👋 Pay attention to the details this week. You don’t want to make any big mistakes, like toy maker Mattel, which had to apologize to customers after accidentally printing the URL of an adult website on the packaging of its Wicked dolls. Oops.
🎧 On the pod:How did sleep tourism become a $70B industry?
NEWS FLASH
🎨 Do androids paint electric sheep? “AI God,” a painting of computer scientist Alan Turing, sold for $1m+ via auction, which Sotheby’s said is the first time an artwork from a “humanoid robot” has gone up for auction. The artist in question is Ai-Da, a robot created by artist Aiden Meller. She wears a brunette bob and denim overalls, and has cameras in her eyes, AI algorithms, and robotic arms that allow her to draw and paint.
⛪ Is a Vatican City tour on your bucket list? You might be able to save yourself some airfare. Microsoft and the Vatican released an AI-powered digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica that lets users explore the monument from the comfort of their homes. The tour uses 400k high-res photos of the church — taken with drones, cameras, and lasers — to create an interactive virtual experience. The project comes ahead of the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee, a holy year projected to see 30m+ travelers enter the church — on top of the typical 50k daily visitors.
👩🏫 Another thing you don’t have to leave home for: class. Meta is partnering with 13 universities in the US and the UK on its Meta for Education beta program to test prototypes of its VR and mixed-reality educational products on Meta Quest headsets. Meta is also launching digital twin metaversity programs at three European universities that will allow students to attend virtual classes. While the new programs might be good news for students hoping to stay in their pajamas, it’s unclear whether it’ll be enough for Meta’s VR division, which posted a $4.4B loss in Q3.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
Chegg has lost 99% of its stock value and ~500k paid subscribers since 2021. Chegg, a textbook rental company that also offers study guides and homework help, has fallen out of favor post-pandemic and with the rise of ChatGPT.
“Hot Ones,” the YouTube show where celebrities eat increasingly spicier wings, partnered with air-fried ramen brand A-Sha Foods USA on three flavors to launch at Walmart and Target. Ramen, both shelf-stable and cheap, is surging in popularity among consumers.
“You’ve got mail,” AOL’s audio alert for new messages, became a cultural touchstone of the ‘90s. Elwood Edwards — the broadcaster who recorded the iconic phrase, among others, on a cassette tape in 1989 — died last week at age 74.
TOOLBOX
The first day back after a long weekend can be rough. We have some stellar content from around our media network to soften the blow:
Start a blog? In 2024? You heard that right: Building a blog to promote your business is still a powerful tool for driving leads and building community.
There’s good news and bad news: You have less than 60 days to win the year — but we can help you make it happen.
Can you be empathetic and successful?Tune in to learn how to bring empathy, purpose, and mentorship into your role.
THE BIG IDEA
Everyone agrees: A shorter workweek is great!
Here’s one to leave on screen when your boss walks by: Having a shorter workweek leads to less stress and higher productivity.
Iceland, having already given Björk to the world, presented us with another gift by running two yearslong trials to determine the benefits of a reduced workweek. Unsurprisingly, most workers dig it, according to new research via CNN.
We’re not talking a four-day week, as nice as that would be, but more like 35- to 36-hour weeks.
The trials involved several thousand public sector workers.
Between 2020 and 2022, 51% of Icelandic workers accepted reduced working hours with no reduction in pay. That rate is expected to be higher now.
And similar trials around the world have been just as successful.
Here’s the sweet stuff:
Iceland’s economy grew by 5% in 2023, the second-best among wealthy European countries, per the International Monetary Fund.
Fifty-two percent of workers with reduced hours felt it improved their work-life balance, and 42% felt that it decreased stress outside of work.
Six percent apparently said their stress had increased (probably the same people who said, “Teacher, you forgot to give us homework,” as kids).
Actually…
… increased stress is a potential downside of a shorter workweek because you have less time to get work done.
That’s one reason why employers are also on board with the concept, perForbes: Since workers have less time to work but the same workload, they spend more of their work time working.
But do you really spend all 40 hours of your workweek doing work? And is losing downtime at the office worth it for a few more hours at home?
Don’t let your boss see that part — just smile and nod when they ask if you spend all of your work time doing work.
Getting ghosted by a prospect or client? Check out these expert-backed strategies to get the conversation going again.
Write brilliant copy: Steal the three-step copywriting framework that My First Million’s Sam Parr and Shaan Puri have used to launch $10m+ newsletters.
DATA POINT
Going to the dogs: A dog is a man’s best friend, and possibly the reason for his paycheck cut, according to survey data from Empower.
While 35% of Americans say their pets motivate them to work harder for more pay, 31% of Gen Zers and 34% of millennials say they’d turn down a higher-paying job to spend more time with their furry friend.
It makes sense that millennials might have disposable income left for their pets, given that fewer are choosing to have human children.
But fur babies aren’t exactly low maintenance: The use of calming products — e.g., anxiety supplements, diffusers, chews — has grown by 168% for dogs and 174% for cats since 2018.
AROUND THE WEB
💫 On this day: In 1799, astronomer Andrew Ellicott saw the Leonids meteor shower while on a ship off the Florida Keys and detailed it in his journal, marking the first recorded meteor shower in North America.
👾 That’s cool: Modern logos, if they were made in the ‘80s.
🗺️ That’s interesting: How a Scottish con man got rich convincing people to invest in a colony that did not exist.
