The End of the World is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization
Previous guest author Wes B. and I are book-clubbing this. Without knowing that, Katie recently caught the author on Rogan and sent it to me with the mind blown emoji. She's hopping in on the book club with us now. This is either silly nonsense or it is the most important book written in the last 5 years. Either way it is incredibly entertaining. -B
Why There's A Supply Chain Crisis
What caused all the supply chain bottlenecks? Modern finance with its obsession with "Return on Equity." To show great ROE almost every CEO stripped their company of all but the bare minimum of assets. Just in time everything. No excess capacity. No strategic reserves. No cash on the balance sheet. Minimal R&D.
Brian's First Rule of Online Life: Beware of single cause explanations for the behavior of extremely complicated systems. -B
Calvin's Tired Complaint #57: Threads ruined Twitter. Well, and vitriol (more generally). -C
A Stylish Kill Switch for Digital Distractions
Sunglasses that make screens invisible (just not the most distracting screen–yet). - Calvin
Memphis migration: As census shows people leaving, here are ways to stop it
While Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, Raleigh and who knows how many other southern cities are seeing amazing growth our hometown is actually shrinking. I have no idea what the fix for that is but it makes me sad. Having recruited folks to come work in Memphis it is very hard. Memphis has a reputation that has spread pretty far. Meanwhile those of us who live here know it for its soul, its affordable easy living full of great food, music and a sneaky little sports scene. How do we get that reputation out there? -Brian
Everyone Got The Pulse Massacre Story Completely Wrong
If you're like me you do your best to callous yourself to the tragedy of these types of crimes writ large as a burden beyond bearing. As a result I hadn't really followed the Pulse shooting beyond the headlines. This highlights the very real danger of headline skimming and then assuming you know the truth; apparently the entire narrative and all the headlines about the motive of the shooter were 180 degrees from the truth. A tough story but there's a critical takeaway in there. -Brian
The best Mario Kart character according to data science
This is the kind of analysis I love... applying hard core math to how to whoop your kids at Mario Kart (like I need any help). Also apparently there is a "Pro" Mario Kart scene?? -Brian
36 Hours in Memphis - The New York Times
If you're one of our Memphis readers, this is a great list of things to do around town that you might have missed (or need to revisit). - Calvin
Getting Urban Design Right: Broad Avenue As A Test
Shoutout to JD for the link. Broad Avenue is where Simple Focus, the company I've worked at for about six years, relocated to when we left Germantown. This article is a little scattered, but I think it has some interesting points of view to consider as much of Memphis is experiencing a renewed interest in using existing spaces for new shops, dwellings, and restaurants. - Calvin
Taibbi on Facebook: Can We Be Saved From the Social Media Giant?
This is from Brian, but I really liked the article so I'm gonna throw some words at it, too. I think this quote is right on:
The world seems simultaneously to be denouncing the company for having meddled with an election, and demanding that it meddle more responsibly in the future.
What do we really want out of all this? To feel better about our inability to stop using Facebook because they started being responsible with the data they collect about us? Or do we want Facebook to stop collecting data about us? If you want the latter, it's never going to happen (because money). If you want the former, you're being silly.
But this post is a fascinating reminder of how we got to this point (the News Feed, omg) and is well worth the time to read. –Calvin
What everyone gets wrong about 'millennial snowflakes'
There's a certain self awareness I suppose we all have when we complain either about older people in general or "the kids these days". I mean, like, everyone has complained about everyone different than them for being, like, different than them, like, forever man... And I was self-aware of that right up until I, a Gen-X(ish)-er, had to actually manage actual millenials in the workplace and then I came right on with the complaining. This article knocked me back off my soap box. Click this if you're a millennial and you're tired of old fogeys complaining about your avocado toast and participation trophies. -Brian