Lady and The lamp 1979

Swear Like You Care: Passionate Profanity at Wor

Disclaimer: If you are the sensitive or easy-to-offend type, read no further, especially if mild profanity is offensive or hurts your eyes.

If you haven't uttered a single "shit" or "f**k" in the last 30 days at work (even in private), it might mean you just don't care.

There are an infinite number of situations where swearing is inappropriate in the workplace. But the scenarios in which swearing is not only acceptable, but appropriate and inspiring, are exactly why you should become proficient in passionate profanity in 2015.

It might even get you promoted.

The use of profanity in the workplace is an incredibly polarizing issue, with unique perspectives as you shift country to country, company to company, and person to person. In fact, more than half of American's and more than three quarters of Britishswear regularly in the workplace. A Google search on "profanity in the workplace" has over 500,000 results ranging from "WTF? Is your workplace a hotbed of profanity?" to "Watch your mouth, cursing in the workplace could get you fired". We can all agree to disagree on when it's appropriate to swear at work.

However, if you are passionate about what you do, there is a specific reason to incorporate deliberate and intelligently architected profanity into your game at work.

It's massively memorable, proves your passion, and will help you bond with your audience. (if you don't f**k up the delivery)

There are many scenario's where passionate profanity has a true business application: Team meetings, large group events, 1:1 discussions, hallway conversations, commiserating with colleagues. If you dare cross that line at work, I suggest starting in a simple place. Ensuring your presentations are MASSIVELY MEMORABLE.

Leverage profanity to deliver massively memorable presentations. Contrary to what you might think, words are better than pictures.....And profane words are better than regular words to drive your most important point home.

"A picture is worth a thousand words" is a commonly accepted premise in the business world. Most people nod their head approvingly when you say it. The business world has shifted to highly visual presentation materials. As a result, Powerpoint is the most overused (and arguably ineffective) presentation tool on planet Earth. But as we shift to easy visuals and metaphoric presentations, we are dismissing almost 100 years of research on how the brain processes information.

You may not have heard of the "Stroop Effect", but it's an 85 year old theory on the brains ability to process and prioritize information quickly. The classic Stroop test consists of a series of words in different colors. The goal is to simply say the color when the word appears. Try it below:

Not incredibly easy, is it? But doable. It gets quite a bit harder when those images flash quickly on the screen one by one. When you get home, there is a NSFW example of the Stroop test using profanity here (same disclaimer applies from above). It gets exponentially harder to name the color when profane words appear.

But why? The Stroop theory asserts that the brain processes words at a faster pace than colors or imagery. If there were a word/image race, the word wins. As a result of this race, your brain struggles to take in images when words are competing for the same attention. Words that trigger an emotional reaction, essentially beat out all other images and words in the race to your cerebral cortex. This means that you can massively emphasize the most important parts of a presentation by deliberately incorporating strong emotional words.

Profanity simply ups the ante, creates intense emotion and cements focus.

Harvard Science Review summed it up nicely, "Swear words, in the appropriate context, can be beneficial when used for group unity, coherence, and general expressiveness."

Dan McGinn, in a Harvard Business Review article titled "Should Leaders Ever Swear?" called out Barack Obama for leveraging deliberate (though mild) profanity after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama told Matt Lauer on live television that "one of his goals was to determine "Whose ass to Kick". This statement gave viewers immediate insight into his state of mind, intent, and focus on solving the problem. Imagine if he had said his focus was on "conducting a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the spill".

Not as much impact, eh?

I am definitely not taking a stab at that! Hey, I don't work at your company. Shit. I don't want to get you in trouble. Get creative, test some boundaries, have some fun. Even in the most conservative companies, you can find the right forum to express your thoughts in a...well "colorful" way.

Inside the $70 Million+ house Jay Z & Beyonce got outbid on.

Ever wondered what a $70 Million+ house looks like? Step inside the Beverly Hills mansion Jay Z & Beyonce got out bid on by the owner of Minecraft who just sold out to Microsoft for $2.5Billion.

Spread over 23,000 square feet, this 8 bedroom, 15 bathroom, 16 car garage with infinity pool, wine cellar, 24 seat movie theatre, M&M's candy room and much much more.

This Virtual-Reality Headset Will Change Everything

Earlier this year, Facebook bought a virtual reality company called Oculus for $2 billion.

