ZD 25.32: The Day Dialup Died
AOL ends dialup service marking the end of an era.
We have a big Distilled Spirit for you this week. AI and memes are driving the economy. Avoid deadline highs. AI is too sycophantic for your own good. Apply for jobs systemically with Perplexity and NotebookLM. Search NYC by what is on the wall with AI. Italo disco musical coda.
No Carrier
The screech and buzz of the telephone modem was the sound of connectivity for the first twenty-odd years of my life. It does not surprise me that AOL is pulling the plug on modem service in 2025, but it does truly mark the end of an era. Now on to the week’s news.
The Distilled Spirit
AI-Driven American Economy
👹 The AI, Healthcare and Labubu Economy ()
The top of the American economy is driven by speculative economy in AI; much of the rest is driven by healthcare. Average people are stuck looking for wealth through bets on memes like Labubu and cryptocurrency.
📑 The Big Beautiful Bill in Detail ()
Gabe Fleisher completes his extant exploration of the text of the Big Beautiful Bill to explain what it really means. Like any other rushed legislation, this one hides lots and lots of interesting wrinkles.
Tools For Work
🛠 Tools For Leadership ()
In case you are in the market for a great collection of leadership rules and rubrics to consider over your summer holiday.
🔪 Living by the Operator’s Code ()
Covert operators live in a dangerous world. They need a code to survive. Here is how you can apply this code to regular life.
💊 Deadline High Trap (Ness Labs)
Speaking as someone who skates from deadline to deadline, this article hits home.
Technology This Week
Technology ideas worth stealing and other ideas that matter.
Thinking About AI
5️⃣ GPT-5’s Router (
)If you read one thing to understand GPT-5, read this. The router is the key new feature wrapping a bunch of different LLMs.
😍 AI Sycophancy is the Real Problem ()
Hallucinations present one challenge. But sycophantic AI is much more insidious, potentially infecting decision making a way that cannot be fact-checked away.
🧠 Things I Think About AI ()
Noah has some great thoughts about AI, not sure if you can use 4o anymore though.
🧮 Three Macro Predictions About AI ()
Author James Wang makes three plausible macro predictions about the future of AI.
Building Things With AI
📉 Technical Debt’s ZIRP Era ()
Generative AI-powered software creation tools are creating an era of unlimited, free technical debt. You can always just throw more AI at the problem. What could go wrong?
👀 Job Applications with NotebookLM and Perplexity ()
A step-by-step guide for building your own job coach and interview prep machine.
🤢 Lessons in Product Design from Copilot ()
If you have used Microsoft Copilot, you would know is a product that could be much much better. Here is some thoughtful discussion about it’s failures.
🗃 Structuring Content for AI ()
Like any partner, it helps AI when you structure your content to give it the correct context.
💻 What is JSON and Why it Matters ()
If you have not tried instructing your AI in JSON you should. If you don’t know what JSON is you should read this.
🧊 SOLID Principles ()
SOLID principles are important and software and not a bad guide for building other sorts of operations on the side.
Cool AI Apps
📺 Building a Story Index a Decade of TV News for $154 (GDELT Project)
An amazing example of what you can do to structure, understand and codify a mass of unstructured data with AI.
🔍 NYC Urban Textshape (The Pudding)
Imagine being able to search New York City by the urban text scape — the words that appear in signs and on graffiti all over the town. Truly an amazing view into the city made possible with AI.
Fun Stuff
🥔 My Father’s Mashed Potatoes ()
Awesome reader-submitted content on the back story to instant mashed potatoes.
🍸 I Drank Every Cocktail (Adam Aaronson)
Completionism applies to everything, even drinking. Cheers to you Adam.
⚽ Is Neymar Ultimately a Disappointment ()
Neymar is still playing and we are already talking about him in the past sense. Is it deserved?
👔 Menswear Staples ()
It is about to be fall shopping season, get ahead of the game gents.
Musical Coda
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Thanks for the shout! ⚽️🇧🇷