Podcasts about Philippines

As a proud Filipino, Jimmy decided to do a special on the new animated film FORGOTTEN ISLAND from Dreamworks. It's a love letter to Filipinos all over. Set in The Philippines w/ Filipino characters, mythological creatures, food, family, jeepneys, lechon and more. The creatives and cast are also predominantly Filipino. Yet still enjoyable to all! Jimmy saw it twice and shares his thoughts on it. After his second viewing, he and his Filipina pal Melanie discussed the film as well. He also asked other Filipino friends to send in their thoughts. Thanks to Edward, Kasey and Reggie. Reggie was also part of the ADR group who did background voices in the film. GO CELEBRATE FILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH AND SEE THIS FILM! 

Philosopher Stefan Molyneux argues the mind comes from the brain and ends when the brain ends, and that not knowing how it works is no reason to invent souls or magic. He also takes listener questions on trauma, blank slate ideas, equality, religion and why philosophy should help real life.Intro to Philosophy series: https://freedomain.com/playlist/intro-to-philosophy/ABCs of UPB: https://fdpodcasts.com/562/universally-preferable-behavior-for-childrenQuestions:I hear you offer therapy and perhaps healing for my wounds?Is a mind an emergent property of the brain? If it is emergent, does that imply the mind ceases to exist once the brain ceases to be? (I would assume yes but I am curious about your thoughts on this).People of color have ancestral land rights in America, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Philippines etc. There is no White race that has any ancestral land rights. Did all White people just fall down from the Sky?You not only have a high quality philosophy show, but you also have give high quality insights into psychology. Have you considered doing some more psychology episodes? It'd be extremely helpfulStef, i very much enjoyed your intro to philosophy series. I have noticed discussing these topics with people educated in philosophy that they're more like philosophy historians - Kant said this, Plato said that, etc without a real grasp of how any of it applies to life or makes any sense. Have you noticed the same and how do you address it if so?People have been conditioned to accept the premise of voting & always of voting for a "lesser of two evils, inferring that not only is evil necessary but acceptable. How would you structurally dismantle such mass mind conditioning & apathy?what are your thoughts of the resurrection or view of it as historical paradigm shiftYou talk about bloodline a lot. How about the facts like genetic ghosts?Are all people equal?Have you been un-cancelled ?What are your thoughts on the afterlife ?Will you ever sell physical instead of digital copies of (all) your books offered on your freedomain website?why are humans sentient but not dolphins?How can I teach UPB to my 3 year old? If it is in one of your books I am happy if you just point me to it.Why do people play team based video games & sports to not work as a TEAM?! Blows my mind that i work hard to look out for teammates but they dont. They will quit in sports when we are losing, or only plug their mics in to insult our team in gaming

"There are eight digital banks trying to build the Chime of the Philippines. No one's building the Ramp or the Brex. That's the opportunity."I talked with Zach Marks, founder and CEO of Jia, on Startup Hustle this week. Jia is building modern digital banking for small businesses in emerging markets, starting in the Philippines, powered by an AI credit engine that turns messy, handwritten paperwork into an underwriting decision in minutes instead of weeks.Here's what you'll get out of it:⚡ Why small businesses in emerging markets are so underserved, and why banks there take zero risk while asking founders to put their house up as collateral⚡ How Zach went from teaching English and befriending samosa vendors in India to launching fintech markets across 15+ countries⚡ How Jia's AI credit engine cuts a three-week manual underwriting file down to minutes, with a low non-performing loan rate⚡ The real story of doing business in the Philippines, from BIR shakedowns to why the best local talent still beats every other emerging market⚡ Why building a strong local culture and hiring leaders who embody it matters more than anything when you hire abroadIf you're building in fintech, emerging markets, or with an offshore team, this one is worth your time.Listen to the Startup Hustle podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts!⏱️ Episode Breakdown01:16 Introduction and Guest Background02:20 Starting in Construction and Key Clients03:24 The Inspiration Behind the Book04:23 Early Life Challenges and Lessons Learned07:03 Common Entrepreneurial Traits and Backgrounds09:38 Key Lessons from the Book10:27 Business Lessons for Tech Entrepreneurs11:55 Impact of AI on Construction and Design13:50 Acquiring Big Name Clients and Referrals16:24 Building a Scalable Business Model18:24 The Power of Case Studies and Content Marketing20:05 Showcasing Work Through Content and Videos24:00 Final Advice and Closing RemarksLinks & ResourcesConnect with Zach Marks on LinkedInJia - https://jia.xyz/Full Scale – Build your dev team quickly and affordablyIf you're trying to get your team out of the basement and into real product ownership, this episode is your playbook. Stop being a ticket factory. Build teams that think, create, and lead.Unlock working capital with Jia

//The Wire//2300Z October 1, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: CHINA HALTS ALL FUEL EXPORTS. MIGRANT STUDENT RIOTS CONTINUE IN FRANCE, HUNDREDS ARRESTED AS MOB ATTACKS REMAIN CONSTANT. ENERGY DEPARTMENT FILES CONTRACT FOR AN ADDITIONAL 40 MILLION BARREL RELEASE FROM THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----  -International Events-Europe: The fuel crisis continues to deteriorate. This morning the White House requested France and Germany to tap into their emergency diesel reserves, to ease high prices. The proposal as described would release around 120 million barrels of diesel from the strategic reserves of EU member states over the next 6 months. Analyst Comment: So far, this is not a formalized demand, but rather an indirect request made by the White House. No European nation has officially responded to the idea, but many mainstream media reports suggest that the indirect threat has been made of cutting off diesel exports to noncompliant nations.France: Mass riots continue around the nation. Several days ago, protests began at schools around the country due to long schooldays and declining infrastructure. After the initial low-level protests began in Paris, civil unrest spread throughout the nation. This morning, limited protests and arson incidents had spread to Belgium, with students beginning to conduct similar protests there.Analyst Comment: This initially started small but after some vandalism took place on the first night, the situation snowballed from there to be more of an African uprising than a simple school schedule dispute. Now, a substantial number of the participants of the attacks are visibly not of French ancestry...most of the arson attacks are being conducted by the children of African migrants. Throughout this afternoon, the riots have expanded to include other non-student migrant enclaves. The mayor of Saint Dennis, Bally Bagayoko (who is ethnically Malian) joined students in setting fire to a trash can in the street, encouraging them to destroy more infrastructure. Many school officials and police officers have been attacked by violent mobs, and several hundred arrests have been made so far nationwide. As it stands, this situation is already very violent, and is only likely to increase in severity over the next few days.Far East: Last night, China suspended all exports of fuel for the month of October, effective immediately. Hong Kong and Macau have been granted an exemption, but all other export partners will receive zero fuel from China in October.Analyst Comment: This move will probably affect the decision that the United States has been weighing regarding halting diesel exports. China is not a major exporter of petroleum products, but Singapore and the Philippines are major importers of diesel from China, which is now completely cut off. Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Vietnam are also likely to be heavily affected by the halting of Chinese exports.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: Yesterday the Department of Energy authorized an emergency release of 40 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This is an attempt to retry a sale that was initially offered in June, that did not pan out because oil companies did not want to commit to the sale when prices were at new heights.As a reminder, SPR releases are really loans. When a private oil company is given oil from the SPR to sell on the open market, they have to replace it with more oil than they took out. Now that the market is in a disastrous state, a lot of oil companies have not wanted to take on that obligation, because they think that by the time they have to re-fill that loan, it won't be financially viable (because oil will be more expensive than it is now). Since the SPR has been drained heavily over the past few months, the current levels sit at roughly 283.8 million barrels.As a result, if petroleum companies take up this contract for all 40 million barrels, and don't replace it soon enough, SPR levels will probably bounce below the Congressionally mandated limit of 252 million barrels. Whether or not companies will indeed take this contract is up in the air, but as it stands emergency levels are being approached, and concerns are growing regarding the structural integrity of the SPR caverns housing America's emergency oil supply.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269 Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

In this episode, Clayton Bullion and Steve Shadrach talk with Lovely, the first Filipino full-time staff member with STUMO in Cebu City, Philippines. Lovely shares her personal story of coming to faith, what campus life and ministry look like in the Philippines, unique challenges Filipino students face, and how God is raising up local student leaders to impact their nation and the world. You will discover inspiring stories of transformation and practical wisdom for reaching students in diverse cultural contexts.

In this episode of Varn Vlog, you and Brandon Lightly analyze the failures of the "New Democracy" and "National Front" strategies as globalized Marxist frameworks.Key points include:Indonesia: D.N. Aidit's PKI collapsed because they mistakenly empowered a mass movement while failing to neutralize the military's hostile command structure.The Philippines: The NDFP's program prioritized state-regulated capitalism and tariff protection for domestic bourgeoisie over systemic socialist transformation.Nepal: The Maoist party utilized the "New Democracy" label to justify transitioning into a standard, market-dependent capitalist state after 2006.Right-Wing Inversion: The organizational structures of popular fronts and Leninist centralization have been repurposed by right-wing movements to advance integral nationalism and corporate-welfare states.Works Cited:Foundations of the United, Popular, and National FrontsFourth Congress of the Communist International. (1922, December). Theses on Comintern tactics. In J. Degras (Ed.), The Communist International, 1919–1943: Documents (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press.Dimitrov, G. (1935). The fascist offensive and the tasks of the Communist International in the struggle of the working class against fascism. Foreign Languages Publishing House.Executive Committee of the Communist International. (1921, December). Theses on the unity of the proletarian front. International Press Correspondence, 2(2), 11–14.Mao, Z. (1965). On new democracy. In Selected works of Mao Tse-tung (Vol. 2, pp. 339–384). Foreign Languages Press. (Original work published 1940).Pre-Marxist, Right-Wing, and Nationalist LineageBarrès, M. (1902). Scènes et doctrines du nationalisme [Scenes and doctrines of nationalism]. Émile-Paul Frères.Maurras, C. (1900). Enquête sur la monarchie [Enquiry into the monarchy]. Nouvelle Librairie Nationale.Maurras, C. (1937). Mes idées politiques [My political ideas]. Fayard.Moeller van den Bruck, A. (1971). Germany's Third Empire (E. O. Lorimer, Trans.). Howard Fertig. (Original work published 1923).Niekisch, E. (Ed.). (1926–1934). Widerstand: Zeitschrift für nationalrevolutionäre Politik [Resistance: Journal for National-Revolutionary Politics]. Widerstand-Verlag. NepalDahal, P. K. [Prachanda]. (2004). Problems of the development of revolution in Nepal. In Selected Works of Prachanda (Vol. 1). Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).Ogura, K. (2008). Seeking state power through communism: The strategic evolution of the CPN (Maoist) (Asiatic 14). Political Transitions in Asia.Thapa, D., & Sijapati, B. (2004). A kingdom under siege: Nepal's Maoist insurgency, 1996–2004. Zed Books.CambodiaChandler, D. P. (1992). Brother Number One: A political biography of Pol Pot. Westview Press.Kiernan, B. (2004). The Pol Pot regime: Race, power, and genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975–79 (2nd ed.). Yale University Press.Pol Pot. (1977). Long live the 17th anniversary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. Democratic Kampuchea Ministry of Foreign Affairs.3. The PhilippinesGuerrero, A. [Sison, J. M.]. (1970). Philippine society and revolution. Ta Kung Pao.National Democratic Front of the Philippines. (1985). Program of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. NDFP Secretariat.Weekley, K. (2001). The Communist Party of the Philippines, 1968–1993: A story of its theory and practice. University of the Philippines Press. IndiaBanerjee, S. (1980). In the wake of Naxalbari: A history of the Naxalite movement in India. Subarnarekha.Communist Party of India (Maoist). (2004). Party programme. CPI (Maoist) Central Committee.Kennedy, J. (2018). The liberalized state and the path of rebellion: A comparative assessment of the Maoist insurgency in India. Routledge.IV. Broad Scholarly Histories & HistoriographyCarr, E. H. (1982). The twilight of Comintern, 1930–1935. Macmillan.Denning, M. (1996). The cultural front: The laboring of American culture in the twentieth century. Verso.Priestland, D. (2009). The red flag: A history of communism. Grove Press.Sternhell, Z. (1986). Neither right nor left: Fascist ideology in France (D. Maisel, Trans.). Princeton University Press.Send us Fan Mail Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic,Julian, Drea, Free Beer, SNT-BRCH, Joshua Parsons

Good afternoon, I'm _ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened up 21-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 47,961 on turnover of 11.2-billion N-T. The market made solid gains on Wednesday, despite Wall Street closing largely in negative territory overnight. Defense ministry mum on alleged Philippines warship donation plan The Ministry of National Defense Ministry is refusing to comment on reports that the government is considering gifting the Philippines a soon-to-be-decommissioned Navy warship. According to the United Daily News, the Lai administration is hoping to donate the Navy's 500-tonne-class Jin Chiang Patrol Ship to the Philippines after it's decommissioned at the end of this year. K-M-T lawmaker Ma Wen-chun is voicing concern that the reported plan to donate the warship could undermine (破壞) the safety of Taiwan fishermen operating in an area where the exclusive economic zones of the two countries overlap. No government agency has confirmed whether such a plan is under consideration and what the reason for it would be. Aftershocks possible after magnitude 5.9 quake strikes off Hualien coast The Central Weather Administration is warning of possible aftershocks over the coming days following Wednesday's magnitude 5.9 earthquake, that struck off the coast of Hualien. The earthquake was centered some 136-kilometers east of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 13-kilometers. It was felt strongest in parts of Hualien, Yilan, Chiayi County, Changhua and Yunlin, where it measured a 2 on the weather administration's intensity scale. According to the weather administration's Seismological Center, the quake was caused by the Philippine Sea Plate moving beneath the Eurasian Plate and possible aftershocks could reach a magnitude of 5. ISRAEL SUSPENDS FLYDUBAI FLIGHTS AS MOSSAD JOINS PROBE INTO CO-PILOT SUSPECTED OF STABBING CAPTAIN ON TEL AVIV-BOUND PLANE Israel has suspended all FlyDubai flights and launched a multi-agency investigation — involving Mossad, Shin Bet and the military — after a co-pilot on a Tel Aviv-bound flight allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the incident on FlyDubai flight FZ1073 an extremely (極為) serious security breach, saying the Omani co-pilot appeared to have tried to sabotage the plane's systems before passengers and crew subdued him. The Boeing 737, carrying 174 passengers including 27 children, was diverted to the Saudi city of Tabuk after plunging more than five thousand metres in under two minutes. Blake Sifton reports from Tel Aviv. Switzerland Glaciers Lose 5Percent Ice Volume Experts report that glaciers in Switzerland have lost 5.5% of their ice volume this year due to heat waves and low winter snowfall. The GLAMOS Swiss glacier monitoring service and Swiss Academy of Sciences released a statement Thursday, warning that Alpine glaciers can't survive (存活) long-term under these conditions. The report highlights concerns about global warming's impact on Europe, the fastest-warming continent. The record retreat of glacier ice in Switzerland occurred in 2022. Over the past five years, Swiss ice volume has declined by nearly one-fifth. This accelerated melt affects Switzerland and the continent's major rivers. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _. －－－－以下為 SoundOn 動態廣告－－－－ 臺灣企銀 Hokii 數位帳戶『推薦友禮』大加碼～ 理財第一步，交給 Hokii！ 現在參加 Hokii數位帳戶推薦活 動，推薦好友開戶及完成指定任務，好康一起拿，還有機會把 Apple 商品禮券帶回家！ 手刀揪朋友開戶抽大獎：https://sofm.pse.is/9pd4dx -- 南部朋友有福啦！ 高雄出發遊澳洲看雪梨跨年煙火、玩滑沙，還有元旦假期日越泰行程！ 若是想衝日本環球影城跨年派對、韓國濟州神話世界跨年演唱會、歐美曼谷夢幻煙火，也通通有！ 跨年搶先卡位！ 快搜尋「可樂旅遊」迎接最難忘的2027吧！ https://sofm.pse.is/9pd4ds -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

1855 MANILA Beijing Blocks Second Thomas ResupplyCaptain James Fanell, co-host Gordon Chang: Fanell discusses aggressive Chinese maritime tactics in the South China Sea, where a coordinated force of three PLA Navy warships and eleven Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels blocked two small Philippine Coast Guard vessels resupplying the grounded outpost Sierra Madre. This blockade broke a series of fifteen successful resupply missions conducted since July 2024, demonstrating Beijing's willingness to violate international agreements and its own signed code of conduct. Fanell notes that internal purges of over one hundred senior military officers in Beijing have not disrupted the execution of these coordinated bullying operations against neighboring sovereign nations. (4)

