Stealing From Banks, Underwater Mailboxes, and a Millionaire for 5 Months

Pryor Week #16

No glimpse-story into my life this week, but I promise the stuff I’m sharing is worth the read.

Also, we’re at 1017 free subscribers now (and 5 awesome paid peeps), which is pretty fantastic. Thanks again!

Some Cool Things I Learned This Week:

#1. To Be Rich for a Day (or 150)

Dan Saunders, just a regular upside-down guy in Aussieland, stumbled into an awesome (depending on your perspective) ATM glitch while out on the town one night in 2011.

For the next five months, he exploits the glitch to the astounding tune of $1.6 million AUD (Around USD 1.5 million adj. for inflation).

How?

By transferring money between his credit and savings accounts between 1 am and 3 am when the ATMs went offline. This sneaky trick essentially created money and fooled the system (and me—I still don’t get it).

Dan splurged on extravagant parties, private jets, and even paid his friends' university fees. But eventually, his conscience got the better of him, and he turned himself in.

After facing the court, pleading guilty, and serving a year behind bars, Dan was released with an 18-month community order. The whole experience left him anxious and guilt-ridden, but taught him a valuable lesson about temptation and losing oneself.

These days, Dan works as a bartender making $22 an hour—which is like, 20,000 blog articles worth.

#2.Are Geniuses All Crazy, or Us?

Ever heard of the the old turn of phrase, “Mo Brainy, Mo Problems?”

Probably not, cuz’ I just made it up. But I’m guessing you get the point; that the uber-smart are often associated with going crazy in one way or another.

The "Mensa Fallacy" is an interesting idea. I came across it in a story by

Emil O. W. Kirkegaard

.

Older studies said that people with really high IQs had trouble with their emotions, everyday tasks, or being motivated. But newer studies show this isn't true.

The older studies might have been wrong because they got their smart people from a group called Mensa. But the smartest people in Mensa might not be the best examples of smart people overall. The healthiest and most ambitious smart people are probably busy doing amazing things at universities, startups, or making bank at banks and stock street. And—as the theory goes—those who join Mensa might be more likely to have the mentioned issues.

So, if a study says that smart people have problems and they only looked at people from Mensa (which seems like a huge number of them), we should be careful about believing it applies to all geniuses.

#3. American Chocolate Doesn’t Sweeten Foreign Palates

Did you know there's a big difference between American chocolate and its European counterpart? As in, lots of Europeans think American chocolate tastes off.

Some people think it's because of a funky little chemical called butyric acid, which is found in parmesan cheese and—of all things—vomit! Tasty, right? The process behind this is controlled lipolysis, which breaks down fatty acids in milk.

And that’s what a lot of people think Hershey’s is using in their chocolate process (aside from the child labor) in their American version, but to their defense, they have never publicly responded to the idea.

But wait—there's more! Because unfettered capitalism means less regulation, of course.

American chocolate is super sweet and low on cocoa, while British choco is milkier and requires more cocoa solids. So, if you're tired of tangy taste-bud adventures, maybe give Belgian, Swiss, or UK chocolate a whirl (just make sure it’s not made in America).

#4. Nadia Nadim

Nadia Nadim is an impressive Afghan-born professional footballer and physician. After her father's tragic death at the hands of the Taliban, she fled to Denmark with her family. Her football career took off, playing for clubs like Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Denmark's national team.

Nadia's accomplishments include speaking nine languages, becoming a surgeon, and ranking 20th on Forbes' "Most Powerful Women in International Sports" in 2018.

But just like mostly everyone we could look up to, she has blemishes. She's faced criticism for endorsing Qatar and inaccurately denying payment. This led to her removal as a goodwill ambassador for the Danish Refugee Council.

Still, what a crazy origin story. Plus, 9 languages? Do that many even exist. Sheesh.

#5. Underwater Mailboxes

The small Japanese town of Susami had a creative idea to attract more tourists — a mailbox located 30 feet underwater. Postmaster Toshihiko Matsumoto came up with a plan that requires waterproof cards and oil-based pens to write a message before diving down to the ocean floor and placing it in the mailbox.

Dive shop owner Hiroaki Yamatani has collected and delivered almost 38,000 letters that have been sent to date. The idea became a successful tourist attraction, with visitors wearing wetsuits to take the plunge and send snail mail (or is it es-card-go? Eelmail? Is it free squidleivery? I’m so sorry.) from underwater.

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This message has been brought to you by J.J. Pryor.

Have any cool finds you want to share? Let me know in the comments and I’ll check them out!

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