The death of an institution is obvious. The path to get there is not often written down. GE’s capital returns sat below their capital costs for years while we all watched EPS grow and grow. Sony still owns the drawings and the rights to make a Walkman but forgot how to actually make the devices. Group B was an amazing five years in sport that had to end. Do not, under any circumstances, rely upon your LLM to identify poisonous mushrooms.
🪦 Dynasties Die in the Dark (Investing 101)
GE fell out of the Dow in 2018. It did not warrant an individual obituary; the news was about Walgreens Boots Alliance’s ascension. Decades of returns below capital costs did them in, but the end was not even news. The British East India company thought tea would carry it forever. Write your own obituary to learn from it.
🎧 There Will Never Be a Walkman Like It (ObsoleteSony)
The Walkman is an amazing device. A replica would certainly sell well. Sony still holds the drawings and the rights, but cannot recreate it. The machines and supply chains no longer exist, nor do the people who know how to make them work together.
🏁 Racing on Cocaine (Driving in Circles, Really Fast)
Group B rally was as close to unlimited-class production car racing anyone is ever going to see. It quickly became a case of the biggest engine in the lightest body one can pretend to be street legal. It was an amazing half-decade that, not shockingly, ended in a fiery crash.
🏢 Revisiting the Joel Test (exe.dev)
Just about when I started my professional life, Joel Spolsky authored the Joel Test, a 12-item checklist to measure how good a software team was. How worthwhile it was to work there. The world has changed a lot, here is what it could look like in 2026.
🍄 Mushroom Hunting With LLMs is a Good Way To Die (Quesma)
No, you should not go into the woods and ask your AI if that mushroom is safe to eat.
🕵️ Another Agent Message Board (collusion.wiki)
OpenAI agents found an old German wiki and subverted it for their own communications. They keep escaping.
🗑️ Just Bury Your Trash (The Works in Progress Newsletter)
Recycling metals is worthwhile, but recycling much else is just eco-theater. Burying the trash might be more efficient.
🧑🎨 Shallow Intent (Uncharted Territories)
For almost all of human history, visual density has been a proxy for effort involved. AI inverts that equation. We can all see the AI grime and we don’t feel so great about it.
✍️ On AI And Writing (Alephic HQ)
Good writing needs to sound like it came from the writer. AI is not hitting that mark today. Noah Brier shares seven rules he uses to keep his message sounding correct and human-crafted.
🏃♂️ Hip-Hop’s Wellness Era (SNOBHOP)
Rappers today are more into run clubs than 40s and blunts at the club. Fitness permeates all culture.
The Look
A brilliant Sketchplanations post on how sometimes reasonable choices lead to dumb outcomes.
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