Monday, March 30, 2009
Newest Economic Indicator = Suze Orman
"Orman's ubiquitous presence has become a sort of unofficial economic barometer."
Suze Orman: Queen of the Crisis
by Sheelah Kolhatkar
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1883381,00.html
Suze Orman: Queen of the Crisis
by Sheelah Kolhatkar
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1883381,00.html
On Trust and Being Faithful
Interesting discussion on Marginal Revolution. Does bedroom manner = boardroom manner?
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/03/ben-casnocha-asks-about-trust-and-infidelity.html
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/03/ben-casnocha-asks-about-trust-and-infidelity.html
The President's Vehicle
Pretty pimp.
"With its armour-plated body and doors, a raised roof, and reinforced steel and aluminium, The Beast will be Obama's official car. It boasts a titanium and ceramic superstructure and a sealed interior forming a "panic room" capable of shielding him from even a chemical weapons attack. Equipped with a night-vision camera and an armoured petrol tank filled with foam to prevent explosion should it suffer a direct hit, it also has pump-action shotguns, tear-gas cannon, oxygen tanks and bottles of the president's blood. Its tyres allow it to keep driving even if they have been punctured."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/29/obama-london-visit-uk-g20
"With its armour-plated body and doors, a raised roof, and reinforced steel and aluminium, The Beast will be Obama's official car. It boasts a titanium and ceramic superstructure and a sealed interior forming a "panic room" capable of shielding him from even a chemical weapons attack. Equipped with a night-vision camera and an armoured petrol tank filled with foam to prevent explosion should it suffer a direct hit, it also has pump-action shotguns, tear-gas cannon, oxygen tanks and bottles of the president's blood. Its tyres allow it to keep driving even if they have been punctured."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/29/obama-london-visit-uk-g20
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Bankrupt in Paradise
"The Seychelles, the idyllic archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, is best known as an island paradise playground for celebrities, royalty and the ultra-wealthy. These days, it's better known for something else: bankruptcy."
Seychelles: Paradise Goes Bankrupt
by Sheridan Prasso
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Seychelles-Paradise-goes-hftn-14745001.html
Seychelles: Paradise Goes Bankrupt
by Sheridan Prasso
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Seychelles-Paradise-goes-hftn-14745001.html
10 Reasons Why We Make Lists
10 Reasons Why We Make Lists
by Linton Weeks
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101056819
by Linton Weeks
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101056819
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Do Men and Women Read Books Differently?
"A study of reading habits showed almost half of women are 'page turners' who finish a book soon after starting it compared to only 26 per cent of men. The survey 2,000 adults also found those who take a long time to read books and only managed one or two a year were twice as likely to be male than female. Men are also more likely to have shelves full of books that have never been opened."
Women More Avid Readers of Books Than Men, Survey Says
by Alastair Jamieson
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/5033672/Women-more-avid-readers-of-books-than-men-survey-says.html
Women More Avid Readers of Books Than Men, Survey Says
by Alastair Jamieson
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/5033672/Women-more-avid-readers-of-books-than-men-survey-says.html
On Minding Your Language
Hat tip to Tyler...
"English-speakers are keen to say please politely in other languages, even if those languages do not express politeness by constantly saying please. So English tourists say ‘por favor’ to waiters and barmen in a way that sounds too insistent to a Spaniard. It is as if someone were to say: ‘A glass of wine, if you please, my good man.’ If you want the butter passed in Spanish, you say, ‘Pass the butter.’ To add por favor can smack of impatience."
http://www.spectator.co.uk/print/the-magazine/the-week/3453076/mind-your-language.thtml
"English-speakers are keen to say please politely in other languages, even if those languages do not express politeness by constantly saying please. So English tourists say ‘por favor’ to waiters and barmen in a way that sounds too insistent to a Spaniard. It is as if someone were to say: ‘A glass of wine, if you please, my good man.’ If you want the butter passed in Spanish, you say, ‘Pass the butter.’ To add por favor can smack of impatience."
http://www.spectator.co.uk/print/the-magazine/the-week/3453076/mind-your-language.thtml
Monday, March 23, 2009
On War and Being Left-Handed
"The more violent a culture, the greater the chance left-handed inhabitants have of surviving. Left-handed combatants are familiar with fighting right-handers, but right-handers are much less familiar with battling a lefty."
Why Righties and Lefties? Scientists Have Hands Full
By David Brown
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/22/AR2009032201663.html
Why Righties and Lefties? Scientists Have Hands Full
By David Brown
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/22/AR2009032201663.html
Are Vasectomies Countercyclical?
"The best guess is that the trend is due both to a decreased desire to have children because of the expense involved, and an increased desire to get such medical procedures done before their jobs -- and health insurance -- disappear."
