Finance Homework

Hypothetical Problem: You've just inherited 80,000$. What do you do with it?

My response was:
1) Pay off debt starting with highest interest rate debt. Don't pay
off student loans or mortgage because there is a tax benefit to those
and my fixed rates are lower than inflation or investment returns.
2) Repairs and Maintenance on paid off car or new 3 year used car.
3) 6 months living expenses in ING.
4) Max out my Ameritrade ROTH IRA (5000$)
5) Max out an IRA for a Significant Other (5000$)
6) Stock up on clothes and necessities
7) Buy a few toys and gifts
8) Throw a party
9) Invest the rest through Ameritrade in an Index Fund.

What would you do?

TV Review: Heroes

Rating: 5 stars for Episode 1 and 3

Everyone wants to be something more. Heroes taps into this base human drive and projects what-if scenarios that fit into real life. This has been done before in comic books and movies about super heroes. Heroes is going one step further and uses a combination of suspense, fast-action, psychology, different cultures, and a limitless cast of super-people to do that which I believe art should do; tap into the drive to be a better human being in all of us. It leaves me wondering: what are my special powers? None, I'm sure, but what-if. See the attraction?

I'm going to continue watching this series as time allows. I like how I feel right now.

Chinese Food

I ate Chinese food for dinner last evening. It was tasty, but I brought 75% home with me.

I also started reading Home Buying for Dummies which has been great. The housing market still has a distance to fall before the prices are where I'd like them.

One of the gifts I got this year for the holidays was Forbes Magazine. The first Issue arrived today and has a lot of information to review. It seems to be a quality publication, unlike Money or Fortune. I've moved out of Atlas Mining (ALMI) because I see some interesting investments I'd like to pursue. Also, it'll be interesting to see how a loss in an IRA is calculated for the tax season.

Movie: V for Vendetta

Rating: 5 stars

This movie was an excellent discussion of how Authoritarian regimes can come to power and why it is necessary to prevent their rise. It asks some fundamental questions that any citizen should think about when contemplating their government. It is artistic, interesting, challenging, and hopeful. It would be a great movie for a person to watch after they finish reading George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm.

I have to thank my friends for this movie experience. Without their excellent taste acting as a filter for me, I wouldn't find a lot of great movies.

The only product placement I noticed was for Dell Computers.

Sin City Movie Review

Sin City: 5 stars

The first time I watched Sin City, I took a christian asian girl to see it. She couldn't handle the blood and gore of the movie and I lost interest in her shortly after. I don't remember her name. The next night, I took another girl to see it and she enjoyed it greatly. I remember that she sold sex products through house parties but strangely enough not her name. I think she was critical of me sometime that night and that turned me off, though I have thought about her a few times since.

Sin City is a great movie. It is visually appealing. Mentally challenging. It has a pulp fiction-esque style that leads you through the lives of three interconnected individuals in Sin City....but you don't see all of the connections until the end and the movie subtly drops clues to these connections as it progresses through their narratives. It has two product placements: AAA, and Springfield Armory but these took a third watching to see, and they were subtle. There was Nazi Symbolism that made me question my support of the movie, but it all seemed to fit together well. There was also the hidden moral that I don't mind but I would be annoyed with if I was of a different complexion; protect the blond blue-eyed caucasian girl at any cost.

The line I picked up from the movie in this watching was spoken by one of the henchmen, he said "Never give an Irishman a cause for revenge." This group of characters reminds me of the IRA conflict in Great Britain. Again, everything is very subtle and nuanced. You take out of the movie the things that you brought into it. Like I said, a great film.

Genocide Retribution

Having just watched Hotel Rwanda, an excellent movie, It strikes me odd that the trials of the offenders of genocide take a very long time to conclude. For example, Mengistu Haile Mariam's trial lasted 12 years. What happened in the intervening times? Did the evil leader get to live freely? Did he enjoy his last 12 years of freedom? I would like the trials of crimes against humanity to be sped up. I would like the guilty to begin their punishments as soon as possible within the laws of justice. Not that I have any political influence.

Step 1: Identify the Problem: Perpetrators of Crimes may not receive punishments in a timely manner, thus enjoying the larger portion of their lives.

Step 2: Discuss the Problem: See above.

Step 3: Propose one or more workable solutions.

Step 4: Implement a workable solution.

