Funny Yalie What do happens when old Whiffenpoofs burn out on being software developers? Well, if they're Jonathan Coulton, they record songs and post them online, including a hilarious cover of "Baby Got Back" as a soft, alt-rock ballad.  ¶ 9:48 PM 0 comments

  "They're under the bizarre misapprehension that they're birds"
From the NYT last week...  ¶ 1:54 PM 0 comments

  Googlebase? Amidst the hype around the new Google Base service, whatever it turns out to be, let's just pause and thank the headline writers at CNET for "All your base are belong to Google", and reminding us of this.  ¶ 8:04 AM 0 comments

  Kneel before Zod You know, he makes a lot of sense.  ¶ 11:57 AM 0 comments

  When they pry the vote machine lever from my cold, dead hands... dead greatest-gen Democrat in Chicago urges: "In lieu of flowers, please send acerbic letters to Republicans." (via Wonkette)  ¶ 12:44 PM 0 comments

  I know nothing except that I know nothing... Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the quant trader who believes only that all models will eventually be wrong, has had his book come out in paperback. I haven't read it yet, but I'm going to.

Joe Nocera reviewed it in the NYT this week. Here's part of his review:

For me, the issue isn't so much that Mr. Taleb is wrong in his analysis. The problem is his fundamental nihilism. Taken to its logical extreme - something Mr. Taleb is happy to do - his stance strongly implies that it's pointless to even try to forecast things like stock prices or economic trends. Nor, he seems to be saying, should we even bother attempting risk management, since we always miss the big thing that winds up really mattering. And on both points, I think he's dead wrong.

Think about it: how would the markets work if people weren't trying to anticipate the future? On what basis would you buy or sell a stock? Predicting cash flow for the next 20 years might be "moronic" - but it's the only way we can try to value a stock.

What about current profitability? What about dividend payments? What about all the things that would matter if the stock market functioned according to the principles of INVESTOR capitalism rather than SPECULATOR capitalism?

Argh.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the book. The Malcom Gladwell profile on Taleb in the NYer a few years back was very cool.  ¶ 3:25 PM 0 comments