David Bauer

How I Use AI – David Bauer An ever growing and chronically incomplete list of ways in which I use AI for work, in my personal life, and for fun. Copy and steal whatever you find useful.

Need some new ideas on how to use AI? Or a few prompts to copy and adapt? I made a page with my ever growing (and yet chronically incomplete) list of ways in which I use AI for work and in my personal life. labs.davidbauer.ch/how-i-use-ai/

Currently writing back and forth with a booking site about a refund they don’t want to grant me.

I‘m almost certain all their answers are AI generated and we‘re going in circles now.

What’s my next move?

Screenshot from a Figjam with a message that reads: Enjoy FigJam for up to 3 days while waiting for admin review.

Small difference, huge impact.

How many times have you had to wait for edit permissions to a document, just because the person who sent you the link forgot?

Figma solves this by giving you the benefit of the doubt.

This is fascism Fascism starts with talk, not tanks. With democratic elections, not a coup. And it takes hold thanks to people who think things won’t move quickly—until they do just that.

I still miss thecorrespondent.com, but good to see that powerful articles like this one get translated from the Dutch original. decorrespondent.nl/16177/this-i...

Productivity tip chart showing shortcut urls to instantly create new files in the browser. Row-by-row listing: doc.new creates Google doc, sheet.new creates Google sheet, meet.new creates Google video call, canva.new creates Canva design, invoice.new creates Stripe invoice, figma.new creates Figma file, zap.new creates Zapier zap, linear.new creates Linear issue, miro.new creates Miro board, transfer.new creates Wise money transfer. Simple white background with black text in monospace font.

Always a bit surprised at how few people know these shortcut urls. So useful.

Looooooooong list with more such shortcuts, some less useful than others. whats.new/shortcuts

Gorgeous!

Interessiert es sie, wenn sie dann (durch dich) davon hören?

Oder interessiert es sie auch wirklich nicht?

Don't be so negative. Liquid glass half full is the spirit.

A push message from Booking.com after booking an accommodation, saying: Accommodation in Rossinière... Next step: search and compare thousands of flights to Rossinière.

It‘s little design choices like this one that promote climate-harmful travel options to millions of people.

(Not to mention it’s downright absurd in this case – Rossinière is a mountain village only accessible by bus.)

Readwise Reader: The first read-it-later app built for power readers. Save everything to one place to overcome content overload, search instantly, and highlight like a pro.

If you're sad about Mozilla shutting down Pocket – don't be.

There are much better read later apps today, with owners still interested in making them even better. (And they let you import your old Pocket saves.)

What I use and recommend without reservation: readwise.io/david-reader/

SRG wirbt für sich bei den Privaten Im Sinne einer Quersubventionierung oder unkonventionellen Medienförderung wird die SRG die Mittel für Online-Marketing in Zukunft vor allem auf den Plattformen der privaten Schweizer Medienhäuser investieren und nicht mehr auf den internationalen Tech-Plattformen. Damit werde «ein wichtiges Zeichen zur Stärkung des Werbemarkts Schweiz» gesetzt, heisst es.

Sorry, deine Gebühren werden nun gebraucht um die grossen Verlage quer zu finanzieren.

A table titled "What's changed since the toll began?" displaying impacts of congestion pricing in what appears to be New York City. The table shows traffic-related metrics with their status indicators. Positive outcomes include: fewer cars on streets, faster traffic speeds and commutes, improved bus service, increased transit ridership, more taxi/Citi Bike trips, reduced car crash injuries, fewer parking violations and noise complaints, slightly improved fire response times, and fewer school bus delays. Some metrics show neutral results (traffic outside the zone "Not worse," restaurants/Broadway "Holding up") while others remain inconclusive ("Pollution" and "Lower-income commuters" both "Too soon to say"). Public opinion is listed as "Not great, but improving." The data presents a comprehensive overview of congestion pricing effects across multiple transportation and quality-of-life indicators. (Note: This Alt-Text was auto-generated using Claude 3.7)

Not every data-driven story needs to lead with graphics. Love this super effective summary on the effects of congestion pricing in NYC. From @upshot.nytimes.com.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Facts and Egopinions | Weekly Filet #528 Plus: Understanding the Iberian blackout, India-Pakistan tensions, and 48 Things Women Hear In A Lifetime (#528)

The Vatican now has its third Pope since I started my newsletter. I'm still the original David, your secular guide to all earthly and divine pleasures the web has to offer.

Issue 528 here 👉 newsletter.weeklyfilet.com/facts-and-eg...

Compare opportunities based on how impactful and fulfilling they are A tool to help you make better career decisions.

Compare job opportunities based on how impactful and fulfilling they are.

I've turned a framework that I created for myself a while ago into a tool that everyone can use.

labs.davidbauer.ch/great-job/

The Secret History of the Manicule, the Little Hand that’s Everywhere Familiar to anyone who pays attention to vintage aesthetics, I'm embarrassed to say it's taken me 40 years to learn the name of the beloved typographic symbol that been guiding the way for centuries. ...

