The New Future of Work

I recently came across Sam Harris. And was wondering how come I had never come across him. His writings and work are super impressive and the title of his podcast explains it best.
"Making Sense".

His podcast this week was on what we're all currently experiencing, while working from home, a new work paradigm.

Have a listen at this extremely interesting albeit slightly long podcast.

The New Future of Work
A Conversation with Matt Mullenweg

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Matt Mullenweg about the evolution of distributed work. They discuss the benefits of working from home, the new norms of knowledge work, relevant tools and security concerns, the challenges for managers, the importance of written communication, the necessity of innovating in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, delivery networks as critical infrastructure, economic recovery, and other topics.

Matt Mullenweg is a founding developer of WordPress, the Open Source software used by 36% of the web. In 2005, he founded Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, and many other products. Matt has unique insight into running distributed teams. Automattic is entirely distributed—with 1,172 employees working in 75 countries.

https://samharris.org/podcasts/194-new-future-work/

You should browse through the various podcasts of Sam Harris as well as watch some of his talks. While you may not agree, and often find him controversial, you're sure to find them invigorating and have you thinking.

One of the talks, you may enjoy.

Can we build AI without losing control over it?
Sam Harris

Freia moves from Q1 to Q2 !

Yesterday was Freia's 25th birthday. And she had a party for around 30 friends. Given the Stay-at-Home orders in several states including Connecticut where we are and New York where many of Freia's friends were, she could not have a regular party.

So she went ahead and had a virtual party. Over Zoom. And while I was not invited, except for a few brief moments to help cut the cake and take a few photos, I did get a peek. And it was super interesting.

This was Freia's 25th birthday and she was able to have friends join in from across the world from multiple cities and a myriad timezones.

Happy 25th Freia. You now move from Quarter 1 to Quarter 2 of Life.

Even though I've used Zoom for meetings for several years, I had no idea it could be used to have a virtual party. And had several fun features. Freia seemed to know all of the various ways in which it could be used.

Instead of me trying to explain the zillion features, it would be appropriate for me to allow her ex-company Mashable to explain it. Since they do a better job than I could.


How to start living your best Zoom party life

https://mashable.com/article/zoom-party/

COVID-19

On March 9, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 viral disease a PANDEMIC. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing in Geneva.

It's the first time the WHO has called an outbreak a pandemic since the H1N1 "swine flu" in 2009.

The COVID-19 which had the initial cases reported from mainland China in December of last year has seen extreme responses from both governments and citizens. Until a few weeks ago, the US called it similar to the flu and something not to be concerned about. Earlier this week the US declared a national emergency and put in restrictions on travel from Europe in addition to a few countries that had earlier been restricted.

India has restricted all incoming international tourists and visitors for 1 month. Several governments and companies are stepping up and taking preventive action including work from home and restricting non-essential travel.

The biggest issue is with misinformation and partial information that many are basing their behavior thanks to the ever-powerful social media. It seems to be Its on "---" and so it must be true, where --- can be substituted by your favorite social media including WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, ...

There are however several places that are disseminating good data and information. My favorite is the Johns Hopkins "CoronaVirus Resource Center". Do visit it and be Safe.
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

Here are a few specific links, you should review.

What Is Coronavirus?
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus

Coronavirus at a Glance: Infographic
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-facts-infographic

Coronavirus Disease 2019: Myth vs. Fact
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/2019-novel-coronavirus-myth-versus-fact

And you should definitely have a look at and possibly review daily the real-time COVID-19 Global Cases Map.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6



When the WHO declared a pandemic the question that came to my mind was what is a pandemic and how many pandemics have we had.

"A pandemic is the global outbreak of a disease. There are many examples in history, the most recent being the COVID-19 pandemic, declared as such by the World Health Organization on March 12, 2020.

Pandemics are generally classified as epidemics first, which is the rapid spread of a disease across a particular region or regions. The Zika virus outbreak that began in Brazil in 2014 and made its way across the Caribbean and Latin America was an epidemic, as was the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016. The U.S. has been experiencing an opioid epidemic since 2017 because of the widespread misuse and high numbers of deaths caused by the drug, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."
https://www.livescience.com/pandemic.html

"
A Timeline of Historical Pandemics

Disease and illnesses have plagued humanity since the earliest days, our mortal flaw. However, it was not until the marked shift to agrarian communities that the scale and spread of these diseases increased dramatically.

Widespread trade created new opportunities for human and animal interactions that sped up such epidemics. Malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, influenza, smallpox, and others first appeared during these early years.

The more civilized humans became – with larger cities, more exotic trade routes, and increased contact with different populations of people, animals, and ecosystems – the more likely pandemics would occur.

