Pavel Sokolovsky

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under the microscope · Sep 2024

The first transmission from Science House.

“We’re bringing a couple of aspiring scientists together, sticking ‘em in a house, giving ‘em some money and mentorship, and letting ‘em set sail. It’s kind of like a PhD program except it doesn’t give you clinical depression. The two inaugural Scholars of Science House are already publishing their work to the world. I’m excited to introduce them to you…” ~ learn more

to your health · Sep 2024

Why I take 75 pills every day… and what they do.

This is not my recommendation. Most days I take zero pills! However, this is what Peter Diamandis wrote. “My meds & supplement routine is built around addressing as many of these as possible. The 12 hallmarks include: Genomic Instability, Telomere Attrition, Epigenetic Alterations, Loss of Proteostasis, Deregulated Nutrient-Sensing, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Cellular Senescence, Stem Cell Exhaustion, Altered Intercellular Communication, Disabled Macroautophagy, Chronic Inflammation, and Dysbiosis... and more on these later.” ~…

better doing · Sep 2024

Why you shouldn’t keep stuff under your bed.

“The things we keep under our bed—suitcases, shoeboxes—are like dormant memories. They’re out of sight, but not out of mind. We know they exist. They live rent-free in our unconscious mind. They interfere with the important work our unconscious mind does when we’re asleep.” ~ learn more

tech, startups, internet · Sep 2024

Select avg(Moby Dick) limit 2 sentences.

“It’s not a SQL statement that would work today in a cloud data warehouse. But an LLM would understand it : summarize the book Moby Dick in two sentences.” ~ learn more

tech, startups, internet · Sep 2024

How Microsoft Copilot can avoid becoming the next Cortana.

“Much as they would like you to forget, Copilot is not Microsoft’s first crack at a digital assistant. In fact, they’ve built two before this: Clippy and Cortana—the former of which we loved to hate and the latter of which we simply hated (or completely ignored).” ~ learn more

oh, chicago · Sep 2024

Chicago’s vanishing water tanks.

“After the Great Fire of 1871, ordinances were passed requiring these tanks on top of warehouses, factories and public buildings. The law spawned a whole industry in water tank construction and maintenance.” ~ learn more

fun facts · Sep 2024

Cybercrime groups restructuring after major takedowns.

This reminds me of what happened in Chicago when the city demolished Cabrini-Green and a couple big gangs became a hundred smaller gangs. Also, more bad news: “Some of the newer gangs appeared to be considering threats of physical violence rather than just online intimidation, he said.” ~ learn more

fun facts · Sep 2024

When RAND made magic in Santa Monica.

“RAND’s halcyon days lasted two decades, during which the corporation produced some of the most influential developments in science and American foreign policy. So how did it become just another think tank?” ~ learn more

fun facts · Sep 2024

Executive compensation: the trend toward one-size-fits-all.

“Since 2006, 24% of the variation in the distribution of CEO compensation across pay components — salary, bonus, stock awards, options, non-equity incentives, pensions, and perquisites — disappeared.” ~ learn more