CloudFlare is acquiring Astro web framework. I’ve built several personal projects using Astro and all deployed on CloudFlare. I guess that’s a common pattern 😛 Both products mesh together nicely so this makes sense. Hope CloudFlare keeps improving Astro.
Podcasts
StarTalk on Quantum Tunneling
Very much enjoyed listening to this episode of StarTalk podcast with John Martinis, the 2025 Nobel Prize winner in Physics. The episode caused me to reminisce about my graduate studies in physics. The discussion covers topics on superconductivity, quantum tunneling, Josephson Junctions, Cooper pairs, and others. It will surely be entertaining and interesting to any science enthusiast.
Cities need more trees
I really enjoyed this episode of The Economics of Everyday Things podcast. It investigates the economics of urban trees.
Research shows that inner-city trees provide many benefits:
- Carbon sequestration
- reduced cooling costs
- increased house value
- improvements in public health
- decrease in crime
- reduced stormwater runoff
All those benefits far outweigh any costs associated with planting and upkeep of the trees. Unfortunately, the most recent data shows that urban tree cover is in decline.
Epic Systems: Do not go public
One of my favorite Acquired episodes is the deep dive on Epic Systems. The origin story, the history, and Judith Faulkner’s founder journey are just insanely good. So many gems in this one:
- Epic’s campus has the largest underground auditorium in the world, called “Deep Space”, with over 11,000 seats.
- Other areas also have imaginative names like “Wizards’ Academy”.
- The company claims zero client churn in its 45 year history.
- A couple of their commandments: “Do not go public” and “Do not be acquired”. The succession plan for the company is to go into a trust and foundation.
If you haven’t listened yet, I highly recommend it.
Is the Public Ready for Private Equity?
Great Freakonomics podcast episode on private equity. It provides a very educational outline how PE works: buying, restructuring, and selling companies. It discusses the recent push to let retail investors access PE funds and the impact it may have. In short, likely not great for retail investors.