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December 17, 2008

taxes

As I rode in this morning, I heard on the radio a woman earnestly praising taxes. It is an idea that liberals have not even dared to bring out for decades but now, it's out there. She wasn't just praising the corporate taxes but taxes for the average American. We have to figure out a way to pay for these bailouts without falling into deflation. Do we want to pay more than we are currently paying? Is the government the best spender in a recession?

Also, the Fed's policy did not do much in the bull market and it's not going to do enough in a bear market.

Interesting thoughts about how the Great Depression was portrayed in It's a Wonderful Life.

Posted by azileretsis at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2008

drive

With external hard drive prices dropping like a rock, it's hard to decide a moment to buy. I'm leaning toward a PS3.

I think easy access to search is not always a good thing. A quote used in one of the shows I watch forgot to mention that this quote is from Henry V, one of my favorite Shakespeare plays.

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother;
- Henry V, William Shakespeare

Posted by azileretsis at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2008

spice

Did you know that spices can help diabetes? No free full article that I could find.

Posted by azileretsis at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)

beware

What's wrong with eBay? I bought a power adapter 7 months ago (PC531 or DP/N 5U092) and it has also died on me. I need to mention this is the second power adapter to die on me w/ my Dell 700M. These power adapters are trash! So, I go in and see if I can leave feedback for the eBay seller of the trash, eBay doesn't allow feedback for buyers after 60 days. Since I absolutely need my laptop now, I had to go ahead and buy another power adapter from another seller. After I purchased the adapter, I was hit with a shipping and handling fee that the seller (dvdstogo) didn't mention until I made my purchase. Then, I go back to leave feedback for the seller, eBay won't let me leave feedback for seven days. I also can't leave feedback for other sellers (my first seller had multiple names, Systems Integration Business Corp, aka sib-wholesaler or anything like that). When did eBay start protecting their sellers so strongly? Those feedback responses mean NOTHING to me, now that I understand that they do not realistically provide any long-term information on a eBay seller's customer service.

Beware buyer.

Posted by azileretsis at 01:50 PM | Comments (1)

December 03, 2008

reading

I am passionate about financial literacy. I disagree on the value of the correspondent's time. It behooves all of us to teach the poor, middle class, and even those that consider themselves rich more about financial literacy.

In the category of "what will they think of next", bacteria motels where they check-in but don't check-out.

Interesting thoughts about MBAs. I found that my MBA program taught me more about how to work in a team and think outside of my own ambitions than my current graduate program.

Florence Nightingale is my icon when it comes to statistical diagrams.

News about Obama & his Science transition team.

Dancing in Science, outrageous and absolutely hilarious! Hemoglobin will never be the same again. I'm surprised they don't mention the well-known protein synthesis dance.

I love Slashdot.

I'm grieved over Mumbai. Pakistan is one of those places that has been affected by the growing food commodity prices. It is evidence of growing instability in the region.

I love Movable Type. However, it isn't perfect. I just discovered a solution to a known bug on my site. All it took was one line of code. Why didn't they already have it in there!?!

Posted by azileretsis at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2008

thoughts

Finally, National Bureau of Economic Research have declared a recession, since December 2007. However, people seem pretty optimistic that it can't get any worse.

On Black Friday, I was a little surprised at the crowds and the purchases being made. 7.2% increase was definitely evident in the TV purchases being made. Cyber Monday is a joke. I have yet to find really good deals. I think it's because the stores did pretty well on Black Friday. One local store sales were up 40% from last year.

On other things, over the weekend, I read Virus by Luc Montagnier. He helped to discover the HIV virus. The story is an interesting one with many bitter residual insights from Montagnier. It did make me wonder if good research could come out of the non-western world. Montagnier was groomed to be the investigator he became. Does the East have the right ingredients to groom the next generation of innovative and competitive investigators?

I think I know what I want for Christmas, Virus Dynamics. The author, Martin A. Nowak, is also into game theory. I also want this timer!

Posted by azileretsis at 07:36 PM | Comments (0)