Inverse Pinhole

Through the clouds.

Poor attempt at nothing.

Wikipedia

U.S. stock futures pointed Friday to a second straight rally after, on the heels of a planned move to buy up bad assets from financials, the Securities and Exchange Commission imposed a temporary ban on short sales of 799 financial institutions.

“The emergency order temporarily banning short selling of financial stocks will restore equilibrium to markets. This action, which would not be necessary in a well-functioning market, is temporary in nature and part of the comprehensive set of steps being taken by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and the Congress.”

Let me try to put this in perspective. With short selling, I can make a bet that a stock will go down. If the stock goes down, I can make money. This is different than normal selling, because I would first have to own a stock. To short sell, I don’t have to own the stock. By temporarily banning short sales, you’re taking away people’s ability to make bets, or profit, in the event that a stock or market goes down. This is why you’re seeing the market rocket up yesterday and today.

If that’s not manipulation and interference, I don’t know what is.

UPDATE: Here’s a good Q&A I found in regards to short sellers.

Q: Do you think that short-sellers are to blame for the mess we are in?

A: No, I do not. While I think there were some hedge funds pressing their shorts and working in coordinated attack patterns to destroy some financials (very much like they do when bulls are running on the long side which, by the way, no one ever questions), the banks and brokers are ultimately to blame for becoming easy targets. If you run a solid business, make big profits, and enrich your shareholders, short-sellers have absolutely no power to take you down. That’s the way it is suppose to work in a fair market even though it clearly seems that the government thinks we are all entitled for stocks to go up no matter what.

I’m sure everyone is aware that this year is the last year to get an analog signal on your television. As part of a process to improve media, any TV’s still using rabbit ears will need to get with the program; and you’ll need to get a converter box. By signing up for the Coupon Program, you can get credit towards the purchase of an eligible converter box and avoid much of the cost of the required upgrade to digital. Here’s how it works, and what you can expect from the program.

I signed up for the Coupon Program a few months ago via the official link at www.DTV2009.gov (Note that this is the only approved link at this time.) After that, I forgot all about the conversion. Today, however, I received my official “coupons” with directions for redemption. Here’s what my envelope contained:

~Wisebread: Do You Have Your TV Convertor

I’ve already signed Mom up for the coupons.

As you know, I’m a pretty frugal individual. So, I was pleased to find this website dedicated to smart living. They post a lot of new articles per day, one of them is always a good read. Wisebread

The HD War between HD DVD and Blue-Ray is over. I’m so glad that I’m not an early adopter who jumped into this mix and could have got burned with an HD DVD player or discs.

Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags Some places in Korea have a similar tax on bags in general. So, it’s good that I keep my backpack with me.

I like Google. But, as a whole, I’m liking free/open projects more. I think Wikia is an interesting project with some potential in the future. It also has ability to be a social website like facebook or myspace.

There are a pair of shoes online that I’d like to buy. But, I hate buying clothes online. No matter who makes the shoes or t-shirts, the conventional chart size varies from the next. A 10.5 from brand X always fits different than a 10.5 from brand Y.

Lastly, I’ve received a couple offers to return to Korea after my contract. I’m still weighing my options and opportunities. I, now, have 3 months left and a few reasons to return. But, who knows how it will go.

So, I’ve got $20 in my paypal account that I’m going to divide amongst four services, which I use most. No, $5 isn’t much, but “A journey of ten thousand miles begins with a single step.” And, this is a first for me.

• Wikipedia – Not a day goes by that I dont check facts or read articles on Wikipedia. The site doesn’t take ads or commercial sponsors. Therefore, they need donations. Supposedly, $40 will deliver 100 million page views. $5 should cover myself and a 1000 others.
• Ubuntu – 4 years ago, I learned that Ubuntu would ship CDs of their software to anyone FOR FREE! Of course, I was all over that. I tried the software, but never took it seriously. Now, I use it as my main operating system. They still give away their software and pledge to always do so.
• Saul Williams – I’ve never purchased digital music online. My major issue is with the quality. I dont want lossy mp3s. If I buy music online, it should be the same lossless quality which you get on a CD. Saul is selling his new album for $5 at his website, and you can receive it in a lossless format. Saul takes a vocal stance against the music industry and purchasing his album eliminates the middleman.
• Fourth? – Well, I haven’t picked a fourth yet. There are many worthy causes. I feel like I should make a contribution to the Pirate Party or I should give the money to the EFF, these groups fight “legally” for online rights. I could also give the money to a smaller Linux group or lone programmer. And, there is also NPR. I dont know yet.

Can you recommend anything else?

Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Cat’s Cradle” and “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater” caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died Wednesday night in Manhattan. He was 84 and had homes in Manhattan and in Sagaponack on Long Island.

Mr. Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction. But it was his novels that became classics of the American counterculture, making him a literary idol, particularly to students in the 1960s and ’70s. Dog-eared paperback copies of his books could be found in the back pockets of blue jeans and in dorm rooms on campuses throughout the United States.

~NY Times
~Chicagoist

I like Google. They’ve been my only search engine since my early college days. I’ve always had them as my default homepage. So, it made sense to use the personalized page and add my own customizations. It’s now my web portal with the awesomeness of google search. (Though I usually type search into the Firefox bar. Maybe there is some web psychology behind that). Anyhoo, eventually, I did get tired of the white background. Firefox has a couple plugins called Greasemonkey and Stylish. They add some ways to change the look of the personalized page, but they were never that great. They usually changed a few text or background colors. On certain holidays, you’d see a new Google logo replace the original, but it was still the plain white google page.

