Hi again!
I’m writing this note from sunny, hot, and humid Puerto Rico. It’s interesting here – at once a Caribbean island, while also being a U.S. territory, so things cost dollars and you don’t have to go through customs. In general, I would recommend it.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been reading lately…

1. The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising https://thecorrespondent.com/100/the-new-dot-com-bubble-is-here-its-called-online-advertising/13228924500-22d5fd24 This piece was really interesting to me. It’s about statistics and online advertising. The piece seeks to explore one central theme: “What do we really know about the effectiveness of digital advertising? Are advertising platforms any good at manipulating us?” The answer is a lot stranger than you might expect! Especially relevant in the age of Netflix's The Great Hack.

2. Can’t afford those $1,000 designer shoes? Now, you can buy a $1 virtual version for your avatar – on the fashion gaming app Ada

https://reader.howtospendit.com/2019/11/01/could-this-gaming-app-change-the-way-we-shop/content.html
Considering how much money people spend already in games like Fornite (and others) on virtual wardrobe items, this concept seems quite plausible. Rather than buying expensive garments, just outfit your avatar with them and then take “selfies” using some type of augmented reality (or buy a virtual studio as well!) If this app is pleasant to use, and fun—it is technically a game after all—I could see it catching on.

3. People who spend more time outdoors lead more fulfilling lives, new research shows

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/06/19/people-who-spend-more-time-outdoors-lead-more-fulfilling-lives-new-research-shows/
The headline to this article pretty much says what you need to know. But, specifically: “Those who got in two to three hours in nature were about 20 percent more likely to report high overall satisfaction with their lives than those who spent no time outdoors at all.” Less time didn’t yield any significant benefit. So yeah, once you’re done reading, go walk around some trees!

4. Millenials Kill Everything

https://pudding.cool/2019/09/millennials/
This is a very cool interactive data exploration tool. Basically they scraped headlines for “Millenials ” and turned it into something you can browse through. What institution will we destroy next??

5. Examine.com
https://examine.com/
This is a great resource for learning more about vitamins and supplements. They present scientific research in a great and easily-understood format that shows what various studies have found (see below). Finally, the site doesn’t sell any supplements, so they cleverly avoid conflicts of interest.

Well, that'll do it for me today! I hope you enjoyed this edition of News from the Net. As always, let me know what you found interesting.

Best,
Alex

P.S. I'm using TinyLetter for my emails, but I don't love it. I might move this list to another service soon.