Read this and you'll look smart. You don't have to be intelligent to impress people -- you just have to fake it. Here's a daily list of fascinating articles that will wow your friends, surprise your co-workers and make you seem sharp at a cocktail party or over the lunch counter....
- Russia is attempting a military renaissance in an attempt to create the first professional class of Sgt.-level leaders since WWII -- so why is the West not alarmed?
- A new study of individuals' productivity revealed that one's level of creativity plummets to its nadir at 4:33 p.m. So at what time are you most creative and most productive? Spoiler alert: it's not during the work day.
- Eyeballs are more important now than ever. As legitimate companies make profits off of online advertising more extensive measures are taken to learn about who users are, where they've been and how to catch their eyes.
- UK courts are complaining about ridiculous and trivial extradition charges from Eastern Europe -- including a carpenter charged with theft after he removed doors when a client refused to pay him and one Lithuanian who was extradited on a charge of "piglet-rustling."
- A French cabaret owner is attempting what no one has been able to successfully accomplish before: bring cabaret to Morocco.
- A stretch of highway between Kandahar and Kabul in Afghanistan is considered to be the most dangerous road on the planet -- but it was created five years ago to help facilitate commerce between the two cities in the hope it would improve life for Afghans.