Crowd + Outsourcing

Crowdsourcing, another of those unpredicted but very powerful ways the Internet is changing the world.

artificial libertarian islands

Silicon Valley billionaire funding creation of artificial libertarian islands, article.

That should be interesting. Is a human Utopia really possible?

Cocooning

TCGirl found this video about "cocooning" workouts. It looks interesting. Also looks hard, but they say anybody can do it.

Too early

Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do.

           -- Jean-Paul Sartre

There is no reciprocity. Men love women, women love children, children love hamsters.

           -- Alice Thomas Ellis

Awww, just shuttup.

Streaming Killed The Video Star?

Streaming Killed The Video Star?, infographic.

Streaming gradually replacing TV is another one of those dead-clear trends, like computing on portable devices.

AvaSmurf

I think the Smurf Movie trailers lack charm and wit, and I never could get into Avatar, but this one looks promising.

Alex and Liam, young Englishmen

Like the tee-shirt, wonder where I can get those?

Demi Semi Quaver - Pasta Paradise

Demi Semi Quaver - Pasta Paradise, sorta Asia-punk. Warning: an acquired taste!!

Scam warning (Ponzi scheme)

Here's a type of scam which works well, beware of it.

The scammers present an apparent "investment", which sounds amazing. It's something that gives fantastic returns, and very few people know about it. In fact, it's preferably a bit hush-hush, which makes it even more attractive. The "powers that be" don't want you ordinary people to know about it, you know?

Early investors actually do get some returns! This is sometimes paid out via specially made cash-cards, making it even more believable. The returns make the scheme seem very convincing to the early investors, so they 1: get greedy and they invest more, and 2: they tell their friends about it, who believe it because they are friends and they've already got proof it's real. And of course they get a commission per investor they bring in, adding the pyramid scheme flavor to it.

As time goes on, some "problems" arrive though, like the scammers' bank account is being apparently barred by their evil bank or other evil authority who doesn't want people to know about this amazing investment form. Or the new kind of payout card is being delayed and delayed...

Over time, people get more and more apathetic about ever getting their profits, or even their money back, and the scammers disappear quietly with a few million bucks.

This can take many forms, but look out for the pattern. Remember the silver rule: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There is no investment without risk which pays more than maybe 7 percent per year (minus inflation). Over 15% per year, big risk. If it claims fifteen percent per month, it's sure to be a scam.

It's called a Ponzi scheme after Charles Ponzi, thanks to A.

Traffic pole vs Truck

That's solid construction.

Meego online

Here's an apparently free way to watch TV online, ads and all (though pretty low-rez). (Here in Europe we don't have Hulu and Netflix.)

I found it while trying to see if "Meego" was ever put on DVD. I remembered this sitcom from the late nineties. The writing was never better than OK, but it does have three good actors: Bronson Pinchot, "Serge" from Beverly Hills Cop (the hilarious art gallery clerk), Michelle Trachtenberg who later played Buffy's (Vampire Slayer) sister, and the little Jon Lipnicki, the kid from Jerry Maguire.

The show was cancelled after a half season, no great loss, but I do think that Pinchot and Trachtenberg are amongst the many sadly under-used actors.