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October 13, 2008
hello world
I love this image on the Wiki page on synthetic biology. Many times, I have had the excitement of seeing "hello world" pop up when learning a new programming language. The reason I landed there is due to Economist article about glowing viruses, well, bacteriophages.
Posted by azileretsis at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2008
my addiction
I'm in love.....with, hopefully, my next computer. More information on the 2730p.
Posted by azileretsis at 01:42 PM | Comments (1)
October 09, 2008
lesson
Economist has an interesting article about the validity of scientific publications. My pet peeve with scientific publications these days is that in the rush to publish, the scientific analysis gets sacrificed. Scientists seek shortcuts in their rush to get acknowledgment for first discovery. These shortcuts include presenting data rather than information. It's not a bad environment for some people who are looking to data mine. Well, as long as their data is statistically significant. However, it's not a good trend.
On the economy, wow about the drop today .
Another thought on the economy, I think we have a trap in front of us of providing too nice of a net for obviously, poor financial decision makers. Can Americans really cut back or will they spend any additional money that arises from these governmental refinancing terms? Are we just delaying an economic collapse?
Also, on the AIG story about excessive retreat spending, AIG has an interesting business model in that they have a distributorship. Their business model is a popular one, used by McDonald's and Ford. The center of their problem had nothing to do with distributorship (their core business) or even their spending at the retreat. Their problem is just like a common homeowner. The value of their debt is greater than their ability to hold cash. AIG is the investment company for teachers and state employees. Do we really feel it is in the country's best interest to sink them now?
In a recent conversation with a colleague, he mentioned that USAA (US militarist's investment bank) would survive in the current financial environment or else. It is always about the customers.
Posted by azileretsis at 06:40 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2008
change
I hate when a website become worse with an iteration. TV.com used to be my favorite TV show website but now, I'm just wandering around in the ads.
Also, when did deregulation become a bad word? Every time that word comes up on NPR, which is constant, it is made to sound evil. Deregulation of commodities is a good thing in that regulation of commodities adds cost to the item. Like every good consumer knows, any extra cost gets passed to the consumer. Certain commodities do need to be regulated when it comes to public safety or emergency situations but constant regulation of certain goods, even oil, leads to increase in price or to an unseen cost long-term, not a decrease. A good example of this is airline regulation in the 70s.
Does NPR always become such a political tool so close to the election time?
Posted by azileretsis at 04:56 PM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2008
issues
I've been bewildered at some of my peers' sentiments concerning the election in different parts of the country. Can we come back to the basics of this election and look just at the issues and where each stand? What is so intriguing about a person that we forget about the issues and what worldviews they may have when they face such imminent issues such as the bankruptcy of Social Security and Medicare and rising costs of health care among others. This vote is not about what we imagine the candidates to be or want them to be but who they are right now. I want someone who can be presidential on their first day not when they get the hang of the job.
Posted by azileretsis at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)