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Neil Shubin’s “Your Inner Fish” tells the story of evolution by tracing the organs of the human body back millions of years, long before the first creatures walked the earth.
Shubin shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our head is organized like that of a long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genome look and function like those of worms and bacteria.
Author: William Stroebel
In 1923, the Greco-Turkish Population Exchange uprooted and swapped nearly 2 million Christians and Muslims, “pacifying” the so-called Near East through ethnic partition and refugeehood.
This imposition of borders not only uprooted peoples from their place in the world; it also displaced many of their stories from a place in world literature. In “Literature’s Refuge,” William Stroebel recovers and weaves together work by fugitive writers, oral storytellers, readers, copyists, editors, and translators dispersed by this massive “unmixing” of populations and the broader border logic that it set in motion.
Stroebel argues that two complementary forces emerged as a template for the Eastern Mediterranean’s cultural landscape: the modern border, which reshuffled people through a system of filters and checkpoints; and modern philology, which similarly reshuffled their words and works.
Author: Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” first published in 1936, is still a staple of the self-help genre.
Its advice on building relationships and navigating social dynamics has not lost relevance. The central idea? Ditch the self-focused mindset and prioritize empathy — Carnegie insists real influence starts with authenticity and mutual respect.
The book breaks down his philosophy into straightforward rules: Don’t criticize people, give honest praise, and get others excited about their goals.
He also stresses the value of listening deeply, famously noting that you will make more friends by showing curiosity about others than by trying to impress them.
Packed with stories — from boardroom deals to casual chats — Carnegie shows how humility and emotional intelligence can turn conflicts into collaborations.
What makes Carnegie’s approach work is its simplicity. He avoids slick manipulation tricks, arguing instead for small, sincere gestures.
Sure, advice such as smiling more or using someone’s name might sound obvious, but these acts of kindness lay the groundwork for trust.
The book blends psychology with actionable tips, demystifying what drives human behavior.
Some critics call parts of his formula outdated, but Carnegie’s focus on understanding others hits home now more than ever.
His ideas have shaped everyone from Warren Buffett to today’s startup founders, proving that connecting with people never goes out of style.
For modern readers, the book does two things: It calls out our habit of treating relationships like transactions, then hands us the tools to fix it. In a world glued to screens, Carnegie’s push for genuine, in-person communication feels almost revolutionary.
“How to Win Friends and Influence People” is not just about climbing the ladder — it is about doing it without losing yourself.
As Carnegie wrote, “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.” Nearly 90 years later, that balance still defines his message.
PARIS: Thursday’s release of action-adventure epic “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” marks a make-or-break moment not just for struggling French games heavyweight Ubisoft, but for the entire European gaming ecosystem.
With its almost 18,000 employees and global footprint, Ubisoft has nevertheless suffered one setback after another in recent years with disappointing releases, a dwindling stock price, harassment allegations against former bosses and repeated strikes.
The company is falling back on its longtime major money-spinner “Assassin’s Creed” to pull it from the doldrums, this time with an episode set in medieval Japan.
“I’ve never seen things this way” as the whole European industry looks to Ubisoft, Midcap Partners analyst Charles-Louis Planade told AFP ahead of the launch.
More than 17 Ubisoft studios employing hundreds have poured five years of work into “Shadows,” with an estimated budget running into hundreds of millions of euros.
Early reviews have been positive, with the game receiving a “generally favorable” score of 81/100 on review aggregation site Metacritic.
That was one point higher than “Valhalla,” the 2020 release that has so far been the high point of the series’ profitability.
The latest instalment “looks better and plays better than nearly any other entry in Ubisoft’s 18-year-old series,” American games journalist Stephen Totilo wrote on his website Game File.
Meanwhile, gaming site IGN’s review of “Shadows” said it “sharpens and refines (the series’) edge without fully reforging it.”
“Shadows” was partly developed at Ubisoft’s studio in Quebec City, Canada.
