• A participant floated the idea that companies might replace traditional coding interviews with “data-labeling tests,” then quietly aggregate the unpaid labor of rejected candidates into proprietary datasets—an emergent critique of exploitative hiring practices in ML-centric firms.

• The same concern was succinctly labeled “that’s called a data scientist,” underscoring skepticism about how the field already monetizes crowd-sourced annotation.

• Discussion pivoted to cryptocurrency liquidity flows, noting that in Europe many “shitcoin” trades route through USDT rather than Bitcoin, suggesting Bitcoin’s role as the universal on/off ramp is weaker than often assumed among debanked or privacy-seeking users.

• A Nature paper (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08298-9) and accompanying Ars Technica article were shared, highlighting a new solid-electrolyte design that gives lithium–sulfur batteries “ludicrous endurance,” reigniting perennial hopes—and doubts—about next-gen battery breakthroughs.