Joining us on this episode of Living Off Rentals is Maria Laoang, our Airbnb Manager who's been overseeing the day-to-day operations for my short-term rental business, Dune Dwellings, for the past two years. Maria is a virtual assistant (VA) from the Philippines who manages our team of 3 full-time customer service team members. Together, they run the day-to-day operations of our Airbnb business.  Listen as she shares how her background in customer service led her to Airbnb management, her responsibilities, and what it means to hire for ownership rather than tasks. She also gets into what onboarding and training VAs look like in practice, how something as simple as a daily Slack recap can keep a whole team on the same page, and just how many moving pieces a short-term rental operation actually juggles, from guest services and cleaning to maintenance, vendors, systems, processes, and more. If you're looking to scale up your Airbnb operations with a virtual team, this one's for you! Enjoy the show! Key Takeaways: [00:00] Introducing Maria Laoang and her role as virtual rental manager [04:21] Maria's background in customer service and training [07:30] Responsibilities as a virtual short-term rental manager [08:18] Improving systems, SOPs and processes [10:28] The difference between a team member and a manager [13:28] How Maria found the job opportunity [15:15] Why clearly defining the role matters when hiring [19:17] The right time to hire a virtual team member [21:19] Language and communication in the Philippines [26:41] Building the onboarding and training process [31:37] Using Slack as the day-to-day communication hub [34:16] Advice for rental property owners thinking about hiring virtually [35:25] Being ready to delegate and build systems [37:54] Rewarding your team as owners [39:52] Outro Show Links: Living Off Rentals YouTube Channel – youtube.com/c/LivingOffRentals  Living Off Rentals YouTube Podcast Channel - youtube.com/c/LivingOffRentalsPodcast  Living Off Rentals Facebook Group – facebook.com/groups/livingoffrentals  Living Off Rentals Website – https://www.livingoffrentals.com/  Living Off Rentals Instagram – instagram.com/livingoffrentals  Living Off Rentals TikTok – tiktok.com/@livingoffrentals  Want to start investing in short-term rentals? Book a call to see if my STR Blueprint program is a good fit for you: livingoffrentals.com/call   

Send us Fan MailAt 83, Sarah Payne Naylor says this may be the best year of her life.She's still learning. Still creating. Still dreaming. And still excited about what might be next.In this warm, deeply personal conversation - author, transformational life guide, and longtime coach Sarah Payne Naylor joins me to talk about what it really means to keep becoming at every age.Sarah shares the life experiences that shaped her extraordinary sense of possibility, including a powerful moment in Washington, D.C., when she heard the words that would change her life: “All you have to do is be yourself, and that will be quite enough.”We talk about trusting the journey when you don't know the outcome, letting go of perfection and control, recognizing open and closed doors, finding purpose in different seasons of life, and learning to listen to your own inner wisdom.Sarah also takes us inside her book, YOU'RE NOT DONE BECOMING: Reclaim Personal Power and Purpose to Transform Yourself at Any Age, and shares why she created the new YOU'RE NOT DONE BECOMING Facilitator's Guide for Communities of Faith to help change the conversation around aging.And yes, at 83, she's writing books, embracing new technology, building websites, and already working on her next book - on what else - aging.Her message for women who may wonder whether their most interesting years are behind them? Please don't shut your life down and think that it's over.We're not done. We're still becoming.____________________________________________________________________________________________MEET OUR BOLD, BEAUTIFUL, BRILLIANT GUEST:SARAH  PAYNE  NAYLOR, Author & Transformational Life Guide & CoachSarah Payne Naylor is an author, transformational life guide, and coach whose work invites people to recognize that growth, purpose, and possibility don't end at a particular age or stage of life.She is the author of YOU'RE NOT DONE BECOMING: Reclaim Personal Power and Purpose to Transform Yourself at Any Age and CHOOSING WHAT MATTERS MOST: Living the Becoming Life with Purpose and Intention. She is also preparing to release YOU'RE NOT DONE BECOMING: Facilitator's Guide for Communities of Faith, a companion to her Becoming work.Before becoming an author, Sarah spent decades coaching others through life's beginnings, breakdowns, breakthroughs, and transitions. Her career has also included national healthcare policy work with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and leadership coaching and assessment for the federal government. During her ten years on the board of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, her work took her to refugee camps in Malawi, Kenya, Ethiopia, the Philippines, and Germany.At 83, Sarah lives the message she teaches. She continues to write, coach, create, and remain excited about what's still ahead, reminding us that at any age, we're not done becoming.WEBSITE:  https://www.sarahpaynenaylor.com/Support the showSupport Ageless Glamour Girls™:www.agelessglamourgirls.com        www.linkedin.com/in/marqueetacurtishaynes       https://www.youtube.com/@agelessglamourgirls      https://agelessglamourgirlsboutique.com/Instagram @agelessglamourgirlsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/agelessglamourgirlsPrivate (AGG) FB Group: The Ageless Café: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theagelesscafeTikTok: @agelessglamourgirlshttps://www.shopltk.com/explore/AgelessGlamourGirls Podcast Producers: Ageless Glamour Girls™ and Purple Tulip Media, LLC  

Send us your feedback — we're listeningEphesians 2:10 — God's Handiwork, Created in Christ: A Closing Prayer of the Day for Purpose, Peace and Tomorrow Themes: Purpose · Peace · Tomorrow Scripture Ephesians 2:10 — God's Handiwork, Created in Christ “For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Spoken Prayer Father, as we reach the closing prayer of the day, we become quiet before You. The day may have been full of activity, yet tonight someone may still be asking a deeper question: Did today matter? Does my life have purpose? Where am I going from here? Lord, be near to people in Belgium, Israel, the United Kingdom, Ghana, the Philippines and New Zealand. Meet the person who feels disappointed with today, the person who is questioning their direction, and the person who feels that their contribution is too small to matter. Jesus, Your Word reminds us that we are God's handiwork, created in Christ. Our worth is not determined by productivity, applause or comparison. We belong to You. Holy Spirit, renew our understanding of purpose and help us see the good that can grow from an ordinary faithful life. Father, perhaps today did not go according to plan. We surrender that disappointment. Perhaps we achieved more than we expected. We surrender that success too. Keep our hearts free from pride and despair. God of Israel, show us how to live faithfully in the season You have given us. Help us recognise the small acts of love that matter: encouraging someone, caring for family, praying for another person, showing kindness, forgiving, serving and simply remaining faithful. As night approaches, we release tomorrow into Your hands. We do not need to have the whole future mapped out tonight. Give us peace for this evening and enough hope to meet tomorrow when it comes. Jesus, You are our purpose, our peace and our hope. Let us rest knowing that our lives are held by You. In Jesus' name, Amen. Blessing May Jesus remind you tonight that your life has purpose, your faithfulness matters, and tomorrow remains safely within the hands of God. About This Prayer A closing prayer of the day for anyone questioning their purpose, feeling disappointed by the day or uncertain about tomorrow. Ephesians 2:10 brings identity and purpose back to Christ. Closing prayer of the day; night prayer for purpose; prayer when you feel your life has no direction; Christian prayer for purpose and hope; prayer before sleep; prayer for peace about tomorrow. night prayer, closing prayer, purpose, hope, peace, tomorrow, Jesus, identity, Christian prayer, DailyPrayer night, purpose, hope, peace, tomorrow, Jesus, identity, prayer, faith, DailyPrayer Support the Ministry — Buy Us a Coffee If these daily prayers are helping you, please consider supporting the ministry or sowing a seed into this work. You can buy us a coffee and help us continue creating prayer for people around the world.Support the showDaily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper is now reaching people across 189 countries and territories and 3,845 cities worldwide, with an incredible 114,274 downloads since launch.Through Daily Prayer and the Global Blend Radio network, biblical prayer, Scripture, encouragement and Christian teaching continue to reach people across the nations every day.Daily Prayer is a listener-supported ministry, and your support helps us continue recording, hosting and broadcasting these prayers while keeping them freely available to anyone who needs encouragement, hope or a moment with God.If Daily Prayer has encouraged you, strengthened your faith or helped you through a difficult season, you can support the ministry with any amount you choose. There is no fixed donation — every contribution, whether one-off or regular, helps us continue sharing prayer and biblical encouragement around the world.You can support the ministry through:Global Blend Radio:https://globalblendradio.com/Buy Me a Coffee – Reverend Ben Cooper:https://buymeacoffee.com/reverendbencooperFor daily prayers, biblical encouragement, live broadcasts and to submit a prayer request, visit:DailyPrayer.ukhttps://dailyprayer.uk/Together, we can continue keepi...

This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall Take a look at the Siege of Corregidor. One of the main linchpins and the American planned defense of Manila, Corregidor was built to be an impregnable fortress that guarded the coast of Luzon from all attackers. While that plan may have been effective in the early part of the twentieth century, by 1942, Corregidor surrounded by Japanese captured territory and lacking in modern weapons, was obsolete. Beginning in December 1941 and stretching all the way until the beginning of May 1942, the “Rock” as it was called, was under almost constant aerial bombardment and harassment from Japanese artillery on Luzon. Life for the Americans on the island was anything but rosy as the inhabitants and defenders faced an almost constant attack from the Japanese. The guys take a look at the island's defenses, its infrastructure, its planned defense, and of course the siege of the island that began in 1941. This week's episode covers everything until the very first Japanese boots hit the shore. #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood #fdr #president #roosevelt #doolittle #doolittleraid #pearlharborattack #salvaged #medalofhonor #tarawa #malayalam #singapore #guadalcanal #china #burma #oil #marinecorps

JT Sarafa is the founder and CEO of JTS Growth, a TikTok Shop agency helping $5M+ ecommerce brands grow profitably on TikTok Shop. Hire JT by visiting https://www.jtsgrowth.com.FOLLOW UP WITH ANDREWX: https://x.com/andrewjfarisEmail: podcast@ajfgrowth.comWork With AJF Growth: https://ajfgrowth.comMORE STAFFINGRecruit, onboard, and train incredible virtual professionals in the Philippines with my friends at More Staffing by visiting https://morestaffing.co/af.BEHIND THE SCENES STUDIOWork with the same Meta Ads creative production team that Andrew does with Behind The Scenes Studio, a More Staffing sister company: https://www.btsstudio.co/.

By Doug Green “We help keep the bad guys out all day, every day, 24/7.” In this Technology Reseller News podcast recorded at MSP Summit, Josh Bergen of CallTek is joined by Jason S., “The Beekeeper,” for a lighthearted conversation about a serious subject: helping MSPs protect customers, support users and keep critical systems running. CallTek provides white-label IT support for MSPs, with teams in Kenya and the Philippines supporting customers in the U.S. The company offers Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 technical support, along with NOC and SOC capabilities. The “Beekeeper” theme is a tongue-in-cheek reference to dealing with cyber criminals when everything else fails. The real work, Bergen says, is about making sure things never reach that point. CallTek works behind the scenes for MSPs, using many of the cybersecurity, endpoint and monitoring tools already familiar to the channel. That can include EDR, SIEM, antivirus, web filtering and other technologies selected by the MSP. “We don't resell the software,” Bergen says. “We help operate and support it.” That model allows MSPs to expand their technical capabilities without having to build every layer of support internally. CallTek says it currently works with roughly 100 MSP customers in the U.S. and has a significant presence in hospitality, including support for hotel Wi-Fi environments. The company also works in verticals including nursing homes, multifamily housing, senior living and healthcare. Those environments raise the stakes considerably. Keeping a hotel network running is important, but in healthcare and senior living, Bergen notes that technology can also connect to systems supporting patient monitoring and other critical functions. For MSPs, the value proposition is straightforward: add operational depth, extend support coverage and strengthen security without losing the customer-facing relationship. And if all else fails? That is where “Tier 6 support” and the Beekeeper joke come in. Visit CallTekInc.com to learn more.  

Ramon King III is Co-Founder at LOKAL. LOKAL is an AI and growth solutions company helping businesses adopt and implement technology, backed by over nine years of growth work across the Philippines and Australia. Its newest venture, Ely, is a managed AI service built initially for hotels and hospitality businesses. Ely helps promote properties, answer guest inquiries, support direct bookings, and manage customer interactions across digital channels—all monitored and supported by real people. This episode is recorded live at Yspaces BGC in Taguig.In this episode:00:00 Introduction00:56 LOKAL02:11 Product/service05:12 Problem being solved17:46 Ely by Lokal31:14 Stories behind the startup39:20 Vision42:59 Motivation46:31 Milestone49:48 Challenges53:39 Advice56:09 Contact & informationLOKALWebsite: https://lkl.aiFacebook: https://facebook.com/agencylokalELY BY LOKALWebsite: https://ely.phTHIS EPISODE IS CO-PRODUCED BY:Symph: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://symph.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠OneCFO: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onecfoph.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yspaces: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://knowyourspaceph.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (5% discount on virtual office, meeting rooms, and event space! Code: YSPACESSUP)Vition Consulting and Workshops: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ksfinancialsph.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twala: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twala.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GigGenius: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gig-genius.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SkoolTek by Edfolio: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://skooltek.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Red Circle Global: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://redcircleglobal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CHECK OUT OUR PARTNERS:Enactus Philippines: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://enactus.ph⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SoftPhil AI: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://softphil.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Multibook Philippines: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://multibook.com.ph⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ask Lex PH Academy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://asklexph.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (5% discount on e-learning courses! Code: ALPHAXSUP)Pahatid PH: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://pahatid.ph⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Digital Workforce Group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://digitalworkforce.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nascent Batteries: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://nascentbatteries.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Level Up Talent Solutions: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lvluptalentsolutions.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Agile Data Solutions (Hustle PH): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://agiledatasolutions.tech⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CloudCFO: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://cloudcfo.ph⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Free financial assessment, process onboarding, and 6-month QuickBooks subscription! Mention: Start Up Podcast PH)ArkoTech: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://arkotechspacesolutions.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DVCode Technologies Inc: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://dvcode.tech⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Argum AI: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://argum.ai⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PIXEL by Eplayment: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://pixel.eplayment.co/auth/sign-up?r=PIXELXSUP1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Sign up using Code: PIXELXSUP1)School of Profits: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://schoolofprofits.academy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hier Business Solutions: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hierpayroll.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠START UP PODCAST PHYouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/startuppodcastph⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6BObuPvMfoZzdlJeb1XXVa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/start-up-podcast/id1576462394⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://facebook.com/startuppodcastph⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PIXEL: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://pixel.eplayment.co/dl/startuppodcastph⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://startupnetwork.ph⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This episode is edited by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://tasharivera.com⁠