Investors Beware

Today begins the time block of investor hysteria where everyone will have a great stock tip and will be telling all of their friends what to buy and how they themselves became a success. Meanwhile, the smart money is moving out of the market and into safer investments. While I expect the market to go up for another year, I expect to reduce my exposure over time. Anything above a 12%/year return is something you should take to the bank. Beyond that and you're playing with fire.

Just wanted to record the exact date for posterity.

Movie: Poseidon

So, I just finished watching the movie Poseidon. It had a decent cast, a lot of special effects, and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the movie. The plot was mind-numbingly simple. Its only surprises were when a main character died, which I applaud. Overall, I felt that the movie was not spectacular. Given the plot that they had the director did a great job, as did the actors, but the story itself was just lacking. So, 3 stars.

Fourth Dimension

Every person changes with every sensory perception. Everything we see, feel, taste, hear, or smell changes us. Some people incorporate changes quickly others disregard completely the influences that nevertheless do change us all. Somewhere in the middle is the Everyperson, both affected and diffident. The evolutionary drive of the Everyperson to reproduce and prosper pushes them, in their unique biology, to constantly reinvent who they are in an effort to maximize these activities. Thus, does the Everyman develop; in a constant swirl of influences from all of their senses. The fourth dimension is upon them!

sex advice to give to all young girls

http://tweekerchick.blogspot.com/2006/11/so.html

IP Index

"The Ocean Tomo 300(TM) Patent Index is the most relevant index to measure the knowledge economy. It allows investors for the first time to commit a meaningful and sustainable portion of their capital to intellectual property as a distinct asset class ... the most valuable asset of the knowledge economy," Cardoza added.

Efficiency

Ever since I started work in 1962 I have seen my effective output increase year on year. Before the explosion of ICT, I used all manner of techniques to minimise paper, cut back on duplication and improve my overall efficiency and effectiveness. These measures very nearly doubled my productivity each decade but with the arrival of ICT this figure gradually rose to tenfold per decade.

By merely taking advantage of the continually increasing processing, storage and communication power, I achieved a substantial increase. But it was by using a continually evolving raft of applications, coupled with adapting my working practices, that the whole really took effect. Through the latter half of the 1980s, all of the 1990s and until recently my progress was relentless - tenfold every 10 years.

Unfortunately I am now approaching stasis. Any amount of basic machine upgrading, and it continues apace, won't make a jot of difference, as I am now the fundamental slowdown agent. I just can't work any faster; I just can't find any new tricks to get another big productivity hike. It seems I'm to be stuck in a 2004/05 mode for some time.

So if raw processing power, storage and bandwidth can't help, what will? What is it I need to leap forward by another factor of 10? In a word: intelligence. In two words: machine intelligence. I need something that monitors my activities, anticipates my next move and automatically satisfies my needs.

Search engines are impressive and often useless at the same time. Knowing that there are 64,431,000 references for the term 'artificial intelligence' isn't a whole lot of use! What we need is a cognitive approach with search material retreated and presented in some context relative to our current end-objectives at the time.

When will we see such technologies? They are around now and in use by people engaged in companies, security and legal systems who have to be able to search vast numbers of documents quickly. Some of the technology is based on statistical inference techniques with some extended by artificial life. For the time being they remain far too expensive for most but sooner or later they will appear to a wider audience.

The other big winner is in the area of decision support based on modeling and prior history.

For my part, I'd like to start with a system that manages all my interfaces and remembers all my habits. An effective search engine would be next followed by modeling and decision support. I really do need symbiotic support!

Global Rich List

I'm loaded. It's official. I'm the 55,146,441 richest person on earth! How rich are you?

My only issue with this calculation is that it is only based on income and does not include assets.

Apophis 2036

Isn't this a scary thought:

A smallish asteroid called Apophis has already been identified as a possible threat to Earth in 2036.

Iraq Solution

So, this idea sounds like a good one:

(I came up with it myself but then ran into other places where it has been suggested).

In Alaska, a portion of the revenue from the oil found there is placed in a fund managed by professional investors. Each resident of Alaska gets an equal portion of that wealth each year.

