For a few logs

You’re telling me that a few logs for shakes or fences would be worth the scientific value of a forest that has been growing uninterrupted since the last ice age 10,000 years ago. Some individuals growing over 1000 years old.

Think of the opportunity for our understanding of forest evolution.

The sheer diversity of biology must be studied.
We can learn so much from this ‘laboratory’.

For human health the benefits are immense.

Non-destructive testing protocols will be developed to harvest the knowledge.

How to generate Product Ideas with GPT-4 (Try it with other models as well)

The best prompt for idea generation in our paper for GPT-4 was:
“Generate product ideas with the following requirements: [insert constraints here].
The ideas are just ideas.
The product need not yet exist, nor may it necessarily be clearly feasible.
Follow these steps.
Do each step, even if you think you do not need to.
First generate a list of 100 ideas (short title only)
Second, go through the list and determine whether the ideas are different and bold, modify the ideas as needed to make them bolder and more different.
No two ideas should be the same. This is important!
Next, give the ideas a name and combine it with a product description.
The name and idea are separated by a colon and followed by a description.
The idea should be expressed as a paragraph of 40-80 words.
Do this step by step!”

What do cities and counties get in return for their public investment? (in sports facilities i.e. Major League Baseball stadiums)?

What do cities and counties get in return for their public investment?

Scholarly econometric studies on the impact of professional sports stadiums are almost unanimous in their conclusion that they do not promote employment or per capita income growth (see here and here).
Despite the outsized role they play in U.S. cultural life and in the media, professional sports teams are small- to modest-sized enterprises.
A typical NFL team might employ 125 to 175 full-time people in its front office and an additional 2,000 game-day employees for 4 hours, 10 days a year.

If we consider the total annual revenues generated by a sports team relative to its host city’s GDP, the team contributes between one-third and one-twentieth of one percent to the local area economy.
Moreover, spending on sport games does not imply new net spending within the metropolitan area.
Most residents have a budget. When they spend, say, $200 dollars to take their family to a game, it is $200 that they do not have to spend at a restaurant, a theater, a bowling alley or other entertainment venues.
And, the lion’s share of the income goes to the players, the coaches, the top executives and the team owners who are less likely to spend the bulk of their earnings in the stadium’s metropolitan area.

Part of an excellent article, read all of it: Stadiums as Public Investments – EconoFact

From the hyper-optimist and thought leader: Peter Diamandis

17 Habits to Live by:
•Prioritize sleep
•Eat less sugar
•Exercise for 30 minutes
•Cook more at home
•Practice gratitude
•Meditate
•Don’t watch the news
•Plan your day
•Get a morning routine
•Get a night routine
•Track your finances
•Set your goals
•Cut back on alcohol
•Invest in your future
•Educate yourself always
•Get out in nature
•Choose friends carefully

Best possible outcome???

…AI that works alongside you in real-time, suggesting code as you type or refining your writing on the fly. They’re more like having a knowledgeable colleague looking over your shoulder than an intern working independently. …

Canadian Taxpayers Federation are trying to save you money!!

If politicians don’t want you to think they’re shady and only out for themselves, then they should stop doing shady, self-serving stuff like this.
The Trudeau government wants to push back the next federal election (currently scheduled for Oct. 20, 2025) by one week.
Politicians claim the election must be moved to Oct. 27, 2025, because the original date conflicts with the religious holiday of Diwali.
But it just so happens that 80 MPs won’t be eligible for their taxpayer-funded, lifetime pensions until Oct. 21, 2025.
One day after the currently scheduled election…

What a coincidence!

If the election is moved, those extra pensions for politicians (who don’t deserve them) would cost you tens of millions of dollars.
In fact, the CTF estimates the price tag could be as high as $120 million. Some politicians will serve for barely six years and walk out the door with a $2-million pension.
But those politicians don’t deserve a penny more from you.
They already take annual salaries ranging from $200,000 to $300,000. They already take a pay raise every single year. They already take a $100,000 severance and a $15,000 transition allowance.
They can take those bloated, six-figure salaries of theirs and use them to save for their own retirements.
At minimum, politicians shouldn’t be trying to rig the system to stick their greedy fingers deeper into your pockets.
This week, CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano went into the belly of the beast and testified at a Parliamentary committee. He stuck up for you and called B.S. on the plan to pinch extra pensions for politicians.
Franco laid out two simple solutions.
Option one: If the election must be moved, then make it earlier.
Option two: make the pension eligibility date later.
We’ve got some good news to report back.
The Conservatives are opposed to the government delaying the election to secure millions in pensions for dozens of politicians who don’t deserve them.
So is the Bloc Québécois and the NDP.
And here’s something we’ve never seen before.
At committee, a Liberal MP told Franco she would vote against her own government and oppose moving the election.
You can watch Franco’s opening remarks at the Parliamentary committee by clicking the link below:

Watch: Canadian Taxpayers Federation Goes to Ottawa

A little help is nice…..

“It’s nice to have a little help, but we often resent when someone else tries to do it all for us. Each individual wants to make their own dreams a reality. If someone hands you the whole thing on a silver platter, they gift you the result, but rob you of the accomplishment.

Remember this not only when chasing your dreams, but also when supporting others. Help along the way, but let them run their own race. Your job is to live life with them, not live their life for them.”

Thanks to James Clear and his newsletter: The 3-2-1 Newsletter

Fed up with feedback?

Transforming feedback to actionable insight

Feedback often shows up like a lump of coal in a clean room – unwelcome and annoying.
Here’s what we need to do to help us get to actionable feedback –

(1) Acknowledging that all feedback is between 1% and 99% true.
It is our responsibility to figure out what we want to do with it.

(2) There’s no point reacting to any emotion around it.

(3) If it comes from someone in a position of authority, best to take them seriously instead of literally.

(4) When we get ideas suggested to us, we need to do the work to understand the problem the ideas are intended to solve. Then we can find the right solution to those problems.

These steps unearth the diamond within the coal.

Thanks Rohan and his wonderful newsletter: A Learning A Day

A Little Help

“It’s nice to have a little help, but we often resent when someone else tries to do it all for us. Each individual wants to make their own dreams a reality. If someone hands you the whole thing on a silver platter, they gift you the result, but rob you of the accomplishment.

Remember this not only when chasing your dreams, but also when supporting others. Help along the way, but let them run their own race. Your job is to live life with them, not live their life for them.”

James Clear