My media blog

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:58:08 GMT

Founders at work

My last flight over the Pacific gave me ample time to read through Jessica Livingstons collection of interviews.

It's good stuff and Jessica certainly got to the famous people. The interviews usually cover the founders insight on why and how they started their company. Most entrepreneurs give a humble account of their own success. Many recognize that thing could have turned out otherwise and each startup had their hard times and was bankrupt several times (with the exception of Flickr maybe :).

Nothing unexpected but striking in its magnitude is how different some business evolved. Paypal raised money on being a PalmPilot application to become the biggest online payment processors aided by a fraud detection mechanism nobody incl. the founders and investors knew they even needed.

For me the best interviews are Mark Levchin's honest and down to earth account on how Paypal made it work and Paul Bucheit's account of building Gmail and Adsense as an entrepreneur inside giant Google.

Some interviews are strangely boring or unreadable (i.e Steve Wozniak) or shine with self parading. However it's good stuff and if you are interested in setting out as an entrepreneurs it surely helps. Posted by: tj      Read more     Source

June 26, 2008, 9:20 PM CT

Why Do People Vote?

A groundbreaking new study finds that genes significantly affect variation in voter turnout, shedding new light on the reasons why people vote and participate in the political system.

This research, which was conducted by political researchers James H. Fowler, Christopher T. Dawes (of UC San Diego) and psychology expert Laura A. Baker (of University of Southern California), appears in the recent issue of the American Political Science Review, a journal of the American Political Science Association (APSA). The article is available online at: www.apsanet.org/imgtest/APSRMay08Fowler_etal.pdf.

"Eventhough we are not the first to suggest a link between genes and political participation," note the authors, "this study is the first attempt to test the idea empirically." They do so by conducting three tests of the claim that part of the variation in political participation can be attributed to genetic factors. The results suggest that individual genetic differences make up a large and significant portion of the variation in political participation, even after taking socialization and other environmental factors into account. They also suggest that, contrary to decades of conventional wisdom, family upbringing may have little or no effect on children's future participatory behavior......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:44:01 GMT

Absinthe Lollipops

The US Government recently approved the sale of absinthe within certain guidelines, namely that there is less than 10ppm of thujone. Absinthe Lollipops contain an amount of thujone that is within the legal limits set by the US regulatory authorities and of the European Union.

Our Absinthe Lollipops are really freaking awesome. And we say that without even an ounce of hubris. People go crazy (not like, cut-your-ear-off crazy, tho) for them. We''re pretty sure they''re the ultimate party favor. The combination of absinthe''s mystique and the inherent sexiness of lollipops is a pretty explosive one. Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

Mon, 19 May 2008 00:09:24 GMT

Sinatra

"Comes a report that Martin Scorsese might be doing a film about Frank Sinatra - and not a documentary but an honest-to-God biopic," notes Shawn Levy. "I''ve written a book about Sinatra, so I know that there''s more than a ton of material there for a movie."

"The life and work of Frank Sinatra, who passed away 10 years ago tomorrow, will be celebrated in film, television, radio, and even a commemorative 42-cent Sinatra postage stamp, which will be issued today," notes Charlotte Cowles. Two DVD sets are out today, too, the Early Years and the Golden Years. "His film work is often remembered as an adjunct to a musician''s career," writes Gary Giddins:

Updated through 5/14. Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Sun, 18 May 2008 23:56:17 GMT

Garcia's First Win in 3 Years

Courtesy: img.timeinc.net

There is one thing that professional golfers want to do more than anything else: win tournaments.

And since there can only be one winner each week, the finale of the Tournament Players Championship was made even more dramatic.

Sergio Garcia, who hadn't won anything in 3 years, edged out Paul Goydos who has only won twice in 11 years. Posted by: Chris Henry      Read more     Source

Sat, 17 May 2008 02:20:09 GMT

Cannes: Four Nights with Anna

Four Nights with Anna is "the first film in 17 years from the great Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski, who mostly has spent his time recently acting (he was Naomi Watts''s racist Russian uncle in Eastern Promises)," writes Ty Burr.



"The film''s small, bleakly funny, quite sad, and beautifully controlled - a tale of peeping-tom passion about a hospital handyman who drugs his favorite nurse''s nighttime tea so he can sit and watch her as she sleeps. Creepy, yes, but the film teases the pathos and even nobility out of this wretched man." Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Sat, 17 May 2008 02:11:30 GMT

Sunday sighs

Sunday already? Seems like this happens every week! With luck we’re down at Roundrock today, watching spring emerge and maybe grilling some meat over a fire. The redbuds and dogwoods are mostly finished with their bloom up in Kansas City. I’m pretty sure that means Libby won’t get to see the redbuds at Roundrock. And since we don’t have dogwoods there, she won’t get to see those either.

