Hey 👋
How’s it going? Sorry about the past couple of weeks. Life happens, and sometimes you can’t do what you really want and have to do what you have to do.
But I’m glad to be back. With moving Pulse to Fridays, I’ve got a new routine, and I need to get used to it. I think I’ve made the right decision (based on some feedback from you). But I’ll have to wait and see. So please bear with me while I’m trying to figure it out.
— Behrouz
by the way, Substack now has an app! It’s currently available on iOS and you can sign up for a Android waitlist too.
Let me know if you prefer to read Pulse on Substack app or in your email?
In Today’s Issue
This Week in the News
Article: Start with someone else’s work
Podcast: $ at the centre of the world
Tweet: Action
Tool: Zerion
And a gift for you.
This Week in the News
Against Russia’s invasion & misinformation, Stripe’s crypto support, and DuckDuckGo taking sides [link]
EU & the UK open an antitrust probe into Google and Meta’s Jedi Blue deal on online ads; EU is also probing whether Google acted without Meta’s knowledge [link]
WhatsApp’s new browser extension is aimed at making web chats more secure [link]
Google will send air raid alerts to Android phones in Ukraine [link]
Luminous Computing, which is developing a light-based AI accelerator chip, raises $105M [link]
Light chips seem like a good idea. “Photonic chips could, in theory, lead to higher performance because light produces less heat than electricity, can travel faster, and is less susceptible to changes in temperature and electromagnetic fields.” — Kevin Kelly
One Article
Start with someone else’s work
So I had another thing planned for today’s article/books section, but Seth Godin’s latest post on his blog totally changed my mind. This is an excellent piece of advice, as always.
A simple approach to learning how to solicit and receive feedback: Begin by showing a well-meaning peer someone else’s novel, painting, design or business plan…
You might discover that when you show it to a friend (“here’s a chapter from a novel I’m writing” or “Here’s the logo my firm is considering”) you get harsh, direct criticism, filled with certainty and warning.
It’s easier to hear, because it’s not your work. They’re busy criticizing a chapter that JK Rowling wrote, or a logo that the late Milton Glaser created.
“Oh,” you’ll realize, “this isn’t about the work, it’s about me, it’s about someone trying to help me avoid heartache later.”
It turns out that most people are unpracticed and unprofessional at giving useful feedback. Learning to differentiate well-meaning fear-on-your-behalf from actually useful insight is a great first step in understanding who to ask when it really matters.
We don’t need unwarranted criticism or simple reassurance. In fact, we need someone who understands genre and has the insight to share what they know in a way we can use.
Read more on Seth Godin’s Blog.
One Podcast
The dollar at the centre of the world
This is another excellent episode of NPR’s Planet Money, which first ran in 2014. But it’s a classic story and still relevant to this day.
Have you ever thought about how the US dollar became the world reserve currency? Well, here’s what happened:
As World War II was ending, world leaders realized they had a problem. Countries no longer knew how to trade with each other. Their economies were devastated. So representatives from 44 nations gathered in the small town of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire to come up with the solution.
It came down to two different plans put forward by two very different men. One was the most famous economist in the world. A British aristocrat. The other was an American that no one remembers. But it was the American that won the day and put the U.S. dollar right in the middle of world trade.
Today on the show, how the U.S. won. The story involves a carefully laid trap, late night dancing and copious amounts of alcohol.
Oh, and listen to the end; there’s a twist involving a soviet spy!
listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.
One Tweet
Action
hard to argue with this…
PS. one tweet for this week, and one for last week!
One Tool
Zerion
If you’re into crypto, you’ll like Zerion. Zerion provides you with an easy way to build and manage your entire DeFi portfolio from one place.
But what I really like about Zerion is that it gives me a tool to monitor my portfolio [and order addresses/portfolios] all in one place very easily. I don’t necessarily invest with it, but I do use it as a monitoring tool.
it’s available on the web, iOS, and Android. they also have a demo wallet you can see too.
💍 One gift for you.
so happy for them.
And that’s all for now; see you next week.