Gaming the System

The Spice Melange Part 2 and AI byte me

Follow up to the calorie and nutritional panel episode. We wondered if the nutrition/calorie computations were wrong or incomplete. The Atwater study results defined the number of calories for fat, protein, and carbs and was amended in the 1970's to account for fiber. The new research suggest it is our gut bacteria that determines absorption. But, what if the proteins today are different than in the 1890s? Cows used to eat grass that has the amino acids we need and had protein. Cows today eat genetically modified corn that is low in amino acids and are all carbs/sugar...zero protein. Are we truly getting the protein that we think we are? A dive into the FDA/USDA site shows the breakdown of items. 80/20 ground beef at Wegmans has more grams of protein than Kroger and waaaay more than the ground beef at fast food. Joins us for an interesting discussion of nutrition computations on this "The Spice Melange Part 2" episode of The Works.

The Spice Melange - Part 1

Pardon the SouthPark reference...not! Remember when we jested that maybe the calorie definition might be off? Well, Arizona State University just came out with an study that suggests we may have gotten it wrong. Seems that our gut bacteria has a lot to do with it! ((queue SouthPark reference about Tom Brady fecal implant)) Calorie absorption and usage is dependent on our gut bacteria! Join us for a discussion about Arizona State's calorie/gut research in this "The Spice Melange - Part 1" episode of The Works.

AI-RIP

AI...what a load of BULL! Rest in peace! Jim makes a compelling argument of why AI will fizzle out in the next couple of years. The statistic that AI use has increased is interesting...since copilot is now a part of microsoft office license. Just because it was bundled in and EVERY business office uses microsoft office doesn't mean everyone is USING it! Jeesh! And, what does "data driven" decisions mean? Isn't that we used to make decisions before AI? Join us for a great discussion on this "AI-RIP" episode of The Works.

Cannon Ball!

It is officially Beach Season!!! Where do you go for a summer vacation? Do you like basic beach houses or do you go for the more bougie rental? We just got back from Oak Island NC and love the laid back beach community. What things do you do on vacation? Did you know that Pablo Escobar ran drugs from a tiny beach community in NC? And the movie "The Year I Turned Pretty" was just filming nearby in South Port. Good times! And a sunset beach cruise to Bald Island had us reliving "Weekend at Bernies" that was filmed there. Good times! Join us for a beachy conversation this "CannonBall" episode of The Works.

Special Clubs

Are you tired of entering your phone number for all of these "loyalty" programs? How did those ever even start? The modern day may have seemed to start with flyer miles. But what about the green stamp books? Did you know they reward program started in ancient Egypt? What about the earliest ones here in the States in the 1700's? Seems like today's programs have a lot of pay-to-play-to-get-discounts feel to them instead of a reward system. Do today's programs buy YOUR loyalty or is it just an annoying step to save 5%? Would you skip the step to stay out of the data collection loop? Join us for a "Special Clubs" discussion on this episode of The Works.