T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 165

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #165

Here are some things I really like and that you might too!

Financial Independence/Work Life/Retirement Articles & Content

AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies It (Harvard Business Review) “Our findings suggest that without intention, AI makes it easier to do more—but harder to stop.”  Dave’s Comment:  This should come as a surprise to no one but will have huge ramifications across, for now, mostly the white-collar world.  It used to be the best employee who got the most done was rewarded with – more work.  Because he/she gets it done.  Now everyone can do more, and faster.  So now everyone gets – wait for it – more work!  In the private sector, there is no stopping.  If you become more efficient then the company gins up new ways to get faster and do more.  Public companies have a legal obligation to keep increasing profits.  Sorry to report folks, there’s no end, until AI gets to the point where it can do everything.  Then we peace-out and ride our bikes all day 🙂 

‘Work Hard, Play Hard’ Is Over: Inside Silicon Valley’s 996 Culture (Forbes) “What is clear is that startup culture has fundamentally changed. The performative perks are gone. The parties have quieted. The work remains.” 

Video

If your name is “Breezy”, you better be fast. Enjoy U.S. Downhill Skier Breezy Johnson’s gold medal run at the Olympics this week.  The drone footage is a game changer and you really see how fast these athletes are going.  And all respect to Lindsey Vonn who bravely tried to compete with a blown ACL.  Maybe not the best decision for the long-term health of her leg, but a total badass and seemingly impervious to pain and discomfort.  Legend.

What I’m Grateful For

That my knee was spared in a nasty fall last week.  I was slogging the 3 mile uphill hike with a 60-pound backpack to a frozen waterfall to go ice climbing and the snowpack had a thick layer of ice-crust.  During a stream crossing I slipped on what was sheer smooth ice and schwacked my knee really hard, the one I had surgery on 8 years ago.  The extra weight of the backpack made the impact much harder.  I hesitatingly pressed on thinking my day was likely over but additional movement was all I really needed to shake it out.  In the end I had a nasty contusion but no other damage.  And I climbed all day 🙂

Lyrically Speaking

I got a gnome in the backyard
I put him right on the X mark
He’s supposed to show me where the money is
Hey won’t you show me where the money is

From “Oh Mandy” by The Spinto Band

The origins of The Spinto Band start in Delaware in 1996.  Their first four releases were DIY affairs on their own ginned-up label and they called themselves “Free Beer”.  You gotta love a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously.  Then in 2005 they made their first proper album as The Spinto Band called Nice And Nicely Done, released by Bar/None Records.  It’s a really good album, I still love it to this day.  One of their songs got used in a Sears commercial which apparently funded an entire European tour for them.  It’s one of those albums that for me at least has this time-association with when it came out.  When I hear some of those songs today it brings back 2005, which scarily enough was 21 years ago (wtf!?!).  Lead singer Nick Krill’s vocals do tire me out sometimes, but they fit in well with the peppy/rock-poppy sound.  If you’re a real indie music nerd of this era you’ll hear The Thrills and The Shins in their sound, and maybe some Clap Your Hands Say Yeah too.  In total The Spinto Band have 4 full length albums with their last released in 2013. 

As for the lyrics above, I read them as picking on people who just want money to appear in their lives for doing nothing.  My Mom used to throw the cliche of “money doesn’t grow on tress” at me and my brother all the time, especially when we wanted things my parents couldn’t afford.  Well it doesn’t grow on trees and there are no magic money gnomes either.

Miscellaneous

Study raises red flags over long-term effectiveness of popular weight loss drugs like Ozempic – “Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Zepbound can drive impressive weight loss, but stopping them is often followed by rapid weight regain. Researchers found that people regain weight faster after quitting these drugs than after diet and exercise alone. Improvements in heart health and diabetes risk also tend to reverse within a few years. The results suggest long-term success may require more than medication alone.”

Increase of AI bots on the Internet sparks arms race – “A new report measuring bot activity on the web, as well as related data shared with WIRED by the Internet infrastructure company Akamai, shows that AI bots already account for a meaningful share of web traffic.”  Dave’s Comment: Set aside that arguing with people on social media is a massive waste of time and makes people tribal and toxic…. and then throw on top of that that when people do this they’re often arguing with a silicon chip, a bot.  Bottom line – you’re not changing anyone’s mind, not a real human’s mind and you certainly ain’t changing the “mind” of a bot.  You’re being played.  Put your phone down and live life in the real world.  Off soapbox… 🙂

Can scientists detect life without knowing what it looks like? Research using machine learning offers a new way – “When NASA scientists opened the sample return canister from the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample mission in late 2023, they found something astonishing….“