Espresso Shots 9-22-24

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.

Side note: This is a sample AI generated 'podcast' discussing this post, from a new tool called Notebook.LM from Google, which I mention below.

Espresso Shots

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The Latest Drippings ☕️

• I've recently re-subscribed to every.to, so you'll probably see more content from there. This week, they post a simple concept: 'Ignoring what is obvious incurs a huge cost' and that 'Sometimes the most obvious truths about ourselves are hard to see because the consequences of those truths seem so dire.' An excellent, thought-provoking post. Admitting What is Obvious
• I must admit, I was a bit in shock how good the new notebook.lm tool is. In particular, the podcast generator impressed me. There's a lot more here that I need to dig into. I've linked to the audio file output on this post above. The AI Research Assistant You've Been Dreaming Of
• 'It's better to know a little about a lot than a lot about a little' and in the allocation economy, 'the capacity to learn quickly, and to see and solve novel problems in new domains, (dictate that) the person who wins isn't the expert who knows the exact answer to a question. It's the one who knows which questions to ask in the first place.' Why Generalists Own the Future
• Remember the Pet Rock? According to this article, it made, err, inventor Gary Dahl, almost $15 million selling them. I found the original owner's manual quite amusing. Read The 1975 Owner's Manual for the Pet Rock
• Yikes! The carbon footprint of all this generative AI crazy is astounding. This particular piece explains that 'servers running chatbots generate a lot of heat, which requires cooling systems that consume water or electricity to operate,' and that 'data centers housing these AI systems are also major consumers of electricity, driving up energy demands and costs for nearby residents.' A bottle of water per email: The hidden environmental costs of using AI chatbots
• Speaking of energy consumption to power AI, why not restart a nuclear power plant that suffered a partial meltdown in 1979, causing one of the most significant industrial accidents in the country's history? What's next? Fire up Chernobyl to power an AI-infused Clippy? Microsoft wants Three Mile Island to fuel its AI power needs
• Another fantastic read from every.to asserts that often it 'impossible to define what success even means' and that the things we do to climb that corporate ladder don't fulfill us. 'Ambition is a tricky beast. It drives us to achieve great things, but can also leave us feeling perpetually unsatisfied.' Live Fuller, Not Bigger
• I've said time and again that most productivity tools are ultimately overkill, junk and mask a deeper issue. While this one doesn't go far, it provides a good lens on 'the key to reducing friction lies in striking the right balance between powerful features and user-friendly design.' Addressing Friction in Modern Productivity Tools: A Critical Perspective
• A quick one that instantly made it into my commonplace journal. 'We often ignore little moments like this as we traverse the places we inhabit.' Slow down. Breathe. A Passing Feeling
• Remember the old Wendy's 'Where's the Beef' commercials? I didn't know that their star, Clara Peller, was fired. They weren't fond of her Prego pasta sauce commercial. Why did Wendy's fire the "Where's the Beef?" Lady?
• Voyager 1 is impressive, and this quote from michael.chabon was perfect. 'I find the continuing mission of Voyager 1 so moving, for the way its name alone evokes a time of promise, for the thought of that tiny contraption way out there in the vastness at the edge of the heliosphere—perhaps the farthest any human-made thing may ever travel—a bit battered, swiftly aging, still doing the work it was purposed to do.' 47-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft just fired up thrusters it hasn't used in decades
• As a new-ish Game of Thrones fan, I enjoyed this review of the series' best battles. Ranking the Best Game of Thrones Battles
• Small acts of compassion and kindness by ordinary individuals can have a profound impact. Powerful People Come in All Packages
• Guy Fieri recently showed up in one of my weekly reads, showing an impressive transformation, so I was curious on what he had done. Lo and behold, he got into rucking, which is something that I've been playing with the past few months as I can't run like I used to. Guy Fieri Shows Us The Workout That Helped Him Lose 30 Pounds

Amor Fati ✌🏻