| | | | | |  Happy Mother's Day! Rich Schultz/Getty Images | | | The wackiest headlines from the week as they would appear in a Classifieds section. Careers OSCAR WINNER HIRING BABYSITTER: At age 79, Robert De Niro revealed that he had fathered his seventh child (his oldest child is now 51). De Niro is excited to have the opportunity to force one more generation to watch Goodfellas in his lifetime. MUSIC LIQUIDATOR: Spotify purged thousands of AI-generated songs uploaded by the music startup Boomy. The streamer said it flagged the tunes it thought were being listened to by bots, which inflated listener numbers. But maybe it was just bots making music for other bots <3. Personal ISO SALAMI PARTNER: Forget slurping on the same spaghetti noodle or sensually licking a sprinkled ice cream cone. The official first date meal is a charcuterie board full of loose meat and cheese, according to Bustle. HELP ID MUSTACHE GUY: Some online sleuths thought an attendee at King Charles III's coronation was Meghan Markle in disguise because of the person's comically large mustache. But it was actually a real guy: Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins, to be exact. For sale MALL RATS: Malls desperate for tenants have been leasing space to animal shelters at reduced rates to 1) find homes for more pets and 2) generate foot traffic from people looking for pets, the NYT reported. EXPENSIVE OIL…NOT THAT OIL: Drought and heat waves in the Mediterranean have driven up prices of olive oil to their highest level in 26 years—$6,000 per metric ton. One more reason to abolish Starbucks's new olive oil-infused coffee drink.—MM | | | | | Need an engaging new read to get lost in during your lunch hour or before bed? We've got one that might spark your interest. Part manifesto, part self-help guide, Spark is the unconventional business book changing the way we look at our careers. It's a thought-provoking dive into overcoming challenges and finding your unique purpose. Rethink your work life through the lens of giving, purpose, curiosity, and scalability for a more fulfilling career—one you actually, ya know, want. With interpersonal, organizational, and individual ideas to work through, learn the secret ingredient to your thriving and put it into action. Tend your inner flame. Order Spark. | | | | I, Parpan05, Brienz-Brinzauls Dorf, CC BY-SA 3.0 Take a good look at the Swiss village of Brienz…because it may be the last time you see it intact. Residents of the picturesque town had to evacuate their homes last week after officials warned that 70 million cubic feet of rock could break off the nearby mountain and come crashing down on Brienz in the coming days or weeks. | | | Dexter's Laboratory/Warner Bros. Domestic Television via Giphy Here are some illuminating scientific discoveries from the week to help you live better and maybe even win over your neighbor's cat.  The financial dangers of looking on the sunny side. Spring is here, the sun is shining—and new research shows that's likely to affect the stock market. A study that examined the weather's impact on Chinese investors' behavior in auction-style secondary equity offerings found that on days investors needed sunglasses, they were more optimistic and less risk-averse, driving bidding up and discounts down. Even one standard deviation in either sunshine intensity or duration made a noticeable difference. This adds to previous studies that found sunlight is associated with higher market returns and that fall and winter IPOs get priced lower.
 Learn how to catcall more effectively. Cats are notoriously fickle, but French scientists have determined the best way to call an unfamiliar cat to you and actually get it to come is by using a combination of audio and visual cues (rather than just one or the other). If you have to pick just one, a purely visual summoning gets a quicker feline response than a solely vocal one. The researchers discovered all this by testing out techniques on kitties from a cat cafe.
 Get ready for Smell-O-Vision. One quick way to tell whether you're in a VR simulation or the real world is to ask yourself whether things have scents. But that might change now that scientists have developed more efficient systems for integrating smell into the virtual world. Previous efforts involved messy aerosols and bulked-up headsets, but the new scent delivery method works by heating wax, so the user needs just a small under-nose patch or soft mask. The researchers have made 30 smells so far, including stinky durian fruit, and testers identifying them had a 93% success rate.—AR
| | | | | | Improving internal morale: When Valimail Chief People Officer Elaine Mak saw employee engagement was down, she partnered with CFO Ryan McQueeney to align their talent needs and financial goals with the larger organizational strategy. Read more from CFO Brew on how this approach can be implemented by finance leaders to improve employee retention. | | | | Michael M. Santiago/New York Times Staff/Getty Images Can you guess what "one of the tech industry's worst mistakes" is, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman? It's not Quibi. It's buying into the idea that 100% remote work wouldn't cost startups creativity, as he recently said at an event organized by payment company Stripe. The OpenAI CEO is the latest tech exec to argue that an 8:57am wake-up call and leisurely cold brew in bed might not be the optimal Tuesday morning routine for tech workers, despite many leaders having once hailed WFH as the way of the future. Then vs. now When the pandemic shut down the world, many tech leaders were quick to proclaim a permanent WFH revolution. But now, one after another, Silicon Valley bosses are trading remote work evangelism for remote work frustration, citing productivity concerns. Here are a few examples. Meta: In May 2020, Mark Zuckerberg told The Verge he wanted to mold Facebook into "the most forward-leaning company on remote work at our scale." In the first months of the pandemic, he said employees could apply to make their job permanently remote and predicted that half of the company could work off-site in 5–10 years. Fast forward to 2023: Zuck is saying that in-person engineers "get more done" and that Meta is reevaluating its distributed team approach. Salesforce: In 2021, Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff was seemingly at peace with the idea of never again seeing his company's glitzy SF skyscraper bustling with workers. "They're mostly at home, and that's fine," he said then. Now, it might not be fine after all: Late last year, he wondered in an internal Slack if the "much lower productivity" of employees hired during the pandemic is "a reflection of our office policy," according to CNBC. What changed? The US is experiencing the biggest decline in worker productivity since 1948, according to research from EY-Parthenon, and many executives have been quick to single out remote work as the main culprit. This is what they cite to prove their point. - A study published in Nature Human Behaviour found that working remotely made Microsoft's remote workers miss important learning opportunities by not rubbing elbows with coworkers who aren't part of their immediate team.
