Jimmy Cerone
@jrcii
Software Dev who loves to write, read, and hang with doggos.
Jimmy Cerone
Global uncertainty has lowered the outlook for diamonds, which account for 80% of Botswana’s exports and a third of its government revenue.
International Intrigue • 🌍 Close Shave
means that Meta is only allowed to show ads that are entirely un-targeted, or perhaps only targeted by country. Such ads, as most readers will understand, would be almost entirely worthless. For reference, the EU is about 10% of Meta’s ad revenue (‘Europe’ is larger, but is broader than the EU.
Benedict Evans • Benedict's Newsletter: No. 537
The world’s financial system is predicated on the U.S. government being definitionally zero credit risk when denominated in dollars. Every other kind of debt in the world is defined in reference to a Treasury.
Bits about Money • The Business of Check Cashing
Yikes. How do other countries do this? How does China?
In this instance, it’ll involve a mix of ingenuity around supply chains (like using blockchain to improve traceability) and materials science (like using alternatives such as niobium from Canada or Brazil).
International Intrigue • 🌍 Tantalising
Supply chain is going to be everything when it comes to renewables. How do we make it sustainable and ethical to make energy sustainable?
That bank does not cash the daily envelope of checks for free, either. It had a consequential commercial negotiation which took notice of the business’ risk profile, high operational costs associated with their custom, and the near certainty that they would be very annoying to work with. The bank ultimately quoted a price per check and, very
... See moreBits about Money • The Business of Check Cashing
Oh so this is a middle man and this markup occurs.
If you think about a car or a PC – they’re not trying to get you to use the car or the PC as much as possible. The purchase is the purpose. But the predominant business model of the digital age — advertising — incentivizes consuming more, faster.
Sublime • Notes on Scale + Quality
Air conditioning is a good example of a fixable problem. One of the biggest issues with AC is that most countries don’t set minimum standards for energy efficiency; of course, people tend to buy cheaper models, which often have very poor efficiency. If policies were updated, the energy demand caused by AC units would drop by 45 percent by 2050.
Bill Gates • How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need (Random House Large Print)
And let’s see what happens over the next decade as Instagram builds out its commerce operation. Perhaps we’ll all be stores someday. (Whatever that means.)