Things about management and business on a smaller scale, and economics on a larger one.
Because I work in social networking, people often ask me about advertising in social networks. For some reason, they don’t buy the obvious excuse that I’m an engineer, not a business person or entrepreneur. What do I know?
[The problem of advertising in social networking]Continue reading
I’m preparing a list of things to do tomorrow, when it occurs to me:
I wonder if Larry or Sergei ever have to fix their family members’ computers?
If so, that’s got to be the World’s Most Expensive Tech Support.
I wonder how many six(or more)-figure-salary software engineers weekend as the family Geek Squad?
This shocking article, especially in light of their tactical PR moves, makes a number of people theorize that WalMart would be advocates of a Single-payer health care system.
No. Just the opposite.
In 2004, WalMart spent $650k to defeat Proposition 72. Now a careful reading may have some wondering how a bill requiring heath coverage is not the antithesis of “single payer.”
But that’s because most people’s understanding of economics is naïve.
[The business of single-payer after the jump]Continue reading
I was pointed to this Paul Krugman article, which is a sequel to this piece. The Bear Stearns buyout is what touched it off. To which, someone wrote:
“Ahh, GOP capitalism—where profits are privatized and losses are socialized.
Conservative blogs start quoting Paul Krugman and the Times… You hear that? That’s the sound of the pendulum swinging back to reality.
I started writing after the 2004 election—the disaster we have wrought. But sometimes, we have to have a little faith. So, even in the face of futility, we send our words into the ether, the internet, this community we are a each a citizen of.
Nobody loves a recession, but four years was not a long time to realize our mistakes… and our social obligation to right them.
A classmate from college, Dr. Frank Ling, is giving an internal talk at CNET:
Frank works as a PostDoc at Berkeley on green technology, guest blogs on Cleantech, and does the radio program, Berkeley Groks, with another classmate of mine, Charles Lee.
Great people, both of them.
Change the world. 🙂
I guess the news in my world today is that Bebo sold to AOL for $850 million.
Trust AOL to make the Microsoft-generated $15 billion “valuation” look like a steal. I’m curious how much Hi5 must be worth now:
Earlier a bunch of us were discussing the internet porn industry. A friend mentioned that when you see companies like AdultFriendFinder selling out to traditional media outlets like Penthouse, it means that the players in the industry don’t see much growth potential and are cashing out.
Right before the internet bubble burst, Palm spun off from 3COM for higher than the parent company’s market cap.
Enjoy the crash.
Recently I think I’ve met two other people who have purchased Leica M8s and on both those cameras, I think I saw a Cosina-Voigtländer 35mm f/1.2 Nokton lens. If so, that’s a strange coincidence because it is a very obscure lens.
Nikon D200, Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D, Canon 500D close-up filter
1/40sec @ f/1.4, iso 200, 85mm (127mm)
Say what you will about the value, but I think rangefinder cameras look gorgeous.
The weird thing is, that this obscure lens is the only lens I have for my Leica.
Well that’s not true anymore:
Nikon D3, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G VR, Canon 500D close up filter
1/2sec @ f/14, iso 200, 170mm (170mm)
The only lens I have for my Leica is no lens at all!
Yep, the lens has officially died in a manner unheard of: the internal aperture blades have popped out of their mount during normal shooting use. I am writing this to see if Cosina will do something to repair the manufacturing defect, and to write a little about my experiences with this lens on a digital Leica.
[The Nokton, Voigtländer, and Cosina after the jump]Continue reading
“Personally I find that the price tag of Euro 1200 for a new piece of glass and the exchange of a few springs and cogs in the current shutter mechanism is on the high side. But we all know we are in Leica territory.”
—Erwin Puts on “The Significance of LUP”, Februrary 13, 2008
The article is definitely worth a read from a business of photography standpoint, but before you do, you need to understand that Erwin is a respected rangefinder camera lens expert who is talking about then newly announced Leica Upgrade Program for the Leica M8.
I won’t go into the details about Leica in this article, nor try to justify the insane price tag for their cameras or lenses. Most will not be able to get past that part, however. They’ve never been in “Leica territory”: the bizzaro world where everything only gets more expensive, $3000 for a digital body is a steal, Japanese-made lenses with the most exotic glass and construction are of inferior quality, high technology is retro, and contrast-killing internal reflections are sometimes a highly sought-out “look.”
Every time a geek talks about Steve Job‘s reality distortion field, I want to say, “Have you heard this company called Leica in Germany?”
Despite this and the fact that I own a Leica, we are talking about $1800 for a replacement sapphire glass over the LCD screen, a quieter shutter, and a warrantee extension.
[quiet shutters and hard glass after the jump.]Continue reading
This popped in my e-mail box just now:
Subject: Anyone know a top Rails programmer for Tech Advisor role
Could be as little as one hour per week? Great opportunity for this person to inherit vp of engineering position once we get funded. We are close to launching, and hopefully to being funded.
…
This is wrong in so many ways. You know, when your Vice President of Engineering is going to be a RAILS programmer… need I continue?
[Being the first engineer after the jump]Continue reading
E-mail received.
I am writing to introduce myself and see if you would be interested in talking with me.
My name is [redacted] and I am in Candidate Generation at Yahoo! for our Engineering, and I wanted to touch base with you to see if you might be open to hearing from us about opportunities we have currently.
I came across your resume on the web and I wanted to check in with you.…
Okay Microsoft is trying to assimilate you, you just fired 10% of your engineers, your top people are leaving, but most of your broken, top-heavy corporate structure is intact… and you are trying to hire me for a low-end developer job at the same time.
You got balls, Yahoo, I’ll give you that.
[my reply after the jump]Continue reading