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the protomartyr of the Philippines. A professional calligrapher, he was falsely accused of murder and ultimately hanged to death in Japan. Despite his end, St. Lorenzo remained faithful to God, exclaiming his last words: “I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God. Had I a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I offer.” During St. Lorenzo's canonization, St. John Paul II said this of martyrs:“In their sufferings, their love and imitation of Jesus reached its fulfillment, and their sacramental configuration with Jesus, the one Mediator, was brought to perfection.”When I read about St. Lorenzo's life, I became fascinated by the last moments of a martyr's life. St. John Paul II noted that these last moments marked the fulfillment of their love and imitation of Jesus. A martyr's love for Christ is so marked in the moment they offer their life that the severity of their situation does not have any bearing on the love that burns in their heart. Out of curiosity, I came across the last words of saints who had an impact on my own life:St. Paul the Apostle:“I am even now ready to be sacrificed, and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith. As for the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love His coming.”St. Dominic de Guzman:“Have charity one for another, guard humility, make your treasure out of voluntary poverty” and “Do not weep, I shall be of more use to you after death than I ever did in life.”St. Therese of Lisieux:“I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me. My God, I love you.”St. Teresa of Calcutta:“I love you Jesus.”St. Pier Giorgio Frassati:"May I breathe forth my soul in peace with you."Read the last accounts of saints - it's a humbling experience to see that, despite the different circumstances their earthly life ended in, similar themes and sentiments are shared. All accounts share a testimony of love, of going to the Father. The present moment fades, but what they take with them is a clarity of thought, one of resolve and peace.One beauty of our Catholic tradition is the opportunity to read the accounts of holy saints throughout history who have courageously offered their lives for the Church. Fundamentally, their lives were offered out of love, and that burning love preserved them in the toughest moment of their earthly life. Their suffering in the end, redeemed through Christ, was the highest expression of their love to God. We can turn to the cross as that reminder.The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the “one mediator between God and men” [1 Timothy 2:5]. But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man, “the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery” is offered to all men (CCC #618). As we reflect upon the saints' lives and come to learn about their last moments, let us call upon their intercession, that we too might meet those tough moments in our lives with the same love burning in our hearts. Our lives will take us on different paths, but back to God. If we stay true to the path of love, may our last words echo a similar breath of love and peace. All you Holy Saints of God, pray for us! Author:Patrick Laorden serves as a Grant Writer for Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford. He's also part of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic and active with the Knights of Columbus at his parish. Resources: Listen to On MissionRead the Ad Infinitum blogSt. Lorenzo Ruiz Follow us:The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Review các phim ra rạp từ ngày 25/09/2026:TRẠI BUÔN NGƯỜI – T18Đạo diễn:  Toni Dương Bảo AnhDiễn viên:  Steven Nguyễn, Quách Ngọc Ngoan, Tùng Mint, Huỳnh Minh Kiên,...Thể loại:  Hành Động, Hồi hộpVì cứu em gái sa bẫy buôn người ở biên giới miền Tây, Ny (Steven Nguyễn) cùng bạn thân bị bắt làm nô dịch trong sào huyệt lừa đảo tàn bạo. Tại đây, họ cùng các trinh sát nằm vùng và các nạn nhân hứng chịu bi kịch thể xác âm thầm lập kế hoạch trốn thoát.HÒN ĐẢO QUÊN LÃNG - KĐạo diễn:  Joel Crawford; Januel MercadoDiễn viên:  H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Thể loại:  Hoạt Hình, Phiêu LưuMột tình bạn đẹp thì luôn xứng đáng được bảo vệ. DreamWorks Animation – hãng phim đã mang đến những mối gắn kết khó quên giữa cậu bé và chú rồng trong Bí Kíp LuyệnRồng, giữa gã chằn tinh và chú lừa trong Shrek, hay giữa robot và chú ngỗng con trong Robot Hoang Dã, nay trở lại với một câu chuyện rực rỡ và đầy cảm xúc về hai người bạn thân từ thuở nhỏ, buộc phải sát cánh bên nhau trước khi họ dần rờixa trong Hòn Đảo Quên Lãng. Bộ phim được chắp bút và đạo diễn bởi hai đề cử Oscar® Joel Crawford và Januel Mercado, đồng thời được sản xuất bởi Mark Swift - cũng là đội ngũ đứng sau Mèo Đi Hia: Điều Ước Cuối Cùng. Trong đêm cuối cùngbên nhau, Jo và Raissa tình cờ phát hiện một cánh cổng bí ẩn đưa họ đến hòn đảo kỳ ảo Nakali – nơi tràn ngập những sinh vật thần thoại và phép thuật mà họ từng được nghe kể từ gia đình người Philippines của mình. Tại đây, có những sinh vậttrở thành bạn đồng hành, nhưng cũng có những kẻ là mối đe dọa. Đồng hành cùng chú chó sói vụng về nhưng tốt bụng Raww và một nhóm bạn nhỏ nhưng “có võ”, Jo và Raissa phải đối mặt với The Dreaded Manananggal, sinh vật đáng sợ nhất trên đảo. Khi phát hiện rằng cái giá để trở về nhà chính là toàn bộ ký ức về tình bạn của mình, Jo và Raissa buộc phải chạy đua với thời gian để tìm cách rời khỏi hòn đảo trước khi họ quên mất nhau mãi mãi.PHÁO HOA LÚC BÌNH MINH Đạo diễn:  Yoshitoshi ShinomiyaDiễn viên:  Riku Hagiwara, Kotone Furukawa, Miyu IrinoThể loại:  Hoạt HìnhXưởng pháo hoa truyền thống Obinata, di sản hơn 300 năm của gia đình Keitaro, nay đứng trước bờ vực bị xóa sổ bởi làn sóng quy hoạch đô thị. Giữa những biến động dữ dội của môi trường và các thảm họa thiên nhiên khắc nghiệt, bộ phim là hành trình dõi theo sự thích nghi và trưởng thành của ba người bạn trẻ.LAPUTA: LÂU ĐÀI TRÊN KHÔNG - KĐạo diễn:  Hayao MiyazakiDiễn viên:  Mayumi Tanaka, Keiko Yokozawa, Thể loại:  Hoạt HìnhMột đêm nọ, cậu thợ mỏ trẻ Pazu giúp đỡ Sheeta, một cô gái chậm rãi rơi xuống từ bầu trời, được bao bọc trong ánh sáng màu xanh lam. Trở thành bạn của nhau, Pazu bảo vệ Sheeta khỏi Dola và băng cướp không trung của bà, cũng như một cơ quan chính phủ đặc biệt đang truy đuổi cô, và cả hai cùng tìm cách trốn thoát. Theo di nguyện cuối cùng của người cha từng là nhà thám hiểm, Pazu đã thề sẽ tìm ra Laputa — một lâu đài bay giữa bầu trời. Hơn nữa, Sheeta là hậu duệ của hoàng tộcLaputa, và cô mang theo một chiếc mặt dây chuyền chứa “Tinh thể Etherium” có khả năng chỉ ra vị trí của lâu đài. Cả hai cùng lên khí cầu Tiger Moth của băng Dola, và bắt đầu cuộc hành trình tìm kiếm Laputa.AVENGERS: HỒI KẾT - PHIÊN BẢN ĐẶCBIỆT (CHIẾU LẠI) – T13Đạo diễn;  Anthony Russo, Joe RussoDiễn viên:  Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans,Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh BrolinThể loại:  Hành Động, Khoa Học Viễn Tưởng, Phiêu LưuPhần kết hoành tráng của Infinity Saga sẽ trở lại rạp chiếu với Avengers: Hồi Kết - Phiên Bản Đặc Biệt . Sau những sự kiện thảm khốc khiến một nửa dân số thế giới biến mất, những người hùng còn lại phải vật lộn để tiếp tục cuộc sống. Cuối cùng, họ buộc phải hợp sức để khôi phục trật tự và sự cân bằng cho vũ trụ, đồng thời đưa những người thân yêu trở về trong cuộc đối đầu đầy kịch tính với Thanos.-----------------#8saigon #traibuonnguoi #hondaoquenlang

What do you want to be when you grow up? It's a universal question — and yet at some point, people stop asking you. Drawing on a nationwide survey across the Philippines, consumer researcher Lance Katigbak makes the case that countries should keep track of their citizens' ambitions and aspirations. His radical proposal: What if governments didn't just track GDP but also started measuring dreams? After Modupe shares why asking about people's dreams are important. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Justin talks with Tom Pecora. Tom spent 24 years as a security officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. He served in hotspots all over the world, including Somalia, Iraq, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Tom was the chief of security for CIA operations in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, and later the deputy chief of security for the Counterterrorism Center. He's been awarded the Intelligence Star and the Career Intelligence Medal. He's here to discuss his career with CIA, which he wrote about in his book. Connect with Tom: LinkedIn: Thomas Pecora, SAS-MP Check out the book, Guardian: Life in the Crosshairs of the CIA's War on Terror, here. https://a.co/d/01FzYWf7 Connect with Spycraft 101: Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here. spycraft101.com IG: @spycraft101 Shop: shop.spycraft101.com Substack: spycraft101.substack.com Patreon: Spycraft 101 Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here. Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here. Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! https://kruschiki.com/ Clandestine Laboratories Your new favorite fragrance is here. https://www.clandestinelaboratories.com/fragrances Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Right before we take a mini two week break from the pod, Mo and Mara are knocking out an episode to start this week!  Tell me if you have heard this before - we have 3 women in their 30's with problems with their love/sex lives!  Yeah, it's a typical GTWM lineup but not with typical problems. Let's check them out!Caller #1 is K 32yrs Pampanga.  K's husbands BFF isdesperately trying to get him to have sex with his ex girlfriend.  K knows about it and has confronted his BFF. Now that his plan is thwarted, what can she do to make him stay away?Caller #2 is Erika 36 Wellington, New Zealand.  Erika met aguy and after a few sexual encounters, he does a bit of a mini-ghosting on her.  She wants a relationship but heseems bust with work that when he doesn't text her, she looks for validation from other guys. Caller #3 is Maya 36yrs Quezon Province.  Maya was a kabetthat lasted a year.  When the guy broke things off so he can concentrate on his wife and kid, they agreed to split.  Now that he is separated, he wants back in her life but she just wants the sex.  Is this a kantotga or more of a rollercoaster relationship just starting?Send money to the Philippines with Sendwave

What are the top five things you need to know about living in East Tacoma? Abode broker Melo Hogan lives there, and she answers like a neighbor, not a brochure.She starts with the people — the kind of neighbors who'll strike up a conversation with someone they just met. Then the small businesses around McKinley Hill: Dusty's Hideaway, the Filipino-Latin fusion spot El Lechon Loco, and a Mexican market pop-up off East 72nd where she went for elotes and came home with a puppy. Reason four is the one commuters care about: 38th Street gets you downtown, Portland Avenue gets you onto I-5 north, and the Amtrak and Sounder at the Tacoma Dome are about five minutes away, depending on where you live. Reason five is how her family spends its time — volunteering at Eloise's Cooking Pot food bank and the community center off Portland Avenue, something they've done since 2015.Then the story underneath it. Melo came to the US from the Philippines, landed in California, and found her way to East Tacoma — and after most of her adult life there, it's home. Dave and Melo get into why Tacoma still feels like a small town even as it grows, and the episode closes with a rapid-fire round: Practical Magic 2, empanadas from El Parche, a hot take about puppies, and the finger rule for perfect rice.For anyone moving to Tacoma or Pierce County, buyers comparing neighborhoods, and locals who already know.MEET THE GUESTMelo Hogan — Broker, Windermere Abode

In This Episode Erin and Weer'd discuss: a rabbi suing Maryland for violating his 1st, 2nd, and 14th Amendment rights; the DOJ in a showdown with Wisconsin over their purchase permit system; the DOJ suspending prosecution on pistol buyers 18-20 years old; the gun prohibitionists butthurt that Trump is relaxing restrictions on NFA items; Glock suing Connecticut for banning Glocks; and the Philippines want to search the homes of gun owners to verity their compliance with firearm storage laws. Xander gives us his Independent Thoughts on surviving a convention; and David gives us his 223rd segment to talk about the .223 Remington cartridge. Did you know that we have a Patreon? Join now for the low, low cost of $4/month (that's $1/podcast) and you'll get to listen to our podcast on Friday instead of Mondays, as well as patron-only content like mag dump episodes, our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks. Main Topic Synagogue Scores Early Win Against Maryland County's Gun Restrictions DOJ Gives Minnesota Until Sept. 23 to Negotiate or Face a Federal Suit Over 30-Day Handgun Purchase Waits That Stretch to Nearly 60 Handgun Sales to Adults 18 to 20 Are Constitutional, Says Trump DOJ Trump Tells DOJ to Back Off Case Making Getting the Worst Guns Easier GLOCK Sues Connecticut Over Its "Vague, Ambiguous and Unclear" Convertible Pistol Ban Law Philippine Government Wants to Inspect Gun Owners' Homes Independent Thoughts Walker's Shooting Training Protection 29 DB Omni-Directional Microphone Rope Hearing Enhancer Earbuds Walker's Lightweight Rechargeable Shooting Hunting Razor XV 3.0 Gun Lovers and other Strangers SCHV .222 Remington .222 Remington Magnum .223 Remington 5.56×45mm NATO .223 Wylde Chamber General Curtis LeMay Remington Model 760 Gamemaster SAAMI Again and Again Brena Bock Author Page David Bock Author Page Team And More  

September 28th, 2026:  St Wenceslaus, Patron of Bohemia - Stand for Truth;  St Lawrence Ruiz, Protomartyr of the Philippines;  St Wenceslaus - Love Like Christ;  Becoming the New Jerusalem;  St Wenceslaus, Good King

Chiến thắng nhọc nhằn 1-0 trước Philippines giúp Việt Nam có khởi đầu thuận lợi ở FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026, dù những thách thức về lực lượng vẫn còn ở phía trước. Quần vợt thế giới chứng kiến Team Europe tiếp tục đăng quang tại Laver Cup, Á vận hội 2026 khoe kỷ lục đặc biệt.

The Australia-Filipino Community Services and Dementia Society of the Philippines' continued collaboration has greatly improved diagnosis and quality of care and life for Filipinos living with dementia in Australia. - Sa patuloy na pag-uugnayan at tulungan ng Australia-Filipino Community Services mula Australia at ng Dementia Society of the Philippines napahusay at napabuti ang diagnosis at kalidad ng buhay ng mga Pilipino nabubuhay ng may Dementia sa Australia.

One habit you may need to unlearn when moving from the Philippines to Australia, which side of the car you climb into and which side of the road you drive on? Australia keeps left. The Philippines keeps right. But here's the surprising part: the Philippines once kept left, too. So, what changed? - Isa sa mga nakasanayang maaaring kailangan mong baguhin paglipat mula Pilipinas sa Australia, kung saang panig ng kotse ka sasakay at saang bahagi ng kalsada ka magmamaneho? Sa Australia, sa kaliwa ang takbo. Sa Pilipinas, sa kanan. Pero alam mo ba na dati, sa kaliwa rin dumaraan ang mga sasakyan sa Pilipinas? Bakit ito nagbago?

Naga returns to complete the Must Watch trio once again this week, and joins Scott Bryan and Hayley Campbell to review the latest TVFirst up, Channel 5's Micheal Palin in the Philippines, following the former Python as he explores the landscape, politics, poverty and culture of the Philippines in this latest edition of his travel programmes.Then there's Kill Jackie on Amazon Prime, a thumping crime thriller series starring Catherine Zeta-Jones. Jackie thought she'd left her troubled past behind, living for decades as one of the highest-of-high end art dealers. But when that past begins to catch up with her, Jackie needs to turn the tables on her attackers. War, on Sky and HBO, follows the highly destructive and dramatic divorce of a tech mogul (Dominic West) and an A-list actor (Sienna Miller). They wrestle with how the destruction of their marriage came about as their respective lawyers gear up for one of the biggest divorce battles of modern times.

① The Global Development Initiative is marking its 5th anniversary. What has it delivered to the world since its launch? (00:53) ② China and the US have reached positive consensus on multiple economic and trade issues during their latest round of consultations. How much space does it create to stabilize their trade ties? (12:42) ③ The Chinese Embassy in Manila has hit out at Gilberto Teodoro Jr. after the Philippine Defense Secretary attacked China at a forum. Is Teodoro trying to foster a culture of Sinophobia in the Philippines? (24:01) ④ Why have Swiss voters rejected a proposal to tighten neutrality rules? (31:47) ⑤ China has seen strong travel demand during its Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. We explore a broader shift taking shape in the country's consumer economy. (41:31)

Eucharistic miracle punto por punto Real Presence defense, madaming himala recently, NAPAIYAK NA PARI, NAGDUGO OSTIA sa Bolsena at LIWANAG sa Molfetta Kumusta? I'm Jay Aruga, host of The Jay Aruga Show. As always, kapag gumagawa tayo ng defense of the Catholic Faith video, hindi ito atake sa ibang relihiyon. Defense of the Catholic faith. Pag-uusapan natin ang Lanciano 8th century miracle na sinuri ni Dr. Odardo Lenoli noong 1970s: myocardium heart muscle, AB blood type, fresh serum proteins after 1,200 years, walang preservative. Base sa arguments ni Ethan Muse ang mga discussions natin, plus yung viral clip ni Fr. Brent Bowman noong Sept 14, 2026 Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross — at bakit siya mismo nagsabi na hindi ito traditional miracle, pero bakit siya naiyak sa consecration. Para sa mga Katolikong naghahanap ng pananampalataya Armor at kasagutan sa INC, Jehovah's Witnesses, at Born Again na nagsasabing symbol lang ang Eucharist. John 6 and Last Supper, science and faith, ang magkasamang sasagot sa kanila. #EucharisticMiracle #PuntoPorPunto #CatholicChurch #EucharisticMiracles #CatholicMiracles #FatherBrentBowman Join Filipino podcaster and vlogger, Jay Aruga host of The Jay Aruga Show, the first conservative podcast and vlog in the Philippines.Jay Aruga's Book "Conservative Ka Ba? A 3-Step Approach to Protecting the Family from Woke Ideology" is NOW Available in Shopee:https://shopee.ph/product/274489164/25685460706/Hallow - Try Hallow's Premium contents for FREE: https://www.hallow.com/jayarugaSubscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JayAruga?sub_confirmation=1

Team Philippines is off to a strong start at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, securing 10 medals in the first week of competition, led by Carlos Yulo's two gymnastics golds. Filipino athletes continue their campaign hoping to surpass the country's 18-medal haul from 2023. - Magandang simula para sa Team Philippines sa 2026 Asian Games sa Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, matapos makapagtala ng sampung medalya sa unang linggo ng kompetisyon, pangunguna ng dalawang gintong medalya ni Carlos Yulo. Patuloy ang laban ng mga atletang Pilipino para higitan ang 18-medal haul ng bansa noong 2023.

