Sent as a newsletter July 18, 2023. Not on my list? Join here.
👋 Hi friends,
Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.
Image of the week, above:
The powerful poster for a book festival that took place in Kyiv last month. Created by Art Studio Agrafka.
Here are 10 items worth your time this week
1) 🇸🇬 Huge news in Singapore, long known for its efficient government: Antigraft officials are investigating the transport minister.
2) ⏲️ Meta’s Threads is getting a lot of attention, but people might be running out of time for yet another social media platform.
3) 🇬🇺 A deep look at Guam, its people, and the territory’s strategic importance for the U.S. military as tensions with China rise.
4) 🍎 Quitting Apple’s ecosystem is neither easy nor cheap.
5) 🦦 Otters are straight up stealing surfboards in California.
6) 🌐 Las Vegas’s new $2 billion, 366-foot-tall, 1.2 million-LED orb/theater is bonkers‘.
7) 🤖 In which a New Yorker writer commissions an AI bot to try to do his job.
8) ⭐ Related: “How to Use AI to Do Stuff: An Opinionated Guide.”
9) 🐴 Excellent video from this year’s Finish Hobbyhorse Championships.
10) 🔗 Go to Wilby.me/surprise to visit a random Web 1.0 website.
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🦴 Dog-related video of the week:
“Clever dog uses hot dog bun as bait to snatch fish out of water.”
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💡 Quote of the week:
“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.” — Milan Kundera, RIP
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👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,
Newley