Here are some of the major pandemics that have occurred over time:

Name	Time period	Type / Pre-human host	Death toll
Antonine Plague	165-180	Believed to be either smallpox or measles	5M
Japanese smallpox epidemic	735-737	Variola major virus	1M
Plague of Justinian	541-542	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	30-50M
Black Death	1347-1351	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	200M
New World Smallpox Outbreak	1520 – onwards	Variola major virus	56M
Great Plague of London	1665	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	100,000
Italian plague	1629-1631	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	1M
Cholera Pandemics  1-6	1817-1923	V. cholerae bacteria	1M+
Third Plague	1885	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	12M (China and India)
Yellow Fever	Late 1800s	Virus / Mosquitoes	100,000-150,000 (U.S.)
Russian Flu	1889-1890	Believed to be H2N2 (avian origin)	1M
Spanish Flu	1918-1919	H1N1 virus / Pigs	40-50M
Asian Flu	1957-1958	H2N2 virus	1.1M
Hong Kong Flu	1968-1970	H3N2 virus	1M
HIV/AIDS	1981-present	Virus / Chimpanzees	25-35M
Swine Flu	2009-2010	H1N1 virus / Pigs	200,000
SARS	2002-2003	Coronavirus / Bats, Civets	770
Ebola	2014-2016	Ebolavirus / Wild animals	11,000
MERS	2015-Present	Coronavirus / Bats, camels	850
COVID-19	2019-Present	Coronavirus – Unknown (possibly pangolins)	4,700 (as of Mar 12, 2020)

Note: Many of the death toll numbers listed above are best estimates based on available research. Some, such as the Plague of Justinian, are subject to debate based on new evidence.

Despite the persistence of disease and pandemics throughout history, there’s one consistent trend over time – a gradual reduction in the death rate. Healthcare improvements and understanding the factors that incubate pandemics have been powerful tools in mitigating their impact.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/

p.s.: Ivy is a pulmonologist and is in her usual quiet, efficient and effective way leading the effort to control and treat patients affected with the CoronaVirus at her hospital. We are immensely proud of her and have our fingers crossed for her continued wellbeing.

International Women's Day

Although Women's Day is Every Day. Today, we say it. Happy Women's Day - To the 3 Amazing Women in my Life. And to all the wonderful women who have influenced me and continue to make a positive difference.

I just learned today the history of International Women's Day and was fascinated and at the same time disappointed at myself for not knowing.

A look back at International Women's Day
Politico
Every spring people from around the world celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th. The day was originated by the Socialist Party of America to celebrate and embolden working women all the way back in 1909.

For over 100 years women come together to protest various women's issues, raise awareness and even risk their lives to fight for global gender equality. The women of POLITICO test their knowledge of International Women's Day and share their own experiences as working women.

It was heartwarming to see a host of male and female artists creating a special song to celebrate Women's Day.

Yeh Hai Stree
Girliyapa Exclusive

A spontaneous collaboration with some of Bollywood’s biggest singers, this song is about how women see themselves, and how it would be, if everybody saw a woman through the lens that she desires herself to be seen.

She is an individual, who does not consent to any particular standard of beauty. She does not subscribe to any standards of being, or achieving, or belonging, in order for her to be a real woman.  She does not want or ask to be put on a pedestal.

This might seem like a modern take on a woman, but when you actually look at it, this is how a man’s identity has always been defined.  A man is rarely defined as ‘Yeh beta bhi hai, bhai bhi hai’ etc.;  a man is usually who he is and what he does.  So, this song, in a simple manner, says, it’s time that women are seen in the same way, at the least, to begin with.

This award-winning short film is unfortunately applicable in many families in India. Even in 2020. And even in the cities.

Story Of A House Wife
Women Day Special | Award Winning Short Film

Today women are walking shoulder to shoulder with the men around her. There are some families where only the way of living has developed to the modern style; yet the way they treat women is ancient.

And do visit the website for International Women's Day.
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

"An equal world is an enabled world. How will you help forge a gender equal world?
Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality."

And each of us needs to consciously raise awareness. Within. And in our Society.

SmartPhone Addiction !

A few days ago, while I was pulling out of our condo driveway, a young lady almost walked into my car. I braked while she continued walking. Not noticing what happened and intensely focussed on what she was doing. Interacting with her phone. She probably has no idea that she came very close to being hit.

I thought about this and realized that almost everybody, especially younger people seem to have the phone as an extended part of their body. It reminded me of an incident that happened a few months ago when all 4 of us (Ivy, Freia, Reia and me) were in Mumbai. The kids asked me how much time I estimated I spent on the phone. I estimated 2 hrs. They checked the phone time tracker and delightedly announced it was upwards of 6.

I was dismayed. The fact that a lot of that was on apps while I was walking or driving such as audiobooks and music and podcasts made it better. But only slightly better. I thought to myself that I need to change this. And promptly forgot all about it. Until earlier this week.

There were several smartphone-related incidents that kept coming up in newspapers. And the phenomenon was a global once. And India had its own share of problems.

It wasn't surprising to find that there are several "Smartphone Addictions Tests". And it wasn't surprising that I failed all of them. And I'm probably in the lower half of smartphone users.

You can check out the tests and see how you perform.

https://virtual-addiction.com/smartphone-compulsion-test/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nomophobia-smartphone-sep_n_7266468

While we can do nothing about the past, we certainly can modify behavior going forward. Which I intend to.

Here are 2 interesting articles that discuss the issue.

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/smartphone-addiction.htm

https://www.health.com/condition/anxiety/cell-phone-addiction

Here are 9 things I'm going to practice. (Or at least try.)

1. The primary use of a phone is to receive and make calls. Make that its primary use.

2. Use the phone for social apps such as WhatsApp just 4 times a day (Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night).

3. When engaged in any activity have the phone face down and only take work-related or urgent calls.

4. Cap non-activity phone usage (other than exercising, driving, ...) to 2 hours a day.

5. Keep the phone away when interacting with others, at work, and with friends & family.

6. Keep the phone away during meals.

7. Keep the phone away 15 minutes before going to sleep.

8. Keep the phone away 15 minutes after waking up.

And finally,
9. Have a "No Phone Day" once a month.