Solid advice for a jobs agenda

Josh Barro at Business Insider with some smart advice:

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-democrats-can-beat-trump-jobs-2016-12

Insight

Last night, we were watching "Fresh Off the Boat". The character of Jessica is famously frugal. She explains her technique to her husband about her philosophy on Christmas presents. Every year, she waits until the day after Christmas to buy that year's hot toy to give to her kids the following Christmas. That way, the kids are happy because they get the toy they like while she is happy because she buys it at a price she likes.

My wife chuckled to herself and said, "I guess I am Chinese!"

😄

Things that you remember are what make up your life

Nice concept in this article about how our brains manipulate our perception of time.

NY Mag: How Your Brain Controls the Speed of Time

The article explains that your brain doesn't actually speed up in moments of danger. This is how it does it:

What this tells us is that our brains don’t speed up when we’re in danger. Instead, the rush of fear hormones causes the brain to retain richer memories of what’s happening. This is related to the “flashbulb effect” that enables us to remember every color, sound, and smell of an emotionally powerful event. This is obviously useful from an evolutionary perspective: If you survive a life-or-death encounter, it could prove useful someday to remember exactly how you did it.

I really liked the way the author closes the article:

There’s an important big-picture upshot to all of this. If you want to live a long time, you should stick to a hard-and-fast regimen of regular exercise and healthy food. Your sleep schedule should run like a Swiss railroad. But if you want your life to seem like it’s lasting a long time, pack it with surprises. Experience intense emotions in unfamiliar environments. Connect with strangers and eat weird things. Scream, laugh, cry. These are the things you remember — and the things you remember are what make up your life.

Best time to buy

The best times of the year to buy specific categories:

From this article:
Lifehacker: Best time to buy

Time vs. money

This article from Lifehacker has an interesting perspective. The author lists a number of activities that should be saving money that she gave up because they cost her too much time.

I think the important point in the article is that you have to figure out what works best for you. Perhaps the thrill of saving outweighs the cost of the time spent achieving that goal. You've got to decide for yourself if it makes sense.

http://twocents.lifehacker.com/the-money-saving-habits-i-gave-up-because-they-waste-my-1785668394

Networking tips: how to start an email

This article gives three different ways to start emails with networking prospects.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3066116/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/the-only-three-networking-emails-you-need-to-know-how-to-w

Artificial Intelligence is More Artificial Than Intelligent

In Wired, this article discusses the current state of AI:
https://www.wired.com/2016/12/artificial-intelligence-artificial-intelligent/

It discusses how Deep Mind can master the game of Go and Watson can win at Jeopardy!, but they would be helpless if they were asked to play Monopoly.

We've had discussions with the Watson people. They are attempting to broaden the use of their technology. I believe that it is very strong at processing large amounts of data and searching for specific answers to known problems. Where I believe that the technology falls short is in providing insight into the questions that haven't been asked yet.

We'll see how AI continues to develop. Thankfully, we are still a long way from complete domination by our computer overlords!