Bas' Take on Tech: Open Web, Science, Economy
What's moving the tech industry?
The Open Web?
We could all agree that the web today is not the place it used to be in the 90s and early 2000s. However, whether that's a good or bad thing is debatable.
Many things happened last week in that regard: Twitter's attempt to block links to other social networks highlighted the inherent risks of walled gardens. At the time of writing, this restriction seems to be lifted. It resulted, however, in the ban of Paul Grahams Twitter account, and it looks like Elon reacted to the rage by asking his followers whether he should step back as a CEO.
Another ban is (again!) discussed with respect to TikTok in the US.
Meanwhile, there are also some efforts towards a more open direction: Apple engineers are working on a separate EU App Store in preparation for the anticipated requirement of allowing third-party app stores.
Maps and Apple App Store. Meta, Microsoft, AWS, and TomTom partner with The Linux Foundation to develop interoperable and open map data.
In an article posted mid-November, well-respected professor at the University of Amsterdam, Geert Lovink, considers the state of the Internet to be broken beyond repair.
Science
After funny profile pictures and entertaining discussions with the ChatGPT bot, there is a powerful application of generative AI: Protein diffusion.
"Two mega-joules of laser yielded three mega-joules of fusion energy" – that is what popular science magazines understand of the "breakthrough" in fusion. It sounds too good to be true in the current energy crisis. And in reality, it might be just that: Too good to be true.
Moderna's mRNA-based cancer vaccine reportedly reduces cancer-related risk by 44%.
Economy
FED, ECB, BOE, and Banxico all increased interest rates by 50 bp, which again puts equity markets under pressure as more safe haven assets are sought after.
Overall, the economy seems to cool down further. Inflation did not rise as expected (but still a whopping 7.1%), but we see more pressure in tech all the way. Gumroad's recent decision to raise the price for their service significantly is just another anecdote that fits in the picture of steeply increasing costs of capital. It is, however, interesting to see that the tech industry is impacted so profoundly. While non-tangible products are considered riskier by default, a tech-centric business model has the advantage of neglectable marginal costs. On the other hand, Open AI predicts a $1 bn turnover by 2024.
Tinkering
My Journey
This is the personal part of the newsletter: My 2022 journey. For me, 2022 was full of intended change and a lot of improvements in different areas: Community, Health and Mindset. I will share some of my learnings with you in this and the following two issues. Today: Health
⚕️ Health
Believe it or not, I lost about 15kg (that’s 33 lbs for my American friends) and was able to maintain a healthy weight with a body fat percentage of below 10% for 4 months now.
Also in January, I started with a combination of Tim Ferriss' slow-carb diet and intermittent fasting. That brought down the first 5kg (11 lbs). The real breakthrough started when I added some physical activity to the equation back in May. I set a goal of walking 10,000 steps a day and put a simple yet effective weight training of just 12 minutes per week on top of that. This one was inspired by Doug McGuff’s “Body by Science” book.
In summer, I reached my goal of 10% body fat, but I didn’t stop. The relationship between effort and results was so dramatic I became curious about what my body is capable of in other areas. With a lot of research, and help from physiologists, doctors and biochemists, it took me an insane amount of blood tests, being a guinea pig for all sorts of supplements and experimental medical treatments, to surprise my GP with an insanely positive improvement in all of my blood test values, from cholesterol to hormones. Believe it or not, I even reduced my age by a few years (as measured by an epigenetic age test), and my thyroid problems (which I was told required a life-long supply of hormone pills) are gone – along with any sorts of headaches and neck pain.
Key takeaway: Making your health a priority is more straightforward than I thought. It takes a massive effort in the beginning to overcome bad habits, but after that, improvement seems to take just a minimal dose of effort. Physical health is the foundation for everything that follows.
Pete's perspective
Pete is a self-taught software developer and marketing expert. He runs No CS Degree, where he interviews other self-taught developers. I asked him what book most influenced him in 2022. Here is his answer:
I recently read a great 90s business book ‘The 80/20 Principle’ by Richard Koch. If you’re not familiar with the 80/20 rule, or the Pareto Principle as it’s also known, it basically says that 80% of your good or bad results are going to come from 20% of your inputs. So if you have 5 projects as an indie hacker, it’s likely that one brings in the majority of revenue and one takes up the most time or causes the most stress.
So I’ve started applying the 80/20 rule to my life. I slashed the number of people on Twitter that I followed from 2,500 to 800 in one day. I’ve switched focus to the most profitable parts of my businesses. I looked at marketing channels and decided instead of trying to be everywhere, to focus on 1 or 2 channels which provide the biggest results. I’ve looked at my personal budget and I’ve cut out the biggest sources of wasteful spending.
What else?
I will change this newsletter from “occasional” to at least once every two weeks. The new format will not only contain curated news and insights from the tech world but also set the stage for fellow developers.
I will ask people about their journeys in the tech world and also in life. I’m pretty sure there is a lot to learn from listening to other people’s experiences, and I am excited to share that with you!
Of course, I need your help with this.
Please tell me if you want to share your story with my 400 readers!
What is something you learned?
What are some books that recently influenced you?
What do you want to share with others about your life, your productivity, your career, and your health?
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Best,