for independence from Somalia as it holds the potential for a new stream of revenue for the semi-autonomous state. But the oil exploration is deepening the rift with Somalia, which claims sovereignty over the region. Michael Walls answers five key questions. In 2020, Norwegian seismic survey company, TGS, estimated that the Somali basin as a whole likely holds offshore reserves of about 30 billion barrels, with additional onshore reserves, although land estimates are considerably less consistent. Assessments generally include Somaliland and would place Somalia reserves at about the same level as Kazakhstan, which would give the area the 18th or 19th largest reserve globally, as assessed in 2016. Continued here

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How Venture Capital Works The popular mythology surrounding the U.S. venture-capital industry derives from a previous era. Venture capitalists who nurtured the computer industry in its infancy were legendary both for their risk-taking and for their hands-on operating experience. But today things are different, and separating the myths from the realities is crucial to understanding this important piece of the U.S. economy. Continued here

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Bitcoin has shot up 50% since the new year, but here's why new lows are probably still ahead To the delight of investors across the cryptosphere, the price of bitcoin (BTC) has rallied over 53% since its low of US$15,476 (£12,519) in November. Now trading around US$23,000, there’s much talk that the bottom has finally been reached for the leading cryptocurrency after a year of painful decline – in November 2021, the price peaked at almost US$70,000. If so, it’s not only good news for bitcoin but the whole market in cryptocurrencies, since the others broadly move in line with the leader. So is crypto back in business? Continued here

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The Five Stages of Small Business Growth Categorizing the problems and growth patterns of small businesses in a systematic way that is useful to entrepreneurs seems at first glance a hopeless task. Small businesses vary widely in size and capacity for growth. They are characterized by independence of action, differing organizational structures, and varied management styles. Continued here

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Gandhi's image is under scrutiny 75 years after his assassination - but his protest principles are being revived Mohandas Karamchand “Mahatma” Gandhi remains, even 75 years after his assassination, a useful symbol for many in India. For secularists, the leader of the country’s independence movement represents an imagined India of the past. For the current government, he is a means by which it can soften its international image. In his 2002 essay, academic Ashis Nandy, mentioned four versions of Gandhi, who led India’s move from British colony to independent nation. Continued here

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The Strikes and Protests in France Look to the Future and the Past The past, according to a famous American dictum, is never dead. It’s not even past. First said in a spirit not entirely agreeable to today’s present—William Faulkner, who wrote it, was, in part, indulging the white South’s preoccupation with the Lost Cause and its grievances—it is, nonetheless, true. And it is particularly true in France, where the past is more present than perhaps anywhere else. That is partly because, in France, so much of the distant past remains upright or, when it falls, gets quickly hoisted back up—as the approaching reopening of Notre-Dame, complete with remade spire, reminds us—and partly because of the wounds that remain from France’s own bad luck and troubled conscience. It is a startling truth, for instance, that, this past week, despite the apparent urgency of mass protests and a national strike, turning on the issue of pension reform, the Paris media were preoccupied with a strange enterprise: a rerecording of Charles de Gaulle’s famous appeal to the French people, which he delivered from London, on June 18, 1940, just days after Paris had fallen to the Nazis, as it would have been heard at the time. De Gaulle had recently been made a brigadier general, but he was unknown to the public. In his address, however, which was broadcast just before midnight over the BBC, he called on the French to continue to resist the German occupation—and to rally around him. The address, which became the first of many, had to be rerecorded because no original exists, and de Gaulle’s own rerecordings of it, made in later years, were of dubious authenticity, thought to use quite different language from the original. But, recently, a transcript—ironically, in German—of the original broadcast was found in a Swiss federal archive and re-translated into French. With the help of A.I. technology at IRCAM—a center for audio experimentation at the Pompidou Center—the voice of a French actor reading the transcript was transformed into a replica of de Gaulle’s voice, as it sounded in 1940. Now one can experience the legendary appeal as it was first heard—or, again ironically, mostly not heard, given the obscurity of the speaker, the lateness of the hour, and the difficulty of listening to the BBC in France. Continued here

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The Overlooked Key to a Successful Scale-Up This stage isn’t part of traditional organizational theory, which holds that businesses begin in exploration mode (testing out hypotheses about how they’ll solve problems and learning whether people will pay for their solutions) and then move into exploitation mode (as growth slows and they fine-tune their business models to sharpen their advantage). But between those two well-known stages is the crucial extrapolation stage. During it, a company both explores and exploits. And most significantly, it works to ensure that each new customer brings in additional revenue while incurring only marginal cost—the secret to lasting, profitable growth. Continued here