Oculus came to BI's big conference, Ignition, this year. They bought the latest version of their VR headset.

I tried it and it was incredible.

It's very hard to describe what it's like to use Oculus.

You put the headset on (over your glasses, if, like me, you need t0), stick a pair of earbuds in your ears, and suddenly it feels as if you are in another place.

For example, you might find yourself standing against a rail at the top of a very tall building in a rainy city at night. Look over the rail below you, and cars are moving on the streets. You can walk around the platform, and the world changes relative to you just as it does in real life. If you are afraid of heights, your palms will start to sweat and you will become as uncomfortable as you would be in real life.

When I was wearing the Oculus headset, I kept thinking about a 1995 movie from producer James Cameron called "Strange Days." It features a technology people can use to "jack in" or "wire-trip." They put a bunch of wires on their heads, and suddenly it feels as if they are in someone else's body, someplace else.

Oculus almost feels as if you are "jacking in."

The experience is so incredible that I'm now certain that Oculus VR, or some other VR technology, is going to change the world in humongous ways.

Starting with the obvious stuff, and moving more abstract, Oculus will change:

Gaming. Plenty of immersive video games already exist in which you can move around entire cities and interact with hundreds of characters. The "Assassin's Creed" and "Grand Theft Auto" series are best known for this. Right now, you have to consume these worlds through a flat screen. The leap into virtual reality is a short one.

Commerce. There's already an Oculus program in which you can view your avatar in the mirror. Imagine dressing that avatar in clothes to see how they look before buying them. Or, instead of looking at pictures of a car's interior online, actually getting into it to see if you like the trim you've selected.

Education. You can already take classes at Harvard online. Sitting at a virtual desk instead of watching a video on a monitor will be nice. But education will change more radically than that. Imagine being able to travel with a Harvard professor inside the human body to see how cancer cells grow in the bloodstream.

Sports. The first way Oculus will change watching sports is in the creation of cameras that can take in 360-degree views and be placed courtside at NBA games. You'll be able to put on an Oculus headset, pay a fee, and watch LeBron James from what feels like just feet away. Rumor has it, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is already geeked about that possibility. Eventually, it's easy to imagine that Oculus cameras will become as wearable as GoPros. Then you'll be able to watch games from the referees' perspective — or LeBron's.

Narrative. The way we tell stories has never stopped evolving. First there were oral traditions. Then epic poems. Then novels. Then film. Then video games. Next, you'll put on Oculus headsets. Sometimes, the narratives will be first-person stories, and it will feel as if you are seeing the world through a character's eyes. Other times, you'll float through worlds omnipresent, knowing characters' thoughts. Whole industries will form around people who figure out how best to tell stories in the medium.

Sex. Oculus porn is going to be far more immersive than the static images people used to look at in magazines or even videos on the internet. Not everyone is going to be comfortable with how immersive.

Aging. In the real world, knees give out and you can't play tennis or basketball anymore. Imagine playing ball at 90. Also: How long can a human body live if all it needs to do is take input from VR? Could humans live for hundreds of years?

Sense of self. Sometime in the not-too-distant future, you will be able to put on a headset, a pair of gloves, and a body suit and feel as if you are a different person in a different place. Do that enough — substitute your five senses for virtual input enough times — and you may begin to shed aspects of your identity you once thought fixed: race, gender, age, nationality. On the bright side, people may become more empathetic and less tribal. On the negative side, people may abandon their flesh selves, leaving behind loved ones.

2CELLOS - Thunderstruck

Big Ideas 2015: The Year of the Regional Pizza

I love pizza. I love eating it. I love making it. I love talking about it. I love talking to people who make it. I love talking to people who eat it. I love looking at pictures of it on the internet. You get it.

I love pizza so much that I celebrated my 30th birthday with a trip to Phoenix, Arizona. Why Phoenix? Phoenix is home to Pizzeria Bianco, the pizzeria where Chris Bianco plies his trade as the godfather of the Neapolitan pizza movement in the United States.

The Wiseguy at Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix

Back when Pizzeria Bianco opened in 2002, many folks considered it to be the finest Neapolitan pizza in the United States. When I went recently, I was expecting to taste something I had never experienced before. Instead, I had a different realization: thanks to Chris's hard work and diplomacy, there is phenomenal neo-Neapolitan pizza nearly everywhere in the United States.

