Atomic Habits, Smart Glasses, Solar, Alternate Education, Lithium & Tesla

I hope you're having a great week. Here are some things I've been working on the last week:

Blog Post I Wrote:Why You Should be Buying Solar for Your Home (2018 Update)
An update of the post I wrote 2.5 years ago examining the cost and payback period of buying solar panels. The quick takeaway - if you have the money, there's never been a better time to buy. From a pure investment perspective, you'll average 5+% return over 25 years (!!), and the payback period is 9-12 years depending on methodology. Use the provided spreadsheets to calculate for your own situation.

New Starting Stories Podcast Episode:Austen Allred of Lambda School
I'm very excited about this episode. I think there are a lot of ways to improve the current education system, and Lambda School and Austen are at the forefront. Lambda School is a 6-month computer science program which is free until you get a job in the field, at which point they take a percentage of salary if above $50K, capped. Alignment of incentives is everything, and their success stories are amazing.

Book Notes:Atomic Habits - James Clear
The best book on habit formation I've ever read. Very clear, a quick read, and actionable. Recommend for anyone trying to improve their own habits (so everyone, basically).

Articles I'm Reading:

• Should We All Take a Bit of Lithium? - NYT: As I transition away from some meats, I've been reviewing my supplementation and thinking about adding some lithium for the reasons here.
• Citron reverses opinion on Tesla: Tesla earnings call for Q3 is today, and Citron, one of the staunchest short-sellers, has reversed their position for a variety of interesting reasons. Some crazy figures in this report.
• Focals by North: Thalmic Labs, a Waterloo-based startup, has long been a prominent figure in the Canadian startup ecosystem, known most for their Myo gesture-control armband. They just officially released their newest project, smart glasses called Focals, under the brand name North. Investors in the company (and therefore this project) include big players like Amazon. The main feature is a heads-up display for the wearer which serves a variety of functions.

Have a great week!

Graham