my story 🚀
🔦 It’s been great weather, so we’re taking every opportunity to send the kids outside. They were beyond excited by the idea of night hike, so that’s what we did! I was impressed at how much ground these kids covered late night and in the dark when it was supposed to be bed time.
🌐 I’m thrilled to report that Mystery Tackle Box is now officially on Shopify! Really proud of the entire team who made this happen and persevered through tons of setbacks caused by unfriendly policies at big companies (looking at you Stripe).
fun facts 🙌
Multiplayer minesweeper online. A dream come true. I have been an avid minesweeper for a long long time, though I don’t pay anymore because the game has changed. This version looks legit! ~ learn more
How many artists did The Beatles kill? “The one claim that’s always fascinated me about 1964 is that it was a line of demarcation between an old and a new way to make music. If you were making hits in 1963 and didn’t change your sound in 1964, you were going to be waiting tables by the beginning of 1965. In other words, The Beatles-led British Invasion decimated the careers of scores of artists. But was this really the case?” ~ learn more
Daddy long-legs railroad. “Construction started in 1894 and the railway was opened in November 1896. Passengers were carried in a large tramcar-like carriage on a deck mounted on long stilts. It was named ‘Pioneer’ but popularly known as ‘daddy long-legs’. It was equipped with a lifeboat and lifebelts, and had to be operated by a qualified sea captain.” ~ learn more
oh, chicago 🏆
Navy Pier Marina’s under construction. I’m very exited for this, as the newest yacht in our fleet, the SOLARA, will be docked here this summer. Contact me for special P.S. subscriber deals on charters this summer :). ~ learn more
oh, austin 🤠
Proposal to keep loophole-legal-weed legal. “A Texas lawmaker filed a bill in the Texas House that could potentially save THC products from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's proposed ban.” ~ learn more
tech, startups, internet ⚡
First vibe coding, now vibe marketing? “The new world - a single smart marketer with AI agents and workflows testing TONS of marketing angles in real-time with hundreds of AI agents running the show launching in days not weeks.” ~ learn more
AI raises big questions about business models. “Traditional businesses will start to resemble software companies, operating with higher gross margins. Meanwhile, software businesses are taking on more traditional cost structures (AI compute is not de minimis like other SaaS infrastructure).” ~ learn more
The Ultimate test of Lidar vs Cameras is not the ultimate test. Youtuber Mark Rober is known for his incredible science and engineering content. A week ago he released “Can You Fool A Self Driving Car?”, which already has over 17 million views. He drove his Tesla straight on toward a fake Wile-E-Coyote Roadrunner painted wall. It’s worth watching! And then, a few days later, in the name of science Kyle Paul replicated the experiment. BUT, it did not end the same way! ~ learn more
When the AI model realizes it’s being evaluated for alignment. “Here’s an example of Claude's reasoning during a sandbagging evaluation, where it learns from documentation that it will not be deployed if it does well on a biology test…” ~ learn more
better doing 🎯
The append-and-review note. “A few words on an approach to note taking that I stumbled on and has worked for me quite well for many years.” I’ve been using the ‘gravity’ concept for recurring 1:1 meeting notes for years and I love it. This makes me think that maybe I should implement it more fully in my life. ~ learn more
Kill your feeds. “We are being boiled like frogs. It happened gradually, one algorithmic tweak at a time. What started as a way to connect with friends has become a system that gives the corporations that run social media control over what we consume and the ability to subtly shape how we think.” ~ learn more
to your health ⚕
China’s medicines are surprising the world. “In recent months China’s progress in artificial intelligence has stunned the world. A quieter yet equally significant shift is under way in biotech. China has long been known for churning out generic drugs, supplying raw ingredients and managing clinical trials for the pharmaceutical world. But its drugmakers are now also at the cutting edge, producing innovative medicines that are cheaper than the ones they compete with. China has become the second-largest developer of new drugs, behind only America...” ~ learn more
under the microscope 🔬
‘Slime’ keeps the brain safe. “Slippery proteins in the brain’s blood vessels form a protective barrier that breaks break down with age, studies in mice show.” ~ learn more
Do we all see red as the same color? “It is impossible for us to know exactly how another person's experience of the world compares to our own, but a new experiment is helping to reveal that colour is indeed a shared phenomenon” ~ learn more
thoughts of food 🍔
What are Extra Fancy mixed nuts? “FDA Regulations say that Mixed Nuts must contain at least 10% of four different tree nuts (or peanuts), and that they must be of a specific size. The largest nuts can be in an "Extra Fancy" mix. Mid-sized nuts can be in a "Fancy" mix.” ~ learn more
teaching the kids 👩🏫
Texas bill would ban K-12 students from using cell phones during school hours. Cell phone became more commonplace when I was in high school, and they were forbidden. I once got into trouble for talking on one as I was walking out of the school (fun story). When I learned that they were now commonly allowed in schools I was surprised. The fact that banning them is contentious seems wild. ~ learn more
staying thirsty 🚰
Texas is running out of water. “For most other Texans, however, the extent of their knowledge of where water comes from is the kitchen faucet and backyard hose. But behind every drop is a complicated system of sources, laws and management challenges.” ~ learn more