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Recently I read an article about the 40-hour work week being over. About half of all managers work more than 40 hours a week, according to a new survey from tax and consulting firm EY, and 39% report that their hours have increased in the past five years. Little wonder, then, that one-third of workers say it’s getting more difficult to balance work and life. In addition to that, fifty-eight percent of managers in the U.S. report working more than 40 hours a week, surpassed only by managers in Mexico, where 61% say they’re working those hours. By comparison, just over a third of U.K. managers and under a fifth of managers in China report working beyond 40 hours. A lot of people say that because of rising expenses, flat salaries, and inflation, they are forced to work longer to keep their families alive. A consequence is that people feel less happy and more tired throughout the day. A woman who was familiar with the topic said that employers need to focus more on their employee...

Today I read an article about a man called Joe Kyte who makes grass sculptures. His method is American portable-style topiary, in which he crafts a shape with a metal frame and stuffs the openings with longhair sphagnum moss. He then plants annuals, herbs, perennials or succulents that take root in the dead moss. His greenery of choice is ivy or creeping fig. “We pin the ivy down with hairpins,” he says. He creates sculptures like cars, diamond rings, unicorns, and pretty much anything you can think of. The prices range from $500 for a heron to a $90,000 for a 45-foot dinosaur to a huge $400,000 for an American Express project in eight cities. The sculptures can sustain themselves, as they have irrigation systems built in. I think this is a very cool idea, a living sculpture that looks good and doesn't require maintenance! His website says: Topiary to Fauxpiary, We sculpt any creature in steel that roams your mind. Take note of that...

Over the course of the last few weeks I have been reading a book called One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch. A point that has been stressed repeatedly in this book is that you should not trust your instincts. For example, when you see a stock that is approaching a 52-week high, most people would think to sell it. They would say: "What's the likelihood of it going past this 52-week high?" However, in some cases, that is wrong. If the company is performing very well, for example, then it is likely to push past its high. There are many factors that go into when you should sell stock. Another example is that when you see a stock that is approaching a 52-week low, most people would think to buy it. They would say: "I'm getting a stock at bargain price, and when it goes up, I'll earn a bunch of money!" Like the other example, this is sometimes wrong. You should always check the news and the company's information before buying the stock. What if the comp...

Today I read an article about a Microsoft website wanting to guess how old you were. The website is called how-old.com. You can upload photos and let the website try to guess how old you are. As soon as you go on the website and click on a few images, though, you can obviously see that the system is not flawless. In fact, it seems very erratic and does things that are blatantly wrong. For example, it gave Gollum in the Lord of the Rings a rating of male and 44 years old. Does that look like 44 to you? However, it said that a 29-year old woman was 24, and that is pretty close. 5 years here or there, it doesn't really make that much of a difference if you are already around 30 years old. As you can see, the Microsoft website is flawed, and there is a lot of room for improvement. However, I think that with a few months, possibly years of work, it could get very, very accurate.