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Entries from August 2011

HP Discovers That Demand Curves are Generally Downward-Sloping

August 31st, 2011 · 1 Comment · Economics

Apparently you sell a lot more Touchpads at $99 than at $499. Gee, I guess individual downward-sloping demand curves aggregate into a similarly sloping curve after all. So weird. Someone notify Steve Keen.

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Gallup: “Americans Say Reagan Is the Greatest U.S. President”

August 30th, 2011 · No Comments · Politics

Details here. One major reason IMHO that many Americans get all tingly over the Gipper is not generally discussed. Those on the left certainly won’t bring it up. It has nothing to do with the skyrocketing employment or the plummeting inflation numbers he presided over. It has to do with our survival. Youngsters (and old […]

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Search Data Indicates The QR Code Standard is Obliterating the Competition

August 24th, 2011 · No Comments · Tech Industry

I was surprised to see that some companies are actually trying to create proprietary standards that compete/override the ubiquitous — and open QR (Quick Response) code. And as far as Google searches indicate, they aren’t doing very well. This report details the “seven dwarfs” that seem to be getting very little traction. These codes I’d […]

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Entitlement Spending Chart of the Day

August 21st, 2011 · 1 Comment · Economics

This time from the Economist: On a related note, this little blast from the past.

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TouchPad Quote of the Day: “HP is committed to being on this journey for a long time”

August 21st, 2011 · No Comments · Tech Industry

The quote below was published on July 1 on ZDNet. The TouchPad was killed on August 18. I guess “a long time” means seven weeks. I feel very bad for the HP product manager who was led to believe the upper brass was committed to his team’s success. (emphasis mine). I think a lot of […]

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Apple vs HP: Clint Eastwood Speaks Out on Touchpad Capitulation

August 19th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

Couldn’t resist.

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At Last! Research Proves the Wrong People are Getting the Money

August 15th, 2011 · No Comments · Economics

The Wall Street Journal reports on a study that validates what all good redistributionists know about social injustice: “Mean People Earn More.” More proof that the spoils go to the non-deserve-ing. The researchers examined “agreeableness” using self-reported survey data and found that men who measured below average on agreeableness earned about 18% moreā€”or $9,772 more […]

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Intrade: Odds of Obama re-election fall below 50% for the first time

August 11th, 2011 · No Comments · Politics

Update: Love Carpe Diem Blog. You can catch Perry’s retake on this 2 days after I posted it. Remember, you heard it here first. : ) Latest odds here:

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For Gods Sake Just Answer the Friggin’ Question!: Part 1

August 11th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

Of that infinite list of things that drive me nuts, many fall under the heading of “please, please, I beg you — just answer this simple question!!” While I understand that everyone’s brains are wired differently, why is it so hard for many (most?) people experienced with an issue to give even the most basic […]

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“Brave Sir Robin” and the Debt Vote

August 8th, 2011 · No Comments · Economics

Just can’t resist. I read this from Krugman and now I can’t get the “Brave Sir Robin” tune out of my head. Update: Sigh, nothing original here. An old meme. So much for my cleverness.

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