Electric Cars and Really Interesting Stats

Shai Agassi gives a TED talk about his company and some of the work they have been doing. The stats that he offers relating to electric cars is very interesting.




I wrote an entry earlier this month about our economy and the need for alternative energy sources. The preceding lecture gives much more compelling evidence.

The graph referencing depleting resources is extremely fascinating. From a brief glance, the volatility in prices increases the more supply decreases. If you're an investor, now may be a good time to buy oil. Actually...oil is an extremely profitable area to be trading in if you properly boost your earnings with option contracts.

Do You Hate Your Neighbors?

Do you hate your neighbors? Because I hate mine. lol.

The walls at my place are so thin I can hear my neighbors farting if they ate enough Mexican. And unfortunately, the jerk that shares the wall with my bedroom has an affinity for listening to loud music. I don't mind loud music. I just hate bad loud music. If you're going to bump it, play the good shit.

As I'm typing this, my neighbor is listening to awful smooth jazz. Yea, you know...the electric guitar with the keyboarding that reminds you of a retro big hair porno. Sick. Music is usually an accompaniment to whatever task being done. Working out? Hit the hip hop. Stuck in 405 traffic? Guilty pleasure sing-a-long pop. But what the hell do you do while listening to generic smooth jazz? Master debates?

Every morning it's the same deal. The dude powers up the radio and tunes to something tasteless. I'm no music snob by any means, but I know good compositions when I hear them. My music tastes are wide and open. I've explored all genres from rock, hip hop, electronic, oldies, alternative, blues, and even jazz. Radiohead tops my list (few are as eccentrically appealing as Thom Yorke). So far, I have never heard a beat seeping through my walls that made me think, "cool...I wonder what song that is..." Annoying!


By the way, I once wrote that the difference between writers and bloggers is that bloggers are whiners... Well, this was a blog entry. haha. Complaint submitted. Happy weekend folks.

It's Always the Quiet Ones + Random Thoughts

You know what they say...it's always the quiet ones you've got to watch out for.

I was just thinking about how most fall victim to the loud people. The people that are yapping away with their chests blown up toward the center of attention are the distractions. They're often the types that can talk all day and not say anything.

Whatever...changing topics without a segue...

It's funny how a really pretty girl that's shy is often perceived as a bitch. She could merely be socially awkward. Shit, she can even be self-conscious with low esteem. Yet, the eyes from outside presume she's unfriendly and full of herself. haha. If people hate you and you're quiet, you're at least an 8.

Life is always more stressful when you're busy thinking about what you need to do, rather than when you're just doing it. So quit bitching and just do it.

I hate it when people plead to change an engaging conversation just because they're not interested and being left out. Let people talk. Don't drag others down to your level. Lift yourself up to theirs. Life's better when you find something interesting in the things otherwise.

If you're going to ask someone a question, make it specific. Never ask, "how was your day?" Instead ask, "what was your favorite part of today?" There will be times when people answer you vaguely and awkwardly. Don't force the question again. It's a signal that they're uncomfortable, and the best response is to shift toward playing a game together. But try to stay away from playing the hand slapping shit...we've all been there...done that...since elementary school.

Guys and girls can not be friends. Period.

People claiming to be clueless about knowing when they are being propositioned are either liars, just being modest, have never gotten their heart broken, or clueless about knowing when they are being propositioned. I think they're liars.

Everything's simple. We make it more complex the longer we think about it. But think about it long enough, and you'll see how simple it is.

Writers are perceptive and insightful. Bloggers are whiners.

Making a good decision only takes 10 seconds. 4 seconds to calm your emotions. 3 seconds to see all of your options. 2 seconds comparing the best two options. 1 second to take action. If you're rubbing your chin in the cereal aisle, you're way too indecisive...I'm being suuper cereal (<= read with lisp).

I ALWAYS make note of people that come to a party empty-handed. Bad etiquette. If the party's not in your honor, it's always a potluck. $5...spend the money.

Never ever disagree with someone if you can't back it up with contrary evidence. Opinions can be accepted without mutual agreement. If your best rebuttal is "trust me," practice listening followed by politely changing the subject.

Hide behind your smile. We all truly, sincerely, deeply do care about how shitty your life is...we just don't want to hear about it.

If you're always busy, we're not friends. Truth. I'm okay with it...anyways, I've got too much stuff to do.

The median income in the U.S. is a little over $50,000 per year. If you're Asian, the median income is about $66,000. Most men earn about $60,000 per year, while most women earn about $45,000. Careful about jumping to conclusions bra burners...the income gap I've stated could be for any number of reasons. The most dangerous job in America is fishing (I doubt this demographic is split equally with females).

The deadliest jobs in America for men have 1,300 deaths per year.
The deadliest jobs in America for women have 60 deaths per year.

When will you learn that you have to tailor your approach to people, rather than fault their reactions?

Balance: Growing up is not about being all one way or another...it's about being all together.

If you complain and then get what you wanted, stop fucking complaining. You got what you wanted...be happy.

You've got to dig through shit before you can plant a seed that will grow.


- J

Funny Thing About the Economy

If we don't move forward with producing alternative energy, we won't have an economy. FACT!

I'm not talking about the stock market specifically. I'm talking about returns on equity. It's economics.

Every real economic boom was lead by a revolution in technology. Steam engine? Assembly line? Batteries? What was our most recent revolution? Think carefully. It wasn't cellphones. It was the computer chip. The United States is far behind in most technologies now, and the cellphone as we know it is actually a dying breed. The future has been in portable devices (meaning that Blackberries and iPhones are closer to being computers than meager phones).

