There is a company in the U.K. that offers “being hungover” as a valid reason for calling off work. They are allotted four hungover days per year.
100 Mind-Blowing Work Facts
A mason in 1700s Jerusalem left his wooden ladder behind after doing some work on a church, and now it can’t be moved without the agreement & permission of six different Christian leaders.
The word robot comes from the Czech “robota.” This translates into forced labour or work.
Employees at MillerCoors get three free cases of beer each month, in addition to having access to beer and cider on location after a work day.
More than 90% of survivors of the 9/11 terror attacks delayed evacuation to save their work, shut down computers, change shoes, or visit the bathroom.
In 2019, scientists discovered the world’s oldest known work of art on an Indonesian Island called Sulawesi. It was created 44,000 years ago.
Marie Curie was the first person ever to win TWO Nobel Prizes – one for physics in 1903, and the other for chemistry in 1911 for her work on radioactivity.
The youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is Malala Yousafzai (aged just 17 in 2014), for her work as a child rights activist and champion of girls’ right to education.
Marla Gibbs continued to work as a flight attendant for two years after being cast on a hit TV show. Before taking her place on the stoop of 227, Marla Gibbs played the housekeeper Florence on The Jeffersons (a spin-off of All in the Family). In a 2015 interview, Gibbs told the Washington Post that despite it appearing as though she had gotten her big break, she kept her job as a flight attendant for American Airlines for two more years—just to be safe.
The CIA headquarters has its own Starbucks, but baristas don’t write names on the cups. Its receipts say “Store Number 1” instead of “Starbucks,” and its workers need an escort to leave their work posts.
The world’s first novel ends mid-sentence. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, is considered the world’s first novel. After reading 54 intricately crafted chapters, the reader is stopped abruptly mid-sentence. One translator believes the work is complete as is, but another says we’re missing a few more pages of the story.
May 20, 1873, is the “birthday” of blue jeans. According to the Levi Strauss company, this was the day that Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis, the innovators behind the sturdy blue jeans we all love, got a patent on the process of adding metal rivets to men’s denim work pants. The pants were called waist overalls until 1960 when baby boomers began calling them jeans.
5 countries in the world don’t have airports. If you’re a jet-setting traveller, it’s hard to imagine not having an airport nearby for your next family gathering or work event. However, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Andorra somehow make it work!
The first novel in the world ended mid-sentence. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, is the world’s oldest novel. Towards the end of 54 chapters, the story is stopped abruptly mid-sentence. Some translators believe the work is complete and intended to end that way, but others say a few pages haven’t been recovered yet.
A seaman once set a ship on fire to get out of work early. One of the “don’t-try-this-at-home” fun facts: A civil employee once started a fire that ravaged the nuclear submarine USS Miami which was docked at a Naval Shipyard. Though the cause of the fire was unclear at first, civilian employee Casey J. Fury soon admitted to starting the fire for an early dismissal from work. Fury was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $400 million in damages.
Human birth control pills work on gorillas. During an experiment conducted on four captive gorillas, scientists observed a difference in behaviour. Peak sexual behaviour was observed during menstruation rather than after.
The CIA headquarters Starbucks doesn’t put names on the cups. Its receipts say “Store Number 1” instead of “Starbucks,” and the cafe workers need an escort to leave their work posts.
The happiest countries in the world have the highest antidepressant consumers. These countries are ranked per capita. But at least now we know the medication does work.
An American man tried to fake his death so he wouldn’t have to pay his phone bill. In 2007, Corey Taylor attempted to fake his death to get out of his smartphone contract without paying for anything. However, despite his efforts, it did not work.
Around 70% of virus programmers are said to allegedly work under a strict contract for crime syndicates. Their jobs are to constantly detect vulnerabilities within their own company and try to find a way to block unwanted breaches out. There is often a black-or-white scale in the world of virus programming.
Cats have a hundred vocal cords. Cats have two main vocal cords and are capable of making over 100 different types of sounds. They work in conjunction with the trachea and the cartilage in the throat.
Paramount has 22 stars in its logo. The 22 stars represent the twenty-two actors and actresses who were originally contracted to work for the studio in the year 1916. However, 24 actors were contracted, but only 22 were honored.
Ants stretch in the morning. Ants are known to keep a regular daily schedule. This includes the hours they work, sleep, and eat.
Mozart once sold more CDs than Beyoncé. This friendly competition between two musical greats may sound like a pipe dream, but it’s one of the interesting facts that happened. The Universal Music Group released a box set for Mozart’s 225th death anniversary in 2016. With 200 discs of Mozart’s work in each set, each disc was counted as one CD sold. Get the last box set and listen for yourself.
A man once hired someone to slap him to avoid checking Facebook. Maneesh Sethi hired a woman to slap him in the face every time he tried checking Facebook at work. He paid the woman $8 an hour.
Before alarm clocks, there were human alarms. Knocker-Uppers originated in Britain during the Industrial Revolution. When people needed to wake up and get to work, a knocker-upper’s job was to take a wooden stick and knock on the door to wake them up.
