Apps | the 12 best travel apps
A travel pro takes you to the best apps which will make your journeys easier and more enjoyable.
By Stephanie Rosenbloom
Recently I deleted dozens of travel apps from my iPhone. Many are great. They allowed me to research unfamiliar places, listen to audio tours and turn my photos into postcards. But travel is about tapping the world, not a screen, so I’m ending the year with an app purge. I’ve kept only what I use often. An app didn’t have to be new (most weren’t) to make the cut, but it had to make travel easier or significantly more enjoyable. Below are a dozen that have earned a spot on my smartphone heading into 2016.
Bravolol This app brand puts basic phrases and vocabulary — “Thank you,” “How much?,” “A table for two, please” — at your fingertips. (more…)
Business Hacks | being happier at work
Emma Seppälä, author of The Happiness Track, explains the proven benefits of a positive outlook; simple ways to increase your sense of well-being; and why it’s not about being ecstatic or excited all the time. Audio IdeaCast available too.
SARAH GREEN CARMICHAEL: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. I’m Sarah Green Carmichael. Today, I’m talking with Emma Seppala, science director of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. She’s the author of the brand new book, The Happiness Track, How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success. Emma, thank you so much for talking with us today.
EMMA SEPPALA: Oh, you’re more than welcome. I’m happy to be here.
SARAH GREEN CARMICHAEL: So I thought we should just start by talking about how you define success in the purposes of the book because you started, I thought was really interesting, with a quote from late poet Maya Angelou, who actually was one of my all-time favorite interviews that we’ve done on the IdeaCast. That was a few years ago. But she stuck out in my mind.
Funny Dog Video | goofy dog running along Venice Canals
One of my dog Nunzi’s favorite places to go for a walk is along the Venice canals. Since we’re fortunate enough to live just down the block from them, we…
Apps | Yahoo Video Guide combines all your streaming apps into one
The streaming app to rule them all. With Yahoo Video Guide you can quickly find and stream all your favorite TV shows and movies in one beautiful app. If you…
Business Hacks | what is disruptive innovation now?
The theory of disruptive innovation has proved to be a powerful way of thinking about innovation-driven growth. Here’s an excellent article and video about how it’s evolving.
By Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor, Rory McDonald
The theory of disruptive innovation, introduced in these pages in 1995, has proved to be a powerful way of thinking about innovation-driven growth. Many leaders of small, entrepreneurial companies praise it as their guiding star; so do many executives at large, well-established organizations, including Intel, Southern New Hampshire University, and Salesforce.com.
Unfortunately, disruption theory is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. Despite broad dissemination, the theory’s core concepts have been widely misunderstood and its basic tenets frequently misapplied. Furthermore, essential refinements in the theory over the past 20 years appear to have been overshadowed by the popularity of the initial formulation. As a result, the theory is sometimes criticized for shortcomings that have already been addressed. (more…)
Dog Video | Great Dane helps child learn to walk again
When Bella met George, something wonderful happened. Not long ago, the 11-year-old with a rare disorder was clinging to crutches. But now she's walking with the help of a Great…
Funny Dog & Cat Video | Cats, dogs, different animals looking silly while eating
Here is a hilarious viral video compilation of dogs and cats and other animals like monkeys, racoons, giraffes, who look very funny, silly and cute while eating in unusual ways.…
Funny Dog Video | dog alarm clocks compilation
No matter how many times you press the snooze button, your alarm clock will not love you back. Dogs are a different story. With a canine as a means of…
Life Hacks | you’re already more persuasive than you think
It’s amazing the opportunities we miss because we often doubt our own powers of persuasion.
You’re Already More Persuasive than You Think
by Vanessa K. Bohns
Our bosses make shortsighted decisions, but we don’t suggest an alternative, figuring they wouldn’t listen anyway. Or we have an idea that would require a group effort, but we don’t try to sell our peers on it, figuring it would be too much of an uphill battle. Even when we need a personal favor, such as coverage for an absence, we avoid asking our colleagues out of fear of rejection. (more…)
Business Hacks | the new science of customer emotions
When companies connect with customers’ emotions, the payoff can be huge.