Since it's September--the start of the Ber (Burr?) months in the Philippines--it's about time we plan our planners for 2027 and highlight some events of note: The Manila International Book Fair (MIBF), Pelikan Hubs, and Planner Con. Zebra Sarasa Nano 0.38 30th Anniversary Edition (Pikachu): https://scribeph.com/product/zebra-sarasa-nano-0-38-pokemon-pikachu/Marz Today Stamps: https://www.instagram.com/marztoday/The Freedom Memorial Museum Gallery: https://hrvvmc.gov.ph/the-freedom-memorial-museum-gallery/The Human Rights Violations Victims' Memorial Commission Publications: https://hrvvmc.gov.ph/hrvvmc-publications/Uniball One: https://www.mp-uni.com/ph/product/uniball-one/Jika's A5 Dateless Planner Template ("how to print guide" to follow): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rqaT26xNVhWNThiAtpMYz-R_ja2Hkkx1?usp=sharingOur Social Media LinksInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepennoobspodcast/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepennoobspodcast5999

According to the 2021 Census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, almost 294,000 people living in Australia were born in the Philippines. If a Filipino has just arrived in Australia, what's the first thing you would ask them? - Batay sa 2021 Census ng Australian Bureau of Statistics, nasa halos 294,000 ang mga taong ipinanganak sa Pilipinas na ngayon ay nakatira sa Australia. Kung may bagong Pinoy na kakarating lang sa Australia, ano ang unang tinatanong mo sa kanya?

