WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:19.559 The Weekly Thing, issue 297. People, Building, "Pure Blogger". Published October 19, twenty twenty four. By Jamie Thingelstad. In this issue: HTML for People, GPU bubble burst, 2 dollars H100s, API to AI communication, US wealth distribution, TikTok harming kids, what are you building with your life. 00:00:20.159 --> 00:00:26.510 Weekly Thing 297 is arriving with a never before seen new section! Sent from Minneapolis, MN. 00:00:27.010 --> 00:00:27.698 Good morning! 00:00:28.198 --> 00:00:48.605 I've had an idea for a new section of the Weekly Thing for a while now. The genesis came in Weekly Thing 258 when I asked if you were planning on buying a Vision Pro. I've thought it would be interesting to have a regular section with a question to get everyones reaction to. Voila — the Straw Poll section is now live! 00:00:49.105 --> 00:01:01.600 In Straw Poll I will share a topic with a question to that you can respond to. In the next issue I'll share the results with everyone. I think this is going to be fun and insightful and I get to learn from all of you! 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:06.325 The inaugural Straw Poll is a question about Nvidia… you'll find it below. 00:01:07.725 --> 00:01:09.381 Now, the Currently section. 00:01:09.981 --> 00:01:30.629 Dining: Tammy and I first discovered New Scenic Café over twenty years ago and it still delights us. We make a point to have a meal there whenever we are on the North Shore. They have also added a bakery in recent years and have brought the Nordic themes forward even more in their menu. I had my very first Kardemummabullar there this time! 00:01:31.129 --> 00:01:55.537 Installing: I wanted to play around with some of the more advanced Whisper-based speech-to-text apps so I bought a license for MacWhisper. I had it do a completely unedited transcription of the Open Loop podcast Garrick van Buren and I created in twenty twelve. The Whisper models do a good job, but it doesn't go as far as I had hoped. For example, it doesn't recognize different speakers. 00:01:56.037 --> 00:02:21.057 Listening: I found episode #386 - Information and Social Order with Yuval Noah Harari of the Making Sense podcast with Sam Harris very compelling and thought provoking. I ended up buying Harari's newest book Nexus afterward. The deep dive on information and networks and how that impacts society was interesting. (This gift link to the episode will allow you to listen to the full episode for free.). 00:02:22.457 --> 00:02:23.877 That's the end of Currently. 00:02:25.277 --> 00:02:26.635 Now, the Notable section. 00:02:27.235 --> 00:02:29.061 There are seven links this week. 00:02:29.961 --> 00:02:32.145 Link one of seven. HTML for People. 00:02:32.645 --> 00:02:52.991 This is a great resource written for your average person to learn about creating content for the web. I love the spirit and intent of this. HTML isn't that complicated and increasing access to it enables people to have their own voice on the web. If you find this great join me in sending a thank you to Watson's Ko-fi page. 00:02:53.891 --> 00:02:57.727 Link two of seven. What Are You Building With Your Life? David O’Hara. 00:02:58.227 --> 00:03:22.547 I've met David O'Hara a handful of times, a mutual friend introduced us. He shared this transcript of a talk at Augustana University's chapel that he gave recently prompting the question "What are you building with your life?" I enjoyed reading his talk greatly. Likely it is worth a couple of reads. His call to "build with love and wonder" is great. (David is also a Weekly Thing reader — Hello David! ). 00:03:23.447 --> 00:03:28.995 Link three of seven. 2 dollars H100s: How the GPU Bubble Burst, by Eugene Cheah. 00:03:29.495 --> 00:03:42.516 Where there is demand the market is going to react. It is hard to see a future where Nvidia has a lock on GPU capabilities that lasts for a long time. Even if AMD and Intel are slow to the game they should be close enough? 