An explanation of why the buns are askew on Japanese McDonald’s ads. This takes a turn at the end.
“I was on a call with investors who asked why there are so many protests about data centers. I told them something they didn’t want to hear. The public looks at what hyperscalers are doing and sees this: tech gets rich; you pay more for water and electricity; your kids may not have jobs. And you’re surprised that 85% of the public doesn’t like that deal? They’re not wrong.”
My colleague Steve Saunders interviews Blair Levin, policy analyst with New Street Research and chief architect of the 2010 National Broadband Plan on AI, infrastructure and why the U.S. is falling behind.
Truth, Consequences, Climate, and Demand Destruction — The Iran war is reducing demand for fossil fuels and driving the world toward renewables for everybody but the US, writes Rebecca Solnit. “This is how the attack by one petro-state (ours) on another (Iran’s) may be turning out to be very bad for petroleum, because the only thing history loves more than a surprise party is irony.” (Via Cory)
The Other Reasons Why Podcasting is Hot — Doc Searls
We shouldn’t use AI to replace doctors. We should use it to replace patients
My old friend Dr. Marc Gorelick, who is a respected elder statesman of pediatric medicine, writes about the skewed incentives in medical care that make a hair transplant more valuable than resuscitating a newborn infant.
According to the metrics used by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the American Medical Association, the hair transplant is 31-84% more valuable than resuscitating a newborn.
Marc mentions circumcision without making any jokes about it, which shows greater willpower than I’m capable of, and which explains why he is a respected elder statesman of pediatric medicine and I type for a living.
The Venture-Capital Populist. How David Sacks and the new tech right went full MAGA and captured Washington.
Lines, Ranked — McSweeney’s
Meta Has Entered Its Death Spiral — Maybe, but seems premature to call it.