The Connection Newsletter 11 - Baby Moon

The Connection Newsletter 11 - Rule: No guns, but keep shooters

June 11, 2018

Hello!

This is edition #11 of The Connection, the weekly email I send family, friends, and future friends (hello!) Glad you're here.

(If you don't want these newsletters, you can click “unsubscribe” at the bottom. We'll still be friends.)

Make sure to hit "Display Images" above to see puppy pics. 

. I’m the first to admit that the idea of a baby moon seemed like an odd bit of millennial silliness, like taking frisbee too seriously. But afterthefact, I’m 100% baby moon on board, and highly recommend it. Here’s what we did on our baby moon to France, plus my favorite travel tips.

. Journalist Matt Taibbi had known "Huey" for three years when Huey approached him with a confession: He was a drug dealer. Who moved tons of illegal substances across borders and into the US.

Huey started when he was in high school -- and had never been caught. The result of their conversations: the fun, fictionalized serial, The Business Secrets of Drug Dealing.

(First two chapters are free, after that you'll need a subscription.)

Life imitates art. Dim sum aesthetics are getting pushed to the edge as more of us elect where to dine based on our Instagram feeds (just ask Salt Bae). We’re talking about har gow sprinkled with osetra caviar and uni, colored xiao lung bao, and life-like pastry chicks that look ready to flutter off the plate.

These chefs are raising the bar on dim sum, not unlike how Apple elevated technology from purely functional tools to something elegant and beautiful you coveted. Remember that before  you had “1,000 songs in your pocket”, there was another word for the iPod: an mp3 player.

. Speaking of Apple, the technology company is getting outpaced in the mobile payments department… by a coffee company.

23.4 million people will use Starbucks' app to make a purchase at least twice this year. In the same time period, 22 million people will use Apple Pay.

Take 5 seconds and do this now: Look at your phone home screen. How many store or restaurant-specific apps do you have (Gap, Domino’s, Dunkin Donuts, etc)? Probably none.

That makes Starbucks’ foray into the space even more remarkable. They did it not only with an ingenious loyalty program, but introducing mobile ordering, location-based engagement loops, and an ever changing menu.

(Want to read about another remarkable loyalty program? Check out

.)

Tough to keep track today, and shit’s about to get crazier as AT&T looks to scarf down Time Warner and Disney attempts to gobble 21st Century Fox. In this post, Recode breaks down the shenanigans. (H/T Susan Su who shared this first.)

. When it comes to footwork, athletes like Muhammad Ali and Vasyl Lomachenko have (rightly) secured their place among the gods. But this week I was watching some Dominick Cruz highlight reels, and I hope that history cements him amongst these legends.

There’s just no one who moves like him.

However you feel about boxing vs. MMA, the fact is that boxers have two weapons (hands). MMA fighters have eight (hands, feet, elbows, knees)... plus they have to learn takedowns, grappling, and a ground game. Despite facing this arsenal, Mr. Cruz manages to float and flicker around the best in the game.

Thanks for reading!

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