With the Economy Down, Vasectomy Rates Are Up
by Amanda Gardner
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/sexual-health/mens-sexual-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100235024>1=31036
With the Economy Down, Vasectomy Rates Are Up
by Amanda Gardner
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/sexual-health/mens-sexual-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100235024>1=31036
World's Most Expensive Residential Property
London Homes Lose Top Slot
by Daniel Thomas
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0b913214-1717-11de-9a72-0000779fd2ac.html
by Daniel Thomas
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0b913214-1717-11de-9a72-0000779fd2ac.html
"Axis of Evil" and Beyond
Axis of evil, rogues states, outposts of tyranny, state sponsors of terrorism, axis of terror. Those are all names used to group certain countries into an "enemy" list. Following is further explanation...
http://geography.about.com/od/lists/a/axisofevil.htm
http://geography.about.com/od/lists/a/axisofevil.htm
Thursday, March 19, 2009
What Happens to the Archives of a Defunct Newspaper?
"They usually wind up at a competing paper or in a library."
What Happens to the Archives of a Defunct Newspaper?
by Noreen Malone
http://www.slate.com/id/2213954/
What Happens to the Archives of a Defunct Newspaper?
by Noreen Malone
http://www.slate.com/id/2213954/
Upon Waking From a Coma
What would be the first questions you ask upon waking from a 15-year coma?
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/03/upon-waking-up-from-a-coma.html
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/03/upon-waking-up-from-a-coma.html
The Science of Spring
Find out why the start of spring is a different date each year.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090319/sc_livescience/thescienceofspring
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090319/sc_livescience/thescienceofspring
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Idea of the Day: Zahavi's Handicap Principle
From Wikipedia (a bit tough to understand):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle
From Blackwell's
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/a-z/Zahavis_handicap.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle
From Blackwell's
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/a-z/Zahavis_handicap.asp
The Savanna Principle
"The Savanna Principle states that the human brain has difficulty comprehending and dealing with entities and situations that did not exist in the ancestral environment. This means that the human brain implicitly assumes that we still live in the African savanna during the Pleistocene Epoch, roughly 1.6 million to 10,000 years ago. For example, many Western young men who chronically find themselves dateless resort to pornography for sexual satisfaction. When men see images of sexually receptive women, they become aroused. This does not make sense, because these men should know that they would never actually meet, let alone copulate with, these sexually receptive women in the movies. So there is not point in getting an erection when they watch pornography, because the only biological function of an erection is to allow men to have sexual intercourse with women. The principle, however, tells us that the brain of these men doesn't really comprehend that they would never copulate with the sexually receptive women they see on screen, because there were no television, videos, DVDs or the internet in the ancestral environment. All sexually receptive women that our ancestral men ever saw were real, and they were able to have sexual intercourse with them. Just as the brain of young Western men today is tricked by porn movies, which did not exist in the ancestral environment, the brain of young Muslim men today is tricked by the Koran, which also did not exist in the ancestral environment."
http://www.jsecjournal.com/PDF/JSEC_Kanazawa_1-2.pdf
http://www.jsecjournal.com/PDF/JSEC_Kanazawa_1-2.pdf
Sex & Suicide Bombing & Religion
Very intersting and probably very controversial...
"The bleak prospect, created by polygyny, makes men very competitive and aggressive, because they must compete fiercely with each other not to be left out of the reproductive game altogether and to win mates. This is why men in every human society are more violent and aggressive than women. Further, the more polygynous the society, the more aggressive and violent the men become. This is why, among other things, your boyfriend is often insufferably rude to the waiter when you go out to dinner. He is trying to impress you in his misguided attempt to put down potential competitors and claim higher status than the waiter.
"Despite varied geography, cultures, languages, and ethnicities, one factor which unites all of our otherwise diverse current enemies, from al Qaeda in the Middle East, to Jemaah Islamiyah in South East Asia, to the Chechen rebels in Russia, to the Palenstianian suicide bombers in Israel, t the Sunni insurgents in Iraq, is Islam...while suicide missions are not always religiously motivated, when religion is involved, it is always Islam. Why is this? What distinguishes Islam from other major world religions is taht it sanctions polygyny, and, as we saw earlier, polygyny increases competitive pressure on men, especially young men of low status, who are most likely to be left without reproductive opportunities when older men of higher status marry polygynously.
"The other key ingredient is the Koran's promise of 72 virgins waiting in heaven for any martyr in Islam. This creates a strong motive for any young Muslim men who are excluded from reproductive opportunities to commit suicide bombings."
The Evolutionary Psychological Imagination: Why You Can't Get a Date on a Saturday Night and Why Most Suicide Bombers are Muslim
by Satoshi Kanazawa
http://www.jsecjournal.com/PDF/JSEC_Kanazawa_1-2.pdf
"The bleak prospect, created by polygyny, makes men very competitive and aggressive, because they must compete fiercely with each other not to be left out of the reproductive game altogether and to win mates. This is why men in every human society are more violent and aggressive than women. Further, the more polygynous the society, the more aggressive and violent the men become. This is why, among other things, your boyfriend is often insufferably rude to the waiter when you go out to dinner. He is trying to impress you in his misguided attempt to put down potential competitors and claim higher status than the waiter.