This would work very well for Iraq.

best,

Dave

A Cynic's Politics

Industry	Democratic Recipients	Republican Recipients
Alcohol	$25.6 million	$31.5 million
Tobacco	$11.8 million	$36.5 million

(source: Center for Responsive Politics)
Is this about getting the Tobacco boys to cough up their "fair share" to the DNC?

aerated shower

30% savings on water usage for under 20$.

Aerated Showerhead:

http://www.physorg.com/news82299918.html

Movie: Mission Impossible 3

Last night's movie night presented Mission Impossible 3.

I give the movie 2 starts out of 5.

While it's physical challenges were interesting and the choreography was well done, The movie lacked any real plot. The ideas were not inventive and there was no story. After 10 minutes, I lost interest and the rest of the movie did nothing to draw me back in.

mool

1) Releasing energy from the sun and dispersing it through storms and gravity across the planet.

2) Also, my brain stopped working a few seconds ago as I was asked a coding question.
I had felt that the the item I forgot was very valuable.

excel macros...
money for coworker lunch...
monetary policy...
drink more water...
meetings...
automating code...
traveling with people...
and the eureka moment is gone...darn

roadtrip Hotel discounts

A simple way to get a discount on hotels is to stop by any information center in the state where you?re driving and search the magazines. These magazines are filled with discount coupons for hotels (usually 20% - 40% off).

best,

Dave

Stocks

EBAY, DELL, AMD, INTEL, LM are all looking good to me.

I'm bearish on the rest of the market.

best,

Dave

Trouble

So, my gf is crying, my family is disconnected, my wallet is empty, my friends are scattered, and my work is a constant strain.

I'm trying to be zen about all of it but its difficult when the people I care about are blaming me for not helping them with their misfortunes. I guess I'm just a terrible person with no soul....or just really tired.

Dave

Senex Sum

Senex Sum.

Hair Care

http://100777.com/health/shampoo

best,

Dave

Tools

Today, in my computer bag I found my leatherman wave which had been missing for about 6 months. This is an amazing tool that I've had since 2001. I was highly distraught when it went missing. I ended up buying a leatherman fuse at the mall to compensate but I haven't been as happy with it. The fuse has minor rust after 6 months which the wave doesn't.

Now that I've been reunited with one of my missing items, and another is getting closer and closer, I feel much more whole. Its amazing how a day filled with noise can become suddenly peaceful and happy with the discovery of something you had given up hope for.

No expectations. It'll be gone again tomorrow.

Languages

1. Scheme/Lisp. If you come from a ?curly braces? background you should learn a functional language.
   As Eric Raymond says about the very similar Lisp:
   LISP is worth learning for a different reason ? the profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it. That experience will make you a better programmer for the rest of your days, even if you never actually use LISP itself a lot.
   I prefer Scheme because it is purer (no need for funcall).

2. Erlang. Another functional language. Concurrency done right. In the multiprocessor future this could be very important indeed.

3. Ruby. A conscious attempt to make a programming language that is a joy to use. String handling from Perl, OO from Smalltalk, closures from Lisp/Scheme.

4. Javascript. The only way to create a rich UI in current web browsers.

5. C. For when things must be fast. Use with Ruby, Python and many other languages when you need to optimize a section of your code for performance.

Today's Notes

Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece.

Goldcorp.

Lockheed won a NASA contract to build the next space shuttle.

5" of rain expected today.

22 Bombs in Thailand's banking sectors.

Today's Notes

So, Senator Stevens blocked a Congressional fiscal responsibility database.


Open GL 2.0 is worth learning because AMD/ATI seem to be following it.

Off the coast of Taiwan there is a lake of CO2 under the ocean.

People are in an effort to remove the bible from Walmart's shelves.

Linus Doesn't like debuggers...he uses GDB as a disassembler on steroids.

So...there is no proof that Jesus walked on water as a miracle.

Andrew Tobias thinks VZ is a good investment.
Andrew Tobias things that BOREF is a good investment.

In the market for a TV...and a metal bedframe...and some wall mounted shelves.

peace,

Dave

WSJ Notes

So today's notes:

Trust for America's Health exists and should be researched further.

Don't buy Orange Juice for the rest of the year...its cost is going up because of a bad season.

The dollar will go up against the Chinese Yuan in the next month, but so will every other currency.

Gambling

Went gambling with 10$. came out with $0.80. Thats a pretty hefty % loss.

