#470 - 1k sub speedrun, cybernetic government, and odes to twerking
Today is day 1 of the 30 day 1000 newsletter subscriber challenge run by Anthony Castrio of Indie Worldwide. Check us out on that custom leaderboard he made!
I’ve been writing a weekly review for over 9 years now (!) but I’ve never looked at it as a product with my growth hacker hat on, despite pondering many time. This challenge is a fun excuse to experiment with those tactics alongside others doing the same.
My newsletter is different than most in that it doesn’t exist purely for monetization potential, and I don’t want that DNA to change. This is for sharing the aspects of my life that may be valuable for others as succinctly and actionably as possible, and I imagine more than the 200 odd current subscribers I have can benefit from that.
So, let’s see how this goes! As current subscribers, you can help by sharing:
What other newsletters you subscribe to, and why.
Which parts of this newsletter you like the most.
This newsletter with your friends, of course.
Tech
Mento offers career coaches along with a community of other professionals being coached, so you don’t go it alone. Clever way to siphon off company betterment budget, and an example of communities as the new differentiator.
Bookshop lets you buy books online but give the profits to your local bookstore.
Jasper AI is one of many AI powered content creation tools flourishing in the current ChatGPT world. The future will just be robots talking to robots, won’t it?
History
Did you know Chilean president Salvador Allende installed computer machines in every state owned enterprise during his limited socialist presidency in the 70s before the CIA toppled him, for factories to report firsthand data and thus better run the centralized economy?
What a fascinating slice of history that hasn’t been replicated in the public sector since, as best to my knowledge. Private companies make data driven decisions all the time - but AFAIK governments have nowhere near as much oversight.
If you’re curious how the most powerful ships during the Age of Sail operated, this video is a geek’s wet dream of detailed information about the construction and layout of a ship of the line. I was fascinated to learn just how many people were on each ship, (over 1000!) and how they leveraged the limited technologies of the day to the utmost.
Fun
I went to a concert by Anitta this weekend, who is basically the Beyonce of Brazil with more twerking. Her performance and the enamored audience did not disappoint.
Imagine everyone in the crowd dropping to the floor and twerking during every song drop and you have some idea of the vibe. She also paused several times to hawk unrelated sponsor products like Cheetos and Rexona deodorant, which I’ve never seen stateside! xD
Her music videos are visually stimulating odes to twerking amidst street funk carioca beats, and worth a watch for the spectacle and inane translated lyrics alone.
Start with the favela rooftop bikini oil wrestling of Vai Melandra, then Compatchy for a literal twerk battle, and then branch out to all the rest, if you ask me.