 |
|
|
|||||
The first time I read The Count of Monte Cristo, I was astounded by how freakin cool it all was. Heres a story about daring prison escapes, finding hidden treasure, and elaborately executed revenge. It felt aliveno matter that it was written 180 years ago. That book, and everything else published before 1930, is currently in the United States public domain. That means its perfectly legal for anyone to re-create the original text and publish it online or off. And there are a number of websites dedicated to offering public domain ebooks online, which is fantastic. But free downloads can be kindawell, ugly. Whether its typos from the transcription process, inconsistent style choices, or missing details like cover art, an exceptional digital reading experience isnt always easy to find. Its almost enough to make you want pay a few bucks for an ebook thats technically free, just to get a better designed product. Before you do that, though, you should check out todays Cool Tools discovery. Itll change how you think about reading on a screen, and youll never want to go back to the old way again. This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures! Beautiful ebook downloads$0 The great thing about free culture is that people can build on whats freely offered and better adapt it for a specific purpose. The website I want to share with you today is a perfect example of that, building on the free ebook downloads from sites like Project Gutenberg and The Internet Archive. Its called Standard Ebooks, and its a collection of over 1,000 free ebooks with a real focus on style, design, and compatibility. The result: Every book offered on the site is absolutely beautifuland an absolute pleasure to read. You can start browsing the archive immediately and transfer a book to any device you like in 20 seconds or less. Whether you read books on a Kindle, a Kobo, or even just on your phoneAndroid, iOS, whateveryoull find beautifully formatted books made specifically for your screen. Standard Ebooks looks and feels like a polished, premium marketplaceeven though it’s free. Youll also find easy-to-follow instructions for getting the books onto your device and into a place where you can easily read them. Formats offered include epub, azw3 for Amazon Kindle gadgets, and kepub for Kobo devices. Or you can opt to simply read a book right within your browser, evenwith an easy-to-navigate chapter-by-chapter framework or on a single click-free page. You can get books formatted for any kind of device you’re using. Standard Ebooks has a handy search function if youre looking for something specific, or you can browse by things like genre, release date, or author. Every ebook offered has a visually pleasing cover, also from the public domain (and with not a single AI-generated illustration in sight). And all are edited to adhere to a rigorous style guide. Books from Standard Ebooks aregasp!actually a pleasure to read. Its the rare free software project thats focused on aesthetics. Ive read several books from Standard Ebooks over the years, and I always appreciate the attention to detail. I bet you will, too. Standard Ebooks is available online, within any web browser on any device. Its a completely free service, though it does offer opportunities for both donations and volunteering. You dont have to sign up for any accounts or provide any manner of personal info to use the site and download to your hearts content. Treat yourself to all sorts of brain-boosting goodies like this with the free Cool Tools newsletterstarting with an instant introduction to an incredible audio app thatll tune up your days in truly delightful ways.
