Swag, as we all know, is an ash-coated goat's milk cheese from Woodside, in South Australia. It is great on a cheese plate but can also be simply eaten on its own or with a seasonal fresh fruit and a glass of crisp Chenin Blanc. Just like this newsletter! Swag, meanwhile, is also the slang term for bold self-assurance in style or manner, and from the stock market to Thanksgiving dinner, from the movie theater to the Venetian royal family, and even down to the depths of the Pacific Ocean itself, today's cheddlines are dripping with swag: SWAG! —Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor P.S. we've got a robot explaining why she wouldn't want to be human on the 'gram. |
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"My game will enable them to be not only spectators but actors in the royal forum in their everyday lives." – His Royal Highness Prince Emanuele Filiberto Di Savoia, the Prince of Venice. |
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1. Is Nvidia Worth Holding Onto? |
Back in the 1990s, Guns'n'Roses bassist Duff McKagan, fresh from an exploded pancreas, bought $100,000 worth of stock in three Seattle companies: Microsoft, Starbucks, and Amazon. With combined average gains in those companies of around 10,000%, that investment is worth at least $10 million now. Depending on the percentage Duff stuck into each company, it could be worth more than $30 million, more than enough for a trip to paradise city! He may have been a lousy bassist, but he sure could pick a stock.
I know nothing about stockpicking, but I do know all about Duff McKagan. I even bought his 1993 solo album, "Believe in Me" (which reached no. 137 on the Billboard charts). So I'm going to throw in a few GNR references just for the amusement of my fellow Gen Xers (and elder millennials) who don't know anything about AI stock prices but would like to feel clever on other scores.
The question: If you stuck $100,000 into NVIDIA yesterday, should you keep it in? With the stock up almost 200% in a year, and profits once again surpassing expectations yesterday, is there another stock around today that Duff might prefer? Or is NVIDIA one in a million?
Well. Much like Intel in the late '90s, NVIDIA stands at the pinnacle of its industry. But what happened to Intel? Don't cry!
With rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices slipping into a protracted bearish trend and other AI stocks showing signs of weakness, NVIDIA finds itself in a peculiar position this November, as the rain starts to fall. Outperforming its peers might still spell losses for investors, raising questions about the stock's long-term attractiveness. Sorta like how Axl Rose looks dreadful these days even though your high school girlfriend said he was pretty hot back in 1992. The essence of NVIDIA's impressive returns lies in its ability to continually surprise investors, and that gets harder to do each time. It just keeps trying to get a little better, yes, a little better than before.
Analysts still overwhelmingly rank NVIDIA as a buy or strong buy, a testament to its favored status on Wall Street. But the company's valuation, stretched by high expectations, has begun to elicit some concerns. Are investors flogging a dead horse? Or do they just need a little more patience? #NotFinancialAdvice #NotMusicalAdvice Read More |
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2. Thanksgiving Is Going to Be Cheaper This Year |
The essence of Thanksgiving is not only found in the warmth of gathering with loved ones but also in the abundance of the dinner table, and of course, calling your uncle a racist and/or being called a racist by your niblings.
In 2024, there's even more reason to give thanks as the cost of preparing the traditional Thanksgiving feast is set to be more wallet-friendly. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, a comprehensive Thanksgiving meal for a party of 10 is projected to cost an average of $58.08 in 2024.
I do not know where they are shopping, but I just spent $92 on a pastrami sandwich and some matzoh ball soup and black-and-white cookies. Their imaginary number represents a welcoming 5% decrease from 2023, and even more impressively, a 9% drop from 2022. Wherever they are shopping.
The feast in question isn't a modest one, either; it runs the gamut from turkey (duh) to sides of cubed stuffing, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, frozen peas, fresh cranberries, celery, carrots, and all the way to pumpkin pie, whipped cream, and whole milk. They're going to Walmart, right?
According to a recent survey by Deloitte, 44% of people hosting Thanksgiving this year were concerned about the cost associated with the festivity. Whereas according to me, 44% of people are concerned about Deloitte. Just do what the New York Times says and brine it for three days, okay? Or four days. Five days. Heck, brine that puppy for a whole year. #NotThanksgivingAdvice Read More |
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| Engineered Arts' Ameca, the world's most advanced humanoid robot, is asked why she wouldn't want to be human—and she keeps it real: traffic jams. I assume they programmed a lot of far more frightening answers out of her. But I want to hear those. |
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3. This Weekend It's Witches vs. Gladiators |
Last year two Thanksgiving films duked it out: Barbie and Oppenheimer. This year people are going to choose between Wicked and Gladiator II. I wish that I could stop writing here because that's the essence of this story. But I can't. I'm compelled!
