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May 25, 2008
What is Martin up to
Katie says what.
Posted by Martin at 4:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 21, 2008
what is behind the commodity run?
The Senate is taking testimony yesterday and today.
Here is Michael Master's testimony. Michael Masters Written Testimony.pdf The absolute best description of the impact of commodity index spectulators on the price of commodities i have ever read. Read it.
"Today, Index Speculators are pouring billions of dollars into the commodities futures markets, speculating that commodity prices will increase. Chart One shows Assets allocated to commodity index trading strategies have risen from $13 billion at the end of 2003 to $260 billion as of March 2008,5 and the prices of the 25 commodities that compose these indices have risen by an average of 183% in those five years!6"
Posted by Martin at 10:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 20, 2008
Obama doesn't know what is going on at Hanford
Stumped on what Hanford is. And he wins in Oregon. This man is dangerously nieve.
Posted by Martin at 12:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
I am in Nihiwatu for next month till June 18
Surfing the big lefts all day. Blog and email will be very intermitment.
come visit.
Posted by Martin at 12:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Have some free stuff for summer
A couple free things if you live in Seattle. Electronics and a pool that I am done with but don't want to put in the land fill just yet, they still have legs. Reuse!
APC SC 250 UPS
HP LaserJet 2100TN
Pool
Posted by Martin at 12:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2008
initial reactions of thejimi
got thejimi wallet two days ago. Initial thoughts. Too big. Not enough card space (only four cards). and all the cards are stacked behind each other. you have to take them all out every time just to get one. And there is no special place for your drivers license. I put mine on top, but i still have to take it out for security. Money has to be quad folded instead of half folded to fit in the money clip. Due to twice the folding you can carry half the money. Stupid. I don't like the thing. I am going to live with it for another week then probably recycle it.
Posted by Martin at 11:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
trying meez
i gotta figure out how to dress myself.
Posted by Martin at 11:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
check me out surfing in Westport
cold
Posted by Martin at 1:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2008
Bet against me, I dare you
Ok, I pat myself on the back every now and then about being a good predictor of economic events. I started Imperium Renewables when oil was $40/barrel on the bet it would soon sustainably trade over $80/barrel by 2008. We are well above that. I started Loudeye Technologies when the average data connection speed to a PC was 14.4Kbps on the bet that broadband penetration would be enough by 2000 to have a music business. Broadband penetration and digital music is a much bigger business.
Unfortunately only the record of my blog is record of many of these events. This time I am making a prediction and holding myself accountable through the LongNow Foundation service LongBets. I posted a prediction up there that by 2010 passenger diesels will outsell hybrids. See the prediction here and support it, bet against me, or comment. If you bet against, the money goes to charity so it is fun!
Bet against me, I dare you.
Posted by Martin at 1:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 13, 2008
just bought the Jimi
I don't like wallets. I usually just fold my money over my credit cards. lately i have had a brookstone money clip wallet, but feel bad that it is made in china from unsustainable cows. So I just bought a Jimi wallet. Cheap, plastic, and recycled. cool colors as well. just the basics man. I am worried that it might be a bit big for front pocket but hell it is $14.95. If I don't like it, i will recycle it.
Posted by Martin at 9:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Hillary flesh wound
This is Hillarious!
Posted by Martin at 8:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 8, 2008
Oil prices hold over $124/ barrel
Humm, it is May. Driving season hasn't started for the summer. My prediction earlier of $140/barrel for christmas is looking low.
Posted by Martin at 10:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Read this book for good narrative AND future scenario planning (rated 5 stars)
There are lots of doom and destruction books out there painting a bleak picture of the post industrial world. Most paint a kind of Mad Max future of renegades. I am not sure that is how it would go. I think it would be more a slow steady slide with people hanging on all the way down, mostly in denial. That is what Kunstler sees. The story starts 15 years after a big bomb destroys NYC and LA. Not unthinkable in today’s terrorist world. The infrastructure just sort of breaks slowly. Various diseases run rapid. Transportation fails due to lack of oil. Do you know that the overstuffed grocery store next to you only has about two days worth of goods? If the distribution system breaks down, the food runs out QUICK! Look what happened during Katrina. That was not the future, that was the recent past! And Burma. The only reason these regions survived is that the greater organism (the US, the whole world) was still healthy and could provide life support to the damaged part. How many bleeding sores can one country have at a time? Can one world have at a time? There is a tipping point somewhere. We haven’t found it yet and I pray we never do. But if you want to see one VERY plausible vision of how the world would be with multiple open sores coming quickly next to each other, read this book. I rate 5 out of 5.
Posted by Martin at 9:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A story about "Hold Tight"
Was flying back from NYC to Seattle yesterday. Grabbed Harlan Coben’s new book in the airport. Read on the plane and late last night. Quick read. Coben does something in this one I don’t really like though. Many thriller writers do it, but Harlan usually is more economical with this device. He starts four or five different narratives with different characters, in the beginning of book, and eventually ties them all together. Part of the fun of reading is trying to figure out how the narratives are connected before the writer tells you. Usually each narrative is individually compelling enough to stay involved in and the transitions are logical enough to not mess the flow too much.
This one had jarring transitions and seeming totally random separate narratives that had no apparent link until 3/4 of the way through the book. The problem with that is you are reading one narrative you like and are engaged in, then he throws you into another that you could care less about and all you can think about is “when am I going to get back to the story”. In the end, the final chapter of course it all ties together, but with gum and sticky tape.
I wouldn’t put this up as one of his best, but it was an enjoyable waste of 7 hours. I rate 2 of 5 stars.
Posted by Martin at 9:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 7, 2008
more prefabs for the surf home
thanks to a prosper member for the pointer to LVM homes. nice mondern kits. not prefab so you get a wider home since some is erected on site. i like.
Posted by Martin at 9:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 5, 2008
10 minute review of online task managers
Looking for a better task manager than LookOUt. Tried a couple with Jott integration. All sucky.
1. KeepUp. If you only do tasks that everyone else on the plante does like "anniversary" and "daylight savings time" and "pick up the kids". then this one is for you. I actually have my own life and my own tasks. Making a "custom task" is a pain. No outlook upload. Dead.
2. 43actions. Only for the hard core geek. Very minimal (good). too minimal (bad). Feels like the old line editor "vi". No instructions. No outlook upload. You gotta have read the GTD book and love that system. Next...
3. Sandy. Cute graphics. appeal to the undersexed geek in me. No outlook upload. Simple command understanding like "remind", but separate calendar. You can subscribe to the Sandy calendar in outlook on the web (cool), but unfortunately that is not my main calendar. bad. Next.
They all suck. So it seems that Jott has integated with a bunch of sucky task managers. Hummmmm....
Posted by Martin at 2:00 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 1, 2008
thinking about affordable housing
has to be prefab. There are lots of modern prefab houses out there. Most for yuppies on a budget. Still the usual cost is $130-$140/sq ft wo/ site prep or lot. The KitHaus is not much more than a hotel room and costs $30K, nearly $280/ft. The ABOD project is for REAL budgets. about $1500 when mass produced. About $10/ft. House in a box. Designed for Africa. Not much more than a shed. Could be a cool play house. I am going to try to buy one for my surf property down in Westport.
Posted by Martin at 4:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
thinking about virtual data rooms
just doing some due diligence on a deal. They have a virtual data room at V-rooms. I have just used sharepoint before for this kind of thing. Sharepoint has less logging features and less workflow, but is free. I like v-rooms, but it is expensive. and they have full logging of everyone who looks at everything. sometimes that is not what you want (according to the lawyers).
Posted by Martin at 10:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack