Hello!
Happy New Year, and welcome to today’s episode of The HodgePodge.
Every fortnight Pretty regularly, we’ll bring you a list of some of the most interesting things we have seen and watched. We hope you like today’s issue.
Let’s delve right in.
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https://www.rd.com/health/wellness/sad-lump-in-throat/
Why you get a lump in your throat when you’re on the verge of tears.
Spoiler: it’s not an actual lump, but it’s pretty close
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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-things-you-dont-owe-your-boss-dr-travis-bradberry
6 things you don’t owe your employer/boss
Everyone should realize that, much as work/earning a living is important, there are things that are more important, and as such, one should know where to draw the line.
You should be your own person, and should not defined by the work you do.
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35 years ago, Isaac Asimov (a proper genius who cannot be recognized or appreciated enough) was asked to predict how the world will be today. For a prediction made in 1984, he was remarkably accurate.
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https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/stephen-curry-underrated
Steph Curry, people.
As you can imagine, I’m a fan of his.
He writes very well.
And he’s the best example of writing for yourself your own life story.
So many things will conspire to change your story.
It’s up to you to keep writing.
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http://time.com/3941333/why-i-took-my-wifes-last-name/
Why I took my wife’s last name.
What’s in a name? A rose by any other name will smell as sweet.
I am happy more and more men are going against the norm and picking up their wife’s surnames. I mean, you’re a married couple. You already share everything else. Both your identities have changed. Why should it be only the woman who is compelled to change her name?
Down with the patriarchy!
Selah.
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http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/01/michael-wolff-fire-and-fury-book-donald-trump.html
Donald Trump Didn’t Want to Be President
In case you ever wondered how a nation like America elected a moron like Trump. Also, in case you are wondering why so many people have resigned and/or left his government.
It was always a show for him. He did not have any plans to win, and wanted to just improve his popularity, his standing in the public eye. But he won, and what you’re seeing now is what happens when unpreparedness meets an adult child meets incompetence meets ignorance.
It’s difficult to make Buhari look capable, but most days, Trump manages it. “Chaotic” and “dysfunctional” do not even start to describe what Trump’s White House looks like. They’re really a bunch of bumbling clowns over there.
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https://aguntasolo.co/banana-11d66906543c
Nigeria is, well, bananas.
Why do we take things that have been proven not to work and try to replicate it here? Why do we act as if we’re going to need to reinvent the wheel when faced with problems that have been solved a long time ago in other countries? Why do our leaders pick the worst possible course of action when planning economic (and all other) policy, every single time?
Sigh.
Feyi might be the best at this business of breaking down economic concepts for everyone to understand.
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https://psiloveyou.xyz/planning-your-relationship-in-your-head-is-killing-it-aa526676490c
Planning your relationship in your head is killing it.
I have earned a reputation as a take-it-a-day-at-a-time person in relationships. This conflicts with the (usually) more romantic partner, but it has served me well so far.
This article does a good job of explaining why that approach is important.
Sometimes, you need to…savor (yes, that’s the word), the present, and focus on your current reality without thinking about what the future holds or how things will pan out.
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https://www.stearsng.com/article/oil-can-no-longer-sustain-nigeria
If reading this doesn’t make you scared about the future and viability of this mass called Nigeria, you’re a better person than me.
Right now, even if every single kobo Nigeria earns (from oil and non-oil income) is funneled into the treasury, Nigeria cannot pay its bills.
Nigeria is in trouble. There’s no way to put it mildly.
Nigeria needs work just to survive (not even to thrive or achieve its potential. Just to survive as a country), but nobody in government wants to do the necessary work.
Nigeria looking at its economy and income
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You talk to your friend/wife/sidechick/colleague about a product. Then you go on Facebook (why does anyone still use Facebook in 2019?) and ads for the product you talked about show up on your page.
You think Facebook is listening to you.
They’re not.
They don’t need to.
AI is far too advanced to need such old-school, Cold War-era inputs.
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Since I read Sidney Sheldon’s “If Tomorrow Comes” as a kid, I have been in awe of proper, old-fashioned burglaries&. Anyone can steal, but it takes a certain level of skill and ability to defeat the most sophisticated alarm and security systems armed with only rope and a lock pick.
Imagine stealing millions of dollars worth of goods, armed with only suction cups and climbing rope. It would be impressive if it wasn’t completely illegal.
&: my lawyers tell me I am compelled to point out that this is not an endorsement of burglaries or other crimes. You will go to jail. I did not send you work.
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https://www.thecut.com/amp/2019/01/precocious-puberty-patrick-burleigh.html
He was A 4-Year-Old Trapped in a Teenager’s Body
“I was all of the things people are when they’re 14 or 15” — except a decade younger.”
He had pubic hair at 2, and at 11 could pass for a full-grown man. Of course he was bigger and taller than all his peers growing up, and as such was regularly bullied and mocked.
If it were you who experienced all these, with the knowledge that the gene was hereditary, and being aware of how your father and his father before him suffered just as much as you, would you allow it to be passed on to any future male kids you might have?
That was a choice he found himself being forced to make.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnaASTBn_K4
How does a whip break the sound barrier?
Some fascinating physics and mathematics on display here. It’s interesting that something this uncomplicated can be so difficult to capture and model.
(As an aside, see how much equipment, skill, technique and effort is being put into something as mundane as understanding why a whip cracks when you crack it. Makes you realize just how far behind we are in these parts.)
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