"Wicked," the much-anticipated onscreen transformation of the Broadway musical, stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the roles of Elphaba and Glinda. Meanwhile, "Gladiators II" sees Ridley Scott returning to direct the sequel set more than two decades after the legend of Maximus captivated audiences around the globe. Publicity-conscious star Denzel Washington claims a gay kiss was cut from the "Gladiator" sequel, but Scott denies it.
During their opening weekend last summer, "Barbie" took in $162 million and "Oppenheimer" $82.4 million—the biggest opening weekend in America since 2019. I've been to the cinema precisely once since my kid was born in 2021, to see "Dune II" in IMAX, and it was a bit of a disappointment. So, what do I know? I'll wait to stream these on the Internets, I think, unless you want to pay for the sitter! Read More |
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4. Dreaming of Joining the Royal Family? Now You Can—Sort Of. |
His Royal Highness Prince Emanuele Filiberto Di Savoia, the Prince of Venice, unveiled his latest venture: a new computer game launching at the end of this year called the "RoyaLand."
Before we go further, I do want to note that the Prince of Venice is, technically, royal. But he's not the King of England. Amongst royal families from various countries they do tend to get a bit snooty about such distinctions and I really want to uphold that snootiness because #standards.
The game, "a bridge between video games and royalty," promises to immerse players in the fascinating world of…royalty, offering a unique blend of history, strategy, and role-playing. The Prince's inspiration for Royal Land stems from a keen understanding of the enduring fascination with royal families worldwide. He acknowledges the influence of popular television series like "The Crown" and "Downton Abbey."
"People want to be able to enter into the royal world," he said. "My game will enable them to be not only spectators but actors in the royal forum in their everyday lives."
RoyaLand has an interactive and educational approach. Players will engage in role-playing within historically accurate kingdoms, interacting with AI-powered characters, and even real-life royals. The Prince emphasizes that the game goes beyond mere conquest, incorporating elements of strategy, alliance-building, and historical learning. It draws inspiration from the Prince's own family history, which spans a thousand years and involves strategic alliances, marriages, and of course, wars.
He envisions RoyaLand as a platform where players can experience similar dynamics, fostering a deeper appreciation for the complexities of royal lineage. The Prince's commitment to progress, he said, is evident in his decision to name his daughter as the future head of the House of Savoy, a departure from traditional succession rules, which favor men. RoyaLand is set to launch in 2025, with a beta version available later this year. The Prince's vision is to create a game that not only entertains but also educates and inspires.
"I want to have my place in the world of gaming and the world of gaming and education," he said.
If I had a net worth of $100 million, like the Prince, I'd have a very different vision for its expenditure, and it would start with leaving the computer games to the people at Nintendo while embarking on the sort of behavior that burst Duff McKagan's pancreas in the 1990s. Read More |
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5. Breaking! New Species of Glow-in-the-Dark Sea Slug Discovered... in 2000 |
In the inky depths of Monterey Bay, marine biologists have uncovered a new species of sea slug. First encountered by researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in the year 2000, after more than two decades of meticulous observation and documentation, the sea slug, known formally as Bathydevius caudactylus, has been confirmed as a new species.
Residing in the seldom-explored "midnight zone" of the ocean, at depths reaching 8,576ft (2,613 meters), the Bathydevius caudactylus has challenged our notion of what creatures can thrive in the cold and crushing darkness. The new nudibranch (that's posh for "sea slug") boasts a transparent, gelatinous body with a prominent hood, not to mention a flat tail adorned with finger-like projections that seem to undulate with the deep-sea currents, much like this newsletter. It also glows in the dark, which I feel is burying the lede, somewhat, since it would probably make the thing a tad easier to discover, no?
"We've invested more than 20 years in understanding the natural history of this fascinating species of nudibranch," scientist Bruce Robison said. "Our discovery is a new piece of the puzzle that can help better understand the largest habitat on Earth." Read More |
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