Question of the Day

Why are people concerned about Google "lock-in", when one of the products when Google could enforce lock-in (Gmail), all possible forms of access are available (POP3, IMAP and forwarding). Contrast this to Yahoo and Microsoft, who do not offer forwarding (which means you are stuck with them for the rest of your life, in one way or the other.) Yahoo at least allows you to forward you messages for a fee ($20/year). Still, Google wins in terms of quality, so he does not need lock-in.

The truth in the credit crisis (UK version)

Watch this:

It is funny. And true.

Hard to believe

When bubbles burst (like the one with real estate), you will find many people surprised. Most often than not, even the "experts" are surprised. In fact, some of them made predictions 1 year ago so poorly that you can hardly believe it.
Most people do not watch "old news", but "old predictions" are much more fun. Invest 5 minutes to see the second video on this webpage TigerHawk. In the first part (1 year old), the only guy who had an idea what is about to happen was yelled at by jerks repeating the same old mantra "prices will go up", while he identified correct trends and reasons behind them. In the second part (current), those guys who were wrong try to cover it up.
This suggest what is wrong with current media and their "advices". People who know (and think) rarely go there and even if they do, they are yelled at by people who are loud, but do not think.
So if you cannot tell who is expert and who is not, listen to Dilbert. He may be sometimes wrong, but at least he is funny.

What defines Google?

I think nothing does it better than this:

"What sets Google apart, Schmidt told me in another conversation, is that although people like him always assumed that 'Google would be an important company, the founders always assumed that Google would be a defining company.' He remembers a day in 2002 when he walked into Page's office and Page started to show off a book scanner he had built. 'What are you going to do with that, Larry?' Schmidt recalls asking. 'We're going to scan all the books in the world,' Page replied. Eventually, Google began to do just that."

Hat tip to Google System and New Yorker

Two Economists

Once upon a time, there was a little country with its little problems and little fights. In that country, presidential elections were coming. Two (not-so)-little economists wanted to become a presidents.
And after you wake up, you may realize, that one of them is not an economist. He is a professor alright, he even has two publications in the SSRN. Yet, no dwarf would be surprised to find out that nobody has ever downloaded either of them. (Last accessed: January 7th, 2008).
[Not being an economist would not be a disadvantage in the presidential elections. Not being and economist and calling yourself such is. ]
[For a probably more relevant summary of one's work, check Scholar.google.com and compare the types of publications.]