Large Numbers

Smaller companies set to fare better than larger ones — Paul Graham has a post up today arguing that in areas of rapid change small companies are better placed to succeed than larger ones.  Moreover the pace of change has recently reached a level where we are starting to see a tipping point in favour of the little guy. in the late twentieth century something changed. It turned out that economies of scale were not the only force at work. Particularly in technology, the increase in speed one could get from smaller groups started to trump the advantages of size The main point of Paul’s article is that this... [Tags: aspirations, citigroup, coolest place, economies of scale, favour]

Here's a sneak peek at NBC's Kings - VIDEO — Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Video, Reality-FreeCan I be a little bit cynical here? I'm watching the preview of the new NBC drama Kings (after the jump), and I can already tell this is probably going to have a hard time making it. Looks like it has a great cast (including Ian McShane) and a plot you don't usually see on primetime television (a small town guy becomes a war hero and rises to power in a city with the help of people behind the scenes pulling the strings - based on the story of King David).But it also seems... [Tags: debut, four kings, hard time, ian mcshane, large numbers]

'Smart' CCTV Supposedly Recognizes Crime — A city in England has installed a "smart CCTV" system, which is claimed to be able to detect certain behavior or incidents (via The Register) and to alert camera operators to follow up. The system is supposed to give operators the ability to monitor large numbers of cameras at once, more than they can do just by watching TV screens. This type of technology has been around for a little while, but doesn't seem to have set the world alight just yet. It's doubtful that these devices will actually make any significant reduction in crime (perhaps predicting and preventing crime... [Tags: camera operators, cameras, cctv system, challenges, england]

Pius Kamau: Campaign Brought Communities Together — We worked for Obama our hearts full of enthusiasm and hope. We were a small group of the large Obama army; we were well aware that many more people were toiling all around us for the same cause. What was somewhat different about us was that we were Africans -- immigrants to America hailing from a good number of countries: Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and Congo and other African spots. And we worked hand in hand with a number of members of Denver's long established black community. Our job was to recruit every naturalized African who had not... [Tags: african americans, african immigrants, african roots, african slaves, africans]

List Of Government Expenditures That Cost Less Than Credit Crisis Bailout — Whenever I discussed the current bailout situation with people, I find they have a hard time comprehending the actual numbers involved. That became a problem while doing the research for the Bailout Nation book. I needed some way to put this into proper historical perspective. If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars. People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let's give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.... [Tags: american history, bailout, credit crisis, government expenditures, hard time]

Bailout costs more than Marshall Plan, Louisiana Purchase, moonshot, S&L bailout, Korean War, New Deal, Iraq war, Vietnam war, and NASA's lifetime budget -- *combined*! — Barry Ritholtz sez, In doing the research for the "Bailout Nation" book, I needed a way to put the dollar amounts into proper historical perspective. If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars. People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history. Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined: • Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3... [Tags: american history, bailout, barry ritholtz, credit crisis, dollar amounts]

YouTube fights back. I didn't watch. — Last night after weeks of 'quiet hype' on the YouTube blog and elsewhere, Google launched YouTube Live. There are already some lessons to be learned, as the reviews (mostly bad), continue to roll-in. Prior to the launch, there had been numerous articles on how people were adopting Hulu in large numbers.  I've written about Hulu here since the private beta, and I am still a die-hard Hulu fan. Why? I spend some (much more lately) of my time in the 'real world'.  I occasionally miss a TV show that I enjoy  and I can sit back with my wife... [Tags: camera equipment, china photos, die hard, different animal, flickr]

Axelrod On Obama Transition Leaks: 'No One Is Frustrated' (VIDEO) — Barack Obama's chief campaign strategist and soon to be White House senior advisor David Axelrod said the transition team is not upset over the increasing number of leaks about potential cabinet appointments, a stark contrast to the tight-lipped campaign. "No one is frustrated, no one is anguished," Axelrod told CBS 2 political editor Mike Flannery. He blamed the leaks on the expansion of the team beyond the tight campaign core and a scoop-hungry news media operating in "a vacuum": "Any time you involve large numbers of people in something like this, there's gonna be leaks. And there's a fanaticism... [Tags: barack obama, cabinet appointments, cbs, chicagoan, chief campaign strategist]

Economic Crisis Dampens Gulf Building Boom — The international economic turmoil is beginning to be felt in the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, where a massive building boom is being supported by migrant workers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Some wonder how the countries might handle large numbers of unemployed expatriate workers.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us... [Tags: bangladesh, boom, e mail, economic crisis, economic turmoil]

Join the Impact and the Web, part III: Putting out the call — Editor's note: The following report is the third in a series about the massive online effort earlier this month to organize protests around ballot initiatives in California and elsewhere to ban same-sex marriage. The protests against the Proposition 8 in California (and similar resolutions in Arizona and Florida on Election Day) took just over a week to organize. From November 7, when the planning started, over one million people received the message about the rallies on November 15. The experiences of the organizers and participants offer a lesson to other social and political groups interested in mobilizing large numbers... [Tags: attendees, balliett, ballot initiatives, central location, election day]