In Japan, napping at work is honourable. In Japan, napping at your job is seen as a sign of diligence—you are working so much, that you get exhausted. The Japanese call it inemuri, which translates to “present while sleeping.”
It takes more muscles to smile than to frown. It’s a common myth that frowning takes more work, but it’s not the case. On average, a smile uses 12 muscles, while a frown uses only 11.
In 2005, Australia banned the word “mate.” Due to complaints, the Australian Parliament once banned the use of “mate” at work. However, it didn’t last too long, and the ruling was withdrawn in 24 hours.
The U.S. flag was designed by a 17-year-old for school. In junior high school, Bob Heft designed the U.S. flag. He made a 50-star flag for the class project. However, the U.S. only had 48 states at the time, so Heft got a B minus for his work. However, his prediction that two more states would be added ended up being true. Heft wrote 21 letters and called the White House 18 times. Eventually, President Eisenhower called to tell him his design would be used. The design for the current U.S. flag was made official on July 4, 1960.
Maps sometimes have fake places to prevent plagiarism. Plagiarism can be hard to avoid for mapmakers. After all, what should they do? Invent new places? You’d be surprised to know some mapmakers do just that. Cartographers can add wrong streets, fake towns, or other landmarks to prove whether a competitor mapmaker is copying their work.
List settled in Denver, where he found work as an accountant under his new identity.
Spielberg received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work on the film. In 1998, he was honoured with the highest civilian award in the United States for his contributions to cinema and for raising awareness of the Holocaust through “Schindler’s List.
Peyton List has a strong work ethic. Dedicated and driven, she consistently strives to give her best in every project she takes on.
Lionesses, the female lions, do most of the hunting for pride and work together to take down large animals like zebras and wildebeests.
Left-handed people may especially use their brains. They sometimes share the work between both sides of their brain more evenly.
Pineapple is one of the best, natural meat tenderizers. This fruit contains bromelain, which breaks down the protein in chains. This enzyme is so powerful that people who work in pineapple factories have to wear protective gear so bromelain does not attack their skin.
If you are analytical, someone may have called you left-brained. Someone might call your more emotional friends right-brained. However, this theory is not based on fact. Both sides of your brain work together to create your personality.
Different time zones can make work difficult in some countries. France technically encompasses the most time zones with 12 unique time zones. But, these zones are not in a row as France has territories throughout the world. Russia and the United States both span 11 time zones, but there are no people in all these time zones in America.
Going to work is statistically three times more dangerous than war.
In 2003, street artist Banksy put his work on the wall at the Tate Modern Museum in London. The prank lasted several hours.
As the years go by, more and more job traditional jobs will disappear. Instead, robots are poised to replace human work.
IT Professionals Stress Out About Technology Just Like Everyone Else. Most people think of IT professionals as experts in hardware and software. 31% of them rated “keeping up with technology” as the biggest challenge in the workplace, though. Unsurprisingly, IT professionals constantly deal with new hardware and software. New products and services launch in the IT field every single day. IT professionals who work with multiple companies or clients may find themselves using dozens of different hardware and software solutions. For high-level IT professionals, “impact on work-life balance” takes precedence over technology woes. Many IT professionals pointed out they feel like they’re connected to work 24/7 but wouldn’t choose another profession.
The original name of Microsoft Windows was “Interface Manager”. In 1981, Microsoft began the development of a program called “Interface Manager”. Most people won’t recognise that name because Interface Manager became Windows in 1983. Microsoft released Windows 1.0 in 1985, and it’s now the most common operating system in the world. It’s hard to believe the OS would be successful with its original name. Interface Manager perfectly describes what Windows would become. In the marketing department, making that name sound interesting or useful would have been impossible. Everyone recognises Windows, and millions of computers run on Windows 10 today. Interface Manager should be considered a work-in-progress name and something best left in the past.
The name “robot” has dark origins. If you look into the etymology of “robot,” comes from the Czech word “robota,” which translates to forced labour or work. The word was first used to refer to a fictional humanoid in a play in 1920.
40% of American couples meet online. Online dating is hugely popular these days, and apparently, it seems to work! 40% of couples who got together in 2017 met online. Looking at a larger scale, meeting through friends declined by 13% from 1995 to 2017.
There wasn’t an app store on the first iPhone. This probably isn’t that surprising, seeing as the first of any tech has some things to work out. But the only apps that were on the first iPhone in 2007 were all Apple’s apps. These days, there are over 1.4 million apps for iPhone.
According to a Finances Online article, 72% of U.S. consumers credit AR with better collaboration at work, 69% report increased efficiency at work and 61% credit AR with better marketing.
Although the TV show “Friends” is based around life in New York City, the entire show was filmed in California. Whether you love it or hate it, Friends was one of the most iconic TV shows to come out of the nineties and early 2000s. One of the most surprising facts about Friends is that it wasn’t filmed in Manhattan, where it’s set, but at the Warner Brothers Ranch just outside of Los Angeles. That being said, there are a small handful of locations where filming took place outside of LA. One of these is, of course, Monica and Rachel’s apartment building at 90 Bedford St in New York. Several other locations filmed in New York for the serious include the places where the friends all work.