In Brooklyn, Franny's and Paulie Gee's. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Oak & Rye, Pizzaiolo, and Pizzeria Delfina. Even just up the road from Pizzeria Bianco in Flagstaff, there's Pizzicletta.

Now that fantastic Neapolitan pizza is so ubiquitous, my prediction for 2015 is that the next big wave in the pizza world will be regional styles.

Here in the Bay Area, there are already a few standouts: A New York, almost New Jersey style at Emilia's in Berkeley:

Sausage and onion pie at Emilia's

Over at Tony's Pizza Napoletana, the Detroit style is a standout:

Tony Gemignani with his Detroit-style pie (photo via Tony's Pizza Napoletana)

Back on the East Coast, Slice Blog founder Adam Kuban is serving bar style pies (inspired by the Colony Grill in Stamford, CT) to monthly sell-out crowds at his Margot's Pizza pop-ups:

photo via Adam Kuban (@margotspizza on Instagram)

Rubirosa in lower Manhattan is tipping its hat to the cracker-thin pies native to Staten Island:

Vodka pie at Rubirosa

If the last decade was about elevating pizza from a comfort food to the realm of gourmet, the next decade will be about a return to the roots: the pizza of your childhood, wherever you grew up. There are as many styles of pizza as there are places to call home.

For me, that place is New Haven, CT. Luckily for me, New Haven is home to a phenomenal regional style--like New York, but heavy on coal-oven char.

Garden special white pie (front) and mushroom and muzz pie at Sally's Apizza

This is the pie of my memories and my dreams. It transports me back to my childhood. I can't wait for it to be available in more places.

What regional style do you hope will go mainstream in 2015?