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11 of the best films to watch this February Why would anyone kill their own baby? Alice Diop asked herself that question in 2016, when she was watching the trial of a French-Senegalese woman who had left her child on a beach to drown. Having made a name for herself as a documentary filmmaker, Diop has turned her memories of the trial into a gripping drama, Saint Omer. Kayije Kagame plays Rama, a pregnant, Diop-like novelist who plans to use the case in her book on the Greek myth of the child-killing Medea. Guslagie Malanda plays Laurence Coly, the complex woman on trial. "Diop consciously uses the many tropes of true crime documentaries," says Sheila O'Malley at RogerEbert.com, "while at the same time up-ending them. In doing so, Saint Omer becomes a much larger reflection on contemporary French life, the experience of immigrants, and the shadows we drag along with us as we move into a different space." Women Talking is another high-profile new film exploring male sexual violence from the perspective of victims (Credit: Alamy) Continued here

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Rural Americans aren't included in inflation figures - and for them, the cost of living may be rising faster When the Federal Reserve convenes at the end of January 2023 to set interest rates, it will be guided by one key bit of data: the U.S. inflation rate. The problem is, that stat ignores a sizable chunk of the country – rural America. Currently sitting at 6.5%, the rate of inflation is still high, even though it has fallen back slightly from the end of 2022. Continued here

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You need to watch the most underrated cult movie on HBO Max ASAP Paul Thomas Anderson’s study of the perfect victim is also a reminder that anyone can fall pray. Cult stories are like catnip for viewers, whether it’s the haunting portrayal of the Manson family in Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood or the horrific cults portrayed in Ari Aster’s movies Hereditary and Midsommar. But the genre usually focuses on the slow derangement of ensnared victims instead of what falling into a cult often feels like: a euphoric state of belonging. A 2012 movie streaming on HBO Max completely flipped that script. Continued here

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What effect will lunar new year have on COVID spread in China? Our modelling shows most people have already been infected China stuck rigidly to a zero-COVID policy until December 2022. This included travel restrictions, mass testing and mandatory quarantines. The rapid lifting of this strategy led to a surge of COVID infections across the country. There have been concerns that the Chinese lunar new year travel in January may cause this wave of COVID to spread much further and faster, with significant numbers of hospital admissions and deaths. Continued here

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Why Chief of Staff Is “the Hardest Job in Washington” The White House chief of staff is the second most powerful but hardest gig in Washington, D.C. Dick Cheney blamed the job for giving him his first heart attack, during the Ford Administration. A hapless chief of staff can break a Presidency; effective ones get nicknamed the Velvet Hammer. On Friday, the Biden Administration announced that Ron Klain will depart as chief of staff, after two long years in the job. The staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos gather for their weekly conversation to look at what Klain accomplished and what to expect from his replacement, Jeffrey Zients. © 2023 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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Processing a Tragedy in Monterey Park The news that a mass shooting had taken place at a ballroom-dance studio in the Los Angeles County city of Monterey Park, leaving eleven dead and nine wounded, broke late at night on January 21st. Headlines described it as “the deadliest mass shooting since Uvalde,” which happened less than a year before. Many L.A. residents, even those who live nearby, only heard about the event the following morning, when they woke up and looked at their phones. Monterey Park is in the San Gabriel Valley, in eastern Los Angeles County, and is known as a center of Chinese, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese American culture. After a wave of Taiwanese immigrants moved here in the nineteen-seventies, academics and the media began referring to Monterey Park as “the first suburban Chinatown.” Others have called it an “ethnoburb,” a term that the geographer Wei Li coined, after studying the development of the San Gabriel Valley Chinese community, to describe “suburban ethnic clusters of residential areas and business districts in large metropolitan areas.” In normal times, people from other parts of L.A. come here to eat Sichuan dan-dan noodles or to have Taiwanese breakfast or to shop at the Asian supermarket chain 99 Ranch. Monterey Park is also the center of lunar-New Year festivities in the county, with an annual street festival that is widely attended. Continued here

