Omar Yacoubi
@omaryak.net
What I’m reading about the news, #urbanism, #tech & the zeitgeist. UX designer / strategist @omyk.co and 3x Big 5, Cisco alum thinking globally 🌐 posting locally in the
📍SF Bay Area, CA
┃ Opinions mine (not shared at work)
🔗 linktr.ee/omaryak
📍SF Bay Area, CA
┃ Opinions mine (not shared at work)
🔗 linktr.ee/omaryak
Pinned
Omar Yacoubi
@omaryak.net
· Oct 19
The value of the AI is not its ability to create product for us, but to engage with us in our process
AI doesn't have to replace our competencies or even our employees.
www.fastcompany.com
The value of #humanity in the AI era is finally explicitly labeled in a #business article: because AI is not yet AGI, it’s not yet ready to replace us for complex endeavors like work in #tech
www.fastcompany.com/91422738/ai-...
www.fastcompany.com/91422738/ai-...
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
Around the time of the shooting at Bondi Beach, Ahmed al-Ahmed planned to meet a friend for coffee and was shocked to see men firing their weapons at civilians — then he sprang into action. wapo.st/49cIMt4
December 16, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Around the time of the shooting at Bondi Beach, Ahmed al-Ahmed planned to meet a friend for coffee and was shocked to see men firing their weapons at civilians — then he sprang into action. wapo.st/49cIMt4
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
An obscure company pivoted, then pivoted again, nearly ran out of money—and built a hit product on.wsj.com/4aPfLET
The Hottest Toy of the Year Is Made by a Tech Startup You’ve Never Heard Of
An obscure company pivoted, then pivoted again, nearly ran out of money—and built a hit product
on.wsj.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:47 AM
An obscure company pivoted, then pivoted again, nearly ran out of money—and built a hit product on.wsj.com/4aPfLET
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
Apple is now worth $4.1 trillion—but its rise was anything but smooth. But what kept Steve Jobs going, he once told students, was a simple career lesson. trib.al/lqjMfc7
Apple’s Steve Jobs told students to never ‘settle’ in their careers: ‘If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking’ | Fortune
The late Steve Jobs spent decades scaling Apple into the $4.1 trillion tech behemoth it is today. Even during turbulent times, he said, “the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.”
trib.al
December 15, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Apple is now worth $4.1 trillion—but its rise was anything but smooth. But what kept Steve Jobs going, he once told students, was a simple career lesson. trib.al/lqjMfc7
As far-right politics spreads across the globe, another mainstream media source admits capitalism is broken
A rewrite of the #socialcontract is overdue: better late than never?
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
hbr.org/2024/03/does...
A rewrite of the #socialcontract is overdue: better late than never?
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
hbr.org/2024/03/does...
The Five Forces That Broke Capitalism — and One Possible Fix
A wave of new books argue that capitalism isn’t doomed, just misaligned. Fixing it means rebalancing the relationships between markets, states and workers.
www.bloomberg.com
December 15, 2025 at 8:33 AM
As far-right politics spreads across the globe, another mainstream media source admits capitalism is broken
A rewrite of the #socialcontract is overdue: better late than never?
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
hbr.org/2024/03/does...
A rewrite of the #socialcontract is overdue: better late than never?
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
hbr.org/2024/03/does...
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
Frank Gehry loved clutter. Out of the random things that littered his office came what many thought was the best building of the 20th century, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
Frank Gehry shook up buildings as never before
The world’s most innovative architect died on December 5th, aged 96
econ.st
December 15, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Frank Gehry loved clutter. Out of the random things that littered his office came what many thought was the best building of the 20th century, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
For a U.S. administration that claimed to care about “efficiency,” casting modern fonts as “woke” risks us further retrenching as a luddite nation while the world keeps advancing into the future
But an overly glorified past is what #fascism was always about
www.fastcompany.com/91458062/bri...
But an overly glorified past is what #fascism was always about
www.fastcompany.com/91458062/bri...