Ready to be seen? Check that appointment off your to-do list with Zocdoc ✅: zocdoc.com/wartimestories #sponsored Don't sleep on  @UltraPouches  New customers get 15% Off with code WARTIMESTORIES at takeultra.com! #UltraPouches #adventure Military academies are built around discipline, tradition, and routine. But behind the formations, inspections, and historic barracks, generations of cadets have passed down stories about strange experiences that have become part of the unofficial history of these schools. Drawn from firsthand accounts at military academies in the United States and the Philippines, these stories describe unexplained activity in abandoned buildings, hospital wards, dorm rooms, wooded training grounds, and historic barracks — encounters involving ghostly figures, objects moving on their own, unexplained footsteps, and other experiences that some cadets have carried with them long after leaving the academy. 0:00 - Cold Open 2:17 - The Wentworth Haunting 15:48 - The Hospital Boy 25:46 - The Air Force Cadet 41:15 - The Old Barracks 53:37 - Closing Thoughts 57:33 - Credits 58:03 - Personal Story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the earliest days of open-weight models to becoming the neutral routing layer for more than 10 million developers, OpenRouter is one of the clearest bets that the future of AI will be multi-model. In this episode, OpenRouter co-founder & CEO Alex Atallah, with AMP's Anjney Midha returning with swyx to unpack how OpenRouter emerged from the first wave of Llama, Alpaca, Mistral, and Midjourney, why model diversity mattered before it was consensus, and how a company dismissed as “just a wrapper” became critical infrastructure for the AI ecosystem.We go deep on the product and distribution lessons behind OpenRouter: why model labs can spend billions training a checkpoint and still struggle to get it into developers' hands, how Mistral helped prove the value of a competitive inference marketplace, why OpenRouter chose focus over expanding into fine-tuning, memory, and other adjacent products, and how its rankings became a real-time map of how AI usage was changing. Alex also explains OpenRouter's early experiments with model fusion, why they deleted the first version and brought it back years later, and how the platform grew to more than 10 trillion tokens per day.Finally, Anjney explains why Stripe and OpenRouter fit together, why token fraud may become one of the defining security problems of the AI economy, and why the next wave of fraud won't just come from humans but from autonomous agents attacking increasingly valuable token flows.We discuss:* Why OpenRouter bet early that no single AI model would win everything* Alpaca, Llama, and open models becoming impossible to ignore* Why Discord's early AI deployments exposed the limitations of closed models* Why model labs can spend billions on training and still fail at distribution* How OpenRouter became a neutral distribution layer for model developers* Why VCs dismissed OpenRouter as “just a marketplace” or “just a wrapper”* The Mistral price war and the first real proof of an inference marketplace* How Midjourney scaled through Discord and what it taught the AI ecosystem* Why crypto infrastructure became a dress rehearsal for generative AI* OpenRouter vs. LM Arena and why their missions are fundamentally different* Why focus became one of OpenRouter's biggest strategic advantages* Anthropic's early focus on AI pair programming and coding* The OpenRouter products that were prototyped but never launched* MOM, OpenRouter's early Mixture of Models experiment* Why model fusion failed in 2024 — and why it works much better now* How OpenRouter's leaderboard became a live map of the AI industry* OpenClaw, auto-routing, and agents reshaping AI usage* How OpenRouter reached 10+ trillion tokens per day* Why inference gateways are increasingly becoming targets for fraud* Why Stripe's fraud infrastructure is strategically important to OpenRouter* The coming rise of agentic fraud and attacks on the token economy* What changes and what stays the same as OpenRouter joins StripeAlex Atallah* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexatallah/* X: https://x.com/alexatallah* Website: https://alexatallah.comAnjney Midha* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjney/* X: https://x.com/AnjneyMidha* AMP: https://www.amppublic.com/Timestamps00:00:00 Introduction00:02:12 Alpaca, Llama, and the Multi-Model Bet00:06:04 Discord, Open Models, and OpenRouter's Origins00:14:28 Why “One Model Wins” Was the Wrong Bet00:17:27 Why Model Labs Struggle With Distribution00:23:04 “Just a Wrapper”: Why VCs Misunderstood OpenRouter00:27:58 Bootstrapping OpenRouter Through Community00:36:16 Crypto, Midjourney, and the Early Generative AI Ecosystem00:43:38 Mistral and the Birth of the Inference Marketplace00:47:10 OpenRouter vs. LM Arena00:52:08 Focus, Anthropic, and Roads Not Taken00:59:34 Mixture of Models and Model Fusion01:02:44 Sonnet, OpenClaw, and OpenRouter's Explosive Growth01:09:03 Why Stripe Acquired OpenRouter01:12:45 Fraud and the Emerging Token Economy01:17:47 The Coming Wave of Agentic Fraud01:19:07 What's Next for OpenRouter at StripeTranscriptIntroduction: OpenRouter, Marketplaces, and Pub-Sub as a Product PrincipleSwyx [00:00:00]: Okay, we are here in Anja's house, which is where all big startups in San Francisco start.Anjney Midha [00:00:08]: Howdy.Swyx [00:00:08]: And, congrats on Cursor, Mistral. I don'- God knows what else. You got so much stuff going on.Anjney Midha [00:00:17]: There's, there's a lot going on. Well, OpenRouter is probably the - has been the most, I would say, like, one I'm excited about recently.Swyx [00:00:24]: Yeah. And we have Alex, first time on the pod, but,Anjney Midha [00:00:27]: Thanks for having me.Swyx [00:00:27]: You've been in the IE a few times. I appreciate every time you've shown up, for the community. Congrats. I just, like, what a journey. When I was looking back at your past posts, one of the earliest principles that I saw you write as a product person is sub as a product principle. And I wanted - you to maybe explain how you think about what should exist in the world.Anjney Midha [00:00:49]: Yeah. The sub piece, which was early 2023, I didn't think about it until we talked like 10 minutes ago, is about how there is like a way of thinking about products as an intersection between subscribing to data and publishing data. And marketplaces are an easy example of this. You have suppliers that are publishing some product to a SKU. And the SKU is like a sub topic that a consumer is subscribing to and just going to, like, consume whenever they want. And humans consume in a very, like, discreet, ad hoc way. It's not very scalable. all their attention is on the topic when they're buying the thing, and their attention is nowhere else when that happens. agents and consumers of inference don't act like that. They're consuming continuously, and they're changing the SKUs that they consume from all the time. So OpenRouter is like a blend between a normal API experience and a marketplace where we create model slug. We have the auto router. We have all kinds of, like, product SKUs that you can subscribe to. And then you can, like, continuously add, like, derive value and make decisions based on those consumers.Alpaca, Llama, and the Multi-Model BetSwyx [00:02:11]: Yeah. This is something that was more consensus now, but not consensus when you guys started, which was that there is such a demand for swapping models and changing things out and, that people would not use the native SDKs. I guess, for each of you, what was your realization moment that this would be it? I, - You've, you've given a talk at EIE about Alpaca as,Anjney Midha [00:02:33]: Yeah.Swyx [00:02:33]: One of your inspiring moments.Anjney Midha [00:02:35]: Alpaca, I can, like, rehash the Alpaca moment for a sec. Like, the very beginning, at the end of 2022, OpenAI was the only game in town. There was, like, OpenAI, Cohere,Swyx [00:02:47]: Yes.Anjney Midha [00:02:48]: And then a smattering of, like, early attempts at open weight models.Swyx [00:02:54]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:02:54]: When Llama came out in January of 2023, it was like, “Wow, really exciting. This is really big.” It outperforms 3 on, one or two benchmarks. but you can't chat with it. It wasn't like - It wasn't an engaging model, but it seemed like someone just needed to fix a couple things and do some RLHF on it to get it all the way there. And Alpaca was the first model that I saw that did that. It only took $600 to do. A team at Stanford generated a bunch of synthetic data, tuned Llama, and made Alpaca, billion parameter model. Or was - Maybe it was thirteen billion parameters. And it was so good. Like, I was just, like, on an airplane using it. I, - in many cases, I, like, you could not discern a ChatGPT versus an Alpaca result. And I figured if it was this easy to make a model, one, we have a whole new way of monetizing data for the first time. you can just, like, take really valuable data and turn it into a service in $600. and that cost will probably go down over time.Swyx [00:04:03]: When you - So sorry. when you say monetizing your data as, what eventually will become an MCP endpoint or as a training data for a model?Anjney Midha [00:04:12]: Yeah, training data for a model.Swyx [00:04:13]: Awesome.Anjney Midha [00:04:13]: Like, an abstract way of saying like, “Hey, I have this data.”Swyx [00:04:15]: Compress it into a model.Anjney Midha [00:04:16]: Like, it makes sense for me in my product, but, like, I could repackage it in the form of a model and sell it. And so it's just a whole new business model for the economy. It also, of course, provides, like, a way of following what Frontier Labs are doing, but in a way that, like, a single developer or a small team of developers can roll on their own. And so - Whenever you have an example of that, like a breakout app that's doing really well, and then some framework for imitating it with - in your own flavor, you have an immediate ecosystem of, like an immediate ecosystem, like, should arise because there's just a huge gap between the, like, decisions that the single company is making and all of the variations in those decisions that, like, a wider ecosystem can create themselves. And so then, you need a marketplace to, like, discover all of those, services and all of those products. There wasn't any place on the internet that, like, was like a home base for LLMs in terms of seeing how much they were being used and seeing who was using them and why.Swyx [00:05:29]: The closest would be Hugging Face.Anjney Midha [00:05:30]: Hugging Face was the closest at the time, yeah.Swyx [00:05:31]: They just started Hugging, like, a few years ago before that.Anjney Midha [00:05:34]: Yeah, and Hugging Face also didn't have the closed-source models.Swyx [00:05:37]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:05:38]: And they didn'- you couldn't use the models at the time. and there wasn't data about who was using them. There were, like, a bunch of differences between OpenRouter and Hugging Face, and those differences felt really critical to me, especially when I was just trying to learn about LLMs and, like, why people are choosing, like, Different little ones that are emerging over time.Discord, Open Models, and the Origins of OpenRouterSwyx [00:06:03]: Got it. And then, Ansh, no stranger to wanting more model diversity, at the time, you're a couple of years into your Anthropic journey, which we covered in the previous podcast as well. What was your introduction to Alex?Alex Atallah [00:06:16]: Well, the introduction was, I think, thirteen years before that.Swyx [00:06:20]: Oh.Alex Atallah [00:06:20]: But the OpenRouter handshake happened right over there, if you remember.Anjney Midha [00:06:23]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:06:24]: Which - So Alex and I, met, I believe as sophomores now, if I remember at the Stanford Review,Anjney Midha [00:06:32]: That's rightAlex Atallah [00:06:32]: Meeting for the first time.Anjney Midha [00:06:33]: I think so, yeah.Alex Atallah [00:06:35]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:06:35]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:06:35]: So Stanford Review was the libertarian newspaper on campus at Stanford that Peter Thiel started back in the day. And, whatever-- for whatever reason, I, Alex and I both showed up to one of the meetings, and I remember, the editor-chief was a mutual friend of ours. Lisa was really a really great editor-chief, where, part of an editor-chief's job is to assign responsibilities to people and make sure the work gets done. and I, I may be misremembering the details, but I remember wanting to. It was surprising to me that at the time there was no dedicated technology section in the newspaper.Alex Atallah [00:07:11]: YouSwyx [00:07:13]: Because it's political, right?Alex Atallah [00:07:14]: It is primarilySwyx [00:07:14]: Like, it's talkingAlex Atallah [00:07:15]: It originally started as like aAnjney Midha [00:07:16]: Yes.Swyx [00:07:17]: Yeah, states and all those things.Alex Atallah [00:07:17]: Correct.Swyx [00:07:18]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:07:18]: But it, - To take us back in time, you may remember this, but, there was this technology, legislation that was being debated called, the Net Neutrality Act. And net neutrality is, like, inherently this political concept, right? It's, it's about the regulation of - internet broadband access. And so there was a community of us who were technologists, but also debating the politics of the technology. And I thought the Review would be a great place - to, like, write about that. And I was working on, I think, a net neutrality article, and I remember proposing, “Well, maybe we should start a technology section.” And Alex was one of the only people who said, “Yes, that would be cool.” And said. I forget whether we ended up writing stuff together, but - that's when we first met,Alex Atallah [00:08:03]: Was 2011 or twelve. I forget which year it was. It was one of those.Anjney Midha [00:08:09]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:08:09]: It was at Old Union, if I remember correctly.Alex Atallah [00:08:11]: That's where we used to meet. But, along the way, Alex and I have had a chance to, To hang out often. And probably the time when we had the most professional overlap was when I was running the platform at Discord, and it had become this explosive platform for cryptoSwyx [00:08:32]: YeahAlex Atallah [00:08:32]: And NFTs in the middle of the pandemic.Swyx [00:08:35]: Which also, by the way, you were in charge of safety and security as well, right?Alex Atallah [00:08:38]: I was the head of platform, which meant all of the crypto - the DAO and NFT launch security debugging fell onSwyx [00:08:45]: And their phishing and.Alex Atallah [00:08:47]: The phishing, the social engineering attacks, the katana DDoS that we were getting hit by. but it's around the time I first started teaching security at scale at Stanford, CS 153. And Alex was on the, - at OpenSea at the time, and I was trying to figure out how we could defend against all these attacks that we were. Like, and at peak, I forget, if you remember how much NFT volume was running throughSwyx [00:09:10]: DiscordAlex Atallah [00:09:10]: Discord, but it was, like, a meaningful amount of, like, it was, like, several billion dollars in NFT volume of GMV, so to speak, were running through the platform, and it was all coming from OpenSea. It was these, like, buy, sell,Swyx [00:09:20]: TheAlex Atallah [00:09:21]: ServersSwyx [00:09:21]: The D in DAO is Discord.Alex Atallah [00:09:25]: Yes. And so that's when I think we had hung out professionally. But a year after that, OpenAI gave Discord early access to GPT. Sorry, three. No, it was five. Yeah, five, which is the RL version of three. And that's around the time we made a Discord bot with, OpenAI for internal deployment, and that's when I realized we would need. Like, since I was part of the deployment team.Anjney Midha [00:09:50]: What was the use case?Alex Atallah [00:09:51]: There were two that were. And there's, there's a post now called “Discord is Your Place for AI with Friends” that somebody sent me recently that I wrote, and published in twenty-three. But There were two use cases. One was Clyde, which was the - like, a party friend inside of Discord that could help you set up your Discord server and talk to you about onboarding and get your friends to hang out more. and then there was content moderation. And one of the realizations we had with content moderation was - it would refuse to moderate. Like, it would just refuse our prompts because the The training was. We were very early in the training era, and it would just. Our prompts would trigger it, its, like, guardrails. And we told OpenAI, “Hey, guys, we need access to the weights because if we're gonna be doing content moderation at scale, we had 250 million monthly active users, we need more reliability that the model will do what we need it to.” And they said, “Well, sorry, guys, that's not how this works. We're a closed-source company.” And so that was my first realization that we needed open models, and the enterprises would need more control over capabilities, and then ultimately would need some control plane or management system to orchestrate these open models. But there weren't no good - there were no good open alternatives until maybeAlex Atallah [00:11:10]: Six months later when Llama came out. And six months after that, I led the series A into Mistral, which was started by Guillaume and the Llama team. And - That, - Around that time is when I remember hearing about Alex launching OpenRouter and going, “These worlds are gonna collide, and I don't know when it'll make sense to team up.” But Alex was so early and could see. I think he was totally right about this ecosystem starting with Llama that then needed, like, a, an easy layer to manage for, especially for. I was approaching it from the enterprise perspective because I had been that, like, the. As the VP of platform at Discord, it was my job to ensure that when we deployed models to, like, 250 million users, they did what we wanted them to. And that was very hard, because if you outsourced it to the labs and they controlled the guardrails and their guardrails are their safety policies. Forbid the model from responding to your prompts. That was quite catastrophic.Swyx [00:12:05]: Yeah. But what, a moderation is the thing that they want to support. And obviously, beyond that, they would - OpenAI would work with you, presumably to give you a moderation endpoint, which they offer for free.Alex Atallah [00:12:16]: It was an interesting use case, that - So they did give us a moderation endpoint. However, as you guys know, every Discord server is like a mini deployment of itself. And so the use case was instead of having human moderators that have to interpret the norms of the community, you just give the, - Often, like every, subreddit, Discord servers, public ones have their own rules that the user, the users create.Swyx [00:12:41]: Oh, yeah. We run the LinkedIn Discord in. Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:12:43]: And then humans used to read those norms and then enforce it every day manually, like observing each message in these communities. And these communities have like millions of users. So we had a 5,000+ person team globally in the, on the Discord content moderation team. These are outsourced contractors who had a really tough job. And so the idea was instead, if you could give the norms of that server To the LLM, then the LLM would do custom moderation for that server. It's almost like a, like context moderation for that server. And many of those servers' norms just violated OpenAI's rules. And so - It was like we had our own custom eval. So each server had its own custom eval. But Discord-- at the time, OpenAI's evals, we were all soAlex Atallah [00:13:28]: Primitive in our thinking about how to deploy these LLMs that often the training prompts were super handed. It said, “Oh, anything about Harry Potter, anything that has trademarked content, don'- refuse.” And if it was a fan - Harry Potter fan community, this is a real use case, that had content moderation, the LLM would just refuse.Swyx [00:13:48]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:13:49]: And that was just not precise enough.Anjney Midha [00:13:52]: Another one that we heard was like if someone was trying to write like a detective story, and there's one chapter with a lot of violence, like maybe someoneAlex Atallah [00:14:01]: RightAnjney Midha [00:14:01]: Like kills someone, the LLMs would just refuse to, like, help with that part of the story.Alex Atallah [00:14:07]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:14:07]: And then - like, we used to be like, okay, this is not like structurally inherent to LLMs. There must be, like, some choice out there so that I can, like, switch to another model, when I'm getting, like, a refusal or a bad result from the main one that I have. And that, like, tension also drove me for a marketplace.Why “One Model Wins” Was the Wrong BetSwyx [00:14:28]: Yeah. I think that is well accepted now. What was it like back then when you were raising or, starting this? did people get it? what was the, some of the struggles? I like getting stories out of him about how other VCs don't get it. So like anything you wanna, talk about, now - Let's, let's call it, that the early journey of OpenRouter is done, right? You can obviously talk about some of the early days stuff.Anjney Midha [00:14:54]: Well, I was gonna say that, like, the biggest objection we got is big model win, which is - all of theSwyx [00:15:03]: Scaling laws.Anjney Midha [00:15:04]: Huh?Swyx [00:15:04]: Scaling laws.Anjney Midha [00:15:05]: Yeah, scaling laws, and natural network effects are just gonna accrue to one company, which will be - It'll be a Google-style monopoly, just like how Google won the search market, by a large margin, and you'll just be fighting for scraps at the end. That was probably the biggest objection we got. it is interesting that Google won the search engine race with such a huge margin. I think, like, had there been more interesting benchmarks or had, like, search engines been, - had people, like, seen them a little bit more like LLMs where they're services that you can build companies on top of, that might not have been the case. but LLMs don't merely have a user interface. They're also, like, ways of building entirely new businesses. And, a Google-level monopoly would be like the Dutch East India Company times, quadrillion in magnitude because the whole economy ends up, like, depending on the one monopoly as well. So it didn't seem like would be a really crazy outcome if that happened. And it's also less likely because the economics of, like, creating good competitors are much, like, much more decentralizable.Alex Atallah [00:16:25]: Everything Alex said is true, And I came at it from a completely different perspective, whichSwyx [00:16:31]: Yes, this is why we're here.Alex Atallah [00:16:32]: The scaling laws were never - In my mind, were always a feature, not a bug for why OpenRouter would be very valuable. Because, I was one of the first investors in Anthropic, and it was obvious to me that other researchers in our friends - I went to grad school for machine learning, and I just had a lot of friends in the ML community who it was very obvious to us that the bitter lesson holds. And so I was like, “Oh, fantastic. Now we have at least two proof points that compute scaling works.” It was OpenAI and Anthropic. and by the time I think we decided to team up on OpenRouter, I had already invested in Mistral and Black Forest Labs and Luma. So there was multiple model companies and teams that I was, working with.Why Model Labs Struggle With DistributionSwyx [00:17:14]: But you did other modalities, whereas this is literallyAlex Atallah [00:17:16]: Across different modalities, yesSwyx [00:17:17]: Text.Alex Atallah [00:17:18]: Exactly. And it was so obvious to me that an ecosystem of different kinds of models were being created, and that this whole narrative of, like, Only one company will dominate like Google was, well, like maybe true, but one, I don't believe that. But two, there was so much extraordinary innovation happening across several different research teams. But the shared problem I was noticing across all of them was often, the research teams were fantastic at figuring out how to reason about new capabilities. They think in terms of capabilities, but never - like, are not developer mindset-oriented. Like, what happens after the training is done and the checkpoint comes out? Like, you'd be shocked how, like, similar the early training teams at OpenAI, sorry, Anthropic, BFL, Mistral, were in their, like, default approach to. Taking their research out of the, lab and scaling their impact, which is often, oh, the checkpoint is done, put it out as an API, done, and then there'd be crickets. in the case of Claude, the first Claude checkpoint was done a year before they released it internally. And then ChatGPT came out, and we decided, okay, yes, it's a good idea to release a Claude version externally.Alex Atallah [00:18:34]: And they had no plan, like no plan for how to get developers to try it out. And so if you go to the Claude one blog post, you'll notice there are, like, three developer examples for users of the API, and one is a Discord bot, and the second is Vivian, my wife's startup called Juny Learning, ‘- And then there was, like, Notion, because these were all friends of, like, the Anthropic Because that's how - like, last minute the planning was around, hey, once the model's done training, how do you get it out to the world? There was no distribution platform that understood what developers needed, all the key management, provisioning, like, simple, like, endpoint management, versioning control. Like, all these things that the scientists and researchers go, “ that's plumbing. I don't really think about it.”Swyx [00:19:15]: Implementation detail.Alex Atallah [00:19:16]: Right. And instead, Alex came at it from that perspective. And so, it was so obvious to me that, like, every single lab I was funding would spend - like, literally sometimes billions of dollars into training, and then a checkpoint would be done, and there'd be crickets, like, during early access because they're like, “Oh, that's right.”Alex Atallah [00:19:35]: It's hard to use a checkpoint to make anything. You need a whole bunch of plumbing around it to make it usable by a developer. And so by the - I think - it was so obvious to me that a distribution platform like OpenRouter was critical to have in the ecosystem if we wanted there to be competition to Google. Like, unless-- ‘cause with Google, DeepMind is done training a new checkpoint, and then they push a button, and it gets blasted out across all their surfaces from Google Docs to,Swyx [00:20:01]: Everywhere, even if I don't want it.Alex Atallah [00:20:02]: Everywhere. You wanna know about, like, on Android, like, overnight, they can deploy a new checkpoint to, like, a billion devices, right? And that invisible infra advantage, distribution advantage, most people don't realize, but until OpenRouter showed up, - you had to think about all of that yourself as a model lab. And it was very daunting. at Anthropic, I think it took, well, more than twelve months to get to our first 10 million in revenue. And in contrast with Black Forest Labs, I remember the early days, you guys had a conversation with the BFL team, and, it was so simple for OpenRouter to say, “Oh, no problem. Like, the day you launch, we can send 1 million developers to you.” that was crazy. That was like a step function change in, like, an hour.Swyx [00:20:46]: Is that a real number, a million?Alex Atallah [00:20:47]: I,Swyx [00:20:48]: Okay. All right.Alex Atallah [00:20:48]: I think today it's, like, 4 million. How many developers are on OpenRouter today?Anjney Midha [00:20:52]: Over ten,Alex Atallah [00:20:54]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:20:54]: Over 10 million, but, like, it's, it's hard to, youAlex Atallah [00:20:59]: I, yeah, I don't know how to. Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:21:00]: We do a lot of, like, account duping work, but, noAlex Atallah [00:21:04]: If you could get 1,000 developers, just to put in context If you get 1,000 developers who try the model on day one after you release it and just, like, do inference and give you feedback, that's a thousandAnjney Midha [00:21:15]: That's hugeAlex Atallah [00:21:16]: More developers than they knew how to get to on their own.Swyx [00:21:19]: Well, BFL had a reputation, but yes.Alex Atallah [00:21:21]: They had one in Stable Diffusion.Swyx [00:21:22]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:21:23]: And with Mistral, I don't know if you guys remember, but the first checkpoint they released was, like, torrents. It was, like, torrent weights.Swyx [00:21:31]: Yeah, they just put up a magnet link.Alex Atallah [00:21:33]: Yeah, there was no API.Anjney Midha [00:21:34]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:21:34]: Because they didn'- they weren't infra people.Alex Atallah [00:21:37]: ? Like, it's like, okay, download these weights, and you guys go figure out how to host it.Swyx [00:21:39]: Well, he has a story on his side, yeah.Anjney Midha [00:21:41]: Yeah, in addition to the, like, building a really good developer experience around it, the marketing that we do on, like, for different models is totally different and perceived totally differentlyAlex Atallah [00:21:54]: RightAnjney Midha [00:21:54]: From the marketing that a model lab does for itself.Alex Atallah [00:21:56]: Yes, 1,000%.Anjney Midha [00:21:57]: Right? We are like a, neutral layer looking at this market like it's a big dark room with all the corners completely obscure to users, and users are walking into the room and, like, feeling aroundAlex Atallah [00:22:09]: YeahAnjney Midha [00:22:09]: And trying to figure out what objects to grab off the tables and, like, build into, their companies. And it's just an insane way of working. Like, models are not products where you can just enumerate all their features onto a web page. They're all black boxes, including the open weight ones. So you need to, like, shine lights on all corners of this room, so that people can see what makes this model good, and you need the company shining that light to be a neutral third party, which is what we specialize in. So the, like. It'- In addition to developer experience, there's also, like, a very important, like, marketing and product packaging componentAlex Atallah [00:22:50]: YeahAnjney Midha [00:22:50]: And a way of, like, routing and discovering models becomes, like, critical to your market as a provider or a model lab or a server tool and more in the future.