] And there are even a few who say that it is true that
] communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make
] economic progress.
]
] Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

Had not heard the audio of this speech. He was quite a speaker.

American Rhetoric: John F. Kennedy - Ich bin ein Berliner (I am a Berliner)

] A ransom note left behind included an e-mail address, and
] the attacker using the address later demanded $200 for
] the digital keys to unlock the files.
]
] "This is equivalent to someone coming into your home,
] putting your valuables in a safe and not telling you the
] combination," said Oliver Friedrichs, a security manager
] for Symantec Corporation.

IOL: Computers / IT

] When you're out to eat with friends and family, it can be
] challenging to decide what to order off the menu. There
] are often too many choices on the menu, everything sounds
] good, nothing sounds good, you're unfamiliar with a
] particular type of cuisine, you'd like have what that
] woman over there is having but you don't know what that
] is, etc. etc.
]
] Luckily, a group of authors has recently released a
] series of pop science books focused on solving this
] particular problem. Here are some lessons on ordering
] food from those books:

Amusing take on the latest batch of Hot New Social Behavior books.

All the usual suspects: Blink, Freakonomics, Paradox of Choice, The Wisdom of Crowds, and Everything Bad is Good for You.

Nod if you've considered buying one of these books. Raise your hand if you have bought one. Clap if you have or have considered buying two or more of these. Give a yell if all of them.

Is it that the latest batch is that interesting, or just that the marketing has ratcheted up that much better.

You can stop clapping now.

How to order food in a restaurant (kottke.org)

] But where you have unlimited shelf space, it's an
] infinite sum game. The billions of crappy web pages about
] whatever are not a problem in the way that billions of
] crappy CDs on the Tower Records shelves would be.
] Inventory is "non-rivalrous" and the ratio of good to bad
] is simply a signal-to-noise problem, solvable with
] information tools.
]
] Which is to say it's not much of a problem at all. You
] just need better filters, such as recommendations and
] good search engines. The fact that screens 10 and beyond
] of your Google search results are unhelpful doesn't
] matters because screens 1-3 are so useful. The noise is
] still out there, but Google allows you to effectively
] ignore it. Filters rule!
]
] The following is this expressed graphically. As you go
] down the Long Tail the signal-to-noise ratio gets worse.
] Thus the only way you can maintain a consistently good
] enough signal to find what you want is if your filters
] get increasingly powerful.

The Long Tail: Is the Long Tail full of crap?

] Trump said he shelled out big bucks to assemble a
] topnotch faculty, but he wouldn't say exactly how much.
] "These guys are getting paid too much," he said yesterday
] with a laugh.
]
] Trump's professors are paid to help create additional
] courses - there are currently just three - and maintain
] an online "expert advice" service to answer students'
] questions.

My father is one of these faculty, who built his Real Estate class. I can't comment on 'over-paid'. But he did show me the course and course development system, and it looks very top-notch.

New York Daily News - Home - Trump U?

] This movie almost has it all. As an action movie, as a
] coming-of-age tale, as a fantasy quest, it easily lives
] up to all expectations. The story does a satisfying job
] of tying up all the loose ends of the series. No
] questions are left unanswered. It is a dark and sinister
] movie ripe with political intrigue that hits home in
] President Bush's America ("You are either with me, or
] you're my enemy," the new Vader says). In fact, if you
] ignore the acting, it's possibly the greatest movie ever
] made.

Movie Review: Except for acting, 'Sith' is fabulous - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA

] So, I'm the father of a graduate. ("Okay, Dad. This is
] the deal. You've got six years to get an honorary
] doctorate from somewhere. You can't get it from anywhere
] that I'm studying, and you can't get it when I actually
] graduate anything, as you have to be there.")

Neil Gaiman

] Like day follows night, a bogus "cumulative update" with
] a malicious attachment has followed Microsoft's patch
] day.
]
] In what has become a monthly staple, virus writers are
] taking advantage of the heightened public interest around
] Microsoft's patching cycle to trick users into executing
] a malicious attachment.

Fake Microsoft Patch Triggers Virus Attack

] Rule 16 - Read Books
]
] A wise man once told me that it is easy to become an
] expert in almost any topic. He said all you have to do is
] read five books on any subject and bang, you know it all.
] In general, it is a pretty good, albeit simple, advice.

800-CEO-READ Blog: Read Books

] For a no nonsense approach to creating effective
] PowerPoint presentations, read Seth Godin's e-book
] REALLY BAD POWERPOINT (.pdf).

Rest of the post is good, but this is free. It takes
little time, and yet should have an impact. I am almost
excited to create my next presentation, whenever that may be.

800-CEO-READ Blog: Business Book Smarts