A brief history of Calibri, the 'woke' font the Trump administration is replacing
The secretary of state called Calibri 'informal' and blamed 'radical' DEI programs for its use in official State Department documents.
www.fastcompany.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:16 AM
For a U.S. administration that claimed to care about “efficiency,” casting modern fonts as “woke” risks us further retrenching as a luddite nation while the world keeps advancing into the future
But an overly glorified past is what #fascism was always about
www.fastcompany.com/91458062/bri...
But an overly glorified past is what #fascism was always about
www.fastcompany.com/91458062/bri...
#fascism was always about nostalgia for a glorified past that may never have existed except in the minds of its supporters
With so much imagination being used for #nationalism and love of country (or their idea of it), there’s not room for anything else
With so much imagination being used for #nationalism and love of country (or their idea of it), there’s not room for anything else
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping talk a good game about AI, robots and other futuristic marvels. Deep down, though, both have a nostalgia for the 1950s
What’s worse for innovation: MAGA or Mao?
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping share a dangerous nostalgia
econ.st
December 14, 2025 at 10:38 PM
#fascism was always about nostalgia for a glorified past that may never have existed except in the minds of its supporters
With so much imagination being used for #nationalism and love of country (or their idea of it), there’s not room for anything else
With so much imagination being used for #nationalism and love of country (or their idea of it), there’s not room for anything else
An underrated benefit of #designthinking for #business? The “engineering black box,” which Compaq used to enter the PC market to beat IBM’s monopoly
Employees who haven’t seen competitors’ products can copy them without violating Copyright
sloanreview.mit.edu/article/use-...
Employees who haven’t seen competitors’ products can copy them without violating Copyright
sloanreview.mit.edu/article/use-...
Use Design Choices to Prevent Imitation
Design-based strategies can help companies protect their intellectual property and maintain their competitive advantage.
sloanreview.mit.edu
December 14, 2025 at 3:07 AM
An underrated benefit of #designthinking for #business? The “engineering black box,” which Compaq used to enter the PC market to beat IBM’s monopoly
Employees who haven’t seen competitors’ products can copy them without violating Copyright
sloanreview.mit.edu/article/use-...
Employees who haven’t seen competitors’ products can copy them without violating Copyright
sloanreview.mit.edu/article/use-...
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
This Changes Everything columnist Annalee Newitz on how AI-generated content went mainstream in 2025
This year we were drowning in a sea of slick, nonsensical AI slop
This Changes Everything columnist Annalee Newitz on how AI-generated content went mainstream in 2025
www.newscientist.com
December 14, 2025 at 12:27 AM
This Changes Everything columnist Annalee Newitz on how AI-generated content went mainstream in 2025
#latecapitalism put predictable profit ahead of great storytelling
For a lesson in contrasts, see “Money Heist“ (Casa de Papel) on Netflix, a Spanish mini-series that weaves in #nationalism while celebrating #humanity in a way that puts Hollywood to shame
A weekend streaming recommendation for you
For a lesson in contrasts, see “Money Heist“ (Casa de Papel) on Netflix, a Spanish mini-series that weaves in #nationalism while celebrating #humanity in a way that puts Hollywood to shame
A weekend streaming recommendation for you
@theatlantic.com is now calling for a renaissance in American #culture that begins with weirdness: the freedom to be different. It’s an underrated source of #innovation in other fields
#enshittifcation #latecapitalism
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
#enshittifcation #latecapitalism
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Make Culture Weird Again
Even failures and half steps will be more interesting than the boring stuff.
www.theatlantic.com
December 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM
#latecapitalism put predictable profit ahead of great storytelling
For a lesson in contrasts, see “Money Heist“ (Casa de Papel) on Netflix, a Spanish mini-series that weaves in #nationalism while celebrating #humanity in a way that puts Hollywood to shame
A weekend streaming recommendation for you
For a lesson in contrasts, see “Money Heist“ (Casa de Papel) on Netflix, a Spanish mini-series that weaves in #nationalism while celebrating #humanity in a way that puts Hollywood to shame
A weekend streaming recommendation for you
The “uncanny valley” may keep creatives employed after all, figures @thenation.com after a backlash to a McDonald’s ad that misjudged the zeitgeist with over-reliance on #AI
More than ever, humans crave authenticity
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
More than ever, humans crave authenticity
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Slop of Things to Come
This past week boasted many overhyped AI breakthroughs, but the healthiest one was the fierce repudiation of a contemptuous McDonald’s ad.
