Alberto's weekly email: Asterix, Chrome extensions and more! 🚀
Hi All!
What I am reading 📚
Around a month ago, while looking for inspiration on what to read next, I came across Le Monde’s 100 Books of the Century.
The list surprised me in a few ways:
Asterix, the comic book, made it to the top 25, Par Toutatis!
Even though a lot of the books are by French authors —this is expected, Le Monde is a French newspaper— the list is very varied with authors ranging from Jorge Luis Borges to J.R.R. Tolkien.
I was also surprised to see a lot of Italian authors on the list. Some, like Pirandello and Levi, I remembered from Italian school. Others —Buzzati, Eco— I knew but have never read. So I decided to get a few of them (Grazie Mamma!):
I’m starting with Dino Buzzati’s Il Deserto dei Tartari (The Tartar Steppe).
If you are also looking for ideas for what to read, there’s plenty of very good lists, here are a few others:
Nerd Corner 🤓
Last week I started experimenting with different browser extensions to enhance my online experience. I use Brave, a privacy-focused browser based on Chrome. This means that I can install most apps available on the Chrome Webstore:
Highly. This extension lets you highlight any website. While it is focused on making it easier for users to highlight articles and share them with friends over Twitter (its parent company), I have been using it to keep track of interesting bits that I can later review ✍️.
History Search. This extension adds indexing to your browsing history to make it easier to retrieve old pages from your history. The search experience is not the best but so far it has helped me retrieve old articles with a few keystrokes 🔍.
Grammarly. This is an app that helps you write better by analyzing what you write. The company just raised $90M so I decided to give it a try. The extension integrates seamlessly with Gmail so it can correct your grammar and even understand the tone of your writing before you send an email 📝.
Also interesting 🤯
Electrons appear to implement Grover’s search algorithm according to recent research.
It turns out that even our clothes are filling the oceans up with plastic. This Wired article describes how microfibers in some of our clothes end up polluting the seas.
This a16z article provides a glimpse of the so-called passion economy. Digital platforms allow individuals to monetize their skills in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago.
Feedback 🚀
Just before you go, I would be super grateful if you have any comments or suggestions about these emails! Do you like the format? Do you think they should be longer or shorter? Just drop me a few lines over email!
And, if you enjoy these emails spread the word and tell your friends to signup as well!
Have an awesome week!