P.S. You Should Know... | Issue #469

Treasure Peak

my story 🚀

🕰️ A long long time ago I played a game on our family PC called Treasure Mountain. A reviewer from that era gave it a thumbs up, claiming that “children will be captivated by the game's vibrant graphics...They will spend many hours solving puzzles, doing math problems, and looking for hidden treasures-- sharpening their math skills without even realizing it.” That was certainly true for me!

Fast forward to modern day Austin when my daughter asked me to set her up with some math games on a computer. We tried some of the available free games, but none of them were sufficiently mathy.

The good news: a bit of googling and I discovered my O.G. game could be played online through an emulator.

The great news: she was immediately into it! However, I was dissatisfied because this version surrounded the game with distracting ads (no shade at the business model).

The best news: it’s 2026, so this parent simply vibe coded a version with all the same features and gameplay + no ads, but worse graphics. I present to you Treasure Peak. My daughter likes it just as much.

fun facts 🙌

My lobster lost $450,000 this weekend. An AI agent got a wallet, a Twitter account, and permission to do whatever it wanted, then promptly turned attention into money and money into chaos. ~ learn more

The largest survey dataset on human sexuality in the world. Follow the learn more link for some choice excerpts on X. To explore for yourself click here. ~ learn more

Words with spaces. “English is full of two- and three-word phrases that function as single semantic units effectively “words” but because they’re not fused into one orthographic word, they’re invisible to dictionaries and underappreciated as vocabulary.” The author built a slider showing how many everyday compounds never make it into traditional dictionaries, even when they clearly name a thing. ~ learn more

Man accidentally gains control of 7,000 robot vacuums. “the same credentials that allowed him to see and control his own device also provided access to live camera feeds, microphone audio, maps, and status data from nearly 7,000 other vacuums across 24 countries.” A software engineer tried to steer his DJI Romo with a game controller and accidentally got a global dashboard into other people’s homes. ~ learn more

oh, austin 🤠

Austin reviews ‘unusual’ $25 million Long Center contract over arts grant fees and oversight. “Austin Current’s review of the contract raised questions about how much money the city is paying for specific services. Some of the hourly rates listed in the agreement include: $250 an hour to retrieve data for the city; $250 an hour to train panelists how to judge grant applications; $87 an hour to pay panelists who review the grants; and $54 an hour for customer service.” My read is that those are expensive but not wildly crazy. I’ve seen commercial contracts with similar prices. Is there someone out there who expects government negotiators to get a good deal on procurement? ~ learn more

tech, startups, internet ⚡

Connecting AI is cheap. “Connecting things to our AI engines is cheap, and getting cheaper.” The post argues the bubble comparisons to railroads and telecom miss the key point: once the model exists, adding new use cases looks more like copying software than laying track. ~ learn more

Pliny’s jailbreaking is so good that frontier labs specifically train on his repo. Because he knows this, he is able to add backdoors to the newest models. Daniel Blank argues Pliny’s jailbreaks are not a sideshow, they are training data that shapes the next generation of models, including weird second-order effects like data poisoning. ~ learn more

Default choices crown winners. “When millions vibe-code their way to a working app, the stacks it chooses become the stacks.” Amplifying surveyed 2,430 open-ended prompts across real repos to see what tools Claude Code actually installs and configures when you just ask “what should I use?” ~ learn more

DoorDash’s real AI advantage. In response to a viral AI doomer article, Stratechery went town on their silly example of Doordash being an AI-loser. “DoorDash not only has the most restaurant data, but also exclusive data in terms of customer order history, delivery routing, etc. All of this can be leveraged to not only make a better product but also in advertising.” The article argues that fears about DoorDash’s doom at AI’s hands miss the deeper moat: unique operational data, real-world workflows, and powerful network effects. ~ learn more

better doing 🎯

Every company needs a stuntperson. “In December 2025, hosted a mock “funeral” for the U.S. penny at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., marking the end of its 230+ year production run with hundreds of people in attendance.” Brianne Kimmel argues that as ads get commoditized, brands will reach for films, micro dramas, and real world stunts that people want to share. ~ learn more

to your health ⚕

AI scents for deeper sleep. I don’t have the slightest clue if this is based on any real science. But if it is, it’s really cool. “Kimba algorithm analyzes your biometric data in real-time and optimizes scent therapy according to your unique sleep and health patterns.” It’s a smart diffuser plus your existing wearable data, aimed at tuning scent timing through the night. ~ learn more

retail therapy 💸

Does Amazon illegally price fix? “Yesterday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed for an immediate halt to what he says is a widespread price-fixing scheme run by the largest online retailer in America, Amazon.” The piece argues Amazon leverages the Buy Box and vendor pressure so prices rise not only on Amazon, but across other retailers too. The core issue is that Amazon will lower its prices automatically to match competitors, or else suppress merchant listings. This argument seems a bit twisted but may not be totally wrong. Next up, a California judge will get to rule on the issue. ~ learn more

AI customer service on United. “haha no ma’am but I get that a lot” Grace called United after a snowstorm cancellation and got rebooked in about 20 minutes by a voice that sounded very AI, down to doing a quick 228*6647 calculation on request. ~ learn more

under the microscope 🔬

End the winter cold. “A single nasal spray vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus” by keeping lung macrophages on “amber alert” for about three months in animal tests. The idea is a “radical departure” from how vaccines have worked for 200+ years, and human trials are next. ~ learn more

big ideas 📚

Saudi Arabia’s ordeal. This is an education on Arabian history that I needed. “He has to transition the biggest conservative petrostate in the world into a modern, diversified economy. The odds are stacked impossibly against him. To understand why, and how likely he is to succeed, we need to understand the three words that encapsulate his predicament: Saudi, Arabia, and Oil.” ~ learn more

thanks for reading!