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'Acts that defy humanity:' 3 essential reads on police brutality, race and the power of video evidence Clinical Instructor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia State University In the case of the five Black, former Memphis police officers accused of murder in the beating death of Tyre Nichols, justice has moved quickly. Continued here

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The Founder's Dilemma The author’s studies indicate that a founder who gives up more equity to attract cofounders, new hires, and investors builds a more valuable company than one who parts with less equity. More often than not, however, those superior returns come from replacing the founder with a professional CEO more experienced with the needs of a growing company. This fundamental tension requires founders to make “rich” versus “king” trade-offs to maximize either their wealth or their control over the company. Continued here

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To revitalize Indigenous communities, the Residential School settlement must prioritize language education After a decade, the federal government has reached an agreement to settle a class action lawsuit that included 325 First Nations across Canada. The class action was initiated by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc and shíshálh Nation in 2012. It was concerned with, among other issues, the loss of language and culture through Residential Schools. The settlement, worth $2.8 billion, includes support for cultural revitalization with focus on heritage, wellness and languages. Efforts toward cultural revitalization will be funded by the $50 million Day Scholars Revitalization Fund. An important aspect of the fund will be the central role Indigenous Peoples will have in managing and guiding the process of supporting the cultural revitalization. Continued here

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17 years later, the most underrated Final Fantasy spin-off is more relevant than ever In the years after Final Fantasy VII’s massive global success, Square Enix decided to give this entry in their already successful franchise its own sub-franchise which would be dubbed The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. This project birthed the recently remastered cult hit Crisis Core, starring best boy Zack Fair and also the ongoing Remake series that includes the upcoming Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. The forgotten black sheep in this project, however, stars the edgiest boy of all: Vincent Valentine. 17 years later, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII is still a perplexing genre shakeup that revels in the progressively complex narrative of the world. A hero even edgier than Cloud Strife — While Final Fantasy VII is beloved for its complex characters and emotional story that still stands out as one of the best narratives in gaming (just ask current Batman, Robert Pattinson). It’s also a game with a hefty dose of campy humor and characters that feel like they come out of left field. One such character is the optional party member Vincent Valentine. Continued here

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'Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls' review: A cringe comedy as overlong as its title Andrew Bowser’s Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls is the rare movie that, from the very first scene, lets audiences know that they’re either going to love it or hate it. Viewers familiar with Onyx, Bowser’s weirdo Satanist YouTube character, will likely fall into the former category; everyone else, flip a coin. Onyx’s misadventures are documented through skits and bits on Bowser’s 10-year-old channel, BowserVids, and you may benefit from browsing the library before tuning in for 100 minutes of the schtick. Then again, you may be feeling bold. Continued here

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How Native Americans Will Shape the Future of Water in the West As a child, Stephen Lewis heard stories about a river that, for the most part, no longer flowed. “How I grew up was that it was a theft, that it was stolen from us,” he told me late last year. “There was what we used to call the Mighty Gila River, and now it was just pretty much dry. There was no water.” Lewis is the governor of the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), a group that has occupied land south of Phoenix for centuries. When I met him, in the dining room of the Whirlwind Golf Club, which the tribe owns, Lewis had recently returned from Santa Fe. There, he’d attended a celebration marking the centennial of the Colorado River Compact, an agreement that continues to shape water politics in the Southwest. In Santa Fe, Lewis took note of a black-and-white photograph of the compact’s signers—white men in dark jackets, gathered around a wooden desk. Continued here

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'Last of Us' Episode 3 release date, time, and trailer for HBO's zombie show Goodbye Boston. After a disastrous mission outside of the QZ, new places and new faces are in store Joel and Ellie in the highly-anticipated Episode 3 of The Last of Us. Things have not exactly gone according to plan on the quest to deliver Ellie to the Fireflies. And following some shocking face-to-face confrontation with both Runners and Clickers, as well as an explosive turn of events, the central duo must now take their journey beyond the crumbling city and into the world of unknown dangers in the third installment of HBO’s hit show. Continued here

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Compensation Packages That Actually Drive Performance By aligning executives’ financial incentives with company strategy, a firm can inspire its management to deliver superior results. But it can be hard to get pay packages right. In this article four experts break down the key elements of compensation and explain how to put them together effectively. Continued here

