P.S. You Should Know... | Issue #358
Dedicated to Grandpa
my story 🚀
🎺 My grandfather Gennady passed away at 92 years old this week after a very long and full life. He was both an incredibly strong and an impressively calm man. I aspire to his ability at keeping cool under pressure. He was a source of wisdom and inspiration and we’ll miss him dearly.
fun facts 🙌
Your internet is never safe. Consider this your friendly reminder to stop reusing passwords. “The supermassive leak contains data from numerous previous breaches, comprising an astounding 12 terabytes of information, spanning over a mind-boggling 26 billion records. The leak, which contains LinkedIn, Twitter, Weibo, Tencent, and other platforms’ user data, is almost certainly the largest ever discovered.” ~ learn more
A banking perspective on the check-cashing business. This is a thorough commentary about the industry that charges relatively high fees for check-cashing in a world where the market price for a checking account is zero. If you ever thought to yourself “how could this be?” you’ll be relieved to find the explanation here. ~ learn more
I hope the browser wars are starting again. You almost certainly either use Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. A newer entrant called The Browser Company seems to be gaining ground with their Arc Browser. Some of my mac-wielding friends love it. This is their 15 minute video promoting their newest version, “a browser that browses for you.” ~ learn more
oh, chicago 🏆
One of the first post-ban ADUs in Chicago. “Created by Via Chicago Architects × Diseñadores and interior designer Anne Rezac, the coach house is one of the first to be built under Chicago’s ADU ordinance, which officials say intends to expand housing access by increasing the stock of ADUs and opening a path to legalization for live-in attics and basements built without zoning approval and building permits.” ~ learn more
tech, startups, internet ⚡
Standard issue AI. “Small-language models are coming. The consensus within the data ecosystem is that many will start with more expensive large-language models which are robust to many types of questions, but perhaps too expensive to run for most applications at scale.” ~ learn more
Cafe owner sues Meta for $100, wins in state Supreme Court. “Despite Facebook hiring several law firms to defend their case, Soldati, representing himself, was able to successfully argue Meta/Facebook committed a breach of contract and that they were not immune under the Communications Decency Act. Soldati argued that by deleting his account with no explanation or warning, Meta had broken its contract set in the terms of service, and therefore was a breach of contract.” ~ learn more
better doing 🎯
Spaced repetition memory tips. “The single biggest change is that memory is no longer a haphazard event, to be left to chance. Rather, I can guarantee I will remember something, with minimal effort: it makes memory a _choice_.” ~ learn more
The big three causes of burnout. This is a brief and interesting assessment. “I’ve found it’s best to think of burnout not as a disease but as a symptom, with many different etiologies. The big three: permanent on-call, broken steering, and mission doubt.” ~ learn more
to your health ⚕
A critical take on GLP-1s. “The Ozempic argument is that we can improve health by curbing obesity. Unfortunately, Ozempic is just another example of modern medicine’s tendency to silo chronic diseases into “treatable” conditions. This paradigm has been a universal failure: heart disease has risen as we prescribe more statins, diabetes has risen as we’ve prescribed more metformin, and depression has skyrocketed as we’ve prescribed more SSRIs.” ~ learn more
Tim Ferris warns there are no biological free lunches. So cool it on the extra testosterone, bro. “It’s alarming how many folks now treat “T” or “TRT” (testosterone replacement therapy) as something akin to taking a multivitamin, when they never would have considered taking androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS) a few years earlier. Like Patagonian toothfish has become Chilean sea bass on fashionable menus worldwide, it’s quite the rebrand story, but that doesn’t change the underlying biology.” ~ learn more
under the microscope 🔬
A 50-year battery that degrades into copper. “This breakthrough technology has the potential to revolutionize electronics by eliminating the need for chargers or portable power banks. Devices powered by these nuclear batteries could operate continuously without degradation in capacity or lifespan, unlike traditional Li-ion batteries. Imagine drones that can fly non-stop, phones that never need to be charged, and electric cars that don't require frequent recharging.” ~ learn more
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs may pivot to treat Alzheimer’s. Interesting research from the University of Toronto, which has a strong legacy and brand in this field. In ironic and stark contrast to the critical take linked above. “In yet another surprise attribute of the new class of obesity drugs, scientists have found that GLP-1 receptor agonists can also subdue brain inflammation, giving them a potential ‘superpower’ in the fight against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.” ~ learn more
thoughts of food 🍔
Anti-cruelty law that gives pigs more space could raise ham, bacon prices. “The law was fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but starting this month, farmers across the country must abide by the regulation, passed in 2018, which requires them to provide more space for breeding pigs in their pens or lose the right to sell their products in the Golden State.” ~ learn more
teaching the kids 👩🏫
Personal export subsidies. South Korea established itself as a world class manufacturer in part due to their policy of conditional export subsidies. They’d help their local firms out, but only after they proved overseas customers liked their products. Could this approach work in parenting? “By far the easiest example for personal export subsidies is a parent trying to help their kids. Let's take the example of parents who want to help their sprog succeed in some frustrating, low-paying, competitive career: oh, just out of nowhere, let's say writer….” ~ learn more
big ideas 📚
How to remove carbon from oceans. “Like on-land carbon capture technologies, which can extract carbon from our air, marine carbon capture harvests the molecules from seawater or the air above. Carbon causes problems for both: Excess carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere creates a kind of blanket around our world, trapping more heat as more carbon crams in. And even though the ocean absorbs a lot of that airborne carbon, those waters can only trap so much.” ~ learn more
Farmers covering crops with solar panels — food and energy at the same time. This is my first time learning about this. The panels provide shade for the crops, which is useful in hot weather or during droughts. It seems the trade-off is the ease of harvest. “Agrivoltaics - the practice of using land for both solar energy and agriculture - is on the rise across France.” ~ learn more
profiles of people 🚶
Don’t die: an interview with Bryan Johnson. “Bryan was disgusting, I was told. “A freak.” A blood sucking, overly-estrogenized bug man. His quest to “live forever” was “demonic,” the seething Twitter trads have long declared. Too online. Dangerous. “Nobody should give this man a platform.” I couldn’t wait to speak with him.” ~ learn more