😬

WSJ: Tech Startups Are Handing Out Free Nicotine Pouches to Boost Productivity (Dec 30, 2025)

"...Earlier this year, two nicotine startups—*** and ***—made branded vending machines filled with flavored products for analytics company Palantir Technologies. Both machines are in the company’s Washington, D.C., offices. The pouches are free for employees and guests over the age of 21, a spokeswoman for Palantir said. Palantir pays to stock the nicotine products...."

https://www.wsj.com/tech/tech-startups-are-handing-out-free-nicotine-pouches-to-boost-productivity-e42d3cbe?st=ZoF6oB&reflink=article_copyURL_share

#addiction #startups #palantir

😬

WSJ: Tech Startups Are Handing Out Free Nicotine Pouches to Boost Productivity (Dec 30, 2025)

"...Earlier this year, two nicotine startups—*** and ***—made branded vending machines filled with flavored products for analytics company Palantir Technologies. Both machines are in the company’s Washington, D.C., offices. The pouches are free for employees and guests over the age of 21, a spokeswoman for Palantir said. Palantir pays to stock the nicotine products...."

https://www.wsj.com/tech/tech-startups-are-handing-out-free-nicotine-pouches-to-boost-productivity-e42d3cbe?st=ZoF6oB&reflink=article_copyURL_share

#addiction #startups #palantir

🌅 Personal Share: #Sobriety—The Unmerited #Gift

For a long time, I couldn’t make it 24 hours.

My 11 years of #recovery haven’t been a straight line. I’ve relapsed after 3 years, after 1 year… I’ve had stretches where I felt completely hopeless—fighting both #addiction and clinical #depression.

➡️If you’re struggling this #holiday season, please don’t wait.
You are not alone.

📞 988 is the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline ( #Veterans, press 1)
🏳️‍🌈 #LGBTQ+ youth: Call The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386

🚫not asking for advice🚫

I'm going to try and stop watching short-form content online.

I gave up watching tiktok a number of months ago, and now it's time for Reels and YouTube Shorts to go as well.

I have a theory that they trigger the same areas of the brain that gambling lights up.. and it's not so much about the watching, but about swiping to see if you ✨win✨ by finding something fun. I noticed that I'd be watching something I was enjoying and just swipe anyways to see if the next clip was ✨better✨, which feels like classic gambling behaviours.

#addiction #gambling #tiktok #YouTube #tech #technology #SocialMedia

Exceptional coverage by @newyorktimes on the intersection of crypto, gambling, influencers, and teens. To quote the lede:

“David was 14 when he placed his first bet with a crypto casino, a website where people use cryptocurrencies to gamble on online games.

Stuck at home during the pandemic, he started spending more time on the sites. He watched as celebrities, like Drake and the livestreamer Adin Ross, played on the casinos, too. Social media personalities collected huge paydays for streaming more and more videos hyping the sites.

David, meanwhile, developed a gambling addiction before he turned 18 and lost thousands of dollars.”

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/09/us/crypto-casinos-gambling-streamers.html

#Journalism #investigation #News #Economy #economics #Addiction #report #society #SocialMedia

🚫not asking for advice🚫

I'm going to try and stop watching short-form content online.

I gave up watching tiktok a number of months ago, and now it's time for Reels and YouTube Shorts to go as well.

I have a theory that they trigger the same areas of the brain that gambling lights up.. and it's not so much about the watching, but about swiping to see if you ✨win✨ by finding something fun. I noticed that I'd be watching something I was enjoying and just swipe anyways to see if the next clip was ✨better✨, which feels like classic gambling behaviours.

#addiction #gambling #tiktok #YouTube #tech #technology #SocialMedia

Exceptional coverage by @newyorktimes on the intersection of crypto, gambling, influencers, and teens. To quote the lede:

“David was 14 when he placed his first bet with a crypto casino, a website where people use cryptocurrencies to gamble on online games.

Stuck at home during the pandemic, he started spending more time on the sites. He watched as celebrities, like Drake and the livestreamer Adin Ross, played on the casinos, too. Social media personalities collected huge paydays for streaming more and more videos hyping the sites.

David, meanwhile, developed a gambling addiction before he turned 18 and lost thousands of dollars.”

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/09/us/crypto-casinos-gambling-streamers.html

#Journalism #investigation #News #Economy #economics #Addiction #report #society #SocialMedia

Big Tech is Betting on Gambling and Scams

Presented by Voidzilla

#gambling #addiction #corruption #capitalism #socialism #video #fyp #tech #siliconvalley #activism #billionaires #oligarch #distopian

Big Tech is Betting on Gambling and Scams

Presented by Voidzilla

#gambling #addiction #corruption #capitalism #socialism #video #fyp #tech #siliconvalley #activism #billionaires #oligarch #distopian

Again, I finished "Drystone: A Life Rebuilt" by Kristie De Garis @kristiedegaris. In this inspiring memoir, she rebuilds her life like she rebuilds a wall as a dry-stone waller: each stone carefully placed. Heartbreaking yet courageous, her sincerity makes the book both painful and hopeful.

None of us are too broken to begin again. Rebuilding is possible, even late in life. Sometimes the most radical act is simply telling the truth about who we are.

#books #ADHD #racism #addiction

#lgbtq #lgbtqia #salvationarmy #redbuckets #bigotry #addiction #recovery

Again, I finished "Drystone: A Life Rebuilt" by Kristie De Garis @kristiedegaris. In this inspiring memoir, she rebuilds her life like she rebuilds a wall as a dry-stone waller: each stone carefully placed. Heartbreaking yet courageous, her sincerity makes the book both painful and hopeful.

None of us are too broken to begin again. Rebuilding is possible, even late in life. Sometimes the most radical act is simply telling the truth about who we are.

#books #ADHD #racism #addiction

#lgbtq #lgbtqia #salvationarmy #redbuckets #bigotry #addiction #recovery

I am happier than I have ever been.

All it took was a few good people, and some support and then I was able to stay sober, and focus on repairing all the #mentalhealth damage I had received.

Every time I relapsed in the past, I always felt crushingly isolated, and as an extrovert with five people's worth of #empathy the loneliness would hurt.

#drugs were what I used for pain both physically and mentally.

People were what I was missing, and I'm thankful for that the most.

#writing #addiction

Next week I'll be 7 years sober.

Some thoughts on that journey.

(Full text in the comments)

#Sobriety #Alcohol #Addiction #Writing #Reading #Scotland #WritingCommunity

Next week I'll be 7 years sober.

Some thoughts on that journey.

(Full text in the comments)

#Sobriety #Alcohol #Addiction #Writing #Reading #Scotland #WritingCommunity