Espresso Shots 6-8-25

Here's my weekly update with a few interesting random findings that I came across the last week or two. I am going to try to make sure they're here in time for you to enjoy with your morning coffee (or beverage of choice) every Saturday or Sunday, and include some of my thoughts around them.

The Latest Drippings ☕️

• My Cure for Brain Rot. What a neat idea, The Wisdom Jukebox. In some ways, it reminds me of Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies, but instead of a card deck, it's 'an electronic picture frame onto which I've loaded an assortment of my favorite nuggets of wisdom.' I recently purchased a TRMNL for my desk - this has inspired me to spend some time to wire up a similar concept with my quotes collection and the e-Ink display.
• Andor Shows Us What Popular Culture Could Be. Andor was a slow burn, but what a slow burn it was (I also feel like the first three episodes of S2 were oddly out of place, but the rest - wow). 'In an era of banal, homogenous mass media, Andor refuses easy optimism and shows us that building a better world is a hard, necessary task.' If you haven't watched it just yet, give it a whirl.
• Defibrillator Installed on Mount Everest Saves Woman's Life. Having seen the world's highest peak with my own eyes back in the early 2000s, any time Everest hits the news, it catches my attention. David Sullivan, founder of Code Blue CPR, recently installed 'the world's highest defibrillator' at 16,500 feet. When he didn't know, it was just three weeks later that the device would be used to save someone's life when their heart stopped. Video here.
• Traits and Habits I've Observed Among High Achievers. Lately, I've been hyper-focused on the general idea of curiosity: how important it is as a part of critical thinking and learning, and tuning into how often it's just neglected. I wasn't surprised to see curiosity listed as one of these essential traits; this list was a good one to read through.
• Being Glue. A fun post - the idea around allocating time to glue work deliberately. While the talk is from the perspective of a senior engineer, it offers a valuable lens on team building. It highlights how non-technical responsibilities are often undervalued yet crucial in maintaining team cohesion and overall effectiveness.
• This Is the Secret to Actually Making the Things You Want To. I sometimes joke that it's essential to put the FU in FUN, but this article goes into why fun matters. 'Have Fun is the conclusion of the manifesto because it is a reminder that, no matter your situation and no matter what you do, you can try to enjoy something about the doing.'
• The Recovery OKR: Goals for Healing After Burnout. We've all been there: burned out. There are some great tips here on how to focus on some of those recovery goals when the burnout sets in.
• '90s Pop Songs: The Era Of the Self-Contained Verse. A super interesting read: 'Pop songs quite often focus on a single story—often the tale of the protagonist, who is trying to share a single message in a three-minute tune. But there was a time when pop songs were more likely to put the lens on someone else...'
• Exploring Beyond the Visible Spectrum. 'What we're doing is using technology to reveal new ways of understanding the world around us. When we try to decode or examine anything around us, it's worth considering if the lens you're looking through reveals something you otherwise couldn't see or if it covers everything in its own haze. Are you applying a lens that helps you see things in a new way?' Super important questions for crazy times, but also, the idea that 'our perception is subjective, akin to wearing shit-covered glasses that can distort our view of reality based on mood or perspective' is an important one.
• The Slowdown. I've experienced this after spending time training for a big race or climbing a peak, but sometimes the very act of 'achieving a goal brings a sense of pride but can lead to disorientation when the associated strain suddenly disappears.' Good read on why that happens.
• There's an Addressable Market of 1. I found this one via Jack Baty (RSS feed), but I liked the spirit around the democratization of software development. As Jack says: 'Suddenly, I could make things, all by myself. Didn't matter whether I was qualified or not.'
• Humans Produce Delusion Like Cows Produce Methane. This is an all-around fun post, but this quote stood out: 'being seen as right has more survival value than actually being right, most of the time. You're far better off being wrong with a tribe backing you than being correct but unpopular.'
• Computers are Big-Ass Levers. As I said earlier, curiosity rules here: 'A strategic approach for thriving in the AI era is to act as if you have early access to future technologies, identifying new opportunities.'

Amor Fati ✌🏻