"Despite varied geography, cultures, languages, and ethnicities, one factor which unites all of our otherwise diverse current enemies, from al Qaeda in the Middle East, to Jemaah Islamiyah in South East Asia, to the Chechen rebels in Russia, to the Palenstianian suicide bombers in Israel, t the Sunni insurgents in Iraq, is Islam...while suicide missions are not always religiously motivated, when religion is involved, it is always Islam. Why is this? What distinguishes Islam from other major world religions is taht it sanctions polygyny, and, as we saw earlier, polygyny increases competitive pressure on men, especially young men of low status, who are most likely to be left without reproductive opportunities when older men of higher status marry polygynously.
"The other key ingredient is the Koran's promise of 72 virgins waiting in heaven for any martyr in Islam. This creates a strong motive for any young Muslim men who are excluded from reproductive opportunities to commit suicide bombings."
The Evolutionary Psychological Imagination: Why You Can't Get a Date on a Saturday Night and Why Most Suicide Bombers are Muslim
by Satoshi Kanazawa
http://www.jsecjournal.com/PDF/JSEC_Kanazawa_1-2.pdf
Achieving Middle East Peace Through Trade
Excellent peice by Ed Gresser of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)
"So far, none of our efforts to stabilize or pacify the greater Middle East region have worked. We have tried aid programs, military action, sanctions, and diplomacy. There is another alternative - trade policy - supported by aid, diplomacy, intelligence, and military capability...the missing element in US policy has been economics. The Muslim world has endured a prolonged and little-recognized economic depression. Failure in trade is among its main causes, and trade policy is therefore a practical strategy for fighting unemployment and generating an economic recovery in the region."
Fact: US's permanent tariff system imposes higher penalties on the goods big Muslim countries export than on those we buy from wealthy countries. On average, American tariffs are 2.4 percent. But for exports most important to Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Bangladesh, Lebanon and outher countries in the region - clothes, bedsheets, towels, shoes, glass, luggage, ceramics - the average tariff rises to 15 percent.
Achieving Peace and Prosperity in the Greater Middle East - One Tariff-Free Towel at a Time
http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=85&subsecID=108&contentID=254840
"So far, none of our efforts to stabilize or pacify the greater Middle East region have worked. We have tried aid programs, military action, sanctions, and diplomacy. There is another alternative - trade policy - supported by aid, diplomacy, intelligence, and military capability...the missing element in US policy has been economics. The Muslim world has endured a prolonged and little-recognized economic depression. Failure in trade is among its main causes, and trade policy is therefore a practical strategy for fighting unemployment and generating an economic recovery in the region."
Fact: US's permanent tariff system imposes higher penalties on the goods big Muslim countries export than on those we buy from wealthy countries. On average, American tariffs are 2.4 percent. But for exports most important to Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Bangladesh, Lebanon and outher countries in the region - clothes, bedsheets, towels, shoes, glass, luggage, ceramics - the average tariff rises to 15 percent.
Achieving Peace and Prosperity in the Greater Middle East - One Tariff-Free Towel at a Time
http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=85&subsecID=108&contentID=254840
Art, Evolution, and Sex
"Survey results reveal our hard-wired preferences [for art], which developed when we were Pleistocene hunter-gatherers roaming the African savannah. The landscapes we find most beautiful are simply those from which we evolved. If we like paintings with a foreground of short grasses, it's because that habitat contains more protein per square mile than any other, which is a crucial perk for a meat-eating primate...Dutton sees art as a tool of seduction, an intellectual version of the peacock's tail. Consider poetry, which for Dutton is little more than a way of showing off to potential mates."
Our Inner Artist
A Review by Jonah Lehrer of Denis Dutton's book The Art Instinct
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/08/AR2009010802865.html
Our Inner Artist
A Review by Jonah Lehrer of Denis Dutton's book The Art Instinct
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/08/AR2009010802865.html
Give Dying Languages a Bailout?
Which languages should be preserved and which should fail? Is it the government's job to decide? Do dying languages deserve a bailout?
"A language is considered extinct when the last person who learned it as his or her primary tongue dies. Last month, UNESCO launched an online atlas of endangered languages, labeling more than 2,400 at risk of extinction...extinct languages can be revived, especially when they have been recorded."
Preserving Languages Is About More Than Words
by Kari Lydersen
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/15/AR2009031501857.html
"A language is considered extinct when the last person who learned it as his or her primary tongue dies. Last month, UNESCO launched an online atlas of endangered languages, labeling more than 2,400 at risk of extinction...extinct languages can be revived, especially when they have been recorded."
Preserving Languages Is About More Than Words
by Kari Lydersen
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/15/AR2009031501857.html
Latest Economic Indicator: Landfills
"In an extravagantly wasteful society that typically puts 254 million tons of unwanted stuff at the curb to be thrown away each year, landfill managers say they knew something was amiss in the economy when they saw trash levels start steadily dropping last year. Now, some are reporting declines as sharp as 30 percent. 'The trash man is the first one to know about a recession because we see it first,' said Richard S. Weber, manager of the Loudon County Landfill."
