#25 Sustainability - Use Carrot or Stick?
Today we talk about our experiences with conservation around water and power. People should do what’s best for their world and community, but do they? Also, Jeff Torello gives a short non-technical overview of power plants and the challenge of predicting consumption.
#24 Money and your job define your worth… or do they?
It's Thanksgiving. It's a great time to practice gratitude and remind ourselves that we have value, our work has value, even if circumstances like the economy and job losses make it seem like we don't.
#23 Change is here; You have the magic to make it positive (i.e. Work Anywhere with Starlink Now)
Join Jeff Marek and Jeff Torello as we discuss the great shift in the tech industry, ongoing layoffs, and world changes. You have the key to how this impacts your life.
#19 Chris - Changing His Relationship with Money (... things that cost little to nothing)
Today our guest Chris Clements talks about life as a new dad and why he thinks the advice, “you can always make more money” led him down the wrong path.. Learn what he values now that costs little to no money! Chris turns the tables and asks Jeff and Jeff who inspired them the most and why.
Quotes:
“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” - Douglas Adams
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/250456-anyone-who-is-capable-of-getting-themselves-made-president-should
Links:
The Running man (1987)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093894/
“Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence” - Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0052MD8VO/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_BCWEEGM5R7YZ56E52VYP
Indentured Servitude - is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servitude
Luddite - one of a group of early 19th century English workmen destroying laborsaving machinery as a protest. ALSO one who is opposed to especially technological change.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ludditem
Maslow's hierarchy of needs - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs
The Money Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-money-podcast/id1566996321
#22 Tony - Can you follow your passion and make money?
Guest Discussion with Tony Crupi. Tony shares some of his life insights including an honest discussion around balancing following your passion vs. making money in life. We also include a business trick on how you can actually “listen to your gut.”
Office Space
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/
Where’s the Beef - Wendy’s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where%27s_the_beef%3F
Reagan and Trust But Verify
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify
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Tony Crupi - Do something you're good at.
Key Lessons from Tony Crupi in episode 14 of The Art of Magic at Work.
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#20 Return To Work: The Future or Last Gasp of Dinosaur Companies?
Let's talk about returning to work or working remotely. Can you really be effective with a fully remote team made up of humans who need social contact? Is on-site work something that the. next generation doesn't need?
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#21 Twitter, Elon, & Free Speech ...at 1.5x
Let's talk about the changes at Twitter. What does free speech really mean and what has it meant through history. We can agree to disagree? right?
A Letter Concerning Toleration John Locke
It is one thing to persuade, another to command: One thing to press with Arguments, another with Penalties. … For Laws are of no force at all without Penalties, and Penalties in this case are absolutely impertinent; because they are not proper to convince the mind.
John Locke FRS (/lɒk/; 29 August 1632– 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism".[
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Winston Churchill
US Constitution
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution
The Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
Preamble to the Bill of Rights
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
General Motors suspends ads on Twitter as Musk takeover exposes who opposes freedom of speech
https://americanwirenews.com/general-motors-suspends-ads-on-twitter-as-musk-takeover-exposes-who-opposes-freedom-of-speech/?utm_campaign=james&utm_content=10%2F29%2F22%20SOE%20AM&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=Get%20response&utm_term=email
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#18 Cruise Ship Internet i.e. forced to relax
Today we talk about Jeff Marek's 13 day cruise across the Atlantic, forced relaxation, and how to ‘hack’ cruise ship internet. We also discuss Nest Renew and the challenge of energy independence.
Links:
Nest Renew
https://nestrenew.google.com
Travel router
https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-axt1800/
#17 Humans Crave Connection
Humans need communication with other humans. Is this why we anthropomorphize or give human characteristics to everything from Muppets to Sex Robots? Today we talk about human connection and whether we are being trained to be dumber by Tik Tok.
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov - Wikipedia
Muppets - Jim Henson Biography
https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Henson-Brian-Jay-Jones/dp/0345526120
Oculus by Meta - New Accounts
https://www.oculus.com/blog/meta-accounts/
Link to tik tok video commentary
https://old.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/xg3r56/really_interesting/
Muppet Newsflash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csg_SGWHAQ4
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#16 Muppet Newsflash - Four New iOS16 Features
Let’s talk about the value of four new awesome features of iOS16 and discuss “Is Apple Still Innovating?”
