Masks, Mcdonald's Monopoly, Running, Everest and "Pedo Guy"
I hope you're continuing to survive the crazy times, and haven't gone too stir crazy if you're stuck at home.
I came back to Nova Scotia last week from Montreal, and am now just finishing the first week of mandatory 14-day isolation. Despite being stuck in one place, it's nice to have a little more space, and hopefully a few less people in Montreal will help them deal with things better.
Just a couple notes on COVID-related things before the normal newsletter:
- It's starting to look like (see thread) mass adoption of "masks" (any facial covering) can help reduce the spread. This makes intuitive sense given that many with COVID are asymptomatic. When everyone wears them, even those people are prevented from spreading.
- New York has actually changed their guidance to encourage people to wear face coverings. Proper masks are needed for healthcare professionals, but making your own seems to be effective.
- One more thing: a cool visualization of the impact social distancing can have (shown through the tracking of a group of spring breakers).
Now on to the usual newsletter!
Book Notes I Added:How to Win Friends & Influence People in the Digital Age
This is Dale Carnegie's classic updated for the modern age. I was a bit skeptical of the original when I first read it, because the principles seemed like common sense. I'm more appreciative now that I've spent a bit more time studying how influence works, and operating in larger work environments. Worth reading this or re-reading the original.
Articles I'm Reading:
- How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald's Monopoly Game and Stole Millions - Daily Beast - If you read one thing this week, this should be it. A truly staggering story of how the McDonald's contests through the 90s and early 2000s were essentially all fraudulent winners. Oh, and Canada got cut out too.
- How Nike Broke Running - Wired - A look at Nike's Vaporfly Next% shoes, and how they have been instrumental in breaking almost all running records in the past several years. Both a tough question (about technology in sport) and awesome (4%+ efficiency improvement via innovation).
- I Went To Elon Musk's "Pedo Guy" Trial, But I Wasn't Ready To Become A Part Of It - Buzzfeed News - A look at the darker side of Elon Musk, when his "reality-bending" ability impacts others negatively.
- How Mount Everest became a multimillion-dollar business - The Hustle - The perils of climbing Mount Everest are getting worse each year with the increasing commercialization of climbing tours.
- The Real Butlers of the .001 Percent - GQ - A look at the training and stories of butlers serving the world's richest people.
- For pure entertainment value, enjoy this musically-matched compilation of falls and mishaps.
Book I'm Reading:The Culture Code - Daniel Coyle
This book is about the principles behind the highest-performing teams in the world. It led me to a host of interesting people, one of which is restauranteur Danny Meyer. I've heard his name before–he's the founder of Shake Shack (the source of most of his wealth)–but he's also opened many very successful restaurants in the most competitive places in the world (aka New York).
Have a great weekend!
Graham
