Sunday, January 30, 2011

A really, really fun App

I am constantly amazed by all the new applications and programs that are being released on a daily basis.  I just discovered one from Google  that I am enjoying immensely:   Ngram Viewer

While the App is pretty intuitive and self-explanatory, a good explanation of the App can be found here.

You don’t have to use two words, which is the way the App comes up.  You can track  just one word, or more than two.  For instance, I tried “Paris,London,Madrid,Berlin,Belfast” and it worked just fine – London is far in the lead, followed by Paris and then up to about 1860 Madrid leads over Berlin, after which from then until now, Berlin took the third spot.  Belfast was last.

The App is not censored for so called “dirty words.”  In fact they can be really fun.  An one final thing:  remember that the App is case-sensitive.  Thus if you type in “paris” you won’t get squat.  Gotta use “Paris”.

Have fun…

~ Tom

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Bacall–<sigh>

Bacall

I’m hopelessly in love for the ten-thousandth time.

Photo taken in 1944 (year of my birth) by Philippe Halsman

Monday, January 24, 2011

“Hot”–a recommendation

One of the things that bugs me immensely is this country’s rampant denial  of the serious consequences of climate change.  Every time there is a serious winter storm, the nay-sayers smugly point out that “global warming” is a fiction cooked up by liberals to impede business development and short-term hedonism and greed.  Of course the frigid, brutal storms that are occurring more often these days are caused by global climate changes resulting from human activities here on earth.  (I never use the term “global warming” any more.  Instead I say “climate change.”)

Anyway, in Sunday’s S.F. Chronicle there was a review of a new book on the subject titled “Hot.”  From what I read in the review and then on Amazon “First Pages,” this book should be required reading for everyone. 

Go to this link and click on the “Click to LOOK INSIDE!” area.  Then using the choices on the left side of the screen choose “First Pages.”  This will give you the first 28 pages or so, with a couple of pages omitted.  If you have an Amazon account you can sign in and go up to about page 75, with some pages omitted.

Hot cover

Let’s all do our part, however small as it may seem.

~ Tom

Thursday, January 20, 2011

All the Devils are Here

I am almost finished reading “All the Devils are Here,” written by Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera.

All the Devils

I decided to order it and read it after I saw the authors interviewed by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.  The book has a lot of “financial theory” in it, which I struggled with sometimes, but you really don’t need to understand all of that stuff to become stunned and outraged by how the financial crisis happened.  Page after page I was shaking my head over the sheer greed and recklessness of all the players in this sorry saga.  I did take the time to go to other sources to get a “dumbed down” explanation of how certain things work like “selling short,” “margin calls,” and the like.  I even figured out how the whole “mortgage backed securities” market worked, which is the beast that ultimately cratered the economy.  The authors explain it in great detail, but because it is so “snake oily” it remained a bit fuzzy.  I poked around the Internet and found this chart, which made the mortgage backed securities flim flam more clear to me.   It is a good model as long as the lending standards and qualification are strictly controlled abided by.  If you maintain those standards the number of mortgages that can be produced is finite.   But these greed heads (a Lord Buckley term) wanted more, and more and more mortgages to feed the machine depicted in the chart.  So the standards gradually deteriorated until“subprime” loans were eventually being given to people who everyone knew were not going to be able to pay!  It blows my mind.

Anyway, I know this book will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s certainly worth reading, and it is a hell of a good bad story.

~ Tom

Friday, January 14, 2011

A Wall of Rock Music

I was surfing around and found this wall of rock music

This is so cool.  I have just scratched the surface but the video of the Beatles playing “Get Back” on the roof of Apple Records is so hip I can’t stand it.  I also checked out some the the Queen videos just to remember how charismatic Freddy Mercury was.  Be sure to bookmark this one, and have fun.

The President has been a real President

Someday in the future, when history is analyzed by thoughtful, objective historians, it will be written that Barak Obama was a great President.  One of the strong points that will be mentioned is that contrary to the present-day arguments of the outer wings of each party, Barak Obama has always had a vision, and has had the courage and tenacity to implement it.  Six months ago or so, all my liberal friends were moaning about the President’s performance and poll numbers, and were prognosticating a one-term presidency.  At the same time, those on the far right were rejoicing over the President’s poll numbers and prognosticating a one-term presidency.  Throughout all this, the President never waivered.  He governed as the president of ALL the people, which of course can only be accomplished by moving toward the center while still holding core beliefs than must be implemented within the borders of the center.  I, and a few of my friends consistently defended the President and had faith that he was guiding us in the right direction (see the comments of my old friend Michael Lally on his blog over the past months). 

Therefore, it was with quiet joy that I awoke to read this article that was reprinted in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.  After reading this article, ask yourself whether you would be reading such facts if the President had taken bomb-throwing, unwinnable positions just to placate our friends on the far left.  Or, whether these polls would as favorable if the President had simply caved in completely to the party of “no” and not accomplished all the wonderful things he has been able to accomplish.

And, consider this portion of the main editorial in this morning’s Chronicle focusing on the President’s speech in Tucson:

But what made the president's speech so moving was the fact that he chose to focus on hope and uplift in the midst of tragedy. In many ways, it represented a return to the Obama we saw during his race for president. Instead of taking partisan shots or expressing anger, he implored Americans to recognize what unites us all.

"But what we can't do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another," he said. "Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together."

As the country mourns, it's worth remembering the values that we all share. These values, not the ones that divide us, are what made this country great.

In short, this guy knows what he is doing and we are damn lucky to have him at the helm.

~ Tom

Monday, January 10, 2011

A Great Philosopher Speaks

 

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” ~Groucho Marx

Sunday, January 9, 2011

My Kingdom for a power supply!

Just got back from the Tahoe place, where we arrived last Wednesday.  When I unpacked and set up my laptop I found I had left the power supply at home.  The battery was almost exhausted so I was unable to post or read other posts until now. 

I will be posting tomorrow.  Stand by.

~ Tom

Monday, January 3, 2011

A good grounding for 2011

A couple of days ago I read an article revealing that the President’s arduous task for this year is convincing the people that raising taxes is the only way to reduce the frightening deficit without having to slash the governmental functions and programs that make this a civilized and arguably fair-minded society.  That is going to be a tall order but here is a good grounding that we should all pass on to our friends and even our foes.

I Hate Taxes

(Click to blow up)