Category:
E-Commerce
Apple holds several events throughout the year, but none is as vital to the companys bottom line as its annual one in September. Thats when Apple unveils its new iPhone lineup, drawing our attention again to the device that accounted for just over half of the $391 billion the company brought in in fiscal 2024. Apples next iPhone event is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 9. The iPhone 17 event, taglined “Awe Dropping, represents a significant shift: Apple is expected to discontinue one of its current iPhone models and launch a new iPhone device in its place. The company is also likely to introduce several other hardware products. Heres what you can expect to see on Tuesday. iPhone 17 Air The star of the iPhone 17 event is expected to be a brand-new model of the iPhone, currently dubbed by tech pundits and analysts as the iPhone 17 Air (also sometimes referred to as the iPhone 17 Slim). As its name suggests, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to be a thin devicethe thinnest iPhone ever. Most rumors indicate that the iPhone 17 Air will have a thickness of between just 5.5mm and 6mm. (Its likely the 5.5mm thickness will be the device’s thinnest point, and the camera bump will add heft to the new iPhone near the top of the device.) Previously, the thinnest iPhone ever was the iPhone 6, released in 2014, measuring 6.9mm in thickness. (The thinnest iPhone 16 models are the iPhone 16, iPhone 16e, and iPhone 16 Pro, all of which have a thickness of 7.8mm.) In addition to a skinny form factor, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to feature a 6.6-inch display, an A19 chip, and a single-lens 48MP rear camera. The lack of a more advanced camera system suggests that the iPhone 17 Air will be for consumers who prioritize form and design over functionality. The new iPhone Air model will replace the current iPhone Plus model, which Apple is retiring this year. iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max Apple is also expected to upgrade the rest of its current iPhone lineup at the event on Tuesday. This includes the release of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Maxsome of which may have a higher starting price than last year. If youre a fan of the entry-level iPhone, you may be disappointed to hear that the base iPhone 17 will likely get the fewest upgrades this year. Expect a display size bump from the current 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches. The iPhone 17 is also expected to get the A19 chip and a new 24MP front camera (up from the 12MP in the iPhone 16). But beyond thatand new colorsdont expect too many other significant feature improvements. The story is different when it comes to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Expect significant design changes, including a rectangular rear camera bump, a new aluminum frame, a hybrid aluminum and glass backplate, and a new orange color option. The iPhone 17 Pro is expected to feature a display size increase to 6.3 inches (from the current 6.1 inches), and the iPhone 17 Pro Max is expected to have a display size of 6.9 inches. Both models are also likely to feature the A19 Pro chipset, a 24MP front camera, and a new 48MP lens in their rear telephoto camera (up from 24MP). All iPhone 17 models will ship with the new iOS 26 and its Liquid Glass software design. Apple Watch Ultra 3 Last year, Apple Watch fans were disappointed to learn that Apple did not release an updated Apple Watch Ultra. Instead, the company kept the same Apple Watch Ultra 2 modelfrom 2023on sale, only adding a new color option. But on Tuesday, the company is finally expected to introduce a new Apple Watch Ultra 3. However, dont expect a radical overhaul of the high-end smartwatch. Instead, it is likely to get iterative hardware improvements. As noted by 9to5Mac, those improvements include a slightly larger display (the Ultra 2 has a 49mm display), a new S11 chip, high blood pressure detection, 5G cellular support, and satellite connectivity for messaging. Apple Watch Series 11 Apple is also expected to debut the new Apple Watch Series 11. However, those hoping for a larger display, like the one coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3, will be disappointed. The Series 11 is expected to retain its current 42mm and 46mm options. Yet, the Apple Watch Series 11 is expected to gain many of the other features coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3, including a new S11 chip, high blood pressure detection, and 5G cellular support. Apple Watch SE 3 The Apple Watch SE is Apples budget Apple Watch product. The current Apple Watch SE 2 came out nearly three years ago, so its long overdue for an upgrade, which is expected on Tuesday. However, as a budget model, dont expect the Apple Watch SE 3 to feature significant improvements. Rumors suggest that it could feature a slightly larger display and that Apple may have opted to use a plastic, color body to keep costs down. AirPods Pro 3 Finally, Apple is also expected to introduce an updated AirPods Pro 3. However, rumors about what new changes we can expect are more opaque than with the other Apple products listed above. Signs point to the new AirPods Pro 3 having a tweaked, possibly smaller, design, improved Active Noise Cancellation and audio quality, as well as a new heart rate monitoring health feature. Apples iPhone 17 event kicks off on Tuesday, September 9, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.
