Happy Fri-yay! Reader,

Welcome to the 4x Friday, four of the coolest things I've found, learned, or experienced, this past week.

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What I listened to

I was researching flooring and discovered eucalyptus. I learned that the eucalyptus tree is fast-growing and ready to harvest in three years. It can grow to 14 inches in diameter and 120 feet tall in that period making it an eco-friendly choice for those looking for renewable, strong, and beautiful flooring material. I also learned the eucalyptus is used to create a didgeridoo (also spelled didjeridu). You know, the wind instrument developed by Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia at least 1,000 years ago. That inspired me to create a playlist of dronepipe videos to listen to while I worked. Beginning with this lovely young lady, Ticki Stamasuri (00:02:02), and including a very impressive Didgeridoo Meets Orchestra (00:17:19) performance at the Sydney Opera House.

What I read

You might be running late to the office, but somehow you get all the green lights and make it on time. Amazing, right? Are the odds so astounding that it's miraculous? What is Littlewood's law of miracles? An article published on HowStuffWorks.com explains it. Math professor John Littlewood says that experiencing a miracle is a one-in-a-million chance or every 35 days. He based his calculation on the assumption that the typical person will experience "events" at an approximate rate of one per second. But when Littlewood was creating equations for such a "law," he wasn't doing it to prove that miracles are real. He said the opposite: If we think that a one-in-a-million chance of something is a miracle, then look at how often miracles happen. My takeaway is if we begin to expect miracles, we'll be looking for them and realize how lucky we are.

What I watched

​Death by PowerPoint (00:20:31) is a TED talk that demonstrates how we fail to remember 90% of a presentation, and it's because of what we see on screen. The video teaches what type of background to use, the maximum number of items on the screen at once, whether you should have more or fewer slides, and more. Plus, a great technique at the end verifies that your audience remembered 90% of your presentation.

What I'm pondering

​The evolution of the scrollbar.

Have a triumphant week!

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