We will have to get back early from our day in the woods, though, for certain celebrations. (My good friend Duff says that today is a rehearsal for Father’s Day.)

Larry Ayers’ blog Riverside Rambles was down for a few weeks, and I feared the worst. I couldn’t connect to it at all. I was happy to find earlier in the week that he had returned and had a new post up. Apparently he had some server issues that are now resolved, so why don’t you head on over there and tell him how good it is to have him back.

They’ll be raising more than frolic over at Raising Frolic . A long-anticipated item finally arrived over there.

The second anniversary edition of the Festival of the Trees is coming up, and it will be hosted by Wren of Wrenaissance Reflections . (Careful followers of the Festival will recall that Wren hosted the first anniversary edition at her former blog.)

Wren’s deadline for submissions is May 29. You can send her your links at jlblum [at] Wrenaissance [dot] com (be sure to put Festival of the Trees in the subject line) or by using the handy online submission form .

What is Pablo reading now? I am currently in the middle of Ceremony in Lone Tree by Wright Morris. He is considered one of the essential authors of Midwest regionalism. I’m reading this one for the library book discussion group I’m in. The social justice group didn’t meet last week, so we didn’t get to distill all of the moral implications from The Road . We may revisit it in the fall. What are you reading?

Missouri calendar:

• Mother’s Day
• Blackberry winter; a cold spell may occur, freezing blackberry blooms.

Today in Missouri history:

• In 1823, St. Regis Seminary, the first such Indian School for boys in the U.S., begins operations at Florissant under Jesuit supervision.

Posted by: Roundrockjournal      Read more     Source

Fri, 09 May 2008 02:11:54 GMT

High Gas Prices, Taking It In The Shorts

© Stoker Studios


It's getting close. I'm about 50 or 60 cents away from either another vehicle purchase or to stilling my own bio-diesel in the back yard. It's not just affecting my normal driving either. It's affecting my off road and ATV fun too.

According to a couple of sources including AAA and the chairman of Houston-based Dune Energy, Alan Gaines, predictions are being made that the price for a gallon of gasoline will cost as much as $9.00 to $10.00 a gallon in the next two years. We're already seeing major jumps at the pump now, and I don't think we're even switched over to the so called summer blend yet.

I've caved in and bought the wife another motorcycle to commute on, (yeah, yeah, a GSXR 600 is not really a commuter bike), and we're already saving about a hundred bucks a week now that the GMC is parked. If things keep going the way they're going, I may be increasing my current cylinder count at home from 54 to 58 in the form of a hybrid or another motorcycle for myself. Posted by: Matt      Read more     Source

Fri, 09 May 2008 01:49:04 GMT

Shorts, fests, books, etc

"The premise of Jesus, the Spirit of God is that Jesus was compassionate and performed miracles, but was not crucified or resurrected from the dead. The message implies that Christianity, a faith of 2 billion people and the core of much Western philosophy, is based on a falsehood." Jeffrey Fleishman talks with Iranian director Nader Talebzadeh, whose "new film is based on the Islamic version of the life of Jesus, depicting the man Christians believe to be the messiah and son of God as a tormented Judean prophet foretelling the coming of Muhammad, the founder of the Muslim faith."

Also in the Los Angeles Times: "Developer Sonny Astani wants to hang a 14-story animated billboard on the side of the condominium tower he''s building at 9th and Figueroa, up the street from the Staples Center and the new Nokia Theatre, which already is shrouded in video billboards," notes Tim Rutten: Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

April 28, 2008, 8:53 PM CT

Decision making, is it all 'me, me, me'?

People act in their own best interests, as per traditional views of how and why we make the decisions that we do.

However, psychology experts at the Universities of Leicester and Exeter have recently found evidence that this assumption is not necessarily true. In fact the research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, shows that most of us will act in the best interest of our team often at our own expense.

Psychology experts carried out the first systematic tests of team reasoning theories by assessing two well known views of how people behave:

• That predicts people will act for selfish reasons.
• That people will act in the best interest of their team

Lead researcher Professor Andrew Colman, of the University of Leicester School of Psychology, said: We have shown that, in some circumstances, decision makers cooperate in their collective interests rather than following the purely selfish predictions of orthodox game theory.

