Keeping & Losing Friends

Are your friendships driven by your preferences or more by your social opportunities? It’s the latter, according to a study out of the Netherlands. Sociologist Gerald Mollenhorst interviewed more than 1000 people and interviewed them again seven years later. His finding: Our personal networks are not formed solely based on personal choices.

Mollenhorst says you’ll have a turnover of about half of your closest friends at least every seven years. But don’t blame it on fickleness or disloyalty. Circumstances will play a major role in who stays in the inner circle as your favorite discussion partners and practical helpers. When parts of your friendship network move away or change jobs or have babies, you replace them. As you make life-changing decisions about marriage and divorce, your best mates will be determined largely by the happenstance surrounding the decision. 

Friends come and go. But you should hold on to some of them. Who makes you a better person just for hanging around with them? Who expands your world and helps you to define yourself better? It takes extra effort but hang on to these friends. They're worth it.

Stephen Goforth

Kids and Careers

The thing about kids is that they get in the way of careers. They stand firmly between us and validation from our work. While making space for children in our lives is uncomfortable, even painful, the effort will put us in a better place—because we arrive as different people.

Stephen Goforth

The skeleton in your closet

If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance. -George Bernard Shaw

A new approach to lie detection

Researchers from the University of Amsterdam's Leugenlab (Lie Lab) have developed a new approach to lie detection through a series of lab experiments.

Participants were free to use all possible signals—from looking people in the eye to looking for nervous behavior or a particularly emotional story—to assess whether someone was lying.

In this situation, they found it difficult to distinguish lies from truths and scarcely performed above the level of probability. When instructed to rely only on the amount of detail (place, person, time, location) in the story, they were consistently able to discern lies from truths.

Bachelor's students from the UvA and Master's students from the UvA and the UM carried out data collection, control experiments and replication studies for the research in the context of their theses. 

Read more online at The Univeristy of Amsterdam 

The Most Effective Therapeutic Approach to Serious Emotional Issues

We are on a road to significant life disruptions when we cling to what we wish the world was like instead of what it really is like. As M Scott Peck wrote, “Mental health is an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs.” 

Like it or not, we are all neurotic to some degree. If the wrong set of circumstances comes along, and if they are combined with unhealthy attitudes encouraged by poor parenting and genetic tenancies, any of us can tip over into the abyss. 

Mental clarity is fundamental to emotional health. That's why, despite the biological component of mental illness, our therapeutic approaches should be holistic and address cognitive issues. A cognitive-focused approach has a history of greater effectiveness than drugs (except when dealing with extreme psychotic breaks, schizophrenia, etc.). After an initial physical exam rules out disease and general illness, an eclectic approach that is focused on cognitive therapy is the most effective direction. For most issues, drugs are best regulated to use as a tool allowing a person to find a place of stability in order to deal with fundamental unhealthy cognitive issues.

Stephen Goforth

8 Media Webinars this week about freelancing, objective news, PR, anxiety, quality journalism & more

Mon, April 10 - A Conversation with Michelle Miller

What: Miller will discuss her career as well as her new book, Belonging. 

Who: Michelle Miller is a co-host of "CBS Saturday Morning."

When: 2 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: San Diego State University

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Tue, April 11 - How to make it as a freelancer in investigative & data journalism

What: Learn from freelancing experts how they've been able to become their own boss. Topics include: How to pitch an investigation; Who to pitch to and when; Dealing with contracts; Negotiating pay for a project; Finding documents on a budget; Building your team of success (lawyers, story contacts, etc.).

Who: Jordan Gass-Pooré - Independent Journalist, Creator/Host, Hazard NJ podcast (NJ Spotlight News/NJ PBS); Sonali Kohli, Senior Recruiter, URL Media; Laird Townsend, Director, Freelance Investigative Reporters and Editors (FIRE);  Rebecca Aguilar, freelance journalist/educator (moderator)

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free for members, $25 for nonmembers

Sponsor: Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE)

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Tue, April 11 - Truth, Objectivity & Journalists of Color

What: What does objectivity in journalism look like for journalists of color? Is objectivity still a realistic goal?

Who: NYU Journalism's Professor Rachel Swarns and guest speakers Cody Gee Sheridan Hmelear (NY AAJA Vice President), Bonita Sostre (NY NABJ President), and Kiara Alfonseca (NY NAHJ Vice President).

When: 5 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute

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Tue, April 11 - How High Achievers Overcome Their Anxiety

What: Topics include: How to recognize and avoid common thought traps and triggers; Confronting your own bad habits and unhealthy coping mechanisms ;How to resist perfectionism, manage social anxiety, and set boundaries to prevent burnout; How to model healthy behavior for others in your organization.

Who: Featuring Morra Aarons-Mele, host of The Anxious Achiever, a top-50 business podcast, and author of The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower.

When: 11 am, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Harvard Business Review

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Wed, April 12 - What is quality journalism?

What: The panelists will discuss their work to build credibility and trust with the public and the standards that guide the newsgathering processes. This session will pull the curtain back on how quality, ethical journalism is done and how it seeks to inform us fairly and accurately.

