For 8 years, employees mocked the security chief who forced them to practice evacuating the World Trade Center every 3 months.
On September 11, 2001, those “annoying drills” saved nearly 2,700 lives.
His name was Rick Rescorla.
In 1990, while inspecting the World Trade Center, Rescorla warned that terrorists could park a truck bomb in the garage and bring the towers down.
Executives dismissed him.
Three years later, the 1993 WTC bombing proved he was right.
Rick watched the chaos during the evacuation and realized something terrifying:
If a bigger attack ever came, thousands would die unless people were trained to escape quickly.
So he prepared.
Every 3 months, he made Morgan Stanley employees evacuate the tower by stairwell.
People complained constantly.
“It’s a waste of time.”
“It’ll never happen.”
But Rick didn’t care.
He timed evacuations, fixed bottlenecks, and taught people how to stay calm under pressure. During drills, he would sing military songs and Welsh hymns to keep everyone moving.
Then came September 11.
At 8:46 AM, the North Tower was hit.
Officials in the South Tower told workers to stay at their desks because the building was supposedly secure.
Rick ignored the announcement.
He grabbed a bullhorn and ordered all 2,700 Morgan Stanley employees to evacuate immediately.
“This is not a drill.”
As people descended the stairwells, Rick stood directing traffic and calming terrified workers by singing:
“Men of Harlech, march to glory…”
Then the second plane hit the South Tower.
Even after impact, Rick stayed behind helping people escape floor by floor.
When coworkers begged him to leave, he refused.
“Soon as everyone’s out.”
By 9:59 AM, almost all Morgan Stanley employees had escaped.
Rick Rescorla never did.
He died after going back up the tower searching for anyone left behind.
Nearly 2,700 people survived that morning because one man spent 8 years preparing for a disaster everyone else thought was impossible.
People called him paranoid.
History called him right.
MIT just quietly dropped a free AI curriculum that puts $50,000 university courses to shame.
12 books.
Zero tuition.
From the same institution that produced the people building the models everyone is talking about.
FOUNDATIONS
1. Foundations of Machine Learning — https://t.co/Un6UbjJ3Xo
2. Understanding Deep Learning — https://t.co/UQxZmyESdn
3. Machine Learning Systems — https://t.co/YAgrLVGAXt
ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
4. Algorithms for ML — https://t.co/YlBk59o8Hp
5. Deep Learning — https://t.co/KMO1uWPyk1
REINFORCEMENT LEARNING
6. RL Basics (Sutton & Barto) — https://t.co/sOZlDXzu41
7. Distributional RL — https://t.co/uOkviYiAq7
8. Multi-Agent Systems — https://t.co/Dx9caJVx1d
9. Long Game AI — https://t.co/K9Qm2TjAQ6
ETHICS & PROBABILITY
10. Fairness in ML — https://t.co/MgkLdRvicO
11. Probabilistic ML Part 1 — https://t.co/Zz33gQi1vG
12. Probabilistic ML Part 2 — https://t.co/qBe776EjCg
This is a complete MIT-level AI education.
Not a YouTube playlist.
Not a Twitter thread full of fluff.
Textbooks written by the researchers who built the field.
The people who actually study this will not just understand AI better than their peers.
They will understand it better than most people currently getting paid to work in it.
Most people will bookmark this and never open it.
The ones who open it tonight are the ones who show up in 12 months having built something nobody around them understands yet.
Bookmark this.
Open the first one tonight.
Follow @cyrilXBT for more resources that actually compound.
In 1861, Monet served in Algeria, where he was dazzled by North Africa’s blazing light. ☀️
He later said the “richness of color” shaped everything he painted afterward. #artbots#monet
The Orlando Police Department’s Overdose Investigative Unit is proud to have our Substance Abuse Victim Advocate representing at LIVE Fest today at Lake Eola.
Events like this help raise awareness about substance abuse, provide resources for those in need, and support individuals and families impacted by addiction.
If you or someone you know is struggling, know that help is available and you are not alone.
#OverdoseAwareness #OPD #CommunityFirst
Speaks for itself:
Feb. 25, 2026: “We are not developing long-range missiles… we have limited the range below 2,000 kilometers” — Iran’s FM Araghchi (IRNA).
March 20, 2026: Iran fires missiles at Diego Garcia—ranging 4,000 kilometers (WSJ). ⬇️
One of the wild things about Miami Vice (1984–1989) is the parade of future stars who popped up before they were famous. Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Liam Neeson, Benicio del Toro, Michael Madsen, even Chris Rock.
This is the most iconic image in the history of college marketing. Colleges have come up with everything under the sun to attract students, but St. John’s in Annapolis just took a picture of their reading list and countless students have made their college decision because of it. Young people absolutely still crave encountering the best of what has been thought and said.
In the thunder of the ticker tape parade, Where bulls charge wild and bears retreat in shade, A voice erupts from the neon-lit fray— “Here we go: HUGE!” the mad prophet cries, His words a spark in the market’s wild eyes.
Fortunes flip like cards in a gambler’s hand, Dow surges high on this electric land, Exclamation marks like fireworks burst, Punctuating dreams of the bubble’s thirst. Huge as the wave that crashes Wall Street’s shore, Huge as the greed that always begs for more.
From studio lights to the trader’s screen glow, He rallies the masses in a frenzied show, Buttons smashed, horns blown in ecstatic rite, Riding the chaos through the endless night. Yet in the echo, a whisper of dread— What rises huge must someday bow its head.
But tonight, we soar on his manic decree, Here we go, huge, in sweet volatility!