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February 24, 2009
electronics
My doh moment today:
Me: What does it mean when it says it's not a listed journal in the electronic database?
Reference librarian w/ a stare: It means it's a bound volume.
Me:~sheepish grin~
I have become way too reliant on electronic media.
Posted by azileretsis at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2009
effects
The CBO projects that the GDP in 2015 and beyond will be as much as 0.2 percent smaller than it would have been without the stimulus package, dragged down by financing all the debt that's being piled up. - Big stimulus bill sparks long-term fiscal fears
If we were to see a positive psychological effect, it would have happened by now.
Posted by azileretsis at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)
cover
Citibank, the story behind the bank. Why you should care? Since, US government is so well known for good management.
Posted by azileretsis at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2009
downward
Frontline did a story about the economy that was very critical of Henry Paulson's actions. Instead of blaming excess and greed, Frontline found it easier to pick on individuals of the previous administration.
Why does the market not show confidence? Maybe, because it has no confidence of government or corporate fiscal responsibility.
At September 30, 2008, our liabilities exceeded our assets under GAAP by $(13.7) billion while our stockholders’ equity (deficit) totaled $(13.8) billion....Our aggregate losses on trading securities, our guarantee asset and derivatives, net of the unrealized gains on foreign-currency denominated debt, increased from $481 million in the second quarter of 2008 to $4.2 billion in the third quarter of 2008, as the turmoil in the markets contributed to dislocations in the normal correlations between different instruments. - Freddie Mac
Posted by azileretsis at 06:38 PM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2009
surf
I was about to blast Biology Workbench but it must have been pretty advanced in its day. Now, it is a relic. The site was built by someone who was more familiar w/ command line programming rather than website development.
Posted by azileretsis at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2009
like-minded
I am of the same mind-set as Drew Endy. Coming in as an IT person, it's natural to think of genetics as the programming of life forms. Of course, function is going to follow form. BTW, standardization would be awesome.
Additional note: Genetics differ from computer programming in that protein expression is key but any good website developer will tell you alot goes on the back of web page that a user does not see.
Posted by azileretsis at 05:56 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2009
damage
No damage! The latest virus shut down the Houston court system and they had to go back to pen and paper. My work network was also hit severely. However, it seemed that if the network administrator had been more careful about installing the updates, less or no damage would have occurred. A good systems administrator is well worth their price.
Posted by azileretsis at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2009
not fair
One thing I do not understand. Why do people with service professions with a higher degree feel they have an obligation or right to what they have, even sometimes to the point of being sly? Particularly, why do dentists and doctors feel they have an right to overcharge the government, insurance companies, and their patients? It's like their bitterness of not getting what is their right allows them to circumvent the system. Do they really feel that the system is not treating them fairly? Therefore, they can treat others unfairly? I'm sure I'm not the only one who got charged for a higher priced treatment without being told there was a cheaper option.
Fairness is subjective and objective. How a person feel about fairness is just as important as the action itself and how that feeling propels future actions. This idea is among many others why healthcare is such a difficult issue.
As for me, I feel that no matter who people are, they should be forced to play fairly in an open market. No matter how entitled they feel.
Posted by azileretsis at 01:23 PM | Comments (1)
February 05, 2009
the why
I believe that online social networks have their place. It's fun and good for maintaining contact to lots of people. However, it's not a substitute for real relationship maintenance. First, the site is not always what it seems. The site is not on your network and any information you put there, has become also a third party's data. Facebook has every right to mine whatever information you put online.
Second, Facebook makes us more selfish. It becomes about how we will or will not maintain our relationships. We no longer are interested in deeper relationships but find out only the superficial information about our friends. It's about our time. I mean who really cares that you came home late today. Instead, we don't know about what the state of mind our friends might be in due to an event that she or he is too embarassed to broadcast online. Instead, we hide ourselves behind catchy, witty statuses. We lose our ability to care and enjoy our friendships.
Do I know more people because of Facebook? No. Does it play a part in deepening my friendships? No. I leave getting to know my friends to the hard effort of knowing them face-to-face.
Posted by azileretsis at 06:49 PM | Comments (3)