00:03:43.016 --> 00:03:56.984 Quote. We are looking at a >= 40% price drop per year, especially for small clusters. NVIDIA's marketing projection of 4 dollars per GPU hour across 4 years, has evaporated away in under 1.5 years. End quote. 00:03:57.484 --> 00:04:11.552 It is interesting that part of this demand loss seems to be the biggest workloads going private because they need even larger clusters. There was also a fun callout to crypto having less demand in part due to transitions away from proof-of-work. 00:04:12.052 --> 00:04:16.656 Overall an incredible dynamic market with super high capital requirements. 00:04:17.556 --> 00:04:23.343 Link four of seven. The Future of Software: From API to AI as the Communication Interface, rajiv.com. 00:04:23.843 --> 00:04:48.890 Rajiv Pant shares his views on shifting from API to AI interoperability between systems. My first taste of this was when I read about how ChatGPT and Wolfram Alpha communicate. They are both AI capable and they use that to coordinate versus rigid APIs. It is hard for me to wrap my head around given the unpredictability of this kind of interface but it is super interesting to consider how it could work. 00:04:49.790 --> 00:04:53.470 Link five of seven. Wealth distribution in the United States. 00:04:53.970 --> 00:04:55.548 This is an incredible chart. 00:04:56.048 --> 00:05:29.841 Quote. The histogram above shows the wealth distribution in red. Note that the visible red line is one pixel wide at the left and disappears everywhere else—this is the important point: essentially the entire US population is in that first bar. The graph is drawn with the scale of 1 pixel = 500 million dollars in the X axis, and 1 pixel = 1 million people in the Y axis. Away from the origin, the red line is invisible—a tiny fraction of a pixel tall since so few people have more than 500 million dollars. End quote. 00:05:30.341 --> 00:05:34.927 The scale of the wealth that these dozen or so individuals have is mind blowing. 00:05:35.827 --> 00:05:38.051 Link six of seven. To the crazy ones. 00:05:38.551 --> 00:05:59.755 I watched the replay of the Starship launch and it truly a marvel. It was incredible watching the booster return to the earth and the launch pad catching it with these giant "chopsticks". SpaceX is changing the world in huge ways. I mostly agree with DHH's commentary here, but I think he misses a really big difference that is very meaningful. 00:06:00.255 --> 00:06:15.668 When we were all crowded around TV's watching the Apollo mission we were watching something that "we" were doing. US taxpayers were funding the Government and NASA to do this amazing thing. There is a role that all of us, every single American, played in that. 00:06:16.168 --> 00:06:31.096 SpaceX we are watching the amazing results of a private company. Not even a public one that we can participate and be part of as a shareholder. These miracles and wonders are great, but they ultimately benefit a very small set of capital holders. 00:06:31.596 --> 00:06:35.298 It is something we watch "them" do, not something "we" made happen. 00:06:36.198 --> 00:06:41.838 Link seven of seven. TikTok knows its app is harming kids, new internal documents show: NPR. 00:06:42.338 --> 00:06:48.922 The only thing that should be surprising in this article is if this is surprising. TikTok is designed to addict. 00:06:49.422 --> 00:07:34.236 Quote. As TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users can attest, the platform’s hyper-personalized algorithm can be so engaging it becomes difficult to close the app. TikTok determined the precise amount of viewing it takes for someone to form a habit: 260 videos. After that, according to state investigators, a user “is likely to become addicted to the platform.” In the previously redacted portion of the suit, Kentucky authorities say: “While this may seem substantial, TikTok videos can be as short as 8 seconds and are played for viewers in rapid-fire succession, automatically,” the investigators wrote. “Thus, in under 35 minutes, an average user is likely to become addicted to the platform.” End quote. 