A Trashed Economy Foretold
by Brigid Schulte
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/13/AR2009031303432.html
A Trashed Economy Foretold
by Brigid Schulte
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/13/AR2009031303432.html
CNBC's Bull Market
I also find that CNBC is way too bullish in a bull economy and way too bearish in a bear economy.
"In a way, CNBC has no choice but to become political, since the economy itself has...CNBC's reaction is colored by its stressed-out day trader's focus on the short term. When CNBC considers the economy, it means Wall Street's numbers that day, that hour, that minute. CNBC may pay lip service to the long term, but it has the time horizon of a fruit fly."
CNBC's Bull Market
by James Poniewozik
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1884328,00.html?iid=fb_share
"In a way, CNBC has no choice but to become political, since the economy itself has...CNBC's reaction is colored by its stressed-out day trader's focus on the short term. When CNBC considers the economy, it means Wall Street's numbers that day, that hour, that minute. CNBC may pay lip service to the long term, but it has the time horizon of a fruit fly."
CNBC's Bull Market
by James Poniewozik
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1884328,00.html?iid=fb_share
Chart: Virginity Rates Among Students by Major
Perhaps not the most accurate study, but still fun to look at...
http://www.forwardon.com/view.php?e=Id1200c8f6b7f5f813
http://www.forwardon.com/view.php?e=Id1200c8f6b7f5f813
Monday, March 16, 2009
10 Winners in the Recession
10 Winners in the Recession
by Amanda Ruggeri
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20090316/ts_usnews/10winnersintherecession
by Amanda Ruggeri
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20090316/ts_usnews/10winnersintherecession
Fat Duck Reopens
The restaurant, at the [health] agency's suggestion, has temporarily banned clams, oysters, cockles and razor clams from its cutting-edge menu. Still to be found on the menu, though, is the whimsical Sound of the Sea, for which the diner wears earphones from an iPod Shuffle concealed in a seashell next to a 'seashore' consisting of a sophisticated melange of marine foodstuffs in the 'ocean' that laps the tapioca sand."
Return to the Fat Duck
by Raymond Sokolov
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123690117088013233-email.html
Return to the Fat Duck
by Raymond Sokolov
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123690117088013233-email.html
Old Age Begins at 27
If old age begins at 27 and if we often live until our 70s, 80s, 90s, or beyond, then maybe humans are living way too long... Has advances in medicine/health/surgery made us unnaturally "healthy?"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1162052/Old-age-begins-27--scientists-claim-new-research.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1162052/Old-age-begins-27--scientists-claim-new-research.html
Friday, March 13, 2009
Why People Fall for Financial Scams
It feels safe to "follow the crowd," but in investing, it is usually not the best option...I think that is why contrarian investing can be so fruitful. I may also add that I disagree with Stephen Greespan when he suggests that very few people possess the knowlege or inclination to perform an in-depth analysis of every investment opportunity they are considering. That is the whole problem. People either invested with Madoff (and weren't provided with any concrete information), or, they invested with him via "feeder" funds. It is nearly impossible to understand those investments so why not use some common sense and invest in things you understand?
"The basic mechanism explaining the success of Ponzi schemes is the tendency of humans to model their action - especially when dealing with matters they don't fully understand - on the behavior of other humans. This mechanism has been termed 'irrational exuberance,' a phrase coined by Robert Shiller. Mr. Shiller employs a social psychological explanation that he terms the 'feedback loop theory of investor bubbles.' Simply states, the fact that so many people seem to be making big profits on the investment, and telling others about their good fortune, makes the investment seem safe and too good to pass up."
Why We Keep Falling for Financial Scams
by Stephen Greenspan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123093987596650197.html
"The basic mechanism explaining the success of Ponzi schemes is the tendency of humans to model their action - especially when dealing with matters they don't fully understand - on the behavior of other humans. This mechanism has been termed 'irrational exuberance,' a phrase coined by Robert Shiller. Mr. Shiller employs a social psychological explanation that he terms the 'feedback loop theory of investor bubbles.' Simply states, the fact that so many people seem to be making big profits on the investment, and telling others about their good fortune, makes the investment seem safe and too good to pass up."
Why We Keep Falling for Financial Scams
by Stephen Greenspan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123093987596650197.html
"Deep Throat" & Crisis in Jouralism
A very interesting dilemma...
"...The press in Washington continues to serve as a conduit for leaks of secret information. They publish this information while protecting the leakers, and therefore the leakers' motives. Rather than being a venue for the neutral reporting of events, journalism thus becomes the arena in which political power plays are executed. What appears to be enterprising journalism is in fact a symbiotic relationshp between journalists and government factions. It may be the best path journalists have for acquiring secrets, but it crates a very partial record of events - especially since the origin of a leak frequently is much more important to the public than the leak itself."
