We all went to the new Mean Girls movie tonight. I had seen the 2004 Mean Girls a long time ago but didn’t remember that much of it. The musical interpretation was fun and had good moments.
There is certainly some luck involved with Microsofts early investment and partnership with OpenAI. However, the strategy they have built to bring AI to “where work happens”, productize it through Copilot, and create enterprise-ready capabilities to build off of is truly impressive.
Microsoft surpassed Apple to become the world’s most valuable public company. Microsoft was valued at $2.89trn as markets closed on Friday; Apple at $2.87trn. The iPhone-maker has been the most valuable listed firm for most of the past 12 years. But Microsoft’s investments in artificial intelligence have helped it catch up. The software giant last closed above Apple in 2021. — The Economist (Jan 13, 2024)
It might have been better if I never would have found out about these Bailey’s Irish Cream Minis. Delicious.
We watched Here Comes the Boom tonight. Kevin James is a great lead for this and the story has some laughs along the way.
Bitcoin ETF Approved
Milestone day to recognize — SEC Approves Bitcoin ETFs for Everyday Investors. Bitcoin doesn’t need this to validate it or prove value but it is a big plus for the credibility of Bitcoin. BTC currently at $46,611 now.
Questions:
- What will this do to Bitcoin demand?
- What does this mean for MicroStrategy (MSTR) as they are effectively a Bitcoin holding company (in part) now.
- If this “legitimizes” Bitcoin, what is the follow-on to Ethereum? And other blockchains?
My 52nd Birthday POAP was highlighted in the newest This Week in POAP. 🤩
Just set calendar event to pre-order Apple Vision Pro on January 19th! 🎉
Another proof point that smoke detector low battery “chirps” always start when you are trying to sleep.
We saw The Boy and the Heron today. The animation was beautiful as you would expect from Studio Ghibli. The story was wild and took many turns. Overall very good and will likely watch it again.
My top podcast listening for 2023. I subscribe to Making Sense and The Drive. Omni Show is always a fun listen. The Next Year in Moscow was a very good series from the Economist. Pivot is my drive time listen.
Tammy is our family trip planner extraordinaire and she has mapped out the general structure of our Ireland trip in June! We’ll be going clockwise starting from Dublin with lodging points in Ballydehob, Ballybunion, Doolin, Ballyshannon, Belfast, special visit to Tubbrid Castle, and back to Dublin to explore before returning home.
Put together this fun Tribute to Galileo Galilei LEGO this morning. Reminded me of our bike tour in Tuscany when we stopped at Villa Galileo (building on the left in the street photo).
Just booked flights for our summer vacation to Ireland! We are excited for our first trip there. 🇮🇪
Birthday POAPs
I’ve made it a tradition since my 50th birthday to issue a POAP token for my birthday and share it as a gift from me to others to celebrate the day. I’ve now done this for three years. Each year I’ve used a POAPathon bounty to create the image and have featured a different artist each year. POAP launched POAP Family a while ago and one of the features it has is the ability to show collectors across multiple POAPs. I like how this works when you have a series of events like my birthday POAPs.
- There are 12 collectors that have all three.
- There are 21 collectors that have the most recent two.
- A total of 85 collectors have at least one of my birthday tokens.
- There are 8 reservations from 2022 and 7 from 2023 that have not been minted.
First time trying this Natural-Processed Coffee Beans from Myanmar that I got from Pair Cupworks. Delightful coffee with a rich and full flavor. Definitely get a Nutella flavor in it. Pair continues to be one of my favorite roasters.
We saw The Boys in the Boat at the Edina Theatre tonight and thought it was a great movie. It was a great underdog story told very well. The theatre was nearly full too — most people I’ve seen in a movie since before the pandemic! Highly recommended! 🍿
Tammy and I watched Everything Everywhere All at Once tonight and found it a wild trip. One of the strangest movies we’ve seen, but also somehow still all came together at the end and left me happy to have seen it.
Today is my 52nd Birthday, but I also share my birthday with Bitcoin. Happy 15th Birthday to Bitcoin! Genesis block was mined 15 years ago. 🎉⚡️
Family selfie on my 52nd birthday! 🎉
I created a POAP to share for my 52nd Birthday! Here are five claim codes! Each link can only be used once. See how to if needed.