Random Thoughts

Twitter, the newest social networking sensation, can generate sales leads for your business faster than other social network, even with a slashed budget, says David White, Founder and Chief Executive of Weboptimiser and he says he can tell you how your company can benefit from it when he presents his webinars in July.   He says Twitter is generating up to half the hits on his company’s website.Most people now know that Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: what are you doing? (they're even…

Today, July 8th, a fun little phenomenon happens - the numbers 7 through 12 all line up thanks to our Western calendar and time. At 10:11 am and 12 seconds today, it will be: July 8, 2009, 10:11:12 - or 07/08/09, 10:11:12.

This priceless little pearl of wisdom comes from a graph called the Laffer Curve. It is based on the premise that there is a critical point of government taxation where taxes become counter-productive and therefore reduce the flow of revenue into federal coffers. This has become a favorite pronouncement of politicians since they can lay claim to wanting to lower taxes and still raise federal revenues. Before we start I want to be clear that I am not making predictions, nor advocating any particular solution, since that would only be speculative on my part. Instead I am simply reviewing what…

Let me start by saying that I am not an economist. I’ve always been somewhat put off by the topic and felt that it was largely based on supposition and little science. After observing the antics in this country (the U.S.) over the past few months, I’ve become more convinced of it. If there are any economists in the reading audience, I would welcome your comments, because I really would like to make sense of what’s going on, although I fear that there is little that makes sense. The first problem I have is with the definition of economics as "the science which studies human behaviour as a…

What seems to be the problem in recognizing these words as being separate concepts?  Everytime I look there's another abuse of the word "selfish" when "self-interest" is intended.  Ranging from Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness (which immediately redefines selfishness so that it really isn't), to Richard Dawkin's The Selfish Gene (which is redefined so that it really isn't), to the following quote from The Introduction to Economic Analysis which states that people in economic models are "entirely selfish.  (The technical term is acting in one's self-interest)" Where did this…

Tangential Science: it's not necessarily science, but it's still funny. 1. The Japanese have responded to the persistent outrage of Greenpeace over their whaling efforts by seeking to enrage the anti-GMO contingent as well.   Up next; a new line of 'super tuna' that will be possible thanks to the awesome power of genome sequencing. Super tuna?   That's the best they could do for a name?  It makes Aquaman sound positively masculine.  'Super' and 'tuna' just don't go together.  This is why there are no cool Japanese superheroes. Of course, the Japanese are wise enough…

I'm out of town today, so I'm doing a break from my usual work.  Instead, I thought I'd share these tales of geek love.  First up is a nice fluff piece by Ashley Nelson, 4 Reasons Why Women Dig Geeks. Only 4 reasons (you may ask)? There must be more than a dozen reasons why geeks rock! And so there is. A 'best of craigslist' has 15 points on Why Geeks... are worth it, with the great final point: "They actually give a damn about you."  And if that's not enough, Jessica Merritt beats the concept to death with 50 reasons to date a geek. There's an older Wired article on 5 Geek…

Colonial Williamsburg is basically a theme park about colonial days in America, the time in the 18th century before and around the establishment of the United States. It can be somewhat kitschy[1], but it can also provide a good bit of education about U.S. history. Their web site has lots of good information, along with some computer wallpaper, ringtones, and screen savers (you might have to click on “Screensavers” after visiting the link). Appropriate to this weekend, check out the Declaration of Independence screen saver. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created…

New Global Best-Seller "The Terrorist Hunters" is a new book by Andy Hayman, C.B.E., Q.P.M., former Assistant Commisioner of Scotland Yard, and one-time head of the Yard's head of Special Operations.  It is set to become a global best-seller. Following a precedent set by a previous inept British government in the matter of "Spycatcher", the British Attorney General, a direct political appointee of Gordon Brown, the soon-to-be-outgoing British Prime Minister,  has obtained an order banning sales of the book in the UK. When a book is banned in modern Britain it simply gets published…

It's late, but still morning in my time zone: Agnosticism is not a creed, but a method, the essence of which lies in the vigorous application of a single principle. Positively the principle may be expressed as, in matter of intellect, follow your reason as far as it can carry you without other considerations. And negatively, in matters of the intellect, do not pretend the conclusions are certain that are not demonstrated or demonstrable. It is wrong for a man to say he's certain of the objective truth of a proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty…