4 Myths and 1 Truth About Scheduling Meetings
Boomerang Blog:”…No, Monday mornings are actually NOT bad to get a meeting scheduled. It turns out the best time to schedule a meeting is Monday at 11am. We’ll dive into why that is in a bit…”
Apple Is Taking On Apples in a Truly Weird Trademark Battle
Wired UK: “The Fruit Union Suisse is 111 years old. For most of its history, it has had as its symbol a red apple with a white cross—the Swiss national flag superimposed on one of its most common fruits. But the group, the oldest and largest fruit farmer’s organization in Switzerland, worries it might have …
Can America’s Students Recover What They Lost During the Pandemic?
ProPublica: “Disastrous test scores increasingly show how steep a toll the COVID-19 era exacted on students, particularly minorities. Schools are grappling with how to catch up, and the experience of one city shows how intractable the obstacles are…”
A Critical Look at AI-Generated Software
IEEE Spectrum: Coding with ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and other AI tools is both irresistible and dangerous – “Most recently, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, a large-language-model chatbot that is capable of writing code with a little prompting in a conversational manner. This makes it accessible to people who have no prior exposure to programming. ChatGPT, by itself, …
A Heat Pump Might Be Right for Your Home. Here’s Everything to Know.
The New York Times Wire Cutter: “Heat pumps are good for your wallet—and the world. They’re the cheapest and most efficient way to handle both heating and cooling for your home, no matter where you live. They’re also better for the environment. In fact, most experts agree they’re one of the best ways for homeowners …
UBS study: Women face emotional backlash when they outearn their male partners
Fast Company – “The gender pay gap is 84%, but even in the case where women are outearning men, they still face inequity at home. A new study by UBS Financial Services found that a third of women are the primary earners at home, but only 50% of these women in heterosexual relationships are involved in …
Human or Not?
“A Social Turing Game. Chat with someone for two minutes, and try to figure out if it was a fellow human or an AI bot. Think you can tell the difference?”
Nationwide study of the local, racially segmented resettlement of homeowners from rising flood risks
Managed retreat: a nationwide study of the local, racially segmented resettlement of homeowners from rising flood risks, by James R Elliott and Zheye Wang Published 15 June 2023. Environmental Research Letters, Volume 18 Number 6 Focus on Natural Hazards, Disasters, and Extreme Events “The government-funded retreat of homeowners from flood-prone housing is a globally ascendant …
Slow Birding
“The art and science of enjoying the birds in your own backyard. Are you a Slow Birder? I am! I take the time to watch the birds I see. I learn about them. I am not a motor birder, speeding from one roadside to another to add a bird or two to the day’s list. …
NationalSoilMoisture.com
Via Drought.gov: “The research-based website NationalSoilMoisture.com provides high-resolution gridded soil moisture products derived from in situ soil moisture measurements, Natural Resources Conservation Service SSURGO soil characteristics, and PRISM data. The project combines data from multiple federal, regional, and state agencies to create comprehensive data products for the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. These products …
Women’s Prize for Fiction winners
Abe Books: “Discover all the winning novels since 1996 – Since 1996, the Women’s Prize for Fiction has recognized and celebrated the best fiction by women writers around the world. Bestselling novelist and playwright Kate Mosse founded the UK-based award to champion women in the male-dominated awards scene. Despite writing 60% of books published, by …
How to keep your Google Chrome extensions from snooping on you
PopSci – Make your browsing more private and secure. If you haven’t used that extension in a while, consider getting rid of it. There’s a good chance you have a bunch of Google Chrome extensions you don’t even remember you downloaded. But these add-ons have access to your data and might be snooping around on …