495: Crowdsourced work docs, dictators solving homicides, and why Studio 54 endures
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Bend last week was fun with the fam.
They have a fly fishing disc golf style course downtown, as well as a standing river wave that they change every day using underwater machinery. And every paved bike path I saw also had a little single track next to it so you could off-road if you wanted to.
The whole town feels like every building was just built, and every person just arrived, as it’s been one of the fastest growing towns in America for the last decade. I can see why - so much nature right there for the enjoying!
Technology
Reforge is a directory of wireframes and the like from past product managers, along with education. I wonder what about this particular discipline is abstract enough that one can share actual work artifacts without the employer getting upset about NDAs and the like, but I like the concept of not reinventing the wheel.
I’m taking one of the courses on Product Management as well, and welcome any other such resources for upskilling.
Ideologies
El Salvador used to be a gang homicide capital of the Americas, until their latest young crypto loving president Nayib Bukele staffed all 3 branches of the government with his allies, incarcerated 70,000 alleged gang members in a bespoke super prison, and extended term limits so he could run again.
So… is that better? Real life example of a dictator solving violent crime at the cost of civil liberties. I’m not sure myself…. the stories from the ground about lives lived without fear undoubtedly seem better.
Memes
I watched the Studio 54 documentary on Netflix and learned several things about the legendary disco that I didn’t know previously that help explain why its fame endures:
It only ran for a few years before the founders were arrested for tax evasion.
It was a golden era for promiscuity, after the pill and before AIDS.
One gay cofounder created a very gay/trans friendly space at a time when that was not common.
The founders has no prior nightclub experience and cold called the who’s who in order to get them into their club on opening night, adding to the allure.
The club was in a former (and now again) theater, which they used to stage proto-immersive entertainment spectacles.
I also watched the Taylor Swift Reputation tour on Netflix at the behest of a friend hosting a watch party and holy smokes that Swiftie scene is wild to peek into. The showwomanship is incredible but the adoring crying crowd shots throughout really seal the deal.
Her Wikipedia article full of superlatives, from the most streamed woman to the most top 100 albums, and on and one. Apparently she just paid her concernt truckers a $55M bonus for this latest tour, too.