"An EU financial transactions tax would be both desirable and feasible, argues an influential economist, Avinash Persaud, [...] his argument is based on the long-term impact of the UK's Stamp Duty Reserve Tax, which levies 0.5% on transactions in UK shares.
[...] the levy has been around in its current form for 25 years - and for longer in other incarnations - and hasn't been associated with the mass departure of equity trading away from the UK.
In fact, the London Stock Exchange has been remarkably successful in persuading international companies to list their shares in London: it has probably been the most successful stock market in the world, in that respect.
[...] a transactions tax might reduce the volume of transactions - especially in derivatives - designed for purely speculative purposes by increasing their cost.
[...] there is some evidence those deals increase irrational exuberance and manic depression in markets, to the detriment of businesses trying to finance themselves, and are also devices for extracting excessive fees from more gullible businesses [...]" (emphasis is mine)
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, financial markets were created for businesses and investors to meet. Or so the old legends say - I was not there yet, I am old but not that old:-P
You're assuming that the longterm survival of the species is a strong motivator for the average person. [...] What matters is our immediate happiness. [...] I increasingly suspect that an intelligent race would more likely not go into space. Interesting possibilities I've heard speculated are that it would ultimately commit mass suicide, feeling existence is pointless, or withdraw into a virtual reality world on its own planet [...]
Geoffrey Miller's take on Fermi's Paradox:
I suggest a different, even darker solution to the Paradox. Basically, I think the aliens don’t blow themselves up; they just get addicted to computer games. They forget to send radio signals or colonize space because they’re too busy with runaway consumerism and virtual-reality narcissism. They don’t need Sentinels to enslave them in a Matrix; they do it to themselves, just as we are doing today. Once they turn inwards to chase their shiny pennies of pleasure, they lose the cosmic plot. They become like a self-stimulating rat, pressing a bar to deliver electricity to its brain’s ventral tegmental area, which stimulates its nucleus accumbens to release dopamine, which feels... ever so good.
About having to change the password every x months; it is pointless unless the system checks against *similar* passwords. I know many people who will use passwords like Goofy01, Goofy02, Goofy03... If they have to change the password every six months, chances are they will leave for another job, or go into retirement, without ever really changing password!
Disclaimer: I manage most of my passwords through two different password managers (which allows me to use totally crazy random passwords that i don't have to remember and may change whenever I want; also, I have two different, strong passwords for the password managers and I do not write them down).
When I cannot / do not want to use the above mentioned, I mostly use a slight variation of the CompuServe scheme (I was a CompuServe user myself years ago) - but I put at least one UPPERCASE letter in each word (not necessarily the first letter!), for example: "slAsh;doT" or "sLash4dOt" (usually I choose LONGER words, actually!). This makes the password slightly harder to break and also meets most requirements for strong passwords.
"Another discovery: although industry standards say that onboard systems are supposed to be protected against unauthorized firmware updates, the researchers found that they could change the firmware on some systems without any sort of authentication."
1. some onboard systems are not compliant to standards, in what they are vulnerable to firmware tampering.
2. tampering with the firmware could be a more complex but very insidious form of sabotage (and it would not require to leave something connected to the ODBII port).
Now excuse me, I am going to find where the ODBII port on my car is located. Just to be on the safe side.;-)
What about a Consumer's License? You are not allowed to go shopping unless you prove you are capable of making rational choices and planning a budget.
Even better, and possibly more needed, a Parent's License - you are not allowed to reproduce unless you are willing and able to take proper care and responsibility for your offspring and their education. (Now that I think of it, maybe once upon a time there used to be something like that, but I can't remember what they called it... Marriage?)
Well, Peugeot does have a Diesel/Hybrid technology demonstrator right now: Hybrid HDi Engine
On the other hand, I heard Toyota dismissed the option as being too expensive and heavy. (The hybrid powertrain already adds plenty of weight and cost!)
I would rather ask: how come there is no gas turbine/hybrid powertrain? A gas turbine would be energy efficient, would greatly reduce weight, and would probably be cheaper than a gasoline engine when mass produced. This is not a new idea, I remember a design like that discussed on "Science" magazine in the early Eighties.
By coincidence, this morning I ran into this while checking some feeds I subscribed:
--- quote --- We're always going to need writers, but the business model of their platform is going to change.
People will pay for content if it is so unique they can't get it anywhere else, so fast they benefit from getting it before anyone else, or so related to their tribe that paying for it brings them closer to other people. [...]
Like all dying industries, the old perfect businesses will whine, criticize, demonize and most of all, lobby for relief. It won't work.