00:07:34.736 --> 00:07:36.305 Other sections from this article. 00:07:36.805 --> 00:07:41.455 First, Time-limit tool aimed at 'improving public trust,' not limiting app use. 00:07:41.955 --> 00:07:45.928 Second, TikTok demoted people it deemed unattractive on its feed. 00:07:46.428 --> 00:07:51.596 Third, algorithm could deprive kids of opportunities like 'looking at someone in the eyes'. 00:07:52.096 --> 00:07:57.727 Fourth, TikTok's internal estimate: 95% of smartphone users under 17 use TikTok. 00:07:58.227 --> 00:08:02.852 Fifth, TikTok pushes users into filter bubbles like 'painhub' and 'sadnotes'. 00:08:03.352 --> 00:08:08.132 Sixth, TikTok's content moderation missing self-harm, eating disorder content. 00:08:08.632 --> 00:08:13.336 Seventh, TikTok slow to remove users under 13, despite company policy. 00:08:13.836 --> 00:08:20.069 Eighth, TikTok in crisis mode after report on TikTok Live being 'strip club filled with 15-year-olds'. 00:08:20.569 --> 00:08:22.537 Enough? More than enough for me. 00:08:23.937 --> 00:08:25.283 That's the end of Notable. 00:08:26.683 --> 00:08:28.265 Now, the Straw Poll section. 00:08:28.865 --> 00:08:38.152 Straw Poll is a new section of the Weekly Thing where I pose a question on a topic and get your feedback. Next week I'll share the insights from your responses! 00:08:38.652 --> 00:08:43.799 With the explosion of AI into the market the biggest winner in the public markets is Nvidia. 00:08:44.299 --> 00:09:00.319 On November 30, twenty twenty two, the day that ChatGPT was launched NVDA was trading at a split-adjusted 16 dollars and 92 cents. Last Monday it closed at 138 dollars and 7 cents, over eight times higher in less than two years. 00:09:00.819 --> 00:09:33.296 Quote. The share price of Nvidia, one of the chipmakers supplying data centers, reached a record high. The American firm's shares have risen by 8% over the past week, giving it a market capitalization of 3.4 trillion dollars, as investors appear to have regained some bullishness about AI's potential profitability. Meanwhile Bloomberg reported that America was considering capping the export of Nvidia's chips to some countries. — The Economist, The World in Brief on October 15, twenty twenty four End quote. 00:09:33.796 --> 00:09:52.721 Tyler regularly jabs me on this one. He wanted to add NVDA to his portfolio at a split-adjusted price of 70 dollars and I told him he shouldn't do it. The stock was too frothy having already gone up over four times. He would have doubled his investment. Add this to the list of reasons I’m not a trader. 00:09:53.221 --> 00:09:57.892 Look at the BigCharts chart for Nvidia which includes the 10:1 split. 00:09:58.392 --> 00:10:20.628 So for Nvidia to grow into this 3.4 trillion dollars valuation it has a lot of revenue to find. You have to assume that competitors aren't going to catch up and the demand is nearly insatiable for AI. And in fairness, Nvidia (P/E Ratio: ~64) is still worth less than Apple (P/E Ratio: ~36). So at these incredible valuations do you think NVDA is a buy? 00:10:21.128 --> 00:10:25.103 You must subscribe to the Weekly Thing to respond to Straw Polls. 00:10:26.503 --> 00:10:28.082 That's the end of Straw Poll. 00:10:29.482 --> 00:10:30.922 Now, the Journal section. 00:10:31.522 --> 00:10:32.626 Journal entry one. 00:10:33.126 --> 00:10:37.104 Delicious pizza and beer at Ursa Minor Brewing tonight in Duluth. 00:10:38.004 --> 00:10:39.132 Journal entry two. 00:10:39.632 --> 00:10:43.550 Short walk after pizza to Love Creamery for delicious ice cream! 00:10:44.450 --> 00:10:47.162 Journal entry three. Exploring FIFA Collect. 