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Exxon scientists accurately forecast climate change back in the 1970s - what if we had listened to them and acted then? Writers of speculative- and science-fiction often identify a key point in time and explore how a seemingly insignificant event might change the path of humanity. Instead, the company chose to maintain its role as an oil company and fund people to question the science and delay a coherent response. Staggeringly, in 1996 the company’s chief executive, Lee Raymond, referred to “the unproven theory that [fossil fuels] affect the earth’s climate”. The company, now known as ExxonMobil, denies the allegations, saying “those who talk about how ‘Exxon Knew’ are wrong in their conclusions”. Continued here

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35 years ago, a sci-fi legend made the strangest time-travel movie ever “In a thousand years, Gandahar will be destroyed. A thousand years ago, Gandahar will be saved and what can't be avoided will be.” The riddle at the heart of legendary French animator René Laloux's strangest movie is as confusing as the film itself. By the end of Gandahar, you may not understand either, but you’ll have experienced one of the most ambitious and beautiful time-travel stories ever told. Continued here

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These 50 cool things for your home have fanatical Amazon reviews It’s a real win discovering an item that makes my home look better or function more efficiently. Whether it’s a clever organization solution, a better way to grill a cheese sandwich, or something that makes dishes easier to clean, the answer is always, “Yes, please.” And when that item is affordable and supported with tons of glowing reviews, all the better. Gone are the days of wandering the big-box stores and musing about the quality or usefulness of that random home good that catches your eye. Now we can turn to five-star reviews to discover the cream of the crop without even leaving the house. And these 50 cool things for your home have fanatical Amazon reviews. I’m pretty sure you are going to want some of these genius inventions. Continued here

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Older women are smashing it this awards season - but ageism is far from over Older and middle-aged women are having their moment in the sun, it seems. The recent Golden Globes coverage was filled with images of “older” women on the red carpet. There were some notable wins too. Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh and Jennifer Coolidge, all in their 60s, won their respective categories and in their speeches addressed the significance of receiving these awards later in their careers. The recently announced Oscar nominations also featured many older women, with four of the five nominations in the best actress category taken by women over 40 – including Yeoh and Cate Blanchett (53). Other categories also featured women over 60, like Jamie Lee Curtis (64) and Bassett for actress in a supporting role. Continued here

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Get ready to rumble: Everything you need to know about 'WWE 2K23' In many ways, WWE 2K22 was a welcome addition, especially after the popular series took a year off in 2021. WWE 2K22 performed well — critically and commercially — and was regarded as a return to form, while also introducing fresh features and mechanics. So, what about a follow-up? While 2K hasn’t yet officially announced WWE 2K23, we do know it’s coming. What else do we know about the upcoming WWE 2K installment? Details are still a little sparse, sure, but we’ve gathered everything we know about WWE 2K23. WWE 2K23 is due out on March 17, 2023. You can actually play it three days early if you purchase the Deluxe or Icon Editions. Continued here

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7 Strategies for Better Group Decision-Making There are upsides and downsides to making decisions in a group. The main risks include falling into groupthink or other biases that will distort the process and the ultimate outcome. But bringing more minds together to solve a problem has its advantages. To make use of those upsides and increase the chances your team will land on a successful solution, the authors recommend using seven strategies, which have been backed by behavioral science research: Keep the group small, especially when you need to make an important decision. Bring a diverse group together. Appoint a devil’s advocate. Collect opinions independently. Provide a safe space to speak up. Don’t over-rely on experts. And share collective responsibility for the outcome. Continued here

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'Like a Dragon: Ishin' blends Yakuza's weirdo humor with stylish samurai flair The seedy neighborhood of Kamurocho, which is inspired by the real-world Tokyo vice district known as Kabukicho, is a staple of the Yakuza series. (Yes, I know we’re calling it Like a Dragon now. Let me ease into it.) You visit this area in all eight mainline games, and as time chugs forward over the course of each installment, you’ll see how the city evolves. A spot to rent lurid DVDs morphs into a cat cafe. The bowling alley where Kiryu won a live chicken in his twenties becomes a swanky gym by the time he’s in his forties. The poky vacant lot surrounded by shabby shanties in the prequel Yakuza 0 becomes the Millennium Tower throughout the rest of the series. And so on. Continued here

