Happy Friday! If you're new to Now I Know, you'll notice that today's format differs from the rest of the week. On Fridays, I pause to write the "Weekender," my  "week in review" type of thing, or to share something else I think you may find interesting. Thanks for reading! — Dan

And Now For a Brief Vacation

Hi!

Next week, I’m taking a brief pause — we’re taking a family vacation (of sorts) so I won’t be writing much, if at all. I’ll still send you an email every day, though; Monday through Thursday are all going to be re-runs and I have absolutely no idea what I’ll send on Friday.

Given that, you’ll understand that I don’t have much else to share today — I guess I’m already in vacation mode in a sense! — so let’s jump right into the week in review.

The Now I Know Week In Review

Monday: The Prisoners Who Gave Their Captors the Bird: A few readers wrote in to point out that the Korean War hasn’t officially ended yet. That’s correct but I’m okay with my error.

Tuesday: How to Mug Yourself?: As reader John G. wrote, his new picture really was better! (Just foolish.)

Wednesday: One Spud, You’re Out: A baseball story that turns into a potato.

Thursday: The Problem With Not Dialing and Driving: I really wanted to make a Spaceballs reference here but couldn’t fit it in. In retrospect, “no raspberries were involved” probably would have done it nicely.

A Few Dollars = A Big Difference

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And thanks! — Dan

Long Reads and Other Things

Here are a few things you may want to check out over the weekend:

1) “How to Escape From the Russian Army” (New York Times, 18 minutes, June 27, 2024.) This is a gift link; you don’t need a Times subscription to read it. And this could definitely become a movie one day.

2) “Everyone Is Judging AI by These Tests. But Experts Say They’re Close to Meaningless” (The Markup, 14 minutes, July 2024). The subhead: “Benchmarks used to rank AI models are several years old, often sourced from amateur websites, and, experts worry, lending automated systems a dubious sense of authority.” I’m long-term bullish on AI but short-term bearish — I think its immediate uses are limited — and this article echoes the same attitude. The issue, though, is that if this article is right, the long-term may take longer to get here, as AI builders are building toward the wrong end.

3) “A Cursed Ship and the Fate of Its Sunken Gold” (New Yorker, 47 minutes, July 2024). The subhead: “In 1746, a vessel called the Prince de Conty foundered off the coast of France. How did its most valuable cargo end up in the hands of a semi-retired Florida couple?” I hope you don’t get stopped by the soft paywall on this one — it’s a fun read.

Have a great weekend!

Dan