The Monday 6 - September 6, 2021

Happy Labor Day, US and Canada-based friends!

I hope you enjoy your restful, long weekend.

Onto the 6:

If you’ll recall, back in May (#1), I shared a video exploring why McDonald’s ice cream machines are always broken. If you didn’t watch the video then, check it out now. It’s well done and quite entertaining:

As a quick summary, essentially, McDonald’s and the maker of the very particular model of ice cream machine used in every store in the county have an exclusive deal with one another. This contract (conveniently) requires technicians from the ice cream machine manufacturer to come out and fix the machine when it “breaks”. The clear conflict of interest and potential for abuse has led to the scourge of broken McDonald’s ice cream machines around the country.

But as a follow-up from that story, the Federal Trade Commission is nowinvestigating the matter, the first sign the core of the issue may be solved! Let’s hope any potential antitrust suit brought is more substantial and less confused than the FTC’s suit against Facebook refiled in August.

Remember watching CSI, circa 2004, and watching this nonsense magic?

Well, Google’s AI team is basically doing this in real life. The specialized AI is fed a low-resolution photo (as low as 32px X 32 px) and interpolating up to images large enough for actual use.

Check on the video on their blog post to see more examples and explanation:

I’m a bit young to ever get that far down the JFK assassination conspiracy theory rabbit hole. Still, evidently, this photo has been used as a main exhibit in the case that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn’t the actual killer:

Skeptics believe this photo shows obvious signs of manual manipulation, including irregularities in the shadows, Oswald’s face, and more.

Check out this Vox Darkroom episode on YouTube to learn more and see why ultimately (as with virtually every conspiracy theory), these theories don’t hold much water.

Look at a bunch of everyday items super magnified. Among others, you’ll see the following items ultra up close:

Just look at this shot of a snowflake!

I love a good single-use website like this. Date Night Movies prompts you to enter two movies: 1 you like, and 1 your partner likes.

The site’s algorithm will then combine the picks and find a movie that will satisfy you both.

Check out this Tweet thread of 20 principles & axioms to keep in mind as you’re building your career.

#13 was the most resonant for me:

Give the whole thread a read. I think you’ll find something useful in there.

That’s it for this week. If you found anything useful or fun, let me know! And if you have any suggestions, shoot them my way. 😊 See you next week!