His main professional project, however, is a meditation app called Waking Up. As an early supporter of his podcast, I received a lifelong membership to the app. I'm not sure this was advantageous, as I delayed making a serious effort to utilize the app for years. Recently, I decided to give it another try and was impressed by his approach to teaching mindfulness.

The app is well-designed and aesthetically pleasing. The introductory course blends explanations with short meditation exercises. Sam is a master of language, and his explanations regarding the benefits of meditation are some of the clearest and most persuasive I've encountered. As a secular and scientific individual, he avoids religious or spiritual justifications, focusing instead on training the brain as one would train the body.

I highly recommend giving it a serious try. The app has a price tag (20 USD/month, or 10 USD/month for a full year's subscription), but it's available for free if the cost is in the way. I suggest paying and - if you regret the purchase - asking for a refund, as they have a no-questions-asked policy. I continue to pay for access to the podcast and have never regretted it.

Our minds are all we have. They are all we have ever had. And they are all we can offer others. This might not be obvious, especially when there are aspects of your life that seem in need of improvement--when your goals are unrealized, or you are struggling to find a career, or you have relationships that need repairing. But it's the truth. Every experience you have ever had has been shaped by your mind. Every relationship is as good or as bad as it is because of the minds involved. If you are perpetually angry, depressed, confused, and unloving, or your attention is elsewhere, it won't matter how successful you become or who is in your life--you won't enjoy any of it." — Sam Harris from his Waking Up book

What stands out to me is the effective way in which he leverages and supports young talented people as co-hosts, researchers and technical staff. His setup strikes me as a particularly great template that other established experts should consider to implement.

The Co-Host of the Prof G Markets show is Ed Elson, who's official job title is analyst at Prof G media. It feels like Ed's responsibilities go far beyond being an analyst. He prepares the show topics, conducts research, and guides the show's flow as co-host. It allows for Scott to just appear in the call and start the conversation. Scott can focus on what he does best: engaging in professional conversations and sharing his expertise. Their conversation often include fun banter, with Scott in dry humor making jokes at Ed’s expense. Still, to me it comes through that Scott is in a mentorship role, nurturing Ed's talents. Over time I find that Ed brings in more and more expertise and interesting viewpoints.

The result is a clear win-win. Scott remains the expert in the room, seen in contrast to his far less experienced co-host. He has in Ed someone that does the grunt work and digital production. In addition, Ed's emerging perspective provides a rich, varied dialogue that enhances the show's quality. As a non-expert listener, I often identify with Ed, which improves the listening experience for me.

Still, the whole setup must be an exceptional opportunity for Ed. Being visible in front of so many industry experts, with the help and guidance of Scott, learning and growing in the process. I'm sure Ed is hugely motivated and incentivized to giving it his best. Usually an apprentices is hidden behind the scenes but here Ed is front and center and I personally only see it benefiting Scott, Ed, and the audience in general.

The term Warm Data could be a helpful way to address this imbalance. I found the explanation on Nora Bateson's Warm Data page a bit complex. Yet, after watching her short explainer video, I'm confident that it's a useful term for capturing those elusive elements often overlooked.

[Warm Data] doesn't just present the hard, cold facts. It provides context, and sometimes, it offers multiple perspectives.

Consider Amazon, a company that thrives on data-driven efficiency. It's incredibly successful at providing a seamless shopping experience and has built a massive business. However, I know many people who hold mixed feelings towards Amazon. Some are skeptical, some openly critical. Is it due to their treatment of workers? The ease of overconsumption? Environmental concerns? Or their strong-arm tactics with suppliers? It's hard to pinpoint, but it seems like there could be aspects of Warm Data that Amazon isn't optimizing for, aspects that people are intuitively noticing.

This isn't something I can immediately implement, but it's a concept I intend to explore further. One idea is to bring this into my next data-driven team meeting. At the end, I could ask, "Are there any particularly important Warm Data points worth considering here?" This question might help uncover valuable insights that go beyond the obvious numbers and charts.

Instead of doing sketches, I started re-creating the website in Framer. Framer is similar to tools like Figma or Webflow and easy to learn for anybody with some experience in webdesign or html/css development. It took me about 2-3 hours and was also fun and some good practice, where I also learned a thing or two about Framer and modern web development.

What made this approach so valuable was testing the usability firsthand, without waiting for a developer to implement static screen designs. This sparked new ideas and led to a significant shift in my original plan. Instead of just images, I now have a working prototype of the new design that can be compared with the actual page. This made communication with the developer much easier.

It's truly amazing how simple website creation has become. We're not just talking about building the final page, but also about quickly turning an idea or concept into a working, interactive website. For me, it's a game-changer.

