The pandemic has changed flying more than any other event. In the initial days of the pandemic, the airlines tried to save as much money as possible, allowing for early retirements and furloughing many employees. Now there is an employee shortage. As a result, airlines are short-staffed and overworked. Flights crews have time limits on how long they can work, generally  12 - 16 hours at a stretch. There aren't many backup crews, so your flight may be cancelled. However, you can take much of the stress out of travel by planning ahead and being prepared.

Taking the stress out of travel

If you are going on a cruise, leave the day before incase a connecting flight is cancelled. Count the extra day as part of your vacation.  Wake up slowly, have some coffee and pancakes, and leisurely head to your boat. The extra money is worth the peace of mind.

Go early

<ul><li>Always fly direct. You won't need to worry about making your next flight. If you can't avoid connecting, allow for at least three hours to avoid the stress of possibly missing your flight.</li><li>Fly as early in the day as possible. The first flights of the day are rarely cancelled. If it is cancelled, there will be more options to rebook a different flight.</li><li>Download the app of the airline you are flying. These apps share valuable information such as your incoming plane and when a flight is cancelled. It will guide you in rebooking a new flight if needed.</li></ul>

Booking flights

<ul><li>Pack smart. Don’t hold up boarding because you can’t figure out how to make your bursting bag fit in the overhead.</li><li>Bring a sweater. Aeroplanes are often kept cold intentionally for people who struggle with airsickness.</li><li>Bring patience. Be nice to the flight attendants and fellow passengers. </li></ul>

What to bring

In two decades of flying, things have never been as stressful as they are now, a cabin insider says. Here, her tips from 30,000 feet for avoiding airline chaos this summer.

travel

Travel

‘A One-Hour Layover Is Not Enough Anymore’: A Flight Attendant’s Tips on Surviving Travel Now

Throughout the pandemic, technology decision-makers have quickly adopted new solutions to streamline remote and hybrid business processes. But this onboarding process shined a light on a long-standing problem: the inherent biases introduced to tech products by humans. Although many tech solutions are powered by AI, the tech industry has historically lacked an accountable vetting process to account for potential biases in the data these products’ algorithms are built on. The result is often scaled exclusionary practices in the companies that rely on AI-enabled tech to run their businesses.

Technology and Human Bias

Tech giants like <a href="https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/commitments-racial-equity/">Google</a> and <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/08/apple-broadens-racial-equity-and-justice-initiative-with-30-million-in-new-commitments/">Apple</a> have committed to sweeping changes, offering hope for a future where inclusion and equity are standard in industry processes—especially in hiring. However, real change also requires an examination of the past and present biases humans have brought to the tech solutions companies use. Leaders must start raising awareness of inherent biases in the technology they use to make change happen.

Diversity Beyond Hiring

We’re only in the beginning stages of rooting out bias in tech, so awareness is key. But while it’s easy to blame tech for bias, bias ultimately comes from poor data provided by a human. Some factors may be out of your control when it comes to human-placed bias, but there are steps you can take to identify bias in the tech products your organization uses and hold vendors accountable for anti-bias tech offerings.

Three Ways to Evaluate Bias in New Tech

To prevent bias from seeping into tech decisions, every employee should be educated on equitable and anti-bias practices—especially if your company writes algorithms for any of its products. Make this training standard to ensure it’s part of your organization’s operational fabric. Also, apply anti-bias data checks if you leverage automated processes. You don’t want automation to scale up potential biases.

Prioritize Equitable and Anti-Biased Decision-Making

Make the transparent evaluation of data a priority for the partner companies and vendors you work with. Look for organizations with formal and proven processes that evaluate data for bias and regularly publish these findings. Public companies, like Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, are required to publish annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports that document their impacts across these three areas, but private companies aren’t required to publish ESGs.

Push Vendors for Transparency

Consider differences in culture, language and disability when deciding on a tech solution because human bias exists in these areas as well. For example, Zoom is addressing language and disability by adding closed captioning with live translation to their calls, allowing non-English speakers and those who are hard of hearing to feel included. In adopting new tech, consider whether the user experience is palatable for multiple generations of workers, not just younger employees.

Prioritize Inclusive Features

As you engage in your own DEI(Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) efforts, it’s essential to root out human biases in your organization’s internal datasets and those you acquire from third-party vendors. By pushing for more transparency and accountability, adopting a more detailed purchase decision process and making inclusive products a priority, you can raise awareness and help lead the charge in eliminating human bias in tech.

The Bottom Line

Bizagi’s VP of product marketing points out what gets overlooked and how everyone can play a part in rooting out bias.


productivity

Productivity

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

problemsolving

Problem Solving

How to spot human bias in the tech your company uses

If you want to accomplish anything in life, whether it’s acing a test, writing a book, or starting a business, momentum is everything. We all know how good it feels to get excited about something new. Maybe you want to form a daily walking habit, or maybe you want to start writing articles after putting them off for many years.
You get started, and after a few weeks, you get stuck. You want to go for a walk, but you got in a fender bender on your way to the supermarket. Or you want to write, but you just can’t find a good way to end the story you’re working on.