Globalization creates interlocking fragility, while reducing volatility and giving the appearance of stability. In other words it creates devastating Black Swans. We have never lived before under the threat of a global collapse. Financial Institutions have been merging into a smaller number of very large banks. Almost all banks are interrelated. So the financial ecology is swelling into gigantic, incestuous, bureaucratic banks - when one fails, they all fall. The increased concentration among banks seems to have the effect of making financial crisis less likely, but when they happen they are more global in scale and hit us very hard. We have moved from a diversified ecology of small banks, with varied lending policies, to a more homogeneous framework of firms that all resemble one another. True, we now have fewer failures, but when they occur...I shiver at the thought.
The government-sponsored institution Fannie Mae, when I look at its risks, seems to be sitting on a barrel of dynamite, vulnerable to the slightest hiccup. But not to worry: their large staff of scientists deem these events "unlikely".
Does the same apply to a cancerous limb? [...] Some traumatic memories eat away at your mental health.
You raise a good point. Now I feel bad for choosing that metaphor:-)
Nowadays, amputation is mostly used as a last resort, when other treatments failed, or were not applied properly, or the cancer/gangrene/infection spreads so fast there is no time to do otherwise.
Every rule has exceptions, so I guess there would be some circumstances where erasing an especially traumatizing memory would be the last viable option. I am rather concerned that, like other practices, this one could become a choice of mere convenience.
There are other considerations, that bring us further away from the "medical" metaphor. Let's consider a crime: the victim could have his/her memory erased, but what about the culprit? The perpetrator would remember the crime - and the victim - while the victim would have no memory of either.
Would that be fair? Should the memory of the culprit be erased too, provided that he/she were apprehended? Before or after the punishment? If both the victim and the perpetrator have no memory of the crime, did the crime really happen?
Then, again: what if several people share the same traumatic experience, but some of them do *not* want their memory removed? How would that affect both the "erased" and the "not-erased" ones?
IMHO if this were to become a common practice, it is going to raise a lot of debate.
Even for traumatic memories, I would choose healing and closure over forgetfulness anytime. I may like it or not, but I am the sum of all the things I experienced, and I am not looking forward to self-amputation.
On the other hand, I understand that achieving healing and closure is a very inefficient process - just being able to erase unpleasant experiences would probably set us free to pursue more worthy achievements, like making the current global economic breakdown ever worse...
I like M. Rossy's concept a lot. Besides the folding mechanism, the wing is very simple - no control surfaces, just a trim to adjust the angle of attack when the jets are on (and of course the throttle). All control (roll, pitch, jaw) is done through traditional skydiving techniques. That, and having to unfold the wing after the jump, requires a very experienced skydiver tho...
I bet his wing has a better gliding ratio than the Gryphon. And with the jets on, he can *climb* pretty fast!
Alas, he damaged the wing in April (he wasn't hurt) and now he is busy fixing it. I hope we'll see him flying again soon! (And seriously... Why Red Bull isn't sponsoring him?)
I don't know about California, but just one year ago some guy in Finland strapped two jets to the ankles of his wingsuit, jumped from a hot air balloon 7000ft from the ground, and ZOOMed through the sky!
M. Rossy's contraption looks much more impressive though.
what about a headset with caller ID display?
on
Caller ID Watches
·
· Score: 1
They have been around for a while. Just search the internet. Even Sony Ericsson has one (HBH 660). The new Cardo Scala 750 has a separate display *and* is (supposedly) compatible with any Bluetooth cellphone.
On a side note, the very first thing I do when I sit at my desk, is to take off my wristwatch:-)
The baton houses an antenna that produces microwaves that vary in frequency from 400 MHz to 1,350 MHz. When the microwaves hit a tumor, the tumor resonates at about 400 MHz, producing a signal that interferes with the original signal from the baton. [...] Information on this interference is sent to a computer that uses a set of algorithms to translate the information into a readable image.
(TRIMprob stands for Tissue Resonance InterferoMeter Probe)
Kidding aside, I'm just having a problem with the notion of equating terrorists with the heros I grew up loving.
When I was a kid, my favourite novel was about a guy who financed insurrections around the world, while cruising the oceans and sinking battleships with his submarine.
Maybe you have read it too. The title is '20.000 Leagues Under The Sea', by some French guy named Jules Verne...
BearingPoint is making business with Google now. Maybe using Blogspot wasn't the wisest choice after all... Too bad, I managed to read some of it two days ago and it was fun as hell:-D
Out of curiosity (it's not like I watch much TV anymore, anyway) I'm giving it a try right now. Can't say much about the contents yet (about three hundred something channels right now, some look like video podcasts, some other apparently not working). On the strictly technical side, seems to work.
Slashdot Mirror
Another interesting article on the subject that I bookmarked a few weeks ago:
BBC News - Could a transactions tax be good for capitalism?
Quote:
"An EU financial transactions tax would be both desirable and feasible, argues an influential economist, Avinash Persaud, [...] his argument is based on the long-term impact of the UK's Stamp Duty Reserve Tax, which levies 0.5% on transactions in UK shares.
[...] the levy has been around in its current form for 25 years - and for longer in other incarnations - and hasn't been associated with the mass departure of equity trading away from the UK.
In fact, the London Stock Exchange has been remarkably successful in persuading international companies to list their shares in London: it has probably been the most successful stock market in the world, in that respect.
[...] a transactions tax might reduce the volume of transactions - especially in derivatives - designed for purely speculative purposes by increasing their cost.
[...] there is some evidence those deals increase irrational exuberance and manic depression in markets, to the detriment of businesses trying to finance themselves, and are also devices for extracting excessive fees from more gullible businesses [...]" (emphasis is mine)
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, financial markets were created for businesses and investors to meet. Or so the old legends say - I was not there yet, I am old but not that old :-P
On the same subject: BBC News - How scary is a financial transactions tax?
What could possibly go wrong?
(Just kidding.)
At least some big Chinese companies are now starting to build up their own intellectual property and branding.
I'd guess, that's what their Government is aiming to protect.
Good luck with that.
I was just thinking that the two companies should partner together, and offer totally customized masks made on request.
What could possibly go wrong?
BTW masks from SPFXmasks have already been used to perpetrate crimes:
News - Bank Robbery Suspect Fools Cops with Realistic Mask - InsideEdition.com
Face mask that's so good every crook wants one - Americas, World - The Independent
Spfxmasks - Gizmodo stories - Gizmodo
You're assuming that the longterm survival of the species is a strong motivator for the average person. [...] What matters is our immediate happiness. [...] I increasingly suspect that an intelligent race would more likely not go into space. Interesting possibilities I've heard speculated are that it would ultimately commit mass suicide, feeling existence is pointless, or withdraw into a virtual reality world on its own planet [...]
Geoffrey Miller's take on Fermi's Paradox:
I suggest a different, even darker solution to the Paradox. Basically, I think the aliens don’t blow themselves up; they just get addicted to computer games. They forget to send radio signals or colonize space because they’re too busy with runaway consumerism and virtual-reality narcissism. They don’t need Sentinels to enslave them in a Matrix; they do it to themselves, just as we are doing today. Once they turn inwards to chase their shiny pennies of pleasure, they lose the cosmic plot. They become like a self-stimulating rat, pressing a bar to deliver electricity to its brain’s ventral tegmental area, which stimulates its nucleus accumbens to release dopamine, which feels... ever so good.
Why We Haven’t Met Any Aliens
Geoffrey Miller
...I put two post-its with "NOT HERE!" written on them under my keyboard and mousepad ;-)
About having to change the password every x months; it is pointless unless the system checks against *similar* passwords. I know many people who will use passwords like Goofy01, Goofy02, Goofy03... If they have to change the password every six months, chances are they will leave for another job, or go into retirement, without ever really changing password!
Disclaimer: I manage most of my passwords through two different password managers (which allows me to use totally crazy random passwords that i don't have to remember and may change whenever I want; also, I have two different, strong passwords for the password managers and I do not write them down).
When I cannot / do not want to use the above mentioned, I mostly use a slight variation of the CompuServe scheme (I was a CompuServe user myself years ago) - but I put at least one UPPERCASE letter in each word (not necessarily the first letter!), for example: "slAsh;doT" or "sLash4dOt" (usually I choose LONGER words, actually!). This makes the password slightly harder to break and also meets most requirements for strong passwords.
From TFA:
"Another discovery: although industry standards say that onboard systems are supposed to be protected against unauthorized firmware updates, the researchers found that they could change the firmware on some systems without any sort of authentication."
1. some onboard systems are not compliant to standards, in what they are vulnerable to firmware tampering.
2. tampering with the firmware could be a more complex but very insidious form of sabotage (and it would not require to leave something connected to the ODBII port).
Now excuse me, I am going to find where the ODBII port on my car is located. Just to be on the safe side. ;-)
I think this idea should be extended.
What about a Consumer's License? You are not allowed to go shopping unless you prove you are capable of making rational choices and planning a budget.
Even better, and possibly more needed, a Parent's License - you are not allowed to reproduce unless you are willing and able to take proper care and responsibility for your offspring and their education. (Now that I think of it, maybe once upon a time there used to be something like that, but I can't remember what they called it... Marriage?)
Well, Peugeot does have a Diesel/Hybrid technology demonstrator right now:
Hybrid HDi Engine
On the other hand, I heard Toyota dismissed the option as being too expensive and heavy. (The hybrid powertrain already adds plenty of weight and cost!)
I would rather ask: how come there is no gas turbine/hybrid powertrain? A gas turbine would be energy efficient, would greatly reduce weight, and would probably be cheaper than a gasoline engine when mass produced. This is not a new idea, I remember a design like that discussed on "Science" magazine in the early Eighties.
