Beyond the Brink: Some Lessons Learned

May 4th is Star Wars day for many people around the world. It is for me too, but I also remember it for far sadder reasons. Here some things I have learned since then. Also, you’re not really meant to read this in one go.

Business / Economics

• A Spanish bakery will install a ‘thermal breadbox’ on the side of your house (for free!) and deliver warm bread every day. [Mundopan via Pablo Alarcon]

• As of 2014, the top three countries in terms of arms experts per capita are: Israel, Russia, Sweden, Belarus and Switzerland. Two of those are ummm…not like the others. Or are they? Funnily enough, the original sources, have taken this down. [Allison Jackson via The World]

• “In 2001, the Thai government set up the Global Thai Restaurant Company, Ltd., to establish at least 3,000 Thai restaurants worldwide.” [Miles Karp via VICE]

• In 2018, the Nigerian government spent more on subsidies for petrol than on health, education, or defense. [Andrew S Nevin]

• In Tunisia, anyone who wants to open a startup can apply for one year’s ‘Startup Leave’ from their company. The government then pays a salary to the startup team, based on their previous income. [Daniel Mpala via Venture Burn]

• Mozambique’s Black, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Portuguese influences are dove-tailing excellent in the fashion industry [Nicolas Nhalungo via Industrie Africa]

• Rera is an online poultry farm startup from Harare, Zimbabwe. It’s like Kickstarter for chickens. You order, the farmer grows, and you save 40% of retail costs. [Tech Moran]

• Tolaram is a Nigerian company that imports and sells 18¢ packets of noodles sold by tens of thousands of table-top retailers. They launched in 1988, didn’t make a profit until 2000, but now sell 4.5bn packets of noodles a year. [Dr Ola Brown]

• Turks and Caicos has the world’s first and one of the largest salt industries. It’s also really beautiful. [Mike Dash via The Smithsonian]

Career

• Emulate the greats to kickstart your journey.

• Ignore phone solicitations and proposals; their “urgency” is often just a mask for mischief at best, and scams at worst.

• Settle your dues promptly with vendors and contractors; they’ll remember you fondly and prioritize your future projects.

• If you’re job hunting with desperation, you’re just another task on a boss’s list. But if you present yourself as the solution to their problems, you’re in.

• Remember, the sky’s the limit with improvement, even if talent seems unfairly dealt with at the start.

• Train your team to shine elsewhere, yet create an environment so rewarding they’d never dream of leaving.

• When checking references for a job applicant, employers may be reluctant or prohibited from saying anything negative, so leave or send a message that says, “Get back to me if you highly recommend this applicant as super great.” If they don’t reply, take that as a negative.

• When introduced to someone make eye contact and count to 4. You’ll both remember each other. [Ed’s note, now you know my secret.]

• View hostility as a symptom of an unseen struggle; it’s easier to respond with empathy than with animosity.

• Engage your audience by connecting deeply with a few, rather than superficially with many. Your eyes can sell your story better than your words.

• Be the hero of meetings by always being ready to hit the “end” button early.

• Your best job will be one that you were unqualified for because it stretches you. In fact only apply to jobs you are unqualified for. Don’t be unrealistic and apply for Head of Nuclear Power Plant and your resume is an English Lit major.

Design / Art

• If you stop to listen to a musician or street performer for more than a minute, toss a coin to your Witcher you owe them a dollar (or equivalent).

• Times Newer Roman: the sly font that stretches your essays. Looks like Times New Roman, but each letter is slightly wider, making your 15-page paper hit the word count sooner by sneaking in fewer words. [Tina Roth Eisenberg via Swiss Miss]

• Sprinkle in a middle initial and watch how perceptions shift. Suddenly, you’re not just smart; you’re scholarly 🤓 [Wijnand A. P. Van Tilburg & Eric R. Igou]

Education

• Anumeric people are those that have languages without words or numbers. [Caleb Everett via Pocket]

• Dive into the world of used books—they’re treasure troves of knowledge with the same words at a fraction of the price. And don’t forget the wonders of your local library for endless adventures and learning.

• Take a moment to thank a teacher who made a difference in your life.

• Remember the rule of three in emergencies: 3 shouts, 3 horn blasts, or 3 whistles. It’s a universal distress signal that’s easy to remember and could save lives.

• We need to teach statistics, personal finance, and critical thinking better.

Finance

• Swipe that credit card for convenience, not for credit. Dive into debt only for investments like a home, where value might climb. Most purchases depreciate faster than you can say “debt-free.” Don’t chain your finances to depreciating assets.

• Having said that, use the credit system to make small purchases so you can make the bigger ones later down the line.

• Discover the magic of compound interest at any age. It’s a financial wizard’s best spell for growing wealth.

Food

• Don’t wait in line to eat something famous. It is rarely worth the wait.

• Please teach your friends to marinate their food.

Friendships

• Want a quick peek into someone’s soul? Subject them to the torture of a glacially slow internet connection and watch their true colors emerge from the frustration.

• Overwhelmed by future plans? Apply the “tomorrow test” to any invitation. If you wouldn’t say yes to doing it tomorrow, perhaps it’s not worth your calendar space.

Fun

• Dyeing my hair has been an uplifting experience that allows me to quickly disarm people both professionally and personally.

