Every Friday
We’re out of office and the youth are worshipping clipart.
We’re so back. Happy Friday team. We’ve collectively been in work purgatory this week but don’t worry - 3/4 of the crew is doing some last minute packing for an end-of-summer escape to Italy. Be looking out for the Shared Album.
The OOO messages have been set and Ian’s passport came in this morning for his flight tomorrow (you read that right). S/O to the State Department for the quick turnaround. Something in government works!
Hit play and let’s get into it.
Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.
― Jack Kerouac
If you're gonna be stupid you gotta be tough.
— John Grisham
Top of Mind
Soho House Is Going Private (Reuters)
"However, Soho House will need a bit more than celebrity stardust to cement its long-term future”
I’ll tell you what else they’ll need to cement their long-term future: Diet cokes that aren’t nine dollars… That alone might fix a few of their outstanding problems. It’s unclear what exactly the privatization of Soho will bring for the house (Ian’s words not mine) but we’d be lying if we said we wouldn’t miss the beautiful summer days at the pool.
35 Thoughts About AGI and 1 About GPT-5 (LessWrong)
In general, current AI models are much less sample-efficient than we are: a teenager learns to drive in less than 100 hours; Waymo vehicles have logged millions of hours and are still working their way up to driving on the highway, in snow, etc.
Amidst an onslaught of AI news and what feels like endless updates on the next breakthrough, this article had several brain teasers I had never considered, sample-efficient learning being my favorite. A refreshing, forward looking piece that felt grounded in reality on the state of the large swath of unsolved problems AI faces today.
New Roblox Cult Just Dropped (Pirate Wire)
Roblox (aka the metaverse’s Chuck E. Cheese) has birthed a new pseudo-religion. It’s called Spawnism, and it’s what happens when tweens get too deep into horror-game lore and start worshipping a 1990s clipart icon like it’s a pagan deity. I wish the last sentence was a joke but what began as satire in the game Forsaken — where a character joins a fake religion to earn eternal respawns — has turned into a real-world phenomenon called Spawnism.
Kids are now earnestly worshipping an old 90s clipart symbol, drawing it on their arms, debating its theology online, and participating in creepy-ass self-harm Roblox rituals in real life.
TLDR - the kids are definitely not alright. More importantly, Peachtree isn’t letting Jack play video games with his door closed anymore.
ICYMI: Happy Hour Edition
Inside House of Guinness, Netflix’s Ambitious New Succession Meets Peaky Blinders Project (GQ)
I admit I skimmed this, it’s a long read. The future of education (K-12 and beyond) is one of the most interesting domains right now - (Colossus)
Best of Substack this Week
How to Vaccinate the World - Asterisk Magazine
This week in Relay’s shopping cart
LF 2L – Raide, Jack
This is apparently the Cadillac of hip belts, and I believe that I need one for my backyard ultra hellscape in September.
Rolex Montres Astronomiques, James
Hello Sharks. For a modest investment of $200,000 (give or take), you could help me fulfill my lifelong dream of acquiring this obscenely overpriced watch. In return, I offer you the priceless opportunity of watching me flex on these hoes.
It’s Not That Deep, Randy
Thanks for reading—or for mega scrolling all the way down here.
The internet is an overwhelming mess of headlines, ads, and mid takes from the worst people you know. Big Tech owns our attention spans. Everything is content. Nothing makes sense.
We’re not here to “fix discourse” or “build a better internet.” Relay is just our attempt to riff on what we’re already talking about at happy hour without feeling like we’ve been hit by a content truck. Some analysis, some memes, call it a day.
You might like it. Tag along.
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I look forward to it every week. Cheers gentlemen
The passport. You’re joking @ian