“Just a Wrapper”: Why VCs Misunderstood OpenRouterAlex Atallah [00:23:03]: And this value, to your earlier point about how many VCs, like, just don't. One of my biggest frustrations is that venture capitalists, many of them, like, just don't have any operating experience in the field. so unlike a traditional investor who's just maybe come up through the ranks as, like, a associate working on financial modeling or maybe hasn't been a real operator in the field for, like, more than ten years, which is a big part of the industry now, I had just arrived at a16z, like, a year after running the platform. And so I knew what the challenges were of, like, building a real - great developer experience and like, being able to create a working piece of software with a model. And there were a few, I won't name names, but there were investors who were looking at OpenRouter, and, felt at the time, like, when I would compare notes with people, that it was just, I quote unquote, “just a marketplace.”Swyx [00:23:59]: Yeah, just a thin layer, just aAlex Atallah [00:24:00]: CorrectSwyx [00:24:00]: JustAlex Atallah [00:24:01]: A wrapper or whatever on other people's APIs. And I was like, “You have no idea how strategic the value that OpenRouter has created by being able to orchestrate even three.” APIs in production. The amount of both engineering work and community design that goes into getting that live and running in production at the scale the OpenRouter team had started just doesn't happen by default. And that was one of the things that stood out to me about Alex from the earliest days. Like, he just understood, like, - from a systems perspective, like, how do you get these flywheels going? Like, that stood out to me with OpenSea when we were working together on the NFT integration at Discord. Like, Alex had a level of community-- like, systems thinking on how you get these flywheels going that most scientists and machine learning people just don'tAlex Atallah [00:24:48]: Think of. Like, we often think in terms of training.Swyx [00:24:52]: It's a linear stage.Alex Atallah [00:24:53]: It's this linear pipeline.Swyx [00:24:53]: There's no loop yet.Alex Atallah [00:24:54]: Yeah. It wasn't until much later that the modern context feedback loop cycle really got standardized in the industry. But at the time, if you remember, machine learning was like. Like, mostly we did a lot of ML, like, when I was in grad school on a laptop. So you just, like, download a dataset, ran some ablations, and you looked at the loss curves, and you're like, “Great, I made AI.” And the idea that you have to, like, deploy those capabilities, collect feedback trajectories, then, like, put those into a continuous loop, like, came much later. And it was very counterintuitive to the - like, the traditional AI mindset. I do remember doing the investment phase for, OpenRouter, I just didn't try and educate a bunch of other VCs on why it was not just a marketplace. I was like, “ what? I'm just gonna invest.”Anjney Midha [00:25:41]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:25:41]: And I'm going to, like, take the opportunity to partner with Alex, and if - no other VCs get it, that's totally fine. ‘Cause at the time, - it was not obvious, I think, to several of the investors that, like, OpenRouter was not more than just a wrapper around APIs. And - that infuriated me. And I was like, “ what? I don't have time to debate you. I'm - we're gonna, we're gonna invest.” And then I think, like, a month later, Matt Murphy marked it up by 10x. Like, - I think. I forget what the exact money was and so on, but, to his credit, Menlo Ventures realized, “Okay, there's much more strategic value here as well.” Maybe you didn't hear all these conversations behind the scenes But that frustrated me a lot. there's a lot of this, like, opining about wrappers. and if you're like, “Oh, an app is just a wrapper on a model,” then, like. And, OpenRouter is, like, this wrapper on top of other APIs, and this is the most stupid, reductive framework.Alex Atallah [00:26:31]: And so it's clearly somebody who has no experience deploying product at scale.Swyx [00:26:34]: It's the thing you dismiss other things with. Like, you're a - everyone's a wrapper on everything, right? Like, and there's, there's some Some wrappers have value.Alex Atallah [00:26:40]: Investors are wrappers and LPs, right?Alex Atallah [00:26:42]: Like venture capitalists. So, yeah, it's all wrappers down, all down to bare metal, I guess, and like energy.Swyx [00:26:46]: Yeah, there - When I started the whole AI engineer, I guess, the coining, in 2023, like, that was, like, the number one pushback is that this is no value. You should just train models.Anjney Midha [00:26:56]: Right.Swyx [00:26:57]: And, yeah, obviously this is, like. you guys are one of the testaments to the fact that you can build very valuable wrappers, but also very valuable model companies.Alex Atallah [00:27:06]: It's so, hard to be. Like, the day a model launches, the fact that you have an OpenRouter, endpoint for that model frequently at the top of Hacker News on day one, people don't realize the amount of work that goes into accomplishing that. And OpenRouter used. Like, that would happen over and over again, and I remember going, “People have no idea how hard that is.”Alex Atallah [00:27:30]: That's not.Swyx [00:27:31]: Yeah, we've covered some of the inference engineering that goes behind,Alex Atallah [00:27:34]: YesSwyx [00:27:34]: Some of - with Base Ten and all those. Well, today you have, all those, like, cool code name things that people guess what Oxy Alpha is and all those things. But, like, I guess one of the things that you're teasing is, how do you get that initial flywheel going, right? Because today you have your scale and your reputation, all these things, so obviously you - you're driving immense distribution. But when you were early on, when it's mostlyBootstrapping OpenRouter Through CommunityAlex Atallah [00:27:55]: The bootstrap, yeah.Swyx [00:27:56]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:27:56]: What was the bootstrap like?Anjney Midha [00:27:58]: To bring it back to early Discord days, I think we, like, initially connected with. This is an OpenSea story, technically. But, and we initially connected when you were at Discord, and we talked about, like, - the Axie Infinity server.Alex Atallah [00:28:13]: Oh, yes. Yes.Anjney Midha [00:28:14]: This server was, like, the biggest server at theAlex Atallah [00:28:17]: YeahAnjney Midha [00:28:17]: At Discord.Alex Atallah [00:28:18]: That's right.Anjney Midha [00:28:19]: And you were like, constantly bumping up theAlex Atallah [00:28:22]: The limits on the server. Oh, my GodAnjney Midha [00:28:24]: Of how many people could be in the server.Swyx [00:28:24]: For those who don't know, like, 10% of Philippines was Axie.Alex Atallah [00:28:29]: Was on that server. That's a big hit.Swyx [00:28:31]: It was, like, a meaningful contributor to the GDP of the country.Alex Atallah [00:28:33]: It was an NFT, like, crypto game, but itSwyx [00:28:35]: It was like a Pokémon breeding thing.Anjney Midha [00:28:36]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:28:36]: Yeah. Similar. Yeah. There was battling, there was breeding, and then there was, like, a marketplace for trading.Swyx [00:28:43]: Earn as well.Alex Atallah [00:28:45]: Yeah, earn. And, like, the graphics were really cute and fun, and you like, you get emotional about your Axie that you make. So to, like, start a community like that, which we had to do many times at OpenSea with every early project, for us to create a marketplace for it, we need to make sure that the, like, the community wants it.Anjney Midha [00:29:09]: Right.Alex Atallah [00:29:09]: And it's like building something that people want and going and telling them about it. Like, you can do that on a one basis, but there's way higher leverage to do that in a community where everyone can talk to you at the same time. So we spent a lot of time, like, building things that the community really wanted. We did the same thing for OpenRouter. And, like, the Axie community was one of, like, a zillion communities we did that with. And Anj, like, saw us doing it and. ‘Cause you could just see people sharing OpenSea links constantly in that Discord. Like, users sharing links is a really clear indicator that, like, something important is going on. So we spent, a lot of time, like, first figuring out what the gap is in the technology that people care about. Like, what was the actual problem that needs to be solved? in early LLM days, it was, OpenAI refusing to finish the prompt or,Anjney Midha [00:30:09]: YeahAlex Atallah [00:30:10]: To, like, complete the task. It was also.Anjney Midha [00:30:13]: Inability to customize models. and so there are communities that, like are just completely blocked on that issue, and those are the communities that are most useful to learn about and dive into and explore.Alex Atallah [00:30:28]: Something that really struck me at that time, - as I was just hearing your talk, I remember noting - you may not remember this, but we - we had these, like working, Zoom calls that we were doing a sprint around for, like this OpenSea integration with Discord. and, we'd, we'd - it was myself, my engineering team. I think you were there. And I remember, Alex, in the middle of one of those calls, just like there was like silence. we were all like, “Oh, yeah, this totally makes sense. Let's do this.” And then there's - every, like everybody aligned. And Alex was like, “No, this makes no sense to me.” And everyone's - I remember going, “What? Like, it works. Like, you click on a link and this, then it bounces you out to, like, OpenSea.” And he was like, “It's not a good user experience. Yeah, we should not do this.” And I remember going, he was the only one person out of all of us to raise his hand and go, yes, it made sense from a technical implementation perspective. Like, we were bouncing the user out into the, into OpenSea. And so it kinda checked the box of the product manager's requirements on both sides. But Alex went one step further and was like, “ what would be better, guys? If we just embedded the experience right here inside of Discord so the link opened up as an embedded iframe, and you can just check out right there.”Alex Atallah [00:31:47]: And not one person on the call, and there's like seven of us who had met, like, week after week.Swyx [00:31:52]: And it's the guy who doesn't work for Discord.Alex Atallah [00:31:53]: And it's the guy who doesn't work for Discord.Swyx [00:31:55]: Like, technically, you benefit if they bounce.Alex Atallah [00:31:57]: Exactly. And that was, like, adversarial. To keep the user inside of Discord would be adversarial to OpenSea. And yet Alex put that user experience first. And I was like, “That's special.”Swyx [00:32:08]: Wow.Alex Atallah [00:32:08]: Because it's very hard to have somebody who's technical like Alex and understands the developer flow, but also understands the best user experience and wants to prioritize that. And that's two sides of the flywheel that if you can get spinning, like is often hard to stop. And you just reminded me, like that one was one of those moments where I go, I - I realized I gotta be better at user experience because I should have been the one who came up with that, and I didn't. And I learned from you. And, I think that went into one of our case studies for the PM training program at Discord.Swyx [00:32:34]: Whoa.Alex Atallah [00:32:36]: I don't know if it there is Because ofSwyx [00:32:38]: You need an Alex is the conclusion.Alex Atallah [00:32:40]: Yeah. You need an Alex. And this is why I'm not, nobody should be surprised why Stripe decided like they had to buy OpenRouter because it's a really rare combination of people who understand the machine learning community, the developer experience, and the user experience. And putting all that together has resulted in this extraordinary scale that very few other marketplaces have been able to achieveWindow AI, BYOM, and Finding the Right Form FactorSwyx [00:33:02]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:33:02]: Over the last, five years.Swyx [00:33:04]: Yeah. Well, we should talk about the other reasons for acquisitions, whichAlex Atallah [00:33:07]: Yes, we should.Swyx [00:33:07]: You've written about. I wanna proceed somewhat chronologically as well. So - there is a point that, one of the questions that, Dave from H of Zero sent in was, when did it - really started to work? And you brought up Mixtral. I don't know if you wanna bring up that story.Alex Atallah [00:33:22]: Oh, yeah.Swyx [00:33:23]: Which obviously you overlap with, so.Anjney Midha [00:33:26]: Yeah, the MoE was. I don't know when. there's no like one moment where I was like, “Oh, this is, officially starting to work.” It wasSwyx [00:33:36]: The moment where you had a Chrome extension, like, really super early on.Anjney Midha [00:33:39]: Oh, yeah. But, well, - yeah. So before OpenRouter, I wanted to, like, explore a bring-your-own-model experiment. And,Swyx [00:33:47]: Which anyone familiar with crypto is like, yeah, Phantom and all these things.Anjney Midha [00:33:50]: Yeah. So it felt like doing a MetaMask analogy for AI would be a fun way of exploring that. And at the time, there were no AI apps. There were probably as many AI apps that were, like, hitting AI - like, hitting an LLM via an API call as there were, like, games just doing it in JavaScript. like there was a, there was a moment in time where it could have been the case that web apps call LLMs through the browser, like through some desktopAlex Atallah [00:34:27]: Yes.Anjney Midha [00:34:27]: Managed app that is controlled by the user. and of course, there are like, I think, many reasons that did not happen. But back when the days were that primordial, I built a Chrome extension called Window AISwyx [00:34:43]: With Plasmo.Anjney Midha [00:34:44]: With Plasmo.Swyx [00:34:45]: I had come across early on, and I was like, “Who's gonna use this?” You did.Anjney Midha [00:34:49]: Plasmo had a couple, like, I think Phantom was using it. there were some other, like real companies using it.Alex Atallah [00:34:56]: It was like a shim.Swyx [00:34:57]: React for Chrome extension. It compiles to allAnjney Midha [00:35:00]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:35:00]: I see.Anjney Midha [00:35:00]: Like Next.js for Chrome extensions.Swyx [00:35:01]: Next.js, Next.js.Alex Atallah [00:35:02]: Okay.Anjney Midha [00:35:03]: And yeah, built Window AI on top of it. The creator of Plasmo, like started contributing code to Window AI, in GitHub, and that turned out to be Louis VicchiAlex Atallah [00:35:15]: Oh, you'Anjney Midha [00:35:15]: Who is the founder of OpenRouter.Alex Atallah [00:35:17]: That's right. You have told me this is how you met Louis. Yes.Anjney Midha [00:35:19]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:35:19]: Okay.Anjney Midha [00:35:20]: So, that allowed users to like configure which model they wanted to use for a web page in their browser, and then, like the app would just call out to that model when it needed to do things. not the right form factor for LLMs, but, it's like fun experiment. You learn a lot, and like I open sourced it. And the main learning is like, okay, this has to be an API, and it has to look a little bit - like, there has to be more of a developer experience here and more of a discovery experience as well. Like, I don't know where to use these models, and a little Chrome extension is not gonna help me discover. It's not enough real estate. I need more space. I need visuals. I need graphs. I need, examples. I need images. I need to, like, I need to be able to, like explore both as a human and as an agent.Crypto, Midjourney, and the Early Generative AI EcosystemAlex Atallah [00:36:10]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:36:10]: So that's how OpenRouter came to be.Alex Atallah [00:36:13]: A meta point that.Alex Atallah [00:36:16]: I think is underappreciated, but Alex is reminding me, is that we were quite lucky that we were so. we were, like, adjacent to the crypto community in those days. Because in hindsight, crypto ended up being like a dress rehearsal for generative models, right? If you think about the Axie experience, Alex is totally right, there were not that many AI apps at the time. And while I was dealing-- my job was to be the head of platform at Discord, which meant to be a general purpose place for communities and friends to create-- for developers to create apps and bots and, other services that could be deployed across Discord. And while 80% of the attention at the time was being spent on crypto, because that's where all the NFT volume was, there was, like, twenty percent of my time I was spending with a friend, who would get hotbot with me and ask me for. We would play Magic: The Gathering on weekends, and he was working on a little Discord bot that could take a text input and turn it into an image, and it was called Midjourney. YouSwyx [00:37:15]: Is that David?Alex Atallah [00:37:15]: It was David Holz.Alex Atallah [00:37:16]: He was a good friend. And David and I have both been failed ARVR founders, in the before that. And, I remember this. Midjourney was one of the fastest-growing communities we had after Axie Infinity started to peter off. And many of the, like, the abstractions and the infrastructure decisions we made to scale Axie happened just in time because they. Axie did this and then fell off a cliff. And then as Midjourney was taking off, we, like, explicitly decided to help David make the server, the Midjourney server, as the primary place for interaction with the model, because it was very hard for people to understand how to use the model if they couldn't see other people using it and copy them. And so the single-player Midjourney web app on its own, like midjourney.com, had, like, terrible retention because people would show up, they'd see this empty field. It's like E 2, and they would type in, like, cat or dog. And it was, like, paralyzing for them to have this blank canvas that they had to fill because they'd never used an AI model before. But instead, in a Discord server, you could see other people using it and riff off of their prompt, and the engagement was off the charts. And so scaling, Midjourney from zero to, like, 10 million monthly actives was a much smoother approach Axie Infinity. And so,Swyx [00:38:29]: Don't forget the best of four pictures, and you choose one.Alex Atallah [00:38:31]: The best, yeah, and then the other, weSwyx [00:38:32]: Which is the feedback loop.Alex Atallah [00:38:33]: The RLHF feedback loop, which, by the way, separately, like, Tom Brown, David and I used to play Magic: The Gathering on weekends. And so, like, it was one group of friends would hang out, and we'd. Like, these concepts were all being discussed all the time. But, there was.Alex Atallah [00:38:47]: I think there were few of us who bridged both the crypto worlds and the AI worlds. And compared to crypto, where it was - the question was always, what's the use case, for this technology? There was never any need to ask that for AI because it's, like, the use case was so visceral. It was like, I can create now anything at - I can imagine. I can write novels, I can code. And the infrastructure that those of us who believed in the distributed systems, like, value of crypto, like the censorship resistance part, found this use case that was explosive. And I think between Midjourney, the, Claude was a Discord bot launch, that we were using internally as an LLM. ElevenLabs had a TTS model that we had on Discord as well. Like, Discord became this petri dish for, like, early apps to innovate. And I don't think it's a coincidence that they found a home there before OpenRouter gave the world, like, a public home store or, like, a, storefront. Discord was this, like, almost petri dish storefront that - had, like, piggybacked on the infra we'd built for crypto communities. And then I think Alex was one of the first people to realize, wait a minute, like, these apps need their own home, on the internet. And then OpenRouter, to me, was a continuation of that community's needs. And of course, there was the crazy distribution that you enabled for a lot of these developers.Why OpenRouter Couldn't Just Live Inside DiscordSwyx [00:40:07]: So then my question is, how come you were. My perception is OpenRouter is not that Discord-centric, right? You have a Discord.Anjney Midha [00:40:14]: Yeah.Swyx [00:40:14]: And you use it to engage your community, but it's not like Midjourney where, like, no, that is like the primary way people experience OpenRouter.Anjney Midha [00:40:21]: Yeah, Midjourney, like, it really helps to see visually really quickly how people are using the model and how to prompt it.Swyx [00:40:29]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:40:29]: And I think that is partly why the server was so critical. It's like it is the user experience. It adds a ton.Swyx [00:40:36]: Yes.Anjney Midha [00:40:37]: And you can go the whole mile with just, like, prompting via Midjourney, like, the, via the Midjourney Discord server, getting your images and then sharing them and having fun. For OpenRouter, for LLMs, like, you need a lot of user experience around LLMs to make them, like, really usable.Swyx [00:40:54]: Charge point.Anjney Midha [00:40:55]: And yeah.Anjney Midha [00:40:57]: The, like, seeing the examples of other people is also not as useful because it's a lot of stuff to read. It takes a long time.Swyx [00:41:03]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:41:04]: You need, like, based integration. Not possible to do in a Discord server. You need, Or technic- it's possible. I shouldn't say that. It's just not a great developer experience. you need, like, - you need governance for. At the point where you got based integration, now you need governance for managing the LLMs that have access to it, the data policies, which teams. All that stuff needs a lot more than a Discord server can provide. So it's justSwyx [00:41:30]: YeahAnjney Midha [00:41:30]: It's not the right.Alex Atallah [00:41:32]: Well, in addition, you're not wrong, but also there's the very important distinction that, Midjourney was an end user application.Swyx [00:41:40]: Right.Alex Atallah [00:41:40]: And, that's why Discord, which has 250 million monthly end consumers, made, it made sense for Discord to be a host for that application experience. What I knew was gonna happen soon after Midjourney found explosive product-market fit, because we. I think when Midjourney launched, from launch to $100 million revenue run rate, it was less than eight months. And shortly thereafter, Stable Diffusion launched. And, all of us used to hang out in the Discord server. There, I think it was the,Swyx [00:42:13]: The Stability Discord?Alex Atallah [00:42:14]: It was theSwyx [00:42:16]: Yeah, LAION.Alex Atallah [00:42:16]: Yeah, the LAION Discord server.Swyx [00:42:17]: The image community that spawned Stable Diffusion.Alex Atallah [00:42:19]: The image community. Yeah. And so when Stable Diffusion came out, I realized- Oh, now other people can build their own Midjourney.Alex Atallah [00:42:27]: Because until then, Midjourney did not have an API, so they were a stack company, right? They were training their own models, and they were deploying them as an application. But if you wanted to build your own Midjourney, there was no API of that quality. and I think E two was still quite primitive. Like, Midjourney had great quality. And then when Stable Diffusion came out, suddenly there was this new person who - there was - this new capability in the world, which is a developer could create their own Midjourney. And that, I think, created the need for something like OpenRouter, because then you need an API to. If you - if you had the creativity of David Holz and you had Stable Diffusion as the model and you wanted to put these things together, how could you do that without having to figure out how to host the weights? And what OpenRouter, - the shape of OpenRouter enabled is that. Right? When you have open model alternatives to closed applications, OpenRouter's value in the world becomes extraordinary because now any developer can just show up and use theStable Diffusion and the Need for a Model API LayerSwyx [00:43:20]: You just love model diversity.Anjney Midha [00:43:21]: Did you just say the shape of OpenRouter?Alex Atallah [00:43:23]: Oh, no.Anjney Midha [00:43:25]: Were you in cloud? What is this the real Han?Alex Atallah [00:43:26]: I've been, I've been - I'm, I'm misaligned now. I've been overtrained. I've been using Cloud way too much, haven't I?Swyx [00:43:34]: Claude-ish is what people would say.Alex Atallah [00:43:35]: Claude-ish. Oh, God, I gotta untrain myself.Swyx [00:43:38]: Okay. - And I just wanna cap off the Mistral side. my TLDR is there was a Mistral price war, is what they called it, right? Like, round about NeurIPS is twenty-three or twenty-four.Mistral and the Birth of the Inference MarketplaceAnjney Midha [00:43:47]: Yes. DecemberSwyx [00:43:48]: They launched, the Mistral 8x7B, and like the price went down like 80%.Anjney Midha [00:43:54]: Yeah.Swyx [00:43:54]: To me, that's very positive because it's like the first, like, real competition to host Mistral. Is there more?Anjney Midha [00:44:01]: Yeah, that was. I'm, like, trying to remember it, all the things that happened. It. Like, we saw that model come out and immediately saw people say that it was the best model in the world.Alex Atallah [00:44:15]: Yes.Anjney Midha [00:44:15]: Like, this was, to my knowledge, the first time an open weights model was called that in real seriousness.Swyx [00:44:22]: It's hype, right? Is it?Anjney Midha [00:44:25]: It was hype. It was hype. It was also, like, hype from AI influencers at the time. And there were many examples where it was, like, outperforming four. So people really wanted to try it out and see, is this gonna be true for me too? And if so, at what price? And, the, like, inference landscape was really messy.Alex Atallah [00:44:49]: Yes.Anjney Midha [00:44:50]: We cleaned it up. - it allowed, like, providers to compete on price, so we could give you just the best price in one spot. And so it was, I think, the first clear example of, like, a provider marketplace working in a way that adds value to end developers.Alex Atallah [00:45:08]: Sean, you may not remember this, but I think we met for the first time a few days after Mistral came out at NeurIPSAnjney Midha [00:45:15]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:45:15]: At a luncheon.Swyx [00:45:16]: Yeah. That's where I also met BFL as well. Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:45:18]: And Guillaume was there.Swyx [00:45:19]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:45:19]: I was at NeurIPS at that time.Alex Atallah [00:45:20]: You were there too. And, we had just announced the Mistral investment, and I remember Guillaume was over there, and I remember turning to Guillaume and asking him, Like, “Is it is all the. Like, how are you feeling after the launch of Mistral and seven B?” And, him in his typical French fashion was like, “ it's a, it's an okay model. It's not that good.” And I was like. It was so, in contrast. But I remember him also saying that part of the reason he felt a lot of people Thought that it was better than four was because of the speed. - it was an MoE model that they had, like, absolutely figured out how to make super efficient. It was on the Pareto frontier. And this is an important thing about LLMs, right? Sometimes when they're faster, you think they're smarter, even though, like, if you did, N of, these common, like, evals that are - you do seven tries, and I don't remember. I think we should go back and figure out what the data says, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out, oh, on an N of seven attempts, four was smarter on evals, but the perception of on, like, or correctness would be smarter or more accurate. But, people, like, from a human preference perspective felt that it was faster because it - or smarter because it's so fast.Swyx [00:46:36]: Yeah. And most queries do not take that levelAlex Atallah [00:46:39]: Don't take that. That's true.Swyx [00:46:40]: Right? So this is the start of humans as routerAlex Atallah [00:46:42]: Yes.Swyx [00:46:42]: Which then eventually becomes OpenRouter as router of like theAlex Atallah [00:46:45]: Oh, that's interesting way to think about it. Yeah.Swyx [00:46:47]: Like, because humans are the routing mechanism. Like, I will ask the fast model first, and then if, like, oh, not good enough, I'm gonna upgrade manually.Alex Atallah [00:46:52]: Yes.Swyx [00:46:53]: But then he's gonna auto it.Alex Atallah [00:46:54]: I didn't, I hadn't thought of it that way, but that makes sense.Swyx [00:46:57]: Which then there's, there's a lot more techniques, like fusion. Fusion is the thing that we should talk about. Before I move on to those things, I just want to close off the early years. one thing that I observe, which you are also an investor in Arena.OpenRouter vs. LM ArenaAlex Atallah [00:47:10]: Right.Swyx [00:47:10]: And we talked about Midjourney having that feedback loop of, A, B, C, D, and choosing that very. being very important. And you understand the flywheel. So how come you didn't build Arena, and how come Arena didn't build OpenRouter?Anjney Midha [00:47:23]: Well, Arena started before OpenRouter, right?Swyx [00:47:27]: They had the school projectAnjney Midha [00:47:29]: Yeah, LMSwyx [00:47:29]: And then it became a company.Anjney Midha [00:47:31]: LM Arena, yeah.Swyx [00:47:32]: So, but, and I know you had some Arena experiences, like the up comparison type things.Anjney Midha [00:47:37]: Yeah.Swyx [00:47:37]: But you never really went as hard as Arena did.Swyx [00:47:40]: And,Anjney Midha [00:47:40]: In doing up experiences?Swyx [00:47:42]: Yes. And LM Arena did have a router project based on LM Arena ELOs, which they never commercialized.Anjney Midha [00:47:48]: It's hard to do a company that does both because one company is taking data and selling it, and the other company really can't by default. So, I think there is, like, a branding reason that there are two companies here. like, when you set up OpenRouter, there's no training, there are no prompts, right, aside from what your provider policy set. Like, OpenRou- like, OpenRouter can't see your prompts or completions. If you want to see that as an org, you have to opt into it and enable it. And so we're, like, pretty conservative and careful about data policy and security. And privacy. And LM Arena is like, their business model is like oriented around the labs and,Swyx [00:48:34]: Because they give it for free, right? You don't give it for free to give it for free.Anjney Midha [00:48:37]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:48:38]: But we do give some. We like have free endpoints too, but like those free endpoints, we, I think we're not collecting any prompts. We're not like monetizing the data unless you, opt into it for some reason.Alex Atallah [00:48:48]: This comparison. you're not the first person to ask me this, and Alex knows this, but I was the interim, like the founder, like first CEO of Arena for the first five months when, and we were helping Anastasios and Waylin spin out of Berkeley. And, I did invest in that before, OpenRouter, but it was very strange to me the comparisons that outside, folks would make between the two projects because the missions were completely different. The founding entity for Arena, we called it the AI Reliability Institute because it was there as an eval service. Like the data, so to speak, that they were originally, offering the labs was how do you make the evaluation of models more reliable than like the state of the art at the time, which was like really just finger in the wind.Alex Atallah [00:49:38]: That's what Anastasios and Waylin's PhD work was as scientists at Berkeley, was on statistical methodologies for correcting, eval estimates, based on like intrinsic biases and how you collected the data.Swyx [00:49:54]: Yes.Alex Atallah [00:49:54]: AndSwyx [00:49:54]: Style control.Alex Atallah [00:49:55]: Style control and stuff like that. And which is very much like a, hey, how. If you're a scientist and you're trying to. the highest expectation customer for Arena was always like a training and, like a researcher at a lab. Whereas the highest expectation customer from my perspective that Alex like really understood and was the mission was to serve was like a developer, right? Who then takes the result of the research and then produces an application that's deployed to the world. It was a completely different problem and person that these two teams were focused on. And so from the outside in. I don't know if you remember this, but I have a distinct memory of a few weeks before we did the term sheet, together for OpenRouter, I'd given you a call because we were trying to get a pooled data set together from OpenRouter and from Arena to, create like an open source repository of prompts. these projects were so different in their goals that it was totally normal to me to be like, “Oh, yeah, let's call Alex and see if he'd want to team up on pooling data,” because they're so different. We need. We don't have that data at all. We. Like, we didn't have API prompts. We didn't, we didn't have like what developers want to do with the models, which is very different from what researchers inside a model lab want to do before releasing the model.Swyx [00:51:15]: Yeah.Alex Atallah [00:51:15]: Does that make sense? And so to this day, I think you see that this difference, even though at a 30,000-foot level you could. I guess you could conclude that Arena and OpenRouter are adjacent, but, the roadmaps, the missions and so on at the time at least were like in very different directions.Swyx [00:51:36]: That ideal customer, I get. I totally get that.Alex Atallah [00:51:39]: Yes.Swyx [00:51:39]: As a founder, I want to own everything, right?Alex Atallah [00:51:41]: That's possible.Swyx [00:51:42]: Like this is clearly an adjacency that I'm like gonna explore that.Anjney Midha [00:51:45]: Own everything meaning like you don't know what to do yet, so you wanna like make sure you catch PMFocus, Anthropic, and Roads Not TakenAlex Atallah [00:51:51]: No, I think what heAnjney Midha [00:51:52]: As quickly as possible.Alex Atallah [00:51:53]: You want to own the entire infrastructure space, and so you expand to whatever demand you can capture.Swyx [00:51:58]: You want to have a play in each end.Alex Atallah [00:51:59]: Yeah, I think that's, that's hard, in reality, because serving multiple customers is difficult.Swyx [00:52:05]: Clearly, this is the one focus, right?Alex Atallah [00:52:08]: Yeah.Anjney Midha [00:52:08]: Yeah. I still think even in the age of AI, like focus is,Alex Atallah [00:52:12]: Is criticalAnjney Midha [00:52:13]: Underrated and critical, not just because you end up with a better product by focusing your humans on it, but also because the world knows what your focus is.Alex Atallah [00:52:22]: One thousand percent.Anjney Midha [00:52:23]: The world can map like, “Oh, I have this issue. Which brand out there is going to help me with that issue? This is the brand that's known for that focus.”Alex Atallah [00:52:31]: Yes.Anjney Midha [00:52:32]: So like if I want real attention on this issue, like this really matters to me, I should go with the brand that cares the most about it.Alex Atallah [00:52:39]: To underscore Alex's point about how important focus is, in the early days of Anthropic, it was not easy to. Like people think that the early days of Anthropic were like super easy because they were on their 3 guys who left, but it was very

