2/13/2024 - TL;DW But I Read
It is absurd that America’s tax system is so antiquated and complicated that most people must pay someone else to help them pay the government. So what is standing in the way of progress?
My favorite books:
Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED
*Topic : Science
*Length : 33m 44s
*View : 7.4M
The blue LED was supposed to be impossible—until a young engineer proposed a moonshot idea.
Technological Breakthroughs and Innovations
💡 Engineers raced to create the blue LED for decades, knowing it would unlock LEDs for every type of lighting in the world, from light bulbs to billboards.
💡 Shūji Nakamura defied the entire industry and made three radical breakthroughs to create the world's first blue LED.
💡 Doping with impurity atoms, such as phosphorus in silicon, can significantly enhance the functionality of semiconductors by introducing extra valence electrons.
🔋 The concept of n-type and p-type semiconductors challenges the traditional understanding of electrical charge and conductivity in materials.
💡 When you put a piece of p-type and n-type together, some electrons will diffuse from n to p and fall into the holes in the p-type, creating an electric field inside the material.
🌡️ The use of the MOCVD reactor as a giant oven to mass produce clean crystal was crucial in the development of the blue LED.
💡 Nakamura decided to focus on gallium nitride, where the competition was much less fierce, to achieve the commercially viable blue LED.
🔬 Nakamura's innovation of adding a second nozzle to the MOCVD reactor revolutionized the growth of gallium nitride.
🔬 Nakamura's discovery of a quick and scalable process for creating p-type gallium nitride revolutionized the production of blue LEDs.
🌍 The electronics industry was stunned by the announcement of the world's first true blue LED, with a researcher from Toshiba remarking, "Everyone was caught with their pants down."
Personal Determination and Overcoming Adversity
📚 Nakamura's determination to earn his PhD despite facing discrimination fueled his fighting spirit and drive to succeed.
Link:
Saudi's Gamble to Prevent an All-Out Collapse
*Topic : Business
*Length : 20m 09s
*View : 200K
🛢️ Saudi Arabia holds nearly a fifth of all proven oil reserves, making it a major player in the global oil market.
💰 Saudi Arabia can produce oil at a much cheaper cost compared to American Shale, giving them a significant advantage in the oil market.
🎲 Despite the world's push to reduce oil dependence, Saudi Arabia is ramping up production and hoarding profits, taking a risky gamble on their future.
📈 The explicit goal of Saudi Arabia's vision is to create a profitable private sector through increasing women's participation and opening up foreign investment.
🧙♂️ The Crown Prince needs more than just fiscal responsibility, he needs fiscal Wizardry, which is where the public investment fund comes in.
💰 Saudi's oil fund, managing over $700 billion of assets, could be their ticket out of a ronti economy, investing in companies like Uber and Nintendo.
🌍 The shift away from oil could have significant implications for the social and economic structure of Saudi Arabia, impacting the lives of its young population.
🌍 Saudi Arabia aims to become post-oil by 2030, but this transition will likely involve sacrifices made by the citizens, which the kingdom wants to avoid to prevent revolts.
Link:
There’s a Tax Season Villain, and It’s Not the I.R.S. | NYT Opinion
*Topic : Finance
*Length : 15m 04s
*View : 553K
It’s the most miserable time of the year: tax season. Americans are about to spend millions of hours and billions of dollars filing their federal income taxes, and they are pretty sure they know who is responsible for their pain: The misanthropes at the Internal Revenue Service. But we’re here to convince you that the I.R.S. is not the problem. Yes, it should be easy to file taxes. And yes, it should be free. That’s how it works in the rest of the developed world, and it could very easily work that way here, too. It is absurd that America’s tax system is so antiquated and complicated that most people must pay someone else to help them pay the government. So what is standing in the way of progress?
📚 "We have a $10 billion-a-year-plus business in helping people do what the government should be helping them do instead."
💰 Tax Day could be a breeze if the government already knows how much money you've made and how much you've paid in taxes.
💰 The tax preparation industry in the United States makes billions of dollars by charging Americans to help them complete their taxes, turning a public service into a profitable business.
📉 The government almost provided a free and easy way to file taxes, but it was opposed by tax-prep companies.
🤥 Tax-prep companies have sabotaged the Free File program, tricking and trapping American taxpayers into paying for services that should be free.
💰 "What is best for them is to charge as many Americans as much money as possible to complete their taxes."
💰 The Biden administration has funded a pilot program for the I.R.S. to create a portal where Americans can pay taxes without the need for a third-party middleman called TurboTax.
🏛️ This story is about faith in government and the ability of the government to deliver what Americans deserve, which is an easy and free way to file their taxes.
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