4 - Happy (day after) Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! This is the time of year when I do all of my holiday shopping (online of course).  I also learned the true sign of marriage is when your wife asks for socks for Christmas. #basic

As always, if you know anyone that would like to subscribe, please send them to YeeHaw.io.

Taylor

[The Good Stuff]

HOW TO HACK THE AIRLINE SYSTEM (Article) - This Rolling Stone article tells the story of Ben Schlappig, an airline frequent flyer hacker.  He has a better understanding of these programs than the companies running them and finds loopholes to exploit, allowing him to fly around the world for pennies on the dollar for the past 10 years.  For example, he purchased thousands of dollar-coins from the US mint on a credit card to get miles, then used the coins to pay off the credit card charges, racking up miles essentially for free. (20-minute read)

THE ONLY TIME I'VE CONTEMPLATED TAKING LSD (Podcast) - Reply All might be my favorite podcast. While the hosts are some of the funniest and nerdiest around, the show itself is an amazing dive deep into strange happenings on the internet and in technology. Through the month of August, they rebroadcasted some of their most popular episodes.  In this episode, one of the hosts experimented with micro-dosing, which is when you take trace amounts of a drug (LSD) in an attempt to experience some of the upside (often increased productivity or creativity) and minimize the downside of the drug.  I have listened to a lot of podcasts on micro-dosing but this was the first that actually follows someone's experiment.  Despite my teetotaling ways when it comes to drug use, this episode is fascinating. (44 minutes)

SPEAKING OF DRUGS (Article) - While on the topic, this article from Johns Hopkins Magazine covers some of the leading researchers of hallucinogens and findings from their research.  Again, this isn't something I would endorse but there do appear to be reasonable applications when appropriately supervised. (15-minute read)

ON TO A LIGHTER NOTE, ALCOHOL (App) - How do you shop for wine?  Maybe you get the same thing every time.  Or maybe like me, you have a price range and a type of wine in mind.  You scan the shelves for something that falls within the intersection of those things and then pick whichever bottle has the coolest label.  Or, you can try out Vivino.  You scan a wine label and it tells you the wine's rating, average price, awards, and reviews.  This makes it much easier to pick something up on a whim. (Plus, it's free)

INEXPENSIVE SUNGLASSES - I hate spending a lot on sunglasses because they are so easy to break or lose.  In addition, I have a narrow head and most sunglasses just don't look good on me.  But, my friend Barrett introduced me to Knockarounds, which are between $10-25.  They come in many different colors and styles and are great for traveling or doing anything where you may lose your shades.  More recently, I tried on some Sunskis from my friend Andrew, which are about $50, and are higher quality than Knockarounds, but still much cheaper than most sunglasses and these look great.  These are now my daily sunglasses.  Both companies sell polarized lenses and have frames that fit well for many head shapes.  I like the Knockaround Classics and the Sunski Seacliffs.

INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT - History Photographed shows a range of interesting photos representing what history would look like if it was posted on Instagram.  Some recent faves of mine include:

MUSIC - Ariel Pink (Wikipedia link) has always been kinda weird.  His music was close to being likable but went a little too off-the-rails for me to enjoy. But his recent album, Dedicated to Bobby Jameson (Spotify link), is really good. I would describe his music as a mix between 60s and 80s pop, with a little 80s punk in there. This whole album is great to listen to, but some of my favorites are:

MEME - This is what happens when you steal the last of the prune juice and apple sauce.