By coincidence, this morning I ran into this while checking some feeds I subscribed:
--- quote ---
We're always going to need writers, but the business model of their platform is going to change.
People will pay for content if it is so unique they can't get it anywhere else, so fast they benefit from getting it before anyone else, or so related to their tribe that paying for it brings them closer to other people. [...]
Like all dying industries, the old perfect businesses will whine, criticize, demonize and most of all, lobby for relief. It won't work.
[ Seth's Blog: Malcolm is wrong (6 July 2009) http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/malcolm-is-wrong.html ]
--- end quote ---
The post was about newspapers and magazines, but I believe it might be relevant here as well.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
In 2006, in The Black Swan [ 16 ]
Does the same apply to a cancerous limb? [...] Some traumatic memories eat away at your mental health.
You raise a good point. Now I feel bad for choosing that metaphor :-)
Nowadays, amputation is mostly used as a last resort, when other treatments failed, or were not applied properly, or the cancer/gangrene/infection spreads so fast there is no time to do otherwise.
Every rule has exceptions, so I guess there would be some circumstances where erasing an especially traumatizing memory would be the last viable option. I am rather concerned that, like other practices, this one could become a choice of mere convenience.
There are other considerations, that bring us further away from the "medical" metaphor. Let's consider a crime: the victim could have his/her memory erased, but what about the culprit? The perpetrator would remember the crime - and the victim - while the victim would have no memory of either.
Would that be fair? Should the memory of the culprit be erased too, provided that he/she were apprehended? Before or after the punishment? If both the victim and the perpetrator have no memory of the crime, did the crime really happen?
Then, again: what if several people share the same traumatic experience, but some of them do *not* want their memory removed? How would that affect both the "erased" and the "not-erased" ones?
IMHO if this were to become a common practice, it is going to raise a lot of debate.
Maybe I am just grouchy but...
Even for traumatic memories, I would choose healing and closure over forgetfulness anytime. I may like it or not, but I am the sum of all the things I experienced, and I am not looking forward to self-amputation.
On the other hand, I understand that achieving healing and closure is a very inefficient process - just being able to erase unpleasant experiences would probably set us free to pursue more worthy achievements, like making the current global economic breakdown ever worse...
Again, sorry for ranting.
(I should check Slashdot daily as I used to do...)
More videos and photos on M. Rossy's website (and a new sponsor...)
I like M. Rossy's concept a lot. Besides the folding mechanism, the wing is very simple - no control surfaces, just a trim to adjust the angle of attack when the jets are on (and of course the throttle). All control (roll, pitch, jaw) is done through traditional skydiving techniques. That, and having to unfold the wing after the jump, requires a very experienced skydiver tho...
I bet his wing has a better gliding ratio than the Gryphon. And with the jets on, he can *climb* pretty fast!
Alas, he damaged the wing in April (he wasn't hurt) and now he is busy fixing it. I hope we'll see him flying again soon! (And seriously... Why Red Bull isn't sponsoring him?)
I don't know about California, but just one year ago some guy in Finland strapped two jets to the ankles of his wingsuit, jumped from a hot air balloon 7000ft from the ground, and ZOOMed through the sky!
M. Rossy's contraption looks much more impressive though.
They have been around for a while. Just search the internet. Even Sony Ericsson has one (HBH 660). The new Cardo Scala 750 has a separate display *and* is (supposedly) compatible with any Bluetooth cellphone.
:-)
On a side note, the very first thing I do when I sit at my desk, is to take off my wristwatch
Hey! Steve Gibson is still around and very busy!
Check his website Gibson Research Corporation
(TRIMprob stands for Tissue Resonance InterferoMeter Probe)
When I was a kid, my favourite novel was about a guy who financed insurrections around the world, while cruising the oceans and sinking battleships with his submarine.
Maybe you have read it too. The title is '20.000 Leagues Under The Sea', by some French guy named Jules Verne...
Should be http://bearingit.blogspot.com/ - but now returns a "404 - page not found" error :-(
:-D
BearingPoint is making business with Google now. Maybe using Blogspot wasn't the wisest choice after all... Too bad, I managed to read some of it two days ago and it was fun as hell
Maybe it's old news, but I saw it first two days ago:
;-)
Democracy - Internet TV Platform
Out of curiosity (it's not like I watch much TV anymore, anyway) I'm giving it a try right now. Can't say much about the contents yet (about three hundred something channels right now, some look like video podcasts, some other apparently not working). On the strictly technical side, seems to work.
Should we tell Cringely?
Just in case someone missed it:
Banned Xbox 360 Ad
You know, I was reading the other dotters' postings, and I thought: "Wow! Plenty of experimental evidence!"
:-)
I know it's dumb but I couldn't resist