1. Medication Tracking
2. Haptic Keyboard
3. Message Editing
4. Satellite Messages
Relax Go To It by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
#15 Six Degrees of Separation - find anything at work in 3 steps
How can you find information anywhere in the company? You’re only three phone calls away. Listen as Jeff Torello and Jeff Marek discuss how to apply ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ to your business questions. After that we spend time reflecting on how people ‘’leave bosses, not their jobs” and what to do about it as a leader.
Quotes:
“With great power comes great responsibility.” - Stan Lee
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/stan-lee
“Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” - Tom Peters
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/tom_peters_194018
“You manage things, you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership. —Grace Hopper”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper
“Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” - Tom Peters
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/tom_peters_194018
References:
Director J.J. Abrams explains why there are so many lens flares in 'Star Trek'
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-star-trek-has-so-much-lens-flare-2015-11
Crash Course: Leadership in a Remote First World - Jeff Torello
https://www.authorjeff.com
Six degrees of separation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation
The six degrees | Kevin Bacon | TEDxMidwest
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kevin+bacon+six+degrees+of+separation
Mr Kevin Bacon Plays Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon
https://youtu.be/Rmn-amJ9UA4
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Follow your passion...
Key lessons from Abdul Bailey and Jeff Torello from episode 14 of The Art of Magic at Work.
#14 - Bad Choices, Good Advice (Also cybersecurity and you)
What happens when you don’t pursue your passion or you do and it doesn’t work out. This week Abdul Bailey and Jeff Torello share stories around their life choices and what it meant. We follow up on the recent Twilio security breach explaining the implications and sharing things you can do to protect your digital life.
LINKS to ARTICLES
Phishers who breached Twilio and targeted Cloudflare could easily get you, too
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/08/phishers-breach-twilio-and-target-cloudflare-using-workers-home-numbers/
The number of companies caught up in recent hacks keeps growing
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/08/the-number-of-companies-caught-up-in-the-twilio-hack-keeps-growing/
1,900 Signal users exposed: Twilio attacker 'explicitly' looked for certain numbers
https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/16/twilio_breach_fallout_signal_user/
How a Third-Party SMS Service Was Used to Take Over Signal Accounts
https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjkvxv/how-a-third-party-sms-service-was-used-to-take-over-signal-accounts
Hunter S Thompson Video
https://youtu.be/NHeSC_Ws5Ic
Do you use SMS for two-factor authentication? Here's why you shouldn't [CNET Article on alternatives to SMS]
https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/do-you-use-sms-for-two-factor-authentication-heres-why-you-shouldnt/
Twilio did NOT disclose number of employees that were fooled into giving up their user names/passwords.
Oktapus attack on Twilio exposes data of 163 companies
https://www.cshub.com/attacks/news/oktapus-attack-on-twilio-exposes-data-of-163-companies#:~:text=The%20breach%20was%20discovered%20on,a%20limited%20period%20of%20time%E2%80%9D
CDW article on Hard Tokens vs Soft Tokens
https://www.cdw.com/content/cdw/en/articles/security/hard-tokens-vs-soft-tokens.html
RESOURCES YOU CAN USE
Signal Messenger
Https://www.signal.org
Apple Instructions on how to enable two factor authentication for your Apple ID
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204915
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#13 - Abdul: It's Not Weakness It's Your Strength (Also more rockets because Jeff)
Today we talk with Abdul about the coming Artemis launch and why it’s so hard in business to make the smart technical decision. Why does competition matter? Abdul shares some of his career secrets on investing while working. The conversation leads us to talk about focus and issues we’ve all had. Abdul shares how you can turn difficulties around maintaining focus and attention to a superpower.
Apollo 13 (1995) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112384/
Nissan 400z https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/sports-cars/nissan-z.html
For All Mankind - Apple TV+ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7772588/
Rich Dad Poor Dad https://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Teach-Middle/dp/1612680194
NASA: Artemis https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/
The Matrix - "Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet." https://youtu.be/mgS1Lwr8gq8
Neil DeGrasse Tyson - American Astrophysicist, author, and science communicator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson
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#12 Don't believe everything you see
The news is entertainment first. Don’t believe everything you read, see, and hear from the news or especially from companies. Everyone has a perspective and an agenda. The trick is to develop your own ability to find the truth. Today’s discussion is about the claim Tesla’s auto driving cars will run over small children. Jeff and I think it’s crazy but don’t believe us… peruse the links below and make your own informed decision. Except several of the links below may not work as Youtube has decided to ‘protect you’ from certain content.
