We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection. At home, families sit together, texting and reading e-mail. At work executives text during board meetings. We text (and shop and go on Facebook) during classes and when we’re on dates. My students tell me about an important new skill: it involves maintaining eye contact with someone while you text someone else; it’s hard, but it can be done. (The New York Times)
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More than half of America's recent college graduates are either unemployed or working in a job that doesn't require a bachelor's degree, the Associated Press reported this weekend. The story would seem to be more evidence that, regardless of your education, the wake of the Great Recession has been a terrible time to be young and hunting for work. (The Atlantic)
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Earlier this month, a judge approved a settlement between five major banks and nearly all of the state attorneys general. The banks admitted to taking shortcuts – or "robo-signing" documents – as they pushed through some foreclosures. Most of the $25 billion settlement is supposed to go toward reducing mortgage payments for some troubled homeowners. But lots of other programs have promised to help struggling homeowners in the past, and results have been disappointing. (NPR)
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There’s been a flurry of recent coverage praising Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, for leaving the office every day at 5:30 p.m. to be with her kids. Apparently she’s been doing this for years, but only recently "came out of the closet," as it were. What’s insane is that Sandberg felt the need to hide the fact, since there’s a century of research establishing the undeniable fact that working more than 40 hours per week actually decreases productivity. (Time)
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Now that hiring is starting to pick up, it may be worth trying again at companies where you applied in the past. Here's how to do it. (Fortune)
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The inbox, for many, is not only an invaluable communications tool but also a burgeoning to-do list. There have been many attempts to better the email experience, but for now the inbox shows no signs of extinction. What we do have access to is a growing number of smart add-ons and plug-ins that can improve your email work flow. Here are some of the most useful. (Fast Company)
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First, the Atlantic magazine announced "the end of men." Then a Time cover story in March proclaimed that women are becoming "the richer sex." Now a Pew Research Center report tells us that young women have become more likely than young men to say that a high-paying career is very important to them. Are we really in the midst of what Pew calls a "gender reversal?" (Wall Street Journal)
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Europe is in crisis – and that has major implications for multinational firms with significant operations in the region. In fact, while much is written about the race by corporations to penetrate emerging markets like China and Brazil, the reality is that the investment by multinationals in Europe dwarfs the assets they have in those fast-growing economies. (Knowledge@Wharton)
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Top tax rates around the world have fallen over the past three decades. That may be about to change. (The Economist)
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See if you can spot which countries have tried austerity and which ones haven't, based on their 10-year bond yields over the past three years. (The Atlantic)
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Now that your child has gotten into college, have you figured out how much it's actually going to cost – and who's going to pay for it? These questions are hitting college-bound students and their parents right about now, along with the other million questions that nobody seems to have straight answers for. Paying for college can be complicated, if not mind-boggling. (NPR)
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Even though most top business schools now give applicants the option of submitting the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for admissions, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) still reigns as king for the vast majority of aspiring MBAs, according to a recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Springtime is a season in the MBA student’s life when they are either excited or concerned about the end of the school year. It doesn’t matter if you are a first or second-year student. These emotions seem to hold true for both. My mantra is that it is never too late to find a job. I know both first and second-year students are sometimes anxiety ridden at this point. After all, "EVERYONE else has a job" and "ALL the good jobs are gone," right? (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Registration for the 34th Annual Conference & Exposition opens next month. Start planning your attendance now by clicking the link below to visit our Conference page. And stay tuned for the launch of the 2012 Conference website and additional details!

 

Is Google evil again? Are they really going after your ideas and looking to hold on to them forever? A patent lawyer deciphers some of the controversial fine print behind Google Drive, the new cloud-storage service. (Portfolio)
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Technology entrepreneurs of past eras took two years to build a product, hire a staff and figure out whether there was any real market for their service. But today all that typically takes only a few months as founders cycle quickly through different ideas until they find one that sticks.(Wall Street Journal)
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Choosing to back up his argument with passages from a dusty 65-year-old tome, Forrester CEO George Colony has written a controversial blog post provocatively titled "Apple = Sony" in which he argues that now that Steve Jobs is dead, Apple is coasting on fumes and will begin its inevitable decline within the next two to four years. (Wired)
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The business climate, it turns out, is a lot like the weather. And we've entered a next-two-hours era. The pace of change in our economy and our culture is accelerating – fueled by global adoption of social, mobile, and other new technologies – and our visibility about the future is declining. From the rise of Facebook to the fall of Blockbuster, from the downgrading of U.S. government debt to the resurgence of Brazil, predicting what will happen next has gotten exponentially harder. (Fast Company)
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First and deadliest of all is a founder’s unwavering belief that he or she understands who the customers will be, what they need, and how to sell it to them. Any dispassionate observer would recognize that on Day One, a start-up has no customers, and unless the founder is a true domain expert, he or she can only guess about the customer, problem, and business model. (Inc.)
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Although millions are unemployed, some small business owners are having a hard time finding employees with specialized skills. (CNN/Money)
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More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week and consumer confidence declined by the most in a year, signaling that a cooling labor market may restrain household spending. (Bloomberg)
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When David Wegner went looking for a checking account in January, he was peppered with offers for low-end financial products, including a prepaid debit card with numerous fees, a short-term emergency loan with steep charges, money wire services and check-cashing options. (The New York Times)
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The central mystery in America's health care crisis is a simple question: Why don't people take better care of themselves? Like many simple questions, it leads into deep waters. It demands that we confront a profound new reality about health. Most important, it requires us to reframe the debate over paying for health care. (Fortune)
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Amazon is giving consumers the chance to shop like purchasing agents. The Internet giant launched a site Monday aimed at business and industrial customers: AmazonSupply. (SmartMoney)
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In a world of retweets, "likes" and +1s, there is no shortage of services claiming to tell you how influential and important you now are. And if you're lucky enough to be up there with the social media elite, you could find yourself being highly sought after from eager brands trying to piggyback your popularity. (BBC News)
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I was halfway through Do Not Ask What Good We Do when I felt moved to email Robert Draper. Another title for his book, a history of our current House of Representatives, might be Worst Congress Ever. Draper wrote back. "That's about 50 times pithier than Do Not Ask What Good We Do." To research the book, Draper embedded with new and senior House members – mostly Republicans – shortly after the 2010 election. (Slate)
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The Senate has approved a plan to overhaul the government’s efforts to rescue the United States Postal Service, but the cost of the measure may make it a tough sell in the House. (Washington Post)
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The concept of "two-in-a-box" leadership has been examined extensively over the past few years. One of the most thorough discussions is in the HBR article The Leadership Team: Complementary Strengths or Conflicting Agendas. CEO/COO teams or "Office of the President" arrangements can offer great strengths, but may also introduce some sizeable risks, as Stephen A. Miles and Michael D. Watkins conclude. (Harvard Business Review)
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Would you take a bet that offered you an even chance of winning $12 and losing $10? If you’re like most people, you would not. But what if someone offered you the bet in French? New research in the journal Psychological Science suggests that, assuming you understand French, you would. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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For many hotel guests, paying for Wi-Fi is an outdated charge that you only get wind of when you're up in your room. Now that mobile phones have rendered hotel room phones largely obsolete, Wi-Fi is the new bugbear for today's traveler. (CNN)
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