Category:
E-Commerce
For farmers, every planting decision carries risks, and many of those risks are increasing with climate change. One of the most consequential is weather, which can damage crop yields and livelihoods. A delayed monsoon, for example, can force a rice farmer in South Asia to replant or switch crops altogether, losing both time and income. Access to reliable, timely weather forecasts can help farmers prepare for the weeks ahead, find the best time to plant or determine how much fertilizer will be needed, resulting in better crop yields and lower costs. Yet, in many low- and middle-income countries, accurate weather forecasts remain out of reach, limited by the high technology costs and infrastructure demands of traditional forecasting models. A new wave of AI-powered weather forecasting models has the potential to change that. By using artificial intelligence, these models can deliver accurate, localized predictions at a fraction of the computational cost of conventional physics-based models. This makes it possible for national meteorological agencies in developing countries to provide farmers with the timely, localized information about changing rainfall patterns that the farmers need. The challenge is getting this technology where its needed. Why AI forecasting matters now The physics-based weather prediction models used by major meteorological centers around the world are powerful but costly. They simulate atmospheric physics to forecast weather conditions ahead, but they require expensive computing infrastructure. The cost puts them out of reach for most developing countries. Moreover, these models have mainly been developed by and optimized for northern countries. They tend to focus on temperate, high-income regions and pay less attention to the tropics, where many low- and middle-income countries are located. A major shift in weather models began in 2022 as industry and university researchers developed deep learning models that could generate accurate short- and medium-range forecasts for locations around the globe up to two weeks ahead. These models worked at speeds several orders of magnitude faster than physics-based models, and they could run on laptops instead of supercomputers. Newer models, such as Pangu-Weather and GraphCast, have matched or even outperformed leading physics-based systems for some predictions, such as temperature. AI-driven models require dramatically less computing power than the traditional systems. While physics-based systems may need thousands of CPU hours to run a single forecast cycle, modern AI models can do so using a single GPU in minutes once the model has been trained. This is because the intensive part of the AI model training, which learns relationships in the climate from data, can use those learned relationships to produce a forecast without further extensive computationthats a major shortcut. In contrast, the physics-based models need to calculate the physics for each variable in each place and time for every forecast produced. While training these models from physics-based model data does require significant upfront investment, once the AI is trained, the model can generate large ensemble forecastssets of multiple forecast runsat a fraction of the computational cost of physics-based models. Even the expensive step of training an AI weather model shows considerable computational savings. One study found the early model FourCastNet could be trained in about an hour on a supercomputer. That made its time to presenting a forecast thousands of times faster than state-of-the-art, physics-based models. The result of all these advances: high-resolution forecasts globally within seconds on a single laptop or desktop computer. Research is also rapidly advancing to expand the use of AI for forecasts weeks to months ahead, which helps farmers in making planting choices. AI models are already being tested for improving extreme weather prediction, such as for extratropical cyclones and abnormal rainfall. Tailoring forecasts for real-world decisions While AI weather models offer impressive technical capabilities, they are not plug-and-play solutions. Their impact depends on how well they are calibrated to local weather, benchmarked against real-world agricultural conditions, and aligned with the actual decisions farmers need to make, such as what and when to plant, or when drought is likely. To unlock its full potential, AI forecasting must be connected to the people whose decisions its meant to guide. Thats why groups such as AIM for Scale, a collaboration we work with as researchers in public policy and sustainability, are helping governments to develop AI tools that meet real-world needs, including training users and tailoring forecasts to farmers needs. International development institutions and the World Meteorological Organization are also working to expand access to AI forecasting models in low- and middle-income countries. AI forecasts can be tailored to context-specific agricultural needs, such as identifying optimal planting windows, predicting dry spells, or planning pest management. Disseminating those forecasts through text messages, radio, extension agents or mobile apps can then help reach farmers who can benefit. This is especially true when the messages themselves are constantly