Movie Link:
The Running Man (1987)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093894/
The Dawn Project
The Dawn Project’s mission is to make computers safe for humanity.
https://dawnproject.com/campaigns/
Raw footage shows Tesla FSD Beta was active during The Dawn Project’s tests, but there’s more to the story [Video]
https://driveteslacanada.ca/news/raw-footage-shows-tesla-fsd-beta-was-active-during-the-dawn-projects-tests-video/
Dirty Dan O'Dowd: Tesla Hater Caught Lying
https://youtu.be/-gKUUWsedeg
Autodrive and testing tesla’s on ‘box child’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHIgawTRCv8
People are now testing Tesla's 'full self-driving' on real kids
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/21/business/tesla-fsd-tests-kids/index.html
Tesla FSD AutoPilot in action on 11 Year Old middle of road.
https://youtu.be/802WOzc6gc8
A blow up doll
https://youtu.be/cJh-LQABNUg
Box Boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TVi1PU85Mk
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Episode 11 How to Discuss Charged Topics
We should be able to discuss charged topics like politics. Today we use the example of the argument "Rights vs. Privileges", show a "stupid business trick" on generating trust, and discuss how to convince others in a discussion by listening and reflecting back their points.
References:
George Carlin the Comedian (AKA Philosopher)
George Carlin talks about America’s most profitable business – the manufacture, packaging, distribution, and marketing of bullshit. https://youtu.be/elN36peHz3M
George Carlin Quote on Rights vs. Privileges in 2008 Comedy Special “It’s Bad for Ya!”
“Rights aren’t rights if they can be taken away. They’re privileges. That’s all we’ve ever had in this country: A bill of temporary privileges. And if you read the news, even badly you know that the list gets shorter and shorter”
Steelmanning (AKA Writing for the Opponent) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_for_the_opponent
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Episode 10 - Mel Taking Risks and Delivering Results Getting Sh*t Done
You don’t have to be the expert in the room. Listen to Mel share how she’s built a career of getting results. We talk about how to make decisions, how to get a team enrolled without consensus, and even how to constructively disagree with your boss and other leaders in an organization. To really get results you need to take risks. Mel's shares risks in her own career and we talk about ways to reward a team that misses its goals ... encouraging trying again and again.
Links:
- Brené Brown, "Clear is Kind" -
- https://brenebrown.com/articles/2018/10/15/clear-is-kind-unclear-is-unkind/
- "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice," Free Will by Rush
- https://music.apple.com/us/album/freewill/1440782947?i=1440783229
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Episode 9 - Ben's Journey Part 1; Finding Customers
Today's discussion is with Ben as he begins his personal journey on how to grow a business. We talk about what it means to start a business, how to create focus, and how to use networking to create opportunities for connections and your first customers. Working your personal network is serendipity in action.
Episode 8 - Building Rapport in Remote Teams
Today we talk about how you can build rapport across remote teams. We share stories and specific examples… in the end ‘it’s all about relationships.”
- Why do ‘ice breakers’ and ‘4p virtual happy hours’ stink?
- Guerrilla tactics to build relationships especially if you aren’t the leader.
- The power of apology and vulnerability in relationships.
- Use the phone - not text, not email.
- Lots of examples and stories.
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Episode 7 - Brooks and the Power of No
Today we talk to Brooks and learn tips on how to deal with burnout in your career; it can happen anytime. Learn how and when you can say, ‘no’ to take control of your life. It’s really a discussion about how to live with intention, seizing the main role in your own life.
Includes:
- a business tip on how to reward people during a recession with no budget
- What are leading and trailing indicators
- Do College Degree's matter?
- What would we tell our younger self?
Episode 6 - Surveillance Capitalism
In this episode learn how to protect yourself against predatory companies who try to take advantage of your startup pretending to be government agencies, recommendations on two great Ted Talks, Subliminal Advertising is back again, details on how China is using Surveillance Capitalism to attack Social Media in Texas, and recommendations on tools we use to protect ourselves.