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got his turn at the podium at the United Nations General Assembly. A blunt exchange between the Philippines and China over the south China sea is putting a spotlight on rising tensions between the two ...

A recent episode of Usap Tayo highlighted how AFL Philippines is successfully expanding Australian Rules Football across the country. - Sa Usap Tayo, tinalakay kung paano pinalalago ng AFL Philippines ang Australian Rules Football sa Pilipinas.#sbsaudiopodcast

"Companies want to know the real person, the human behind those applications." AI, technological innovation, and economic change are transforming the workplace—and creating new challenges and opportunities for professionals at every stage of their careers. So, what skills will be most valuable? Where are the growth opportunities? And how can you stay competitive in an evolving job market? In this special episode of Inside the GMAT, GMAC Deputy Editor Matt Kefford speaks with Sadia Cuthbert, Head of Cambridge Judge Careers at Cambridge Judge Business School, and Marcel Kalis, Director of the Career Development Center at ESMT Berlin, during the GMAC Virtual MBA + Master's Tour Europe. Together, they explore the trends shaping the future of work, including the impact of AI on hiring and established career paths, changes in the global job market, and the growing importance of skills like curiosity, communication, adaptability, and relationship-building. They also discuss where new opportunities may emerge, what candidates should understand about recruiting in Europe, and how business school students can make the most of career services, internships, company connections, and other experiences beyond the classroom. Plus, Sadia and Marcel share practical advice you can put into action now as you prepare for whatever comes next in your career. This special episode is brought to you by Cambridge Judge Business School and ESMT Berlin. About Our Guests: Sadia Cuthbert is Director of Careers at Cambridge Judge Business School, where she leads a dedicated team delivering a comprehensive programme of career development, skills training, and recruitment opportunities for experienced postgraduate students across the MBA, Executive MBA, and MFin programmes. Sadia began her career as an impact consultant working across South Asia, Mexico, and the Philippines, before transitioning into equity markets research at Bear Stearns and subsequently into equity sales. She spent 12 years in the City, London as an equity stockbroker specialising in emerging markets, at HSBC and Merrill Lynch. Deeply passionate about economics, development, and finance, Sadia brings a rare combination of frontline commercial experience and a genuine commitment to social impact to her work at Cambridge Judge. She is an active mentor and former board member of the Centre for Global Equality, an organisation focused on inclusive innovation. Sadia holds a Masters in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Sussex. Marcel Kalis is Director of the Career Development Center at ESMT Berlin, where he has led career services since 2006. He built the function from the ground up and designs and maintains career-development programming for Full-time, Part-time, Global Online, MSc, and Executive MBA students. His work spans career coaching, job-search strategy, skills-development teaching, and the selection of speakers, lecturers, and coaches. Marcel develops networking opportunities that connect students with corporate partners through workshops, company visits, and events, while building relationships with ESMT founding companies, startups, NGOs, and other external partners. Matt Kefford is Deputy Editor for GMAC.com, responsible for writing, editing, and producing multimedia content as well as driving content strategy for the website. A business education journalist for 5+ years, he regularly features as a judge on education industry awards and speaks at industry events. Previously, Matt has written and produced content for national news organizations including The Sunday Times, i News, and Sky News, as well as a number of regional titles. Matt has a B.A. in History from the University of Leeds and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Sheffield. He is also a gold standard accredited journalist with the National Council for the Training of Journalists. Helpful Resources: Cambridge Judge Business School: https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/ ESMT Berlin: https://esmt.berlin/ GMAC Tours: https://www.mba.com/connect-with-schools/gmac-tours Key Takeaways: AI, technological innovation, and economic change are reshaping careers. Candidates need to be prepared for established roles and industries to evolve rather than assuming traditional career paths will remain unchanged. Growth often follows change. Areas including technology, energy, health, mobility, cybersecurity, and emerging businesses may create new opportunities as organizations respond to new challenges. Human skills remain critical. Curiosity, communication, adaptability, problem-solving, and the ability to connect with people can help candidates stand out in an increasingly AI-enabled hiring environment. Staying competitive requires being proactive. Networking, learning about industries firsthand, exploring unfamiliar companies, and building relationships can be as important as submitting applications. Business school is more than the classroom. Internships, company visits, experiential projects, exchanges, career services, and peer networks can help students develop the skills and exposure they need to navigate what comes next. Chapters: 01:14 Overview of the GMAC Virtual MBA and Masters Tour 03:17 Key Factors Shaping the Business World Today 05:29 Major Trends and Developments in the Changing World 08:09 Current Job Market and Opportunities 10:11 Challenges and Misconceptions in the Job Market 12:09 The Role of Networking and Personal Branding 18:15 Future Industry Sectors and Long-Term Opportunities 19:14 Predictions for the Next 5 to 10 Years 23:39 Practical Steps to Enhance Career Prospects 28:44 Final Advice for Building a Future-Ready Career

We crack open an all-missionary mailbag with letters from the Philippines, Cincinnati, and beyond. Then the big question: was Cincinnati really cursed by Joseph Smith? We dig into D&C 61, trace how "well nigh ripened for destruction" shifted across the manuscript versions, and follow Orson F. Whitney's later meetinghouse dedication, settling the folklore with actual sources (plus a spirited defense of five-way chili).    A tender Yom Kippur reflection on grace we don't deserve gives way to the 1831 Lockport Balance's "Gold Bible" hit piece, where an over/under on "Joe" mentions reveals how casually, and confidently, falsehoods get printed.   Broadcasting from Medellín, Pablo Escobar's 200 feral hippos and all   If you are interested in joining us in 2027 in Palmyra and Kirtland, August 1st through August 7th, click on the link below and reserve your spot: https://pci.jotform.com/form/261567888174171   Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ ⁠⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠⁠ (https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com/)   If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠⁠questions@standardoftruthpodcast.com

Pay attention to the little temptations before they grow, because listening to that gentle nudge today can save you from a massive heartbreak tomorrow. #FULLTANKwithBroBo​ #FULLTANKwithBroBo2026​ #BoSanchez​ #ListenToYourConscience​ #SmallCompromises​ #FaithInAction​ #SpiritualMaturity​ #TrulyRichMindset​ #GuardYourHeart​ #Grace​---P.S. If you're looking for a rosary that can deepen your prayer life, I highly recommend Rosayo. Each hand-carved olive wood rosary is baptized in the Jordan River, and every purchase helps support orphans in the Philippines. Visit ro-sayo.shop and use my code BrotherBo to enjoy 15% OFF your order.To support my mission work, click this link now! http://BuyMeACoffee.com/brotherbosanchez

Jared and Steven totally have an idol and they are totaling going to play it this time they swear.

