Hi again, I’m Steve Makofsky and this is a semi-whenever list of interesting articles, podcasts and videos that I come across during the week. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it, have something new to think about, and share it with your friends. In case you forgot, this is in your inbox because you asked me to send it to you. You can easily unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of this email.

Michael Mann's 1995 crime drama "Heat" remains a gripping film around the duel of an obsessive detective and the criminal he tracks, and how parallel their lives are. Not only does the film contain one of the loudest and perfectly crafted shootout scenes that I've seen, the coffee shop meeting of Pacino and De Niro is that of movie history. There are plenty of unforgettable parts of the film, and an incredible finale set to Moby's “God Moving Over the Face of the Water.”

I tried to write a summary of the film a few times, but honestly nothing captures it better than this review in Vulture: "Heat may have been billed as a cop thriller, but its timelessness rests on its portrait of broken men, the unfathomable patience of the women who love them, and the human wreckage they all leave behind. Twenty years later, it still breaks your heart."

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This Weeks “Deep Links”

Ever wonder what happens to the 25 million pieces of luggage lost from airlines around the world? A fascinating look at the secondary market for luggage, and the bizarre/rare/unusual items that are sold (including a Gucci suitcase full of ancient Egyptian artifacts from 1500 BC and Hoggle, a Jim Henson puppet from the 1986 film, Labyrinth) - More

This week, Microsoft announced a partnership with Land O'Lakes to build AI to help farmers plan their crop cycles, protect soils and harvest more grain. This includes "Fitbit" type devices on cows - More

Did you know that the U.S. and Britain went to war over a pig in 1849? Being familiar with the San Juan Islands up in the northwest part of Washington, I knew of both American Camp and English Camp, but never got into the details around a farmer killing a pig that escalated in 5 British warships and 400 soldiers ready to go at it - More

During World War II, the Red Cross was allowed to distribute care packages to prisoners, which included Monopoly Games that hid escape kits with tools like compasses, files and money. This included decks of cards containing hidden maps with escape routes - More

Two workflow articles that center on the minefield that is your daily calendar:

• The trick (which I've been doing for a long time) is starting with a full calendar filled with activities that matter to you before others fill it with noise - More
• Structuring a plan around "me time", "make time" and "meet time" on your calendar is another look at prioritizing personal goals with room for flexibility - More

The more I have been reading over the last few months around Stoic philosophy, the more it's been changing my life. It resonates with me; this week an article on "differentiating between what we can change and what we can’t" - More

Want to know why you can "smell rain"? - More

I love notebooks and I buy a ton of them. I need to do better though on being effective in using them - More

The power of positive feedback versus criticizing or rejecting others; and for all "gatekeepers", first, be kind. - More

People give off little sparks that come from certain habits of acting, certain ways of doing everyday things. Understanding personal magnetism - More

Regardless of what you think, we all have areas in which we are close minded. A look at the behaviors that trigger close-mindedness and the benefits from the continuous effort on open-minded behaviors - More

End Thoughts

There is a flip side to that coin. What if you do got me boxed in and I gotta put you down? Cause no matter what, you will not get in my way. We've been face to face, yeah. But I will not hesitate. Not for a second.

A guy told me one time, "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.