- More recent research showed that interacting through a screen can make workers less likely to generate ideas. That's a problem for tech companies needing to out-innovate the competition.
For many industry leaders, accessing a wider talent pool outside of traditional tech hubs isn't enough to make up for those drawbacks. And as widespread labor shortages subside and layoffs sweep through Silicon Valley, companies are no longer in a perk war to recruit and retain the brightest minds. Zoom out: The Big Tech office push mirrors broader white-collar labor market dynamics. In December, 13% of LinkedIn postings were for remote jobs, compared to 20% nine months prior.—SK | | |  Meal prep: Rosie Mackean at The Dinner Party posted an epic bottomless brunch menu with eight recipes, including two cocktails and fried halloumi.
Book rec: The Covenant of Water is Abraham Verghese's new novel. Oprah—and many others—love it. Streaming binge: Jury Duty follows the inner workings of a trial where all jury members but one are actors (feat. James Marsden playing…James Marsden). Watch: "Will it tofu?" on YouTube. Mary's Test Kitchen has been exploring all the different ways of making tofu. Playlist rec: It's time to admit that Spotify makes some fire playlists. This one does the chill-groovy vibe better than you can. Smart purchase: Cans, but make them chic. This gadget takes the top off an aluminum can so you can more easily guzzle your sweet elixir. Tech tip: Ride the AI wave with this tool for quick, sleek presentations. Gas up your earnings: Meet the game-changing app that lets users earn cash back on everyday purchases. No points, just $$. Download Upside and earn a 25¢/gal bonus with code DailyBrew5.* *This is sponsored advertising content. | | | Raymond Boyd/Getty Images It's a big universe out there. In this section, we'll teleport you to an interesting location—and hopefully give you travel ideas in the process. Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Mookie Betts isn't spooked by a 100 mph fastball…but he sure as heck is scared of ghosts. When his team traveled to Milwaukee last week to play the Brewers, Betts declined to stay at the downtown Pfister Hotel with the rest of the Dodgers and opted to shack up with some friends at an Airbnb instead. Why? Because the 130-year-old Pfister Hotel is allegedly haunted by the apparition of its founder, Charles Pfister. And, while it's unclear whether Pfister's ghost is on the Brewers payroll (designated specter?), he's relished the opportunity to disturb visiting baseball players who've stayed there. - In 2001, visiting player Adrián Beltré said his TV inexplicably kept turning off and on, and he heard unexplained knocking on his door, according to Sports Illustrated. He ended up getting just two hours of sleep in three nights.
- Eight MLB players, including Bryce Harper and Giancarlo Stanton, reported spooky experiences when staying at the Pfister. "From the minute I walk in there, I'm freaked out," Justin Upton told ESPN.
When its founder isn't conducting psychological warfare against baseball players, the Pfister Hotel is considered one of the nicest hotels in Milwaukee and a historic landmark. Every US president since William McKinley has stayed at the Pfister, and Elvis Presley checked in just four months before he died, according to WUWM.—NF | | | Last week we asked: You've been chosen to give the commencement speech at a prestigious university. What's the absolute worst piece of advice you could give the graduates? Here are our favorites: - "Don't wear sunscreen."—Sarah from San Jose, CA
- "Hiring managers love it when you ask the interviewer what THEIR biggest weakness is."—Darlene from Hofstra University
- "Keep all of your finances a secret from your loved ones."—Cate from WV
- "By all means, obsess over the mistakes you have made so far in your life."—Janyce from Omaha, NE
- "Don't have a quarter-life crisis and start working in national parks."—Nicole from Glacier National Park, MT
- "Always volunteer to help move. Your back will thank you."—Brian from Brooklyn, NY
This week's question What is the ultimate summer ingredient to add to a dish (or a drink)? Matty's answer to get the juices flowing: "Berries. Summer is for slapping a berry compote onto some pound cake, throwing some raspberries in a cocktail, and eating blackberries by the truckload." Share your response here. | | |  IT Brew covers the latest in cybersecurity, data management, and network infrastructure for IT leaders. Subscribe here.
 Why did VC investments drop so dramatically earlier this year? We explained what's behind the drying up of startup funding and what the future holds here.
 Money talks, and so does Katie. Join Katie on May 18 for a free virtual event about career opportunities in finance. Sign up here.
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