So, we have entered the final quarter of 2020! And this week’s list includes topics such as Entropy Theory (as applicable to business), Barriers to Data Success, Dinner Table Syndrome and the Future of The American Ph.D. Happy reading!

Entropy Theory – Encyclopedia Britannica defines Entropy as ‘the measure of a system’s thermal energy per unit temperature that is unavailable for doing useful work.‘ Many of us might know it as the measure of randomness or chaos in a system. This excellent article applies this concept to the evolution of industry and businesses.

Why Culture Is the Greatest Barrier to Data Success – Many of us would have heard of the terms ‘Big Data’, ‘Machine Learning, etc. These terms have been around for a while now and most businesses would agree that they need to get better at understanding these and applicability to their specific use cases. However, many businesses are still struggling to adopt and adapt to a data oriented culture. This article lists some of the main reasons why businesses are finding it hard to inculcate a ‘Data Culture‘.

Why ‘Dinner Table Syndrome’ is getting worse for deaf people – There have been many articles written and discussions had on the ‘New Normal, ‘Working from Home’, the ‘Zoom Culture’, etc. But I must admit that, until I read this article, I had not thought of how challenging this could be for people who are hard of hearing and who might normally be relying more on visual cues to participate in a discussion.

What Is The Future Of The American Ph.D? – In this article, the author takes a deeper look at the state of Ph.D programmes in American universities and wonders if the impact the pandemic is having will be short-term or long-lasting.

Meet the couple who swapped city life to live on a remote Irish island with no electricity – I am sure many of us who live in cities would have occasionally wondered wistfully of chucking it all in to go live a simple life in the countryside. Recently, a couple living in Dublin, Ireland had this opportunity and this article talks about their experience.