Evolution

This Monk is educated on Evolution, below are some myths on evolution:
1) Evolution gives you what you need
2) Homo Sapiens popped out of monkeys one day
3) The theory of evolution is tied to the big bang theory
4) The theory of evolution says random chemicals mysteriously made the first cell
5) Darwin took back his theory of evolution on his death bed
6) The eye accidentally formed itself
7) Things evolve magically without natural selection involved
8) Evolution equals eugenics
9) Evolution has a GOAL
10) Evolution can happen to anything, even watches and pottery
11) Evolution's a scientific conspiracy theory to battle Christianity
12) Evolution equals Atheism
13) There are differences between micro and macro evolution
14) Evolution is a random process
15) There are no transition fossils
16) Homo Sapiens evolved from the Apes that exist today
17) The second law of thermodynamics makes evolution impossible
18) If evolution is true, Why do monkeys still exist?
19) Evolution requires faith
20) Survival of the fittest means organisms should go kill off weaker members of its species to make survival easier for the stronger members
21) Physical changes that occur during the lifetime of an organism will be passed onto their offspring
22) Survival of the fittest is circular logic
23) Only the fittest survive. (In actuality, if an organism survives to reproduce it is considered "fit").
24) Organisms evolve/mutate during their lifetime if a new selection pressure exerts itself.
25) Evolution caused slavery
26) Many scientists are now casting doubt on Darwin's theory
27) Charles Darwin is Satan
28) Evolution can't exist because of irreducible complexity
29) Evolution is JUST a theory
30) God made evolution so he could trick as many scientists as he could into believing it, instead of him, just so he could light them on fire for all eternity. But he still loves them
31) Homo Sapiens and dinosaurs existed at the same time. T-Rex used to be a vegetarian
32) Darwinists claim that ANY criticism of the theory of evolution is unscientific
33) Evolution is refuted by the Cambrian Explosion
34) Scientists believe in evolution.
35) There is great strife in the scientific community over evolution
36) Evolution can't explain love
37) If evolution is true, why are there homosexuals?
38) There are no transitional forms: One species gives birth to another! Through magic!
39) If you are educated in evolution, then you think it's okay to kill, rape, and steal
40) Evolution is not testable or empirical
41) If there was no Darwin, then there never would have been a Hitler
42) The best explanation of the interaction between bees and flowers must be a designer. Evolution has to do with survival from predators, not how well you can carry pollen.
43) Mutations are never beneficial
44) There are limits to biological change: new kinds never arise
45) Vertebrate embryos never resemble each other
46) Evolution must be wrong because gravity pulls things down, this clearly doesn't happen because birds can stay up in the air.
47) It was God who created the world. It says so in the bible, therefore it must be true.
48) Evolution was responsible for the Columbine high school shooting
49) Evolution can never be proven because we didn't see it occur

"this is the future"

http://www.infectiousvideos.com/index.php?p=showvid&a=playvid&sid=1567&cr=hotplay

car stuff -- fuel efficience

http://www.omninerd.com/2006/07/16/articles/57

Edmunds performed experiments showing cruise control saving fuel up to 14%, while typically averaging 7% fuel savings.

The graph confirms common sense regarding not using the correct gears.

In sixth gear with the air conditioning operating, the vehicle consumed more fuel than driving at the equivalent speed (without air conditioning) in fourth gear.

55mph = roughly 21 miles per gallon. (best)

I have noticed the effects of drafting to be an enormous boon to fuel efficiency.

Multiple studies show that accelerating slower will dramatically improve fuel efficiency. They found fuel savings up to 37% with an average of 31% simply by accelerating a car slowly.

Older engines using a carburetor in lieu of an ECU may actually benefit from a throttle body spacer, but not a comptuer controlled engine.

EPA analysis of fuel magnet devices determined they have no effect on the performance of automobiles.

ECU can be modified, overridden or completely replaced. Hypertech features a product that rewrites the mappings of the ECU through the vehicle's OBDII port, altering the manner in which it treats sensor input.

power is increased from the colder air.

Ethanol has a lower BTU than gasoline...therefore it won't go as far per gallon as gasoline.

Ethanol fuels provide nearly 30% less BTUs than standard gasoline. Regardless of whether the vehicle was designed for E85 or using it accidently, it will not obtain the efficiency of standard gasoline.

Whereas the internal combustion engine compresses both fuel and air simultaneously, the diesel compresses only the air.