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IBM Just Released Its New 'People Mantra'. It's Just 3 Words and CEOs Everywhere Should Listen Up A refreshing take on recession-proofing the business. It starts with people.Continued here S42 Everything we know about all 27 'Honkai: Star Rail' characters Characters are one of Honkai: Star Rail’s biggest draws. How else would HoYoverse convince you to invest in another gacha game? The company has yet to dive into each one, but the beta and online lore opened the gates for testers to meet the 27 characters to varying extents. You get March 7th, Dan Heng, and Herta as guaranteed freebies — and maybe others as you progress! But what about the others? Each of these characters has a unique design, backstory, and kit that can aid your team. Here’s what we know so far about all 27 Honkai: Star Rail characters so far. Continued here S38 How to unlock the 'Dead Space' remake's terrifying secret ending While the new Dead Space remake is mostly a faithful adaptation of the 2008 original, developer Motive Studio did implement some fresh additions as well. Notably, the remake includes a secret ending that — in many ways — is better than the original while tying directly into Dead Space 2. But you’ll have to put in a lot of extra work to unlock it. Here’s how to unlock the secret ending in the Dead Space remake. First, you’ll need to play through the game normally to reach New Game Plus. You can complete the game on any difficulty to unlock New Game Plus, which allows you to carry over all of your weapons, upgrades, suits, and credits, as well as some rewards to entice you to jump back in. Continued here S36 'God of War Ragnarok' ending theory explains Atreus' most important decision From the start of God of War Ragnarok, fans were already waiting to see how the prophecy revealed at the end of the 2018 game would impact the fate of Kratos and his son Atreus. In a game obsessed with fate, Atreus's final confrontation with Odin breaks from the expected conclusion. An illuminating fan theory points to a specific moment as the turning point for Atreus’s future, and it all has to do with the game’s most mysterious MacGuffin — the Mask of Creation. The inevitable — Like any classic story that deals with fate and prophecy, in God of War Ragnarok you watch the main cast rush towards a conclusion that could have been avoided — if they weren’t so obsessed with rewriting fate. Continued here S50 Oscars 2023: Where and how to watch the nominees Get your popcorn ready for some of the best films to land on the big and small screen in 2022. RRR may have been, tragically, snubbed by the Oscars due to some flaws unique to the Best International Feature Film category’s voting process, but some other top titles of 2022 will get their fair due at the 95th Academy Awards— several of which Inverse lauded as the best of the year. Continued here S43 Audi's new EV concept is a pickup, SUV hybrid that's built for our AR future The Activesphere concept includes four AR headsets that show you and your passengers 3D and interactive elements. Audi is back again with another wild look into the future of EVs. Audi unveiled the fourth concept in its sphere series, the Activesphere, which is a four-door crossover packed with AR and outdoorsy features. Continued here S45 Android tablets have to get weird before they can be popular A unique gimmick could be the way to mainstream Android tablets in a way they’ve never been before. Android tablets are on the offensive. After years of being the cheaper alternative to an iPad, Google’s effort to change the story around the large-screen version of its Android operating system might be finally working out. Continued here S44 'Fire Emblem Engage' best Emblem pairings: 9 duos to make your team unstoppable Reach into the past and grab your favorite heroes from bygone games. That’s the central gameplay mechanic in Fire Emblem Engage. Twelve powerful artifacts known as Emblem Rings are divided between the different factions in-game, each one holding a spirit of a powerful Fire Emblem protagonist from other games in the franchise. You’ll need to collect them all across the 26 chapters of the story in order to defeat the Fell Dragon. With 12 Emblems and 35 characters in Fire Emblem Engage, that means you have a lot of options. So, with all these different possibilities, which allies should get which Emblem Rings? Don’t worry, we’re here to break down the process and make it easy to understand, with a few powerful pairing recommendations to get you started. Continued here S39 Robert Eggers' 'Nosferatu' remake will reunite him with his best collaborator The acclaimed director of The Witch and The Northman is revisiting the movie that ignited his obsession for the macabre. Despite the Oscars snubbing Robert Eggers’ The Northman, the acclaimed director is already at work on his next project — and for Eggers specifically, it’s the big one. Continued here S46 How to lock down your iCloud in iOS 16 with Apple's Advanced Data Protection Turning on Apple’s new Advanced Data Protection feature is easy and could help protect sensitive information in the event your account is hacked. iCloud has come a long way since the days of scandalous celebrity hacks, but that doesn’t mean Apple’s pursuit of buttoned-up security is done. Recently, Apple released a much-anticipated new end-to-end encryption feature that protects most of your iCloud data. Continued here S54 What to Do When You Don't Feel Valued at Work It’s no fun to toil away at a job where your colleagues take you