Blogging Collapse, Data Centers Map, World Cup Final, Banks and Airlines, 31 Hotel Nights Booked With Points

Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the great blogging collapse, an updated data centers map, the World Cup final is here, banks and airlines, 31 hotel nights booked with points, Trump accounts, mind games of investors, AI content is everywhere, the Rosenberg boys, the forgotten bombing of LaGuardia airport,  another epic collapse by England in the World Cup, we travel to eat some wild foods in state fairs, epic Texas road trips, the best photography and Thailand links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. And much more. Enjoy the weekend.

 

Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!

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No clickbait. No ads. No algorithms. No sponsors. No AI. No paywalls.

 

This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.

 

BLOG HOUSEKEEPING

This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.

After this post is published I am going to delete the subscribers to a very old email list format. So if you want to make sure you continue to receive an email in the morning of each published blog post please make sure you subscribe to the Mailchimp format, enter your email address and click Submit in the red box on the right side of this page.

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny” – Aristotle

 

MUST READ GEMS 

Just one visual today…

There will never be a Market Timer Hall of Fame. Because, it doesn’t work. This visual shows us why (found HERE).

 

PERSONAL FINANCE

Another one from Jason Zweig at the Wall Street JournalThe Mind Game That Investors Can’t Stop PlayingBuying what’s hot feels right at the time, but too often ends in tears. Excellent advice once again.

The only reason I have this is because you may have kids that this applies to and this article will most likely answer all your questions about the Trump Accounts.

Interesting visual (found HERE).

r/dataisbeautiful - [OC] Percent Change in Median House Prices from 2000 to 2025 in the US

 

TECH/SCAMS/CRYPTO

As a blogger this is very depressing: The Great Blogging Collapse: What Happened to 100 Successful Blogs? If this happened to them what am I doing? Ok, don’t answer that please.

Key Takeaways:
  1. The median successful blog lost 85% of its Google search traffic.
  2. More than half of the blogs experienced catastrophic declines.
  3. Only 21 out of 100 blogs continued to grow, and I show what characteristics they share.
  4. Experience that can’t be AI-summarized became the biggest competitive advantage: recipes, DIY projects, travel experiences;
  5. Search should be treated as an acquisition channel within the broader marketing mix, not as the business itself.
  6. The era of building websites solely for Google traffic and monetizing them through ads and affiliate marketing has ended.

If you were one of these people what can I say? What are you doing here? Please leave. Trump memecoin investors lost $3.8 billion, analysis finds.

 

AI

Have you seen how awfully cringe Linkedin has become lately? You can spot the AI “content” from afar that it actually makes my stomach turn. I actually like to just post here in my blog and save all of us from carefully created crap that seeks attention and clicks. It is actually repulsing to see how many salesmen contacted my wife on Linkedin after she posted that she is retiring. Life insurance and annuity sales bozos, financial advisor wanna bees without a single noteworthy certification/license and others, yikes. Anyway, be careful out there: AI Content Is Everywhere on Social Media, Especially LinkedIn.

Key findings:
  • One in four longform posts on social media flagged as fully AI-generated
  • Of all posts we flagged as AI-generated, two-thirds came from LinkedIn
  • Nearly half of X/Twitter articles contained AI writing

I am no engineer obviously. But this is alarming if true: Generative AI Is an Engineering Disaster. Apparently, according to the author, generative AI does not scale. Why alarming? Because…

Yet the returns are diminishing. The bigger an AI model is, the less it improves with each added parameter, and so it must be made bigger at a faster rate just to sustain steady progress. I asked a few AI researchers whether they could name any other real-world software that scales so poorly. None of them could think of any. Even outside the world of software, it’s hard to find a comparable example, given that economy of scale is the principle that has made light bulbs, cars, and clothing so affordable. By economic and engineering measures, generative AI might be the worst technology ever deployed.

I am beginning to think if all these AI people are phucking with us. Because, you know, they know each other and most just split up to start their own AI thingie to pump it for yet another mega IPO. Like Mira Murati, who left OpenAI where she was the CTO. Finally, after a long silence, she has come out with yet another AI model with the name Inkling (come on, is this the best name they can come up with?) with her company Thinking Machines (much better name lol). Read more here: Thinking Machines amps up its bet against one-size-fits-all AI with its first open model, Inkling.