Momentum Matters

Sometimes you just have to be strategic about skipping things. Especially if you want to make progress in life. Both our time and energy are limited, and it’s easy to lose sight of what really matters.
You want to skip some things because you don’t want to expend more energy on things than necessary. Life and work are already hard. Why make it harder for yourself by being so rigid? You want to be flexible and adapt to what comes your way. And sometimes, the best way to make progress is to decide NOT to do something.

Making Things Effortless

If you want to accomplish anything in life, whether it’s acing a test, writing a book, or starting a business, skipping some tasks is crucial.

timemanagement

Time Management

If You're Not Skipping Some Tasks, You're Making Life Harder

Airlines often have problems like passenger baggage being lost, or flights getting delayed. They are betting on technology to help their customers as well as their employees.
Real-time customer data and new analytical tools using powerful computers are now being used to track baggage handling, predictive maintenance, inventory and cargo.

Technology For Airline Baggage

Airport friction, that is the number of people(ground handlers, airline staff and Visa consultants) a passenger needs to interact with while travelling is an area of concern in which technology comes to the rescue.Improvements in data exchange have led to a 50 percent decrease in baggage mishandling rates over the last decade, according to a global tally.

Secure Exchange Of Traveller Data

<ul><li>Many airlines like Air Canada are investing heavily to consolidate and streamline data, with the aim to prevent mishaps, mishandling and delays even before they occur.</li><li>Real-time data is streamed to smartphones and smartwatches, instead of being emailed as PDF files, to ensure that swift action is taken in case of any ongoing or potential problem.</li></ul>

Preventive Measures Using Technology

In 2019, 25.4 million bags went missing, costing the industry billions of dollars - can big data solve the problem?

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

How airlines will stop you losing your bags in the future

A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun. The moon's shadow falls on the Earth's surface and blocks out the sun's light as we see it from the Earth.
The moon crosses the Earth's orbital plane only twice a year because the moon orbits the Earth at an angle. For an eclipse to take place, the moon must be in the correct phase. For a solar eclipse, it must be a new moon.

A Solar Eclipse

There are three types of solar eclipses:
<ul>
<li>Total - the entire central portion of the sun is blocked out.</li>
<li>Partial - only a part of the sun's surface is blocked out.</li>
<li>Annular - only a small, ring-like sliver of light is seen from the sun's disc.</li>
</ul>
The moon's shadow has a central region (umbra) and an outer region (penumbra). If the umbra passes over you, the entire central portion of the sun will be blocked out, and you will see a total solar eclipse. If the penumbra passes over you, you will see a partial solar eclipse.

Types of Solar Eclipses

The best way to observe the sun is by projecting the image.
<ol>
<li>Use two pieces of cardboard. (such as flaps from a box)</li>
<li>Make a small pinhole in the centre of one piece.</li>
<li>Take both pieces in your hand.</li>
<li>Stand with your back to the sun.</li>
<li>Hold the piece with the pinhole, then place the other piece (the screen) behind it.</li>
<li>The sunlight will pass through the pinhole and form an image on the screen.</li>
<li>Adjust the distance between the two pieces to change the size of the image.</li>
</ol>

How to Watch for Solar Eclipse

Solar eclipses are rare and amazing phenomena. Learn about what happens in a solar eclipse and how to observe one safely.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

How Solar Eclipses Work

The humble quiz game appeals to millions, with many of them obsessed with appearing on such shows and winning a truckload of money.
The concept of public quizzes started back in the 1930s with the Spelling Bees. Broadcast radio picked the quiz format of the game and reached a wider audience. These radio quizzes were popular because they had normal people coming on air and hearing themselves live for the first time.

The Appeal Of The Quiz Show

Quizzes got immensely more entertaining with the onset of Television. People finally found a way to make use of the useless general knowledge they had retained in their heads since school time.
The prospect of winning money made the shows even more popular and thrilling in the 1950s. Though some initial shows were rigged to favour certain contestants, the British found the golden goose of high-stakes quizzing with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire which ran for multiple decades and was watched by more than a third of the British population.

The Quiz Gets The TV Boost

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire had all the winning ingredients:
<ul>
<li>A high-stakes game that got more dramatic the longer the contestant in the hotseat stayed;</li>
<li>A host that was charismatic and unreadable at the same time (Chris Tarrant);</li>
<li>Multiple choice questions with no time limit;</li>
<li>An ominous, gripping soundtrack.</li>
</ul>
The format of the show made it a highly entertaining interactive sport among family members huddled together. The show’s appeal was so good that many started exploiting its weaknesses and planned elaborate heists in order to win money.

Millionaire: The Winning Formula

"Being right is still a very popular British pursuit."

Small-scale quiz events were often staged in the 1940s by women at various pubs, as a deterrent for their husbands. Many pubs drew on this pastime and organized quizzes to draw consumers in the '80s.
The appeal for a public question and answer session is so widespread that in 2019, more than half of the 40,000 odd pubs in the UK ran quiz leagues on local and national levels.

