Tony Curzon Price

(via Falkenblog: Conservatism as Orgasm)

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:24:29 -0500

(via Falkenblog: Conservatism as Orgasm)

FT video-Wolf. Greece is bust. So this is a _bank_ bail out, not a Greek bail-out? Why can't we say that plainly? Better to concentrate anger on streets of Athens than have more animus let out against poor, battered and misunderstood banks, I think

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:08:45 -0500

FT video-Wolf. Greece is bust. So this is a _bank_ bail out, not a Greek bail-out? Why can't we say that plainly? Better to concentrate anger on streets of Athens than have more animus let out against poor, battered and misunderstood banks, I think

Re-robing Voltaire. http://luisdemiranda.eventbrite.com/...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:03:48 -0500

Re-robing Voltaire. http://luisdemiranda.eventbrite.com/ Créattentat créaliste au Louvre (19 avril 2010) (by arsenaldumidi)

YES :)"At TED, “everyone is Steve Jobs” and every idea is treated like an iPad. The conferences have come to resemble religious meetings and the TED talks techno-spiritual sermons, pushing an evangelical, cultish attitude toward “the new ideas that will change the world.” Everything becomes “magical” and “inspirational.” In just the top-ten most-viewed TED talks, we get the messages of “inspiration,” “astonishment,” “insight,” “mathmagic” and the “thrilling potential of SixthSense technology”! The ideas most popular are those that pander to a metaphysical, magical portrayal of the role of technology in the world."

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:25:51 -0500

YES :)"At TED, “everyone is Steve Jobs” and every idea is treated like an iPad. The conferences have come to resemble religious meetings and the TED talks techno-spiritual sermons, pushing an evangelical, cultish attitude toward “the new ideas that will change the world.” Everything becomes “magical” and “inspirational.” In just the top-ten most-viewed TED talks, we get the messages of “inspiration,” “astonishment,” “insight,” “mathmagic” and the “thrilling potential of SixthSense technology”! The ideas most popular are those that pander to a metaphysical, magical portrayal of the role of technology in the world."

of TED: "What began as something spontaneous has today become a parody of itself."

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:23:38 -0500

of TED: "What began as something spontaneous has today become a parody of itself."

What does it mean when teachers need to go into business experience for re-education? That gulf between what we are pretending is necessary for society and what actually is is widening? "teachers being seconded to businesses, more employers getting involved with schools and a formal “employment experience” programme combining careers advice with work experience."

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:50:02 -0500

What does it mean when teachers need to go into business experience for re-education? That gulf between what we are pretending is necessary for society and what actually is is widening? "teachers being seconded to businesses, more employers getting involved with schools and a formal “employment experience” programme combining careers advice with work experience."

(via totalleh.com - Knight Rider Intro outtake 2 (animated))

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 06:01:10 -0500

(via totalleh.com - Knight Rider Intro outtake 2 (animated))

@ft.com Shell: "limited impact and unclear benefits" from saying how much oil projects have to pay to corrupt governments ...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:57:14 -0500

@ft.com Shell: "limited impact and unclear benefits" from saying how much oil projects have to pay to corrupt governments ...

@martinwolf spot on: " UK corporates are run not for long-term health, but for executive wealth"

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:15:05 -0500

@martinwolf spot on: " UK corporates are run not for long-term health, but for executive wealth"

The argument against: "Google, by gaining the consent of its users in the form of a quick tick, has secured the power to build an electronic surveillance apparatus that far exceeds anything the Bush administration tried to do."

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:31:10 -0500

The argument against: "Google, by gaining the consent of its users in the form of a quick tick, has secured the power to build an electronic surveillance apparatus that far exceeds anything the Bush administration tried to do."

Must read - the right to be forgotten, @ft.com "Gmail has a contact-tracking feature, which integrates with Picasa, its free product for managing digital photographs. Picasa has a tagging feature that can tell Google where and when photographs were taken, and an advanced facial recognition feature that allows Google to identify individuals it has seen in one photo in any photo in the user’s digital library. Integrating just these three services with Google’s core search function could allow Google to locate individuals in virtually any digital photograph on the internet, and so derive where each user has been, when, with whom and doing what. Add YouTube to the mix, or Android smartphones, or whatever other database Google develops or buys – the implications are breathtaking."