We carried out two experiments designed to test classical game theory against theories of team reasoning developed in the 1990s by British game theorists. As per classical game theory, decision makers invariably act in their individual self-interest, leading to Nash equilibrium, named after the US game theorist and Nobel laureate John Nash, depicted in the biopic A Beautiful Mind......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:26:32 GMT

Siemens shenanigans roll on

The Siemens saga rolls on and if Siemens management thought things would settle down, they need to have a long think. This case is getting messier and messier by the day.

First, the company's former chief executive Heinrich von Pierer has been forced to come out and deny reports that he arranged bribes after he had been fingered by witnesses. Still, that hasn't stopped him being interviewed by prosecutors. Significantly, the prosecutors are refusing to say whether he is under investigation.

Meanwhile, the allegations continue with claims in court that the company had paid bribes of as much as US$80 million to "intermediaries" to "ensure" a multi-million dollar business digitization of identification documents in Argentina.

All this coinciding with reports that the company might sue its former executive board for its involvement in the scandal which is also being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice. Posted by: leon      Read more     Source

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:33:21 GMT

Beautiful Tropical Beach

While it is Spring in the U.S., here in the Philippines is summer time. Meaning, time to hit the beach. Beach. We have too many of those here, in practically all the islands. However, most of them have become too commercialized over the years.



Through the years, it has always appealed to me if the beach is undeveloped and not too crowded everyday of the year.

I grew up with one nearby, only 20 minutes away.

If you are looking for an offbeat beach destination, you might wanna consider going to Rizal Beach, Gubat, Sorsogon, Philippines. it might be too undeveloped for some people's taste, but I find it more beautiful that way. Don't you think that's better?



That's my son in the photo, taken last year, one afternoon in Rizal Beach.

There are only a couple of beach resorts offering a basic room accommodation for as low as 18$ (US) per night. The food are out of fresh catch and produce in dirt cheap prices!

Well....I hope to find you here, sometime soon. ;-) Posted by: Gloria Gamat      Read more     Source

April 10, 2008, 9:15 PM CT

Attending Religious Services Predictive of Fidelity

A new study reported in the Journal of Marriage and Family reveals that attendance at religious services predicts marital fidelity.

Led by David C. Atkins and Deborah E. Kessel of the Fuller Theological Seminary, the study explores how various dimensions of religious life, including prayer, closeness to God, faith, and religious activities correlation to infidelity.

Religious service attendance was the only unique, religious predictor of infidelity. Prayer, importance of religiousness, and strong reported faith were not predictors.

The authors think that that attendance likely implies prevention of infidelity in the sense that it is a shared activity between spouses. Attending services can create a strong network of relationships within the church, synagogue, or mosque that can provide social support to the spouses. Also, attending services means that an individual is hearing religious teaching on marital fidelity and the general importance of marriage.

"Our study focuses the spotlight on religious service attendance with respect to this important aspect of marital life" the authors conclude. "It opens the door for a host of questions about why attendance might have this special association".

The participants for this study were drawn from the 1998 General Social Survey (GSS) conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. The surveys consisted of structured, face-to-face interviews with questions correlation to religion and spirituality......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

April 10, 2008, 8:12 PM CT

Misery, Not Miserly

Off to buy a new handbag and fabulous red shoes, or how about overalls and a riding lawnmower? Before going, a mood check for signs of despair and gloom might be in order because how a person feels can impact routine economic transactions, whether he or she is aware of it or not.

So says a team of behavioral researchers from four major U.S. universities, whose research study finds that sadness impacts spending. Specifically, people who feel sad and self-focused pay more money for goods than those in neutral states, even when purchasing the same item.

"The tendency is to focus on oneself when sad drives this effect," says the study's lead author Cynthia E. Cryder, a doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa. "Our studies revealed the more self-focused people were in the sad condition, the more money they spent.".

"More studies are needed to determine whether participants are deliberately trying to improve their sense of self by acquiring goods," adds co-author of study Jennifer Lerner, an experimental social psychology expert at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Mass.

The study, "Misery is not Miserly: Sad and Self-Focused Individuals Spend More," was funded by the National Science Foundation and was presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. in February of this year. It would be reported in the June 2008 issue of Psychological Science--a premier journal for scientific experiments in psychology......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:11:32 GMT

Not Yet Worn

It seems I''ve always known of zines, but for some reason I''ve never even set eyes on one before. I should be the target customer for a zine, right? I mean, I love reading everything from poems to short stories to philosophical articles, I take delight in beautiful artwork, I don''t have a lot of money to drop, and I find the idea of making one''s own mini magazine to be empowering.

I''d say it''s about time for me to get in on the zine scene.

Ack, sorry for the rhyme. I couldn''t resist.

