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š§ Hands-free Googling
Save humanity from The Singularity
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This is Nick. This is Jack. And itās time to say hello to Walmart's Shopping Cart 2.0. It has a cup holder, a slot for your iPhone, and even anti-theft tech. Get this: The wheels lock if the cart rolls farther than 40 feet from store grounds. Thieves are playing checkers, and Walmartās playing chess. Checkmate.
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1) Itās Time to Rent, Not Buy
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The Fed update: At its meeting Wednesday, the central bank said interest rates will stay the same at about 5.25%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell added that rates will likely stick around their current 22-year highs through the end of next year.
Why Powell & Co. are making the case for landlords everywhere:
Higher interest rates have increased 30-year mortgage rates by *checks notes* nearly 3x over the past three years to nearly 8%.
The double whammy: Home prices are also up 23% over that period.
Add it all up, the average monthly mortgage payment for a new home has doubled from three years ago.
The Takeaway ā
Thereās nothing wrong with renting, especially right now. Re: the age old question of rent or buy, thereās a clear answer right now: rent. With renting costs up 18% on average compared to that doubling of mortgage payments, leases are looking pretty good these days. Rates will fall again eventually, but for today, maybe consider putting off buying that duplex in Dallas and renting the ranch instead.
2) Could Neuralink Turn Humans into Optimus Prime?
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Elon Muskās neurotech startup (specialty = brain-computer interface) is now recruiting for its first human clinical trials. No more monkey brains will be harmedā¦this time.
Hereās the plan: Neuralink is building tech thatāll let you use Google with just your brain.
Whoās next? Humans. More specifically: people who are paralyzed. The goal is to enable them to communicate and/or become mobile again using Neuralink tech. In Elon terms: like when Luke Skywalker got a bionic arm after Darth Vader light-sabered it off.
The Takeaway ā
Neuralinkās end goal is to save the human race from āThe Singularity,ā aka when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence. Linking human brains to the web will allow us to tap into the benefits of AI (instead of being taken over by it). Thatās how Elon thinks Neuralink can save humanity from the (potential) AI apocalypse.
3) Spotifyās Algorithm Is Making Songs Shorter
Spotify and music streaming have literally changed the sound of music, and we donāt just mean ādoooo a deer.ā
Back in the day, songs were longer. The Temptationsā 1972 song, āPapa Was a Rolling Stone,ā was a 7-minute Billboard No. 1 hit without a single word ātil 1:57 in.
Today, songs average under 4 minutes. Nearly ā of songs that hit No. 1 in 2021 were less than 3 minutes long.
Ed Sheeranās āAfterglowā illuminates for 3:19.
Olivia Rodrigoās ābad idea right?ā clocks in at 3:10.
Why are artists slimming singles? The Spotify algorithmās key metrics:
šµ The skip rate: When people hit skip within the first 30 seconds of a song, artists donāt get paid.
šµ Non-complete heards: Even if a song is listened to 95% of the way through, it gets punished in Spotifyās charts if you skip the last 5%.
The Takeaway ā
Artists donāt just play for fans, they play for algos too. And itās not just musicians who are trying to game the systemāfrom the length of that Ambitious Kitchen video to the face MrBeast is making in his YouTube thumbnails, creators across the board are juicing algos for all theyāre worth.
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š» The auto strike may soon expand to Detroitās profit puppiesāthe factories that make pickup trucks.
š MGM regained control of its computers 10 days after hackers took over. Thereās no word on whether they paid ransom (whereās George Clooney?).
āļø The writersā strike may reportedly end as soon as next weekāwhich means so could reruns season.
š«¢ The US government is set to shut down Oct. 1 after conservative hardliners voted down a bill to fund the government.
šļø Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake opened a golf bar in NYC called T-Squared Social. Date night?
ā¾ FanDuel pays out $20M on a bet it never should have offered.
š On the pod today, Amazon canāt groom your pooch but now Walmart canāWalmartās stock has doubled Amazonās in the last 5 years and now itās coming for pet services.
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The longest contiguous international border in the world? The longest border with no water in between? Between Russia and Kazakhstan. Itās 4,750 miles (FYI, Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country on Earth).
And one more thing. Weāre headed back home this weekendāwhat should we read/watch/listen to on our flights?
āNick & Jack
FYI, the writers of this newsletter own stock of Amazon and Spotify.
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