Here's the economic problem...it's been a loonnnnggg time now. We are reaching the near pinnacle of computer chip technology. I know this because I can only name 2 manufacturers: Intel and AMD. The earlier stages of any industry typically have several competitors scraping for their share of the pie. But as every industry matures, competitors get merged or beat out of the market. We've seen this in the auto industry (there was once a time when we had thousands of different car manufacturers...Pinto, Delorian, Saturn, etc., ring a bell?). Heck, we're even seeing this in internet search companies: Lycos, Ask, Yahoo, Google, Altavista, etc.

I'm a fan of software companies and believe there is great value in intellectual developments, but real economics lies mostly on goods not services. A strong and booming economy needs to produce a real tangible product. Why? Real products have predictable lifespans. We know with fair certainty how long it takes for corn to decay. We can't say the same for Javascript.

Our current economic crisis is not due to sub-prime mortgages per se. We have been screwed because of sub-prime credit. Everyone was loaning money in the form of credit cards, gas cards, and even mortgages. The flow of credit established a paper economy...an economy that only existed intellectually, and not physically. I'm not Ron Paul or Gary Schilling, and telling you that gold is the answer. Gold is actually a stupid investment in the long run.

The best prospect for lifting our economy is in alternative energy sources. Let the battles begin. Who will win? Will it be solar? Will it be nuclear? I'd bet on wind. Energy is in constant demand, and it's a real product with a predictable shelf-life. What most people don't know is that energy does not store very well, so it must be produced constantly. A short shelf-life means greater residual income, steady demand for workers, and scalable output. If we start with government funding to establish the infrastructure, it'll only be a matter of time until production costs become low enough to drive innovations in consumer products. Imagine having a cellphone you never have to charge. Imagine driving forever and never having to stop. Imagine imagining of imaginable possibilities. Wow goes the mind.

All jokes aside, bailouts and spending towards public goods is what the government is for. Governments are not supposed to exist to police the people. Governments are not for wiretaps, or even bans on civilian lifestyles. Government is here to stimulate industries that service the public good that the private sector overlooks. When people complain about our government getting too big, their concerns should refer to the development of a closed society. Stimulus spending is not big government...it's the reason for it. Don't be a stupid Republican, be a smart Republican. Stupid Republicans are the ones that believe Christians should be Republican. You can be a conservative Democrat. You can be a liberal Republican. You can be a moderate of either. There are groups of pro-life Democrats. Just don't be a fucking moron and squeeze your social policies through a narrow mind.



By the way, if you're interested...there's only one consistent distinction between Republicans and Democrats...

Republicans - believe resources should be given to the people at the top because they are the best at allocating resources (e.g. trickle-down economics).

Democrats - believe resources should be distributed to the people at the bottom because they know what they need and their consumption creates profit for those at the top who can later best allocate the resources.

The End of America with Naomi Wolf

Something worth watching more than X-Men: Crap-igins.




And while we're on political topics...





and...just because we need some eye candy...

wow, she's almost the perfect woman. almost because i'd like a woman that's also faithful...

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06262008/news/worldnews/news_babes_iraqi_tryst_117192.htm

I Saw the Leaked X-Men: Origins

The Wolverine movie X-Men: Origins was leaked onto the internet earlier this week. I watched it. I regret it.

The movie made me want to exercise more and eat healthy, so I can somehow recoup the 2 hours of precious life I lost. Like all the other children in their twenties, I was the most excited over the introduction of Gambit. And like most cognitive adults in their twenties, I was thoroughly let down by the horrible storytelling behind X-Men: Bore-igins. Let's get real people. The movie was a piece of crap dumped into a backed up toilet, whereby every effort to flush it away only led to the daunting rise of more murky putridity.

One character that stood out for all reasons awful was Wolverine's love interest, whatserface, aka sexyface. The casting director obviously called the role for a pretty face rather than a talented one. Granted there's truly no such thing as bad actors, only bad directors, but there was absolutely no personality behind Wolverine's sexherface. Power of persuasion? Seriously? Come on. Every woman has complete power of persuasion over me if she touches me also. It doesn't make her a mutant, or even special. It just makes her a no-good, heart-trampling, floozy like all of the other women that have stomped through my life. If I wanted to merely admire a beautiful close-up coupled with Hollywood's forte for bad acting, I demand Kate Beckinsale or Jessica Alba (prior to her over exposure). Otherwise, cast for talent and beauty with the likes of a Natalie Portman (more Garden State than Star Wars of course).

Seriously, what was up with the repetitive shouting "Nooooooooooo!" How many times do we really need to witness Wolverine tragically shouting into the sky as the camera zooms out above him? I wish I could survive a bullet to my noggin as to erase the taint in my memories of the X-Men franchise now. Or at least give me a moment to upsettingly decry into the heavens as the credits roll on this year's most-anticipated and hugely letting down blockbuster.

By the way, was that...did I just see...Daniel Negreanu? What the fuck? Whoever had the bright idea thinking that casting a poker star would add value to the movie needs to take the chips out of their ass. I think I should apply for a job in Hollywood. Apparently, it's the only town where people fail upward.

The leaked version of the movie was missing a lot of special effects and had scenes that still required editing. Unless they decide to leave all of will.i.am's scenes on the cutting room floor, I doubt the final release will be any less craptacular. The end.

Exhausted

Geez, I'm tired. It's like I'm looking through a constant haze, as if my eyes were covered with plastic food wrap.

I can't wait to get my car back tomorrow. Finally, I can make the much needed trips to the Kwik-E-Mart for cans of crack. Making progress is easier when I don't sleep.