The Death of Deep Throat and the Crisis of Journalism
by George Friedman
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20081222_death_deep_throat_and_crisis_journalism
"...The press in Washington continues to serve as a conduit for leaks of secret information. They publish this information while protecting the leakers, and therefore the leakers' motives. Rather than being a venue for the neutral reporting of events, journalism thus becomes the arena in which political power plays are executed. What appears to be enterprising journalism is in fact a symbiotic relationshp between journalists and government factions. It may be the best path journalists have for acquiring secrets, but it crates a very partial record of events - especially since the origin of a leak frequently is much more important to the public than the leak itself."
The Death of Deep Throat and the Crisis of Journalism
by George Friedman
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20081222_death_deep_throat_and_crisis_journalism
Bacon for Dessert
Perhaps this is why 400 diners at Blue Duck recently got sick...
"At some point in history, we decided to keep meat out of our dessert...But suddenly menus everywhre have deemed bacon an acceptable crossover...The trend probably started in 2006, when molecular gastronomist Heston Blumenthal began dazzling deep-pocketed diners at the UK's Fat Duck with bacon-and-egg ice cream."
Bacon for Dessert
by Joel Stein
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1870492,00.html
"At some point in history, we decided to keep meat out of our dessert...But suddenly menus everywhre have deemed bacon an acceptable crossover...The trend probably started in 2006, when molecular gastronomist Heston Blumenthal began dazzling deep-pocketed diners at the UK's Fat Duck with bacon-and-egg ice cream."
Bacon for Dessert
by Joel Stein
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1870492,00.html
Thursday, March 12, 2009
What Defines the American Car?
"There truly isn't an American car anymore...every car has parts from all over the world...now the definition of 'American car' has shifted to a definition of American car style. And what is that style? A relatively large, easy-to-drive sedan or crossover...You can't find them anywhere else."
Let's Explore What Defines the American Car
by Chris Woodyward
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-02-16-american-car-what-is-it_N.htm
Let's Explore What Defines the American Car
by Chris Woodyward
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-02-16-american-car-what-is-it_N.htm
On Jetpacks
The Jetpack: An Idea Whose Time Has Never Come But Won't Go Away
by Ben Worthen
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123655460908765815.html
by Ben Worthen
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123655460908765815.html
What is Moral Hazard?
An easy to understand discussion...
"Simply put, moral hazard is the idea that insurance in any form makes people riskier. If I have health insurance, I'm more likely to skydive. If I have fire insurance, I'm more likely to burn sandalwood candles in my bedroom."
What si Moral Hazard?
by Martha White
http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/moral-hazard/2008/09/19/what-moral-hazard
"Simply put, moral hazard is the idea that insurance in any form makes people riskier. If I have health insurance, I'm more likely to skydive. If I have fire insurance, I'm more likely to burn sandalwood candles in my bedroom."
What si Moral Hazard?
by Martha White
http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/moral-hazard/2008/09/19/what-moral-hazard
TED Video: Eric Lewis on Piano
I got Carpel Tunnel Syndrome just watching him!
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/eric_lewis_strikes_chords_to_rock_the_jazz_world.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/eric_lewis_strikes_chords_to_rock_the_jazz_world.html
2009's Wealthiest People
"The wealthy few did not escape big shocks this year, with net worth on the list of 793 billionaires -- down from 1,125 billionaires in 2008 -- plummeting to 2.4 trillion dollars from 4.4 trillion, Forbes said. The annual rich list put Gates back on top with a net worth of 40 billion dollars, although he saw his bank balance lose 18 billion over the last 12 months."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.5ce05834a0919b70bceb002f810b5e70.f91&show_article=1
Forbes List:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/11/worlds-richest-people-billionaires-2009-billionaires_land.html
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.5ce05834a0919b70bceb002f810b5e70.f91&show_article=1
Forbes List:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/11/worlds-richest-people-billionaires-2009-billionaires_land.html
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Kindai Bluefin = More Sustainable Sushi?
I don't see a huge difference between whether a tuna is raised from an egg or caught at any early age and raised in pens...Or, the article does not do a good job in explaining that.
"Scientists at Japan's Kinki University and Australia's Clean Seas Tuna Ltd. have produced the Kindai from hatched eggs rather than captured juveniles."
A More Sustainale Tuna?
By Juliet Eilperin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR2009031000677.html
"Scientists at Japan's Kinki University and Australia's Clean Seas Tuna Ltd. have produced the Kindai from hatched eggs rather than captured juveniles."
A More Sustainale Tuna?
By Juliet Eilperin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR2009031000677.html
Detroit's Collapse in Pictures
Beautifully captured pics...it makes Detroit look literally like a war zone.
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1882089,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1882089,00.html
Pic: World's Largest Swimming Pool
Looks like it could become MUCH larger if those waves ever crash over...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-trw-offbeattraveler2,0,4713370.special
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-trw-offbeattraveler2,0,4713370.special
Happiest US States
Utah, Hawaii, Wyoming Top Happiness Poll
by Kevin Freking
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090311/ap_on_re_us/states_of_happiness
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
http://www.well-beingindex.com/
Create Various Well-Being Maps
http://www.ahiphiwire.org/wellbeing
by Kevin Freking
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090311/ap_on_re_us/states_of_happiness
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
http://www.well-beingindex.com/
Create Various Well-Being Maps
http://www.ahiphiwire.org/wellbeing
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Question of the Day: Book Prices
How do book publishers come up with the US dollar/Canadian dollar price found of the back of most books? Are the prices updated for current market conditions upon each print?
