P.S. You Should Know... | Issue #379

Learning to fish

my story 🚀

🎣 We biked over to our local pond and got some practice casting! Unfortunately we did not catch any fish this time. We will try again!

fun facts 🙌

Beach umbrellas injure thousands a year. “Data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) indicates that more than 31,000 people were treated in hospitals for umbrella-related injuries between 2008 and 2017.” ~ learn more

Analyzing my text messages with my ex-boyfriend. “We began dating in the summer of 2015 and broke up in the spring of 2016.” Teresa Ibarra ran a variety of data analyses on roughly 83,000 messages. ~ learn more

Obvious travel advice. “Most people incorrectly prefer aisle seats to window seats. They’re sure to discover their error sooner or later, but in the meantime, use it to your advantage.” ~ learn more

NASA selects SpaceX to destroy the International Space Station. “In a contract worth up to US$843 million, NASA has selected SpaceX to design the "US Deorbit Vehicle." The spacecraft will bring the $150 billion International Space Station out of orbit to safely and burn up in our atmosphere at 3,000 ºF (1,649 ºC).” ~ learn more

oh, chicago 🏆

2 shot while alderman camps out to stop violence. “Ald. David Moore vowed to stay on 73rd Street despite having to leave over the weekend after shots rang out. … “Camping out was his “last resort,” Moore said. “I know what I’ve been doing and, evidently, what I’ve been doing is not helping,” Moore said. “I don’t know what else to do. I’m asking somebody else, tell me, what else can I do? Give me something.” ~ learn more

tech, startups, internet ⚡

Strategies for an accelerating future. “One of the things I emphasized to [my students] is that no one really knows what current LLMs are capable of, since most of the tests conducted by AI companies focus mostly on coding and testing benchmarks, not real-world applications. … By the time they started building GPTs for their specific needs, whether private equity deal memos or suggesting a perfect wedding ring to their fiancé, they became the world experts in using AI for their specific field.” ~ learn more

The Seedpocalypse of 2024. “Whenever there are “too many” of fundraises of one type, the next round becomes the hardest to raise. In 2024, the Series A Crunch has returned. Software companies that have achieved the previous era’s milestone, $1m or more in ARR, face a challenging Series A market. Why is this happening again?” ~ learn more

better doing 🎯

Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs. Your “frog” is your big, important, and often unpleasant task. Productivity gurus often promote the strategy of “eating your frog” by forcing yourself to do it first. “All of this has been a long way of saying: if you’re forcing yourself to eat frogs all day, maybe you need a vacation, or better pay, or some help organizing your life. But maybe you what you really need is to stop eating frogs.” ~ learn more

The case against morning yoga, daily routines, and endless meetings. “This is the anti-routine essay, in which I refute the paradigm of fitter, happier, more productive routines as the secret to success. Our careers are defined by the highest moments of its biggest upside swings. The question is how to create the most opportunities at achieving that, not how to execute perfect little habits.” ~ learn more

Toast my f-ing bagel. This is a post about marketing, believe it or not. “I used to go get bagels and coffees on Saturday mornings with my wife. I would always order a toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese. The bagel always came out barely toasted from this shop. This went on for weeks until I finally said something.” ~ learn more

to your health ⚕

The great American poisoning. “The health of an animal reflects the health of its environment. One glance at a starving boar, ribs pressing through the skin, and you understand the boar’s environment lacks the food it needs to be healthy.” ~ learn more

under the microscope 🔬

Late-night light associated with 67% higher risk of type 2 diabetes. “The data supports the hypothesis that light, which suppresses or shifts central circadian rhythms, putting them in an "abnormal phase", may also change how insulin is secreted and glucose metabolized.” ~ learn more

on the blockchain ⛓

Martin Shkreli launched a crypto token? “Martin Shkreli, also known as "Pharma Bro," claims he and Barron Trump created the DJT token after initially denying involvement.” ~ learn more

thanks for reading!