October 2008
33 posts
WatchThe credit crisis as an Antarctic expedition (via MR)
Looking Ahead
I play soccer on a rec team at Cal and we had been struggling. We lost our first five games, and were looking pretty miserable. Last week, things turned around. We started passing more, using the whole field, and lo and behold, the goals came our way. Since starting 0-5 we are 2-0 and are looking better for the playoffs. Hopefully no one will think much of us in the first couple rounds and we can...
Dollar and Yen Soar as Other Currencies Fall and... →
I just found this NYT article—great timing given my last post. Another reason for the recent rapid appreciation of the dollar: foreign, developing economies are seen as excessively risky, and relative to others, the US dollar and Japanese yen are safe havens. An excerpt:
While a strong dollar might be a boon for American tourists abroad, it creates a host of problems for economies.
And...
One risk when studying abroad--exchange rate...
Being in the midst of a historic economic contraction, I couldn’t imagine a more interesting time to be learning about economics and finance. I’ve read and heard a lot about the lack of liquidity, decline in asset prices, foreclosures, reduced consumer and investor confidence, bailouts, what the Fed should or shouldn’t do, movement towards fixed income, etc. All of these topics...
Dollar Bill On Floor Sends Wall Street Into... →
I love The Onion.
NEW YORKâWall Street investors experienced a sudden surge in optimism Tuesday when, after six tumultuous weeks that saw record drops in the Dow Jones industrial average, a $1 bill was spotted on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
The dollar bill was discovered in the northwest corner of the trading floor at approximately 12:05 p.m., and its condition was reported as...
English R1B
It’s that time of the year again. My Telebears appointment is today, and I am picking my classes for next semester. One of the requirements I have yet to fill before I graduate in May is the second English requirement, R1B. Here is the class I chose, and am pretty stoked about:
R1B: “On and Off the Map”
Course Description: This course examines the topic of map-making in...
Health care debate in Berkeley tonight
If you’re in Berkeley and are interested in health care, you might find this interesting. Barack Obama’s health policy advisor (and Cal prof) Helen Halpin will be debating with William Dow, former health economist on President Bush’s Council of Economics Advisors (and also a Cal prof). It begins at 6:30 PM in VLSB. More info and bios here.
Sound advice
From Seth Godin’s blog:
here’s a bootstrapper’s/marketer’s/entrepreneur’s/fast-rising executive’s effort diet. Go through the list and decide whether or not it’s worth it. Or make up your own diet. Effort is a choice, at least make it on purpose:
1. Delete 120 minutes a day of ‘spare time’ from your life. This can include TV, reading the...
Thanks
Thanks to everyone at PricewaterhouseCoopers for putting on a great event yesterday in LA. I met a lot of cool people and had a great time. The feedback I got about our panel was all positive, and I think we covered some interesting topics. One of the problems a lot of people in the industry (entertainment and media) were discussing was how to monetize their online presence—they have great...
My whereabouts
Today I’ll be sitting on a panel representing us, the Net Gen (or Gen Z, X, V, Y, C, or Google Generation—take your pick!) at the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment and Media Outlook. I’ll be talking about technology and how we use it. Hopefully I’ll say some interesting things. It should be fun :)
Voicemail is dead
Someone out there is going to make a lot of money solving the problem of voicemail. And yes, voicemail is a problem. Especially if you don’t have visual voicemail like on the iPhone or Instinct. Otherwise, you have to listen to old messages in chronological order, which is annoying and counter-intuitive. And if you’re like me and call people back immediately, without listening to their...
iPhone doubles Pandora usage →
It’s awesome seeing companies figure out the iPhone platform and using it to drive growth. Some companies’ products are perfectly fit for the device, while others need help with the new medium. I think Pandora got it right. (via Gruber)
New photos
I’ve posted some new photos on Flickr from the two trips I took to Yosemite this summer with friends (and family—Nora!). Here is a sample, check them out!
And another, from the top of Half Dome:
GigaOm: We Have Completed $4.5 Million in New... →
Way to go Om— keeping up the good work.
WatchSNL: Biden and Palin debate. (via Hulu)
The Obama iPhone app
If you want to know more about the new Obama iPhone app that came out this week, read this post by a friend of mine, Raven Zachary. He and another friend, Dom Sagolla, built a 10-person team and got this app coded, tested, and into the App Store in less than a month. That’s impressive, especially how complex and clean the app has to be. Here is a screenshot, via Dom:
This is a good...
“Apple, you love us. Admit it. Come on, you love us! What’s that? I see...”
– Dom, on Apple lifting the NDA
Apple drops secrecy pledge for iPhone developers →
No more NDA. That’s great for Dom and Raven!
Robbers sought in brazen UC Berkeley break-in →
I lived in this residence hall (Clark Kerr) and now live a block away. I like Berkeley, both the city and the school, but crime here is terrible. There have been at least 5 murders in the city this year that I can recall, and the per-capita property crime rate is the highest in California.