Gift Ideas

Clothing

• This is high risk but I've done a brain dump on what I like and don't like here

Electronics

• One thing I never seem to run out of is charger plugs like this one which are A) Super small, B) From a reliable brand, C) 65w or higher, and D) Have 2 usb-c outlets. I don't like the ones that work in every country because they're so clunky, so I tend to just have each of the 3 different plug type - EU, IE, and US. The EU one is usually best to have multiple of - I only really need one of each of the other types.

Other

Resintek "Liquid Wax": I found this in the Philippines and it's by far the best hair product I've used. I used to buy it on Amazon NL but it looks like they stopped selling it, and I also checked a half dozen online stores where it's also out of stock, so we may need to go the international route. Seb man has other products but it's this one specifically - in the pointy applicator bottle, that I'm looking for

• Link One

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Today's issue related to Revolut.

• Receive email - "You need to update your info to keep using the service"

• Click through, scan qr code, open the app.

• Brings me to a UI to add my details. Looks like it's for the trading account specifically.

• The only unfilled field is Nationality.

• Click in, select Ireland, go back to main screen.

• But the main screen still hasn't updated, and still shows "Add Nationality"

• Repeat this 4 or 5 times - doesn't work

• Now I have to spend time reaching out to live chat, explaining the issue, because of a bug they have. And if I don't do that they threaten to shut down my account 🤦‍♂️

Went out earlier with the intention of getting a few things fixed, but didn't manage to get any of them done. Still to do

• Put air in the tires

• Get the gas & heating working

• Get covers for the windows

The Van Cheat Sheet

Gas

• There's a huge red gas canister below the van on the driver side. There is some way to turn the gas on or off from that canister itself - you have to lie down on the outside of the van.

• In addition to that, there are three knobs under the sink that control the flow of gas. I believe one of them is for the fridge, the other is for the hob, and the other is for the heating.

Hospital experience today was a reminder of why I love Amsterdam. It was a 5 minute drive, everyone we dealt with was competent, thorough, and good at communicating - it's remarkable how consistent this is across the Dutch population. The queue in front of us was 3 people, maybe a 20 minute wait, less for the second appointment. Just an all-round painless experience.

The Extinction Scenario

This is more of a brain dump of random strands of thought than an article-that-makes-a-point.

Premise: There's a lot of talk of "AI doom" - a scenario where an AI is created, that wipes out humans, either through malevolence or by-accident-when-given-a-goal.

Background Ideas

The Destruction Equation

Humans are pretty well distributed around the planet. In any scenario where all humans get wiped out, there are three things that would be needed.

• The word "Bomb" in this diagram is can be taken to mean "anything that can wipe out all humans". Currently in this category we have state owned nuclear arsenal and advanced bioweapons.

• Accessibility of the trigger: How easy is it for someone to access, for example a bioweapon or a state's nuclear codes.

• Forcefulness of the human: How much will does the person have to follow through. If the trigger is accessible enough, all it would take is someone having a bad day. If the trigger is extremely protected, it would take enormous effort, organization and co-ordination to access it.

If the question is whether an AI can trigger this, we can replace "Human" with "Agent", which in this case means an entity with agency and intelligence.

The Forcefulness Equation

Zooming in further on the left side, in order for an entity to successfully trigger catastrophe, they would need to

• Reach a conclusion that they should trigger it (likely with some underpinning theory of why).

• Figure out how they could trigger it

• Remain in an observe-narrate-act loop for long enough to undertake all of the actions required (avoid being "shut off")

A model is not an ego-centric brain

How Easy Is It To Destroy all of Humanity?

This is an exploration of the likelihood of AI extincting humans and an add-on to this article: The Extinction Scenario

Streams this week

• 24 Tax return: Ieke responded about the updated return with the overseas holding companies included. Return now submitted

• 24 Irish Returns: Got docs signed & Emma submitted both Fuse & Tonic returns to CRO.

Week 48

Monday: Got response on our offer for Prinsengracht & it was a rejection. Super bummed out. Called them - they chose another family because of both offer amount and their profile. Learning: next time bid higher & include a letter.

Tuesday: Viewed place beside Volkshotel - lovely with high ceilings but not enough rooms. Told the agent we were looking and he said he'd send on another place near Vondelpark that's not on market yet & is much bigger

Revolut Business

Revolut business account for Fuse Holdings

• The UI keeps asking us to re-submit the list of owners. We do that, then it updates saying our account is still restricted, with an undecipherable message. There's no way to speak to someone on the phone, and their minimum upgrade price is 750.

• Their live chat is hidden behind several layers of help. When you get there, they put you on to someone with a 10 minute wait time. This person is actually helpful this time, and says they can't see the document I uploaded last week. I re-upload the document. They say it should be solved in a few hours.

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Irish Dividend Saga - Government Side (Ireland & Holland)

Background: I realize with my Dutch setup, it's more tax beneficial to pay myself a dividend from my Irish company directly to myself in the Netherlands. So I attempt to change how I'm doing things.

Up Front Work

In order to prevent the Irish government from taking 25% of the payment, I have to submit a document that proves I pay tax in the Netherlands. This has to be a specific document I can only get from the Dutch government. I reach out to the Dutch government & they tell me it will take months to get the document.

Then, for each dividend payment

Irish Dividend Saga - Tax Firm Side

Background: I realize with my Dutch setup, it's more tax beneficial to pay myself a dividend from my Irish company directly to myself in the Netherlands. So I attempt to change how I'm doing things.

I tell my Irish tax advisor in an email. They ask to set up a call with one of their team. We do call number one & I explain the situation but seems like a complete waste of time. She sets up another call with the firm owner & obviously gives him some context - he comes in briefed. On call 2, he mocks me for believing there could be such a tax advantage. "Was your friend drunk when he told you this?", "I hear you think there's some all-you-can-eat tax buffet", "Don't believe everything you read on ChatGPT" - direct quotes from my meeting notes.

I'm stubborn so I continue digging and find out that I was right - the tax advantage does exist. I email the tax company and they completely gloss over their original advice, don't apologize etc

To prepare the dividend is somewhat messy because I have a hold-co structure with investors. So i have to email each of them, get them to sign a document and give me their bank account details. I ask the firm to help me with that email/admin because I'm not sure what the documents are and why they're needed - they decline to help with the email.

At some point we have a discussion on the financials & how the dividend works out versus paying myself through Dutch payroll. We are already paying this tax firm 8,000 per year for 2 entities, one of which has zero activity. I assume that them helping with my dividend is part of what I'm paying for. If it's not, when we're discussing the numbers I assume that if there's costs on their side, they'll mention them, as it's clearly material to whether the dividend makes sense financially. At no point do they mention any additional costs.

3 weeks later they send me an un-itemized invoice for 4,350. They seem to have included the calls that they asked for, including the one where they mocked me. I ask them to please tell me about costs up front next time - they don't acknowledge that email.

To be fair - the firm are detail oriented with the paperwork and making sure the regulatory boxes are checked. But the actual work required here is, from what I can tell - creating word documents for each dividend. Their fee for doing this is €4,350 for the initial work, and then €1,500 for every single dividend payment.

My Take: I shouldn't need an external firm to simply help me to pay myself a dividend in the first place. This should be part of a simple software tool given to business owners by the government. We should be able to see our shareholders, see their DWT exemption status, and click a button to inform the government of a dividend payment. There is no inherent complexity to understanding the logic - all of the complexity is administrative. We've had web software for 20 years, and my company collects and pays tens of thousands a year in tax revenue to the government (I don't even live in Ireland). And still the system carries so much complexity that an entire industry exists to navigate it.