Monday, March 9, 2009
Is the Vicious Global Cycle Ending?
The article hits on it exactly. The US is one big, legal Ponzi Scheme...
"We have created a system for growth that depended on our building more and more stores to sell more and more stuff made in more and more factories in China, powered by more and more coal that would cause more and more climate change but earn China more and more dollars to buy more and more U.S. T-bills so America would have more and more money to build more and more stores and sell more and more stuff that would employ more and more Chinese ... We can’t do this anymore."
The Inflection is Near
by Thomas Friedman
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/opinion/08friedman.html?em
"We have created a system for growth that depended on our building more and more stores to sell more and more stuff made in more and more factories in China, powered by more and more coal that would cause more and more climate change but earn China more and more dollars to buy more and more U.S. T-bills so America would have more and more money to build more and more stores and sell more and more stuff that would employ more and more Chinese ... We can’t do this anymore."
The Inflection is Near
by Thomas Friedman
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/opinion/08friedman.html?em
The Source of Belly Button Lint Discovered
"Georg Steinhauser discovered that there is a certain type of body hair responsible for directing lint into the navel. Steinhauser found that hairs around the belly button have a scaly structure that pulls fibers from clothing and then directs those fibers—along with dead skin, fat, sweat and dust—into the belly button."
Found: The Source of...Belly Button Lint
by Rex Huppke
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-talk-navel-lintmar09,0,185325.story
Found: The Source of...Belly Button Lint
by Rex Huppke
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-talk-navel-lintmar09,0,185325.story
Quote of the Day: Food
"It's better to be in the food-eating business than in the food-making business."
-DLG
-DLG
Can Money Buy Happiness?
"The current economic climate underscores that third aspect of the money/happiness relationship: our happiness is affected by whether we have more or less than we used to have."
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/happinessproject/
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/happinessproject/
Lipstick Recession Meter
After a NYTimes article about how lipstick purchases can be used to measure a recession, Slate decided to come up with its own recession meter...
"It seems that every day now there's a trend piece on the way women are spending—or not spending—our increasingly meager earnings. That's why we're introducing the Lipstick Level, an occasional Recession-o-Meter in the mold of Slate's Change-o-Meter rating how the economic downturn is shaping the way women make purchases."
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/search.aspx?q=Lipstick+Level&p=1
Here is the original NYTimes article:
"After the terrorist attacks of 2001 deflated the economy, Mr. Lauder noticed that his company was selling more lipstick than usual. He hypothesized that lipstick purchases are a way to gauge the economy. When it’s shaky, he said, sales increase as women boost their mood with inexpensive lipstick purchases instead of $500 slingbacks."
Hard Times, But Your Lips Look Great
by Kayleen Schaefer
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/fashion/01SKIN.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
"It seems that every day now there's a trend piece on the way women are spending—or not spending—our increasingly meager earnings. That's why we're introducing the Lipstick Level, an occasional Recession-o-Meter in the mold of Slate's Change-o-Meter rating how the economic downturn is shaping the way women make purchases."
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/search.aspx?q=Lipstick+Level&p=1
Here is the original NYTimes article:
"After the terrorist attacks of 2001 deflated the economy, Mr. Lauder noticed that his company was selling more lipstick than usual. He hypothesized that lipstick purchases are a way to gauge the economy. When it’s shaky, he said, sales increase as women boost their mood with inexpensive lipstick purchases instead of $500 slingbacks."
Hard Times, But Your Lips Look Great
by Kayleen Schaefer
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/fashion/01SKIN.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Is Twitter the Best Search Engine?
Interesting discussion throughout...
What the Heck is Twitter?
by Farhad Manjoo
http://www.slate.com/id/2213036
What the Heck is Twitter?
by Farhad Manjoo
http://www.slate.com/id/2213036
Eskimo Ice Cream
Hat tip to Tyler...
"The Inuit people of Alaska have a distinct version of ice cream. It's not creamy ice cream as we know it, but a concoction made from reindeer fat or tallow, seal oil, freshly fallen snow or water, fresh berries, and sometimes ground fish. Air is whipped in by hand so that it slowly cools into foam. They call this Arctic treat akutaq, aqutuk, ackutuk, or Eskimo ice cream. Akutaq is a Yupik word that means mix them together."
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Akutaq_EskimoIceCream.htm
"The Inuit people of Alaska have a distinct version of ice cream. It's not creamy ice cream as we know it, but a concoction made from reindeer fat or tallow, seal oil, freshly fallen snow or water, fresh berries, and sometimes ground fish. Air is whipped in by hand so that it slowly cools into foam. They call this Arctic treat akutaq, aqutuk, ackutuk, or Eskimo ice cream. Akutaq is a Yupik word that means mix them together."
