Every Friday
chronic vibe curation
Update: (@ian) wired headphones for aesthetics still isn’t cool. No matter what the kids say. I’m a retro-tech fan as much as the next guy , but I can’t stand behind choosing the wire on a run if you have a choice. Negative.
We continue our saunter research — we won’t let you forget about it. Some of us are prepared for the big long walk and others could use some serious introspection (even though the anti-builders are saying introspection is for dummys.) Between_balloons (see below) has worry creeping into our minds…but I did a kettlebell circuit on Thursday so I’ll be fine.
As always, we’ve got the meme of plenty if you scroll wayyy down. Tap into the new ANOTR — imagine it’s late afternoon, summer, on a rooftop in Brooklyn & you’re feeling it.👇🏼
Thanks for being here crew. Happy Friday.
I see through you, I know what you are.
— Noah Sebastian
You look at where you’re going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you’ve been and a pattern seems to emerge.
— Robert M. Pirsig
ICYMI: Happy Hour Edition
A “Chelada” is a refreshing, simple Mexican beer cocktail (or cerveza preparada) made by combining a light lager, fresh lime juice, and salt, typically served over ice in a salted-rim glass. Unlike the tomato-based, savory michelada, the traditional chelada is light, crisp, and sour, focusing only on citrus and salt.
Vocab word of the week: Chelada
Patio drink of the weekend: Chelada
Chinese electronics and car manufacturer Xiaomi surprised the global AI community today with the release of MiMo-V2-Pro, a new 1-trillion parameter foundation model with benchmarks approaching those of U.S. AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic, but at around a seventh or sixth the cost when accessed over proprietary API — and importantly, sending less than 256,000 tokens-worth of information back and forth.
His hope for a sort of disembodied political identity, untethered from the inconvenient particularities of family and culture, represented an aspirational cosmopolitanism that has proven insufficient to animate allegiance in the modern era. Put differently, he believed in the possibility of a purely rational public discourse. I believed, and still believe, such a discourse must be rooted in a more corporeal and traditional — and indeed national and cultural — source.
Best of Substack this Week
I’ve been to Mexico City a few times, but after having great success with Nolan’s Tokyo guide, I entertained the new Mexico City rendition. It’s full of great spots, and would be a wonderful first-timer’s guide.
This Week in Relay’s Shopping Cart
Silicon Preorder (Relay)
No one is doing it better than Arena Mag right now.
Mac Mini (Ian)
If you know, you know.
Mexico City Haul (Zach)
I just spent 4 days in Mexico City with my younger brother. On top of countless tacos, Cheladas, shots of Mezcal, I got some fun ceramics.
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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Karp glaze engaged.
Does anyone mind if I have a beer with ice?