00:10:47.662 --> 00:11:08.842 I’ve been intrigued with FIFA Collect for a bit. My interest was piqued when I saw that they are dropping collectibles with “Right to Buy” for the twenty twenty six World Cup and I am very hopeful to go to at least a match. I'm guessing tickets will not be easy to get so getting a “Right to Buy” collectible for the city that I want to go to might be really nice. 00:11:09.342 --> 00:11:43.216 This morning I sat down with FIFA Collect and really figured out how it works. I was generally impressed. It is a full NFT solution built on the Algorand blockchain. I have used a ton of blockchains but hadn’t had a reason to use Algorand. Algorand is not a Ethereum ecosystem blockchain so I downloaded Pera wallet to get started. Then I bought 20 dollars USD worth of ALGO on Coinbase, transferred to my wallet and swapped 100 ALGO for 12.232474 of USDC-a, which is the USDC stablecoin token for Algorand. 00:11:43.716 --> 00:11:51.506 A few minutes later I purchased my first FIFA collectible on the marketplace, a World Cup 1994 USA #611 poster. 00:11:52.006 --> 00:12:08.866 I can buy some drops and hope I get lucky to find a “right to buy” collectible. Alternatively, there are already collectibles on the marketplace that others are selling with those rights. Right now the cheapest “right to buy” collectibles are selling for around 300 dollars. 00:12:09.766 --> 00:12:10.871 Journal entry four. 00:12:11.371 --> 00:12:16.689 Our Airbnb for the weekend up north is a converted garage set in the woods. Nice place! 00:12:17.589 --> 00:12:18.722 Journal entry five. 00:12:19.222 --> 00:12:25.567 Stop at Fika Coffee, my favorite coffee shop on the North Shore, on our way to Grand Marais this morning. 00:12:26.467 --> 00:12:27.643 Journal entry six. 00:12:28.143 --> 00:12:34.329 World's Best Donuts in Grand Marais. Pro tip: you can order the night before and skip the line entirely! 00:12:35.229 --> 00:12:36.457 Journal entry seven. 00:12:36.957 --> 00:12:38.781 Artists Point in Grand Marais. 00:12:39.681 --> 00:12:40.936 Journal entry eight. 00:12:41.436 --> 00:12:42.605 Grand Marais Light. 00:12:43.505 --> 00:12:44.681 Journal entry nine. 00:12:45.181 --> 00:12:49.154 Morning stop at the Great Lakes Candy Kitchen -- treats for home! 00:12:50.054 --> 00:12:51.134 Journal entry ten. 00:12:51.634 --> 00:13:07.785 We thought it was going to be very cold and rainy but the rain held off and the day turned incredibly nice for us to hike up to the Fifth Falls at Gooseberry Falls today. Gooseberry has to be one of the most accessible parks we have and it is a great place to explore! 00:13:08.685 --> 00:13:09.866 Journal entry eleven. 00:13:10.366 --> 00:13:18.774 We’ve driven by Glensheen Mansion many times and finally we stopped and took a tour. It is a pretty incredible residence. Worth stopping! 00:13:19.674 --> 00:13:22.473 Journal entry twelve. North Shore Weekend Log. 00:13:22.973 --> 00:13:23.501 Friday. 00:13:24.001 --> 00:13:25.369 First, drive to Duluth. 00:13:25.869 --> 00:13:28.574 Second, pizza and beer at Ursa Minor Brewery. 00:13:29.074 --> 00:13:31.162 Third, ice cream at Love Creamery. 00:13:31.662 --> 00:13:34.350 Fourth, check into Airbnb just past Duluth. 00:13:34.850 --> 00:13:36.467 Fifth, hot tub and homework. 00:13:36.967 --> 00:13:40.808 Sixth, Pre-order donuts at World’s Best Donuts in Grand Marais. 00:13:41.308 --> 00:13:41.884 Saturday. 00:13:42.384 --> 00:13:44.028 First, drive to Grand Marais. 00:13:44.528 --> 00:13:47.505 Second, stop at Fika Coffee for delicious coffee. 00:13:48.005 --> 00:13:50.672 Third, pickup donuts at World’s Best Donuts. 00:13:51.172 --> 00:13:55.199 Fourth, traipsed around Artist Point taking photos and exploring. 00:13:55.699 --> 00:13:58.610 Fifth, walked out on pier to Grand Marais Light. 00:13:59.110 --> 00:14:10.486 Sixth, shopping around Grand Marais: Lake Superior Trading Post, Joynes Ben Franklin, The Sweetwater Co., Great Gifts, The Big Lake, The Market, Sivertson Art Gallery, and Drury Lane Books. 00:14:10.986 --> 00:14:13.383 Seventh, last customer at Crosby Bakery. 00:14:13.883 --> 00:14:18.629 Eighth, surprising rush of dining demand at 4pm -- dinner at Angry Trout Cafe. 00:14:19.129 --> 00:14:21.347 Ninth, ice cream at Superior Creamery. 00:14:21.847 --> 00:14:23.287 Tenth, return to Airbnb. 00:14:23.787 --> 00:14:24.315 Sunday. 