Tuesday 30 September 2014

Leonardo's trial run?

The BBC reports the discovery of two previous versions of Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine.

Yet I have trouble believing Leonardo painted this:

First Paycheck – more than money (BSBTE)

First-Payday-Updated-for-Book






from Bringing Sexy Back to Economics http://ift.tt/Zo7cdK

via IFTTT

Monday 29 September 2014

Beer and Freedom (BSBTE)

Beer and Freedom

Via The Skeptical Libertarian, who comments:
I think if anything can debunk the leftist trope of ” free markets benefit the rich at the expense of the poor” it’s this. 

No, it was LAWS that benefited the rich at the expense of the poor. Get rid of the laws and watch the industry explode. There are literally thousands of independent breweries now.
He is linking to the article How Jimmy Carter Saved Beer, which shows this graph:
US_Brewery_Count_Biodesicthumb400x339_thumb

Friday 26 September 2014

Manierismo

Usato originalmente per descrivere un'arte che si allontana dal suo stesso ideale. Generalmente, un termine uasto per esprimere disprezzo.

Intorno alla metà del Cinquecento caddero i fondamenti politici della società fiorentina che erano stati alla base del Rinascimento; anche la concezione del cosmo fu rivoluzionata, mentre le divisioni maturate all'interno della Chiesa divennero il simbolo di una disintegrazione di un mondo unificato e assoluto. In campo artistico, il senso di dubbio e la conseguente alienazione dell'individuo trovarono espressione nel Manierismo.

Story telling with numbers

Also known as: accounting.

I was in a 2-day intensive finance and accounting course and am somewhat worried that I enjoyed it as much as I did. It lends credence to the idea of responsibility making anything more enjoyable: half way through day one I built my own income statement, and while I have read many of these, making my own from scratch was a whole new game of fun.

Also: teachers. Their talent matters.

The first thing I was told in this class was: accounting is storytelling. And right then, I was already interested. The trainer is my said reminded me of DuoLingo: stories and repetition. She would ask us if we ever heard of a particular term or concept, then ask us to tell stories or chemicals we knew of it. She would then give us a proper definition, walk us through an example asking us questions throughout, and then tell us a story about an example from her own working experience. Between The repetition and the interesting stories, by the end you know and have memorized the concept.

Sunday 21 September 2014

One day

Paella, Italian wine and a Taiwanese feast. All in one day. Atlanta.

Thursday 18 September 2014

Scottish Independence

I vacillate between "Yay self-determination" and "does Scotland have sustainable revenues to support itself in the lifestyle to which it is accustomed?" and I usually settle on "I want more cake. Where is the cake?"

Saturday 6 September 2014

Egregious

The original hipsters.

"The negative meaning arose in the late 16th century, probably originating in sarcasm. Before that, it meant outstanding in a good way. Webster also gives “distinguished” as an archaic form, and notes that its present form often has an unpleasant connotation (e.g., "an egregious error"). It generally precedes such epithets as “rogue,” “rascal,” "ass," “blunderer”."

And form the OED:

"mid 16th century (sense 2): from Latin egregius'illustrious', literally 'standing out from the flock', from ex-'out' + grex, greg- 'flock'. The derogatory sense (late 16th century) probably arose as an ironical use."

Friday 5 September 2014

Travel

The last few weeks have brought me to Nashville, Jekyll Island, Simon's Island, Charleston and an 8 hour stint in New York City. Now, perhaps, no more for a few weeks.