Who: Journalists Brandon Pope of WBEZ and Molly Parker of Lee Enterprises

When: 4 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: News Literacy Project

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Wed, April 12 - Can AI Transform the Way We Approach PR & Communications?

What: Discover the potential of artificial intelligence to revolutionize public relations and marketing communications.

Who: Emily Taffel Cohen, AWCSF Communications Director and Founder of Mugsy; Yaeunda Williams is the Founder of Everything Metaverses, Fashion & Human Resources; Andrea Felder, is an entrepreneur involved in multiple online endeavors including AI Hacks, Caption Copy, RocketHub, Ampfluence, and more; Jennifer Navarrete, an award-winning social media community builder.

When: 5:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: $10

Sponsor: The Assoc for Women in Communications South Florida Chapter

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Wed, April 12 - Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief 101: A Guide for Journalists

What: Learn how state officials and education leaders prioritized COVID-19 relief funding for students’ academic recovery and overall well-being. The webinar will especially help reporters who are new(er) to covering Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding.

Who: Austin Estes, program director for COVID Relief Data Project, Council of Chief State School Officers; Peter Zamora, director of federal relations and policy, Council of Chief State School Officers; Jennifer Pignolet, education reporter, Akron Beacon Journal (moderator)

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Education Writers Association

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Wed, April 12 - The 2023 Media & Entertainment Industry Insights Report: How Companies Are Keeping Up with Change

What: insights from the Salesforce research about how media and entertainment organizations continue to adapt to increasing consumer demand for better and more personalized experiences and how economic uncertainty is impacting plans for investments in people, processes and technology as well as the evolving role of automation and AI.

Who: Brian Bergen, VP, Industry Marketing  Salesforce; Alp Pekkocak, Senior Director, Salesforce                                    

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor:

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A Sickness unto Death

A person begins as an it and must become an I. The fact that they are not necessarily so is the source of their misery. Sin leads to a disrelationship, a separation of people from themselves called despair. Kierkegaard says this disrelationship of the self to the self, this despair, this spiritual sickness unto death reveals not only our separation from ourselves ... but our separation from God. To be rid of the despair, one must choose it. A person will be enabled to overcome it if they recognize the sickness, accept it, and through an act of free will, makes a leap of faith past it. The cure is to choose the good, to choose one's self, Kierkegaard tells us. It is in the act of becoming one's self a person moves from an it to an I.

Stephen Goforth

God & the Dance

God is not a static thing not even a person but a dynamic pulsating activity a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost if you will not think me reverent, a kind of dance.  –CS Lewis

Dear God

Dear God. No use tryin' to kid You ... You know I done it.  -Denise the Menace

Avoiding the Transitions

Individuals will walk out of relationships, rather than letting go of the approach to the relationships that made them unsuccessful and unsatisfying in the past. Individuals will look for new jobs rather than face the attitudes and behaviors toward work and toward authority-figures that made them unsuccessful in all of their past jobs. They don’t ask what it is time for them to let go of. Instead they say they need to start over. Individuals will decide to move to a new house or a new town, rather than letting go inwardly of the old way of living that lacked meaning. They make a change rather than making the more profound transition, which would put them on a genuinely new life-path.

William Bridges, The Way of Transition

Genuine love

Genuine love is an active striving for the growth and happiness of the loved person, rooted in one’s own capacity to love. -Eric Fromme

Determination

Determination is often the first chapter in the book of excellence.

How instead of Why

When life is hard, we often find ourselves harping on “why” questions: “Why is this happening to me?” In those moments, Elaine Fox (author of Switch Craft: The Hidden Power of Mental Agility) suggests letting go of the “why” and asking “how” instead: “How can I change this situation?” Or perhaps you’re already asking a “how” question, but the wrong one: Instead of “How do I stop working so much?,” she explains, try an easier question: “How can I find time to go to the gym?”

Kira Newman writing in Greater Good

The Present with a Twist?

Because time is such a slippery concept, we tend to imagine the future as the present with a twist, thus our imagined tomorrows inevitably look like slightly twisted versions of today. The reality of the moment is so palpable and powerful that it holds imagination in a tight orbit from which it never fully escapes … we fail to recognize that our future selves won’t see the world the way we see it now.

Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness

7 Media Webinars this week about media law, sports, ChatGPT, interviews, and more

Mon, April 3 - Media Law Office Hours

What: Journalists with legal questions to help find answers with an attorney who specializes in this area.  

Who: Attorney Matthew Leish

When: 5 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: New York’s Deadline Club

More info

Tue, April 4 - SPJ Sports Zoom

What: We will discuss Adam's groundbreaking career, plus participants may have the ability to ask Adam questions about his journey to ESPN.

Who: Adam Schefter, ESPN Sr. NFL Insider

When: 7 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists

More info

Tues, April 4 - Benefits and Risks of ChatGPT and Other Generative AI Technologies

What: Examples of generative AI technology, then panelists will critically evaluate benefits and risks of ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies.Will generative AI technologies change the practice of law, and if so, how can legal education adapt?