The New Science of Customer Emotions
By Scott Magids, Alan Zorfas, Daniel Leemon
When companies connect with customers’ emotions, the payoff can be huge. Consider these examples: After a major bank introduced a credit card for Millennials that was designed to inspire emotional connection, use among the segment increased by 70% and new account growth rose by 40%.
Within a year of launching products and messaging to maximize emotional connection, a leading household cleaner turned market share losses into double-digit growth. And when a nationwide apparel retailer reoriented its merchandising and customer experience to its most emotionally connected customer segments, same-store sales growth accelerated more than threefold. (more…)
Dog Videos | heartwarming story of sick Cheetah cub and his puppy savior
Just when the Cheetah cub was having a hard time surviving, some kind-hearted humans and a brave shelter puppy came to his rescue.
Meet Kumbali and Kao, two very unique friends. Kumbali the Cheetah was the runt of his litter and wasn’t getting enough milk from his mother to survive, so the staff at the Richmond Zoo decided to nurse him themselves. But they also knew the youngster needed a companion. Cheetahs are very sociable big cats and need company to thrive and not become anxious. The zoo found Kago, a lab mix who was rescued from a high-kill shelter in Alabama. (more…)
Funny Dog Videos | sneaky diabolical dogs raiding the kitchen
These dogs are amazingly good at stealing all kinds of food from all kinds of places! It’s hilarious watching the inventive ways these canines figure out how to get around…
Funny Dog & Cat Video | cats annoying dogs
Hey who says that cats and dogs don't get along much? They get along, but often disagree what the best way to get along is. Here’s a hilarious compilation showing…
Life Hacks | mindfulness as a productivity tool?
A wisdom tradition associated with personal growth and insight is now being absorbed by our culture as a tool for career development and efficiency.
Is Something Lost When We Use Mindfulness as a Productivity Tool?
by Charlotte Lieberman
I came to mindfulness as a healing practice after overcoming an addiction to Adderall during my junior year of college. I found myself in this situation because I thought that using Adderall to help me focus was no big deal — an attitude shared by 81% of students nationwide.
Adderall simply seemed like an innocuous shortcut to getting things done – and to do so efficiently yet effortlessly. I still remember the rush I felt my first night on Adderall: I completed every page of assigned Faulkner reading (not easy), started and finished a paper several weeks before the due date (because why not?), Swiffered my room (twice) and answered all of my unread emails (even the irrelevant ones). It’s also probably worth noting that I had forgotten to eat all night, and somehow found myself still awake at 4 a.m., my jaw clenched and my stomach rumbling. Sleep was nowhere in sight.
What I saw initially as shortcut to more focus and productivity ultimately turned out instead to be a long detour toward self-destruction. Rather than thinking of focus as the byproduct of my own power and capability, I looked outside of myself, thinking that a pill would solve my problems.
Business Hacks | marketing – why some videos go viral
In “Puppyhood,” a video for Purina Puppy Chow produced with BuzzFeed, a guy spontaneously adopts a puppy, they bond in typical roommate fashion…and a marketer’s dream comes true.
Why Some Videos Go Viral
A viral video is every marketer’s dream. It’s the surest way to cut through the noise of the internet. And studies show that social viewers—people who watch shared content rather than videos they’ve found by browsing—are far more likely to buy a product and recommend it to others.
Why do some videos catch fire and others just sputter out? Unruly, a marketing technology company, offers an answer. Its analysis of some 430 billion video views and 100,000 consumer data points reveals the two most powerful drivers of viral success: psychological response (how the content makes you feel) and social motivation (why you want to share it).
Podcasts | Story Worthy – true stories from interesting talents
Story Worthy is a free weekly storytelling podcast featuring Hollywood’s most creative talents and normalish people spinning intriguing true tales. Each week the guest picks the topic and brings Story…
Funny Dog Video | dogs failing doing dog stuff
Having a puppy now, I’ve observed him doing a lot of falling and flopping when he tries to do normal dog stuff like fetching and catching and jumping and, well,…
Funny Dog Video | Dogs Trying To Steal Food
This is the best funny video of dogs trying to steal food right off of tables. The canines try and try and try with dogged determination to snatch their object…
Life Hacks | lessons from the 20 most popular TED talks
The 20 most popular TED talks ever are likely to make you question just about everything. And they will toss in a few answers. 5 Mind-Blowing Lessons From the Most…