for granted. To make a change, look for ways to highlight your contributions and achievements. Ask your boss for the opportunity to provide an overview of your team’s responsibilities and accomplishments to the rest of the organization. Talk about what your team does, what its goals are, and ways you’re striving to do better. Another way to get your work noticed is to praise and appreciate others. Most often the response from the other person will be to return the favor. It also doesn’t hurt to toot your own horn from time to time. Say something like: “I accomplished X and Y and I am grateful for the support that I had.” Don’t humblebrag, though. Finally, while being valued for your work is a wonderful thing, try to move away from your need for external validation. Real fulfillment comes from within. Continued here S53 What Companies Need to Know Before Investing in AI Different forms of AI can improve performance through prediction; automation of routines; and identification of images, keywords, and patterns in voice and text. However, organizations often struggle with knowing where investments in AI will really pay off. Companies need to 1) ask whether they really need AI, 2) pick a task to start with, not a project 3) identify what data and complimentary systems it will require, 4) adjust expectations around accuracy accordingly, 5) not rush to deploy it enterprise-wide, 6) ask whether they have the necessary skills to maintain an AI, and 7) decide whether the returns will outweigh the costs. Continued here S41 'The Last of Us' Season 2 renewal: Everything we know so far On January 27, just weeks after its freshman season premiere, The Last of Us has been officially renewed for a second season. It’s unsurprising given the show’s strong showing as a critical darling and draw to both HBO and the HBO Max streaming platform. “I’m humbled, honored, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have tuned in and connected with our retelling of Joel and Ellie’s journey,” said executive producer Neil Druckmann in a statement. “The collaboration with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast and crew, and HBO exceeded my already high expectations. Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do it again with season two!” Continued here S51 How to Write a Goodbye Email to Your Colleagues Leaving a job is hard. Despite the “not-so-good” parts, you likely had good moments as well. How do you gracefully say your goodbyes and exit? A farewell email is not only a way to acknowledge and thank your team before you go, but it is a best practice that most people send around their last day of work. Continued here S52 Overselling Sustainability Reporting For two decades progressive thinkers have argued that a more sustainable form of capitalism would arise if companies regularly measured and reported on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. But although such reporting has become widespread, and some firms are deriving benefits from it, environmental damage and social inequality are still growing. Continued here S57 Managers and Leaders: Are They Different? Managers and leaders are two very different types of people. Managers’ goals arise out of necessities rather than desires; they excel at defusing conflicts between individuals or departments, placating all sides while ensuring that an organization’s day-to-day business gets done. Leaders, on the other hand, adopt personal, active attitudes toward goals. They look for the opportunities and rewards that lie around the corner, inspiring subordinates and firing up the creative process with their own energy. Their relationships with employees and coworkers are intense, and their working environment is often chaotic. Continued here S58 The Strategic Secret of Private Equity The huge sums that private equity firms make on their investments evoke admiration and envy. Typically, these returns are attributed to the firms’ aggressive use of debt, concentration on cash flow and margins, freedom from public company regulations, and hefty incentives for operating managers. But the fundamental reason for private equity’s success is the strategy of buying to sell—one rarely employed by public companies, which, in pursuit of synergies, usually buy to keep. Continued here S59 The Five Stages of Small Business Growth Categorizing the problems and growth patterns of small businesses in a systematic way that is useful to entrepreneurs seems at first glance a hopeless task. Small businesses vary widely in size and capacity for growth. They are characterized by independence of action, differing organizational structures, and varied management styles. Continued here S60 How Venture Capital Works The popular mythology surrounding the U.S. venture-capital industry derives from a previous era. Venture capitalists who nurtured the computer industry in its infancy were legendary both for their risk-taking and for their hands-on operating experience. But today things are different, and separating the myths from the realities is crucial to understanding this important piece of the U.S. economy. Continued here S61 The Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer Diversify your product line. Stick to your knitting. Hire a professional manager. Watch fixed costs. Those are some of the suggestions that entrepreneurs sort through as they try to get their ventures off the ground. Why all the conflicting advice? Because in a young company, all decisions are up for grabs. Continued here Contributors Dharmendra Kumar Priya Ranjan Powered by Blogger.