Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
image by Belaroo
nytimes artsbeat
Art Fag City
LCD Soundsystem's "all of my friends"
James Murphy is one of the only musicians who can make me feel that being cool is... cool. Something that I wish I was. His flavor of cool is crossbred with "the examined life;" it comes across as edifying, integrated, healthy.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
does everyone else also realize that my hard drive will uncrash? am I the only one?
Here's one of my (abandoned) startup ideas:
A invite-only mutual open only to people who work in the tech industry.
thesis:
People in the tech industry have networks.
They talk to people.
They have a general impression of what companies have a solid future based on employee-gossip-level knowledge.
This data, though anecdotal, can be turned to into good investments through collaborative filtering/wisdom of crowds.
Like an index fund, each "share" of ecoopfund.com purchases a fraction of the the funds holdings in traded securities. Each share also purchases one "vote" which guides the fund.
Each member of the fund receives one "vote" for each share they own. Ownership/stewardship of the fund is the same thing and is proportional to investment in the fund.
Each member specifies a given number of weighted rules/votes, such as "invest in google" or "don't invest in google." Each member weights their own "rules/votes."
Members of the fund do not need to use their "votes." They can passively depend upon the guidance of their peers.
The fund aggregates the votes/rules of its members and invests its holdings accordingly.
The website of the fund publishes the entire history of voting & investment of the fund (with a 24 hour delay).
Every night, the fund uses the votes of its members to determine what trades to make in the following day. Voting information of members is not "published" on the fund's website for 24 hours to prevent others anticipating the fund.
Every investor in/member of the fund signs a contract promising not to use "insider" knowledge in their voting, just as they could not legally use "insider" knowledge in their individual investments.
The fund could not be maliciously manipulated: one cannot vote without investing in the fund. The algorithm for aggregating votes cannot let a "bare majority" manipulate the fund to its own advantage. This can be prevented by forbidding any "member" from owning more than a certain fraction of the fund and aggregating votes in such a way that the fund is inherently diversified.
Mutual funds are heavily regulated. Would this be legal? I don't know.
If the business model is sound, it would be relatively cheap to implement.
Here's one of my (abandoned) startup ideas:
www.ecoopfund.com
A invite-only mutual open only to people who work in the tech industry.
thesis:
People in the tech industry have networks.
They talk to people.
They have a general impression of what companies have a solid future based on employee-gossip-level knowledge.
This data, though anecdotal, can be turned to into good investments through collaborative filtering/wisdom of crowds.
Like an index fund, each "share" of ecoopfund.com purchases a fraction of the the funds holdings in traded securities. Each share also purchases one "vote" which guides the fund.
Each member of the fund receives one "vote" for each share they own. Ownership/stewardship of the fund is the same thing and is proportional to investment in the fund.
Each member specifies a given number of weighted rules/votes, such as "invest in google" or "don't invest in google." Each member weights their own "rules/votes."
Members of the fund do not need to use their "votes." They can passively depend upon the guidance of their peers.
The fund aggregates the votes/rules of its members and invests its holdings accordingly.
The website of the fund publishes the entire history of voting & investment of the fund (with a 24 hour delay).
Every night, the fund uses the votes of its members to determine what trades to make in the following day. Voting information of members is not "published" on the fund's website for 24 hours to prevent others anticipating the fund.
Every investor in/member of the fund signs a contract promising not to use "insider" knowledge in their voting, just as they could not legally use "insider" knowledge in their individual investments.
The fund could not be maliciously manipulated: one cannot vote without investing in the fund. The algorithm for aggregating votes cannot let a "bare majority" manipulate the fund to its own advantage. This can be prevented by forbidding any "member" from owning more than a certain fraction of the fund and aggregating votes in such a way that the fund is inherently diversified.
Mutual funds are heavily regulated. Would this be legal? I don't know.
If the business model is sound, it would be relatively cheap to implement.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The new No Age cd is ... really good.
So much good new music lately! More on that later... after my hard-drive is uncrashed.
These tree photos are also really good if you look at them for awhile.
Monday, October 22, 2007
When your hard drive dies, you go crazy.
Friday, October 12, 2007
I had a brilliant idea for a startup (well, I was going to do it as a non-profit). Turns out it already exists: Bug Labs.
Take Care of Your Idols, a beautiful animation @ youtube.
Good african music mp3 blog.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Image: Guerra De La Paz
"The Mr. Musgroves had their own game to guard, and to destroy..."
Jane Austen, Persuasion.
Cherchez Le Weezy: Lil' Wayne and Ghostface collaborations? Ask and you shall receive. Hard to say what I am enjoying more, the Best Of Lil' Wayne or Ghostface's new singles, "My Heart Gently Weeps" and "Chunky." Of course, they've got more in common than just being brilliant: all the best bands do.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Four Star
iamcal.com engineer behind flickr.
Design Observer, good collaborative blog on design.
youngna, interesting food tips for nyc.
Martin Fowler, for geeks.
Marginal Revolution...
metafilter
sasha frere jones his other blog.
maddecent blog
Musiques d'Afrique
Stern's Music Sales Chart
Saturday, October 06, 2007
nice.
Art by Peter Schuyff at the Nicole Klagsbrun gallery in Chelsea.
ChelseaArtGalleries.com is a great resource.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
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I'm going to make my own Vitruvian Man.
Kardinal Offishall's "Do The Right Thing" mixtape is great; Jay Z's "An American Gangster" Mixtape has a few good moments.
Monday, October 01, 2007
