Sitting next to a productive co-worker can make you more productive, just as sitting next to a toxic one can increase your chances of being terminated, suggests a study by Cornerstone OnDemand, an HR software company. When productive employees are paired with toxic ones, the toxic employee's influence generally wins out, the study noted.

Start planning the next 12 months of your career by deciding whether you want to find a new job, improve your current situation, start a business or focus your energy on a creative pursuit, Michael Pollock writes. "Don't just wait for it to happen -- know what you'd like to see," he writes.

Facebook is launching features this week that enable businesses to post jobs on their profile pages and interact with job applicants. The features are aimed at small and mid-size companies looking to hire hourly or part-time workers.

CareerBuilder's annual jobs forecast shows 40% of employers intend to hire more full-time workers this year, up from 36% in 2016. Most of those jobs will be in areas such as administration, sales and IT, according to the report.

Look for clues during job interviews that your boss has a tendency to micromanage or other undesirable traits, writes Edward Fleischman. If you end up with an incompetent boss, don't hesitate to seek another opportunity elsewhere.

At the end of the day, work on "soft projects" that don't require a lot of energy but that will keep you busy, Larry Alton writes. Examples of good soft projects include organizing your email, reading content regarding your industry or cleaning up your desk.

Although today's modern fake blood is typically computer-generated, theatrical blood has come from all sorts of physical sources. Melted insects and chocolate syrup were two early tries, and more complicated mixtures came into play after color movies emerged.