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At a previous employer we had a policy that all passwords started with '/' because of the sheer number of times someone typed the root password into a public IRC channel.


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It could be that financial success breeds bad health habits.


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London voted against Brexit.

NYC, LA, SF, etc against Trump.

Istanbul, Ankara against Erdogan.

All very deeply divided societies.


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Sayre's law: In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake.

 


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In 532, the Byzantines and Persians signed what they called The Perpetual Peace, so named because it was expected to last forever. It lasted eight years. After the ensuing war, the Byzantines and Persians, now less optimistic, named their new treaty The Fifty Year Peace. It lasted ten years.


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As I got older, I realized:

  1. lost money can be found; lost time is lost forever
  2. learning to learn, and changing yourself is a superpower
  3. you are not your job
  4. networking is about giving
  5. best teacher is your last mistake
  6. good manners as important as good education
  7. do not take your health for granted
  8. be a better friend and value relationships
  9. if you are waiting for a title to lead, you are not ready to lead
  10. a sponsor is more important than a mentor
  11. a good story is soulful with sprinkling of data
  12. stop worrying about what others think of you
  13. if you want an easier life, work on harder problems
  14. best teachers are life long students
  15. imposter syndrome is real
  16. fight against a sense of entitlement
  17. half the battle is showing up
  18. love and cherish your parents by giving them your time
  19. success is not accidental
  20. the best views are there for those who love the climb
  21. lucky people work harder
  22. takers may end up with more, but givers sleep better at night
  23. memorizing is not learning
  24. it is okay to look back, just don’t stare
  25. knowing is not acting
  26. straight roads do not make great drivers
  27. good listeners hear the unsaid
  28. be the person that you want to follow
  29. do not limit your contribution to a job description
  30. if you are waiting for a title to lead, you are not ready to lead
  31. customer service is not a department
  32. in the long run, the optimists do more
  33. never ruin an apology with excuses

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1915. The Kaiser is informed that Italy will switch sides, General von Falkenhayn said: it makes no differences. If they are against us, it will take 10 divisions to defeat them. If they are with us, it will take 10 divisions to support them.


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“How could disinformation campaigns even work?” you ask. Well, millions of people still think the US Army created AIDS at Ft. Detrick thanks to a 1983 KGB op, using a single article in an Indian newspaper.


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Things I believe are strongly correlated to happiness Foundation:

  • Consistent quality sleep
  • Regular exercise
  • Reasonable diet
  • Hydration
  • Managing stress
  • Strong relationships

Extra:

  • Time outdoors
  • Time in nature
  • Going for a swim in lake/ocean etc.
  • Frugality
  • Humility
  • Gratefulness
  • Regular active seeking of discomfort
  • Decluttering physical and digital space
  • Dropping need to constantly sanitize body/environment
  • Doing hard things
  • Doing things for others
  • Reading
  • Creating

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LPT: Got a friend or family in the hospital? Consider giving them cozy blankets, soft socks, open toe slippers, book/eReader reader, long phone charger, and condiments for food instead of flowers.


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My favourite fact about Lennon is that he had a environmentally controlled closet with dehumidifier in his London house, just for his fur coat collection. “Imagine no possessions” indeed.


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My favourite thing about being in the EU. There's a lot to love about being in the EU:

✓ Freedom to move and work

✓ Forming a trading powerhouse

✓ Ensuring consumer rights and safe products

✓ Backing up human rights and rule of law

✓ Maintaining the peace

✓ Creating a Europe-wide solidarity corps

✓ Allowing scientists share research and resources

✓ Eliminating roaming

✓ Erasmus

✓ Health insurance that works anywhere

✓ The right to visit any EU embassy and get help

✓ Education certificates recognised anywhere in EU

✓ Pooling resources to spend more cleverly and work together

But my absolute favourite thing about the EU is the optimism of an incredibly unlikely project. It is easier to divide people than to bring them together. It is easier to tear things down than it is to build them. It is easier to whimper and panic in the face of a challenge than to face it. But that is not what the European Union is about. The EU brings together instead of dividing. The EU builds things when others would tear them down. And more than anything else, the EU faces its challenges with the ambition and determination that the European people deserve.

Happy Europe Day my friends 🇪🇺