I have a particular zine in mind:

enticed me first with its scintillating artwork.



When I managed to get my hands, which were furiously scrabbling for my credit card, under control, I read a little bit about the Worn. To give you an idea of the content, the most recent issue includes "Toile de Jouy textile, Elsa Sciaparelli, Countess de Castiglione, feminisim and fashion, origami shirt instructions, some great illustrators."

"Worn plays a unique role by bringing a political, environmental, historical and cultural context to fashion. Pushing boundaries of collaboration and authorship with fashion magazine tropes like the photo story, Worn expands traditional relationships between models, designers, writers, photographers and illustrators. By exploring where art and fashion overlap, connecting with Fashion scholars and artists, and paying attention to how what is worn gets made, interpreted, transformed, disseminated and copied, Worn opens new avenues in art theory. "

"Worn issues appear twice a year, in fall and spring, but our content is not time driven. We don’t discuss the newest collections or the latest trends, but perfur to take an more encompassing look at the whole of fashion. Consequently, our subject matter does not stale date and back issues will be as interesting in five years as they are today."

Sounds glorious, right? I love the concept!

I consider it a miracle that I have been able to hold off on buying an issue while I write this post. It won''t be long until I crack.

To learn more about Worn, purchase the zine, or even write for it, head here. Please note that all quotes and pictures from this post originated from the Worn website.

Do you read or contribute to zines? What are your favorites? I''d love some recommendations! Posted by: Kori      Read more     Source

April 8, 2008, 9:59 PM CT

'Get real' by talking about the competition

Innovators trying to establish new markets would be wise to try to attract attention by publicizing not only themselves, but also the competition, as per a new sociological study by a faculty member at the University of Southern Californias (USC) Marshall School of Business.

Mark Thomas Kennedy, assistant professor of Management and Organizations at USC, used breakthrough research methods to reduce tens of thousands of pages of media coverage into mental maps of technology market competitors.

His conclusion challenges the conventional wisdom that has marketers focusing exclusively on what makes their product unique. His research shows that, when trying to create new markets, firms that dare to publicly mention their competitors in their public positioning actually do better for it.

From business schools and marketing consultants, entrepreneurs are mostly taught that talking about the competition is a dangerous no-no, says Kennedy. But in the early stages of new markets, talking just about yourself is even more dangerous. In fact, it actually hurts innovators chances of success by increasing the odds theyll be overlooked or ignored as lone voices. We know that there is strength in numbers, but what we havent known is how firms get counted in the media......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:25:52 GMT

Brits refuse to give up their holidays

© maveric2003

It would appear that the British have no intention of giving up their holidays despite inflation busting increases in the price of food, fuel and mortgage costs eating up a higher proportion of household budgets. In fact, defying logic, there's been a 40% increase in holiday bookings during the first three months of 2008, compared to the 2007 figures.

Why is this? Are people so stressed that they feel they couldn't cope without a holiday to look forward too? Have several holiday and short breaks a year become an integral way of life? Maybe they will choose a cheaper holiday e.g. stay at a 3 star hotel instead of a 4 star or a short haul instead of a long haul destination.

Is the rising cost of living affecting your travel plans this year? Personally, I've found the fall in the value of the pound against the euro is pushing up my spending in mainland Europe by more than 10%. This is having more influence on my travel plans than the rising cost of living in the UK. Posted by: Karen Bryan      Read more     Source

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:42:07 GMT

Wine Varietals: Viognier

Viognier, pronounced Vee-on-Yay, is a lesser known white wine grape, originally cultivated in France's Rhone Valley (likely imported there by the ancient Greeks or Romans). Almost extinct by the 1960s, this difficult-to-grow, but delightful-to-drink wine has made a resurgeance in France and lately in California, Australia, and South Africa.

Viognier is the main grape in the French appellation, Condrieu. It is also found in France and abroad labeled simply as Viognier. It is characterized by a deep, yellow color; a high alcohol content; and pronounced peach, apricot, and mango tones. Viognier is a perfect accompaniment to spicy foods, such as Mexican, Thai, and Vietnamese cuisines. It also goes well with fish, pork, or chicken that is served with a fruit sauce. Alone, a glass of Viognier is a nice beverage to enjoy as an aperitif on a hot summer's day. Posted by: Sandy Mitchell      Read more     Source

April 3, 2008, 8:16 PM CT

Traders Who Sell Short Stocks Are Well-Informed

The term "short selling" refers to the practice of selling shares the seller does not own, in the hope of repurchasing them later at a lower price. A new study in The Journal of Finance reveals that there is a large occurrence of shorting activity and that short sellers are highly informed about the relative value of stocks.

