Keep Making That Wall Street Gold |
Wall Street Gold, as we all know, is an Alpine-style aged raw milk goat cheese, named after the Wall Street mining district just west of Boulder in Colorado. It is matured for one year, rather like the writer of this newsletter, and it has a deep, earthy, nutty flavor. Same. Today we feature an interview with real Wall Street (not the one in Boulder) Journal education reporter Doug Belkin about Why Students Prefer Southern Universities. And there are plenty more cheddlines for your dairy-tolerant digestion this morning: Cheddar out! —Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor P.S. Would you trust a robot to watch your dog? Find out more on our 'gram! |
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"Travel is 11.4% of global GDP, but the technology that powers it is 30 to 40 years old, sadly." – Alex Mans |
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1. Why Students Prefer Southern Universities |
My wife and her father (hi, Mike! 👋🏻) both went to the University of Virginia. Go, Hoos! Mike recently went for a campus reunion and allegedly wanted to streak across the quad in the early hours of the morning after a few beers, although I have no firm evidence to say he actually did it. (He did it.) UVA, by North–South standards, is hardly a very Southern school. But it certainly sounds... inviting. There's also the boon of in-state tuition, of course, if you happen to come from Virginia!
Now that I've annoyed my father-in-law, let's see if I can also annoy the education reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Doug Belkin, who joined us to discuss his latest totally non-controversial piece about why incoming freshmen are preferring Southern schools. That's right. Doug reports that "a growing number of high-school seniors in the North are making an unexpected choice for college: They are heading to Clemson, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Alabama and other universities in the South."
Students say they are searching for the "fun" and school spirit emanating from the South on their social-media feeds. Their parents cite lower tuition and less debt, not to mention warmer weather — "always been better in the South, right?" Doug said — although that's not without its complications, particularly if you'd like to scroll down and read the next two items in this reasonably high-quality newsletter.
College counselors also say many teens are eager to trade the "political polarization on campuses in New England and New York" for the "sense of 'community' epitomized by the South's football Saturdays," Doug says. I suspect this also covers the quad-streaking. Also: "Promising job prospects after graduation can also sweeten the pot."
"For a long time, the South exported students to the great schools in New England, and some of them are still coming up, but a lot more are heading south now," Doug said. "And that's been happening at an even greater clip since Covid. Kids just were feeling stuck, and they were heading South, I think, in large part to just have fun."
It does all rather depend on one's definition of "fun," of course. Entirely non-controversially (ducks for cover), Doug also said: "Some of the more interesting folks we spoke to on the story spoke about how particularly Jewish students and Indian Southeast Asian students who are Hindu were particularly concerned with the [recent Middle East] protests [on college campuses in the Northeast] and just didn't want to be around that kind of tension. They were afraid it was going to get in the way of their education."
So do, please, email me your thoughts. And please, remember: I went to university in the South. Of England. Read More |
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2. 'Concert for Carolina' to Benefit Helene Victims — Donate |
James "I've seen fire and I've seen rain" Taylor is telling victims of Hurricane Helene, "you've got a friend," as he headlines the new "Concert for Carolina" alongside Luke Combs, to raise money.
Tragically, at least 227 people have now died and people are still finding dead neighbors in the aftermath. Tickets for the concert go on sale today at 10 a.m. ET. There is also an option for those unable to attend to donate directly. And I'm sure Ticketmaster will also be donating all their fees. They'll be donating all their fees, right? Read More |
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| Would you trust a robot to watch your dog?
Oro, a new dog nanny robot from Ogmen Robotics, is designed to recognize signs of anxiety in dogs and provide comfort, engagement, and treats when owners are away.
This advanced AI robot features two-way audio and a video screen for remote interaction, allowing you to capture photos and videos of your pet. It includes a treat dispenser that rewards your dog on command and an automatic food bowl that dispenses meals on schedule or as needed. |
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3. Hurricane Milton Approaching Florida |
"If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die," said Tampa mayor Jane Castor, as hurricane Milton approaches.
The high-end storm, which was Category 4 at press time and had winds up to 155 mph, was expected to make landfall along Florida's western coast as early as last night. Heavy rain began affecting southwestern and west-central Florida early yesterday. Thousands of residents, including over 4,130 people and close to 700 pets in Sarasota alone, have evacuated to shelters. Some shelters have reached capacity, complicating the evacuation effort.
Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 51 out of 67 counties, advising residents to act immediately as time was running short for safe evacuation. A quarter of gas stations ran out of fuel by Wednesday morning due to a mass exodus from coastal areas. Warnings include storm surge predictions up to 15 feet and rain up to 18 inches. If you've been watching the Weather Channel, the computer graphics are terrifying. Read More |
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4. Have Airlines Finally Embraced Modern Technology Since the '80s and '90s? |
Founder & CEO of FLYR, Alex Mans, joined us to talk about the current state of the airline industry and how his company — which has raised close to half a billion dollars in investment — is updating technology in the sky. The bottom line is, a couple of tech firms control everything and have zero incentive to update because airlines are all super risk-averse ("keep the plane in the sky" is their presumable motto, and one I support) and nobody ever got fired for contracting with, say, Microsoft. I said that. Not Alex. But it's what I grokked from his lines.
"Travel is is still running on 1980s technologies," Alex said. "It's a miracle that they continue to function with minimal disruption at the scale that we're currently at in the world. Travel is 11.4% of global GDP, but the technology that powers it is 30 to 40 years old, sadly."
He didn't mention the recent Crowdstrike disruption, which I thought was interesting, but, you know, he didn't mention rival Microsoft by name, either, because the man has lawyers. And so does Microsoft.
"If you're an airline, you've got 300 different technology systems for your accounting, your payments, your load and balance management of the plane, your crew planning, and a bunch of other things," Alex said. "There's a lot of systems out there and these systems have all been tied into over the years of these legacy technologies that came to be in the 1980s and the 1990s. And these monolithic mission critical systems have become such a spaghetti of technology that it's very, very hard to unwind."
There's also been very little incentive to innovate. Costs have been inflating and airlines have been treated quite poorly by these technology companies. FLYR, meanwhile, is trying to modernize the experience for travelers, Alex said.
"If you're a public company, you have to balance the stakes of your travelers and your shareholders and a very large system transition for core technology," he said. "It's painful. It takes a long, long amount of time and it's incredibly expensive. So, it's a difficult decision to make, I think, outside of buying airplanes and spending billions of dollars with manufacturers like Boeing or Airbus, it is probably one of the biggest decisions a board of directors can make to transition the core systems at the airline from a legacy technology."
Amazingly, FLYR can help.
"We provide the airlines with a modern cloud technology-based reservation system," he said. "And by providing that, we can enable airlines to build much better experiences for travelers. Why is it that we don't have a shopping cart? When you book a flight with an airline, why is it that it's so hard to buy that extra seat next to you? Why is it so hard that you have to go through all these steps to change your flight? We help improve that experience. And then lastly, coming through the APIs, we use all the data within the airline."
His firm's client base includes Virgin Atlantic, JetBlue, Air New Zealand, Azul and Avianca. Now they're evidently in the market to broaden it.
"As a result, the airline makes more money, and the traveler ends up being more loyal and more satisfied with the experience," he said. FLYR isn't even sponsoring this newsletter. But perhaps they should!
Read More |
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5. Buffalo Wild Wings Gets Wild (Relatively Speaking) in Value Menu War |
Speaking of wings, Buffalo Wild Wings is getting on the value train! And because I have a journalism degree and a deep sense of personal pride, I am happy to "report" on it for you.
Starting yesterday, Buffalo Wild Wings fans can enjoy a truly irresistible deal when dining in at their favorite sports bar: Pick 6 for $19.99. Whether catching the game with a friend or enjoying a casual date night, Pick 6 for $19.99 is perfect for two! Seriously though, how casual would your date night have to be to say, "You want to split 20 bucks' worth of chicken wings at the sports bar?" And if that's actually a "date" then what expectations can you have for the rest of the relationship? YOU SHOULD DUMP THAT MAN, GIRL. #FreeAdvice #NotFinancialAdvice
Entrée options include 6 traditional wings, 10 boneless wings, 3 hand-breaded chicken tenders, an all-American cheeseburger or a classic chicken sandwich, while side picks include french fries, tater tots or potato wedges.
Also: Buffalo Wild Wings isn't even sponsoring this newsletter. But perhaps they should! Read More |
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