With self-isolation continuing, we feature a range of articles to help you adapt. We have tips on how to cook, get the right headset for video calls and a range of books and movies to watch. On the health front, we include a response from a reader who (rightly) took issue with an article we featured on not warming-up before work-outs (h/t Giovanni P).
Then we have articles on using AR to measure social distancing, Zoombombing, and the decline in toxic fumes in London.
Finally, check out my personal blog on “what exactly is a virus”.
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(total reading time: 3 mins)
With self-isolation continuing, we feature a range of articles to help you adapt. We have tips on how to cook, get the right headset for video calls and a range of books and movies to watch. On the health front, we include a response from a reader who (rightly) took issue with an article we featured on not warming-up before work-outs (h/t Giovanni P).
Then we have articles on using AR to measure social distancing, Zoombombing, and the decline in toxic fumes in London.
Finally, check out my personal blog on “what exactly is a virus”.
Enjoy!
Bilal
If You Literally Never Cook, Start Here (Eater, 10 min read) For those who have never lifted a pan – a primer on cooking. Tutorial and recipes on making stirfry, greens, eggs, rice, beans, roast chicken, stock, soup and pasta all in there.
How to Keep Your Team Motivated, Remotely (Harvard Business Review, 9 min read) Allowing employees to experiment and solve meaningful problems is one tactic that led to a 45% increase in employee motivation. Read on to know more about positive and negative motivators that impact productivity in remote teams.
Don’t Mute, Get a Better Headset (Matt Mullenweg , 10 min read) If you hate muting audio on Zoom – a selection of 11 noise-cancelling microphones ranging from $35 to $1,000+. Also, provides recoded samples of each mic and some software hacks for MacOS.
Here’s a response by a reader on the importance of stretching, contrary to an article we featured last week: “The article on warm-ups is not only a bad article but also dangerous. If you only measure the output of your workout, then it is true that the capacity to generate force depends mostly on your neurological ability to recruit muscles. Therefore is not surprising that the output is the same with a warm-up or not. However what the article fails to consider is that if you skip your warm-up, the incidence of injury is higher. There are physiological reasons for this specifically linked to the tendons, not the muscles. Warming-up is an art – people tend to either over do it or don’t do it. In both cases it is dangerous- over do it and you fatigue neurologically before your workout. Don’t do it and the likelihood of injury increases. The warm-up should be done at 20 percent of your max output – but that implies that you know what it is and that comes with experience and constant testing.”
10-Minute Stretching Routine to Counteract Sitting (Outside, 16 min read) Extended time in a chair weakens hip flexors, spine, core glutes and reduces lifespan. The article offers a stretching routine to strengthen these affected muscles and reset your body.
Women’s lifestyle changes, even in middle age, may reduce future stroke risk (EurekAlert, 4 min read) Middle age is still not too late for women to reduce stroke risk. Risk of total stroke reduced up to 25% by not smoking, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and making healthy food choices, according to this new research.
Identical mice, different gut bacteria, different levels of cancer (EurekAlert, 4 min read) A study on mice offers new clues – differences in the gut bacteria may contribute to the development of colon and the rectum cancer.
Using Augmented Reality to Measure Safe Social Distancing (Spoon & Tamago, 1 min read) A virtual ruler to help you measure and keep a safe social distance between yourself and others when making essential trips to the supermarket or drugstore. For the iPhone users, you can this link to download the app from your Safari.
AI can’t predict how a child’s life will turn out even with a ton of data (MIT Technology Review, 2 min read) Having a large amount of data and having complicated algorithms does not guarantee accurate prediction. Hundreds of researchers attempted to forecast childrens’ and families’ outcomes, using 15 years of data. None were able to do so with any accuracy.
Physicists From The LHC Are Making a COVID-19 Ventilator That Runs on Batteries (Science Alert, 3 min) Types of systems used to regulate gas flows for particle physics detectors could now be used to design a novel ventilator. This ventilator is cheap to manufacture, can run on batteries, solar panels or emergency generators.
Video games improve the visual attention of expert players (EurekAlert, 4 min read) One long-term effect of gaming is that It improves cognitive function called temporal visual selective attention – the capacity to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information. Should gaming be added to the graduate training programme to make a better analyst?
Google’s Art App Now Turns Your Selfies Into Famous Masterpieces (Gizmondo, 2 min read) AI-powered image mapping ability of Google Arts & Culture app allows you to replicate any of your images as famous paintings. Artist in the catalogues includes ( but is not limited to): Edvard Munch, Andy Warhol, Vincent van Gogh, Keith Haring and Leonardo Da Vinci.
Toxic fumes in London are at their lowest in 70 years (TimeOut, 2 min read) The research revealed drops in the levels of nitrogen oxides (up to 62%), and nitrogen dioxide (up to 43%) amidst the lockdown in London. Lowest emission since the 1950s.
‘Zoombombers’ want to troll your online meetings. Here’s how to stop them (The Conversation, 4 min read) Zoombombing is the distasteful practice of posting distressing comments, pictures or videos after gatecrashing virtual meetings. Some tips to prevent this includes: keep your session URL away from the public, use the waiting room function, make screen sharing possible for the host only, require a password setting for others joining.
The Best Comedies On Netflix Right Now, Ranked (Uproxx, 15 min read) Comedy is the best medicine to ease your cabin fever amidst this pandemic. Ranking of 30 best comedies on Netflix of all eras. 90’s classics include; Kingpin, Bad Boys and Groundhog Day.
10 YouTube Essays That’ll Broaden Your Pop Culture Education (Gizmodo, 6 min read) To stay hip and also have a more in-depth conversation about pop culture with your friends and colleagues – 10 Youtube channels which take deep dives on movies, shows, comics, and other forms of modern entertainment.
Five movies that will make you feel a little better about self-isolating (Time Out, 3 min read) Pass the time by watching movies that will make you feel a bit better about being confined to one place. These films take place entirely inside a house, kitchen, cottage or spaceship. Take some pointers on how characters deal with their solitary situation.
NEED A SPORTS FIX? THESE FIVE NEW BOOKS HAVE GOT YOU COVERED (OZY, 4 min read) With all the sporting event cancelled or on hold, these five new reads (which are now available online) will help fill your sporting hunger. It includes titles like The Hot Hand, which decodes the science of streaks in sports.
(The commentary contained in the above article does not constitute an offer or a solicitation, or a recommendation to implement or liquidate an investment or to carry out any other transaction. It should not be used as a basis for any investment decision or other decision. Any investment decision should be based on appropriate professional advice specific to your needs.)