This…

 

 

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9 Comments

  1. Lots of great reading material to check out this weekend. Thanks as always for all you do, George…and a special thanks for the new format! My aging eyes appreciate it.

  2. Need some help with aviation award specialists here:

    I just booked me a 2nd UA business award. Please compare to original award below, both for 100k UA miles

    New:
    UA First Detroit to Chicago
    Chicago to Zurich on Swiss International Airlines on A330-300 standard business class (selling seats with more space for $300+)
    Zurich to Bangkok on Swiss International Airlines on Boeing 777-300ER

    Old:
    UA First Detroit to Chicago
    Chicago to Tokyo Haneda on United Polaris on Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
    Tokyo Haneda – Bangkok on, well originally on ANA but it may have been changed to Japan Air, not sure exactly what the change involved actually.

    New award gets me to BKK 5 hours later but it is okay as it is still early am.
    Long layovers which I am ok and do enjoy lounges. Any huge difference between lounges in Zurich vs Tokyo Haneda?

    I need to cancel one of these soon, please any feedback?

    1. Hey Buzz-

      I am way too far out of the loop to know about airlines or lounges for your award trip. But I always thought it was a little nuts to go to Europe to get to Asia.

      And what’s that “extra room” business class seat for $300? Can you just get a branded credit card and get the extra room free?

      We need AI to figure this out for us.

  3. David is spot on, the new format is easier on the eye. Great find on PedalScape as that is something we would use. Don’t think we will be watching the final but hoping Spain wins.

  4. Hey Buzz-

    An epic post. I don’t mean length, but in thought provoking content. The AI part alone will take me hours.

    I think blogs fail because the fire driving the great content just fades over time. Or the topic gets beat to death. Or stolen by others. But TBB has moved that up a level by not being just about a new or good topic but by finding others who write great content, which can always stay fresh.

    Thank you.

  5. Good morning Buzz,
    Another 4th, 5th or 6th place ribbon for the desert rats!
    I have to agree with David and Sam. I like the new format, and yes another great thought provoking post. And I am not of much service when it comes to finding flights, I’ve been looking for flights to BKK as well for the winter.
    I appreciate all the links regarding Thailand as I’m sure we will enjoy it there as well, and we are looking for a spot to spend the winters in the future. Antarctica is looking great for the summers as well.
    Another disappointing disaster for England, not a surprise. Tuchel, Arteta et al, when will they learn. It’s not like they didn’t know their opposition. Gotta hand it to Messi, it’s almost unbelievable what he is doing at his age.
    Have a great weekend Buzz, and enjoy the final on Sunday, let’s hope it has at least half the drama that the knockout rounds have provided.
    Thanks again Buzz.

  6. Hello from Portland Oregon, 1st stop on a road trip so my reading of this week’s blog will easily take a few days for all the goodies packed within. Ate at a fantastic place last night, one of only two restaurants in the Unione del Buon Ricordo program (based in Italy) and sadly, they have run out of plates but will send me one ASAP. Then even had an online form for it so I am more confident I shall get the plate eventually, unlike that restaurant in Paris that stiffed (I am certain on purpose) on a plate.

    Read this: “please make sure you subscribe to the Mailchimp format, enter your email address and click Submit in the red box on the right side of this page.”

    Turns out since I always read the email itself, I had to go to the web page version and then the button would not accept my email so I guess I am OK on being signed up. Still getting both versions of the email but clicking to go to the web or see comments, I end up on the new one so all is ok and I am warming up to the new version anyhow!

    So anyhow, thanks as always for the links and all you tell us. This is always a high point of the week for email reading as I have told you. Have a good weekend and I hope your favorite in the Soccer final wins.

  7. Sorry to be late but I have a note from the Dentist … a crown popped out this morning! Better than at 7:30p …

    Terrific links again … the advice against market timing is always welcome! And Jason Z is always
    worth reading.

    Following up something from a while ago … the Sapphire Reserve was for me well worth the price. Two stays at the “Edit Collection” of hotels plus the $300 travel credit paid for the card by themselves. The stays were unexpected but if you think of these expensive cards as mini-insurance policies then it is unexpected they help you prepare against.

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