tested and improved to ensure they meet the farmers needs. A recent study in India found that when farmers there received more accurate monsoon forecasts, they made more informed decisions about what and how much to plantor whether to plant at allresulting in better investment outcomes and reduced risk. A new era in climate adaptation AI weather forecasting has reached a pivotal moment. Tools that were experimental just five years ago are now being integrated into government weather forecasting systems. But technology alone wont change lives. With support, low- and middle-income countries can build the capacity o generate, evaluate, and act on their own forecasts, providing valuable information to farmers that has long been missing in weather services. Paul Winters is a professor of sustainable development at the University of Notre Dame. Amir Jina is an assistant professor of public policy at the University of Chicago. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Category:
E-Commerce
Stress on college students can be palpable, and it hits them from every direction: academic challenges, social pressures, and financial burdens, all intermingled with their first taste of independence. Its part of the reason why anxiety and depression are common among the 19 million students now enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, and why incidents of suicide and suicidal ideation are rising. In the 2024 National College Health Assessment Report, 30% of the 30,000 students surveyed said anxiety negatively affected their academic performance, with 20% at risk for symptoms that suggest severe psychological distress, such as feelings of sadness, nervousness, and hopelessness. No wonder the demand for mental health services has been increasing for about a decade. Many schools have rightfully responded to this demand by offering students more counseling. That is important, of course, but theres another approach that could help alleviate the need for counseling: creating a campus environment that promotes health. Simply put, add more green space. We are scholars who study the impact that the natural environment has on students, particularly in the place where they spend much of their timethe college campus. Decades of research show that access to green spaces can lower stress and foster a stronger sense of belongingbenefits that are particularly critical for students navigating the pressures of higher education. Making campuses green In 2020, our research team at Texas A&M University launched a Green Campus Initiative to promote a healthier campus environment. Our goal was to find ways to design, plan, and manage such an environment by developing evidence-based strategies. Our survey of more than 400 Texas A&M students showed that abundant greenery, nature views, and quality walking paths can help with mental health issues. More than 80% of the students we surveyed said they already have their favorite outdoor places on campus. One of them is Aggie Park, 20 acres of green space with exercise trails, walking and bike paths, and rocking chairs by a lake. Many students noted that such green spaces are a break from daily routines, a positive distraction from negative thoughts and a place to exercise. Our survey confirms other research that shows students who spend time outdoorsparticularly in places with mature trees, open fields, parks, gardens, and waterreport better moods and lower stress. More students are physically active when on a campus with good walkability and plenty of sidewalks, trails, and paths. Just the physical activity itself is linked to many mental health benefits, including reduced anxiety and depression. Outdoor seating, whether rocking chairs or park benches, also has numerous benefits. More time spent talking to others is one of them, but what might be surprising is that enhanced reading performance is another. More trees and plants mean more shaded areas, particularly during hot summers, and that too encourages students to spend more time outside and be active. Less anxiety, better academic performance In short, the surrounding environment matters, but not just for college students or those living or working on a campus. Across different groups and settings, research shows that being near green spaces reduces stress, anxiety, and depression. Even a garden or tree-lined street helps. In Philadelphia, researchers transformed 110 vacant lot clusters into green spaces. That led to improvements in mental health for residents living nearby. Those using the green spaces reported lower levels of stress and anxiety, but just viewing nature from a window was helpful too. Our colleagues discovered similar findings when conducting a randomized trial with high school students who took a test before and after break periods in classrooms with different window views: no window, a window facing a building or parking lot, or a window overlooking green landscapes. Students with views of greenery recovered faster from mental fatigue and performed significantly better on attention tasks. Its still unclear exactly why green spaces are good places to go when experiencing stress and anxiety; nevertheless, it is clear that spending time in nature is beneficial for mental well-being. Small can be better Its critical to note that enhancing your