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Akutaq_EskimoIceCream.htm
France's Wine Struggle
"There is a broader struggle thoughout France, the struggle to balance tradition and modernization, that goes deep into the country's soul and is proving more challenging as the years go by. Facing strenuous competition in Europe and beyond, France has found it hard to preseve the good life that made it famous, symbolized by three-hour lunches and fine wines, and still meet the imperatives of a modern economy...Last year, France lost its status as the world's largest wine producer, ceding to Italy. Since 2005, Spain has outranked France as the world's largest wine exporter as measured by volume."
Treatment Plant Uncorks French Vintner's Rage
by Edward Cody
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/07/AR2009030702537.html?wprss=rss_world
Treatment Plant Uncorks French Vintner's Rage
by Edward Cody
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/07/AR2009030702537.html?wprss=rss_world
Sex & War
"One in 12 men in Central Asia today descends from a single man of Genghis Khan's era who, according to the chroniclers, was a serial rapist. Similar findings in Ireland suggest the descent of two or three million from the warrior-king Niall. With fossil and archaelogical evidene, these facts describe a pattern of killing men and raping women that has been with us for so long that the inclination is built into our genes and brains."
From a review of the book Sex and War by Malcolm Potts and Thomas Hayden
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/06/AR2009030602021.html
From a review of the book Sex and War by Malcolm Potts and Thomas Hayden
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/06/AR2009030602021.html
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Downfall of a 3-Star Michelin?
Is this the end of Fat Duck? Is the damage irreparable?
Top Restaurant in Britain Laid Low By Wave of Illness
by Sarah Lyall
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/06/europe/duck.php
Top Restaurant in Britain Laid Low By Wave of Illness
by Sarah Lyall
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/06/europe/duck.php
When Will the Bottom Come?
"In downturns over the past 60 years, the S&P 500 has hit bottom an average of four months before a recession ended and about nine months before unemployment hit its peak."
When Economy Bottoms Out, How Will We Know
by Alan Zibel, Christopher Leonard, and Tim Paradis
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090307/ap_on_bi_ge/economy_where_s_the_bottom
When Economy Bottoms Out, How Will We Know
by Alan Zibel, Christopher Leonard, and Tim Paradis
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090307/ap_on_bi_ge/economy_where_s_the_bottom
Friday, March 6, 2009
Billable Hours
Is the $1,000/hour quality any better than the $500/hour?
http://ethicsfollies.blogspot.com/2008/12/when-do-hourly-rates-become-ridiculous.html
http://ethicsfollies.blogspot.com/2008/12/when-do-hourly-rates-become-ridiculous.html
Why Computer Voices Still Don't Sound Human
"Modern text-to-speech systems are incredibly complex, and they're improving rapidly. But reading a book with anything near the expressiveness of an actual human voice is an enormously difficult computational task—the pinnacle of speech synthesis research. At the moment, text-to-speech programs are found in much simpler applications—customer-service phone lines and GPS navigators, for example. In these situations, you hear the computer's voice in short bursts, so it's easy to forgive its odd intonations and suspicious speech rhythms. But when listening to long passages, you can't help but compare the computer's voice with a human's—and the computer shrinks in the comparison."
Read Me a Story, Mr. Roboto
by Farhad Manjoo
http://www.slate.com/id/2212800/
Read Me a Story, Mr. Roboto
by Farhad Manjoo
http://www.slate.com/id/2212800/
Americans Obsession With Wine
Why have so many Americans bought into the idea that wine is a cure-all?
"Part of it is that we are a nation infatuated with quick-fix diets and painless remedies; the idea that sitting on a couch nursing a syrah could actually be making us thinner and fitter is irresistible. We are also a culture that fears growing old, and the possibility that a glass of red wine could be a fountain of youth is likewise a tantalizing prospect. I suspect the preoccupation with wine's health impact is a reflection, too, of our Puritan heritage and the conflicted attitude that Americans have always had about wine. Although we are consuming it in record quantities, wine is still seen as something effete and vaguely foreign. That's why the wine vs. beer dichotomy continues to be invoked every election season as a way of distinguishing urban elites from other Americans, and it is why candidates favored by those elites are invariably tarred as chardonnay-swilling swells."
A Spoonful of Vino
by Mike Steinberger
http://www.slate.com/id/2211597/pagenum/2
"Part of it is that we are a nation infatuated with quick-fix diets and painless remedies; the idea that sitting on a couch nursing a syrah could actually be making us thinner and fitter is irresistible. We are also a culture that fears growing old, and the possibility that a glass of red wine could be a fountain of youth is likewise a tantalizing prospect. I suspect the preoccupation with wine's health impact is a reflection, too, of our Puritan heritage and the conflicted attitude that Americans have always had about wine. Although we are consuming it in record quantities, wine is still seen as something effete and vaguely foreign. That's why the wine vs. beer dichotomy continues to be invoked every election season as a way of distinguishing urban elites from other Americans, and it is why candidates favored by those elites are invariably tarred as chardonnay-swilling swells."
