Adam Taylor took a look at poor world leaders:

• Uruguay’s President, José Mujica has long been the sole contender for world’s poorest leader.
• Mujica’s habits such as driving himself in a 20-year-old Volkswagon Beetle, and often showing up to meetings without shoes have driven his reputation for frugality.
• Nepal’s latest Prime Minister, Sushil Koirala, may challenge him for that title.
• Koirala declared just three possessions of his own and doesn’t own any property.
• What do frugal leaders have in common? Radical youths. Mujica was part of a guerrilla group while Koirala has served time in prison over an airplane hijacking.

Read about the two leaders, their contrasting styles, and more over here.

Source: The Washington Post

Yesterday Microsoft announced Cortana for Windows Phones, its own Halo-inspired response to Siri and Google Now. Tom Warren took a look at some of the features which will no doubt soon be emulated across platforms and guide the development of personal digital assistants:

• Cortana comes with a notebook that shows all the information that Cortana knows about you. A user can add, modify, or delete her memory by going into the notebook and modifying its contents.
• It provides proactive alerts. When it figures out your favourite sports team it’ll let you know when they score or win. If it sees you’re in a new country it’ll automatically give you weather and currency notifications.
• You can also insert triggers into Cortana. You can ask it to remind you to ask about a friend’s father the next time you talk to them. If you call, email, or text them it’ll then give you that reminder.
• It’s educated on the finer points of grammar. If you ask for the ‘best restaurant near me’ it’ll give you only one nearby well rated restaurant unlike its competitors. To see a list of all the good restaurants close by you can ask for “best restaurants near me”.
• Over time Cortana will build a social map of those closest to you. It can also be set to identify your quiet times where only the people closest to you are allowed to reach you.

Read more about its features over here, and find out what happens when you ask who Cortana’s father is, how you can get it to address you as Master Chief, and how this all ties back to Bing.

Source: The Verge

Let’s face it, the burger wars are over. McDonald’s won. Vanessa Wong took a look at how they did it:

• The strength of McDonald’s breakfast menu means that it gets customers even during off-peak hours.
• McDonald’s also has a better ‘snacks’ menu than Burger King with its line of coffee drinks and wraps.
• Ronald McDonald is a better mascot than Burger King’s King character. Children would prefer to have Ronald McDonald at their parties.
• McDonald’s is more efficient. More cars can go through McDonald’s drive-throughs in an hour than those of Burger King.
• McDonald’s spends more on marketing than Burger King…and Burger King doesn’t intend to try to catch up until at least 2016.

The full article has many more details including how Starbucks and Taco Bell are trying to respond to the McDonald’s juggernaut, why drive-through business is so important, and more. You should read it here.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek

The hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan is planning to release just a single version of their latest album writes Zack O’Malley Greenburg:

• In addition to releasing a 20^th anniversary album Wu-Tang Clan will be releasing a super-limited edition of a separate album that they recorded at the same time.
• Only one copy of the limited edition album will be sold. It will come packaged in a silver and nickel box crafted by an artist.
• Before it is sold it will go on a listening tour visiting museums, galleries and music festivals.
• At these venues individuals will have the chance to listen to the album on headphones – after they’ve aggressively been checked to ensure they have no recording devices.
• The album is ultimately expected to be sold for several million dollars.
• Perhaps the world will be lucky and somebody who intends to widely distribute the album will buy it. Or perhaps it’ll be bought by a private collector who chooses not to release it.

Read more about the album and why the band is planning to do this over here.

Source: Forbes

Via: The Verge

Marissa Mayer of Yahoo and Mary Barra of GM are two of the most notable female executives in recent history. They’ve also taken charge of their companies in a time of crisis. Coincidence? The evidence suggests not:

• In an effect that is called the “Glass Cliff” women are more likely to be put into leadership positions at times when an organization is struggling.
• When things are going badly companies feel the need for a shake-up and fresh direction. Since female CEOs are still rare, appointing one seems like one way to achieve this.
• Some feel that women also have leadership qualities suited to “cleaning up messes”.
• It’s possible that men get access to higher quality information and so are able to avoid the most difficult leadership roles.
• It’s not just true in the world of business. Katie Couric of CBS Evening News and Diane Sawyer of ABC World News were both bought on after their news organizations saw their viewership substantially decline.
• The evidence also indicates that if the problem is fixed, the leadership role reverts to a male.