Not only did the higher compression ratio offer improved power, but diesel fuel itself contains more energy per unit resulting in even more efficiency.

Common Rail Diesel (CRD) systems are an improvement to the traditional diesel. The CRD make better use of fuel by increasing the delivery pressure and reducing even further the number of necessary engine components.84 Combined with innovative emissions filters like advanced ceramics, urea screens and particulate traps, diesel engines are making a cleaner burn of their fuel.

Fuel efficiency can be achieved in a number of ways. The purchase of a fuel efficient automobile, of course, leads the way in effectiveness. But for those owners already hampered by a gas guzzler or those with a functional need for the vehicle, simply buying a new car is not a viable option. Instead, owners need to adjust driving habits, install performance upgrades or select improved fuels.

Changing driving habits introduce a profound effect on fuel savings for any vehicle. In brief, the following tips collectively save gas in the long run.

* slower acceleration
* reduced top speed
* proper tire inflation
* using cruise control
* proper vehicle lubrication
* correct transmission gears
* using air conditioning only when necessary
* reducing aerodynamic drag
* removing excess weight

Business

What is a business?

Is it a set of processes?
Is it a reputation?
Is it the intellectual property?
Is it the history?
Is it the people?
Is it the tradition?
Is it the clients?
Is it the type of business?
Is it the products?

Interesting Points

When it comes to basic living standards, studies show that money has a great influence on happiness. If we have $40,000 a year - we have enough money to be happy. After the basic needs are met, the next $50,000, $100,000, $1,000,000 or $10 million has little effect on your happiness. If you have a lot of money and are able to spend your time any way you want, you?re not going to be happy if you haven?t developed relationships or activities that make you happy.

99% of the items you purchase you should be able to get for 20% or more of their retail price. In order to get these type of returns, you will have to be organized and spend some time plotting out a plan.

It is important to work on the budget and debt reduction using as many painless saving ideas as possible to begin the debt reduction process.

Interesting quotes.

AVGFree

Antivirus software review:
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-free

Quote

"compilers are better at reading code than developers."

This is the key to efficient programmers.

Is it the key to efficient designs?

ING

Looks like ING is at 4.35% today. This is great for your 6 months of living expenses.

Silver Roller Machine

So I should build and market a machine for rolling silverware/flatware in napkins in the restaurant style. A device could be used by pouring in wet silverware from the dishwasher and having it select and roll them. It should be marketed at around 150$.

Ethanol

Alright, so instead of a windfarm off the coast of the USA...we should create a powerplant that runs on Brazilian Sugarcane Ethanol.

Ethanol Tariffs

"The Wall Street Journal is urging Washington to discard the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol."

I agree that the federal tariff on ethanol is a bad thing. I think Reducing the tariff by 5 cents each year until it reaches zero would be a good compromise and allow the corn industry to move to other products.

If individual states would like to impose tariffs/taxes they can do it on their level.

Sick Today

Hello. I'm sick today. I hope everyone else is maintaining their health.

best.

Hateful Religion Bad

http://www.faithinamerica.info/newSite/media.html

good site.

Retirement

Assumptions:
4% inflation
7% roi

I require 38,000$/year to live a comfortable lifestyle.
To make this for 40 years while I'm in retirement, I'll need to pay out 182,400$ each year (38000$ after 4% inflation).
To reach 182,400$ or more / year in retirement I need to invest $12,000 @7% or higher each year for 40 years.

This is what I call a conservative estimate. In good years I hope to get higher than 7% return and my faith in the capitalist market and the continuing progress of science and technology lead me to be positive. I, like most investors, believe myself to be a good investor.

I also plan to invest more early on, alleviating the need to invest as much in the later years. 18000$ / year means I'd only have to work 35 years to pay for 40 years of living past retirement.

As my income increases with inflation and promotions, putting in the same amount of money (14000$+/year) will be a smaller and smaller piece of the total pie.

Hence, I'll be taken care of if I make 14,000 + 38,000$/year. $52,000/year or more moving forward.

WMI

Waste Management is a company that seems to have a systematic approach to waste removal. They are probably making money on reusing the objects that they pick up too.

CVS & RiteAid

CVS should buy RiteAid.

RiteAid is just a sliver of a company and CVS is a monster. Either RiteAid needs to innovate some technology to get ahead of CVS and grow very very fast or CVS should just buy RiteAid.

