Curated Commons // Edition 90
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the 90th edition of Curated Commons. Happy reading, and do pass on the newsletter and share it on your social networks if you find it interesting! It’s free!
Let’s dive right in ($ indicates potential paywall).
Care for a child? A digital one?
Our amazing future is already here. And thankfully, it is unevenly distributed. For now. - Read here
The average American child costs parents more than $230,000 by the time they reach the age of 17, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
A digital kid, on the other hand, could have all its needs met for less than $25 per month — that’s just about $5,100 by the time they reach high school graduation — according to the UK’s leading artificial intelligence expert.
3D Printing body parts with own cells
This is an exciting development. A biotech company has used 3D Printing to to transplant an ear made from the patient’s own cells. - Read here ($)
Percentages are hard. No wonder companies love them
Maths is hard. And companies exploit this. Interesting study. - Read here ($)
Spotting killer asteroids
There’s now a privately-funded tool for spotting killer asteroids. Hopefully before they turn killer! - Read here
Open source, with a Chinese twist
Code is now political. Chinese authorities have now forced a Chinese competitor to GitHub to ‘manually review’ all open-source code. - Read here
A coffee app that loves your location
A friendly reminder that if something is technically possible, there will always be an individual, or an organization, or a state actor that will go beyond user agreements and regulations. Till they are called out. - Read here
The median worker at Google & Facebook made ~$300K in 2021
And more stats to make you feel great/terrible - Read here ($)
Google $296K
Facebook $293K
Twitter $233K
Goldman Sachs $166K
Robots are now able to pick up soft fruit
More competition for humans - robots with a delicate touch are now here! - Read here
LIDAR, but for unearthing ancient cities
Researchers have apparently unearthed new ancient cities in the Amazon, leveraging LIDAR. - Read here
“Everything was completely amazing up until it wasn’t”
Sweden spent ~$7 Bn on defense in 2021.
Netflix spent ~17 Bn on content in 2021.
Good discussion with Ted Sarandos of Netflix - Read here ($)
Dyson wants to build your personal robot
Dyson wants to build robots for doing household chores. About time! - Read here
Music, as a streaming addiction
Interesting essay on music, streaming, our addiction to it and what it means for the artist and the industry. - Read here
The truth is that if you’re using Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, or any other streaming service, you’re not paying for music so much as the opportunity to witness the potential of music. Music becomes an advertisement for the streaming service, and the more time and attention you give it, the more it benefits the tech company, not necessarily the music ecosystem.
What makes digital real estate valuable?
Interesting read from A16Z. Doesn’t sound all too different from physical real estate, in more ways than one! - Read here
How reduced competition and regulation are playing havoc with the baby food market in the US
Strict regulations from FDA, coupled with progressively reduced competition are now causing severe supply issues of baby food in the US. - Read here ($)
More Interesting Reads:
Discord as a hub of scammers - Read here
Tissue engineering is advancing - Read here
The US is already conducting offensive ops in Russia. Using its military hackers - Read here
Pretty wild story of work culture in Saudi Arabia’s upcoming futuristic city-state - Read here ($)
Is the metaverse an enterprise thing? - Read here
Brilliant tweet on Twitter
Stay safe, and happy reading! And if you liked the newsletter, thank you, and maybe consider sharing it? My DMs on Twitter are always open for any feedback.