Show Notes
04:00 Managing Log Files (Large Files)
Notepad++ https://notepad-plus-plus.org/downloads/
Baretail https://baremetalsoft.com/baretail/
13:45 Ted Talks and Blogs
Brent Brown Ted Talk on vulnerability https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability
Tim Urban - Ted Talk - Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator
Tim Urban - Blog What buy Why? https://waitbutwhy.com
33:40 Subliminal Messaging
Instances of Subliminal Messages - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instances_of_subliminal_messages
The shocking drink and coke history of subliminal advertising https://www.businessinsider.com/subliminal-ads-2011-5?op=1
The Deceptive Origins of Subliminal Messaging - Cheddar Examines - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-eUcXcaqk
47:00 Surveillance Capitalism & Risks of Social Media Data
Social dilemma on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224
Surveillance Capitalism Definition - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance_capitalism
Instagram adds more protections for teenagers - https://www.wsj.com/articles/instagram-adds-more-protections-for-teenagers-11627390800?mod=article_inline
China using Social Media to attack rare earth metal mining executives in Texas - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/chinese-posed-as-texans-on-social-media-to-attack-rare-earths-rivals/ar-AAYXze7
Tik Tok Employees can see US data - https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2022/07/03/2003781042
DHS persistent surveillance camera systems - https://www.dhs.gov/publication/wide-area-persistent-surveillance-camera-systems
Police sweep Google Searches to find suspects - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-google-reverse-keyword-searches-rcna35749
Google to Delete Location History for Visits to Abortion Clinics - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-to-delete-location-history-for-visits-to-abortion-clinics/
59:00 Tools We Use to Protect Ourselves
Signal Secure Messaging - https://signal.org/download/
Firefox Focus for iOS and Android (private and tracking protection Browser)
DuckDuckGo (mostly private search) - https://duckduckgo.com
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/brave-roasts-duckduckgo-over-bing-privacy-exception/ar-AAYyIP2
1:06 Salt is Illegal?
Demolition Man (1993) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106697/
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Episode 5 - Recessions
Recessions sound scary if you’ve never been through them before. Today we talk about the what it means and how it might influence your decisions at home and at work… Should you go to a new job right now? The US government also requested TikTok be removed from those app stores. What exactly are they tracking about you?
Show Notes:
Definition of a Recession - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/recession.asp
Jurassic Park Jeep JK Replacement gauges - https://www.azzysdesignworks.com/shop/p/gauge-jk-jpark
Replacing a Car Based on Gas Price - : https://brevir.com/resources
FCC commissioner wants Apple and Google to remove TikTok - https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/29/fcc-commissioner-tells-apple-google-to-remove-tiktok-from-app-stores.html
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Episode 4 - Killer Robots, Killer Meetings
Debate about Google's sentient AI is in the news. Should you be worried about Killer Robots? Possibly not, but your kids should be... Also, in this episode, how to lead an organization by taking killer meeting minutes. A super, simple template is on Brevir.com and the discussion is in this podcast with tips on how to get into meetings and influence the decisions.
Eliza - Natural Language Processing Computer Program 1964-1966
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA
Turing Test
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test
Alan Turing (1912-1954) - Widely considered father of Theoretical Computer Science
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing
Killer Meeting Minutes - Grab a complete template with 'killer tips' at https://brevir.com/resources
- Attendees (Who showed up, who sent a representative)
- Action Items (Owner, Action, Due Date, bonus - Acceptance Criteria)
- Decisions and Context
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Episode 3 - Small Business Startup
What's it like to quit corporate America and start a new business? Hear about Madeline's approach and listen to commentary on SpaceX and the value of space exploration. We'll cover sentient AI from Google next episode.
Ten Steps to Starting a Business in Arizona - https://www.azcc.gov/corporations/ten-steps-to-starting-a-business-in-az
The Green Design Co by Madeline Klein - https://thegreendesignco.com
Freelance services for logos - https://www.fiverr.com
SpaceX Gets environmental approval for Starship launch. - https://hotair.com//john-s-2/2022/06/13/spacex-gets-environmental-approval-for-starship-launch-n475956?utm_source=hadaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&bcid=1532930b5b34cf0424679d04e868455b5364f75728acbd310b38e35695a4db65
NASA didn't invent Velcro. - https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/myth-nasa-invented-teflon-and-velcro
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