All posts tagged: learned

What I Learned After Getting Kicked Out of Alix Earle’s Beverly Hills Pop-up

What I Learned After Getting Kicked Out of Alix Earle’s Beverly Hills Pop-up

Published by Sam Flores

The line outside Leora curled around the block—slick ponytails and ALO Yoga sets. These queued-up loyalists were there to see Alix Earle, who, to them, is the living embodiment of “realness.” Earle was hosting a pop-up for her skin-care brand, Reale Actives, at the TikTok-famous cafe in Beverly Hills on Thursday. The brand’s four products sold out within 10 hours when it launched on March 31, so some of Earle’s girlies were waiting in line to get second dibs. I was there for a completely unrelated meeting with the chief of staff at Klutch Sports (they have smoothie at Leora named after the agency’s founder Rich Paul) when I noticed some fuss brewing in the back. I walked over to try and take some photos, but Earle’s team immediately came over, told me to stop, and swiftly denied my request for an interview. Outside, the energy among those waiting in line for skin care was less retail, more rally. “I just love how open and honest and real she is about stuff…. You can just …

7 Interesting Things I Learned from the New Judy Blume Biography

7 Interesting Things I Learned from the New Judy Blume Biography

Published by Jenni Sidey

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Judy Blume is a literary legend. Her career has taken her across age ranges, from books for very young readers to adult readers, as well as, of course, young adult readers. This year, two biographies of Blume hit shelves, and they’ve been eye-opening into the life of one of the groundbreakers in youth literature. I’ve spent the last several weeks listening to Judy Blume by Mark Oppenheimer, performed on audio by Molly Ringwald. But right before I got deep into the audiobook, two different articles came out that have altered how I think about the book as I listen. First was this piece in The New York Times, published two days before the book’s release, that discussed the relationship between Oppenheimer and Blume. It explores the dynamics between writer and subject in biography, and it raises a host of interesting questions, including what kind of relationship is expected. Oppenheimer had access to pieces of an unpublished memoir by …

Companies Just Learned a Brutal Lesson About Training AI to Do Human Jobs

Companies Just Learned a Brutal Lesson About Training AI to Do Human Jobs

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech A dismal job market has given rise to a grim new cottage industry: a buzzy San Francisco-based AI company called Mercor is hiring desperate job-seekers to train AI models to do the work they can’t get hired for anymore. The company has been recruiting educated and underemployed experts while keeping them fully in the dark about whose AI they’re even training. As New York Magazine reported last month, shifts are also crushingly long, the vast majority of managers are young and inexperienced, and contracts often end abruptly without any prior warning. Now, companies that hired Mercor — which include OpenAI and Anthropic, according to NYMag‘s reporting — have learned a rude lesson: Mercor revealed late last month that it had been hacked, again shedding light on Silicon Valley’s extremely fragile and contractor-dependent AI supply chain. The startup told TechCrunch that it was affected by an exploit linked to an open source project called LiteLLM. A sample of data …

I’m A Boomer Who Learned The Hard Way Why You Should Never Text Your Adult Kids Bad News

I’m A Boomer Who Learned The Hard Way Why You Should Never Text Your Adult Kids Bad News

Published by Jenni Sidey

Recently, I made the mistake of texting my adult kids some troubling medical news. I should have called, but the assisted living facility where I was staying temporarily got there first. My son, Matt, my medical contact, received a call, as per protocol, stating that I was on my way to the hospital but not in a critical state. My breezy text soon followed, referencing my broken left leg. The cheeky close in all caps is cringeworthy. “Long story short. I’ve wound up at the hospital with concerns about blood clots in the left leg. Being treated aggressively and will be here day or so (?) to get that under control …. Anyway, ALL GOOD.” In what universe would this news be “all good?” In truth, the blood clots had traveled to my lungs. (Pro tip: Don’t Google “pulmonary embolism” from a gurney in the ER.) I didn’t want to bother or concern them. I was pretty scared, but my rationale was not to pass along my fear and worry about the traveling clots.  I …

I finally learned what PARA actually means — and it fixed the chaos in my Obsidian vault overnight

I finally learned what PARA actually means — and it fixed the chaos in my Obsidian vault overnight

