The Cape Times, a newspaper in South Africa, demonstrates how close it is to the news as it happens, by showing the only way you could be closer.

Taking a self-picture, or in the regrettable parlance of our times, selfie, removes all distance between the subject and the person capturing it. It might not be the most obvious premise for a brand promise, but that’s where we are. In the same way that cameras couldn’t possibly get any closer to the sailor kissing his best girl on V-J Day unless he was snapping the picture himself, The Cape Times couldn’t be any closer to the news unless they were making it. (Actual physical proximity may vary.)

Created by agency Lowe Cape Town, the ads put a funny modern spin on visual history. Have a look through them all in the slide show above. Full Story »

Facebook & Too Many Meetings Top the List of Employee Time-Wasters

A Facebook status update here, a Tweet there and finding that perfect dinner recipe on Pinterest. In this day and age most jobs require a computer, most computers have the Internet and distractions to workers are plentiful. But how much time do employees waste visiting personal websites that aren’t work-related during the day? And on a more philosophical note, should that really be considered a “waste” of time?

We surveyed more than 3,200 people from February to March 2012 to find out.

In this era of constant connectivity, the Internet is forever at our disposal via laptops, smartphones and tablets. Ideally, that’s fantastic news for employers because employees can take their work with them wherever they go. But the flip side is the constant temptation to slack off. Of the people we surveyed, 64 percent said they visit non-work related websites every day during work hours. However, that number is down nearly 10 percent from the last time we conducted this survey in 2008. With so many jobs lost in the last four years, it’s likely employees have less time to waste because they’re spending more time on their added job responsibilities. Full Article »

It’s hard to believe, but George Jetson, his boy Elroy, daughter Judy, Jane, his wife -- and Astro, everyone’s favorite space dog -- are now 50 years old.

The show was futuristic in its own right: When it bowed in the early 60’s, it was the first color show to ever air on ABC. But it was the quirky technological advances that the Hanna Barbera show imagined human beings using -- from robot maids to flying cars -- that really formed the backdrop of the show and kept viewers interested.

In honor of The Jetsons’ 50th anniversary, we decided to take a look to see how far we’ve come. And based on where we are so far, by 2062, the year the show is set in, we may just achieve all that the show’s writers envisioned and then some. One thing that’s massively important to us today and wasn’t reflected that way on the show is our powerful mobile phone technology and the importance to us of how small those devices have become, as well as what they permit -- constant access to the internet (not conceived back then) and a variety of useful apps. Full Article »

Business may be all about money, but the currency that’s traded inside every organization is respect. If you command respect, people listen when you talk and take action when asked. If you don’t command respect, well, everyone’s just laughing behind your back. Contrary to popular belief, a fancy job title never commands respect. In fact, there are six, and only six, ways to earn respect:

1. Be Authentic

People will not respect you when they know you’re pretending to be somebody or something you’re not. Human beings have a natural ability to detect fakery and see fakers as untrustworthy, insecure, and ultimately insignificant. On the other hand, humans are always drawn to individuals who truly are what they seem to be. Being yourself (and at your best) is therefore the foundation for earning respect. Full Article »

In an article for October’s Vanity Fair, author Michael Lewis explored some of these behind-the-scenes details of President Obama’s daily life. To prepare for the article, Lewis spent six months in close company of the president — playing in his high-energy basketball games, sitting up front in Air Force One, and chatting with him whenever the president had a free moment.

There was one particular question that Lewis asked repeatedly of President Obama. Lewis presented the president with the following scenario: “Assume that in thirty minutes you will stop being president. I will take your place. Prepare me. Teach me how to be president.”

The president first touted the necessity of daily exercise — a habit that I endorse wholeheartedly. But what he said next was even more interesting: “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” Full Article »

IN December 2008, Georgette Kaplan and her two daughters, Stephanie and Jamie, felt as if they were receiving a wonderful holiday gift.

Products from their personal-care company, Ms. & Mrs., were going to be showcased on “The View,” the ABC talk show, as part of its seasonal gift guide. Giddy with anticipation, the women huddled around a television in their Chicago office on the day of the broadcast as heavy snow fell outside.

Then it happened: their company, which makes cleverly packaged items like the Shemergency Kit, a brightly colored pouch containing breath freshener, earring backs, blotting tissues and other “emergency essentials” — was misidentified as Mr. & Mrs. on national television.  

“It was kind of like, ‘Ugh,’ ” said Stephanie Kaplan, the company’s creative director. “It was one of those moments when you realize, ‘Wow, this is really a problem.’ ” Full Article »

When Joel Simkhai came out of the closet at age 18, he was worried about what kind of professional future he could have as an openly gay man.

“One of my problems was I thought I couldn’t be as successful,” Simkhai says. “That’s partially because I didn’t have any gay role models who were very successful and in high-profile jobs.”

