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I know I am supposed to feel deep chagrin at the possibility of the SOPA bill (Stop Online Piracy Act) bill being peddled in Washington. If the worst-case-scenarios are true, I have to wonder about my own site being targeted for takedown, since I blog about TV shows and usually take screen shots of the DVDs that I watch on my computer. Would this be a kind of piracy, or would the studios only take offense if I bash the show? (Fortunately, I only blog about shows that I really enjoy, so it’s mostly fanboy musings.) 
I am an all-things-Google user. Given the Google motto of “Don’t be evil” and its Edison-like power of innovation, I would like to believe in this company as a protectorate of the internet-as-we-know-it. Given that Google opposes SOPA, the hair on . . . → Read More: If SOPA passes, can I still blog about TV shows?
The market seems to be forever blowing bubbles. The cheerleaders create prophecies of absurd price heights. Then the prophecies become self-fulfilling amid a collective hysteria of easy money. Later, those in the know, the cheerleaders who created the hysteria in the first place, dump their holdings just before everyone realizes that the value solely exists in the imagination.
At least the current gold bubble centers around a single commodity, perhaps making its certain crash less painful to a wider audience than the crashes heretofore: the dot-com, the subprime, and the oil spike(s).
Like the ghosts of bubbles past, a quick Google search will bring up articles touting gold going to $5000 an ounce listed on bubble-cheerleader sites like CNBC. More modest cheerleaders, more nerdy cheerleaders with glasses, suggest that an ounce will only reach $2400.
Whenever these . . . → Read More: Did the gold bubble just have its Dow 36000 moment?
I the One Arrest episode blog, I forgot to mention a powerful scene where Kevin Johnston is brought in for questioning. He’s the teenager who lost his sight in one eye when detective Roland Pryzbylewski pistol-whipped him in The Detail episode. In an act of police brutality, “Prez” completely lost his cool when Johnston leaned on the police car in defiance. A clip on YouTube shows this questioning scene.
Still defiant, Johnston stares down Prez, who eventually gets up and leaves the room, out of shame for his moment of violence that cost this kid his eye. Lieutenant Daniels takes over talking to Johnston, in a scene that speaks volumes about both Johnston and Daniels.
Daniels sends Detective Carver to get a candy bar for Johnston, in an attempt to make friendly with the kid, and to get some privacy. Acting . . . → Read More: The Wire: One Arrest (addendum)
 Even after the squad has cracked the numeric code used by the Barksdale gang, they still have to unpack the slang that they intercept over the wiretaps. Prez and Lester once again earn their keep. As Prez deciphers the lingo, I couldn’t help but think of the movie Airplane where the old woman says, “Oh stewardess! I speak jive.” The team made up of misfit toys (like Prez) starts to show versatility in solving problems.  Judge Phelan becomes a feisty grammar Nazi in this episode, mocking McNulty – but he is truly McNulty’s best friend in the case. McNulty gets . . . → Read More: The Wire: One Arrest
 Young Wallace is first to awake in his apartment. While brushing his teeth, he rousts the awakes the rest of the household – who are all children. Still a teenager, Wallace runs a virtual orphanage, making money by working in the Pit. Until now, we’ve seen Wallace passed off as a kind of minor character without much depth – a kid, really, who struggled to pay attention, floated naïve thoughts, and mostly followed orders.
On this morning, after our deep dive into his back story, he emerges from the house to witness the dead body of Omar’s boyfriend, Brandon. Since Wallace tipped off the Barksdale’s on Brandon, his spirit grows heavy. Wallace, in his naivety about “the game”, . . . → Read More: The Wire: The Wire (Episode 6)
Not long ago, I picked up the book The $1,000 Genome: The Revolution in DNA Sequencing and the New Era of Personalized Medicine. This book, only published in 2010, may have been eclipsed today with the announcement of the ION Proton DNA Sequencer which can reportedly sequence a personal genome for the magical sum of $1,000.
Why is this important? The pros and cons of having your genome sequenced are almost endless. Both sides can argue for utopia and dystopia. The utopians promote the idea of personalized medicine and clairvoyance about your health matters. The dystopians see wide potential for abuse of privacy. For instance, a pre-existing condition could be found at birth if someone will develop a disease, or is prone to cancer.
Insurance companies will leverage genome data for policies and have insight into each person on a . . . → Read More: The thousand dollar genome has arrived
Avon Barksdale’s paranoia makes another visit in episode five. He never stops looking over his shoulder, which seems to be how he’s stayed on top of the gang. With no tendency for relaxation, he never allows himself to enjoy his position, but that’s the same reason, we can presume, that he’s thriving. To get fat and happy is to lose the hunger. Avon remains hungry no matter what. His combined paranoia and ruthlessness make him a believable leader.
This episode’s title is “The Pager.” McNulty gets legal approval to listen in on D’Angelo Barksdale’s pager. The only problem is…the gang uses a code, and the police cannot decipher the number pattern. Prez eventually cracks the code – and he shows that he does provide some . . . → Read More: The Wire: The Pager
I know that Wittgenstein said that I shouldn’t talk about subjects I’m not an expert on. “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” But I can’t help it on some topics (or most topics, since blogging is all about pontificating). So here goes:
Regulators who stick to their guns
In reading about the financial collapse of 2008, I came across a note about a meeting in 2004 when the Net Capital Rule was changed for the big five investment banks. This rule limited the amount of debt companies could accrue. Basically, the rule change lifted the limit and allowed those companies to run too hot and ultimately smother the whole economy.
From Wikipedia on the Net Capital Rule change: “Since 2008, many commentators on the financial crisis of 2007-2009 have identified the 2004 . . . → Read More: When regulators forget their purpose…
  Yesterday, I received an email forward attributed to Bill Cosby. The email started out: “I’m 76 and I’m tired…”
Yes, tired. Man I’m tired. I’m tired of email forwards.
Like any good e-mail user, I looked it up on www.snopes.com and discovered that it was written by a political extremist. Talk about low.
Forwarding an email without checking snopes.com is like rushing off to work without pants. You know you forgot something, but it’s too late and now you look like a fool.
For years, I’ve wanted to tell people these two things:
1. Don’t send email forwards. If you must forward something, send a link to the content.
2. And please, please, check Snopes before forwarding an email!
So please, friends, relatives, countrymen: here’s the canned response you’ll get from . . . → Read More: I’m tired of email forwards
 The push-me pull-you desk: Episode four delivers a metaphor for the entire case, showing a team effort in the moving of a desk through a door. Herc, official bonehead of the series thus far, grunts and wheezes while trying to move an enormous desk. One by one, more officers assist until four men have a hold of the desk, and several onlookers offer advice and ridicule. However, the brute force effort fails. The hulking desk remains lodged in the doorway. Only then does Herc mention which way he’s trying to move the desk. The desk isn’t moving because everyone is pushing on each side. Miscommunication cripples them.
Sixty-six and two-thirds pension: Old timer Patrick Mahone celebrates his good fortune at being injured, since it grants . . . → Read More: The Wire: Old Cases
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