Quizzes: The Local Affair

<ul>
<li>Quiz shows have a long-lasting, timeless draw among people looking for a way to prove themselves while being entertained.</li>
<li>The motivation to get stuff right and the thrill of beating others is irresistible, especially in the current state of lockdown boredom.</li>
<li>The many twists and turns add an element of surprise and uncertainty, amplifying the appeal.</li>
</ul>

Quizzes: Always Being Right

From virtual pub tournaments to a hit TV drama, quizzes are having a moment. What is it about the simple art of question and answer that has such an appeal, asks Colin Crummy.

entertainment

Entertainment

The world’s current lockdown obsession

The spaces we spend most of our time in have a significant impact on our mindset. That's why many people are redoing their homes to become cosier, calming and efficient.
It is named "comfort decorating" and restores a sense of normalcy since the pandemic started.

Comfort Decorating

When rearranging your living space:
<ul>
<li>Consider the colour. Blues create calm while greens encourage creativity.</li>
<li>Bring in nostalgia with old objects that can remind you about what's important to you. Rotate the objects regularly if your space feels cluttered.</li>
</ul>

Small Touches Can Make A Huge Difference

The spaces we live and work in have a big impact on our mindset. And creating a calm, restful space can provide stability in times of change and uncertainty. It's called "comfort decorating."

health

Health

product

Product & Design

'Comfort Decorating' Is All About Making Your Home A Sanctuary : Life Kit

“Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so live today!"

“Energy cannot be created or destroyed, and energy flows, with some kind of internal, emotive, spiritual direction. It must have some effect somewhere.”

“Every struggle in your life has shaped you into the person you are today. Be thankful for the hard times, they can only make you stronger.”

“Try to be wrong every once in a while, it’ll do your ego good.”

"How do I confront aging? With a wonder and a terror. Yeah, I’ll say that. Wonder and terror”

“Grief changes shape, but it never ends”

Keanu Reeves quotes are here to uplift and inspire us to be better people. Keanu Reeves has an insight into the world that some may not understand.

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

communication

Communication

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

Keanu Reeves Quotes That Convey Powerful Messages

"For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love."

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."

<ul>
<li>Carl Sagan was a renowned American scientist who brought science to the masses with his talent as an orator.</li>
<li>His words had an impact on the way the American public viewed and supported the field of space exploration from the 1970s until his death in 1996.</li>
<li>He was an outspoken and curious astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist and astrobiologist. He earned more than three degrees, was a Harvard lecturer and Cornell University professor, to name a few.</li>
</ul>

The life of Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan is most notably remembered for his gift of translating scientific undertakings into the language of human emotion.
He is less often credited as one of the driving factors behind Voyager's Golden Record. In 1977, Sagan gathered a group of scientific and cultural advisors that built a collection of 115 images, natural sounds from Earth, a selection of music, and greetings recorded in 59 languages that travel through space to greet any life-forms that might come across the record's path.

What Carl Sagan is least remembered for

His quotes and insights are all over the internet, but here’s why you should really care about Carl Sagan.

sciencefiction

Science Fiction

The infinite, quotable wisdom of Carl Sagan

Awe is the emotion we experience in the presence of something great or vast, and rich in information. When we experience awe, we're stunned by something and feel captivated by it. It is typically a positive experience.
Research shows that experiences of awe in nature can raise our feeling of connectedness to others. It can also give us a sense of spiritual fulfilment.

Feelings of awe

People who tend to experience awe are rated as more humble by their friends, display more generous behaviour, and are more supportive toward others. 
Awe leads people to present a more balanced account of their own strengths and weaknesses. When we experience awe, we view ourselves as smaller and the world as larger. The self and its concerns are less prominent, and the world beyond more significant. We also see our smaller self as connected to the larger world.

Social effects of awe

When someone is asked to think or write about a spiritual experience, this act leads them to experience awe. Similarly, when experiences of awe are induced, people report more belief in the supernatural.
People who are more spiritually inclined tend to experience more awe and other self-transcendent emotions - accounting for why spirituality boosts wellbeing.

Awe is intertwined with spirituality

Some psychologists and philosophers suggest that studying the roles of awe and the small self can help us better understand spirituality. Psychologist William James suggests that we can experience union with something larger than ourselves and, in that union, find our greatest peace.
The suggestion is that those who are good at spirituality will be good at having experiences of awe, which will help them become better people.

Considering spirituality

<ul>
<li>Absorption. People who become more absorbed in their experiences are more likely to experience awe.</li>
<li>Following a set of instructions to focus one's attention on the details of a natural environment can promote absorption.</li>
<li>Mindfulness meditation involves focusing your attention on your current experience while resisting distractions.</li>
<li>Actively using imagination helps with absorption. Those high in absorption are more prone to use mental imagery.</li>
</ul>

Increasing experiences of awe

Experiencing awe in nature can transform our sense of connectedness to other people and help maintain a spiritual vitality

‘A One-Hour Layover Is Not Enough Anymore’: A Flight Attendant’s Tips on Surviving Travel Now

How to spot human bias in the tech your company uses

If You're Not Skipping Some Tasks, You're Making Life Harder

How airlines will stop you losing your bags in the future

How Solar Eclipses Work

Isabella Santos