All the stars have aligned. It’s Friday, Rebekah Brooks, the Murdochs and News Corp are all over the news AND Rebecca Black has released a new video! So here goes a brilliant mash-up of Rebekah Brooks’ resignation and Rebeccas Black’s YouTube hit song ‘Friday’.
In case, you live under a rock, here’s the original (not the “original”, though). And No, I am not going to link the funny and the not-so-bright parodies floating around the Web.
Okay, maybe one :)
A good read of an article that discusses the possibility and impacts of a US debt default, brought about by Congress not increasing the US debt limit. The piece goes on to talk about (albeit briefly) about the global repercussions of such an event. Also, it touches on the likelihood of market movements forcing the govt’s hand.
The graph (not from the article), interestingly, paints a thousand words as it depicts the Lehman bankruptcy and the resultant cost of debt rise followed by the forced TARP announcement, resulting in some relief. Expect to see such curves just around the corner!
I am inclined to believe that the market will force some resolution to the current impasse between the Republicans and Obama’s policies. Irrespective of the outcome, the markets will suffer – default would set off a string of indices, ratings and prices fall, while resolution-imposed austerity measures will also have negative consequences, although not as profound nor catastrophic.
“US Default would Likely Cause …” from The Huffington Post
I’m pretty sure most of you have already read this piece on how our memory is adapting to technology as we tend to remember things that we believe will not be readily available on the ubiquitous Net and tend not store in memory, stuff we know will be readily accessible.
However, the argument seems an extension/ reinforcement of this piece from back in 2007, where the author discusses our reliance on external memory, namely the Net. His article differs from this other author’s article, in that the former actually likes it, while the latter finds it disconcerting, even damaging. In fact, the last article goes on to talk about other side effects, including our diminishing attention span.
Where do I stand? I kind of agree with the notion that the Net is making us too reliant on the “wired word”; I’d rather we stored more in our brains, actual stuff, not just info on where would be able to find that actual stuff! I just think it’d keep our brains sharp.
Did I remember reading all these articles? Nah! I just googled them. :)
A nice little write-up on banks in Europe and flawed stress tests. The methodologies should be looked into, improved upon and then applied to banks in Bangladesh. Better clues to the current liquidity crisis would be revealed and a more detailed picture would emerge.
“Ignoring the Obvious” from The Economist
This is a brilliant way to try to treat cancer. The brilliant bits are in the two paragraph preceding the last. Ingenious how they make use of the body’s natural defences and communication system to target deliver the treatment. It makes for great reading through.
“Particle Physic” from The Economist
An interesting read, where Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle is intelligently sidestepped. And don’t you love it when concepts like “weak measurement” make their way into physics?
The way I see it – this is how statistics (in this instance, averages), which is a mind-meld of mathematics and art, (sorry for the elvish/ trekkie imagery!) pulls one over science.
Quantum mechanics rule ‘bent’ in classic experiment.
This is a simply brilliant video combining PHDcomics’ art and two serious physicists’ explanation of what “Dark Matter” is. It is nice to see brilliant physicists being humble – puts life and universe in some perspective.
Hear me out 