Listen, Little Man!
Stock trades to exploit speed of light, says researcher
23 March 2011Last updated at 03:20 By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News, Dallas Optimal high-frequency trading locations (blue) exist for pairs of major financial exchanges (red) Financial institutions may soon change what they trade or where they do their trading because of the speed of light. "High-frequency trading" carried out by computers often depends on differing prices of a financial instrument in two geographically-separated markets. Exactly how far the signals have to go can make a difference in such trades. Alexander Wissner-Gross told the American Physical Society meeting that financial institutions are looking at ways to exploit the light-speed trick. Dr Wissner-Gross, of Harvard University, said that the latencies - essentially, the time delay for a signal to wing its way from one global financial centre to another - advantaged some locations for some trades and different locations for others. Competitive advantage
Jevons paradox
The Jevons paradox has been used to argue that energy conservation may be futile, as increased efficiency may increase fuel use. Nevertheless, increased efficiency can improve material living standards. Further, fuel use declines if increased efficiency is coupled with a green tax or other conservation policies that keep the cost of use the same (or higher).[3] As the Jevons paradox applies only to technological improvements that increase fuel efficiency, policies that impose conservation standards and increase costs do not display the paradox. History[edit] The Jevons paradox was first described by the English economist William Stanley Jevons in his 1865 book The Coal Question. Jevons observed that England's consumption of coal soared after James Watt introduced his coal-fired steam engine, which greatly improved the efficiency of Thomas Newcomen's earlier design. Cause[edit] Rebound effect[edit] Khazzoom–Brookes postulate[edit] Energy conservation policy[edit] See also[edit]
Growth Has an Expiration Date
Bio Tom Murphy Tom Murphy is an associate professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. He currently leads a project to test General Relativity by bouncing laser pulses off of the reflectors left on the Moon by the Apollo astronauts, achieving one-millimeter range precision. Murphy's keen interest in energy topics began with his teaching a course on energy and the environment for non-science majors at UCSD. He has explored the quantitatively convincing case that our pursuit of an ever-bigger scale of life faces gigantic challenges and carries significant risks. Click on any word within the transcript to jump to that point in the program. next previous cancel To download this program become a Front Row member. ZOOM IN: Learn more with related books and additional materials. For related Britannica content, please search on Britannica's Web site, at www.britannica.com.
The Society of the Spectacle
“But for the present age, which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, appearance to essence, . . . truth is considered profane, and only illusion is sacred. Sacredness is in fact held to be enhanced in proportion as truth decreases and illusion increases, so that the highest degree of illusion comes to be seen as the highest degree of sacredness.” —Feuerbach, Preface to the Second Edition of The Essence of Christianity In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, life is presented as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has receded into a representation. The images detached from every aspect of life merge into a common stream in which the unity of that life can no longer be recovered. The spectacle presents itself simultaneously as society itself, as a part of society, and as a means of unification. The spectacle cannot be abstractly contrasted to concrete social activity.
theyrule
Screw Optimism and screw “sanity”
I recently stumbled across a book on the link between leadership and what we call madness. From the Amazon review: Take realism, for instance: study after study has shown that those suffering depression are better than “normal” people at assessing current threats and predicting future outcomes. Looking at Lincoln and Churchill among others, Ghaemi shows how depressive realism helped these men tackle challenges both personal and national. Or consider creativity, a quality psychiatrists have studied extensively in relation to bipolar disorder. Now, I’m not depressive, strictly speaking. An optimist and a damn fool are the same thing. Ordinary people, what we call “sane” in our society, are really shitty analysts. I walked through Calcutta’s slums, as a teenager, by myself. And you can tell people what will happen, in advance, and be right, over and over and over again. Likewise I am beyond tired of the excessive stigmatization of anger and hatred. So folks. And screw hope. Ok. Who is mad?
LifeGem - Memorial Diamonds created from a lock of hair or cremated remains / ashes / cremation
Theme park cast member stories: The one with the security camera
In answer to popular questions about working at the Walt Disney World Resort: "Are there really security cameras everywhere at Walt Disney World?" Well, I wouldn't say that they are everywhere, but Disney uses security cameras in many of its attractions. "Have you ever seen, well, you know...?" Yes. "But I didn't say what I meant." Doesn't matter. Here's the warning: Bail out of this story now if you're easily offended. Still here? It's parade time in the afternoon during one of the slower months of the year in the Magic Kingdom. I know that they're aware of this, too, because both of them are looking around at the empty boats as they're dispatched from the loading platform. "Why is she looking around so much?" I arch an eyebrow. "Oh," he replies, as two other cast members walk in from the adjacent break room. All eyes are on the bank of video monitors in front of us. "Where'd she go?" I'm not proud of what I did next. With a bump, the boat stops, suddenly. No one needs to. Silence, all around.
