Everyone is talking about this one incredible website. Is it the one that uses AI to answer any question (as long as it’s not math)? The one where you can watch gamers watch other gamers play video games? Or the one that may or may not be revealing to China that you really like videos of dance battles? No, no, and no.
In fact, the website in question belongs to McMaster-Carr, one of the hottest startups...of 1901. The purveyor of industrial supplies is generating buzz in developer circles for one reason: its website is unbelievably fast. The secret to its high velocity? Nothing more than smart, simple code (and crazy good deals on low-pressure hydraulic hoses).
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Today’s technology often seems to be judged by its complexity. LLMs are trained on heroic doses of data. Processors can perform calculations in the quadrillions per second. But in the everyday world, Tesla’s “autonomous” robots are still being controlled by humans, and Google’s AI is still suggesting that we top our pizzas with glue—a novel interpretation of “fusion cuisine.”
In times like these, McMaster-Carr’s site feels like it has an important message to share with the world. Focus more on the nuts and bolts, and less on the bells and whistles. Nail the important stuff, and even a website about nails can stand out from the crowd. |
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👂 Eavesdrop the beat. Somewhere in San Francisco, a phone strapped to a phone pole is constantly listening for music. |
🍲 Melting pot. Japanese or Jamaican? Can’t decide? This recipe generator combines any two cuisines into one (possibly) delicious dish. |
💩 Sounds like crap. Green Day’s punk opus gets loaded on lo-fi devices—from a wax cylinder to Big Mouth Billy Bass. |
☁️ Deus ex machina. OMG—these articles explore how religious groups are making use of modern technology. |
🔷 Get into shapes. This collection of many, many 3D interactive shapes puts the “poly” in polyhedra. |
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You’re hosting a 30-person Thanksgiving and need someone to bring a can of cranberry sauce. For each person you ask, the probability that they end up bringing a Can o’ Cran is 0.1.
If you ask all 30 people, what’s the probability you’ll get exactly one can?
Bonus: You need cranberry sauce, but you don’t want to get bogged down with a lot of it. How many people should you ask to maximize the chance that you get between 1 and 3 cans?
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We’ll randomly choose one correct respondent to each puzzle for a shout-out in next month’s email. |
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Congrats to Elizabeth Zarek, our winner for puzzle one, and Jelmer H, our winner for puzzle two!
The key to both puzzles was realizing what motivates either team to adjust their strategy. Each team had two actions to choose between. If the expected value of one was higher than the other, they’d do the more valuable action more often. Under this logic, the teams reach an equilibrium where neither can benefit from further changes.
Check out the full solution here.
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“You can have all the physical ability in the world, but you still have to know the fundamentals.” |
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