www.thenation.com
December 13, 2025 at 10:17 PM
The “uncanny valley” may keep creatives employed after all, figures @thenation.com after a backlash to a McDonald’s ad that misjudged the zeitgeist with over-reliance on #AI
More than ever, humans crave authenticity
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
More than ever, humans crave authenticity
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
Finding differentiation amid a sea of AI slop sameness. f-st.co/oyw9nZh
AI advertising slop is on the rise. The cure? The STFU brand strategy
AI snake oil is selling in the ad world, which means soon there will be only one way to stand out: Be better than the algorithm.
f-st.co
December 13, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Finding differentiation amid a sea of AI slop sameness. f-st.co/oyw9nZh
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
Many people assume empathy is too soft, too subjective, or too deeply personal to quantify. Here's why that's wrong.
Empathy Isn’t Unmeasurable: Here’s How Psychologists Do It
Empathy can be measured accurately when we match the measurement method to the specific aspect of empathy we want to understand.
www.psychologytoday.com
December 13, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Many people assume empathy is too soft, too subjective, or too deeply personal to quantify. Here's why that's wrong.
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
Just as the manosphere gave men muscle-building garnished with MAGA, the womanosphere offers sourdough seasoned with anti-abortion rhetoric
The apple-pie-scented world of conservative women’s media
Put on your milkmaid dress: it is time to enter the womanosphere
econ.st
December 13, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Just as the manosphere gave men muscle-building garnished with MAGA, the womanosphere offers sourdough seasoned with anti-abortion rhetoric
“Puritanism is the suspicion that someone, somewhere is having fun”
— H. L. Mencken
— H. L. Mencken
December 13, 2025 at 8:37 PM
“Puritanism is the suspicion that someone, somewhere is having fun”
— H. L. Mencken
— H. L. Mencken
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
'The billionaires are our problem.
The landlords are our problem.
The bankers are our problem, and they are trying to hide the fact by blaming the vulnerable every single time, and that is how racism works.'
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12...
The landlords are our problem.
The bankers are our problem, and they are trying to hide the fact by blaming the vulnerable every single time, and that is how racism works.'
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12...
Is Trump at war with Europe?
Has Donald Trump effectively declared war on Europe? His recent statements suggest exactly that.
In this video, I explore how Trump’s racist rhetoric, his support for far-right parties, and his attack...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
December 13, 2025 at 8:31 PM
'The billionaires are our problem.
The landlords are our problem.
The bankers are our problem, and they are trying to hide the fact by blaming the vulnerable every single time, and that is how racism works.'
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12...
The landlords are our problem.
The bankers are our problem, and they are trying to hide the fact by blaming the vulnerable every single time, and that is how racism works.'
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12...
“… if you get my gist” was a way we used to bypass words in #communication —some people are painfully literal
“Using memory gists allows creative individuals to activate disparate contents that share abstract features despite their superficial differences”
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
“Using memory gists allows creative individuals to activate disparate contents that share abstract features despite their superficial differences”
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Memory gist as a mechanism for creative thoughts - Synthese
Why are some people better at generating creative ideas than others? This paper focuses on memory as an unexpected source of creative ideas, i.e., ideas that are both novel and useful. According to my...
link.springer.com
December 13, 2025 at 6:14 PM
“… if you get my gist” was a way we used to bypass words in #communication —some people are painfully literal
“Using memory gists allows creative individuals to activate disparate contents that share abstract features despite their superficial differences”
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
“Using memory gists allows creative individuals to activate disparate contents that share abstract features despite their superficial differences”
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
New evidence suggests that alcohol was a surprisingly big motivator in our monumental transition from hunting and gathering to farming – but was beer really more important to us than bread?
