Ten years ago, Dyn discontinued service for Wikileaks. It's incredible to think about how much time has past but also how similar the conversation is today on platforms and publishers. 1/

Dyn is a business and made decisions through a business lens. We sought to have many customers and run a SHARED platform where everyone would benefit from uptime and reliability we provided the Internet infrastructure. 2/

Dear online vendors,

I personally would like to address certain concerns as regards how you do business, your customer relations and interactions as I would also want to assume that many of you reading this have little to no business experience/ training whatsoever.

Frist, even the Bible in Luke 14:28 says

"New International Version"

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?

It is only sane that anyone venturing into business, first would

Sit and count its cost. Which includes capital, consumers needs, services needed, location e.t.c when it comes to offline businesses. However, I have noticed that a lot of people venture into online businesses (Buying and selling to be clear) without proper mentoring nor prior

Knowledge as to what it really entails; as time and time again I have had to address concerns which in most cases are amateur business concerns that shouldn't even be apart of the discussion to start with. Concerns like "Availablity" which is what I will focus this lecture on.

Yes! This is a lecture and you're my student. If you are offended feel free to leave the class now. It's free so I'm allowed to do shakara.

I would like to note that in business, 1 year - 2 year old businesses cannot be termed as "successful" until they exceed the 3year mark.

In a new clinical trial with 145 subjects, subjects were given drinks sweetened with aspartame, glucose, fructose, or high-fructose corn syrup for two weeks.

Some results
HFCS group:
17% higher LDL-C
15% higher apoB
11% higher

Subjects were given beverages to drink three times per day, containing:

Aspartame, control
Glucose, 25% daily energy requirements
Fructose, 17.5%
Fructose, 25%
High-fructose corn syrup, 17.5%
HFCS, 25%
Sucrose, 25%

Patients were told to refrain from drinking any other sugar-sweetened beverages.

Riboflavin was added to the drinks as a biomarker for adherence and tested in the urine.

Urinary riboflavin was low at the beginning, rose throughout the study, and did not rise differently between participants in each group over the course of the study, indicating that the biomarker worked and adherence was similar between groups.

The trial was double-blinded and on an outpatient basis.

Subjects were not randomized but groups were matched for sex, BMI, and concentrations of fasting triglyceride (TG), cholesterol, HDL-C, and insulin at baseline.

Thought I was going to finish 2020 empty handed, tough real estate market out here.

Managed to snag a great deal at the last minute and wanted to share the details.

Here’s how I analyze multifamily real estate investment opportunities 👇

The property was a vacant 4plex, listed for $990k & after a few back and forths, the sellers accepted $950k with no finance condition.

Sellers were an elderly couple who neglected the property, it needed a lot of work. It was in a great neighbourhood/location.

(more pics later)

I first calculated my total equity investment required to acquire and stabilize the property.

During the inspection, did a full walk through with a trusted contractor (worked with for years), receiving quotes unit-by-unit.

Estimated time to complete = 4-6 months.

Next is the stabilized P&L.

Since I know the area very well, I can estimate rents and opex with great accuracy (I have another property within 15 mins walking distance).

Tenants are responsible for hydro/gas.

Finally, I put together the key metrics in evaluating the deal.

I look for yield above 15%, cash on cash above 7% and debt service above 1.5.

As you can see, the numbers check out.

The way things are going...

Ordering a Pizza in 2022

CALLER:
Is this Pizza Hut?

GOOGLE:
No sir, it's Google Pizza.

CALLER:
I must have dialed a wrong number, sorry.

GOOGLE:
No sir, Google bought Pizza Hut last month.

CALLER:
OK. I would like to order a pizza.

GOOGLE:
Do you want your usual, sir?

CALLER:
My usual? You know me?

GOOGLE:
According to our caller ID data sheet, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza with three cheeses, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and meatballs on a thick crust.

CALLER:
Super! That’s what I’ll have.

GOOGLE:
May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes & olives on a whole wheat gluten-free thin crust?

CALLER:
What? I don’t want a vegetarian pizza!

GOOGLE:
Your cholesterol is not good, sir.

CALLER:
How the hell do you know that?

GOOGLE:
Well, we cross-referenced your homephone number with your medical records. We have the result of ur blood tests for the last 7yrs.

CALLER:
Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetarian pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol.

GOOGLE:
Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database, you purchased only a box of 30 cholesterol tablets once

Thread on The Congregation in the a Secular Age:

Pastors and ministers, I know that the pandemic as been no joke. It has taken a pound of flesh. I’m hopeful that The Congregation in a Secular Age can speak to some of this burden.

It was written before the pandemic, but I think will offer some insights on why the 2nd half of the pandemic has been a hellscape to do ministry in. And it may help you rethink what your congregation is for and how it should be in the world.

The post-pandemic risks being even harder on pastors. As vaccines are given & the world revs its engines like never before to race back to speed, I think the book could help give some insight into the phenomena within the pandemic,

but more so it offers points of reflection as we move toward a post-pandemic horizon. It’s a book written pre-pandemic that I think will really help post-pandemic. It will help resist the calls for your congregation to accelerate and race for change.