Here’s what *really* happened with the tech outage...

Plus, how to hustle like T-Swizzle. See the world through a new language »]( [StackSkills]( [StackSkills]( [StackSkills]( [Advertise]( | [Talk To Us](mailto:letschat@getthefuturist.com) | [Shop]( | [Unsubscribe]( [The Futurist is your daily tech, cosmic, and science (both weird or otherwise) newsletter with articles and content curated just for you.]( [/glitch] [What the Microsoft outage reveals | The Atlantic]( [What the Microsoft outage reveals]( “It happened again: yet another cascading failure of technology. … Why are we so bad at preventing these? Fundamentally, because our technological systems are too complicated for anyone to fully understand. These are not computer programs built by a single individual; they are the work of many hands over the span of many years. They are the interaction of countless components that might have been designed in a specific way for reasons that no one remembers. Many of our systems involve massive numbers of computers, any one of which might malfunction and bring down all the rest. And many have millions of lines of computer code that no one entirely grasps. We don’t appreciate any of this until things go wrong. We discover the fragility of our technological infrastructure only when it’s too late. So how can we make our systems fail less often?” Aaand since we’re not above a shameless plug: [Windows 11 Pro lifetime licenses are on sale right now at their lowest price for $23](. (No, it’s not because of the outage, and yes, it’s still the best operating system for PCs.) [// The Atlantic »]( [/lifehack] [Babbel - Traveling this summer? Here’s how to not be that tourist | [Partner] ]( [Traveling this summer? Here’s how to not be that tourist]( There’s nothing more embarrassing than going to France and ordering a “crescent” or asking an Italian barista for an “expresso”. Big, big cringe. And there’s nothing more stressful than not knowing how to hold a basic conversation in a foreign language: Think of all the wrong turns and misordered meals that come from simple communication gaps. After all, tourists get a bad enough rap as it is, so you don’t want to add to it by butchering a place’s native tongue. That’s where Babbel comes in. They use fun mini-lessons and smart speech tech to get you actually speaking like a local in as little as three weeks. All it takes is just 10 minutes a day and a commitment to practicing guttural sounds and rolling Rs. Get 55% off a Babbel subscription for a limited time. [Ad] [// Start learning »]( [/trippy] [A scientist took a psychedelic drug — and watched his own brain 'fall apart' | NPR]( [A scientist took a psychedelic drug — and watched his own brain 'fall apart']( “In the name of science, Dr. Nico Dosenbach had scanned his own brain dozens of times. But this was the first time he'd taken a mind-bending substance before sliding into the MRI tunnel. ‘I was, like, drifting deeper into weirdness,’ he recalls. ‘I didn't know where I was at all. Time stopped, and I was everyone.’ Dosenbach, an associate professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, had been given a high dose of psilocybin, the active substance in magic mushrooms, by his colleagues. It was all part of a study of seven people designed to show how psilocybin produces its mind-altering effects.” [// NPR »]( [/hustle] [Taylor Swift revealed the surprising way she prepares her mind and body for big moments | Entrepreneur]( [Taylor Swift revealed the surprising way she prepares her mind and body for big moments]( “Want to be ready for your big moment? Then don't skimp on practice. So says Taylor Swift, who revealed how she prepared mentally and physically for her record-shattering The Eras Tour. … ‘Every day, I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud, … (For those keeping track, that's over 180 minutes of running and singing.) Then she said she put herself through three months of dance training … Sounds grueling, and it is. Practice and training are not fun, but experts say that the physical and mental advantages of a ‘practice, practice, practice’ mentality are monumental. Apart from the obvious skill and fitness improvements repetition brings, it is also key to building confidence.” [// Entrepreneur »]( [/travel] [StackSocial - Road trips will never be the same again | [Partner] ]( [Road trips will never be the same again]( Long car rides, asking, “Are we there yet?” Planes with no in-flight entertainment. Train rides with no scenic views. Travel can be grueling if you don’t have the right attitude. A cool app like Autio can help you get excited about where you’re going, offering over 23,000 audio stories about an area’s culture, history, geography, and more. You can download content for offline playback or let it update with new story recs as your location changes. It’s guaranteed to keep you feeling curious on your next long journey — and maybe so much so that you’ll forget you needed to stop for the bathroom, like, an hour ago. Lifetime subscriptions are price-dropped now — but hurry; prices go back up tomorrow! [Ad] [// Travel smarter »]( [/explore] [Near-extinct crocodiles make a comeback in Cambodia | BBC]( [Near-extinct crocodiles make a comeback in Cambodia]( “Cambodia has welcomed 60 baby Siamese crocodiles — a hatching record for the endangered species in this century, conservationists say. They have called it a ‘real sign of hope’, after more than 20 years of efforts to revive the reptile's numbers in the remote Cardamom Mountains. The olive-green freshwater reptile has a distinct bony crest at the back of its head. By some estimates, it can grow up to 3m or nearly 10ft. Locals discovered five nests in May, and the baby crocs were born at the end of June, conservationists said on Thursday.” [// BBC »]( [/bites] [// New computer? We got the goods. Get your PC up to speed with Microsoft Office, Project, Visio, and Windows 11 Pro for just $80 for LIFE (P.S. — Deal ends tomorrow!) »]( [// Fool locals into thinking you’re one of them. After a few weeks of practicing languages with Babbel, you’ll fit right in wherever you go »]( [// Find out why everyone’s raving out this ad blocker. It might just be the best $11 you ever spend »]( [/cosmos] [@zataylor on Instagram]( [@zataylor]( Interested in having one of your social posts featured in The Futurist? 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