I saw an ad for the Hoveround watching the NFL draft today. Am I the only one that it upsets a little bit that they advertise "at little or no cost"? I'm all for devices that help folks get mobility, but with all the budget issues we face should they be provided at "little or no cost"?
I go on record and say no. Why wouldn't I want one if it was nearly free?
Uranus Will Be Visible at Dawn on Saturday.... Just thought I'd warn you.
This is the first song I ever heard by artist Rose Reiter many years ago, and I became an immediate fan. I heard it as I was clicking through tunes on www.unsignedbandweb.com - a website that hosts songs for unsigned artists. There's often a lot of "not so good" to wade through to find the gems, but then some-times you find something like this - something of such clear talent and quality that it makes you wonder why some songs/artists get a big push by a label, and why others remain heard by only a few.
This is Phantoms by Rose Reiter - one of the best songs that few people have heard.
As an investor in retail stores I found this article in today's NYTimes very interestng. It speaks to several retailers, but in particular Wal-Mart's efforts to make their stores more appealing and less "messy". Of the nicer/more orderly stores:
“They loved the experience,” William S. Simon, the chief executive of Wal-Mart’s United States division, said at a recent confer-ence. “They just bought less. And that generally is not a good long-term strategy.”
Here's an interesting map, utilizing NASA survey data, showing what Mars may have looked like with an ocean.
Today I drove through a rainbow. I didn't think it was possible, but today I honestly think it occurred. There was no pot of gold or leprechaun though that I could see, and certainly no gateway to Asgard.
Anyhow, I was driving home from work and it was monsoon season. Water standing in the road several inches deep in places because it can't drain fast enough.
It's raining so hard I can hardly see and then all of a sudden as I'm driving by the lake and nearing crossing the dam on my way home the rain lets up and I'm in bright sunshine. Wind and mist is still blowing, but there clear bright sunshine too. In front of me across the dam less than 100-200 yards away is a big fat rainbow, almost touching the ground/road.
As I cross the dam I expect the rainbow to "back away" from me as I approach because I thought rainbows were all about the angle between the misty rain, observers eye, and the sun/light source. Anyhow as I approached the rainbow to my surprise didn't run away from me. I swear I think I drove right through it. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me but I thought I saw some of the color even as I was very close to entering where I perceived the rainbow to be touching down.
About a mile down the road I saw another big, bright rainbow, so all-in-all a pretty cool trip home.
Flamingos falling from the sky in Siberia
Apparently some bird's internal compass can get reversed
The Far Side of the Moon - very cool pic recently released by NASA.
We're all familiar with the side of the moon facing earth, but have you ever seen the other side? It's far more cratered (if you think about it it makes sense) and looks quite a bit more foreign than the familiar moon we've come to know.
A 26 pound rabbit.
I'm not kidding. He was one big bunny.
Here's a story from NPR regarding an early Russian cosmonaut who plunged to his death in the early stages of the space race between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The story puts a human face on the highly politicized competition between super-powers.
Here's Vladimir Komarov's story: "I'm not going to make it back from this flight."
Here's an interesting Solar Power projection from Scientific American. If costs keep falling in a predictable manner, solar power may be highly price competitive within the next decade.
The shape of the curve is interesting though. Has solar hit a plateau, or are costs continuing to fall?
Check out this odd new Cambrian explosion creature whose fossils were discovered in China. It's been dubbed "the walking cactus"
I haven't updated in a while, so figured I'd better do so. Honestly I haven't been that engaged with what's going on with the market since I've raised to a high cash level waiting for a pullback.
My only stock holdings currently are (in order of size of position)
EBIX Ebix - IT software services
TEO Telecom Argentina - telecom / wireless
DO Diamond Offshore - offshore drilling - gulf exposure
CSCO Cisco - Networking
LHCG LHC Grp - Home Health
MDF Metropolitan Health Networks - health services - microcap
and that's it. I hadn't seen anything I couldn't live without, so I've just been on the sidelines, but some interesting companies have slid back in price since the start of the year so repurchase opportunities may be near.
This study surprised me some. I figured we were hard wired to be afraid of snakes and spiders, but it turns out we're just predisposed to learn to be afraid of them very easily, but we're not born with the fear. I would've guessed we were born with it.
Plus I saw this and thought it was a great deal. Need some cheap glasses? Check out this offer from Sears. 2 pair + lenses for $99
I saw this question on a science link on Scientific American the other day. "Can a giraffe swim? or float?"
The knee-jerk reaction is to say "of course it can" because can't all animals swim/float? But then I started thinking about it and how tall, muscular and dense they look at the zoo - my next thought was a) in a giraffe's environment when would it ever need to swim? B) if it walked into the water wouldn't it just go in while still walking on the ground and hold it's neck up, and C) if it did get in too deep of water wouldn't it's big neck cause it to be front heavy and make it tip forward like a front-engine car sinking face-first into the water?
For what it's worth, here's a study that attempts to determine. Apparently nobody's ever seen a swimming giraffe - but they haven't put a giraffe in deep water to check either.
Haven't posted here in a while. Figured I'd update some changes made in the past few weeks. Essentially have raised some cash and am just hanging out for some more attractive opportunities to buy.
Here's what I hold now in order of position size:
EBIX Ebix (IT)
UFPT UFP Tech (packaging)
CHL China Mobile (telecom)
TEO Telecom Argentina (telecom)
SHOO Steve Madden (shoes)
DO Diamond Offshore (drilling)
CSCO Cisco (internet / routers)
LHCG LHC Group (home health)
MDF Metropolitan Health Networks
I'm about 50% cash - just waiting for pullbacks somewhere and better buy prices. Of the above the only "large" or "big" commitment for me is Ebix. Everything else is a standard to small size position. I still like MSFT/INTC which were twi of my other larger holdings, but sold my remaining at the end of the year due more to the way the charts were behaving than anything. My general feeling was that there was alot of complacency about risk at the end of the year so I liquidated some spots and am just taking a wait/see approach now and am fine holding cash with intent to deploy should good opportunities present.