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:20:59 -0500

Must read - the right to be forgotten, @ft.com "Gmail has a contact-tracking feature, which integrates with Picasa, its free product for managing digital photographs. Picasa has a tagging feature that can tell Google where and when photographs were taken, and an advanced facial recognition feature that allows Google to identify individuals it has seen in one photo in any photo in the user’s digital library. Integrating just these three services with Google’s core search function could allow Google to locate individuals in virtually any digital photograph on the internet, and so derive where each user has been, when, with whom and doing what. Add YouTube to the mix, or Android smartphones, or whatever other database Google develops or buys – the implications are breathtaking."

@edglaeser: "old joke that 40 years of transportation economics at Harvard can be boiled down to four words: “Bus Good, Train Bad.”"

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:51:47 -0500

@edglaeser: "old joke that 40 years of transportation economics at Harvard can be boiled down to four words: “Bus Good, Train Bad.”"

US support seems to compensate the costs of war in such a large proportion that stability and peace are given virtually no value. The case of Afghanistan is perhaps the best possible example of this dynamic. Why would any country remain in war for so long without any meaningful, internal, easily exploitable source of income under dispute? When there is nothing to steal, countries tend to value peace and hard work more than war and adventure.

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:39:25 -0500

US support seems to compensate the costs of war in such a large proportion that stability and peace are given virtually no value. The case of Afghanistan is perhaps the best possible example of this dynamic. Why would any country remain in war for so long without any meaningful, internal, easily exploitable source of income under dispute? When there is nothing to steal, countries tend to value peace and hard work more than war and adventure.

(via Seven equations that rule your world - physics-math - 13...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:00:44 -0500

(via Seven equations that rule your world - physics-math - 13 February 2012 - New Scientist)

(via Photo Booth: Lovings at Home : The New Yorker)

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:09:29 -0500

(via Photo Booth: Lovings at Home : The New Yorker)

John Kay on Nozick on distributional justice. Could have made more of basketball example. It is as if the fans had swallowed Nozick's story, had all chipped in, but then discovered that the star player was not playing the game the fans had wanted, but instead a game that was _further_ impoverishing the fans, and that they were proud of playing the game. Isn't that why there's anger here. Nothing so high-fallutin as competing conceptions of justice.

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:49:18 -0500

John Kay on Nozick on distributional justice. Could have made more of basketball example. It is as if the fans had swallowed Nozick's story, had all chipped in, but then discovered that the star player was not playing the game the fans had wanted, but instead a game that was _further_ impoverishing the fans, and that they were proud of playing the game. Isn't that why there's anger here. Nothing so high-fallutin as competing conceptions of justice.

(via How Boston City Hall was born - Boston.com)

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:45:48 -0500

(via How Boston City Hall was born - Boston.com)

ECB tries to shift default risk back to nations: "As part of the deal, the national central banks will shoulder the additional risks involved in the broadening of the collateral pool – normally losses are distributed across the eurozone. Some eurozone officials have expressed private concern about the “Balkanisation,” or disintegration, of monetary policy. But Mr Draghi argued that national central banks were better placed to judge the quality of individual loans. The measure would be of particular help to banks serving small and medium sized companies – and thus the real economy."

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:45:26 -0500

ECB tries to shift default risk back to nations: "As part of the deal, the national central banks will shoulder the additional risks involved in the broadening of the collateral pool – normally losses are distributed across the eurozone. Some eurozone officials have expressed private concern about the “Balkanisation,” or disintegration, of monetary policy. But Mr Draghi argued that national central banks were better placed to judge the quality of individual loans. The measure would be of particular help to banks serving small and medium sized companies – and thus the real economy."

Flow has been maddeningly difficult to pin down, let alone harness, but a wealth of new technologies could soon allow us all to conjure up this state. The plan is to provide a short cut to virtuosity, slashing the amount of time it takes to master a new skill - be it tennis, playing the piano or marksmanship.

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:55:15 -0500

Flow has been maddeningly difficult to pin down, let alone harness, but a wealth of new technologies could soon allow us all to conjure up this state. The plan is to provide a short cut to virtuosity, slashing the amount of time it takes to master a new skill - be it tennis, playing the piano or marksmanship.

(via Zap your brain into the zone: Fast track to pure focus -...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:54:22 -0500

(via Zap your brain into the zone: Fast track to pure focus - life - 06 February 2012 - New Scientist)