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Stop me if you've heard this before. It's been around for ages. I keep getting asked to explain how this subprime crap works. Apart from explaining that Lurlene and Jethro, who've never had jobs in their lives, were able to get mortgages to move out of the trailer into a seven bedroom home, there's a slightly more complicated backstory to how this idiocy has happened.
This presentation, while very funny, is also quite a good explanation of how subprime has destroyed the economy. It also explains why we really shouldn't be bailing out the idiots who made this happen. In fact, it already provides a really good practical example for the Wikipedia Moral hazard article.
Update: Des sends this excellent Bird and Fortune video which also does a good job at explaining the mess.
01 Oct 2008 13:32 [category: /weird] #
An article on the Daily Telegraph site seems a little confused, geographically.
A MILLIONAIRE banker was beaten to death by a mob after stepping in to save a couple being assaulted at a taxi rank in London.
...The family went out for dinner on Saturday evening in Norwich, southeast England, after which Mr McGarahan's wife Alison and their children, aged seven and four months, returned to their hotel.
Okay, first of all, Norwich isn't in "southeast England". Second, Norwich is not a suburb of London, so neither the assault nor the taxi rank were "in London". This BBC piece kinda gives that away, particularly the multiple references to Norfolk Police.
One wonders whether their "correspondents in London" really are, or if it's just a sub-editor in Sydney hacking up the Reuters piece.
01 Oct 2008 12:43 [category: /weird] #
So the banks are crying poor, claiming there's not enough liquidity in the market. You'd think this would mean their savings interest rates would be hovering somewhere around the RBA Cash Rate so they could encourage some deposits.
My bank's "high interest" savings account is currently paying its loyal customers a "huge" (their word) 6.75%. But new customers get 8.1%. Nice way to treat your existing customers!
If getting bought by one of the big four banks wasn't enough incentive to find another bank, this treatment of long-term customers is!
01 Oct 2008 10:40 [category: /grumble] #
Geo: -43.105311,147.72546
On the weekend I flew down to Hobart for Scott's bucks night. It was held in a beautiful spot down on the Tasman Peninsula. About 20 of us camped out, drank a lot of beer and cooked up a whole pig on a spit. Great time had by all!
The pig itself was spectacular. It took a long time to cook, and we had some technical issues with the spit method (the motor wasn't strong enough) but we made it through. Succulent, tender meat and absolutely perfect crackling. There's a lot of meat on a single pig. There must have been quite a few in Hobart who had pork fried rice for dinner last night!
Flight back was a bit messed up. They ended up diverting to Melbourne to refuel after there were delays in Sydney, so we didn't get home until 22:30 when we should have been home by 19:30.
01 Sep 2008 08:38 [category: /me] #
Earlier in the week I thought I'd missed fruit trees, but suddenly one of the suppliers has got some more stock. So I've quickly ordered some trees today. I'm changing tack slightly, as according to Backyard Orchard Culture you can grow multiple trees very close together. The advantages of this are that you get more variety, cross-pollination and the trees compete with each other, resulting in smaller and more manageable trees.
So on this note I've ordered two apples and two plums. I'll grow them very close together near our fences. That should mean a decent bounty of fruit. Also ordered two passionfruit vines, to run up the fence. Next Winter I might look at ripping out the ornamentals (weeds, I say!) in the front garden and replacing them with something more productive, like lemons and limes.
This weekend I'll have to make up the rest of the garden beds. It's gonna be a pretty big job as I have to mix five bags of sheep shit amongst the beds, but that should give the soil some good structure. At the moment it's pretty sandy on top, and a bit clay further down.
01 Aug 2008 15:15 [category: /house] #
The Guardian has a great piece about direct action group Plane Stupid, who are all about preventing the expansion of the aviation industry in the face of climate change. It presents a passionate and well-reasoned insight into why direct action is important, and how electoral politics can't solve the world's problems.
"In a situation where you need massive, urgent systemic change, we don't really have the system to achieve it," says Thompson. "Electorally, everyone is fighting over the middle ground. So the mere fact that you're not a moderate means you can't be listened to. That means anybody who had the answer to climate change would automatically be excluded from the debate. This is why you can't just think, if I vote for the greenest party at the election, I'll have done what I needed to."
01 Jul 2008 08:41 [category: ] #
Dance music's sexiest forty-something has come out with a rather... different album this time around. It's kinda like Joni Mitchell or Tori Amos in parts, with the occasional Sergeant Peppers flick. Weird.
Its not unpleasant, but it's a bit dull. Holly likes it. I initially wasn't sure and kept listening, hoping something would jump out. It didn't. So while I don't dislike it, it just doesn't have anything to hook me.
If you're expecting stomping high-camp techno romps, you'll be disappointed.
I hope this doesn't mean her live shows will end up being much more serious. Girls in bikinis with moose antlers and horsey tails. Now that's a live show!
According to Metacritic I'm something of a minority with my opinion here. Then again, I think Radiohead are one of the most tediously derivative acts ever. Yet I love the stuff they're derived from, like King Crimson. And Radiohead have sold a few records. Then again, so has Delta Goodram.
Seventh Tree is bound to ruffle a few electro-feathered fans, but's no denying it's a venture that sets the pair into new experimental territory.
NME
Goldfrapp have shed the sex-Moroder-robot-Bolan-fuck-disco like a used condom and re-tooled themselves as a whimsical psychedelia and pastoral folk outfit for the disappointing Seventh Tree.
cokemachineglow
Seventh Tree, though in some respects an organic redrafting of the autoerotic Goldfrapp template, picks up where Supernature left off in its setting of the controls for the heart of the mainstream, and misses badly the slickly subversive tone that lifted the band from the realms of coffee table mediocrity.
Drowned In Sound
01 Apr 2008 17:41 [category: /music] #
In response to yesterday's rant about WebTrends, I got an email this morning from Scott Driscoll, Product Manager at WebTrends. He says they're working on improving usability and want a chat about what I've experienced. A very positive sign.
Building software for a general market is hard. You have so many conflicting demands, and the people writing specs and cutting code are generally the furthest away from the people using the software and so have to make decisions without fully understanding what's needed. Then there's the pressure to cram ever more features in. I know, I've been there.
This is a very positive move from WebTrends. Engaging people who use the product every day can only improve things, and I imagine there is quite a bit of market pressure on companies like WebTrends (we're talking figures with five zeros on them to buy WebTrends) competing against Google's free tool.
I'm quite looking forward to giving my feedback. Hopefully I can be quite helpful for them, and the result should at least make part of my day-to-day job easier.
