There’s something deeply cynical happening in Hollywood right now, and it’s making me wonder whether we’ve learned anything from the past two decades of tech hype cycles.

Roger Avary, who co-wrote Pulp Fiction, recently revealed that after struggling to get traditional films funded, he started an AI production company and suddenly had investors throwing money at him. Three films in production, just like that. His quote really drives it home: “Just put AI in front of it and all of a sudden you’re in production on three features.”

There’s something deeply embarrassing about watching an online discussion turn into a collective therapy session about the quality of Australian passports. Yet here we are in 2025, and apparently the most reliable way to keep our travel documents flat is to place them under a cookbook and hope for the best.

I stumbled across this bizarre conversation the other day, and it struck a nerve. Here we are, paying close to $400 for a passport renewal (or well over $300 for a new adult passport), and the bloody things arrive pre-warped like they’ve already completed a round-the-world trip in someone’s back pocket. The fact that someone needed to ask for advice on keeping their passport flat – and received hundreds of responses – tells you everything you need to know about the state of government procurement in this country.

You know what’s weirdly satisfying? Finding the perfect solution to a mundane problem that’s been annoying you for ages. I was scrolling through some online discussions the other day and stumbled upon a thread about cleaning car windshields – specifically, those infuriating streaks that appear when the sun hits just right or when oncoming headlights illuminate every imperfection at night.

What started as a simple question turned into this fascinating deep dive into automotive cleaning chemistry, and honestly, it’s the kind of practical knowledge that makes me wish I’d known years ago.