Sunday 20th April 2025

Theory of mind: What chess and drug dealers can teach you about manipulation

The greatest tacticians are those who think ahead. Chess grandmasters, famous generals, great world leaders, and mafia dons all share one skill: They are all many more steps ahead than their rivals.

We each have the ability to think ahead. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a functioning human who didn’t think ahead at least some of the time. You’ve probably planned what to do tonight, and you likely know the route you’re going to take to get home. Thinking ahead is one hallmark of intelligence. Without it, we’re simply slaves to our instincts and reflexes — a bit like a plant or a baby.

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How to Build Your Own AI Assistant

For frequent gen AI users, the process of uploading the same background files and prompts over and over for similar or repeated tasks can become onerous. But many generative AI platforms allow for the creation of custom AI assistants which store those elements for repeated use. Creating a custom assistant is simple and requires no coding or technical experience; it can help with tasks from writing to generating troubleshooting and how-to guides, creating custom productivity tools, and getting feedback and coaching. First choose a platform, then begin by experimenting in the platform’s basic interface, then use what you learn to create your bot’s custom instructions along with uploading any files it may need to do the tasks you want. Then, as you use it, continue to refine it.

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Firms Led by CEOs from Former U.S. Frontier Areas Are Awarded More Patents

George Mason University’s Lei Gao and his co-researchers—Macquarie University’s Jianlei Han, Zheyao Pan, and Huixuan Zhang—collected birthplace data on 1,777 U.S.-born CEOs and determined how many decades each leader’s hometown had spent on or near the frontier during the country’s westward expansion. Examining accounting and patent databases, they found that firms led by CEOs from longtime frontier counties were awarded more patents than other firms—and those patents were cited more frequently and had greater value in the marketplace.

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What Luxury Fashion Can Learn from the Wholesale Flower Market

Online luxury fashion retailers have been experiencing losses, and they all face the same challenges: How do you move inventory of a product with ephemeral value without destroying the perceived value of the brand? How do high-end brands differentiate their products and communicate product quality to customers effectively when the online environment removes several physical indicators? Billions have been lost in the effort to square these circles, and the conventional wisdom now is that low-margin online sales are a very different business than high-margin fashion. This article suggests that the application of the multichannel descending (or Dutch) auction method used by FloraHolland, operator of the world’s largest wholesale flower market, could give the online fashion platforms another chance.

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The 48 Best Shows on Netflix Right Now (April 2025)

Black Mirror, North of North, and Adolescence are just a few of the shows you need to watch on Netflix this month.


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The 47 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now (April 2025)

Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things the First Shadow, The Imaginary, and Dead Talents Society are just a few of the movies you should watch on Netflix this month.


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Beats Cables, Skullcandy ANC Headphones, and a Severance Keyboard--Your Gear News of the Week

Most people don't associate Skullcandy—known for its plasticky skull-and-crossbones aesthetic—with premium audio. Skullcandy admitted as much at a launch event this week in New York City. Since its inception in 2003, it has aimed at (and impressively captured) the wallets of cash-strapped suburban punks across America with low prices, punchy colors, heavy bass, and skulls.

That's why its new $100 noise-canceling headphones are both exciting and ironic—they're made in collaboration with Bose, a company known best as the business-class choice for the parents of Skullcandy kids. The Method 360 ANC offer similar noise canceling to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra in a similar design, but with a larger charging case (good for 32 hours of battery life with ANC on) and slightly larger earbuds. It’s a “we’ll dumb this down for Junior” approach that I'd love to see employed more in affordable products.


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Who Said Vacuums Can't Be Cute?

I might be a mom, but I've become one hell of a dad with my new hobby: vacuuming the cars every weekend.

My adorable, Cheerio-throwing toddler drives me to the end of my rope each week after seeing the state our cars end up in. Our vehicles descend into a madness of half-eaten snacks, piles of sand (there's somehow always sand), a toy graveyard, and random trash by every Saturday morning, if not Tuesday afternoon. I can't let it stand. Nothing chases away my Sunday scaries like getting our cars spick-and-span on the inside, leaving me excited for that Monday-morning day-care drive with a clean car.


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Best iPad to Buy (and Some to Avoid) in 2025

We break down the current iPad lineup to help you figure out which one of Apple's tablets is best for you.


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18 Best Apple Watch Accessories (2025): Bands, Chargers, Cases, and Screen Protectors

If you have an iPhone, there's a good chance you also have an Apple Watch. We've rated it the best smartwatch and the best fitness tracker for iPhone owners. It dominates the smartwatch category.

It's also one of the easiest Apple products to accessorize, even if you might not need to (I've never cracked an Apple Watch screen or case). Apple offers an extended warranty plan, which is worth considering, given that service pricing for watch repairs is exorbitant. If you turn it down, however, these screen protectors, cases, and Apple Watch straps can help extend the life of your indispensable timer/alarm clock/sleep tracker.


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