you might be a billionaire if
Your parents were mathematicians. You were born in September. You dropped out of college. Were a member of Skull and Bones. Worked at Goldman Sachs. Failed hard and early. And other billionaire clusters.
Postmodern Financial Crisis
André Glucksmann’s analysis of the current crisis:
What led to the current crisis was not so much a faulty financial technique that we might promise to control from now on, that is, but the general state of mind that allowed its unchecked use. Capitalism, we should have remembered, involves at once prudent regulation and the imprudent transgression of old rules, the sharing of risks and the audacity to risk more successfully than others. Economic progress is not peaceful; it is always alternating between creation and destruction, as old productive forces are left behind and new sources of wealth explode. But after the end of the Cold War, the promise of a pacified world seemed to announce the blessing of a postmodern history without challenges, without conflict, and without tragedy, a history in which you could get away with anything. We are reaping the consequences of an excess of confidence, suffering for lack of a Cassandra.
from the spam
I just want you to know that I think you did a terrific job on this websight.
untitled sequence
creepy long hair
(thanks, Aaron. via BuzzFeed)
yearning, II
Remember those bobblehead Chihuahuas?
Report from San Diego
Michael Smith, I went downtown this morning looking for two things. A hat to wear in Palm Springs, something in natural straw, small brim bent over the eye with a nice band. Saw one at Nordstrom, it was close, but it wasn’t quite it. Nothing elsewhere. The second thing Havanianas Flip-flops. Again, a couple styles at Nordstrom, same story, and again nothing elsewhere. I looked up the dessert place but it was a little too far afield for me, maybe next time. I know Danny would, in a heartbeat, make room on the path. I went to Old Town, intending to have lunch at your suggestion. Alas, after two passes, the second after climbing the hill then driving down dizzying inclines, I opted for In-n-Out at Rosecranz and something. You know? An amazing process to watch. Many served, processes in overdrive.
Then a quiet afternoon. I napped under the sun by the pool with a 30-spf on for about 15 minutes. I think I have some color.
More later, y’all.
I’m thinking tomorrow will be another visit to La Jolla (Cooper, maybe I’ll find the shop you suggested). I think I will go back to the Mission Beach shops I drove by yesterday but didn’t stop in, in search of sexy new flip-flops.
speaking of old, crappy ten speeds
This is a brand new, full carbon, Trek Madone Lance Armstrong had custom painted to look like an old steel frame that had been left out after too many rides.
Chained Hyena
The commentary is as interesting as the picture.
Best Fwends
Some creative folk in NYC have found a way to turn their lack of productivity into something productive: Yep. Another damn blog for the Internet.
But this blog has a good group behind it – they’re all different characters which gives it a nice variety of crap to stare/laugh at.
And their category tags are the bestest:
www.blogfwends.wordpress.com
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yearning
Spam is so boring these days.
Bill Callahan’s Newest
All week long leading to the release of the latest Bill Callahan album, Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, one blog alone dares to post entirely Smog related content, so if you find yourself parched for a tall glass of Smog with a splash of gin, head on over and wait out the week in style. Starting out with a lexicon of animals mentioned in his work. See? Small red handed sleight of hand. Genius.
Mule: Let’s move to the country, Song
Mussel: My shell
Panther: Strayed
Pig: Day
Rabbit: The well
please don’t touch the Geisha
As the number of visitors to Kyoto increases and the number of Geisha — or maiko — decreases, tourists are placing an increasingly intrusive burden on the people and area.
Maiko and local residents say foreigners seem to view the entire Gion area, which preserves much of the traditional appearance of Kyoto, as a huge theme park and to believe that the maiko in the streets are on duty for the tourists.
“They are not performing for tourists,” said Mr. Yamamoto. “They are simply traveling to and from the venues of the party where they are working.”
“We are not like a Mickey Mouse in Disneyland,” said Mameharu, another maiko, walking along Hanamikoji street.
(via marginal revolution)
Software and Distraction
Russell Davies suggests that we ought to build distraction devices into our software:
I’m not some Zen monk living totally in the moment, I’m a guy trying to get my expenses done and not go mad. And, actually, I don’t want to Get Them Done. I want them to fill up the rest of the day so I don’t have to start on the 360° appraisal form until tomorrow. So what am I saying, beneath this wilful contrariness? Mostly, that it’s hard to build good tools that make people do unnatural stuff – and since we’re easily distracted creatures, evolved to be continually scanning for new stimuli, maybe we should be designing software tools that exploit that. Can you build the adrenaline hits of email into Excel? Well, then, I’ll finish my expenses. There’s a company already trying to do this; they’ve mashed email up with a flight sim to create something strange and wonderful called 3D Mailbox. So strange and wonderful it might even be a hoax.
the new obese
One in five American four-year-olds is obese.
Guernica Mag
How have I missed this publication? My morning is lost to Guernica‘s pictures and words.
(Via Dan Eckstein)
PUMA, a Segway for two
GM and Segway announced a Segway large enough for two to be used in urban areas.
The Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, or PUMA, project also would involve a vast communications network that would allow vehicles to interact with each other, regulate the flow of traffic and prevent crashes from happening.
“We’re excited about doing more with less,” said Jim Norrod, chief executive of Segway, the Bedford, N.H.-based maker of electric scooters. “Less emissions, less dependability on foreign oil and less space.”
The 300-pound prototype runs on a lithium-ion battery and uses Segway’s characteristic two-wheel balancing technology, along with dual electric motors. It’s designed to reach speeds of up to 35 miles-per-hour and can run 35 miles on a single charge.
The companies did not release a projected cost for the vehicle, but said ideally its total operating cost — including purchase price, insurance, maintenance and fuel — would total between one-fourth and one-third of that of the average traditional vehicle.
Update: Here’s a full gallery of the vehicle.
the smell of a woman
Women are much more capable of detecting body odor, especially male body odor, than men are.
Wysocki and colleagues asked women and men to rate the strength of underarm sweat samples collected from both genders. When the scent was presented on its own, it smelled equally strong to both women and men. But when the researchers combined the body odor with other fragrances, the smell was often masked for men, though women could usually still detect it.
The study tested 32 fragrances to see how well they could hide B.O. Among the male subjects, 19 of the fragrances did the trick, though among women, only two of the scents successfully overpowered the sweaty stench.
“Our studies indicate that human sweat conveys information that is of particular importance to females,” Wysocki said. “This may explain why it is so difficult to block women’s perception of sweat odors.”
light poles
Behind the library – we were waiting in the parking lot while one person returned books.
A poem
by Kathryn Regina, animated by Greg Lytle.
Weekly Picture 146
Ben with Map of Austin, Highway 71, Bastrop, TX 3.19.2009
Dear Clusterflock
Have any stories about that old crappy ten speed?
Lolling
some might be embarrassed
Yesterday was a good day. I left the house around 3:30 for a bike ride up to Folsom lake and back. There I was black cycling shorts stretched over my chicken legs hunched over the drop handlebars unable to keep my eyes off of the speed display on my bike computer. I was feeling good and was returning the fastest average speed I’d seen all year.
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dear clusterflock
How many domain names have you registered?
