Monday, September 29, 2008
Apparently the stock market crashed again today, Dow down 775. I was in the barber shop and it was mentioned on the news, but as usual I get the details at Volokh.com.
Was just talking about stocks yesterday with my mom, who has mostly solid blue chips and bond funds - but this won't help. I'm not in the market after being wiped out in 2001. The barber shop is on East 10th street in Indy, which is sort of a third world type main street - liquor stores, junk shops, gas station, etc, in the ghetto. And nobody cared that Wall Street was panicking - it just doesn't directly affect us much.
Was just talking about stocks yesterday with my mom, who has mostly solid blue chips and bond funds - but this won't help. I'm not in the market after being wiped out in 2001. The barber shop is on East 10th street in Indy, which is sort of a third world type main street - liquor stores, junk shops, gas station, etc, in the ghetto. And nobody cared that Wall Street was panicking - it just doesn't directly affect us much.
I don't usually read Tycho's news column at penny arcade, but this week there's three guest editorials about DRM and why it's bad. http://www.penny-arcade.com/2008/9/29/
Money can't buy you love, but love can bring you money. In software the only sustainable way to earn money is by first creating love, and then hoping that some folks want to demonstrate that love with their dollars.
Money can't buy you love, but love can bring you money. In software the only sustainable way to earn money is by first creating love, and then hoping that some folks want to demonstrate that love with their dollars.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tonight's spaceX falcon1 launch went well - a private rocket ship, by an internet kabillionaire.
RIP Paul Newman (I need to stop, but these are all so good.)
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Disturbing article about offical violence against gays, women, music-lovers, etc, in Iraq. The Gaurdian is not always a reputable source.
Apparently that's $2, not $2 a share. Heck, I would have given $20.
Possibly something lost in translation.
Nomura pays only $2 for Lehman Brothers European unit
Friday 26th September, 01:55 PM JST
TOKYO —
Nomura Holdings Inc paid only $2 for the European and Middle Eastern equities and investment banking operations of collapsed Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, sources familiar with the transaction said Friday.
Nomura’s acquisition agreement with Lehman called for allowing Nomura to refrain from taking over the Lehman divisions’ assets, including the assets they had acquired for their proprietary trading, the sources said.
© 2008 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.
Possibly something lost in translation.
Nomura pays only $2 for Lehman Brothers European unit
Friday 26th September, 01:55 PM JST
TOKYO —
Nomura Holdings Inc paid only $2 for the European and Middle Eastern equities and investment banking operations of collapsed Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, sources familiar with the transaction said Friday.
Nomura’s acquisition agreement with Lehman called for allowing Nomura to refrain from taking over the Lehman divisions’ assets, including the assets they had acquired for their proprietary trading, the sources said.
© 2008 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.
Paul Newman dead of cancer at 83. Didn't realize he was 83.
Most recent book I read, Which Lie did I Tell? was by the guy who wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Newman was already a star, but the movie made Redford a star.
Most recent book I read, Which Lie did I Tell? was by the guy who wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Newman was already a star, but the movie made Redford a star.
Word for the day: sympatric. I assume it means coexisting in the same territory. Example:
The diurnal black bear's habit of living in heavily forested areas as opposed to the largely nocturnal brown bear's preference for open spaces usually ensures that the two species avoid confrontations in areas where they are sympatric.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_bear
This came up when McCain criticized a $3 Million bear DNA study, and a volokh commenter pointed out the extinction, in 1922, of the California Golden bear, Ursus arctos californicus,the one shown on the California flag. Google doesn't have much on golden bears - they seem to a subspecies of the brown bear,Ursus arctos, related to grizzlies,Ursus arctos horribilis, and kodiaks.
Article on cryptozoology of bears - reported bear species that might or might not exist. Anyay, I thought sympatric was a pretty cool word I'd never seem before.
I went to watch the debates last night with a group of my friends, but ended up talking to people instead of watching the tv, so I missed whatever was said.
The diurnal black bear's habit of living in heavily forested areas as opposed to the largely nocturnal brown bear's preference for open spaces usually ensures that the two species avoid confrontations in areas where they are sympatric.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_bear
This came up when McCain criticized a $3 Million bear DNA study, and a volokh commenter pointed out the extinction, in 1922, of the California Golden bear, Ursus arctos californicus,the one shown on the California flag. Google doesn't have much on golden bears - they seem to a subspecies of the brown bear,Ursus arctos, related to grizzlies,Ursus arctos horribilis, and kodiaks.
