Archive: January 28, 2011

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Friday,  01/28/11  09:44 PM

It seems that you've been living two lives, Mr. Eichhorn.  In one life, you're a program writer for a respectable software company.  You have a social security number, you pay your taxes, and you... live a normal life.  The other life is lived in another world, where you go by the alias "Ole" and are guilty of virtually every crime we have a law for.  One of these lives has a future, and one of them does not.

I have a friend who excitedly joined Quora.  I emailed "what do you think of Quora?  To me it is like Twitter, everyone is talking about it but I don’t get it."  He emailed back: "Yes, I agree - still trying to figure it out. Poor signal to noise seems to be the problem lately as the wave of new users have arrived..."  I don't get it. 

Harry McCracken: The End of the Zero Sum Game.  A good discussion of why iOS vs. Android doesn't tell the whole story.  Of course, Windows vs. Macintosh didn't tell it either, it never was a zero sum game. 

Slate's wine critic Mike Steinberger tries a '47 Petrus - and lives to tell the tale.  Wow, maybe I should become a wine critic.  I mean, like, a real one :) 

Tyler Cowen: The Inequality that Matters.  An interesting perspective on the gap between rich and poor.  Like, those who drink '47 Petrus, and those who don't :) 

So ... 1M AppleTVs serve more Netflix content than 15M iPads.  This does not surprise me. 

Eric Raymond continues his series on the smartphone wars.  In which he suggests that AT&T did not profit from the iPhone, and Verizon is not going to profit from having it either.  What? 

Grand Piano appears on a sandbar in Biscayne Bay.  "Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Jorge Pino says the agency is not responsible for moving such items. And, he adds, unless it becomes a navigational hazard, the U.S. Coast Guard won't get involved."  How cool is that? 

Cult of Mac wonders: did Steve Jobs test the iPad in 'The Incredibles'?  Seems completely farfetched to me, but I'm linking just because The Incredibles was so incredible. 

Good to know: Himalayan glaciers are actually advancing rather than retreating.  Turns out debris on the surface is more important than "global warming".  Huh, why am I not surprised? 

Understanding bailouts:  

"The rain beats down on a small Irish town. The streets are deserted. Times are tough. Everyone is in debt and living on credit. A rich German arrives at the local hotel, asks to view its rooms, and puts on the desk a €100 note. The owner gives him a bunch of keys and he goes off for an inspection. As soon as he has gone upstairs, the hotelier grabs the note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher hurries down the street to pay what he owes to his feed merchant. The merchant heads for the pub and uses the note to pay his bar bill. The publican slips the note to the local hooker who's been offering her services on credit. She rushes to the hotel to pay what she owes for room hire. As she puts the €100 note on the counter, the German appears, says the rooms are unsuitable, picks up his €100 note and leaves town. No one did any work. No one earned anything. Everyone is out of debt. Everyone is feeling better. And that is how a bail-out works."

ZooBorns of the week: Cheetah cubs

ZooBorns: Cheetah cubs!

 

 

 
 

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