A Kick In The Assets

Congratulations! You finally have a real life. Paying the minimum balance on your credit cards has lost its charm. Your parents have decided that, after three decades of life, you can start living without their money. Youve decided you cant quit your job in a fit of pique because then youll starve. Youre finally getting a twentieth-century paycheck and look forward to earning your IQ, not just your age. Great. Now what do you do? For starters, you listen to Tod Barnhart. He can help. A Kick in the Assets will walk you through the hundred easy steps you need to follow to become a financial happy camper. With easy-to-follow instructions and periodic to-do lists, A Kick in the Assets demystifies money and makes you realize that though it be the root of all evil, moneys not all that scary. Barnharts previous book, The Five Rituals of Wealth, spent three months on the Business Week bestseller list, and he hosts a weekly show on The Peoples Network. He was a millionaire by twenty-seven, the youngest licensed financial counselor in the country at age nineteen, and named "Wall Streets Hottest Young Gun," by Money magazine. So let Tod Barnhart give you a much-needed kick in the assets, and soon youll be able to drop that decimal point from your net worth.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0399144307/qid=1071781467/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3718184-0325549?v=glance&s=books

Cardhu 12 Year

Not a bad Scotch. Worth a check out but not my favorite.
http://www.single-malt.com/cardhu.htm

Deep Impact

On the morning of October 22, 1993, local time, the visitor hit the top of the atmosphere over Ellsworth Land in Antarctica. It pierced the sky in a flash of light, moving a hundred times faster than a meteor, passing from the thinnest air and into the ice in a fraction of a second. It cut through the rock below with equal ease, flying through the solid earth in a northeasterly direction. In less than 20 seconds, it had crossed the South Atlantic, deep beneath the ocean floor. When it passed below the southern tip of Africa, it was more or less halfway between Cape Town and the center of Earth. That was as deep as its straight path through the planet would take it; from then on it headed up. Fifteen seconds later, 6,000 kilometers across the Indian Ocean from Cape Town, it left Earths crust somewhere between Sri Lanka and Thailand. It lanced up through the afternoon sky and headed back out to the stars. The whole visit lasted less than a minute, and nobody saw a thing.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.02/matter.html

Potato Bazookas

German youths have taken up a dangerous new pastime: firing potatoes as fast as a rocket from ?bazookas? made from drainage pipes. One man almost lost an eye, a woman had her leg broken and one teenager was badly burnt when the hairspray used as the propellant exploded in his face as he prepared to fire. A 16-year-old in the university city of Göttingen lost part of his ear when the firing chamber ripped open as he pulled the trigger.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-558570,00.html

Interview With StrongBads Creators

If you haven?t been introduced to Homestar Runner yet, you?ve been missing out on what is quite possibly one of the funniest things and certainly one of the best to ever come out of the Internet. Featuring characters that are as well defined and interesting as the best of any classic cartoon character, and situations that are sidesplittingly funny. Homestar is the kind of thing that can exist only on the internet and really is another strong example of the medium as a forum for art rather then shamless commerce. Even people that hate computers and don?t have or use them would be well advised to go to the library and check out the site. You will soon find yourself coming back again and again to check in on the adventures of Homestar, Strong Bad, Strong Sad, Coach Z, Marzipan, The Cheat and the rest.
http://rundevilrun.com/ezine/interviews/hsrunner/

Current Read: Ubiquity

When contemplating cataclysms of nature or human history, we tend to ascribe their occurrence to dramatic causes. Buchanan here presents an outlook opposing that propensity, arguing that tiny, unremarkable events will, from time to time, cause disastrous earthquakes, mass extinctions, stock-market collapses, forest fires, world wars--almost anything. A physicist, Buchanan takes his cue from colleagues who have studied, through computer-game-playing programs, the behavior of systems over time: one such program adds grain after grain to a sand pile in an attempt to explain the ensuing avalanches. The programmers have discerned that the digital pile exists in a perpetual "critical state," in which it is impossible to predict which additional grain will trigger a sand slide. Overall, the sand slides exhibit a pattern that "implies that large events are just magnified copies of smaller ones, and that they arise from the same kinds of causes." Human society similarly experiences unpredictable disruptions over history--or so Buchanan maintains in this able, well-researched presentation of a provocative theory.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/060960810X/reviews/qid=1043121853/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-7769263-8008929

DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud

Today we treat phones, computers and other technology equipment as mere commodities. Universal interoperability and intense competition have become routine. But now theres been another distinct turnabout. The legal system is being used not to enable competition but rather to stifle it, thanks to the DMCA. Youve no doubt noticed the latest technology marketing trend: Sucker customers with dirt-cheap prices for equipment like printers or plain-paper fax machines, then lock them into buying expensive consumable supplies like toner, ink or imaging ribbons. After couple of frequently needed refills, youve often exceeded the cost of the machines themselves. Of course, third parties now offer less expensive supply alternatives that can be used instead, such as compatible refurbished toner cartridges and refill kits. To the companies that manufacture printers and related devices, this is tantamount to a declaration of war.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57268,00.html