Article on cryptozoology of bears - reported bear species that might or might not exist. Anyay, I thought sympatric was a pretty cool word I'd never seem before.
I went to watch the debates last night with a group of my friends, but ended up talking to people instead of watching the tv, so I missed whatever was said.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
I'm bored. 13-places-to-watch-tv-online-for-free
Return of the giant rat of Jersey. Via Howard.
.jpg)
Not to be confused with the Giant Rat of Sumatra, a firesign theatre album.
The article I borrowed the image from turns out to be interesting in itself.
If you want to defame someone, have your lawyer do so in a letter threatening to sue, and it's immune from a libel action. The union workers accused the construction manager of putting a hole in their giant rat. Turned out to be someone else.
Extinct Australian giant rat:
Australia's Vanished Beasts
A banksy
Not to be confused with the Giant Rat of Sumatra, a firesign theatre album.
The article I borrowed the image from turns out to be interesting in itself.
If you want to defame someone, have your lawyer do so in a letter threatening to sue, and it's immune from a libel action. The union workers accused the construction manager of putting a hole in their giant rat. Turned out to be someone else.
Extinct Australian giant rat:
Australia's Vanished Beasts
A banksy
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
http://netec.mcc.ac.uk/JokEc.html
Q: Why did the economist cross the road?
A: It was the chicken's day off. Q. What does an economist do?
A. A lot in the short run, which amounts to nothing in the long run. Two economists meet on the street. One inquires, "How's your wife?" The other responds, "Relative to what?"
K: Miten ekonomi ja ekonomisti eroavat toisistaan?
V: Samalla tavoin kuin alkoholi ja alkoholisti!
I asked an economist for her phone number....and she gave me an estimate.
a timely Polish joke:
A man goes into the Bank of Gdansk to make a deposit. Since he has never kept money in a bank before, he is a little nervous.
"What happens if the Bank of Gdansk should fail?" he asks.
"Well, in that case your money would be insured by the Bank of Warsaw."
"But, what if the Bank of Warsaw fails?"
"Well, there'd be no problem, because the Bank of Warsaw is insured by the National Bank of Poland."
"And if the National Bank of Poland fails?"
"Then your money would be insured by the Bank of Moscow."
"And what if the Bank of Moscow fails?"
"Then your money would be insured by the Great Bank of the Soviet Union."
"And if that bank fails?"
"Well, in that case, you'd lose all your money. But, wouldn't it be worth it?"
I found these while googling for the source of a Wheaton koan:
When a talking bear bets you a hundred dollars and a box of wine that you can't go three rounds with a kangaroo, just walk away, man. Just walk away.
Knock-knock.
-Who's there?
Under the Patriot Act, we don't have to tell you that.
Q: Why did the economist cross the road?
A: It was the chicken's day off. Q. What does an economist do?
A. A lot in the short run, which amounts to nothing in the long run. Two economists meet on the street. One inquires, "How's your wife?" The other responds, "Relative to what?"
K: Miten ekonomi ja ekonomisti eroavat toisistaan?
V: Samalla tavoin kuin alkoholi ja alkoholisti!
I asked an economist for her phone number....and she gave me an estimate.
a timely Polish joke:
A man goes into the Bank of Gdansk to make a deposit. Since he has never kept money in a bank before, he is a little nervous.
"What happens if the Bank of Gdansk should fail?" he asks.
"Well, in that case your money would be insured by the Bank of Warsaw."
"But, what if the Bank of Warsaw fails?"
"Well, there'd be no problem, because the Bank of Warsaw is insured by the National Bank of Poland."
"And if the National Bank of Poland fails?"
"Then your money would be insured by the Bank of Moscow."
"And what if the Bank of Moscow fails?"
"Then your money would be insured by the Great Bank of the Soviet Union."
"And if that bank fails?"
"Well, in that case, you'd lose all your money. But, wouldn't it be worth it?"
I found these while googling for the source of a Wheaton koan:
When a talking bear bets you a hundred dollars and a box of wine that you can't go three rounds with a kangaroo, just walk away, man. Just walk away.
Knock-knock.
-Who's there?
Under the Patriot Act, we don't have to tell you that.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
via instapundit, art and science of dumpster diving, amazon and living well on practically nothing amazon. ($18).
What I'm reading:
Which Lie Did I Tell? William Goldman. Amazon.
It's a book by a screenwriter, about screenwriting and hollywood.