He candidly addresses key core drivers of the Middle East Conflict, the troubling prospect of a divided Ukraine, Russia's transformation into a rogue state, the ongoing US-China conflict, the upcoming US election with Trump as near-certain candidate, as well as other global nuances. I highly recommend listening to this speech, as it provides a deeper understanding of what is shaping the decisions of our global political leaders.

Ian Bremmer is a renowned political scientist with a deep understanding of global affairs. I first discovered him through several episodes of the Making Sense podcast, particularly enjoying his joint episode with Peter Zeihan (full episode access) where he provided a balanced position on Peter's book, "The End of the World Is Just the Beginning". As the founder and president of Eurasia Group, a leading political risk research and consulting firm, and the host of the GZero Media YouTube channel, Bremmer continues to be a valuable source for updates on world politics.

The Whoop is a health and fitness tracker without a screen, worn around the wrist. I find its screenless design more elegant and fashionable compared to a typical smartwatch. Its battery lasts about a week, making it convenient for night-time use, especially for sleep tracking.

A strength of the Whoop seems to be its data-driven approach. The accompanying app asks the user for daily input to a customizable survey that tracks those metrics which are most relevant to the owner. For instance, you can decide to record your alcohol consumption or the time of your last meal. This personal input, combined with the device's tracking capabilities—measuring heart rate, skin temperature, sleep duration and quality, among other things—allows the app to detect insightful correlations.

All health data is synthesized into a simple color-coded score, that turns green, yellow, or red. From what Till told me, the value of this simplified metric for the user seems to be remarkable. It translates complex data into understandable terms, like how eating late might turn my score yellow the next day. Till shared how this simplicity is often more satisfying and clarifying than navigating through complex dashboards.

A second, related insight is the social benefit of sharing this metric in our connected world. Users can opt in to connect and share their Whoop scores with others. A red dot in the app can then serve as a subtle clue of how the other person feels. It's a remote way of noticing when someone is off and asking, "How are you? You don't seem well today."

Most things that the Whoop does can be done by other trackers, like the Apple Watch, as well. Still, the simple, elegant, and data-driven approach strikes me as something remarkable and worth watching.

Johannis, who studied alongside me at ESCP Europe, has an extensive entrepreneurial background. He launched, bought, and sold multiple companies, experiencing a spectrum of outcomes from failures and pivots to various levels of success. One impressive achievement is his role in co-founding and leading ProductsUp, which last time I checked had 300 employees. Transitioning into angel investing, he established JVH Ventures, where he has invested in over 50 companies to date.

What sets Johannis apart is being both kind and capable, coupled with a unique ability to connect with individuals who excel in either or both aspects. One such individual is Hendryk, his venture partner, with whom I had the pleasure of working in the past. Their talent for facilitating knowledge transfer between investors and founders is evident at the in-person event series, JVH Backstage, where I experienced these valuable exchanges firsthand.

Johannis's recent activity on LinkedIn has been equally impressive. He shares valuable and honest insights from his journey, resonating with thousands of people on the platform. Founders looking for a closer connection can join his Angel Crew, while the Closing the Gap newsletter offers insightful reads for both founders and investors. I highly recommend checking out his work!

The books he highlights are Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie, The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee and Invention and Innovation by Vaclav Smil, as well as an online economics lectures by Timothy Taylor and his Spotify Holiday Playlist.

I know Vaclav Smil from the coverage of his book How the World Really Works over at A Few Things, for example here. He is one of Gates' favorite analysts and authors who wrote 36 books. I remember Siddhartha Mukherjee from the conversation with Sam Harris about Genetics, Cancer and the Pandemic (all these links include the full episodes). I've not heard from Hannah Ritchie but I'm looking forward to learning more about her.

Cedric speaks with Colin Bryar, an early Amazon employee who played a significant role in developing their data analytics systems and worked closely with Jeff Bezos. Colin co-authored the book Working Backwards which delves into several of Amazon's innovative and influential strategies, including the WBR.

Learning about this from Cedric and Colin is particularly valuable. Colin's direct involvement in the creation, testing, and refinement of the WBR offers a rare, inside perspective. Cedric has the ability to distill complex ideas brilliantly. He not only provides a succinct summary of the Working Backwards book but also has written a detailed article about the WBR. Cedric is currently applying the WBR principles in his own organization, as part of his Becoming Data Driven series. All this makes this podcast and the articles on Commoncog an exceptional resource for learning about the WBR methodology but also about data-driven decision-making in general.