00:14:24.815 --> 00:14:27.143 First, send Weekly Thing 296. 00:14:27.643 --> 00:14:29.347 Second, check out Of Airbnb. 00:14:29.847 --> 00:14:33.442 Third, get candy to bring home from Great Lakes Candy Kitchen. 00:14:33.942 --> 00:14:36.510 Fourth, fabulous lunch at New Scenic Cafe. 00:14:37.010 --> 00:14:39.491 Fifth, delightful time at Gooseberry Falls. 00:14:39.991 --> 00:14:41.912 Sixth, visit Glensheen Mansion. 00:14:42.412 --> 00:14:44.692 Seventh, dinner at Va Bene in Duluth. 00:14:45.192 --> 00:14:46.320 Eighth, drive home. 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:48.008 Weekly Thing Forum. 00:14:48.508 --> 00:14:57.023 Join Eric Walker, Steve, Patrick Hambek, Tom Mungavan and many other Weekly Thing readers in the Weekly Thing Forum. Recent topics include. 00:14:57.523 --> 00:14:59.507 First, weekly Thing 296. 00:15:00.007 --> 00:15:02.095 Second, weekly Thing 295. 00:15:02.595 --> 00:15:05.151 Third, notebook LM Deep Dives Weekly Thing. 00:15:05.651 --> 00:15:08.804 Fourth, supersize Double Edition of the Weekly Thing. 00:15:09.304 --> 00:15:10.865 Fifth, no Thing This Week. 00:15:12.265 --> 00:15:13.711 That's the end of the Journal. 00:15:15.111 --> 00:15:16.383 Now, the Briefly section. 00:15:16.983 --> 00:15:18.572 There are nine links this week. 00:15:19.472 --> 00:15:22.496 Link one of nine. The Teenage Engineering TP-7. 00:15:22.996 --> 00:15:27.412 I had never heard of the TP-7 but it looks like an incredible piece of engineering. 00:15:28.312 --> 00:15:29.858 Link two of nine. Simple.css. 00:15:30.358 --> 00:15:34.350 Super simple CSS framework to make HTML content much more pleasant. 00:15:35.250 --> 00:15:42.843 Link three of nine. ‘It’s mindblowing’: US meteorologists face death threats as hurricane conspiracies surge, The Guardian. 00:15:43.343 --> 00:15:44.279 This is insane. 00:15:45.179 --> 00:15:47.367 Link four of nine. Kafka 101. 00:15:47.867 --> 00:15:50.819 Very approachable overview of how Kafka works. 00:15:51.719 --> 00:15:54.247 Link five of nine. Pure Blogger, On my Om. 00:15:54.747 --> 00:15:59.055 "Pure Blogger". Like that. I would like to think I might earn that title. 00:15:59.955 --> 00:16:03.051 Link six of nine. The 1/eighth Sleep, near.blog. 00:16:03.551 --> 00:16:07.412 We have an 8Sleep so I was curious to see what a DIY one would be. 00:16:08.312 --> 00:16:12.266 Link seven of nine. I Finally Lost My Smart Ring! I am BARRY HESS. 00:16:12.766 --> 00:16:16.908 An incredible story of losing an Oura Ring and then it being recovered! 00:16:17.808 --> 00:16:22.837 Link eight of nine. Possible futures of the Ethereum protocol, part 1: The Merge. 00:16:23.337 --> 00:16:31.351 The continued roadmap for Ethereum. I like the focus on reducing the staking requirement to make it easier for more people to participate. 00:16:32.251 --> 00:16:43.987 Link nine of nine. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final “Click-to-Cancel” Rule Making It Easier for Consumers to End Recurring Subscriptions and Memberships, Federal Trade Commission. 00:16:44.487 --> 00:16:50.122 This would be such a welcome improvement. Cancelling some recurring services is incredibly difficult. 00:16:51.522 --> 00:16:52.917 That's the end of Briefly. 00:16:54.317 --> 00:16:55.710 Now, the Fortune section. 00:16:56.310 --> 00:16:57.391 Here is your fortune… 00:16:57.891 --> 00:17:00.328 Never look up when dragons fly overhead. 00:17:00.828 --> 00:17:03.368 Here are some things you can do that would be great… 00:17:03.868 --> 00:17:09.134 First, share Weekly Thing 297 / People, Building, "Pure Blogger" with others you know! 00:17:09.634 --> 00:17:13.379 Second, post about the Weekly Thing and let others know about it. 00:17:13.879 --> 00:17:17.445 Third, join the Weekly Thing Forum and connect with others. 00:17:17.945 --> 00:17:21.257 Fourth, email me comments, feedback, or just to say Hi! 00:17:22.657 --> 00:17:28.691 That brings us to the end of the Weekly Thing, issue 297. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.