ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

In Case You Missed It – 8.21.24

Remember to support good causes, keep AI expectations real, and give mortgage lenders a reality check. Too heavy? Check out clever ads and pick your fave Froot Loops color. Here’s what we noticed, in case you missed it:

Help fight for the future of credit unions!

The CU De Novo Collective has launched the Louise Herring Fund to help new credit unions raise the capital to get started. The NCUA has rolled out a new “provisional charter” process to help make the process a little easier, but capital must still be donated, and the amounts necessary to get a modern financial institution up and running are a lot higher than in the “cigar box” days.

We’re proud to have been part of the CU De Novo Collective from near its beginning. Please consider getting involved and donating to the Louise Herring Fund, and doing your part to help save the credit union movement!

Lots of lessons to learn from Grameen America

Grameen America is a micro-finance nonprofit focused on small-dollar loans to low-income women entrepreneurs. Does this sort of grassroots finance, serving the underserved, and financial inclusion sound at least a little familiar to credit union people?

Of course, the business model is quite a bit different; Grameen depends on support from a constellation of financial institutions, corporations, and foundations large and small. But there’s a lot to learn here, too!

Was AI overhyped?

The Economist recently wrote that Artificial Intelligence seems to be losing hype. (Full disclosure: This article sits behind a paywall, but Reddit users find a way.) Some folks will say that AI development is at a critical juncture while others roll their eyes and insist it’s just the typical Silicon Valley “hype cycle.”

Will AI revolutionize the world? Maybe. At this point it’s still too early to tell. We’ve covered AI before and we’re sticking to our conclusions: Feel free to use AI for it’s useful applications, such as generating coloring book pages for your kids, but don’t forget it’s just a tool and not a replacement for real people.

Why doesn’t anyone read ads anymore?

Is it because they’re boring? Here’s a collection of well-written, attention-grabbing ads over the years. Which is your favorite?

Brian’s comment as iDiz’s official wordsmith: “giggling toes” may be the best headline I will ever write.

In case you were wondering why mortgage numbers were down

In 2024, the median home price in the US has risen to $389,400. That means the salary for the typical American home buyer needs to be $104,339 (up from $88,000 just two years prior), in order to make monthly mortgage payments of $2435. Want to compare your hometown to the 50 largest US metro areas? Take a look.

Did you know that all Froot Loops taste the same?

Kelloggs confirmed in 1999 that Froot Loops aren’t made up of different flavors. Apparently they saw no reason to make each one a different flavor because taste and sight are connected senses – which means when you eat a bowl of various fruit-colored cereal, your brain will associate the red ones with red fruits, the green ones with green fruits, and so on. So, if our brain decides what we are tasting based on what we see, why do we have taste buds?

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