Led by Ekkehart Boehmer of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, Charles M. Jones of the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University, and Xiaoyan Zhang, of the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, scientists used information from the New York Stock Exchange to examine the incidence and information content of short sales. Used to measure shorting flow, the sample consisted of all NYSE system order data records correlation to short sales from January 2000 to April 2004.

The study shows that there is a surprisingly large amount of shorting activity across both large and small NYSE stocks. During the sample period, shorting accounted for at least 12.9 % of trading volume, suggesting that shorting constraints are easily surmounted and not widespread.

The study also illustrates the extent to which short sellers are able to identify overvalued stocks and profit by anticipating price declines in these stocks. Short sellers are extremely well-informed, with institutional traders being the most informed......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

April 3, 2008, 8:07 PM CT

Proximity To A Flood Zone Lowers Property Values

A study appearing in the March 2008 issue of The Journal of Risk and Insurance reveals that proximity to a flood zone lowers property values.

By law, a property is considered in a "flood zone" if any part of the structure falls within a floodplain, an area that is adjacent to a stream or river that experiences periodic flooding. It has been acknowledged that the level of risk linked to a property may be linked to natural hazards.

Scientists examined flood hazards in the coastal housing market of Carteret County, North Carolina. Carteret County has substantial access to water including the Atlantic Ocean, the Pamlico Sound, waterways, lagoons, rivers, streams, creeks, and wetlands.

Utilizing Geographic Information System data on National Flood Insurance Program flood zones and residential property sales in Carteret County from 2000 to 2004, scientists examined the effects of flood hazards on coastal property values.

The findings indicate that the price of a residential property located within a floodplain is significantly lower than an otherwise similar house located outside the flood zone. On average, location within a floodplain lowers estimated sales value $11, 600, representing a 7.3 percent reduction of the average house sales price......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:46:09 GMT

Add All Your Favorite Videos To One Place

You love to watch videos, I know you do, that's why you're going to love WeShow. They're not just another YouTube, they're more than that. They let you save all your favorite videos to your own WeShow profile. This lets you share all your favorite videos with all your friends.



The videos shown on WeShow are pulled in from other sites like YouTube and Yahoo Video just for your viewing. Then you browse through them and choose your favorites and add them to your profile. Then your friends can come and see what videos you think are the best.

Create video clubs and invite your friends to add videos they find on a certain subject. Add Web apps and other widgets to your profile page too. Design your WeShow profile page the way you want it. Best of all, you earn ad revenue whenever someone clicks on an ad on one of your WeShow pages. Posted by: Linda Roeder      Read more     Source

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:21:36 GMT

George Clooney And Renee Zellweger On Tour

George Clooney and Renee Zellweger are a pair of talented actors who are paired together on the Clooney produced movie "Leatherheads"..

This duo, both of whom are known for having a good sense of humor, are traveling around the country promoting the film primarily in the South, and they and the fans are having a great time at these events.

Read the story about the George Clooney - Renee Zellweger promotional tour and learn about some of Clooney's family and early life.

Image Source:www.clooneystudio.com Posted by: jim      Read more     Source

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:32:30 GMT

You, the Living in the UK.

"''Painterly'' is an overused adjective for films, but here''s one where it makes sense," writes Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian. "I don''t know of any filmmaker whose work gives the viewer so much incentive and indeed leisure to examine the background of a shot..... You, the Living is a very funny film - though in the darkest possible way. It is a silent comedy, but with words."

"To call it deadpan is barely to hint at [Roy] Andersson''s style, which he mostly applies to the world of commercials (watch them on YouTube, they''re hilarious)," writes Dave Calhoun in Time Out. "But just when you think the only answer to Andersson''s view of the world - alcoholic couples; depressed psychiatrists; a girl searching for a disappeared rock star who shows her a modicum of affection - is to throw yourself under one of Stockholm''s trams, he unleashes a set-piece that has you marvelling at its choreography or wondering at the sheer ridiculousness of life."

Updated through 3/30. Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

March 21, 2008, 4:17 PM CT

What Exactly Rev. Jeremiah Wright say in 9-11 sermon

The media played over and over again the video clips of Jeremiah Wright giving sermons the Sunday after the 9-11 attacks. This has caused an uproar across America and Senator Obama had to come forward and explain these comments.

Jeremiah Wright's comments have to be heard in the right context. One should hear what he told before and after those controversial comments. Listen to the full sermon at this website.

Listen to Jeremiah Wright's 9/11 sermon........ Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source