surroundings isnt just about green space. Other factors play a role. After analyzing data from 13 U.S. universities, our research shows that school size, locale, region, and religious affiliation all make a difference and are significant predictors of mental health. Specifically, we found that students at schools with smaller populations, schools in smaller communities, schools in the southern U.S., or schools with religious affiliations generally had better mental health than students at other schools. Those students had less stress, anxiety, and depression, and a lower risk of suicide when compared with peers at larger universities with more than 5,000 students, schools in urban areas, institutions in the Midwest and West, or those without religious ties. No one can change their genes or demographics, but an environment can always be modifiedand for the better. For a relatively cheap investment, more green space at a school offers long-term benefits to generations of students. After all, a campus is more than just buildings. No doubt, the learning that takes place inside them educates the mind. But whats on the outside, research shows, nurtures the soul. Chanam Lee is a professor of landscape architecture and urban planning at Texas A&M University. Li Deng is a Ph.D candidate in landscape architecture & urban planning at Texas A&M University. Yizhen Ding is a Ph.D. candidate in landscpe architecture & urban planning at Texas A&M University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Category:
E-Commerce
Time and attention have become the most depleted resource in the modern workplace. Back-to-back meetings, calendar congestion, and constant context-switching crushing our ability to carry the daily cognitive load have created a time deficit that undermines performance, energy, and decision quality. Managers can spend up to 23 hours a week in meetings. Yet a recent study found 70% of meetings keep employees from valuable work, and that 71% of managers reported meetings to be costly and unproductive. Other sources report meeting overload costs an estimated $37 billion in productivity losses per year. Similar research echoes this, pointing to the psychological and cognitive toll of unproductive meetings: lost focus, delayed decisions, shallow work, and chronic burnout. The problem isnt just the number of meetingsits the lack of discipline around what meetings are for. When team meetings try to do everythingbrainstorming, decision-making, status updates, conflict resolution, and social connectionthey end up doing nothing particularly well. Worse, they sap time from crucial areas such as deep thinking, team coaching, problem-solving, decision making, and actual execution. The fix isnt expanding or tightening agendas. Its about making bold fixes: cutting what doesnt belong, investing time where it matters, and establishing group or team norms that prioritize value over volume. To help combat time wasting tendencies from your team meetings, I have found simple fixes to common meeting problems that can give your team some much needed time back each week. 1. Stick to focused agendas Overstuffed agendas cause meetings to run long, drift off course, overflow, kicking topics down the road then requiring follow-ups to resolve what wasnt finished. Research from Harvard reports that poorly planned and executed agendas are of the top drivers of time wasters. When it comes to agenda prioritization, trade-offs can be made. The FixDefine what is truly meeting worthy, then narrow the scope for the agenda. Name a meeting executor, and have them be a stickler for managing topics, time and outcomes. Examples include: Meeting worthy Issues that need collaborative input or high-stakes alignment Topics with clear urgency and strategic impact Decisions with broader impact needing stakeholder perspectives Meeting unworthy Status updates (move to asynchronous tools like Loom videos or email) Topics without a decision requirement or clear purpose Client Case Tip A global technology firm I partner with cut their 90-minute executive meeting down to 50 minutes by using a topic submission rubric. If a topic wasnt timely, decision-ready, or aligned to the top three priorities, it was deferred or redirected to another time or appropriate forum. 2. Be selective about participants Including everyone to be fair or be seen as inclusive creates bloated attendee lists and meetings where most participants arent essential. Some cultures signal that if you receive a meeting invitation, accept it as normative behavior no matter if you think you should attend. MIT researchers suggest that even simple acts of becoming more deliberate about accepting meeting invitations will make a positive impact. The FixInvite only those with a clear purposeand say a kind refusal to contextual participants, who can get briefed on the meeting through other means. Include People with decision rights, implementation roles, or critical knowledge to share or weigh in Defined roles (e.g., decider, advisor, executor) Someone or AI tracking the decisions, actions, and essential communication follow-through items with ownership to share with those who need informational outputs Exclude Stakeholders without a direct role in the outcome Passive or contextual participants coming only to follow whats happening on a project or issue Client Case Tip One global leadership team assigned a project lead to review the AI summary and output from every meeting, along with the recording in order to clarify the stakeholders who would need to be kept in the loop. Leaders cut attendance by 35% and saw meeting quality and preparation engagement rise significantly. 3. Create Meeting Norms Meetings that feel productive in the moment often generate confusion afterward when the expectations of how the meeting should unfold are unmet. My observation is that team members have unspoken and mixed expectations about meeting etiquette, norms, and outcomes. As such, unmet expectations can easily result in everything from disgruntled emotions to repeated discussions that waste time and create churn. Stephen Rogelberg, a professor at University of North Carolina and author of The Surprising Science of Meetings, recommends norms such as taking breaks, limiting individual speaking time so everyone gets a chance to weigh in, and disciplined accountability discussions at the close of meetings to reduce confusion, delays, and rework. The FixBuild in useful closure norms, such as 5 to 10 minute closure with mandatory ownership and accountability discussions closing every meeting as to be clear on expectations. Include Budget for a minimum five-minute end-of-meeting recap of what was resolvedand what wasnt. Leave no loose end unattended to by speaking about where and when what didnt get resolved would be reviewed Capture clear decisions, action items with ownership, timing for completion, and next steps. Many AI tools can summarize and clarify meeting highlights, decisions, actions steps, and other specifics that simply need reviewing for accuracy and distributing to team members Exclude Ok, it looks like we are out of time, from poor agenda and time management Unhelful or dated norms that serve as tradition but have no real purpose Open-ended conversations with no resolution, especially when the purpose is to manage through a conflict or conflicting ideas Deferred decisions without a timeline Client Case Tips I worked recently with a team that was notorious for raising issues and bringing ideas to the tablea seemingly great thinguntil they ran out of time every meeting. I noticed many off-topic issues were surfaced and time was squandered away from the meetings purpose. Eventually, they would place those topics in the parking lot of topics, never to be revisited. This was a legacy norm from the previous leader, providing no value, yet consuming precious time. I asked them to assess the relevance of these issues and either commit to discussing them if pertinent or take responsibility for moving the topics to a relevant meeting. Once they realized no one followed up on the items, the choice became easy and the parking lot practice was dropped. Another team of executives I worked with would talk over one another until the loudest person in the room dominated the conversation. This left out valuable feedback and points of view prior to important decisions being made. A norm the team agreed upon was to sound a specific ringtone chime when the dynamic occurred. The team would then break for 5 to 10 minutes and return to decide next steps so other voices could be heard in the room. Finally, one team I worked with saved roughly 32 hours per quarter by simply standardizing next-step assignments at the end of each meeting. 4. Get rid of legacy recurring meetings Recurring meetings often persist out of habiteven when their original purpose has faded. This cuts into time for strategic work and deep thinking. The FixOnce a meeting has a purpose, spend time ruthlessly on that purpose. When that purpose has been met, carefully consider the need to keep meeting or pivot toward addressing a different purpose. On Purpose Meetings with required prework and defined outcomes Pre-aligned prep expectations (e.g., review docs, submit questions) Assessing how close the team is to addressing the purpose fully When/if purpose has been fulfilled, determine next steps immediately Non on Purpose Standing meetings without an active agenda Meetings held just because its Monday Legacy meetings that have been repetitively happening out of habit, but no one knows why Case StudyA consulting firm eliminated a recurring hour-long weekly meeting and replaced it with a decision-ready model. Team members were expected to complete prework and submit questions five days in advance. If prep engagement was low, the meeting was canceled, and decision rights were delegated to the project lead. This reclaimed over 100 hours per yeartime reallocated to design work, coaching, and client strategy. Time as a Strategic Asset Meetings are not just a coordination toolthey are a budgeting choice. Every meeting is a trade-off with real work, deep thinking, and energy management. When leaders begin treating time like capitalwith scrutiny, intention, and disciplineteams get better outcomes with fewer meetings. They make decisions faster, feel less drained, and spend more time on what actually moves the needle. Even at a minimum, teams can reclaim time starting with one question: What are we willing to stop doing so we can spend time where it counts?
Category:
E-Commerce
Sites : [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] next »