Finance

Disclaimer -- taking investment advice from me makes you an idiot and me not responsible for your actions.

There are a number of respected sources that are detecting a contraction in the market and an economic recession following it. Unemployment numbers could be as high as 12% and inflation based on non-substitution CPI could be as high as 8%. Some warning signs are starting to show up but I imagine that the market will be strong until January 2008. Then investors will get spooked and shift their money to 'safer investments'. Maybe they'll pay off their credit card debt.

After moving my own money around, I'm back to building up 6 months of living expenses. I have it, more or less. The trick is moving the "more or less" to just "I have it".

There are a bunch of companies that I like, despite the warnings above. I always look long term which tends to ignore initial price. My list:
X, BP, XOM, MCD, KO, LMT, LTD, FDM, INTC, AMD, VZ, WMT, MSFT, ORCL, SUNW, GE, ACN, BAES, AHO, SWY, BRK, C, BAC, F, TM, LLL, BUD, PFE, MRK, DIS, CMCSK, HD, TGT, CAT, AEP, FDX, UPS, CSX, R, UNP, MO, NVDA, HP, DELL, UARM, IBM.

This is an extensive list, and some of them have been researched and others are based on intuition or common sense. Some of them are overpriced for the short term (3-5 years).

In my understanding, and according to Nobel Prize winning strategies, an investor should diversify their holdings. However, Institutional Investors such as Warren Buffett have always been focused on acquiring a small number of companies that their research shows will outperform the market. For example, Coca Cola, Hershey's Chocolate, and Budweiser Beer will sell products in a good economy or a bad one.

Hence, research into company investment should be limited to approximately 7 companies that are run well, have multiple products, have existed for longer than 10 years, and
are going to increase in value at a greater rate than any other investment. Investments should be long term and only when the fundamentals that led to the purchasing decision have changed should you decide to divest yourself of ownership of that company.

more thoughts to come.

Movies

Seabiscuit was a good movie. Toby Mcguire is an excellent actor. I also learned a little bit about Buick's early start which was interesting.

Google News

Google News is much better with this filter: -Iraq -bomb -israel -palestinian -abortion -murder -bribe -sex -marijuana

I guess I just don't want to know about it.

Shopping

So, I bought a costco card last weekend for $45 and today visited a costo to purchase supplies. $340 worth of supplies should last about a year and a half. I'll still have to buy some perishables but major items have been accounted for in bulk.

Efficiency, planning, and profit win the day. The 45$ was paid for with savings and there is an estimated savings of 50$ above and beyond that.

In other news....the bookstore didn't carry any books on Spring.

Java J2EE Spring

Now I'm learning Aspect Oriented Programming, J2EE beans, and the Spring environment. As long as I can keep up with it, my powers will grow.

In other news, Republicans in Virginia are trying to ban gay civil unions in their state by writing it into their constitution. Legislating morality is a terrible thing. Between that and various anti-pro-choice changes that are proposed I feel that a huge leap backwards is happening for our country. What happened to freedom? I hope that this will be resolved sooner than later.

Computing Power

So, its about time for me to buy a new computer....or build one. The following trends come to mind: Moore's and Kryder's.

Of course, I haven't been sticking to my budget like I should so I don't have the money saved up to buy a computer. I'm looking at a December timeline. In the meantime, I can do research and decide on laptop versus desktop versus server.

For my birthday 2 years ago, I was going to buy myself a new desktop (1/4 years) but the aforementioned Moore's law had failed and I was peeved about not getting my 4.0 ghz processor. Actually the measurement that I need to keep track of is FLOPS. How many floating point operations can my new processor do with the available RAM and system BUS? I have time to do the research.

Focus

Wax on. Wax off.

Random thoughts

"The buying habits of Americans would benefit from change that comes from mindful consideration about what we really need, where things are made, and how we're going to afford things in the long term. " ./ post

Isolation

Today, I feel isolated. Someone should say hi to me.

Valentines Day

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I hope the same goes for everyone else. :)

Meritocracy

"So to me, the case for retaining the estate tax more or less where it ends up next year ? a 45% top rate on estates over $3.5 million ? if you index that limit for inflation (and recognizing that with by-pass trusts the $3.5 million becomes, in effect, $7 million)is overwhelming." -- ATobias, WBuffett

I think 3.5 million in today's dollars (adjusted for inflation moving forward) is more than enough for any one person to inherit. If the taxes on on estates result in lower taxes for everyone else in the community, and encourages a meritocracy then we're in the right place.

Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt

The sad thing is that FUD works. By addressing our most primal fears for our safety, the welfare of our children, and the threat to our wealth political parties abuse the public.

one example: http://www.walken2008.com/ . creates fear about all of these things with no need. Terrible soundbites that work.

XSL Translation

Today, I took it upon myself to do a simple thing in microsoft word: create a device by which certain words are autmatically spellchecked or translated. I had three options: do it by hand, do it by xslt, and do it via a macro.

XSLT is a translation language that XML is displayed in. Since most of the web is written in XML, XSLT becomes a very powerful tool. Finding and using a regular expression change for a microsoft word doc translation should have been relatively easy. 8 lines max apply translation and keep going. I'm still working on it.

Snow

There is snow on this Sunday morning. My old war wounds told me that it wasn't going to snow Friday night. I was right. I made no prediction about Saturday day or Sunday. Today I get to stay inside and do the spring cleaning thing. That and code.

I should be snowed in more often.

7 Trillion $

What will the increase in American public debt from 1-2 trillion $ to 10 trillion $ over the last 6 years do? The current administration has spent a great deal of money and doesn't look like it will be stopping any time soon.

This brings up the question: where is the money going?
Its being injected into the world economy. This will have a few effects.
1) The further devaluation of the dollar.
2) ?
3) While spending as a % of GDP isn't horrendous and growth of GDP still outpaces inflation, things are fine. The growth of the world's GDP will also increase as more and more people move from the poverty class and into the consumer class.

I anticipate another strong 30 years for the world economy, with the USA playing a lesser role as consumer culture spreads to the rest of the world.

However, fiscal responsibility requires a surplus. There are many countries that are not in debt. Norway is the country that impresses me most, though all of Europe is now recovered from WW2. Norway has systems to generate wealth for itself. Once a surplus is achieved, you can then lower taxes or increase services...depending on the need and political climate.

A second question: where will it end up? is also relevant.
All money is just a symbol of debt transferred throughout the world in different formats. When you create a large amount of debt and distribute it, it will end up in the pockets of those companies that produce things throughout the world. These companies are either publicly owned or privately owned. The privately owned businesses will profit better than those traded on the open market, but in any cyclical spending and taxation economic model, the money will eventually filter out to companies or individuals who own stocks. So, in short 7 trillion$ dollars is going to end up in publicly held companies which will pay portions of it out to their stockholders. This is a good thing and a risky investor can position themselves to benefit from this influx of cash into the market.

Socialism +1

There's a book, "What's the Matter with Kansas?", which, altho not really being about Kansas, addresses this all-pervasive phenomenon here in the south. Wage slaves vote against their own interests, and those of the families, because of their distaste of "socialism" and "big government".

Early Bird

Got in early this morning which is great. 7am and I hit the ground running. I haven't been able to get into a groove yet in the new place.



WeBlog...shortened to blog because it's about "I" not we.

Gambling

The people screaming over the other cube every day are gambling on sports. While people in my company are generally intelligent, I doubt that this particular 'testing team' has done any sort of programming to statistically back up their bets. It might be a great way to make a shitload of extra cash.

Gambling is a vice...time to punish the stupid.

Dave

Forgiveness

The greatness of religion lies in its readiness to forgive you for things you can't forgive yourself for. Be a priest, forgive someone(yes, you are a someone) today.

Today, I forgive myself for being stubborn and failing to be perfect.

I also forgive those who have caused the murder of another person on 2006-02-08. Perhaps, I'm the indirect cause of a death on 2006-02-08. I'm not strong enough to forgive all attrocities throughout time, so I'll start with one day. I may never have met these victims but their loss hits me harder than if I had been able to know them. The sheer scope of cruelty , stupidity, and evil overwhelms me. I mourn their unrealized potential.

I can do no less today than live as best as I can for myself and others, in the memory of those who didn't have the same opportunity. I can meet my potential today.

Absolution. Rest in peace.

Cats still suck.

song of the day: Beatles, "I Will".

