Quetag

Citibank urges Pakistan to seek IMF help to avoid default

Why would Citi say this? Were they paid advisors? Seems odd
This seems like another example of a stretched bank looking to insure its loans.
There is trouble ahead I would think.

What’s Next In Science & Technology – With two dimensions of time, many of the mysteries of today’s laws of physics may disappear

I think this is a very interesting article.
Something I was pondering on (well similar in vain, but in a less sophisticated way).

Are there two or more dimensions?
Something with time doesn’t seem right, we have three main (perceived) physical dimensions, yet this strange and different dimension called time.

It is an unwritten assumption in all equations…. what if time doesn’t exist at all, maybe this is just a human artificial construct.

Could we re-write equations without time as a dimension at all.

I found this whilst researching twinkle twinkle little star.

I think that I shall never see
A planet fast as Mercury.

The clouds are so thick on Venus
The people there have never seen us.

I stand upon the planet Earth,
Place of my birth, for what it’s worth.

The surface of reddish Mars
Is much more cold and dry than ours.

The largest planet by far is Jupiter;
Knowing that, I feel slightly less stupider.

Icy rings make a lovely pattern
Circling the planet Saturn.

The fierce winds of Uranus
Are stronger than hurricane-s.

NASA’s Voyager 2 flew past Neptune
They won’t be sending another probe soon.

I tried to think of a rhyme for Pluto,
But it’s no longer considered a planet, you know?

This product Litter Kwitter is right up there with the Flowbee on the most unusual of all time.
Flowbee is still a personal favorite though!

This is a good analogy in the difference between windows and linux, linked to my last post.

Linux isNOT Windows: “Look at it this way: Step outside and take a look at all the different vehicles driving along the road. These are all vehicles designed with more or less the same purpose: To get you from A to B via the roads. Note the variety in designs.

But, you may be thinking, car differences are really quite minor: they all have a steering wheel, foot-pedal controls, a gear stick, a handbrake, windows & doors, a petrol tank. . . If you can drive one car, you can drive any car!

Quite true. But did you not see that some people weren’t driving cars, but were riding motorbikes instead. . ?

Switching from one version of Windows to another is like switching from one car to another. Win95 to Win98, I honestly couldn’t tell the difference. Win98 to WinXP, it was a bigger change but really nothing major.

But switching from Windows to Linux is like switching from a car to a motorbike. They may both be OSes/road vehicles. They may both use the same hardware/roads. They may both provide an environment for you to run applications/transport you from A to B. But they use fundamentally different approaches to do so.

Windows/cars are not safe from viruses/theft unless you install an antivirus/lock the doors. Linux/motorbikes don’t have viruses/doors, so are perfectly safe without you having to install an antivirus/lock any doors.

Or look at it the other way round:”

Ananova – Victim offers robber a cuppa: “A Czech man abandoned an armed robbery after a shop assistant invited him for a ‘nice cup of tea and a piece of cake’.”

This just has to be my favorite story of the week.

Interesting article from the NY times.
In all of this discussion, although there is plenty of discussion around economics and fundamentals; it is the general mass population and their behaviour that is most important and acts as a magnifier of any effect. If they are happy and unconcerned, it all continues and the economy can slowly be let down. If they panic, all bets are off.

Slump Moves From Wall St. to Main St. – New York Times: “For the country as a whole, recent data shows that the economy is deteriorating at an accelerating rate. From September to January, average home prices fell 6 percent compared with a year earlier. Consumer confidence has been plummeting. The private sector shed 26,000 jobs in January and 101,000 in February, while those out of work have stayed jobless longer, according to the Labor Department.

Now, the broader discomfort is filtering into cities and towns that only recently seemed beyond reach.”

BBC NEWS | Business | JPMorgan to acquire Bear Stearns: “JPMorgan Chase has said it is to buy Wall Street’s fifth-largest investment bank Bear Stearns for $2 a share.”

BBC NEWS | Business | Bear Stearns gets emergency funds: “US bank Bear Stearns has got emergency funding, in a move that raises fears that one of Wall Street’s biggest names is on the verge of collapsing.”

Interesting article from the Telegraph in the UK. We will see what happens monday.
Panic is the concern now.

