What You Need to Know Today: December 17
Good afternoon, Early Risers!
Here’s what you need to know
TECH
Facebook just pulled the most cliché move ever. Last year, Facebook’s Your Year in Review — where Facebook recaps your year in a 10-card photoset — was raw. It made people laugh, it made people cry, and it even made some people angry. But this year, Facebook doesn’t want to trigger any ‘bad memories’so they added filters to edit out photos of your exes, blocked friends, and deceased loved ones. Good news, right? Nope. You know when you hear people say that Facebook and Instagram are just highlight reels of people’s lives? This is why. Louis C.K. said it best in this video. Without feedback, we become like those “[expletive] kids you see.” But not all is lost… Facebook did announce yesterday that you can now order an Uber from Messenger. #SmallMiracles
This app will help you swap seats on a plane. Here’s a pointless app you need. Have you ever been on a flight and had to take the middle seat? Or maybe you’re flying with family and couldn’t get seats all together? Well, thankfully there’s an app for that. For a small price (minimum $5) you can pay someone to swap seats. Or, you know, you could always just politely ask if they’re willing to switch seats with you for free. But, hey, that would require you to actually talk to someone. So, you should probably just use the app.
+ New study find humans are bad at detecting sarcasm in emails. See above.
CAREER
How to exploit Santa Claus. Mark Ford calls it your money mindset; Dan Kennedy calls it your opportunistic mindset. Both force you to put on your green-colored lenses and see the money-making opportunities the world has to offer. In festive spirit, Dan Kennedy’s latest blog post shows you how to exploit Santa Claus with this mindset. Kennedy: “Most marketers see Santa Claus every 9 months, for about 3 out of 12 months every year, but they do not see him as opportunists see him. They do not think of him as that rare gift of a free-use, universally famous celebrity. They do not think of him as a great salesman to be put to work. They do not see him as a surrogate, who can step in and manipulate with guilt, with nostalgia, with other emotions…” Read more.
To become a millionaire you need to understand this. “What they don’t teach you in school about accumulating wealth. There are really only a few ways to become a millionaire: 1. Inherit money. 2. Win the lotto or a game show. 3. Save/invest your money over a long period of time. 4. Be an early employee at a fast-growing company. 5. Start a company of your own and grow it. Options 1 and 2 aren’t even worth talking about. Option 3 is achievable for almost anyone given the right time frame and asset class. For example, if you invest $50,000 per year over 20 years and can at least keep up with inflation, you’ll have $1,000,000 in purchasing power. But that’s the slow game. If you’re reading this post, you probably think in months or years, not decades. So how can you become a millionaire?” Mitchell Harper reveals the two things you need to learn how to leverage. Full story.
+ Two types of decisions that will make or break you. Which one are you making?
LIFESTYLE
Netflix’s smart socks will pause your show for you if you fall asleep. What a time to be alive.
How to live like Ben Franklin today. The Art of Manliness has been running a series entitled, “The Virtuous Life,” where they teach readers how to live like Ben Franklin by following his 13 virtues. Here’s a nice little summary.
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#NOWYOUKNOW
Self-Driving Cars Must Have a Driver Behind the Wheel — LOL!
On Wednesday, California’s DMV ruled that all self-driving cars must have a driver behind the wheel at all times… or at least until regulators are confident the technology is safe.
Google and Apple are looking at each other like…
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