College of the Ozarks doesn’t charge tuition. Instead, students work on campus at least 15 hours a week and have two 40-hour work weeks.
The Japanese have a work philosophy called “kaizen,” where people constantly seek ways to improve methods instead of just doing it the same way.
Most graffiti artists wish to be called “writers” and accompany their work with a unique signature called a “tag.” This is especially true for graffiti artists who want public recognition.
Banksy is the most popular graffiti artist, known for his stencil art with political and anti-war themes. They remain anonymous and are based in Bristol, England, but their work can be seen worldwide.
There is a difference between graffiti and street art. In graffiti, the writers are generally not interested in the public understanding their work; instead, they use it to speak to other writers. Street art is used to engage everyone.
Many graffiti artists tag their work. “Tagging” is a way for street artists to sign their names anonymously. They often use random words or symbols and then embellish them with stars or crowns.
Individual people can experience time differently, too. You’ve probably noticed how time seems to speed up when you’re racing against a deadline or having fun, and how it tends to drag when you’re bored. This is because when you’re focused on something, like a big work project or a party, your brain pays less attention to how time passes. But when you’re bored, or your brain is less stimulated, you become more aware of the passing of time, making it feel slower. One study proposed that dopamine—the neurotransmitter and hormone that helps us feel happy—may be an additional culprit. It showed that increased dopamine production, which happens when you’re enjoying something, may slow down your body’s internal clock, making time feel like it’s flying by.
Though a lot of people believe daylight saving time was adopted to keep farmers happy, that’s a myth. The first person to seriously advocate for daylight saving time was an entomologist who wanted more sunlit hours to look for insects after work in the summer. He proposed his idea to a scientific society in New Zealand in 1895.
Travelling back in time is possible—theoretically, at least. According to Einstein’s theory, you could travel back in time by moving faster than the speed of light, as long as you could somehow have infinite mass. Since that probably won’t work, you could create “wormholes” between two points in space-time. (This would also be tough since humanity still hasn’t invented the technology to build a wormhole.) Or you could try bending space-time by plucking some “cosmic strings.” Two of these theoretical strings, which are thin streams of pure energy that are moving in opposite directions at very near the speed of light, could theoretically warp space-time enough to create a closed time-like curve—also known as a time machine.
3% of developers use Linux as their primary operating system for work-related purposes.
The PS3 shipped with support for Linux; with some tweaks, the OS can also work on the PS4.
83.1% of all the developers prefer Linux as a platform to work on.
When remote work is a factor in causing a data breach, the average cost per breach is $173,074 higher. (IBM)
52 per cent of legal and compliance leaders are concerned about third-party cyber risks due to remote work since COVID-19. (Gartner)
Cybercrime costs the world economy more than $1 trillion per year (McAfee): McAfee believes the cost of cybercrime around the world is around $1 trillion per year, accounting for around 1% of our total GDP. The costs of cybercrime are often influenced by several factors of course, including the degree of damage caused, the theft of certain property (intellectual or otherwise), and the costs of stolen money. When companies lose data, there are hours of work put into fixing the problem.
53% of users haven’t changed their password in the last year (LastPass): Despite numerous reports in the last couple of years highlighting the impact of a poor password on data security and hacking issues, 53% of users worldwide haven’t changed their password in a year. 42% of customers say they believe a password should be easier to remember, rather than secure. 80% of users in this study said they’d be concerned if their password was compromised, but 48% wouldn’t change their password if it wasn’t required. When asked where they’d be tempted to create strong passwords, 69% of users said they would do so for financial accounts, and only 29% said they would create a strong password for work-related accounts.
Headline Puzzle: The Headline Puzzle is a monthly feature started in 1964 by Paul Derthick to keep his mind sharp outside of cryptanalytic work. It involves solving monoalphabetic substitutions from recent newspaper headlines.
Condoleezza Rice: Condoleezza Rice, a former Secretary of State, has been associated with the NSA through her work in national security and intelligence.
Last year, GPT-3 upgraded to GPT-3.5. One of their main differences relies on its parameters (GPT-3.5 has only 1.3 billion) and the fact that the upgrade is designed to work within policies based on human values, aiming to make AI systems more natural and safe to interact with.
Another tech giant that is experimenting with AI is Amazon, as it has launched Q, a new generative AI-powered assistant for work.
Almost All Smartphone Users Take Advantage of AI Voice Assistants: According to a study by Creative Strategies, 96 per cent of Android consumers and 98 per cent of iPhone consumers use Google and Apple’s AI-based digital assistants – ‘OK Google’ and ‘Siri’. The study further highlights that 51 per cent of consumers use digital assistants in cars, 39 per cent in homes, 6 per cent in public places, and 1.3 per cent at work.
The Chinese government uses financial incentives to encourage private companies to work on AI development.
Facebook’s AI team has been hard at work developing AI that can understand the content of videos and put it to use. Though what this means remains somewhat vague, an innocent part of it would be automated video captions, for instance.
The ability to nap in your car while on your commute to work is much closer than you think. Elon Musk announced that Tesla will offer self-driving cars in less than a year – May of 2023. As this announcement has been made before without any actual launch, take it with a grain of salt.