So there's a lot of "play within a play" stuff.
One of those was about the theft of the mona lisa from the louvre. Happened in 1911, was recovered 2 years later. link. He wrote The Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, among others.
Game of Kings, good book about a championship high school chess team.
I was reading Jarod Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel, which is wonderful, but I left it in a hotel room when I was driving back, during Ike, from a law school 15th reunion.
I'll have to go out now and buy or find a copy.
Before that, I read Wodehouse On Crime while visiting my ex in Paducah.
Before that, Barbara Bush, a Memoir, comes off as a very nice lady,
Symptoms of Withdrawal, Christopher Kennedy Lawford, one of the more honest Kennedy autobiographies. I haven't been keeping track by number, but I'm pretty sure I won't have read 50 books this year. It's not that I was doing anything else more worthwhile, I'm just reading less - probably wasting the rest of the time online.
Which Lie Did I Tell? William Goldman. Amazon.
It's a book by a screenwriter, about screenwriting and hollywood.
So there's a lot of "play within a play" stuff.
One of those was about the theft of the mona lisa from the louvre. Happened in 1911, was recovered 2 years later. link. He wrote The Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, among others.
Game of Kings, good book about a championship high school chess team.
I was reading Jarod Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel, which is wonderful, but I left it in a hotel room when I was driving back, during Ike, from a law school 15th reunion.
I'll have to go out now and buy or find a copy.
Before that, I read Wodehouse On Crime while visiting my ex in Paducah.
Before that, Barbara Bush, a Memoir, comes off as a very nice lady,
Symptoms of Withdrawal, Christopher Kennedy Lawford, one of the more honest Kennedy autobiographies. I haven't been keeping track by number, but I'm pretty sure I won't have read 50 books this year. It's not that I was doing anything else more worthwhile, I'm just reading less - probably wasting the rest of the time online.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
http://too.blogspot.com/
Sergey Brin, google cofounder, is blogging. First posts are about him getting his genome checked by his wife's company, and finding out he's at high risk for Parkinsons.
So he's young and mega-rich, and can, if he chooses, race to find a cure before he needs it.
Graphene zeppelin.
Sergey Brin, google cofounder, is blogging. First posts are about him getting his genome checked by his wife's company, and finding out he's at high risk for Parkinsons.
So he's young and mega-rich, and can, if he chooses, race to find a cure before he needs it.
Graphene zeppelin.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
What do you think is the coolest part of the Constitution that people do not really know about?
What could be cooler than the part about the Supreme Court? - Chief Justice Roberts, in the Washington Post, says Howard.
What could be cooler than the part about the Supreme Court? - Chief Justice Roberts, in the Washington Post, says Howard.
Greenpeace has claimed responsibility for the invasion of stuffed bears that have been freaking out homesec in DC. Hat tip bill stewart.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
I used to own a few shares of Zap, a company which sells electric vehicles and hype.
They are building a plant in Kentucky to make these things.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Virginia Supreme Court reverses itself 7-0, decides that its antispam statute is overbroad and interferes with anonymous speech. The motion for rehearing must have been a doozy. Earlier, the court had split 4-3, so they already had the ear of some of the justices. Slashdot and volokh have coverage - I'll add links later.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Slashdot (Kevin Kelly who does that cool tools blog) finds Robert Heinlein's form letter in response to fan mail.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
"North Pole man loses lawsuit appeal": The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner today contains an article that begins, "A 330-pound man who was hurt when his chair gave out in an attorney's office lost a four-year legal battle against the lawyer last week."
You can access the recent ruling of the Supreme Court of Alaska at this link.
Posted at 09:38 PM by Howard Bashman
You can access the recent ruling of the Supreme Court of Alaska at this link.
Posted at 09:38 PM by Howard Bashman
Monday, September 01, 2008
5 years ago Bob Black and Lizzie Borden at Extreme Video were busted on obscenity charges by Ashcroft. They won and then lost in court, but their case still hasn't gone to trial. Ashcroft is gone, Gonzalez is gone,and they figure soon Bush will be gone,and maybe the case will quietly go away.
Zebras Get Less Spam Than Aardvarks. Slashdot.
This morning's paper has a story about a guy my age attacked on his bicycle down the street from me by gangs. Some of the gangs identified in the report included City Boys, East Side Gangsters, Knockout Boys and Ratchet Boys. He's in the hospital, will probably live. As of tomorrow I'll be offline for a week while working downstate.