If your best marketing people feel like they're doing the work of three, is that a workload problem or a structure problem?Agility isn't just moving faster. It's being able to change how your team is built, repeatedly, without the work coming apart in the process.Today we're talking about the architecture of the marketing team itself. Budget pressure, a tight talent market, and rising expectations for output have a lot of leaders asking people to do more inside a structure that was designed for a different set of demands. We'll get into:- What actually belongs on the core team — and what doesn't.- How to bring in outside talent without the brand behaving differently depending on who's doing the work.- What to measure when the team is no longer all in one place, or all human.To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Pranav Dalal, CEO & Founder at Office Beacon.About Pranav DalalMeet Pranav Dalal, a Harvard Business School alumnus with decades of global business experience. A visionary entrepreneur, Pranav has successfully scaled companies from small teams to operations with thousands of employees. A published writer in prestigious publications like Forbes and Entrepreneur.com, he has been honored with the Vistage Business Impact Award and is a Member of The Forbes Business Council. As Chairman and CEO of Office Beacon, Pranav leads the company to new heights, expanding its presence across the USA, India, the Philippines, Mexico, and South Africa, with even greater growth on the horizon.Pranav Dalal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranavdalal/---------- Resources ----------Office Beacon: https://www.officebeacon.com/The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703The hardest part of martech right now is telling which tools are actually earning their keep. That's the question running through the MarTech Summit Boston agenda on October 27. We're attending MarTech Summit Boston on October 27 as a media partner. If you want to join, the code AGILE15 saves you 15%. https://aglbrnd.co/r/c70c250b8d52dff3We're proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658Need to evaluate martech, AI, or CX platforms and don't know where to start? The Agile Brand Guide List is now in beta. We're building the most useful, free-to-use, and up-to-date way to assess what truly matters when evaluating platforms. See more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/f76be3a33cc491bbReach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/491818c79fb1873fChaser is the only Slack-native project management platform that helps teams turn messages into tracked tasks, automate follow-ups, and maintain team-wide visibility, without adopting another tool. Now integrated with Claude and other GenAI tools. Learn more at trychaser.com and use code AGILEBRAND for a 3-month free trial (normal trial is 14 days).Start building your own apps with Replit and get $20 off. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/93531742a7625a20Enjoyed the show? Tell us more and give us a rating so others can find the show: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter, and check out Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716baThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content: https://aglbrnd.co/r/f1782ab12211f765 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TALK TO ME NICE THURSDAY Sometimes we go out and have a good time with our friends... Sometimes it is more fun than intended which can lead to impulsive decisions in the form of purchases, such as an ALPACA when really you thought it was a jacket... The Speights Men's Den - A place where EVERYONE is welcome, where we do our part in helping mates, be better mates!... Today's Speights Men's Den we receive a message from a Shifter that calls Philippines, their home... Robert Pattinson, CALLING ROBERT PATTINSON AKA BATMAN!... Jordan has a bone to pick with you CHAMP!... POWERED BY THE PEOPLES MEDIA CO. Hit that link below to stay caught up with anything and everything TMS. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.facebook.com/groups/3394787437503676/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you to the team at Chemist Warehouse for helping us keep the lights on, here at The Morning Shift... ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.chemistwarehouse.co.nz/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 00:00 - INTRO 02:40 - CHECK IN (ROBERT PATTINSON LISTEN UP!) 12:43 - DAILY BREAD 22:10 - VUA (YOUR CRAZIEST 'HORSEY' PURCHASHES) 40:54 - FOOT LOCKER FRIDAY - HOW TO WIN! 41:48 - SPEIGHTS MEN'S DEN 47:33 - OUTRO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tammy Eagle Bowling was 41, healthy, and diagnosed out of nowhere after a routine mammogram caught what blood work and a clean physical missed. She'd never even heard the word metastatic before a scan of her liver changed her diagnosis and her life in one phone call. Eleven years later, she's still here, raising her daughters, and channeling everything she's learned into Light Up MBC, the campaign she now runs that lights up landmarks around the world every October 13th in pink, teal, and green.In this conversation, Tammy walks us through her diagnosis story, the drug she started on when it was brand new to the market, and how she turned her own advocacy into a global campaign that's raised over $2.7 million for metastatic breast cancer research through MetaVIVOR. We talk about why so little research funding goes to stage four disease, what it's like watching landmarks from the Philippines to Aruba light up in solidarity, and how she developed the EAGLE method to help herself and others build resilience.Follow Tammy: @eaglemethodLight Up MBCWatch live on October 13th, find a landmark near you, or start a team:https://lightupmbc.orghttps://lightupmbc.metaviver.orgFollow the campaign: @lightupmbcHeather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.Join the There's No Cancer In This Book Club:https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheresNoCancerInThisBookClubDigital Guideshttps://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/Support the PodcastIf this podcast has helped you, consider supporting it here — every bit is appreciated:https://ko-fi.com/heatherjoseSensational Survivor SeriesIf you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87Listener QuestionsHave a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:https://heatherjose.comConnect with HeatherInstagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjoseWebsite: https://heatherjose.comMusicIntro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

Market HighlightsEU steel imports: new ‘melt and pour' evidence requirements from 1 October 2026Canada says Philippines, ASEAN trade talks 90% complete, eyes November finishContainer Shipping Returns to Suez Despite Rising Red Sea RisksAsia-US container rates soar past $11,000, near pandemic records - FreightWavesChinese port investment: growth meets EU security scrutiny | trans.infoWeekly Air Cargo Trends – September 7 to 13, 2026U.S. emissions rollback on Boeing 777 freighter helps air logistics - FreightWavesRecord-low Rhine levels choke barge traffic, stress ground transport - FreightWavesOne Hour Less Port Waiting Could Unlock 400 Million Euros | trans.infoArticles of InterestShipping's New Normal: Slower Trade, Higher Costs, Bigger ProfitsChinese port investment: growth meets EU security scrutiny | trans.infoReturn to Suez routing reduces India-Savannah transit timesPIL expands Intra-Asia network with two new services linking China, Indonesia and MalaysiaXeneta weekly ocean container shipping market update September 18, 2026One in Ten Inspected Cargo Units Found With Safety DeficienciesBenchmark diesel sets new record; futures signaling relief? - FreightWavesGermany becomes hub for Europe's hydrogen truck rollout | trans.infoEventsSept. 22 – U.S. Customs Market UpdateOct. 1 - Denied Party Screening: Preparing for Whatever Comes NextOct.8 - Incoterms 2020 Essentials: Managing Risk, Cost, and ComplianceExpeditors Securities and Exchange Commission Filings

Standard Chartered, Citigroup and other international banks have handled billions of dollars from a Kremlin-backed fintech company that tricked its way into the global financial system, and Polymarket is lobbying to win over European financial watchdogs. Plus, Germany's election might impact the EU's budget.Mentioned in this podcast:Kremlin-backed forgery scheme moved $6.9bn through global banksPolymarket starts European lobbying blitz to win over financial watchdogsMerz's woes cast doubt over EU's €2tn budget Philippines' ube export ban threatens end of purple patchWant to get in touch? Email us at podcasts@ft.comNote: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts The FT News Briefing is produced by Sonja Hutson, Saffeya Ahmed, Katya Kumkova, and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Our editor is Marc Filippino. Our show is mixed by Sam Giovinco and Kelly Garry. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann, Michael Lello, Peter Barber and David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Flo Phillips is the FT's global head of audio. The show's theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3 Takeaways from my conversation with Chris McShanag, CEO of Virtual Teammate: 1. Every org chart needs a VA today. Stop paying $100/hour talent to do $10/hour work. Free them up to do higher value work. 2. Clarity drives results — not geography. A VA in the Philippines or Latin America performs when expectations and outcomes are crystal clear. That's a leadership issue, not a location issue. 3. Start with one. Scale from there. Most clients add a VA once they see it work. Begin where the pain is greatest. --- Chris McShanag has helped more than 2,500 talented virtual professionals find their  place in organizations worldwide, supporting over 600 clients along the way. His mission is simple but bold: to reshape the virtual assistant industry by creating an experience that feels seamless, supportive, and genuinely valuable for both clients and assistants. Chris is passionate about building real partnerships. As he puts it, "The future of healthcare and business is virtual, scalable, and limitless." His drive to help clients succeed and streamline operations is setting fresh standards in the world of virtual staffing. Connect with Jon Dwoskin: Twitter: @jdwoskin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.dwoskin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejondwoskinexperience/ Website: https://jondwoskin.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondwoskin/ Email: jon@jondwoskin.com Get Jon's Book: The Think Big Movement: Grow your business big. Very Big! Connect with Chris McShanag: Website: www.virtualteammate.com  Instagram: www.instagram.com/virtual_teammate  LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/virtualteammate  Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560282482628    *E - explicit language may be used in this podcast.

What does it really take to go from selling your first car at 19 years old to leading an entire dealership as General Manager? In this episode of the Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast, Sean V. Bradley sits down with John Landosca, the new General Manager of Patriot Chevrolet in Warminster, Pennsylvania, for a powerful conversation about leadership, growth, culture, and what it takes to succeed in an automotive industry that never stops changing. "I teach everybody in my store, everybody. You treat my detailer with the same respect you treat me because if you can't respect him, you don't respect me." - John Landosca  John opens up about his journey through the business, the lessons that shaped his leadership style, and why respect has become one of the most important foundations of his approach to both employees and customers. "I speak to every employee in my store every day. Training's paramount." - John Landosca The conversation also dives into the realities of running a modern dealership, including evolving customer expectations, the growing role of technology and AI, the need for continuous training, and why strong mentorship can completely change the trajectory of an automotive career. "Capture them. Once you capture and earn, the business is easy." - John Landosca This episode goes beyond titles and promotions. It is about becoming the kind of leader people want to follow, building a dealership culture that people want to be part of, and staying adaptable enough to keep winning as the industry changes around you. If you are a salesperson who wants to move into management, a manager working toward the GM seat, or a dealership leader focused on building a stronger team and culture, this is a conversation you do not want to miss.   Key Takeaways: ✅ Respect and Culture: Success in a dealership heavily relies on fostering a culture of mutual respect and collaboration among team members and with customers. ✅ Continuous Development: Ongoing training and development are pivotal. Dealerships must adapt their strategies to incorporate the latest technology, including AI, to stay competitive. ✅ Customer-Centric Approach: The emphasis should always be on transparency and customer service to earn long-term loyalty and repeat business. ✅ Mentorship's Impact: Having the right mentor can significantly influence a professional's trajectory, enabling them to grow into leadership roles and impart wisdom to others. ✅ Evolving Industry: Automotive sales are undergoing rapid changes, requiring a fresh approach to customer interaction, marketing, and sales process management.   About John Landosca John Landosca, a veteran in the automotive industry, has spent nearly 30 years honing his skills from the ground up. Starting in the business at just 19, John quickly became known as a sales powerhouse, once selling over 40 cars in a month and making six figures in his first year. As the new General Manager at Patriot Chevrolet in Warminster, Pennsylvania, John continues to leverage his extensive experience to foster growth and leadership within his team. Known for his focus on respect, collaboration, and development, John has a reputation for transforming dealerships into successful, customer-centric operations.     Unlocking Automotive Sales Success: Insights from a Master Car Salesman The automotive industry is in a constant state of flux. As technology evolves and consumer expectations shift, dealerships need to adapt to maintain their edge. In this enlightening discussion, Sean V. Bradley, a renowned figure in automotive sales, and John Landosca, a seasoned general manager with nearly three decades in the industry, unravel the secrets to succeeding in this competitive field. Their insights offer a roadmap for developing people, refining processes, and harnessing technology to foster exceptional dealership performance. Key Takeaways Respect and culture drive success: A dealership's success hinges on respect and a cohesive culture that starts from the top down. Training is an ongoing necessity: Continuous training and professional development are crucial for evolving in the fast-paced automotive landscape. Adaptability to technological advances is vital: Keeping up with digital transformations and AI can significantly enhance customer engagement and sales outcomes. Developing a Winning Culture: Respect as the Cornerstone In the automotive sales world, creating a culture where every team member is valued is paramount. As John Landosca puts it, "You treat my detailer with the same respect you treat me." This ethos underscores the importance of respect in crafting a thriving work environment that extends its benefits to the customer experience. John emphasizes that a productive sales environment starts with mutual respect among employees, which then translates into respectful and attentive customer service. John's philosophy emanates from his background and the diverse cultural exposure he had: "If I was at my friend's house, didn't matter the culture, I respected it and learned from it." He advocates for a corporate culture that values everyone's contribution, ensuring that both employees and customers feel acknowledged and respected. Establishing this kind of culture helps in achieving long-term employee satisfaction and sustainable dealership success. Commitment to Continuous Training: The Foundation for Excellence Success in the automotive industry parallels preparation, particularly in training and development. As Landosca notes, training is not a one-time event but a continuous journey: "Training is not something you did, it's something you do." The phrase underscores the necessity of regular training sessions that keep employees updated with the latest industry practices and technological advances. Incorporating AI and role-playing tools into training regimes has changed the game. Sean highlights the significance of role-playing, sharing a case study where four outsourced BDC agents in the Philippines sold 78 units by utilizing AI role-playing tools. The strategy focused on practicing communication skills before engaging with actual clients, which is pivotal in mastering customer interactions and increasing sales conversions. As the dealership landscape changes with digital transformations, the ability to adapt, learn, and apply new skills remains an indispensable asset. Embracing Technological Transformation: The Role of AI and Digital Tools The advancement of technology, particularly AI, has redefined customer interaction protocols and lead management in car dealerships. Today's customers demand seamless, efficient, and informative interactions, and technology can be a powerful enabler in meeting these expectations. Sean discusses how AI tools can simulate real-life sales scenarios, offering an innovative way to train salespeople to handle customer queries effectively. Sean shares an example of how these tools are being incorporated at a high level: "The AI role-playing… it takes the fear out of the person, embarrassment, even myself. They're not embarrassing; they get, you know, no one's around. It's just a computer." The integration of such tools can not only enhance employee skills but also streamline customer interactions, making the sales process more efficient and personalized. The discourse on technological integration doesn't stop at AI. By utilizing CRM effectively, dealerships can keep track of customer preferences, streamline sales processes, and provide tailored services. The technology and strategies that once seemed pioneering are now becoming industry standards. Thus, embracing these digital transformations isn't just beneficial—it's essential for survival and growth in the automotive industry. Bridging Respect, Training, and Technology for Revolutionary Retail In their conversation, Sean V. Bradley and John Landosca exemplify what it takes to succeed in the ever-evolving automotive industry: cultivating respect within the dealership, committing to continuous training, and embracing technology. Together, these elements create a foundation for outstanding customer service and thriving sales performance. As John reflects on his journey, he underscores the importance of evolving constantly and seeking mentorship, which has led to his success and the success of those he's mentored. The trio of respect, continuous training, and embracing technological innovation forms the cornerstone of a thriving automotive dealership. Together, they empower sales teams to generate leads, delight customers, and ensure long-term profitability. Though the automotive landscape may be challenging, those willing to integrate these allies into their strategic playbook are primed not just to survive, but to excel.     Resources + Our Proud Sponsors: ➼ Podium: The AI Platform Powering the Modern Dealership. From instant lead response to seamless test drive scheduling, Podium's AI Employee Jerry works 24/7 to turn every lead into a conversion, so your team can focus on closing. Trusted by thousands of dealerships nationwide and proudly featured on the Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast. Learn how Podium can help you sell more cars, book more service appointments, and grow your dealership. Discover how Podium's innovative AI technology can unlock unparalleled efficiency and drive your dealership's sales to new heights. Visit www.podium.com/mcs to learn more!   ➼ The Millionaire Car Salesman Facebook Group: Join the #1 Automotive Sales Mastermind Facebook Group with over 29,000 automotive professionals worldwide. The Millionaire Car Salesman Facebook Group is the go-to community for car salespeople, BDC agents, sales managers, general managers, and dealer principals looking to increase performance, income, and leadership skills. Inside the group, members collaborate daily on automotive sales strategies, lead handling, phone scripts, closing techniques, CRM best practices, dealership leadership, and accountability systems. Learn directly from top automotive trainers, industry mentors, and high-performing sales leaders who are actively winning in today's market. If you're serious about growing your automotive career, increasing car sales, and building long-term success, join The Millionaire Car Salesman Facebook Group today!   ➼ Dealer Synergy: Dealer Synergy is the automotive industry's #1 Sales Training, Consulting, and Accountability Firm, with over 20 years of proven dealership success nationwide. We specialize in helping car dealerships increase sales, improve processes, and build high-performing Sales, Internet, and BDC departments from the ground up. Our expertise includes automotive phone scripts, rebuttals, CRM action plans, lead handling strategies, BDC workflows, Internet sales processes, management training, and accountability systems. Dealer Synergy partners directly with dealership leadership to align people, process, and technology, ensuring consistent results and scalable growth. From independent dealers to large dealer groups and OEM partnerships, Dealer Synergy delivers measurable performance improvements, stronger teams, and sustainable profitability.   ➼ Bradley On Demand: Bradley On Demand is the automotive industry's most advanced interactive training, tracking, testing, and certification platform for car dealerships — built to develop top-performing teams across Sales, Internet Sales, BDC, CRM, Phone Skills, Leadership, and Management. In addition to LIVE virtual automotive training classes and a library of 9,000+ on-demand dealership training modules, Bradley On Demand now includes AI Phone Roleplaying and Coaching to help salespeople and BDC agents practice real dealership conversations before they ever get on the phone with customers. This AI-powered roleplay technology strengthens phone scripts, objection handling, appointment setting, lead follow-up, and closing skills, while providing measurable coaching feedback for continuous improvement. Bradley On Demand empowers dealerships to train faster, coach smarter, improve call performance, increase closing ratios, and sell more cars more profitably — all through structured, trackable, modern automotive training.

Learn about backdoor diplomacy, pink imperialism, colonial history & why slower travel can create deeper connections. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Ross OC Jennings tells the story of meeting his husband Travis and building a relationship centered around a life of travel. He reflects on living in Guatemala and the Philippines, navigating countries where homosexuality is criminalized, and the complex dynamics of queer travel across different cultural contexts. Ross also shares why Mozambique holds a special place in his heart, what playing the bagpipes around the world taught him about colonial history and cultural exchange, and how returning to Shanghai nearly 30 years after moving there as a child affected his understanding of identity and home. He then talks about his show So Where's It From? And, finally, he reflects the responsibility travel content creators have when telling other people's stories, the limitations of country counting and achievement-oriented travel, and why slowing down has ultimately led to deeper connections and more meaningful experiences around the world. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU See my Top 10 Travel Apps See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that's not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

Have you ever tried to make a recipe you found online, but it's…weird? Written by two siblings, Arabella and Emmet from the Philippines.