A Spoonful of Vino
by Mike Steinberger
http://www.slate.com/id/2211597/pagenum/2
Why Do Doctors Go To Work Sick?
My guess is that because their schedules are so packed, it would be too disastrous to miss a day of work. Also, the patient would become greatly upset...Also, if you took off too many sick days, patients might think you're a "bad" doctor...
Sniffle While You Work
by Zachary Meisel and Jesse Pines
http://www.slate.com/id/2212897/
Sniffle While You Work
by Zachary Meisel and Jesse Pines
http://www.slate.com/id/2212897/
"Beat Sweetener"
"In the early days of any administration, reporters reach out to the men and women who might become their sources over the next four years - then slather them with glowing profiles suitable for framing in their mothers' bedrooms... But this isn't about the reader's need to know, or at least not entirely. It's also about reporters' need to introduce themselves to and ingratiate themsevles with the White House officials they'll need as sources over the next four years."
Spoonful of Sugar Helps Get the Scoop
by Michael Calderone
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19570.html
Spoonful of Sugar Helps Get the Scoop
by Michael Calderone
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19570.html
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Should You Go To Grad School in a Recession?
"Military is the terrible escape hatch for poor kids, and grad school is the terrible escape hatch for rich kids."
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/03/should-you-go-to-graduate-school-in-a-recession.html
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/03/should-you-go-to-graduate-school-in-a-recession.html
Why Hasn't NBA Free Throwing Improved?
"The general expectation in sports is that performance improves over time. Future athletes will surely be faster, throw farther, jump higher. But free-throw shooting represents a stubbornly peculiar athletic endeavor. As a group, players have not gotten better. Nor have they become worse..."
For Free Throws, 50 Years on Practice is No Help
by John Branch
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/sports/basketball/04freethrow.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
For Free Throws, 50 Years on Practice is No Help
by John Branch
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/sports/basketball/04freethrow.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
How Much is a Trillion
"A trillion dollars is about the total amount collected in income taxes by the U.S. federal government in fiscal year 2006-- $1.04 trillion, if you're curious to use the exact number. That gives me a simple rule of thumb for personalizing these numbers. If I want to know what an additional trillion dollars in government borrowing or spending will mean for me, I just imagine what it would be like to pay twice as much in federal income taxes for one year."
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/03/how-much-is-a-trillion.html
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/03/how-much-is-a-trillion.html
P/E Matters
Have a look at the average price-to-earnings ratio of the entire S&P 500 index over these three periods of market mayhem:
*1977-1982: 8.27
*1947-1951: 7.78
*1940-1942: 9.01
Compare that to the average P/E ratio today of 17.97 (as of Jan. 30, 2009 as calculated by Standard & Poor's) and a seven-year average of more than 24, and it's pretty apparent that stocks could fall much, much further than they already have, just by returning to the lows they historically hover around during downturns.
http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2009/02/28/how-low-can-stocks-go.aspx
*1977-1982: 8.27
*1947-1951: 7.78
*1940-1942: 9.01
Compare that to the average P/E ratio today of 17.97 (as of Jan. 30, 2009 as calculated by Standard & Poor's) and a seven-year average of more than 24, and it's pretty apparent that stocks could fall much, much further than they already have, just by returning to the lows they historically hover around during downturns.
http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2009/02/28/how-low-can-stocks-go.aspx
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Rational Underpinnings of Irrational Anger
"Altruistic punishment has been found in every human society scientists have studies; it has even been found in other species. The anger many Americans who played by the rules [in the financial falout] now feel toward those who broke the rules and enriched themselves might well be hard-wired - a mechanism that arose through evolution to punish freeloaders and to encourage cooperative behavior. Economists Attila Ambrus at Harvard guesses that 30 to 40 percent of people in most groups are willing to pay a personal price to punish those who endanger the common good."
The Rational Underpinnings of Irrational Anger
by Shankar Vedantam
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030101743.html
The Rational Underpinnings of Irrational Anger
by Shankar Vedantam
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030101743.html
What is Luxury?
"The 21st century definition of luxury: middle-class people buy stuff; rich people buy services. When talismans of indulgence become widespread - lattes, iPhones, etc. - what distinguishes the truly well-to-do is their ability to pay others to do things."
Gold Diggers of 2009
by James Poniewozik
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1881996,00.html
Gold Diggers of 2009
by James Poniewozik
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1881996,00.html
Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the US
"Why should we care? Because immigrants are critical to the country's long-term economic health. Despite the fact that they constitute only 12% of the U.S. population, immigrants have started 52% of Silicon Valley's technology companies and contributed to more than 25% of our global patents. They make up 24% of the U.S. science and engineering workforce holding bachelor's degrees and 47% of science and engineering workers who have PhDs."
Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the US
by Vivek Wadhwa
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20090303/bs_bw/feb2009tc20090228990934
Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the US
by Vivek Wadhwa
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20090303/bs_bw/feb2009tc20090228990934
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