Kick some ash

February 7, 2025

🌋 Kick some ash: Scientists found a burnt scroll from Herculaneum, another Roman town Mount Vesuvius wiped out in 79 A.D. They’re using X-rays and AI to read without touching it. Early hints say it might be a work of philosophy. When I visited Pompeii, I was amazed at how forward-thinking they were. There were food courts, sanitation, lovely homes, and even a brothel with the names of prostitutes on the walls with prices and ratings. Really! If you go, ask your tour guide the question I do wherever we go: “What’s something you normally don’t show tourists?” I will save my story about cannibals on the Amazon River for another day.

Tags: Amazon, ratings

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$100 million

Reported sales price for Brookhaven, a virtual city in Roblox. Some 60 billion people have played the life-sim game. Think building fancy houses, driving around in nice cars and exploring the city. Around 120 million players log on a month. That’s almost the population of Japan!

$0

Kendrick Lamar’s fee for performing at the Super Bowl. He will get a tiny performers’ union payout. Last year’s headliner, Usher, got a check for $671. The real payment? His Spotify plays shot up 550% after the show.

50 cents

Extra for an egg at Waffle House. No word yet on when they’ll drop the bird flu surcharge. Better than a price hike on the whole menu. Oh, be careful what you say around egg whites. They can’t take a yolk.

25 years later

EA is re-releasing the original Sims and Sims 2 games digitally. The first game was only available on disk, but now both come bundled in the 25th Birthday Bundle for $39.99. Grab your copy on Steam, the Epic Games Store or the EA app for Windows.

0.5%

Of your brain is plastic. The most common microplastic researchers found in brain tissue samples is polyethylene, the stuff used in single-use bottles and cups. I use mostly glass and metal containers. Scary, dementia patients had 10 times the levels of plastic of a healthy brain.

$1,320,000

Auction price for a super-rare motorcycle. The bright yellow 1915 Cyclone V-Twin is one of only 14 still around today. I bet it’d be fun to ride, but the new owner can’t; it’s for display only, since the Cyclone isn’t cleared for us on roads or highways.

480

People have died trying to capture the perfect selfie. The most common ways people meet a tragic end? Drowning or falling off a cliff. But sometimes, it’s just not paying attention. A woman just died in Japan because she was so focused on getting the perfect picture, she didn’t see a train coming. No photo is worth your life.

36%

More videos posted to LinkedIn than this time last year. Vertical-view videos (think TikTok or Instagram Reels) are so popular, you can now view them on desktop and not just mobile. My advice: Go short and sweet, nothing too scripted. Hiring? Post a job free with my link!

21

How many years it took to debunk this study. Ever heard sparkling water helps you lose weight? That came from a 2004 study that wasn’t even about sparkling water. Sorry, carbonation in your blood won’t boost your metabolism. If your sparkling water loses its bubbles, that’s all right. It’s still water. (I heard that groan all the way here in Phoenix!)

$11.99

Monthly price for Amazon Music Unlimited after the latest $1 hike. The Family Plan went up $3 to $19.99 a month, or $199 a year. Sick of paying an arm and a leg for subscriptions? No kidding, the first time I logged into Rocket Money, it saved me $360.