Adonis Diaries

Tidbits #1

in the modern age, there can be serious consequences to multitasking. Texting while driving can incapacitate drivers as much as alcohol. Even phone calls can pose a dangerous distraction. Most of us overestimate our multitasking ability, and people who multitask more often are generally worse at it.

Taking on the powerful climate deniers in Australia and USA who have the government in their grip. Right now, they’re flooding Australia with fake news to play down the link to climate change, but as deadly fires blaze through homes, businesses and schools, killing dozens and wrecking people’s lives, Australia’s leaders are under pressure like never before.

Racing cars regulations: New F1 regulations coming in 2021 aim to level the playing field, with new cars, reduced wind tunnel runs, and a $175 million spend cap per team for the season, but there are many loopholes and exemptions from the budget cap that might still put an elite few teams on top.

In 2017, Liberty Media purchases the Formula One franchise and commercial rights for $8 billion,

F1 cars reach top speeds of 230 mph and  can still burn up to 110 kg (243 lb) of fuel during a race, while FE (electric0 cars top out at 140 mph.

About time: rapidly changing accounting industry?  And forcing separation of auditing, accounting and counseling. The Big Four accounting firms now get the majority of their revenue from consulting, not their core auditing businesses. But can an auditor remain independent when it’s competing for lucrative consulting contracts?

The writings of Nietzsche and Seneca teach us about what we can and can’t control.

Lisa Frank began making art at age five. Born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan—one of the wealthiest towns in the US—she ”was totally a girly girl…. I loved to read, I loved to do artwork, I loved to do anything girly.”

Sparkle sells: As a teen, Lisa Frank sold her artwork to Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler. She took her distinct vision to the University of Arizona (Frank was an abstract artist, but her colors were just as vibrant as her better-known unicorn folders), where she bought handmade jewelry and pottery from Native Americans, then sold them at a markup back home.

Nitrous oxide is nearly 300 times stronger than carbon dioxide at trapping heat.

How can we preserve smells?  Olfactory archivists say they’re an important part of our cultural heritage.

Our attention wavers to take stock of our surroundings 4 times a second, likely as an adaptation that allows us to focus while also remaining aware of potential threats and opportunities. More often than not, we are actually task switching than multitasking,

In just over two decades, China has become Africa’s largest trade partner, its largest infrastructure funder, and its fastest-growing source of foreign direct investment.

At least a unanimous concession: “The research is almost unanimous, which is very rare in social science, and it says that people who chronically multitask show an enormous range of deficits. They’re basically terrible at all sorts of cognitive tasks, including multitasking.”—Clifford Nass,

The term Multitasking has been around since 1970 and I never believed in it: probably we can do a routine physical task with a low level mental task, but we are basically switch among tasks that do Not need focusing and total attention.

“Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts.” MARTIN GILENS AND BENJAMIN PAGE,

On average, children ask 9 times for a given item before parents typically give in, according to Kid Food by Bettina Elias Siegel

The US Treasury resorted to 20-year bonds. 50- or 100-year bonds were also considered by officials, as the government tries to reduce deficits that are expected to eclipse the $1 trillion mark each year this decade. The new bond will be available within six months.

The fintech startup Plaid seamlessly connects your bank account to hot payment apps like Venmo and Square’s Cash App and just one year ago was valued at $2.65 billion.

Nike’s Vaporfly shoes are too fast. They may be banned from competition because runners are breaking so many records.

In Lebanon, on est garcon ou fille. Des codes differents regissent les deux genres. Les termes “garcon manque'” ou “fille manquee'” n’existent pas pour devenir cliche’.