From now on, your iPhone will appear in the list of camera sources on your Mac. It will show up in the camera selection of video call apps, such as Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams. When you're in a call, switch the camera over to your iPhone and use it to show something on your desk or in the room. Adjust the camera settings in the control center on the top right of the screen. There is even a special Desk View that maintains a bird's eye view of your desk in front of the keyboard. Accessories are now available to mount your iPhone safely on your MacBook or iMac. This review video explains it all pretty well, I think.

Also, if you start the FaceTime app on your Apple TV, you can use your iPhone as a webcam to have video calls on the big screen. This is great for family calls where more people can gather in front of the TV in the living room. The spotlight camera feature will even zoom in and out automatically to put the people in the right frame. Apple has a dedicated support video to explain how it works.

To get started, you'll need a public library subscription. In Berlin, it's available for just 10 EUR per year here. The signup process is fully digital, so no paperwork is required. I've heard similar things about libraries in the UK, the US, and Canada. Each library offers slightly different content, so you might consider signing up for more than one.

The most popular app for this is Libby, maintained by OverDrive, a digital rights management company. Once you log in to Libby with your library credentials, you can browse a catalog of available ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and streaming video. In the US, you can even link Libby to your Kindle and borrow books directly on your device.

Your local library likely supports additional apps for more content. For instance, in Berlin, Genios eBib offers free access to most newspapers and features a powerful full-text search that links directly to complete article texts. Onleihe and Pressreader (no signup required, just sign in via "Library or group" and your library credentials) are two more options for digital magazines, providing access to publications like Stiftung Warentest and c't, which are great for reviews and feature articles.

The kids love riding on it; they ask to come along, just to be able to perch behind on the seat and watch the world fly by. We all look forward to errands and drop-offs, to being able to hop on and take off, load it up with stuff and not worry about stuffing things into backpacks or saddlebags. I can avoid traffic and parking issues. I can take it on pavement and trails, thanks to wide grippy tires. I take it to the grocery store, to the beach, to the gym, to dinners with friends. I love how its cargo-carrying capacity allows me to pick up kids, groceries, and parcels at the post office spontaneously, without having to plan in advance; I always have enough room to carry everything (and everyone!).

I've had the feeling that a cargo bikes can replace a child's experience of being trapped in a car seat with something closer to an amusement park ride. But the article highlights also how much joy it can spark for the parents.

Back to that initial comment I made about feeling joy, it truly does fill me with bliss as I speed along Lake Huron smoothly and silently. I think we adults sometimes struggle (or forget?) to find moments of sheer delight in our day-to-day lives. What comes so easily to a child becomes a rare emotion in an adult, and yet the e-bike provides me with that on a regular basis. I get a little surge of giddiness, of excitement, that comes just from the basic act of riding. Often I catch myself riding with a giant grin on my face, which must look ridiculous to passersby, but makes perfect sense to me. It's impossible not to feel happy on the e-bike, and it's guaranteed to boost my mood whenever I hop on.

Thank you James for sending this over as a reply to Electric Bike Ownership.

"The difference between science and just screwing around is writing it down." – Adam Savage

The video The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of Plain Text by Tris Oaten makes this point brilliantly. As a programmer, Tris is used to working in teams and handling large amounts of information. He experienced how the act of constantly changing tools creates an enormous overhead for teams. If they can't rely on tools, people start to have more meetings. But talking does not scale and is extremely impermanent.

Tris makes this point in the first 5 minutes of the video and lists many compelling arguments for individuals and businesses alike. I recommend watching at least that. The second part of the video is about how to implement a plain text workflow with GitHub, a very popular tool for programming, as an example.

You now entered "search nearby" mode which is indicated with a blue button inside the search field. From now on you can also type custom search terms, say "parking." The results will be centered around the place you initially selected. Hovering over a result reveals useful details, such as the walking distance from your location. You can even specify a walking distance radius to filter search results within that range.

This feature also integrates with navigation routes. When you clicked "Directions" and see the blue paths on the map, clicking the suggested buttons on top of the map shows only results along your path. Again, you can then also search for custom terms. For instance, if you're heading to a friend's place, you can easily find "flower shops" or "wine shops" along the way. Viewing these results in relation to your route or a specific simplifies the process, making it more convenient than constantly switching between different searches.

For starters he has a stunning voice. But what stands out to me, is how he uses repetition as technique to emphasize parts of his poems. This has a profound impact on me. It gives me a space to let it sink in and highlights the weight of the sentence. Repeating words, phrases or scenes could very well be the equivalent of highlighting written text. I'm sure this technique is underutilized in presentations, podcasts, audiobooks or even videos as a. Repeat the parts that matter.

I've recently discovered this video titled Refuge and it touched me. In a time of war and refuge debates, it is a great reminder that at time we all need refuge in our lives. David Whyte has a Substack now, where he releases his existing work for free and new work for paid subscribers.