links & such

James Fallows at The Atlantic on Michael Crichton:

I loved hearing from him about oddball “practical” matters. For instance, height: he appeared to be nearly 7 feet tall, and explained to me (6’2”) that up until 6’6” height was an advantage, but after that it was a big inconvenience — door frames, beds, airplane seats. Or, getting ready for book writing bursts: He said he removed complications from his life while writing by having exactly the same food at every meal, so he never had to waste time deciding what to eat. He was a tech enthusiast, and the most passionate Mac advocate I have encountered.

The key to a con is not that you trust the conman, but that he shows he trusts you.

boingboing :: Psychology Today

from “Trans in the Red States” in The American Prospect

But on the first day of school, nothing happened. No flood of calls, no angry protests, and no bullying. Michelle was “happy and shocked” that M.J.‘s classmates seemed to get it. When one student made a mocking comment to another using M.J.‘s former name, one eighth-grade boy dismissed him with a simple insight. “That person doesn’t even exist anymore,” he said. “You’re talking about somebody who’s imaginary.”

kottke :: The American Prospect

A commemorative 5€ piece from the Netherlands. The front depicts the Queen’s face using the names of famous Dutch architects and the back shows the outline of the Netherlands rendered by architecture books (by Dutch authours, natch) and representative birds marking the provincial capitals.

Article up at Portfolio on those who called the current mess by trying to figure out why they were making money off of it.

With much foresight I saved the article locally as a publication called Portfolio seems…vulnerable.

The Counter-Intuitive Comparison Institute of North America (CICINA) and their Big Chart are attempting to find the best thing in the world. Penguins vs Miracle-Gro, the Big Bloch vs. Night of the Hunter, Seahorses vs. The English.

The video is here.

kottke

Ectoplasmosis!

So Porsche announces they own 75% (instead of 30ish% of Volkswagen and the stock price surges over €1005 per share as hedge fund operators vivisect themselves to get a piece of the action or, if they shorted VW, to rid themselves of their folly. It settled down later, but there’s a frenzied, sick humour to be had in the article.

Check out:

A manager at a large hedge fund said: “The losses will be extreme. I don’t think it is going to bring down a big fund, but it will probably bring down some small ones.”

and

There was widespread expectation in the markets that the huge rise would push some fragile hedge funds – who bet on VW’s shares falling – to collapse with losses estimated at €20bn-€30bn.

fubiz