Inspo quotes, surprising news, weird websites, and underrated rituals
A roundup of interesting things I found online this week.
Hi friends,
Another crazy week on planet Earth (Trump sent a barrage of missiles towards Iran, said “f**k” on TV, the NATO Secretary-General called him “Daddy”, etc etc).
Here’s a roundup of some interesting things I found online this week.
Ben x
p.s. A swan, rescued. (potentially the best video I’ve seen this month)
Six bits of surprising news
Don’t you know who Neil Quigley is? There are calls for the resignation of the Reserve Bank chair (who is also Vice Chancellor of Waikato Uni) who championed transparency – but now objects to some rather uncomfortable questions about being personally accountable. A detailed, scathing piece. via Newsroom.
Fonterra boss nabbed science and tech advisory role after texting PM. The manager with no scientific background was announced as a member of the PM’s science and technology advisory council in May. Documents released under the Official Information Act show she had sent Luxon a text message to tell him she was keen for the gig to ‘support this national mission’. via The Spinoff.
According to a report released by Stats NZ this week, the LGBTIQ+ population is comparatively young, with 1 in 10 people aged 15 to 29 years being LGBTIQ+ (10.2 percent) in the 2023 Census, compared with 1 in 20 adults in the overall adult population (4.9 percent). via Politik
The Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against The Warehouse because their advertisement was offensive due to the humour in the advertisement based on a stereotype that girls aren’t good at maths. The complaints were about an image of a light purple backpack covered in unicorns, stars and hearts. Above the backpack is the text “can’t do long division”. The Warehouse defended the advertisement and said long division is not generally learnt until around Year 5 and the backpack itself is the type that a very young child might own, likely age group 3-5 years. via Politik
A federal judge sides with AI startup Anthropic in lawsuit over training AI on books without authors’ permission, marking first legal ruling supporting AI companies' use of copyrighted material. via TechCrunch.
Despite TikTok’s cultural dominance among Gen Z, Facebook and Instagram still lead in monthly active users, with 2.11 billion and 1.5 billion, respectively. TikTok trails with 1.16 billion, but it could soon outpace rivals in revenue, reportedly on track to generate $186 billion in 2025, or about $40 per user. Snapchat has 900M users but continues to struggle with monetisation, earning just $1.51 per user, while Pinterest fares slightly better with $1.91 per user. via TheWrap.
Four great quotes for your inspo
James Clear on enthusiasm:
"“A simple rule for life that rarely fails: Optimise for enthusiasm. Make as many choices as you can that leave you feeling energetic and interested. Pay attention to when you have the urge to pursue or participate in something and do more of it."
Mark Manson on illusion of perfection:
“Every confident person still feels insecure. Every successful person still fails. Every happy person still struggles. Don’t mistake outside appearances for internal realities.”
James Clear on getting started with what you’ve got:
"Start with the best opportunity available to you. If you make the most of what you have in front of you right now, better opportunities will become available as you go along."
James Clear on relationships:
"Relationships are usually the most important thing. If you want to achieve more, there is some relationship that can unlock better results. If you want to make a meaningful contribution, helping others is a great way to do it. If you simply want to be a little happier, life is often more fun when shared with someone. Whatever you're trying to accomplish, relationships are probably the key to getting there.”
Two weird websites to visit
Than Average is a small, “unscientific” investigation into how you compare yourself to others. Just answer the questions instinctively and see where you land in a room with 100 strangers. via Recommedo
Part of the thrill of being alive is that we don’t know when we will die. Some might find their statistical death age to be very clarifying, helping them focus on maximising today. There’s a new AI-enhanced Death Clock that takes into account your lifestyle choices to give you a death date based on statistics. Treat it as a hint rather than destiny. via Recommedo
Four thoughtful thoughts from Seth Godin’s blog
Status shows up whenever humans do, and it is the invisible underpinning of our culture. The front lawn was only invented to demonstrate that you had time and money to waste - you could take useful land and make it non-productive. If it can happen to grass, it can happen to everything, and it does.
Ready to be… Disappointed? Delighted? Amazed? Offended? Ripped off? Grateful? Loved? Sometimes we get what we expect.
Even at a distance, we can sometimes tell if someone is educated, rich, powerful or physically attractive. But that doesn’t always correlate with smart, kind or honest. Strong signals might not be the same as useful ones.
Every retailer knows that the items that sell the best are at eye level or at the cash register. Some people are hungry, rushed, distracted and lazy. If you want to reach them (us), you need to make it convenient. The lesson is simple: We can market to ourselves the same way others market to us. Put the good habits in a place where they’re easy to find and engage with. And put the other stuff on a top shelf in the back of the room. What would happen if you had your most noxious social media apps on a device you needed to go far out of your way to interact with? It’s not as difficult as it sounds. Lock up your candy.
Simple, underrated rituals
In the Simple Living subreddit, someone asked, “What’s a simple, underrated ritual that genuinely changed your life—and you wish you’d started earlier?”
I think we should all experiment with small rituals to improve our lives. Here are some of the replies:
I always read before bed, even if it’s just a few pages. It creates more room away from screens and to-do lists, and makes it easy to fall asleep.
Telling myself that 99% of things are working fine and its just that 1% that I'm obsessing about that is freaking me out.
Regular afternoon naps of about 20 minutes. Things get reset internally.
Making sure there are no dishes in the sink before bed. Waking up to a clean sink just lets me believe I am on top of things, when in reality I'm probably not, lol.
Anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes of full-body mobility after getting out of bed - the body is a "use it or lose it" mechanism, for the average person, this will keep aches and pains at bay, keep your joints lubricated, and help you to feel younger for longer.
Buying an alarm clock, and leaving the phone (internet off) in the living room. Been nearly a week now and already see a massive improvement.
I have a journal in which I write 3 good things that happened to me that day before I go to bed. It helps me think about and appreciate the day.
Breathing exercises. Inhale through nose 4 seconds. Hold air in belly 6 seconds. Exhale slowly through pursed lips 8 seconds. Helps with blood pressure and anxiety, and can be done anywhere and anytime.
I get out of bed when the alarm rings. It doesn't feel any better to wallow around, because you feel guilty and might the up being late.
Making my bed as soon as I get up in the morning.
Before walking away from my desk at work for the day, I write the top 2-3 things I have to finish or get done tomorrow morning, that way it’s there to remind me before I start checking email and letting the day run wild. That and setting the coffee pot to auto brew the night before.