Who: Amy Milligan, Assistant Director of Legal Writing, UofSC School of Law; Jack Neil, Founder and CEO, Hank AI; Eve Ross, Reference Librarian, UofSC School of Law; Seth Stoughton, Professor of Law, UofSC School of Law; Bryant Walker Smith, Associate Professor of Law, UofSC School of Law. 

When: 7 pm. Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: $25

Sponsor: University of South Carolina School of Law

More info

Wed, April 5 - Rethinking the Interview

What: In an Unequal World, Do We Need New Rules?

Who: Freelance science journalist Tara Haelle who frequently speaks and writes about ethical dilemmas in journalism. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, NPR, the Washington Post, etc. Naseem Miller, a senior editor at The Journalist’s Resource, a project of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University.

When: 6:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: NYU

More info

Wed, April 5 - How to develop and manage collaborative investigations

What: Attendees will receive information, tips and resources on how to develop and manage collaborative investigative projects. The webinar will include information for both news organizations and freelance journalists.

Who: This session will be led by Dianna Hunt, Senior Editor at Indian Country Today and a member of Fund for Investigative Journalism Board of Directors, and Bridget Thoreson, Institute for Nonprofit News Director of Collaborations.

When: 11 am, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Center for Cooperative Media

More info

Wed, April 5 - How to Explain Data Through Visualization and Storytelling

What: Learn key strategies, tools and processes you can use to make data storytelling and visualization a reality.   

Who: Rachel Leventhal-Weiner, Director of Evaluation and Impact, State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management; Eva Pereira, Chief Data Officer, City of Los Angeles; Stefanie Costa Leabo, Chief Data Officer, City of Boston; Ty Caldwell, Tableau Developer, The Management Performance Hub, State of Indiana; Gabriel Mullen, Principal Sales Engineer – SLED, Snowflake

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: GovLoop

More info

Thu, April 6 - Customer Experience in the Age of AI

What: How leading companies are using “intelligent experience engines” to assemble high-quality customer experiences using AI powered by customer data.

Who: David C. Edelman, executive adviser and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, and Mark Abraham, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Harvard Business Review

More info

The Inbetween Times

Unexpected solutions to difficult problems and creative ideas in general come out of a murky state where purpose and focus are temporarily suspended. Many of the decisions that change the direction of our lives are made during in-between times, after something has ended but before our lives have taken a definite new shape.

William Bridges, The Way of Transition

29 Data Science & Geospatial Articles from March 2023

Smaller, simpler neural network models are always more suitable for real-world applications

“Russia has expressed its willingness to target space assets, including commercial communications systems, adding to the U.S. urgency of developing warfighting tactics.”

US vs China—a video about the race to launch the next generation of space telescopes

China is preparing to launch its first satellites for a national low Earth orbit broadband megaconstellation to challenge SpaceX’s Starlink

Pentagon Prepares for Space Warfare as Potential Threats From China, Russia Grow

“The ideal size and intricacy of neural networks remain a matter of debate in the AI community, raising the question: Does neural network complexity matter?”

Remote sensing companies try to capture bigger piece of satellite imaging market

What data scientists need to know about machine learning

A list of free data science courses—from web scraping, statistics/probability, data analytics, SQL to business intelligence

The value of predictive models — cartography when data is very scarce

Quantum computers are a security threat before they even exist thanks to the encryption-breaking threats it posses

Space Force Wants $60 Million for Ultra-Quick Satellite Launches—with just 24 hour notice  

“The era of small satellites in Low-Earth Orbit is upon us”: Satellite manufacturers look to benefit from a multi-orbit future

China launches second classified high resolution remote sensing satellite

China’s secret naval base in Cambodia, through satellite imagery

Four machine learning trends to watch in 2023

Valuable GitHub repositories for data engineering

OpenAI’s price cut is “a warning sign that this may be a business with few producers"

“The launch of ChatGPT & Whisper APIs is expected to have a profound impact on the community of developers”

Documents detail 65-year effort to monitor an increasingly crowded orbital environment: A report on the US space surveillance network

Chinese research institutes are working to construct a quantum communications network using satellites in low and medium-to-high Earth orbits

The paradox that explains why “too much aggregation of data can become useless and start to introduce bias”

31 Generative AI Tools for text, images, & more with descriptions

A Chinese satellite launched in 2018 has been inspecting other nations' spacecraft high above Earth in geostationary orbit

Debating the rules of a conflict in orbit

Data Cleaning with Python Cheat Sheet

Diving into the world of quantum machine learning by exploring an advanced project utilizing a sample dataset

A systematic approach to retraining deep-learning artificial intelligence algorithms to deal with different situations

The difference between the roles of questions versus decisions in data science

Happiness is

Happiness is not a feeling; rather, feelings are evidence of happiness. -Arthur C. Brooks

A video about the race to launch the next gen of space telescopes

Leadership in Times of Difficulty

Even if they don’t have immediate solutions, emotionally intelligent leaders are able to maintain calm in the face of difficulties. This can help their team focus their energy on coming up with solutions, rather than needlessly squandering time and effort on fear and worry. 

Harvey Deutschendorf writing in Fast Company