Fed’s interest rate cuts are worse than useless – Telegraph: “History will show that Ben Bernanke has failed to steer the US economy away from recession. And I won’t win many friends for saying this, but the Fed chairman and his acolytes have actually made America’s predicament much worse.”

BBC NEWS | Americas | Tent city highlights US homes crisis: “The meltdown in the US mortgage market has led to record foreclosures and forced thousands from their homes. In few places is it worse than southern California, where the BBC’s Rajesh Mirchandani reports on an extreme consequence of the downturn, but one that some observers fear could grow.”

Looking at these pictures I just had to add this one. Is very exciting.

SPACE.com — Avalanche Photographed on Mars: “A NASA spacecraft has taken the first-ever image of an avalanche in action near Mars’ north pole.”

Buffet thinks we are in a recession and there is further to fall.
Would say I agree, but what is cheap. What would the Dow Jones be at to signal this…… sub 10,000?

Buffett waiting for shares to get “very cheap” – Telegraph: “The billionaire investor, who last week published his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders, said shares are not currently cheap and he’s waiting for them to become ‘very cheap’.”

Great article, that looks at this like a scientific problem….. where do all those teaspoons go. I love the idea of a halflife for teaspoons.

“The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute”
The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute — Lim et al. 331 (7531): 1498 — BMJ:

This article from USA today, this is the next crisis following the subprime crisis. People have borrowed too much, and this is unsustainable.

More Americans using credit cards to stay afloat – USATODAY.com: “More Americans using credit cards to stay afloat”

And the Oscar for “Best Short Film of a Sub-Atomic Particle” goes to… | Futurismic

I thought that this was an interesting time lapse picture

On Indie Music, I was taken back and having fun remembering Manchester Music from the 80’s, here are some links and bands etc (have copied in some of the good text below)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_music_scenes#English_indie_scenes

Bands, remember these names
Bands that have emerged from the Manchester music scene include the Buzzcocks, The Fall, Joy Division and its successor group New Order, Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets, James, The Stone Roses, and Oasis. The Chemical Brothers, although from southern England, formed in Manchester. Ex-Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown and ex-Smiths Morrissey continue successful solo careers. Other Greater Manchester natives include Richard Ashcroft and Jay Kay of Jamiroquai. (wikipedia, I remember the names though)

Also The Smiths, Cure, Cult, The Wedding Present (see to remember were big), House of Love, Spear of Destiny

English indie scenes

• Liverpool: (See Liverpool music scene). Famous for producing Echo & the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes during the post-punk era, and has recently fostered bands such as The Zutons, The Coral, Hot Club De Paris, Ladytron.
• Birmingham: notably Grebo (Pop Will Eat Itself, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, The Wonder Stuff ) plus scene surrounding The Jug of Ale bands including rumblefish, Ocean Colour Scene and more.
• Coventry: With emerging bands such as The Enemy coming from Coventry and the subsequent ressyrection of Stiff Records
• London: Notably the The Scene That Celebrates Itself, Thamesbeat and Whitechapel scenes.
• Manchester: Since the advent of punk rock, Manchester’s indie scene has yielded seminal groups such as Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths and The Fall. Famous for the Madchester scene in the late 80’s led by Factory Records artists The Stone Roses, James, and The Happy Mondays. The Madchester scene heavily influenced the city’s Britpop scene which included blur, Oasis, The Verve and Doves. Singer-songwriters Badly Drawn Boy and Jim Noir operate from the suburb of Chorlton.
• North East: Produced post-punk revivalists The Futureheads from Sunderland and Maxïmo Park from Newcastle upon Tyne. Pete Doherty comes from Hexham.
• Yorkshire (Notably Leeds and Sheffield): Sheffield is best known in indie cicrles for the band Pulp and its frontman Jarvis Cocker. Several members of Mercury Prize winners Gomez studied at Sheffield University. The rise of Arctic Monkeys has paved the way for new bands such as Milburn, Little Man Tate, The Long Blondes, The Dodgems, 65daysofstatic and Firegarden . Not as prolific as Sheffield, Leeds has still produced notable indie acts such as Kaiser Chiefs, The Music, ¡Forward, Russia!, Hadouken!, The Pigeon Detectives and The Wedding Present.

Breathtaking Photos From Nature

These are just some amazing photos of nature on this website.