What You Need to Know Today: March 8
Good afternoon, Early Risers!
Here’s what you need to know
TECH
This app is changing sports forever. “If a whiteboard and erasable marker were the primary tools of the trade for previous generations of coaches, Hudl is fast becoming the 21st-century analogue,” says Fast Company.
I think I’m going to be sick. Nine Six Flags roller coasters will feature virtual reality as early as this month. “This [technology] represents everything our brand stands for — delivering the most thrilling and innovative rides and attractions in the world,” John Duffey, Six Flags President and CEO, said in a press release. Here’s a list of all the rides and parks featuring VR.
How to buy clothes online that actually fit. Ask most entrepreneurs why they started their business and often they will tell you it was out of necessity. Fittery co-founders Greg Villines and Catherine Iger are no different. “The original idea stemmed from problems we had both experienced shopping for clothes online,” Mr. Villines told the Observer. “I’d order clothes and get frustrated because it didn’t fit like I hoped.” To solve this common problem Villines and Iger invented a tech company that uses algorithms to match you with the perfect fit. Check this out.
CAREER
The productivity gap. If our productivity has doubled since WWII, why aren’t we working 20-hour weeks? “Most popular productivity gurus — ahem, Mr. Allen — are not working in the interest of the people; their goal, instead, is to help companies squeeze as much work as possible out of us poor worker drones,” says Cal Newport. Statistics show labor productivity in America has slowed down since 2005. But if you ask anyone in Silicon Valley, they’ll tell you that’s simply not true — especially now that we have all this new technology. The New York Times looked into this claim. Hint: tech is not making us more productive.
How to read a wealth-building book. “In my experience as a reader and writer,” says ETR founder Mark Ford, “I’ve come up with some ideas about how to evaluate the different types of wealth-building books and how to go about reading them. There are basically five types: Investment books, Academic Studies, Debt-to-Wealth books, Scrimp-and-Save books, and I-Got-Rich-You-Can-Too books. To save you time and money, here are some recommendations about how and when to read these books.” Bookmark this.
LIFESTYLE
Confessions of a failed self-help guru. “Deepak Chopra is a fraud,” writes Michelle Goodman. “This is what I was thinking as I lingered 20 rows back, waiting for Bree, my boss, to finish huddling with Deepak onstage about the presentation he would give that evening.” If you’ve ever had a sneaking suspicion that most self-help gurus are faking it, this should give you some answers.
Mark Zuckerberg might start wearing white t-shirts after reading this. This news is huge. Like Neo finding out about the Matrix kind of huge. Everything we thought we knew about willpower — that it’s finite, it’s a muscle that can be strengthened, and decisions like what clothes to wear draws from our finite supply — could be (read: probably is) all wrong.
#NOWYOUKNOW
Money. on. the. table.
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