ICC WorldCup 2015 Fixtures

DATE AND TIMEMATCHWEATHER

• Sat Feb 14 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  1st Match, Pool A - New Zealand v Sri LankaHagley Oval, Christchurch
  N/A
• Sat Feb 14 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  2nd Match, Pool A - Australia v EnglandMelbourne Cricket Ground
  N/A
• Sun Feb 15 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  3rd Match, Pool B - South Africa v ZimbabweSeddon Park, Hamilton
  N/A
• Sun Feb 15 (50 ovs)14:00 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  4th Match, Pool B - India v PakistanAdelaide Oval
  N/A
• Mon Feb 16 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  5th Match, Pool B - Ireland v West IndiesSaxton Oval, Nelson
  N/A
• Tue Feb 17 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  6th Match, Pool A - New Zealand v ScotlandUniversity Oval, Dunedin
  12 - 22° C
• Wed Feb 18 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  7th Match, Pool A - Afghanistan v BangladeshManuka Oval, Canberra
  16 - 30° C
• Thu Feb 19 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  8th Match, Pool B - United Arab Emirates v ZimbabweSaxton Oval, Nelson
  14 - 28° C
• Fri Feb 20 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  9th Match, Pool A - New Zealand v EnglandWestpac Stadium, Wellington
  13 - 20° C
• Sat Feb 21 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  10th Match, Pool B - Pakistan v West IndiesHagley Oval, Christchurch
  14 - 24° C
• Sat Feb 21 (50 ovs)13:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  11th Match, Pool A - Australia v BangladeshBrisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
  22 - 33° C
• Sun Feb 22 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  12th Match, Pool A - Afghanistan v Sri LankaUniversity Oval, Dunedin
  12 - 22° C
• Sun Feb 22 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  13th Match, Pool B - India v South AfricaMelbourne Cricket Ground
  21 - 31° C
• Mon Feb 23 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  14th Match, Pool A - England v ScotlandHagley Oval, Christchurch
  /A
• Tue Feb 24 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  15th Match, Pool B - West Indies v ZimbabweManuka Oval, Canberra
  N/A
• Wed Feb 25 (50 ovs)13:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  16th Match, Pool B - Ireland v United Arab EmiratesBrisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
  N/A
• Thu Feb 26 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  17th Match, Pool A - Afghanistan v ScotlandUniversity Oval, Dunedin
  N/A
• Thu Feb 26 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  18th Match, Pool A - Bangladesh v Sri LankaMelbourne Cricket Ground
  N/A
• Fri Feb 27 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  19th Match, Pool B - South Africa v West IndiesSydney Cricket Ground
  N/A
• Sat Feb 28 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  20th Match, Pool A - New Zealand v AustraliaEden Park, Auckland
  N/A
• Sat Feb 28 (50 ovs)14:30 local (06:30 GMT | 12:00 IST)
  21st Match, Pool B - India v United Arab EmiratesWestern Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth
  N/A
• Sun Mar 1 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  22nd Match, Pool A - England v Sri LankaWestpac Stadium, Wellington
  /A
• Sun Mar 1 (50 ovs)13:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  23rd Match, Pool B - Pakistan v ZimbabweBrisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
  N/A
• Tue Mar 3 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  24th Match, Pool B - Ireland v South AfricaManuka Oval, Canberra
  N/A
• Wed Mar 4 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  25th Match, Pool B - Pakistan v United Arab EmiratesMcLean Park, Napier
  N/A
• Wed Mar 4 (50 ovs)14:30 local (06:30 GMT | 12:00 IST)
  26th Match, Pool A - Australia v AfghanistanWestern Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth
  N/A
• Thu Mar 5 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  27th Match, Pool A - Bangladesh v ScotlandSaxton Oval, Nelson
  /A
• Fri Mar 6 (50 ovs)14:30 local (06:30 GMT | 12:00 IST)
  28th Match, Pool B - India v West IndiesWestern Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth
  N/A
• Sat Mar 7 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  29th Match, Pool B - Pakistan v South AfricaEden Park, Auckland
  N/A
• Sat Mar 7 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  30th Match, Pool B - Ireland v ZimbabweBellerive Oval, Hobart
  N/A
• Sun Mar 8 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  31st Match, Pool A - New Zealand v AfghanistanMcLean Park, Napier
  N/A
• Sun Mar 8 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  32nd Match, Pool A - Australia v Sri LankaSydney Cricket Ground
  N/A
• Mon Mar 9 (50 ovs)14:00 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  33rd Match, Pool A - England v BangladeshAdelaide Oval
  N/A
• Tue Mar 10 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  34th Match, Pool B - India v IrelandSeddon Park, Hamilton
  N/A
• Wed Mar 11 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  35th Match, Pool A - Scotland v Sri LankaBellerive Oval, Hobart
  N/A
• Thu Mar 12 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  36th Match, Pool B - South Africa v United Arab EmiratesWestpac Stadium, Wellington
  N/A
• Fri Mar 13 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  37th Match, Pool A - New Zealand v BangladeshSeddon Park, Hamilton
  N/A
• Fri Mar 13 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  38th Match, Pool A - Afghanistan v EnglandSydney Cricket Ground
  N/A
• Sat Mar 14 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  39th Match, Pool B - India v ZimbabweEden Park, Auckland
  N/A
• Sat Mar 14 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  40th Match, Pool A - Australia v ScotlandBellerive Oval, Hobart
  N/A
• Sun Mar 15 (50 ovs)11:00 local (22:00 GMT -1d | 03:30 IST)
  41st Match, Pool B - United Arab Emirates v West IndiesMcLean Park, Napier
  /A
• Sun Mar 15 (50 ovs)14:00 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  42nd Match, Pool B - Ireland v PakistanAdelaide Oval
  N/A
• Wed Mar 18 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  1st Quarter-Final - TBC v TBC (A1 v B4)Sydney Cricket Ground
  N/A
• Thu Mar 19 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  2nd Quarter-Final - TBC v TBC (A2 v B3)Melbourne Cricket Ground
  N/A
• Fri Mar 20 (50 ovs)14:00 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  3rd Quarter-Final - TBC v TBC (A3 v B2)Adelaide Oval
  N/A
• Sat Mar 21 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  4th Quarter-Final - TBC v TBC (A4 v B1)Westpac Stadium, Wellington
  N/A
• Tue Mar 24 (50 ovs)14:00 local (01:00 GMT | 06:30 IST)
  1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBCEden Park, Auckland
  N/A
• Thu Mar 26 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBCSydney Cricket Ground
  N/A
• Sun Mar 29 (50 ovs)14:30 local (03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST)
  Final - TBC v TBCMelbourne Cricket Ground
  N/A

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