• For $64/hour you can hire an LA photo studio that looks like the interior of a private jet, to impress people on Instagram. Please don’t do this. [Nana Baah via Vice]

• Mozambique’s Sam Chitsama will sing about your enemies - for a fee [Nyasho Bobo via Rest of World]

• Purchase the most recent tourist guidebook to your hometown or region. You’ll learn a lot by playing the tourist once a year.

• When playing Monopoly, spend all you have to buy, barter, or trade for the Orange properties. Don’t bother with Utilities.

Health

• 報復性熬夜 is a Chinese term that roughly means ‘Revenge bedtime procrastination’ — when “people who don’t have much control over their daytime life refuse to sleep early to regain some sense of freedom during late night hours”. [Lu-Hai Liang via BBC]

• A 70% dilution of isopropyl alcohol is better at killing bacteria, fungi, and viruses than ‘pure’ 99% isopropyl alcohol, for several distinct reasons. [Mitch Walleser via Gotopac]

• Bimagrumab is a monoclonal antibody that reduces weight and increases muscle mass. [Stephan J. Guyenet via Works in Progress]

• I have maybe another 20-25 summers with my parents if their health holds. Many people don’t understand that being ambitious can sometimes have its downsides. Fulfilling personal goals vs. spending with loved ones. Hopefully, co-working spaces in Mozambique have really good internet, so I can remote work from there sometimes.

• In the early 19th century, cowpox vaccine was exported from Spain to the Americas in the arms of 24 Spanish orphan boys. [Sam Kean via The Atlantic]

• Take the stairs.

• The goal of walking 10,000 steps per day may have originated when a Japanese pedometer manufacturer noticed that the 万 symbol (which means 10,000) looks a little like someone walking. The actual health merits of that number ‘have never been validated by research.’ [Amanda Mull via The Atlantic]

• The notion of a personal ‘Carbon Footprint’ was invented by Ogilvy & Mather for BP in the early 2000s. Also watch this video about how it is a scam. [Mark Kaufman via Mashable]

History

• There’s an award-winning book graphic novel about. It was recently translated and I want to pick it up soon. [Multiculturalism in the DDR - Exberliner]

• They still do WWII bomb disposals in Germany.

Life

• A rejection isn’t a reflection of your worth; think of it as timing. The second attempt might just turn the tide.

• Accept that being cheated is the lesser cost for seeing the good in people. That trust often brings out their best towards you.

• Be nice to your children because they are going to choose your nursing home. [Via many conversations with older folk]

• “Before you are old, attend as many funerals as you can bear, and listen. Nobody talks about the departed’s achievements. The only thing people will remember is what kind of person you were while you were achieving.” - Kevin Kelly

• Embrace compliments with grace, not denial. A simple ‘thank you’ honors both the giver and the truth of the moment.

• If you are looking for something in your house, and you finally find it, when you’re done with it, don’t put it back where you found it. Put it back where you first looked for it.

• If you think you saw a mouse, you did. And, if there is one, there are more.

• Live frugally, but let your passions run wild and free. In those, sparing no expense is the real treasure.

• Resist the lure of the snooze button; it’s a masterclass in learning how to oversleep.

• Taking one step forward in a circle of people, means people will listen to you when you start speaking.

• The best way to untangle a knotty tangle is not to “untie” the knots, but to keep pulling the loops apart wider and wider. Just make the mess as big, loose and open as possible. As you open up the knots they will unravel themselves. Works on cords, strings, hoses, yarns, or electronic cables.

• ”That thing that made you weird as a kid could make you great as an adult — if you don’t lose it.” - Kevin Kelly

Love

• Giving is important. Taking is important too.

• The older you are, the more you interact with people’s baggage or griefcases. Be patient and you will be rewarded…as long as it’s not toxic or abusive.

Tech

• A staggering 10% of U.S. electricity springs from the heart of old Russian nuclear warheads, turning a legacy of the cold war into a source of power. [Geoff Brumfiel via NPR]

• 40% of smartphones in Africa are made by Shenzhen phone company Transsion, which has developed production lines in Ethiopia, Swahili and Amharic keyboards and cameras, flashes and imaging software tailored for darker skin tones. [Andrew Deck via Rest of World]

• Double down on data protection: back up your back up. Have at least one physical backup and one backup in the cloud. Have more than one of each. How much would you pay to retrieve all your data, photos, notes, if you lost them? Backups are cheap compared to regrets.

• For the love of god, please use a password manager. It’s safer, easier, better. Then start using 2FA / MFA and passkeys.

• Most cities plant only male trees because it’s expensive to clear up the fruit that falls from female trees. Male trees release pollen, and that’s one of the reasons your hay fever is getting worse. [Jessica Price]

• Nearly 10% of the revenue of the nation of Tuvalu comes from its control of the .tv domain used by companies like twitch.tv [Alexander Lee via Washington Post]

• Please, for the love of god: use a password manager: Safer, easier, better.

• The Khmer language has 74 characters, making it annoying to type on a phone keyboard. That may be why half of Facebook Messenger’s voice traffic comes from Cambodia. [Vittoria Elliott & Bopha Phorn via Rest of World]

• When users download the Kenyan mobile loans app OKash, the T&Cs quietly give it permission to access their contacts. If they fall behind in repayments, the app starts to message all those contacts — family, colleagues, ex-partners — to shame the user into repaying the debt. [Morris Kiruga via Rest of World]

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