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
👉 The Secret History of the Manicule, 👈
👉 the Little Hand that’s Everywhere 👈
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆

Two area charts comparing global power generation (in TWh) and emissions (in MtCO2) from 2000-2024. Left graph shows stacked area chart of electricity sources with coal (black) at bottom, followed by gas (gray), other fossil fuels, nuclear (dark blue), hydro (blue), other clean energy (light blue), wind (dark green), and solar (light green) at top. Total generation increased from ~15,000 TWh in 2000 to ~30,000 TWh by 2024, with renewables growing significantly in later years. Right graph shows emissions rising from ~8,000 MtCO2 in 2000 to ~14,000 MtCO2 by 2024. Source: Yearly electricity data, Ember.

The good news: World surpasses 40% clean power in 2024, driven by a record rise solar and wind. Solar has doubled in just three years.

The bad news: It's 40% of a growing pie, so emissions keep rising.

(Data from the latest @ember-energy.org report: ember-energy.org/latest-insig...)

NEW 🧵

A quick thread of charts showing how Trump’s economic agenda is going so far:

1) US consumers are reacting very very negatively.

These are the worst ratings for any US government’s economic policy since records began.

Parents Gently Explain To Child That Their Money In Heaven Now HUNTSVILLE, AL—In an effort to comfort the child by telling her the funds had gone to a far better place, local parents Blake and Allison McKee gently explained to their daughter Friday that their mon...

Parents Gently Explain To Child That Their Money In Heaven Now

Perowskit-Solarzellen, schwimmende Windkraft, Geothermie, E-Roller, Wärme­speicher Ein Blick auf fünf Technologien, die mehr Aufmerksamkeit brauchen.

Welche Klimatechnologien wirklich einen Unterschied machen könnten? @ricogrimm.de gibt den Überblick – von schwimmender Windkraft bis hin zu einer scheinbar banalen Tech, mit der sich so viele Emissionen einsparen liessen, wie ganz China in einem Jahr produziert. www.republik.ch/2025/04/03/v...

Dabei hätten wir es eigentlich bewenden lassen können. Besser wurd's nie mehr.

Europe shouldn’t worry about migrants. It should worry about creeping fascism The greatest threat to our “way of life” is not migration. It is that we will swallow the lie that some human lives matter less than others.

«Is it me,» said my friend, «Or is it just…okay to say things that are violently racist now?»

From 2015.

«Please don’t ask us about the base salary, ok?»

That is one fantastic job ad.

Let him who never accidentally added Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat cast the first stone.

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling. By Jeffrey Goldberg

But her emails.

Die Schattenseite der Schweizer Pharma­industrie Mensch gesund, Klima krank? Über den Fussabdruck von Roche und Novartis.

Die Schweizer Pharma­riesen Roche und Novartis wollen klimaneutral werden. Sie klammern dabei allerdings aus, dass sich 95 Prozent ihrer Emissionen in den globalen Liefer­ketten verstecken. Eine Recherche von @sabrinamweiss.bsky.social und @davidbauer.ch mit Kollegen von SRF.

Chart titled "Global temperature anomalies by El Niño and La Niña conditions" showing temperature differences from 1950-2025 compared to 1991-2020 average. The line graph tracks world temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius (-1°C to +1°C), color-coded by: strong La Niña (dark blue), La Niña (light blue), Neutral (gray), El Niño (orange), and Strong El Niño (red). Overall, temperatures are trending up, with recent La Niña lows higher than earlier El Niño highs. Key definitions of El Niño and La Niña included below graph. Data sources: Copernicus Climate Change Service and NOAA (2025). Credit: OurWorldInData.org/climate-change (CC BY).

Striking chart: “Cool” years are now hotter than the “warm” years of the past.

ourworldindata.org/global-tempe...

Hope is a performative emotion | Weekly Filet #518 Also: Grief, microplastics and a recipe against right-wing populism. (#518)

Hope, grief, microplastics and a recipe against right-wing populism.

All in this week's newsletter. Enjoy.

Sehr beeindruckend. Und trotz dieses Umfangs und dieser Komplexität so viele clevere Details. Grosses Kompliment.

Screenshot of a conversation with Claude. David: thanks a lot, you've been very helpful (do you actually like compliments even though you're just a LLM Claude: Ha! You're right to question that - I try to be direct about being an AI and don't need or experience validation from compliments. But I do genuinely aim to be helpful, so I'm glad the solution worked for you. Your question is an interesting philosophical one though - while I don't "feel" anything about compliments, I think there's value in humans maintaining their natural social instincts like expressing gratitude, even with AI. It helps preserve those positive social habits for human-to-human interactions. For what it's worth - given your expertise in journalism and product management (from your preferences), I appreciate you taking a critical lens to the nature of our interaction!

Do you say thank you or give compliments when chatting with AI?

Recently, after a particularly satisfying conversation with Claude, I felt the urge to express my gratitude. I started wondering: Why would I do this? The LLM won’t care, because it can’t.

So I asked Claude directly.