Now, as founder and CEO of the location-based gay social network, Grindr, which has more than 4 million users in 192 countries, Simkhai has become the very example of success that he says he never had.

The fact is: Sexuality remains a sensitive subject in big corporate environments, especially among C-suite executives. Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that there’s not a single openly gay CEO on the Fortune 1000 list. Even those who are widely reported to be gay, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, have never publicly admitted it, a phenomenon often referred to as “the glass closet.” Full Article »

Are you a night owl? If so, you’re probably less happy and less productive than morning people.

In a recent study published in the American Psychological Association journal Emotion finds that “larks”—people who wake up early—have a more positive affect than “owls”--those who prefer staying up late at night. Additionally, the study revealed that morning people reported feeling healthier than night owls. Full Article »

In the months before a US Presidential election, the quality of political discourse hits new lows. Blue State/Red State tropes dominate the news cycle as the media gins up outrage over perceived injustices in the culture wars. It’s all about our differences. So I started wondering, how do Americans really think about “those people” in other states? What are the most common stereotypes? For each of the fifty states and DC, I asked Google: “Why is [State] so ” and let it autocomplete. It seemed like an ideal question to get at popular assumptions, since “Why is [State] so X?” presupposes that X is true. Full Article »

You’re ambitious, hardworking and smart. Your resume is polished, your cover letter is relevant and you’re networking. Yet, you’re still getting rejected from every job you apply for. Sound familiar? If so, you may be ignoring one of these unwritten rules of job searching.

1. Be organized  Use a label for all job-search-related emails. Use a program like SpringPad or Excel to track all the positions and organizations you’re interested in, all the resources you use and all the people you meet with. You can also get extra fancy and track other data such as date of application, date of interview and related contacts. Full Article »

Much of the debate over legalizing gay marriage has focused on God and Scripture, the Constitution and equal protection.

But we see the world through the prism of money. And for years, we’ve heard from gay couples about all the extra health, legal and other costs they bear. So we set out to determine what they were and to come up with a round number—a couple’s lifetime cost of being gay. Full Article »

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender retirement community (LGBT) has set aside more money for retirement than the general population and believes its retirement spending needs will be substantially larger as well. According to a recent survey by Wells Fargo, the median LGBT retiree has saved $450,000, compared with $350,000 for a national sample of retirees. Whereas the median national retiree thinks he or she needs a median of $500,000 in savings, the median LGBT retiree believes he or she will require $800,000. Full Article »

When you use compassionate communication in your conversations, something quite surprising occurs: both your brain and the brain of the person you’re talking to begin to align themselves with each other. This special bond is a phenomenon referred to as “neural resonance,” and in this enhanced state of mutual attunement, two people can accomplish remarkable things together. Why? Because it eliminates the natural defensiveness that normally exists when people casually converse. Full Article »

1. Go exploring. Explore ideas, places, and opinions. The inside of the echo chamber is where all the boring people hang out.

2. Share what you discover. And be generous when you do. Not everybody went exploring with you. Let them live vicariously through your adventures. Full Article »

The word “etiquette” gets a bad rap. For one thing, it sounds stodgy and pretentious. And rules that are socially or morally prescribed seem intrusive to our sense of individuality and freedom.

But the concept of etiquette is still essential, especially now—and particularly in business. New communication platforms, like Facebook and Linked In, have blurred the lines of appropriateness and we’re all left wondering how to navigate unchartered social territory. Full Article »

How do you think most workers would respond if you asked them, “Do you feel more productive now than you did several years ago?” I doubt that the answer would be a resounding yes. In fact, even as workplace technology and processes steadily improve, many professionals feel less productive than ever.

It may seem a paradox, but these very tools are undermining our ability to get work done. They are causing us to become paralyzed by the dizzying number of options that they spawn. Full Article »

At the end of most job interviews, you’re asked a seemingly innocuous, open-ended question: “Do you have any questions for me?” That may seem straightforward enough, but in fact there are many ways to go astray. One obvious mistake is not asking anything at all, which shows that you haven’t given any serious thought to the possibility of employment at this particular organization. Full Article »

First impressions still count when it comes to nailing the interview for that new position, but there are several other things you need to think about as you settle into the hot seat. It only takes a few minutes for a prospective employer to size you up and decide whether you’ll be a good fit for the position. A single quip, remark, or even a facial expression could send the wrong message and knock you out of line for the job. Polishing your interviewing skills can help you communicate better and ensure the interview is smooth sailing. Full Article »

Great employees are reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders and great followers... they possess a wide range of easily-defined—but hard to find—qualities.

A few hit the next level. Some employees are remarkable, possessing qualities that may not appear on performance appraisals but nonetheless make a major impact on performance. Full Article »