The new themes add a lot more liveliness to the basic google page we’ve grown up on. There are currently 6 themes, but more have been proposed. They add a spiffy dynamic graphic to the top background and it will blend the colors to the rest of the page. The dynamic graphics will change accordingly to the conditions of your area code: day, night, cold, hot, season. Personally, I like the Tea House theme. Green is so calming and the Asian fox dude is cool.

I think the old guy is checking if he’s “Sure” or not. Apparently he isn’t, because no one wants to be around him. =P

EDIT:
After the first 24 hours of using the new themes feature, I was sure that I had seen all of the backgrounds for the “Tea house”. I thought it might be an neat idea if there was a special picture that would only load on a specific time and disappear the next second. Well, apparently there is: Themes Easter Egg. You need to reload the page at 3:14AM. (Pi Day!)

There is also a css edit to make the image appear without being on the 3:14AM time. It shouldn’t be long before people make their own backgrounds. (if they aren’t already)

But, of course, the service isn’t perfect. A couple locations are off by a block or two. All the CTA stops are denoted by a blue ‘M’. That could be confusing to tourists because the CTA color codes the ‘L’ trains by the Red line, Blue line, Pink, etc. And what does the ‘M’ stand for? I suppose it’s just an indicator used from another city. Oh well. For the most part, I’m savvy enough to get around.

Todays Eyes of Nye, Bill tackled overpopulation. I wish there was a greater initiative to make this content openly available on the web. The Eyes of Nye website has some clips, but even a podcast of the episode would be nice. Hmmm… should I?…never mind.

The Sarah Silverman Project is humorous. The majority of the episodes are probably too risqué for most audiences. This week she got an AIDS test, because she was bored. Frankly, I’m surprised that it’s being aired on Comedy Central, but I suppose it’s no more off-color than The Chappelle Show.

Thanks to Ceej for informing me about the new Nine Inch Nails songs circulating the web. In most cases, stealing music is wrong. But in this case, it is right. The songs were apparently released through a viral marketing campaign, where a usb drive was left in a concert bathroom. Two songs were on the device and are receiving a lot of attention for the hidden messages.

I use an IngenuiTEA teamug, from Adagio, when brewing most of my teas and the inside stains a light brown color. In this months teacast, they explained how to disassemble the mug for better cleaning. I was surprised by how easy it was to clean with a little bleach. Within a minute, most of the stains in the mug had disappeared, and now they’re all gone. For some reason, using bleach had never occurred to me.

I just saw that one of my favorite artists, Brant Bjork (check ‘Get Into It’ in the links), is going to release a new album next week. He really needs some better press or to update his website more often. I mean I keep close tabs on new info, and I only heard about this today because someone on ebay was taking pre-orders for the vinyl.

Oh yeah…preparations for Mustache March have begun.

A traditional Flying Pigeon weighs about 50 pounds, comes only in black, has one speed and is barely stoppable with its push-rod brake. Yet, if you’re like most cyclists in North America, as soon as you hear about the bike you mull over the idea of owning one to use as a townie, commuter or grocery runner.

For some reason, I could see Clear riding around on one of these. I wouldn’t mind one myself. Then, Business 2.0 had an article on the Chumby. This is a techy item but full on awesome.

Introducing the chumby, a compact device that can act like a clock radio, but is way more flexible and fun. It uses the wireless internet connection you already have to fetch cool stuff from the web: music, the latest news, box scores, animations, celebrity gossip…whatever you choose. And a chumby can exchange photos and messages with your friends. Since it’s always on, you’ll never miss anything.

Some of you might use personalized pages like Google’s. Well, imagine the personalized page in a small wireless device. This project was started by a group of hackers, so they encourage creativity and people to do new things with it. It’s not out yet. And, they’re probably working on a default setting or easy customization for consumers.

Business 2.0 also highlighted Enviga.

Enviga is a Nestea carbonated canned green-tea drink being jointly marketed by the Coca-Cola Company and Nestle Switzerland. According to Coca-Cola, Enviga burns 60 to 100 calories per three 12-oz.(330 ml) cans.

Carbonated Green Tea? Yeah, it sounds a little scary and I think it might be. They use Green Tea to promote the product as if it’s natural, but ya know it cant be. It’s suppose to burn more calories than what you take in by drinking it. I’ve heard that drinking ice water has the same effect, yet, I am still intrigued.

• iamfacingforeclosure.com/ -A 24-year-old aspiring real estate investor from Sacramento CA. After going to few seminars he bought 8 houses in 8 months. However, he’s ran out of cash, an is now facing foreclosure.
• johnchow.com/ – He’s an internet mogul, who talks about making money on the web, how he made his career, fancy restaurants, and general techy stuff.
• tradertim.blogspot.com/ – Tim Knight, founder of a technical analysis site, gives his daily perspective on the market, his portfolio, and option positions.
• I’m on the Flying Spaghetti Monster Halloween page.
• Family Guy Clip – How’s that novel you’ve been working on?
• I think an Akita Inu would also be a fun dog to have. The Shiba Inu is a pocket size version.
• I found the website for Brainstorm: Movies, Comics, and Games.This is the rental place I’ve been going to. Though, I haven’t been there in awhile.
• Patriot act makes it harder to get real Sudafed

Music:

• Blue Cheer – a San Francisco-based rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who helped to pioneer heavy metal music.
• Jefferson Airplane -an American rock band from San Francisco, a pioneer of the LSD-influenced psychedelic rock movement.
• Foo Fighters new Skin and Bones album. I might have to get the UK DVD. It comes with 2 DVDs, whereas the US version may have only 1.

That’s it. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

A video apparently showing a UCLA student being tasered by University of California Police Department (UCPD) officers has found its way onto YouTube.

According to a report on the university’s Daily Bruin, the incident occured at around 11.30 pm on Tuesday when security officers at the Powell Library CLICC computer lab “asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check”.