Dave

Make Magazine

Make magazine vol. 5 arrived yesterday which was an even greater boost to my week because I wasn't expecting to get any more volumes.

Building random structures in public places and encouraging grafitti.
Burning Man spin off.

The military powerpack that generates energy as you walk. -- Larry Rome.
http://www.lightningpacks.com
mods: NanoLithium Batteries to double capacity and lighten the weight load.
Add device to either side of a cow and let them wander off into the fields.
when they return for food, drain the e-.

Flying fruitcake: Have an event at Aberdeen Proving Grounds to catapult fruitcake.
mods: Add a computing module called the ENIAC module that computes firing tables and accounts for weather changes. The first USA computer was hosted at APG in Aberdeen, MD to compute firing tables for projectile cannons. The first computer was created by a German: Zuse named the Z3. The second was the Collossus created by the English secret services.

Locost Sports Car.
mods: Fuel Cell, Modifiy to be an all electric vehicle. make the engine push from behind instead of pull from the front.

Use old clothes to make friends and scare maintenance people when they invade your home.

Design a giant Mobile....because its fun...and you can add microelectronics.

Rocket event. "Blow shit Up". use butane as a liquid fuel.

Fun stuff.

Optimism

Studying the technologies that are on the horizon brings a youthful excitement to my day. I can't wait to see what then next 40 years will
bring.

Energy Efficiency

This discover article was enlightening:
Lost link. Sorry.

Important notes from the article:
1) 15$/barrel of American Oil by the year 2025...not 61$/barrel
2) Creating Efficient American made technology and energy would employ Americans in Rural America which has been suffering from a brain drain since the 1970s and the decline of the Industrial Age. (i'm a big fan of small town america...theres something about an old 1920s town that feels like home to me. However, there just aren't any jobs out there anymore...all of the factories have closed down and nothing has replaced them).
3) Distributed energy generation systems (solar, wind, geothermal) remove the cost of transporting the electricity to the useage site which often involves many conversions of state.
4) Hydrogen is an optional component in vehicle development.

Cy the Cyclops Cat

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/
2006/01/11/ap/strange/
mainD8F290T82.shtml

A cyclops kitten. Interesting to see myths and legends substantiated by facts and proof.

The Only Universal Constant

This too will change.

Traffic Court

Today, I visited court to contest my traffic citation for speeding 53 mph in a 35 mph speed zone. I failed miserably at presenting my arguement. I attempted to plead guilty with explanation but was rebuffed by the judge's dislike of my reason. Following that, I switched to to pleading not guilty to 53 mph.

My intention prior to getting there was to plead guilty with explanation and bank on the fact that I hadn't recieved a speeding ticket in 5 years and that at that time it was thrown out of court. Stagefright struck me when standing in front of the judge and all I was able to do was repeat the phrase...'not 53'. This was not a particularly effective handling of the situation.

There were some benefits to the way I managed the lead up to the court case, and a 75$ fine was reduced to 35$ (since it was prepaid, I'll be
recieving a 40$ refund in the mail). I believe that my license will
have 2 points assessed against it.

This hour, I found these sites:
http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/laws.html#tolerance
http://www.speedtrap.org/

There is much more to be presented on this topic: discussion, related interests, morality, legality, civic safety, police abuse, ideas generated for new business (classes on how to present a case, preparation material, law consodiation across world juristictions, and best practice implementation for localities that don't have a complete legal code yet). However, in the interest of time, I'll end here.

The bald frog and a wig

This story began one rainy day. When the clouds had chased all of the creatures indoors and away from his kingdom. He, being a simple frog, set out to see the world that everyone else had shunned. In his travels, Newton the Frog, made a discovery. He was hopping along a most treacherous path by a seaside cliff when he saw hanging off the edge a cliff a marvelous stick. As the waves crashed in the distance, Newton took a closer look at the stick. Hanging off of the far end of the stick was a wig. Not an ordinary wig, a fantastic wig of flowing golden locks. The frog captured the image in his mind and then continued along his way mindful of the treacherous cliff-side path. Soon, the rain stopped and Newton went home listening to the sounds of all of the other creatures emerging from their hiding to reclaim the bits and pieces of his kingdom that he had claimed in their absense.

Natus Sum (ltn. - 'I am born')

Today, the thoughts swirl into the mists and return at random times to spark ever growing ripples in the mind of one very humble digital monk.