If you're asked to take on strange tasks or being frequently sent to help others around the workplace, you've likely been tabbed as having leadership potential, writes Jim Morris. Other signs include receiving precise feedback from bosses and being asked to give your input on a variety of decisions or projects.

To keep a heated discussion with a co-worker or boss from becoming an all-out argument, it's important to validate what the other person is saying, writes Liane Davey. By summarizing their perspective back to them or thanking them for raising the subject, you can set people at ease before you give your point of view, Davey advises.

While most professionals tend to keep up networking ties that feel the most comfortable and take the least amount of effort, doing so can mean missing out on great opportunities, writes Ilan Mochari. Instead, be willing to leave your comfort zone and contact networking partners who can be more beneficial to your career, Mochari writes.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed into law a minimum wage mandate that will boost the hourly wage to $14.75 in some cities by 2022. The law is the first in the country to require higher pay for employees in cities than for those in rural areas. Some labor activists say the law allows too many years for the increase to take effect, but Brown says the tiered approach will help businesses adapt to the changes.

Comparably is a new app that will allow technology professionals to compare their salaries with those of peers in similar positions in their area, explains co-founder and CEO Jason Nazar. "There’s nowhere where you can get really detailed, specific compensation data on what people like you are making," says Nazar, who hopes Comparably can fill that gap.

An object known as the "Utah teapot," which factored into some of the earliest discoveries in computer graphics, continues to be acknowledged today, even in some of the most advanced rendering efforts. The teapot image, designed by pioneering University of Utah scientist Martin Newell, appears in animations such as "Toy Story" and episodes of "The Simpsons."