Published by skeptic

My Obsidian vault used to feel like a junk drawer. Notes everywhere, folders that made sense when I created them and nowhere near as much sense a week later, and a vague guilt every time I opened the app. I have tried the PARA method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives) on Google Drive before. So, as an Obsidian beginner, it felt a good starting point to re-organize my chaotic notes. Practicing this on two different knowledge management apps has helped me actually understand its versatility. More importantly, why the folders exist in that sequence. That one shift fixed the chaos. OS Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, iPadOS Developer Dynalist Inc. Pricing model Free Initial release March 30, 2020 Obsidian is a local-first, Markdown-based note-taking application that stores your notes as plain text files and lets you build interlinked “vaults” of knowledge. It supports plug-ins, graph visualisations, and full control of your data rather than locking you into a proprietary format. PARA isn’t a folder system but a mindset Folders are about action, not categories Saikat Basu/MakeUseOf …

What China Just Learned From the Iran War

What China Just Learned From the Iran War

Published by Sam Flores

China stands to learn a lot from the war in Iran. Red lines and deadlines imposed by the United States, even when backed by the threat of genocide, can turn out to be rather wobbly. The American military, despite its unrivaled power, has trouble swatting down swarms of cheap drones. But the most valuable lesson, at least for China’s ambitions to seize Taiwan, has more to do with the way the world’s supply chains, energy prices, and stock markets influence the U.S. willingness to fight. It remains unclear what exactly led President Trump to step back from his ultimatum Tuesday that he would destroy Iran’s civilization without major concessions, agreeing hours later to a two-week cease-fire and settlement talks even though Iran didn’t appear to have given up significant ground. But the Iranian choke hold on the Strait of Hormuz evidently had a lot to do with it. By cutting off roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply over the past five weeks, Iran’s blockade of that narrow waterway caused an energy crisis and fears …

The Testaments boss reveals “lessons” learned from The Handmaid’s Tale

The Testaments boss reveals “lessons” learned from The Handmaid’s Tale

Published by Daniella Wilson

When The Testaments makes its debut on 8 April, it’ll be almost nine years after its predecessor The Handmaid’s Tale first arrived on screens – a launch that picked up eight Primetime Emmy awards, a raft of glowing reviews and a legion of loyal fans. But the mood began to waver as some critics, and a portion of the viewership, took issue with the unrelenting, often nauseating amount of violence directed at its female characters, frequently described as ‘torture porn’. How did its creator reckon with that particular issue – and any others – heading into the sequel? “As The Handmaid’s Tale evolved – and we learned lots of lessons – we were very careful to keep track of them and then to bring them to bear on The Testaments,” show creator Bruce Miller told Radio Times. “We knew very early on that we were going to do The Testaments, so I think… and we’re in the minority as men on this show, most of our department heads are female, and a lot of them …

I finally learned why a 12MP photo from my phone beats a 50MP one

I finally learned why a 12MP photo from my phone beats a 50MP one

Published by skeptic

Smartphone cameras are small, and that leads manufacturers to employ software tricks to improve image quality despite the inherent size limitations. You can easily find an Android phone or iPhone with a camera sporting a higher megapixel count than a mirrorless body or DSLR camera. As you’ve probably heard before, megapixels aren’t everything, and they hardly tell the entire story. Image sensor size is the more important spec than megapixel count, and that’s a problem for smartphones with tiny cameras. Megapixels quantify the resolution of a camera, measured in millions of pixels. A phone with a 50MP main camera has 50 million pixels, while a device with a 200MP camera has 200 million pixels. However, pixels aren’t always equal. Pixels are the tiny squares that capture light to create images, but they come in different sizes. Pixel size and image sensor size determine the resolution of a camera, measured in megapixels. To cram more pixels into an image sensor, you either need to include a larger sensor or miniaturize the pixels. Smartphones use smaller pixels …

Three things we learned from Chelsea FC win as Estevao emulates Bukayo Saka

Three things we learned from Chelsea FC win as Estevao emulates Bukayo Saka

Published by Sam Flores

Nothing like the visit of a lower-league club to help the Chelsea storm pass, or at least to provide a break from the rain. Chelsea were feeling sorry for themselves, but they are heading to Wembley now for a cup semi-final after a ruthless display of goalscoring pomp which lifted the mood and ensured smiles could return to the club. The question is for how long. Upset emphatically avoided How they needed that. More than about setting up a date with Wembley and an FA Cup semi-final as silverware potentially draws closer, this was about turning a page and stopping the rot. The last time Port Vale and Chelsea faced off was in April 1929. The Valiants won 1-0. If anything could be gleaned from a match that took place 97 years ago to the month, it was that keeping focus would be key if slipping on this potential banana skin was to be avoided. The visitors had shown spirit by beating Sunderland and Bristol City during an impressive cup run in which they have …