Small Cars Can Be Safe
November 29, 2007 | Products & Opportunites
A lot of folks think big cars are safer than small cars. Ever wondered what happens when one of these tiny Smart Cars crashes into a wall at 70mph? Have a look! Summary: It's all about the engineering, not the size.
How the Housing Bubble Worked
November 26, 2007 | Business & Commerce | People & Society
If you want to cut to the chase on the "sub-prime mortgage meltdown," or whatever we're calling it these days, tune into this post by Berkeley economist Brad DeLong:
Let’s look at the loan history on this property.... The property was purchased in January 2005 for $1,157,000. The combined first and second mortgages totalled $1,156,730 leaving a downpayment of $270. Let’s just call it 100% financing. By April, they owners were able to find refinancing through Countrywide with a $999,999 first mortgage... Option ARM with a 1% teaser rate... a simultaneous second mortgage for $215,000 pulling out their first $58,000. So look at their situation: They are living in a million dollar plus home in Turtle Ridge making payments less than those renting, and they “made” $58,000 in their first 4 months of ownership.
If you're playing by the so-called rules, it's revolting.
Quote for the Day
November 18, 2007 | Arts & Culture | Life
"It is by deferring mediocre actions and by being utterly intent on foreseeing the unforeseeable that we prepare ourselves for being thoroughly contradicted by happiness." —Gaston Bachelard, The Dialectic of Duration, pg 63.
The Unbroken Chain blogging fiesta didn't materialize (deferring mediocre actions), but it was a rilly rilly great weekend. I met some fine people who are sure to be long-term friends, and got some positive reaction to the ideas and potentials I put forth. The level of discourse, the warmth of the folk, the awesome power of the music, the fun times – one of the best social weekends in many years. There will be followup.
Free Guitar, But You Gotta Pass It On
November 15, 2007 | Arts & Culture
While I'm attending the UMass Dead conference (warning, possible blogging fiesta), I hope to give away a virtually new Ovation Legend acoustic guitar. It's a Handmeon, so whoever receives it has to promise to also give it away. If you'd like to own it for a while, register at Handmeon and bookmark the object, requesting to host it. We'll see if there's any uptake.
Handmeon in the Local Media
November 10, 2007 | Arts & Culture | People & Society
The Valley News published a great story about Handmeon today:
"In tiny offices in Hanover, three men are trying to use the Internet to infuse with spirituality an activity that's become increasingly fraught and expensive: gift giving. Their company's quiet launch, built up over the past few months, coincides with the gift-giving season.
"Handmeon will favor people who have much to give. A person with a lot of gifts to offer is likely to get a lot in return. But as much as Handmeon is about giving, it's also about building connections. It's a social networking site, a sort of Facebook or MySpace for adults." —Alex Hanson, Valley NewsI was so happy I wrote a blog post about it over on the company blog. Thanks to Alex and James for a super job.
Arrau's Chopin
November 6, 2007 | Arts & Culture
I am giving away a 7-disc set of Chopin's piano works ($55) over at Handmeon, and in the process did some writing about the collection and how I've related to the work. I'm going to continue to post for a week or two, ruminating on the compositions, before I send it on its journey.
If you register (free), you can not only comment on posts, but you can bookmark and request the Handmeon for yourself. As it travels from person to person, collecting the impressions of its hosts, you can either read along, or join the conversation, or, if the stars align, receive it as a gift from someone. Take a look and see what you think.
About the process: I started thinking about making this a Handmeon about a week ago, after listening to all seven discs on a single Sunday. I knew that I wanted to talk about my reaction to the music, and how much of an impression it had made on me. Tonight, when I sat down to create the online presence, I first wrote the inscription, which introduces the idea of why it's a Handmeon. Then I created a series of posts – but just wrote the titles and saved them. Now I had, essentially, an outline of what I was going to write about to start. I wrote the first five posts in rough form, then activated the object so it was visible online. The I started this blog post, and then pointed to it from the Handmeon blog. [Yes, I am now writing about this in three places, in three different contexts.] All this took about an hour, or maybe an hour and a half. It was an enjoyable was to spend the evening, having some fun with words, creating some meaning around some beautiful music, preparing to pass it along to someone else – someone I may not even know. But that someone, if they listen to the music, will be moved. And hopefully if they also read the sojourn(s) they will be moved to write about it as well.
There's a "share this page" link on the Arrau's Chopin home page. If you know someone who might appreciate all this, please send the page to them, or point them here to learn more. Thanks.
On Obama
November 6, 2007 | Governance | People & Society
Andrew Sullivan has written a strong cover story for The Atlantic supporting Barack Obama. He describes how he came to this in a great interview. Combined, they provide pretty much everything you need to know about why I'm supporting Obama in the NH primary. Summary: Obama is a meta-candidate, attempting to re-frame not just the issues, but the mode of discourse. Might not work (just yet) but the time will come, and the sooner the better given the situation.
Our Generation’s Enlightened Contribution
November 6, 2007 | Governance | People & Society
I am moved by this post, which relates an unfortunate incident on a train from New Haven CT to the dominant cultural narrative currently unfolding. [Grammatical ambiguity intended.] In 2002 and 2003 – seems so long ago, now, doesn't it? – I remember thinking that the tone of America's leadership would have a trickle-down effect on everyday life. Like buying a new car and suddenly seeing the same model everywhere, I then noticed trickle-down effects every day. Increased minor road rage, even in my small New England hamlet. More status-seeking behavior as the College and Hospital swelled their administrative ranks. Increased "black and white" judgments – "you're either with us or against us." That smug tone from the 50.5% majority, still in evidence on Fox News, even as their influence wanes. The victim mentality of the so-called "left," still in evidence at the US Congress, despite Democratic majorities in both houses.
I want to live in a society where people are kind, where we assume the best in people, not the worst. I want to understand dangers and threats, but I want that balanced by the trade-offs required for increased marginal safety. I want honest leadership, that is open and transparent and genuine. I want us all to face up to our collective challenges and take individual action even if it has negative short-term impacts on our own economics. I want to be free of jingoism. I want to be able to write a post like this without wondering if I'll end up on some list somewhere.
I am naive. But I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave.
Except You
November 5, 2007 | Arts & Culture | Governance | People & Society
Bravo. Probably the most important factor in the next US Presidential election is getting young people to vote, no matter what. Maybe this campaign will help.
