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August 19, 2009

Nice Idea::Brooklyn Torch Project

I wonder what philippine law has to say with local currency? must find a lawyer, must ask!
(link from Freakonomics blog)

The Brooklyn Torch project is a local currency project aimed at providing Brooklynites with a tangible medium of exchange that will circulate and support the resident community. We are starting the Brooklyn Torch project in North Brooklyn. In these uncertain economic times, the Brooklyn Torch Project aims to create a local currency to benefit both local area businesses and artists. The Brooklyn Torch will bring together both artist communities and immigrant communities in our area to improve integration of social groups and economies as well as boost our pride.
What is a Local Currency?
A local currency is a method of trading goods and services meant to supplement other means of trade while improving the community wealth. Local currencies circulate in a defined region. Money does not leave the area because trade is restricted by the currency boundaries.
Where have Local Currencies Succeeded?
In Ithaca, NY since 1991. Founder, Stephen Burke describes, “An Ithaca HOUR will generate 30 times more economic activity than [a dollar] will,” This means more money for their community. Some communities even have wages paid in the local currency because the local money is worth more in the community than Federal dollars.
Is a Local Currency Legal?
Yes. Law professor Lewis Solomon states in his book, Rethinking Our Centralized Monetary System, that there is no legal prohibition to creating a local currency system in the United States. The IRS, FBI, US Secret Service, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department have all declared the printing and use of local currencies to be legal.
via Brooklyn Torch Project.

August 19, 2009

Best Read:Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Paul is dead

I see people playing rockband with an intensity that could split a hair in half and I weep. When (I believe it was an MIT lab) created rockband they thought they were bringing music to the masses, what they brought was another way to to fool ourselves that we are doing “something” while the world beckons to be changed. I love technology , but I sometimes act like a Luddite, Its simple, I see people playing rockband and the like , what 1-3 hours a day, time better spent on learning an instrument or the like.

Given that our culture is fundamentally consumerist, every countercultural movement is by definition anti-consumerist, a quixotic attempt to create an imaginary space that exists outside of and in opposition to the marketplace. Counterculturalism is a doomed attempt to maintain innocence in the face of the market’s all-consuming cynicism. Once the Beatles, and particularly John Lennon, became aware of their power, they dedicated themselves to sustaining the countercultural dream of the sixties, even after the dream had evaporated. Rock Band in general, though especially the Beatles edition, makes a particularly good vampire. The blood it sucks is the blood of the innocent.
via Rough Type: Nicholas Carr’s Blog: Paul is dead.

August 18, 2009

Petron and the Healthcare Debate::The public option as a signal – Paul Krugman Blog – NYTimes.com

When petron was a government owned company, they were able to distort the supply curves because they were in essence the regulatory arm of the government. If the outcry was large enough shell and caltex may increase their prices but petron’s price does not move. What’s interesting in the case of the philippines is that petron was sold to foreign interests and afterwards the oil industry was deregulated. Double whammy to the Filipino people. Our government does not have the balls and probably the manpower to effectively police what is in effect price collusions of oil industry players. The solution is string institutions but I guess that is near impossible for us right now. Buy back petron would be second best with the least amount of complications, although where we are going to get the money, I don’t know. Maybe a few of Pres GMA’s entourage could chip in!

The public option as a signal
Look, it is possible to have universal care without a public option; Switzerland does. But there are some good reasons for the prominence of the public option in our debate.
One is substantive: to have a workable system without the public option, you need to have effective regulation of the insurers. Given the realities of our money-dominated politics, you really have to worry whether that can be done — which is a reason to have a more or less automatic mechanism for disciplining the industry.
via The public option as a signal – Paul Krugman Blog – NYTimes.com.

August 17, 2009

What if you got rid of the NYC subway?

I’d take another point of view. If we had a subway system here maybe we would have less cars and less car accidents and probably less pollution in metro manila, there probably would be more bike lanes and an overall better quality of life, hope they experiment with car-less cities for places like makati ortigas and a large part of qc, maybe in my life time

You’d need the equivalent of a 228-lane Brooklyn Bridge to move all those people into Manhattan during Monday morning rush hour.
At best, it would take 167 inbound lanes, or 42 copies of the Queens Midtown Tunnel, to carry what the NYC Subway carries over 22 inbound tracks through 12 tunnels and 2 (partial) bridges. At worst, 200 new copies of 5th Avenue. Somewhere in the middle would be 67 West Side Highways or 76 Brooklyn Bridges. And this neglects the Long Island Railroad, Metro North, NJ Transit, and PATH systems entirely.
Kinda puts the subway in perspective, doesn’t it? And don’t miss the map at the bottom that shows the size of the parking lots needed for all those cars.
By Jason Kottke • Aug 10, 2009 at 08:33 am • cities michaelfrumin NYC subway
via What if you got rid of the NYC subway?.