Read more about the statistics that demonstrate this phenomenon, how it isn’t a case of overt sexuality, and more over here.

Source: Slate

Charles Passy took a look at the inside world of steakhouses:

• Steakhouses have grown so popular that it’s difficult to find quality beef. Which is why some steakhouses will advertize Angus beef – without clarifying if it’s the premium Angus prime or the more common Angus choice.
• One steakhouse chain noted that up to 70% of their business comes from corporate accounts that usually spend and tip more. This means that regular diners who have to pay for their own bill may get less attention.
• Deserts are usually outsourced to a food service conglomerate. Few keep a pastry chef on the payroll.
• The menu items are usually a calorific nightmare. Certain dishes can have up to 2,000 calories.
• The price of beef is expected to rise. Rather than raise the prices of the stakes themselves expect to pay more for sides or drinks – or to receive smaller cuts of meat.

The full article notes that often steaks aren’t properly prepared and why you should avoid the pasta options. Read it over here.

Source: Market Watch

Roberto A. Ferdman writes that the era of microwaves is coming to an end:

• The first microwave was sold soon after 1945. It weighed over 320 kilograms and cost $3,000. It was meant for ships, trains and restaurants.
• The more familiar tabletop microwave wasn’t developed until 1967.
• Sales skyrocketed. The microwave is responsible for the creation of entire industries including the frozen dinner market, and the market for microwaveable popcorn.
• However since then microwave sales have tapered. This is in part because of their market saturation – every home already has one.
• But it’s also because people have become more health conscious and have come to favour freshly made food over microwaveable fare.
• The microwave might also be too much effort. While sales of microwaveable popcorn have dipped, sales of ready-made popcorn have climbed.
• There’s been an explosion of interest in haute cuisine, and food made in slow cookers, crock pots and griddles.

Read more about the history of the microwave, how it was invented by mistake, and what this all means for the future of the microwave here.

Source: Quartz

Summer is coming up and there are reasonably priced packages for trips to the Ukraine, Syria, and Sudan you should consider:

• Companies that set up tours to countries with political problems have been thriving.
• One company offers a $5,775 trip to the Ukraine (excluding airfare) where travelers can meet with politicians and have journalists serve as guides.
• Another company offers trips to Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo advertizing the chance to see “wildlife, oil and AK-47s”.
• Those who want something less exciting can opt for tours to the recently-opened exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl, and visit the abandoned ghost city where people fled the nuclear accident.
• And it’s not all about the third world. Tours of areas dealing with gang violence in South Los Angeles are also available for the brave hearted.
• Critics say that human suffering is being used for entertainment. One company offering tours to South Los Angeles considered selling tshirts that said “I Got Shot in South Central” – with a free squirt from a water gun to accompany it.
• Supporters point out that it’s a good way for people to see on the ground realities, independent of any distortions by the media.

Read about more of the exciting places you can go, the places that even these tour operators won’t go to, and what the experience is like over here.

Source: The Economist

Broadway show “The Lion King” was the top-grossing show on Broadway in 2013 – despite being 16 years old. Patrick Healy took a look at how this was managed:

• While top Broadway shows have tickets that are as expensive as $477, Disney made the decision to limit prices for The Lion King to $227.
• This makes the show relatively affordable for families, and mitigates the amount of negative word of mouth driven by buyer’s remorse.
• This also allows Disney to slowly raise prices over time and ensure that revenues show steady growth.
• Disney has implemented an algorithm which predicts how much guests are willing to pay – based on their seat preference, the day of the week, and the time of day. Experts say this algorithm is better than anything that other shows have come up with.
• The Lion King’s success also owes to the heavy advertizing campaign that Disney launched.
• This is a boost from the dark days when the show was under-performing. In part because Disney made mistakes such as trying to advertize both The Lion King and The Little Mermaid together – even though they target different audiences.

Read more about how The Lion King compares with its competitors, how changing to a smaller theater helped Disney, and more over here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Erik Arneson