Christmas at Amazon: One Man's Story
By Hamilton Nolan
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Even in normal times, the job of an Amazon warehouse employee is physically and psychologically demanding. When the holiday shopping season arrives, the company staffs up with thousands of new, temporary "seasonal" workers. A few weeks ago, one of those seasonal Amazon warehouse workers began sharing his thoughts with us, day after day, They amount to a stream of consciousness narration of what life is like inside the beating heart of Christmas capitalism—the secret place where Santa's real elves work around the clock to get all of us our presents.
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December 4: "Mandatory 60 hour weeks for the next two weeks. I forget, I think you have to work a minimum number of shifts before you can even THINK about asking for a day off. Even then, it might cost a point [a demerit]... They are conditioning us through incessant repetition that our 15 minute breaks are really only about ten minutes. They 'fail' to mention that the time you wait standing in line having to remove keys, belts, etc. is PART of your break. Lunch as well. Clicked out for lunch too of course. Waiting in line to go through a metal detector [ed.: this time is unpaid]. That said, some still drive to a nearby Mcdonalds and come back to eat."
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December 24: "For two weeks it's been nonstop chaos! Mandatory overtime, everyone doing their best to not run into each other. 'Excuse me, sorry, thanks.' Today was a special half day, everyone left at noon. By the way, Friday-day after Xmas- is mandatory overtime. Why? They expect a huge number of people to be using their gift cards to order stuff. You know, anything from vegan marshmallows to glow in the dark strap-ons. To be fair, they never said we would not be working Friday. I won't be surprised if many don't show up. After all, it's a temp job, and if I may speak for many, everyone's burned out. And maybe want to spend time with family. And everyone that's worked there deserves a long weekend.
"Yesterday and today was weird. Almost post zombie apocalyptic. Abandoned carts left in the aisles, just a few (hundred) of us pickers. I can't explain why we stayed on and others didn't. End of their assignment. Burn out? Too many points? Does it mean I might have a chance at full time employment? Points equal termination."
December 29: "No overtime this this week! Just forty hours. . .
"So, numbers. This man hints at saying that some people may have a chance at becoming an Amazon hire. He doesn't really even say that. It's well worded. But ultimately if we want to become a 'success story,' we have to really get out there and 'give it our all!' It's like I'm in some elimination reality show all of sudden. To be certain though, there will be even fewer people next week, and, if I understood correctly, next week will be the last week. And that's good to know. I asked about it last week, Integrity just said that Amazon tells them when to call people. I'm guessing that Amazon used their points system...Anyway, maybe they kept people with less, or no points, like me!
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Banking Culture Encourages Dishonesty
By Francesca Gino
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Across the globe, many people and institutions suffered large costs from the 2008 financial meltdown. Among the victims is the financial sector itself—whose reputation has been questioned after scandals involving the manipulation of interest rates and fraudulent deals. In trying to make sense of the crisis, some have pointed the fingers to individual bankers and banks, others to institutional pressures. But new research suggests that one important cause may reside elsewhere: in the banking culture itself. A paper recently published in Nature magazine found that the financial sector’s culture encourages dishonesty.
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The authors conclude that the prevailing business culture in the banking industry weakens and undermines honesty. Research in moral psychology and behavioral ethics, however, suggests that the dishonesty may be due something more basic: money and number crunching are an important part of the banking industry. When people are focused on money, research shows, they behave in self-interested ways. Even thinking about money leads people to be less helpful and fair in their dealings with others, to be less sensitive to social rejection, and to work harder toward personal goals. In fact, money can make us so focused on our selfish motives that it can even lead to unethical behavior. In my own research, for instance, I find that university students were more likely to cheat after seeing 7,000 dollar bills than after seeing 24. Similarly, study participants across a variety of studies were more likely to cheat when they were primed to think about money.
The banking industry is not only about money: it also involves a lot of number crunching. And, research suggests, even basic math calculations increase people’s likelihood of engaging in selfish and unethical behavior. Research by Long Wang (City University of Hong Kong) Chen-Bo Zhong (University of Toronto), and J. Keith Murnighan (Northwestern University) finds that number crunching put people in a “calculative mindset” that makes them more likely to focus on a quantitative approach to solving a problem, overlooking a decision’s moral consequences. This narrowly focused “crunch the numbers” approach, they show, has unintended consequences in the way that organizations approach decision-making. After engaging in a calculative task, participants in their experiments were more likely to succumb to the temptations of higher payoffs by acting more selfishly or dishonestly. Thus, the mere act of calculating can activate a calculative mindset that crowds out moral concerns.
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The French author and philosopher Albert Camus once said, “Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he really is.” Having the strong desire to be a good person is important, but it may not be enough to assure our actions reflect such desire. By recognizing the pervasive effects money can have, we can be more mindful of our actions, and we can make sure we have opportunities in our busy lives to stop and reflect—to make time to think about time.
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Readiness to change is a vital facet to committing to New Year's resolutions
By (ScienceDaily)
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"Readiness to change is a big factor," Baker said. "Based on the stages of change model: precontemplation (unwilling to make a change), contemplation (considering lifestyle change) and action, you have to want to change your lifestyle to successfully improve your health."
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Baker says starting small increases the likelihood of success. Find a form of exercise that you love, make small nutritional changes like packing a lunch or cooking dinner at home, and get digital reinforcements by using tracking systems and apps like those offered by the American Heart Association, Smokefree.gov, and the United States Department of Agriculture.
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"Whether it is to boost your energy level, improve mood, combat health conditions and disease, or to be there for your kids' future, there's always a reason that a resolution was made," Baker said. "So when the going gets tough, remind yourself of why you're making a lifestyle change, and this will keep you motivated."
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"If the new behavior has lost its luster, switch things up," Baker said. "Variety is the key to life and can keep you from getting burned out. Spice things up by changing your normal exercise routine, finding new healthy recipes online or joining a new class."
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Hacker fakes German minister's fingerprints using photos of her hands
By Alex Hern
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Jan Krissler, known in hacker circles as Starbug, used commercial software called VeriFinger and several close-range photos of von der Leyen, including one gleaned from a press release issued by her own office and another he took himself from three meters away, to reverse-engineer the fingerprint.
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The increasing number of successful attacks against biometric identification has led to some security researchers advising that people change the way they think about security measures such as fingerprints and photo ID. Rather than treating them as a replacement for passwords, they should instead be used as a second factor of authentication, or even as something similar to a username: a publicly known piece of information which must be linked to a password before a user can log in.
As the ACLU’s Jay Stanley told the Washington Post, “Biometrics are not secrets… Ideally, they’re unique to each individual, but that’s not the same thing as being a secret.”
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Thousands protest against Peru labour laws
By (Al Jazeera)
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Thousands of people have rallied in the Peruvian capital against a new labour law that discriminates against young people.
At least 5,000 people marched against 'The Youth Employment Law' in Lima on Tuesday, new legislation that allows employers to reduce employment benefits for those aged between 18 and 24.
Under the new provision, bonuses, social security and life insurance will be affected, and holiday entitlement will be cut from 30 to 15 days.
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According to official figures the unemployment rate for those aged between 18 and 24 is four times higher than those aged 30 to 65.
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