What Adults 50+ (and Their Families) Should Know Alzheimer’s used to be something doctors confirmed only after memory problems were already disrupting daily life. Today, that’s beginning to change. In the last few years, researchers have developed simple blood tests that can detect early biological signs of Alzheimer’s — sometimes years before noticeable symptoms begin….
We Should Probably Use Them. Ever get a little weary listening to so-called experts confidently explain things they appear to know very little about? Turn on the television, scroll through social media, or wander into almost any online discussion and you’ll find no shortage of people presenting opinion as fact — often with great conviction…
A mechanical watch is worse than a smartwatch in almost every measurable way. It’s less accurate, requires maintenance, doesn’t sync to anything, and certainly won’t track your steps. And yet people still love them. This piece isn’t really about watches — it’s about why, in a world obsessed with optimization and efficiency, some things remain…
I provided some of my ideas of some interesting meals suggestions for this holiday period. I thought you might also like ideas from the professionals. Here are suggestions from the professionals at Food & Wine. They range from dips, biscuits, cookies along with a couple of main dishes complemented with some intriguing side dishes. Check…
and That’s the Problem A short take for those curious about the latest AI findings. Every so often, an AI article comes along that isn’t just interesting — it’s revealing. This week I read a piece describing a behavior that is becoming increasingly common in advanced AI systems: they know when they’re being tested, and…
Sometimes life reminds you — much too often — that our circle of friends isn’t as large as it used to be. In the past few weeks, I’ve been invited to too many celebrations of life and have been informed of others who have left us. I know many of you have had similar experiences….
This article in Forbes is by a colleague of mine from the days at the PwC Technology Center some 25 to 30 years ago. The Tech Centre was comprised of a group of really smart people who looked at the implications of emerging technology and published there assessments to number of industry executives. Dr. Reichental…
Barcelona’s Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece, has just claimed a new distinction — it is now the tallest church in the world, surpassing Germany’s Ulmer Münster. More than 140 years after its foundations were laid, the basilica still isn’t finished, but that’s part of its magic. Every year, new towers rise, new windows bloom…
A Foundation Thought Piece for the AI and Robotics Series When a headline says “AGI is only months away,” it usually means somebody wants funding. In contrast, former Tesla and OpenAI engineer Andrej Karpathy recently sat down with Dwarkesh Patel for a two-hour conversation that feels refreshingly sane. Karpathy’s view: artificial general intelligence is probably…
The Oldest (and Most Haunted) Hotel in Las Vegas Is Offering $5,000 for One Brave Soul to Spend the Night There are plenty of ways to lose money in Las Vegas — but this one actually pays you back.The city’s oldest hotel, with a reputation for flickering lights and uninvited guests who never quite checked…
Illegal U-turn, But They Can’t Ticket Another Case Where Regulations Do Not Keep Up With Technology Deployment Autonomous cars have been evolving for quite a few years now. There has been a lot of discussion around issues of autonomous cars both pro and con. But as usual regulations lag far behind deployment of new technologies….
Just when you thought you’d heard it all, North Korea has gone to war with… breast implants. Forget missiles and war games—the new frontline is the plastic surgeon’s office. I suppose this is what happens when leaders confuse body politics with actual politics. North Korea Targets Women Amid Crackdown On “Capitalist” Breast Implants, Calls Them…
or Just the Lucky Few? “Cool, now what?” That’s the question Packy McCormick poses at the heart of his recent essay, Means and Meaning. It’s a clever turn of phrase that captures a central tension of our time: We have more tools, more time-saving devices, more access to knowledge and automation than ever before. But…
Employees happier, healthier and higher-performing? The four-day workweek is trending again, and this time it comes with charts. A new six-month, six-country study says that shaving off a day (without reducing pay) leads to less burnout, better mental health, and happier employees. Sounds like a win all around. But before we start mandating three-day weekends…
AI and the Real Productivity Problem This Is Something Interesting When it comes to AI, most of the public conversation seems to center around one big question: Will it replace us? But that’s the wrong question. And it implies the wrong approach to using AI today for probable several more years. What we should be…
This Is Something Interesting We’ve all heard debates about gentrification—who gains, who loses, and what it means for communities. Most of the time, it gets framed as a cultural conflict or an economic inevitability. But this Substack article takes a different tack: it treats gentrification as a housing supply issue more than anything else. Instead…
Factory-Scale Automation for Small Businesses For decades, industrial automation has conjured images of massive machines sealed behind safety cages—powerful, fast, and too dangerous to work alongside humans. But a quieter revolution is underway, led by a new kind of robotic coworker: the cobot. Cobots—or collaborative robots—are designed not to replace humans, but to work with…
New Gemini AI Could Change Everything If you’ve ever watched a video of a robot struggle to pick up a banana or fold a towel, you’ve seen the frustrating gap between what AI can think and what robots can do. Google DeepMind may have just taken a major step toward closing that gap. (see my…
In keeping with my thread on robot, I came across this article in Forbes written by someone I used to work with a couple of decades ago. He was a thought leader then and remains so today. If you ever run across things by Jonathan Reichental, it is always worth reading. Dr. Reichental introduces the…
Remember When Watching Your Favorite Team Was Easy? I Do. There was a time—not that long ago—when you just turned on the TV, flipped to the right channel, and there it was: your game. No passwords, no apps, no subscription math. Just you, your team, and maybe a neighbor or two yelling at the screen….
Everyone has an argument every once in a while – with your boss, your kids, your spouse (how does that happen) or your friends, Some of are better are arguing than others. This article gives us some ideas on not only how to argue better but how to resolve the issues that started the argument…
Here is an interesting article discussing the changes in media and how we get our news, information and opinion. The old model which many of us grew up with is mostly gone. Figures such as Cronkite and Rather no longer provide us with mediated news and views. Now almost anyone can publish news and opinions…
We have heard for years that curiosity killed the cat, but this article shows that we should actually become more curious as we go along and maybe as we get older we should become even more curious. A synopsis is below and the original article can be found here. “How curiosity rewires your brain for…
I thought this was an interesting article by Packy McCormick at Not Boring. So I am submitting it for your review. I copied it and removed all the ads and promotions. If you need the original site, let me know and I will forward the link. I, against my brothers. I and my brothers against my…
Way back in college I found that some topics were beyond my comprehension. One of those topics was semiconductor electronics. (There is a story there for another time) This was complemented a couple of years later with advanced physics regarding quantum topics. Over the years, I have continued to casually follow up on what was…
Here is another article from Big Think. Most of what Ehan Siegal writes is consistent with my own views. A short synopsis is below but here are some headlines. In order to be successful as a society, we have to commit to working together, collectively, for the common good of all of us, including investing…
In keeping with my theme on interstellar travel, I found this article which discusses one of the least discussed roadblocks for successful travel to Mars and beyond. Most of the discussions deal with finding adequate power to lift the payloads needed to build living facilities that could house astronauts and scientists on the surface of…
I came across this article in my email from the Construction Physics newsletter. I is a detailed discussion of how energy sources connect to the electrical grid. There currently exists more than a thousand projects for solar, wind, nuclear and other waiting for approval. The current process takes up to five years before a project…
I saw this article from one of the newsletters I receive every day. I thought it was interesting that we use sports terms in our everyday speech many times without realizing it. This article points out 20 of the most used and I follow this with some additional terms. I‘m sure you probably can think…
If you’re confused, you’re not alone. To drink or not to drink, that is the question. Personally, I like my martini or glass of wine with dinner. But many have question on this topic. I found an interesting article that covers the subject in depth at Popular Science. The article is here (it is a…