August 13, 2009

Philippines : Filipina elected VP of UN rights council – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

I’m proud of her achievement but this speaks more about the virtues of ms Quisumbing rather than our nation. You just have to scann the summary killings illegal arrest and other human rights violations against our nation to understand that this is not a yes vote to the institutions in our country rather it is respect for the virtues of the nominee. Congratulations To Dr. Quisumbing!

MANILA, Philippines—Dr. Purificacion Valera-Quisumbing, presidential envoy for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, was unanimously elected as Vice President of the Advisory Committee for the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva last August 6, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
via Filipina elected VP of UN rights council – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

August 13, 2009

Minor Rant :Knowing and Doing: August 2009 Archives

This actually made me somewhat sad. I remember meeting people from other colleges in UP (College of Arts and Letters etc) who really dreaded taking Math 1 and Math2 , the basic math course of the University of the Philippines General Education program, then they instituted RGEP (forgot what this means) wherein students got to choose the basic or general education courses they took. I feel this is contributing to the lack of whole roundness of UP grads, and in a way is leading to a decline, We often hear “I’m just not good in math etc” but the reality is if we try hard enough we can overcome our fear of math and other subjects. The truth is that I find math hard , but I do not let that fear control me. RGEP was a way for people to evade, sometimes I fear for our future.

If only those people knew that many computer scientists feel the same way. We are in awe. At one level, we feel like this is way over our heads, too. How could these programmers done so much with so little? Wow. But then we take a breath and realize that we have the tools we need to dig in and understand how this stuff works. Having some training and experience, we can step back from our awe and approach the code in a different way. Like a scientist. And anyone can have the outlook of a scientist.
via Knowing and Doing: August 2009 Archives.

August 13, 2009

Marginal Revolution: Timing

I thought this was a trick question and I first thought go backward because most people would think going forward means friday, but when I realized they are the same I was thinking whatever!

Timing
Let’s say a meeting, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has been moved forward two days. What is the new day of the meeting?
That’s a question from Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boing. The answer says a lot about how you implicitly think about time.
If you think it’s Friday, you imagine time as something you move through. If you think it’s Monday, you think of time as something that passes by you.
According to this research, a bit sketchy it seems to me, Friday people tend to be angrier. FYI, I’m a Monday person (it took me some time to see the question could have another answer!).
via Marginal Revolution: Timing.

August 11, 2009

Cav's Best Move

I have a feeling that the Cavs finally got the muscle with the addition of Powe, I’m already feeling giddy about the coming season!

August 11, 2009

Thinking Of Oneself::Chasing after the Wind : Aardvarchaeology

I only ask the very hard question , or rather I only try to answer the HARD questions during my birthday, which as more than a week ago, I’d be lying if I thoughts like this didn’t enter my mind.

I was brought up to believe that I am special. I was told that I am unusually smart and gifted. Whether or not this is true, it has given me a deep-seated expectation of myself to do great(ish) things, to achieve a bit more than the average Joe, to stand out from the crowd, to gain recognition.
Most people of course achieve very little that is noteworthy beyond the solid humble everyday victories of a quiet life. I’m sure that most people do not have a sense that this is in any way insufficient. I’m also sure that many of these average achievers have talent and potential far beyond that needed to live a standard life. They just don’t expect of themselves to do any more than the average person. I believe they are by and large content.
The skills and training I have are not much sought after. There is very little professional demand for me. This clashes badly with my grandiose ideas about myself. I achieve things that I am proud of on a small one-man-project scale, but few care, and I gain little recognition. I am frustrated.
via Chasing after the Wind : Aardvarchaeology.

August 9, 2009

Learned::“Blink” and the Art of Hiring the Best – Assembla Consulting: Accelerate Your Software Development

It turns out that personal interviews tended to result in the hiring affable, good looking men, and lock out some great players who didn’t fit a visual image of what an orchestra player should look like. Without the screen, the personal, visual impression of the candidate is so powerful that it actually affects the sound that the committee heard. They thought they were selecting the best audition player, but when they used the screen, and really were able to listen to the audition, they heard differently. The human mind, your mind and mine, is filled with powerful biases. Some of those biases are useful for making quick decisions, others are just misleading. Its important to manipulate your process to screen out the misleading stuff and get the good stuff.
via “Blink” and the Art of Hiring the Best – Assembla Consulting: Accelerate Your Software Development.