Did ancient humans start farming so they could drink more beer?
New evidence suggests that alcohol was a surprisingly big motivator in our monumental transition from hunting and gathering to farming – but was beer really more important to us than bread?
www.newscientist.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:28 AM
New evidence suggests that alcohol was a surprisingly big motivator in our monumental transition from hunting and gathering to farming – but was beer really more important to us than bread?
A new article from @iai.tv examines the disconnect between the #science of cooperative evolution and the selfishness of the modern, fraying #socialcontract built on Ayn Rand’s objectivism and Western individualism
iai.tv/articles/the...
iai.tv/articles/the...
The selfish myth driving modern economics
<p><em>Beneath the clash between selfishness and solidarity lies an evolutionary truth: humans survived not just by competing, but by caring. Yet neoliberalism has treated only one side of our nature ...
iai.tv
December 13, 2025 at 12:21 AM
A new article from @iai.tv examines the disconnect between the #science of cooperative evolution and the selfishness of the modern, fraying #socialcontract built on Ayn Rand’s objectivism and Western individualism
iai.tv/articles/the...
iai.tv/articles/the...
I had always felt so shallow for letting it happen, but part of what made me more liberal over the years was seeing how the left produces better #design —more aesthetic and pleasing to the eye
iai.tv/articles/pla...
iai.tv/articles/pla...
Plato vs The Algorithm: Beauty is the path to virtue
<p><em>In an age when beauty is shaped by algorithms and commercial pressure, it’s easy to dismiss it as shallow or morally corrosive. Yet, philosopher Panos Paris claims, this is a profound misunders...
iai.tv
December 12, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I had always felt so shallow for letting it happen, but part of what made me more liberal over the years was seeing how the left produces better #design —more aesthetic and pleasing to the eye
iai.tv/articles/pla...
iai.tv/articles/pla...
The recent State Department dust-up about Calibri in their desktop publishing is a good time to remind Bluesky about another U.S. typographical Snafu: Clearview
Modern #typography makes strategic use of ligatures for better legibility in signage, print & online
www.cooperhewitt.org/2011/09/30/c...
Modern #typography makes strategic use of ligatures for better legibility in signage, print & online
www.cooperhewitt.org/2011/09/30/c...
Clearview Project | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum has just acquired its first digital font, the Clearview family of typefaces. Featured in Cooper-Hewitt’s 2010 National Design Triennial: Why Design Now? exhibitio...
www.cooperhewitt.org
December 12, 2025 at 5:47 AM
The recent State Department dust-up about Calibri in their desktop publishing is a good time to remind Bluesky about another U.S. typographical Snafu: Clearview
Modern #typography makes strategic use of ligatures for better legibility in signage, print & online
www.cooperhewitt.org/2011/09/30/c...
Modern #typography makes strategic use of ligatures for better legibility in signage, print & online
www.cooperhewitt.org/2011/09/30/c...
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
The order creates an Justice Department task force to challenge state AI laws, and directs the Commerce Department to pull future broadband funding from states that pass “onerous” legislation. www.wired.com/story/trump-...
Trump Signs Executive Order That Threatens to Punish States for Passing AI Laws
The order creates an Justice Department task force to challenge state AI laws, and directs the Commerce Department to pull future broadband funding from states that pass “onerous” legislation.
www.wired.com
December 12, 2025 at 12:57 AM
The order creates an Justice Department task force to challenge state AI laws, and directs the Commerce Department to pull future broadband funding from states that pass “onerous” legislation. www.wired.com/story/trump-...
Reposted by Omar Yacoubi
“Today’s most serious national-security vulnerabilities involving AI stem not from too much oversight, but from the absence of it,” former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel argues.
Trump’s AI-Regulation Ban Is a Threat to National Security
The United States should not be lobbied out of protecting its own future.
bit.ly
December 12, 2025 at 2:45 AM
“Today’s most serious national-security vulnerabilities involving AI stem not from too much oversight, but from the absence of it,” former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel argues.