Five things on Friday #60

Things of note for the week ending February 21st, 2014.

Beard

1. How do strategists level up?
This piece, written by Clay Parker Jones from Undercurrent, puts forward an extremely well-thought-out and logical case for how to ‘level up’ as a strategist. The whole article is worth a read (it’ll take 10mins to consume but you might be coming back to it for a while to come), especially for the planners and strategists out there looking for something new to take into their next review.

2. How do you get a job in North Korea?
Next time you’re staring at your CV (or even that cover letter) and stuck for what on Earth you could possibly put down next, thank your lucky stars that the hiring process [for good jobs] isn’t akin to the way North Koreans have to seek decent employment –

In response to the increasing demand for more rewarding jobs, bribery is becoming more common in North Korea. There are certain steps to follow to get the desired job: First, you have to bribe the officers and steal your personnel record from the local administrative agencies. Then you have to bribe the factory managers or party secretaries so that they will issue letters of confirmation that they would like to hire you. Lastly, you have to submit the letter to the administrative agency in charge of assigning jobs. Everyone involved knows about the other parties’ bribery, but they choose to overlook.

Source – ‘How do you get a job in North Korea?

3. NYC Henge

NYCHenge

According to WIRED, twice a year, the setting sun lines up with the street grid of New York City’s Manhattan, creating an incredible show and a free-for-all for amateur photographers. The phenomenon is known as Manhattanhenge, but the map above, dubbed NYCHenge and made by Javier Santana shows when and where the show can be caught all across New York City, any day of the year.

If you’re headed to New York at all this year, use this map RIGHT NOW and plan those epic Instagram photos today.

4. The Secret Autobiography of Tom Cruise

If there’s a thread that runs through Cruise’s recent movies, it’s this: You may think you know me, but you don’t. His character in the Mission: Impossible movies seamlessly switches faces and is described as “a ghost”; even Ethan Hunt’s surname reflects his elusive nature. In Knight and Day, he’s a high-level spook who’s built an untraceable life on a private island. And in last year’s Jack Reacher, he’s a man without a country, an American citizen who’s barely set foot on the nation’s soil: “blood military,” he’s called. Jack Reacher has “no driver’s license, current or expired, no residence, current or former, no credit cards, no credit history, no P.O. Box, cell phone, email.” By the standards of his home country, he doesn’t exist.

I came across this piece after reading Tyler Cowen’s review of Oblivion where he mentions the parallels between the film’s plot and the star’s chosen religion. Someone in the comments of that post mentioned that Slate had seen it too and also goes into a bit more detail with its analysis. There be spoilers here, but it’s still a darn good read.

For what it’s worth, I loved Oblivion (and really don’t know enough about Scientology to spot any references); it’s a great sci-fi flick and well worth watching.

5. Floating in Space
The story of ‘SuitSat-1’, aka ‘Mr Smith’, the sensor-filled spacesuit that was hurled from the International Space Station back in 2006, is one of the best things I’ve read this week.

 

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