April 15, 2024
Good morning!
Kinda cool; as we write to you this morning we have children in five different time zones.
Something about today rings a bell — or strikes a chord — or conjures-up a memory — or triggers a bit of trauma — or makes me think I’m missing something.
What in the world happened to Tesla… while Elon was fiddling around with Twitter?
How to lose $700,000,000,000 in a short period of time?
- There are lots and lots of things — most things — about which I know very little.
- Among them is the whole so-called gaming industry.
- And here’s another thing about which I know VERY little…
- … and I’m not sure if there has been a greater frenzy about any subject since the great tulip bulb caper or perhaps tubular metal folding chairs.
- It’s artificial intelligence, sometimes called generative artificial intelligence.
- They tell us trillion$ of dollar$ are at stake in the world economy. Really? Trillion$
- Automating interactions with customers = $404 billion
- Marketing and sales productivity lift = $949 billion
- Software engineering 45% productivity boost = $899 billion
- Product research and development efficiency boost = $328 billion
- Retail and consumer goods packaging = $660 billion
- Banking (primarily reduction of loan risks) = $340 billion
- Pharmaceutical research and development = $110 billion
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- Total = $3,690,000,000,000 boost in worldwide economy (McKinsey & Co., 2024)
- In our fast-paced world it can be frustrating watching the best golfers preparing to make a stroke.
- Not sure if the data have been studied, nor whether they provide a direct cause-and-effect outcome when preparation for a stroke is compared to results, but it would be a fun analysis.
- The most important variable for driving the ball farther?
- Explosive power (for speed of the club head; think baseball home run hitter) — and then upper body and lower body strength. (Bishop)
- On your next trip to CotsCo, throw an ounce or two of gold into your cart along with that 10# block of cheese and bushel of onions.
- You’ll probably pay less than you would at your local pawn shop — and, it’ll be certified pure gold.
- Prepare to be humbled — or humiliated.
- If you are in the >50 age bracket you need to be doing about 30 push-ups in a row (13 for women) to be considered in good shape. (Equinox)
- Many people nowadays get their hearing tested, but…
- … have you ever had your listening tested?
- You might find it extremely revealing, humbling, and helpful.
- Hydrogen fuel cells for an infinite supply of energy?
- Infinity Fuel Cell & Hydrogen, Inc. is raising capital if you want to get in on it.
- Here’s a command for your A.I. software: “A.I., generate and sustain enough electrical power to fuel all your needs.”
- According to Turnitin, an artificial intelligence-detection tool, 11% of college papers are 20% A.I.-generated — and 3% of papers are at least 80% A.I.-generated.
- Conclusion: No way to keep up with the speed with which artificial intelligence is exploding into society.
- In terms of plagiarism and general cheating, is 3% better or worse than the baseline established say 50 years ago?
- All of the above based on the scrutiny of 22,000,000 papers submitted and scrutinized.
- Here is perhaps a little-known fact.
- At The Masters, a tradition like none other, the previous year’s champion gets to choose this year’s menu for the Dinner of Champions on the Tuesday preceding the tournament.
- All champions, from decades ago and more recently, enjoy dinner together in the iconic dining room at Augusta National, among the more exclusive venues in the world.
- But, here’s the catch: Last year’s champion must also PAY for the meal, no freebies from the multi-millionaire owners of the Club, no ma’am.
- Not unlike getting a hole-in-one at your favourite course… exciting, no doubt (I wouldn’t know!) — but, it’s gonna cost you $$$ at the 19th hole.
- With the extinction of the Ash tree, what will become of baseball?
- Turns out, many different varieties of wood have always been used to manufacture baseball bats, with Ash the most popular. (Smithsonian)
- So, with miniscule consequences — positive or negative — baseball will likely endure… and the crack of the bat will bring the crowd to its feet.
- Book: The Unexpected Abigail Adams, Smith, 2024.
- Good for lots of reasons, but most of all for the volume of original source material, namely Abigail’s voluminous written correspondence.
