Wealth now, philanthropy later

Wealth now, philanthropy later

Seeing this latest monument to Bill Gates’ ego reminded me of the following quote from the book Slow Money by Woody Tasch:

“Wealth now, philanthropy later” is an inappropriate response to the challenges of the 21st century.

It has long bothered me that born-again philanthropists are lauded for their contributions for society, while ignoring all the suffering they caused and damage they’ve done to the environment. Suddenly they got old enough (or guilty enough) to start being concerned about their legacy.

Google vs inertia

Google vs inertia

I can’t remember the last time I used Google to find a piece of factual information and ended up with a completely wrong result.

The rare exception recently was a search I did for:

“I promise you I will” lyrics

I was trying to find the name of the artist whose song repeats that phrase over and over. Here’s what Google found:

Top result: Depeche mode
8 of the top 10 results: Depeche mode
13 of the top 20 results: Depeche mode

The real answer?

A one-hit wonder band called When in Rome. The poor guys had their one hit and pretty much everyone seems to think that it’s actually a Depeche Mode song.

This illustrates one potentially interesting weakness with web search. If a majority of people, including reputable ones, believe something to be true and keep adding links to things they believe are true, that’s what Google is going to put up at the top.… READ THE REST

Frontline reports on the tricky issues

Frontline reports on the tricky issues

Frontline is one of PBS’s greatest gift to media. They have a great new show on derivatives and it gives a good overview of the recent economic collapse:

The Warning

In an era where all the major news organizations are either afraid to criticize a sitting administration (or even a past one) or are politically motivated rather than motivated by seeking the truth, Frontline can be a breath of fresh air.

Although the show generally has somewhat of a liberal bias, it’s interesting to note they had the courage to air another great program on the war in Afghanistan and give it an accurate, yet provocative name:

Obama’s War

Steal this idea

Steal this idea

About 10 years ago or so, I thought of creating a website called Steal This Idea, inspired by the classic book by Abbie Hoffman called Steal This Book. Not being a web designer and lacking time, the idea never became reality.

The basic concept was very simple: the world is full of people with great ideas, but few become reality, but rarely because the person with the idea doesn’t want it to be, but because they lack the resources or know-how or even time to make it real. Ironically, this is reason my site never became a reality!

  • People could post their ideas for products (intangible or otherwise) that they would like to become reality
  • Others that have resources or time, but lack ideas, could use the site to mine for good ideas
  • Hopefully, in the spirit of cooperation, should the idea become reality and bring financial or other success to the implementer, it could be shared with the person that came up with the idea

Basically the crux of the idea is that it’s better to have a great idea become reality and not profit from it than to have it forgotten forever.… READ THE REST

Ranking places to live

Ranking places to live

There are a lot of surveys and reports that rank countries on various criteria, but here’s one I especially like:

Global Peace Index Map

Global Peace Index (full report)

Instead of ranking countries by GDP or per capita income, it’s not to see a thoughtful survey that ranks countries by something more meaningful.

It’s interesting to see the mix of countries traditionally thought of as rich/stable versus those considered poor/unstable countries.

In the end, happiness can be found anywhere if people are left alone to pursue their dreams instead of getting sucked into the cross-fire between governments waving their masculinity in the air.

Asking better questions

Asking better questions

I was reading this story today about kids in Arkansas mistakenly drinking windshield wiper fluid:

10 kids drink windshield wiper fluid at daycare

The comments are filled with:

  • How could someone be so incompetent as to put windshield wiper fluid in the fridge?
  • How could someone not notice the difference between kool-aid and wiper fluid?
  • Why is such a dimwit working in a daycare center?
  • Why don’t we have laws to protect against stuff like this happening?
  • Why was windshield wiper fluid allowed within 5 miles of a daycare center?

But the question no one is asking is:

  • Why do we have to have toxic chemicals in our windshield wiper fluid?

I think we need to ask questions like this more often instead of being outraged at the result of something bad happening. I watch a great show on Discovery called Dirty Jobs, which explores the most disgusting jobs people have around the country.… READ THE REST

Avoiding chain stores in the Bay Area

Avoiding chain stores in the Bay Area

No matter where you live in the USA, chain stores are everywhere, especially in the suburbs. There are hidden negatives to spending your money there:

  • Homogeneous shopping experience such that where you live has no unique character.
  • Money leaves the community, which lowers tax revenues. Money going into the pocket of local entrepreneurs that are likely to put that money back into other local businesses.
  • Difficult for local entrepreneurs to compete, especially due to municipalities giving subsidies and tax breaks to large national chains.
  • Stores commonly understaffed with people that lack knowledge and motivation, usually due to low pay and poor benefits.
  • Less local jobs due to lower staffing by chain stores.
  • Local businesses can be a social experience as they live in the community and they stay with the business for a very long time. Fast turnover at chains means you can’t build these relationships.
  • While a chain may have better prices (although you’d be surprised), consider how you spend less time in smaller, better staffed stores, with knowledgable employees.
… READ THE REST
How I lost 65 pounds

How I lost 65 pounds

Surprisingly few people have noticed, but I lost 65 pounds in the last 7 years! It was pretty evenly distributed so I didn’t look horrifying but I was unhappy about it.

I saw so many people I know fail so I decided to experiment and do things a little differently. A lot of it was common sense but some of it was unconventional. Here’s what I did:

  • I avoided fad diets altthough I did try to go easy on the carbs
  • I abandoned low-fat food entirely and ate fat with no restrictions. Whole fat dairy, fattier meats, cooking with butter, and so on.
  • I limited anything with added sugar, especially soft drinks and desserts.
  • I avoided fruit juice but not fruit
  • I focused on keeping off the weight rather than losing it quickly. Note that I lost weight at less than 1 pound per month.
  • I tried to avoid processed foods.
… READ THE REST