AUTHOR ARCHIVES :

Tracey L. McNeil: Best Practices for Business to Business Partnerships in Finance

B2B

Key Takeaways

  • Successful B2B partnerships in finance start with a clear strategic purpose and well-defined business objectives.
  • Choosing partners requires structured evaluation of technology, culture, financial stability, and regulatory readiness.
  • Strong governance models are essential to manage decision-making, risk, accountability, and operational execution.
  • Clear commercial, legal, and technical foundations reduce misunderstandings and align incentives between partners.
  • Ongoing compliance, security, and disciplined execution are critical to scaling partnerships sustainably.
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Jeff Scafaro: How Pete Sampras Redefined All Court Coverage

Pete Sampras

photo credit: Levg / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Key Takeaways

  • Pete Sampras redefined all-court tennis by combining a dominant serve with exceptional speed and net attacking instincts.
  • His shift from a baseline style to a serve-and-volley game under coach Peter Fischer shaped his championship career.
  • The 1990 US Open final against Andre Agassi demonstrated Sampras’ ability to control both baseline rallies and net play.
  • Unlike many contemporaries who emphasized side-to-side movement, Sampras used a north-south approach to court coverage.
  • His movement style and success on fast surfaces, especially grass, influenced both opponents and later court design changes.
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Eugene Saltzberg MD: Emergency Simulation Training for Early Medical Learners

Medial emergency simulation training

Key Takeaways

  • Simulation introduces medical students to emergency decision-making in realistic, high-pressure but risk-free environments.
  • Early simulations focus more on clinical reasoning, prioritization, and communication than on finding a single correct answer.
  • Structured debriefs turn mistakes into learning opportunities and strengthen reflective, evidence-based thinking.
  • Simulation helps students learn to manage uncertainty, limited resources, and rapidly changing clinical conditions.
  • Team-based scenarios develop coordination, task management, and adaptability alongside individual clinical skills.
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Douglas Charney: Understanding Permanent Estate And Gift Tax Rules

Calculating tax benefits

Key Takeaways

  • The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), enacted on July 4, 2025, permanently extends key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
  • The federal estate and gift tax exemption remains high and will rise to $15 million per person starting January 1, 2026, with no sunset.
  • The generation-skipping transfer tax exemption is aligned with the estate and gift tax exemption, simplifying multigenerational planning.
  • Top marginal income tax rates and capital gains tax structures from the TCJA are now permanent.
  • The law introduces new planning considerations, including enhanced standard deductions, the repeal of the personal exemption, and the new “Trump Account.”
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Camp Quinebarge: A Few Tips for Hiking with Children

Hiking with children

Key Takeaways

  • Children can start hiking at almost any age, but trails should match their physical ability and interests.
  • Frequent breaks, hydration, and healthy snacks are essential for keeping young hikers comfortable and energized.
  • Combining hikes with activities like swimming makes trips more enjoyable and helps manage heat and fatigue.
  • Giving children leadership roles on the trail builds confidence, responsibility, and engagement with nature.
  • Proper preparation, including sun protection, suitable clothing, and a first-aid kit, is critical for safety.
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Van Hipp: The Siege of Ninety-Six and the Southern Campaign

American Revolutionary War

Key Takeaways

  • Van Hipp highlights the Siege of Ninety-Six as a crucial but often overlooked episode of the American Revolutionary War.
  • Ninety-Six served as a key British frontier outpost supporting control of South Carolina’s interior.
  • The Star Fort at Ninety-Six was a well-designed 18th-century fortification that proved difficult to capture.
  • Although the Patriot assault failed, the siege contributed to the British decision to abandon the fort and retreat to the coast.
  • The events at Ninety-Six helped set the stage for the eventual British defeat at Yorktown later in 1781.
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John Mickelson: Choosing the Right Executor for Your Estate

Estate planning

Key Takeaways

  • An executor plays a central fiduciary role in administering an estate and carrying out the testator’s wishes.
  • Selecting the wrong executor can lead to asset mismanagement, family disputes, and prolonged probate.
  • Executors may be family members, trusted individuals, or professional entities such as trust companies.
  • Professional executors offer neutrality, accountability, and technical expertise for complex estates.
  • Discussing the role in advance and naming an alternate executor reduces the risk of court intervention.
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David Rook: The Social Model of Addiction Recovery

Addiction recovery social model

Key Takeaways

  • The social model views addiction and recovery as processes shaped by environment, relationships, and community.
  • Peer support and lived experience serve as the primary drivers of recovery rather than clinical authority alone.
  • Research shows addiction outcomes can change significantly when social environments improve.
  • Recovery housing creates accountability and healing through daily peer interaction and shared responsibility.
  • Despite its effectiveness, the social model faces stigma and limited integration with formal healthcare systems.
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Jeff Rosenblum: Landmark OSHA Labor Cases That Defined Its Authority

OSHA labor cases

Key Takeaways

  • OSHA’s authority has been shaped through landmark Supreme Court and appellate court decisions.
  • The cotton dust case clarified that OSHA standards require feasibility analysis, not strict cost-benefit balancing.
  • Judicial interpretation reinforced OSHA’s role in setting health standards despite industry resistance.
  • The Mallard Bay case expanded OSHA jurisdiction when other federal agencies fail to actively regulate.
  • These rulings collectively established OSHA as a central enforcer of workplace safety law.
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Melody Fallah Khair: Autonomous Networks and Cognitive Connectivity across Platforms

Autonomous networks

Key Takeaways

  • Autonomous networks use AI and analytics to monitor, secure, and optimize themselves with minimal human input.
  • Traditional network management struggles with scalability, cost, and response time challenges.
  • Communication service providers are leading adoption due to growing network complexity and data volumes.
  • End-to-end automation requires deeper AI integration tied to specific operational use cases.
  • Cognitive, agent-driven autonomy represents the next evolution of intelligent network infrastructure.

Melody Fallah Khair is a Silicon Valley technology executive with more than two decades of experience designing and scaling advanced networking and cloud platforms. Melody Fallah Khair currently leads research and standards initiatives for cloud and network services at Nokia, where her work focuses on autonomous edge networks, AI-native architectures, and next-generation 5G and 6G connectivity.…

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