Women, Weapons, and Real Life

For many women, self-defense is at least one reason for taking up a martial art, and so most, at least in my experience, choose an unarmed art such as aikido, karate, or judo (Im confining myself to Japanese arts because that is where my experience lies; Ill leave it to exponents of the arts of other countries to see if any of these observations hold true for them). Weapons arts that include kata practiced in pairs such as kendo, naginata, or jodo are not usually seen as vehicles for learning self-defense--after all, what good is knowing how to defend yourself with a seven-foot-long naginata if you are unlikely to be carrying it with you all the time?Good teachers in any of the modern unarmed Japanese martial ways know better than to promise female students instant, fool-proof defense techniques; I used to explain that the real value of aikido was less in teaching skills that enable you to fight back than in inculcating a posture and way of moving that discourages attack, since studies have shown that victims are often carefully selected for their apparent vulnerability. Technical proficiency, on the other hand, takes years and a serious commitment to training to develop.
http://www.aikiweb.com/weapons/skoss3.html

Arecibos Internet2 Connection Gives Researchers Greater Access

If you think you know how tedious downloading digital vacation pictures on a laptop can be, imagine sifting through 800 terabytes of files from the furthest reaches of the Universe.Chances are that much data would tie up your Internet connection for the next several years. That is unless you have a super high-speed Internet2 connection, like the one the Arecibo radio telescope installed in late 2001. Since then, this fattest of fat pipes has fundamentally changed the way the telescope is used and by whom.
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/arecibo_internet2_030115.html

New StrongBad Email

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html

Current Read: Something To Be Desired

Informative, provocative, touching, and entertaining, this books essays are written with the insight of a designer, the hunger for knowledge of a scholar, and the sophistication of a seasoned social commentator. The authors range of topics runs the gamut from magazine design, resort architecture, and consumerism to typography and exhibit design, conveyed in witty and insightful text that will appeal to anyone who takes an interest in popular culture and the design of places, spaces, and products. Vronique Vienne, a former exhibit designer and magazine art director who now writes about design and cultural trends for many publications, lives in Brooklyn, New York.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1888001763/qid=1042127122/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6798187-2404753?v=glance&s=books

Current Read: Money Logic

f you only knew whether or not youd regret making an investment, then youd feel more secure in your business decisions. Fear no more, Moshe Milevsky can show you how to estimate the degree of regret with Money Logic: Financial Strategies for the Serious Investor. Using a simple mathematical model, Milevsky offers a rational approach to determining outcomes, increasing returns and reducing risks. Dont ignore the risk of regret; pick up a copy of Money Logic now and gain a new perspective on your investments.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/item.asp?Catalog=Books&Section=Books&Cat=&Lang=en&Item=978077373171&mscssid=GSAMV6AL2TA99MVVHGWA4PESF9793BP8&WSID=1001677D3A53B42B43039A10FD3E45AB373E5008

Speed Of Gravity Tested

The speed of gravity has been measured for the first time. The landmark experiment shows that it travels at the speed of light, meaning that Einsteins general theory of relativity has passed another test with flying colours. Ed Fomalont of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Sergei Kopeikin of the University of Missouri in Columbia made the measurement, with the help of the planet Jupiter.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993232

New StrongBad Email

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail57.html

The Future Is Wild

As the Earth Evolves
How will Earth look 5 million, 100 million, even 200 million years from now? Listen to professor Stephen Palumbi, a Stanford University biologist, explain as you watch the transformation in our movie slide show.
Animals at Warp Speed
Become a time-traveling scientist researching and comparing the evolution, biology and behavior of animals of the present day with creatures 5 million years, 100 million years and 200 million years in the future.
http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/futureiswild/futureiswild.html

/. Thread: What Should I Do With My Life?

The whole way "success" is defined has problems. Its like were always thinking "If I could just get to _that_ point Ill feel successful." The problem is, _that_ point keeps moving. Think about it, when we were in high school, if we could just graduate and turn 18 then wed be grown up, mature, and happy. In college, if we could just graduate and get that coveted degree, then wed be successful and people would give us the respect we deserve. Okay, now weve got a degree, if I can just find a job paying at least... Hmm, Ive got that job but I wish it gave me more fulfillment. If I could get the job that guy has, then Id be much happier and people would see how successful I am. Oh yeah, and it pays more so I can get more toys. Oh no, Mr SoAndSo saw me driving my Accord. I better go talk to the dealer about leasing a Lexus so the clients at work wont think Im second rate. Oh yeah, and Bob bought that new big screen tv at Best Buy - I think I saw one two inches bigger at Circuit City that I may have to go look at. Well, these new toys are pretty fun, but Im still kinda lonely. All I need now is a wife... Then I can sit back and relax and enjoy being successful. Now this is nice, loving wife, good job, lots of toys. I should build me a nice big house by the lake. Then Id have it all. Ive got to go talk to the loan officer about that educational assistance so I can send my kids to one of their top choice ivy league schools. When does the cycle end? The problem is, life doesnt build to some climatic point where we can sit back as say "Now Im happy and successful." It just keeps chugging on like a machine. And yet, we keep looking for that magic something that will complete the puzzle.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/02/1430229&mode=thread&tid=99