Fast Company

This month’s top stories may get you to pick up a book, train for a marathon, and give yourself a break about those incomplete to-do lists.

This month’s top stories may get you to pick up a book, train for a marathon, and give yourself a break about those incomplete to-do lists.

This month, we learned how even unfinished to-do lists may still have productivity perks, why one exec turns to extreme sports to stay grounded in the office, and what it might take to revamp the presidential debate format.

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A recent article went viral for telling women to use their initials online. Here’s why successful female entrepreneurs think that’s bunk.

A recent article went viral for telling women to use their initials online. Here’s why successful female entrepreneurs think that’s bunk.

“How does someone get that much space,” Nicole Sanchez asks, to write about a subject when “they don’t understand the world they’re talking about?” Sanchez—who currently works at GitHub as its vice president of social impact, but has been a decades-long technology diversity activist— was referring to an op-ed written in the Wall Street Journal.

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Facebook’s COO offers insight on how the company is pushing clients to take advantage of the smartphone revolution.

Facebook’s COO offers insight on how the company is pushing clients to take advantage of the smartphone revolution.

Facebook’s growing stature as an advertising juggernaut is increasingly overshadowing its identity as a mere “social network.” This evolution was especially clear during New York’s annual Advertising Week event, as chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and a team of Facebook of executives revealed some key client metrics and initiatives—among them, the fact that Facebook now has a whopping 4 million advertisers on its platform. Sandberg talked with Fast Company about the ways Facebook is helping advertisers take advantage of the global proliferation of mobile devices.

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“Following up” often creates more work because it just grabs someone’s attention without giving them new information.

“Following up” often creates more work because it just grabs someone’s attention without giving them new information.

Emails are usually about asking. Either someone is asking you for something—to do a task, consider an offer, or share a piece of information—or you are asking them.

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Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan explore dark sides of AI and humanity in series that reboots the 1973 film about a robotic theme park gone haywire.

Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan explore dark sides of AI and humanity in series that reboots the 1973 film about a robotic theme park gone haywire.

As Game of Thrones marches into its final seasons, HBO is debuting this Sunday what it hopes—and is betting millions of dollars on—will be its new blockbuster series: Westworld, a thorough reimagining of Michael Crichton’s 1973 cult classic film about a Western theme park populated by lifelike robot hosts. A philosophical prelude to Jurassic Park, Crichton’s Westworld is a cautionary tale about technology gone very wrong: the classic tale of robots that rise up and kill the humans. HBO’s new series, starring Evan Rachel Wood, Anthony Hopkins, and Ed Harris, is subtler and also darker: The humans are the scary ones.

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The dual cameras were most likely meant only to create better photographs, not detect 3D content for AR apps.

The dual cameras were most likely meant only to create better photographs, not detect 3D content for AR apps.

It was a reasonable question to ask. Apple purchased a 3D imaging company called PrimeSense in 2013, and now has released a phone with two camera lenses and the ability to perceive depth of field, the base requirement for capturing 3D spaces and objects. Add that to the fact that Apple CEO Tim Cook has made several statements expressing his interest in augmented reality.

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“When people tell you you can’t do something, that serves as excellent fuel to prove them wrong,” says chef Niki Nakayama.

“When people tell you you can’t do something, that serves as excellent fuel to prove them wrong,” says chef Niki Nakayama.

Even before she was one of the first chefs to be spotlighted in the Netflix series Chef’s Table, before she put her name on n/naka, the award-winning culinary landmark restaurant in the Palms neighborhood of West Los Angeles, chef Niki Nakayama stood out.

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Having a head full of things we need to do is one of the biggest distractions. Here’s a better way to parse tasks and get more done.

Having a head full of things we need to do is one of the biggest distractions. Here’s a better way to parse tasks and get more done.

When we’re faced with only 15 minutes in between meetings, or waiting in line to get coffee or lunch, our natural inclination is to either answer email, look at social media, or text someone. These are not always the most productive uses of small slivers of time, according to several experts.

They say there is plenty you can accomplish in 15 minutes, if you do three things:

1. Separate your to-do list into tasks and projects, and focus on the tasks.
2. Write your to-do list in a way that allows you take immediate action.
3. Look at email and social media with a focus on moving forward.

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Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan explore dark sides of AI and humanity in series that reboots the 1973 film about a robotic theme park gone haywire.

Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan explore dark sides of AI and humanity in series that reboots the 1973 film about a robotic theme park gone haywire.

As Game of Thrones marches into its final seasons, HBO is debuting this Sunday what it hopes—and is betting millions of dollars on—will be its new blockbuster series: Westworld, a thorough reimagining of Michael Crichton’s 1973 cult classic film about a Western theme park populated by lifelike robot hosts. A philosophical prelude to Jurassic Park, Crichton’s Westworld is a cautionary tale about technology gone very wrong: the classic tale of robots that rise up and kill the humans. HBO’s new series, starring Evan Rachel Wood, Anthony Hopkins, and Ed Harris, is subtler and also darker: The humans are the scary ones.

Read Full Story

The online education firm wants to teach people to code with less hassle and more hands-on time.

The online education firm wants to teach people to code with less hassle and more hands-on time.

Tucked inside one of Coursera’s 1,500 online classes, there’s a multiple choice quiz that’s not like the others.

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