The artistic director of Ubisoft-Quebec, Thierry Dansereau, told AFP at a launch event in the city that the company’s “developers did everything they could to create the best game possible.”
A lack of major changes to the game’s mechanics could risk “leaving some players worn out,” said Julien Pillot, an economist specializing in the cultural industries.
He suggested that Ubisoft’s recent underwhelming releases “may be a sign that audiences are falling out of love with its games.”
Nevertheless, Planade said that “everyone is crossing their fingers for this release to be a huge success.”
He said a poor sales showing could provoke a knock-on effect across the entire industry, noting that in France alone, Ubisoft accounts for almost one-third of the country’s 15,000 jobs in games development
In a social media post, Ubisoft said the release appeared to be a success.
“It’s not even 4PM here in Canada and Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players!” the company said on X.
Many budding creators pass through Ubisoft after completing their training, while former employees have founded new studios in France and around the world.
The company in 2023 launched a cost-cutting drive including studio closures and almost 2,000 layoffs.
The belt-tightening did not save Ubisoft from judgment on financial markets, with the stock falling from more than 100 euros ($109 at today’s rates) 10 years ago to its all-time low of 9.01 euros in September.
Ubisoft shares had fallen almost 5.6 percent on Wednesday to trade at 12.60 euros by the time markets closed, despite the good early reviews for “Shadows.”
Even before release of the hoped-for blockbuster, Ubisoft said it was “actively exploring various strategic and capitalistic options” for its future.
Early rumors suggested that could involve going private with help from Chinese tech giant Tencent, a major investor that holds 10 percent of Ubisoft.
More recently, multiple outlets have reported that the group could sell off much of its games catalogue to focus on its core titles.
“Every option is on the table” for Ubisoft’s future, Planade said, with commercial success for “Shadows” likely to strengthen Ubisoft’s hand in the negotiations.
In “First Steps,” Jeremy DeSilva shows how upright walking was a gateway to many of the other attributes that make us human, from our technological abilities, our thirst for exploration, our use of language and may have laid the foundation for our species, traits of compassion, empathy, and altruism. The book also examines how walking upright helped us rise above all over species on this planet.
LONDON: Way back in 1999, “Donkey Kong 64” was a genre-defining release for the Nintendo 64. It was the first 3D Donkey Kong game, a generation apart from the first time the gorilla appeared in computer games in 1981.
The return of “Donkey Kong” in this newly released high-definition title for the Switch, offers nothing as groundbreaking as some of his previous titles but is rather core fun for a new generation of younger players.
Indeed, it offers a rehashed, polished and enjoyable platformer for a console that is about to welcome its first major upgrade in the coming months.
At its essence, “Donkey Kong” is platformer ballet, requiring a combination of timing of directional jumps and a small variety of attacks to proceed. Set against the lush backdrop of a tropical island that takes you across nine worlds: from jungles to ruins, underground mines to factories.
With jaunty music and a storyline no more complicated than trying to rescue stolen bananas, Donkey Kong is very much a pick and play rather than a brain teaser.
The game’s simple premise has a degree of depth within it when it comes to the search for perfection. Completing one setting straight through is one thing, doing it whilst collecting all jigsaw puzzle pieces, Donkey Kong letters and bananas is another entirely.
Charming music and enemies and allies alike make up part of your journey. Diddy Kong is your key ally, in single-player mode he rides on DK’s back providing that extra jump boost, in two-player mode he can take down enemies with his banana throws.
Puzzles are straightforward enough for the younger gamer (the game is advertised as age 3 and over) and the biggest frustration is how far you have to go back if you are felled by a bad guy or in a bottomless pit.
Racing minecarts or buccaneering rhinos offer more variety away from the core jumping and the end-of-level bosses are imaginative.
A nice new touch is the use of perspective, accessed through blasting barrels, to conquer more distant parts of each world. Something that is slightly harder on the handheld versus the console as your character vanishes into a miniature.