Searaser: pump water with waves — (images via dartmouthwaveenergy.com) A horrible name and simple design for pumping water (which can then drive turbines) via wave action on a buoy tethered to the ocean floor (via Treehugger). Not suddenly solving all the world's energy woes, but large numbers of this relatively simple, DIY-friendly design could have a nice impact towards sustainability... Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Green | Digg this!... [Tags: energy woes, horrible name, images, large numbers, ocean floor]

New Super Surface Hates Water AND Oil! — MIT researchers led by chemical engineer Robert Cohen and mechanical engineer Gareth McKinley have created the world’s first superoleophobic and superhydrophobic surface (let me translate for you: the "super surface" repels both water and oil): A group of MIT researchers have created an improved set of design rules for making any surface impervious to any liquid, be it water or gasoline. Such materials could eventually have promise as fingerprint-repelling coatings, fuel filters, self-washing car paints, and stain-resistant clothing. [...] They started with a polymer developed by the Air Force that contains large numbers of oil-repelling fluorine groups. The MIT researchers... [Tags: air force, air pockets, anish, car paints, chemical engineer]

Getting Sloppy With Data/Passwords [Voices] — By Mark Evans, Blogger, Mark Evans Tech For all the talk about privacy and security, it seems that a lot of people are downright sloppy when it comes to who they provide personal information. A couple of prime examples this week occurred where large numbers of unsuspecting or naive happily handed over their usernames and passwords to a third-party simply because the service looked cool. First up was SocialMinder, which is offering a service that lets you get control of your GMail and LinkedIn contacts. To use it, you have to hand over usernames and passwords to an unknown company... [Tags: beta service, blogger, gmail, large numbers, linkedin]

For all the talk about privacy and security, it seems that a lot of people are downright sloppy when it comes to who they provide personal information. A couple of prime examples this week where large numbers of unsuspecting or naive happily handed over their usernames and passwords to a third-party simply because the service looked cool. First up was SocialMinder, which is offering a service that lets you get control of your GMail and LinkedIn contacts. To use it, you have to hand over usernames and passwords to an unknown company offering a beta service. Even worse, SocialMinder is... [Tags: api, apparent purpose, beta service, fishing expedition, gmail]

Nanobama: World’s Tiniest Candidate Portrait — By Alexis Madrigal The presidential candidates have been under a microscope for the last year, but today, the focus on Sen. Barack Obama’s face reached the nanoscale. Sculpted using nanolithography by University of Michigan mechanical engineer, John Hart, each Obama face is composed of 150 million carbon nanotubes and measures half a millimeter across. “We can make pretty much any 2-D pattern by this technique,” Hart said. But in honor of the election, Hart’s lab applied their technique to the now-ubiquitous image of Obama’s face created by Shepherd Ferry. The only overtly political text that accompanies the images on nanobama.com... [Tags: alexis, barack obama, carbon nanotubes, commercial applications, election fever]

ClarityLife C900 handset is designed for senior citizens — One of the more common issues for people as they age is hearing loss. The big problem in today’s mobile society is that when the hearing stars to go, it’s hard to keep in touch with family, friends, and caregivers. The ClarityLife C900 is made just for people with hearing loss. The handset offers a built-in amp that increases volume by 20 decibels. Other features of the handset include a one-touch emergency call button, a large and simple to use four-button control system, and an oversized backlit display with large numbers. All of these features are intended to make it... [Tags: amp, backlit display, button control, clarity, decibels]

Gays, Blacks, Marriage — Cindy Rizzo attacks Dan Savage, a Kossack tries to separate myth from reality, and Coates thinks before he speaks:I'm still embarrassed by the fact that 70 percent of those who did vote, voted yes. It means we have serious work to do. But I'm seeing a makings of a disreputable trend to turn a problem into a black problem. We use disproportion as a crutch--what's important is that blacks are disproportionately poor, not that there are large numbers of white poor people. Ditto for homophobia. What's important isn't the large minority of whites, and the influential majority (barely) of Latinos... [Tags: advocacy community, african americans, california electorate, clear signal, coates]

Political Marketing on Facebook: Obama Spent Nearly $500k on Facebook Ads During the Election — Facebook has devoted a lot of energy to becoming an important part of the political ecosystem in America. It has conducted experiments with media partners like ABC, operated a voter registration drive which signed up 50,000 people, and promoted politicians’ fan pages and virtual gifts throughout election season. As Facebook has demonstrated its potential to make a difference in the way political influence spreads at the grassroots level to large numbers of people, candidates from the local level to the highest levels have taken notice and spent significant time investing in their Facebook presence and communicating with their Facebook supporters.... [Tags: clickz, election cycles, election season, facebook, fan pages]

Lamborghini Estoque Could Get Diesel Engine Or Turbocharging [Industry News] — The Lamborghini Estoque, the four-door bull from Sant'Agata, will likely see a range of engine choices heretofore unseen from the automaker. In an attempt to meet stricter emissions standards, Lamborghini is considering turbocharging and/or the use of a diesel engine for the sedan. This would be in addition to the 5.2-liter V10 borrowed from the Gallardo, which could put out more than 500 horsepower for the Estoque. But diesel, really? According to Lamborghini's Chief Engineer, Maurizio Reggiani, it is on the table for the sedan: “The pressure is already on us to do something significant to lower CO2,” “We will... [Tags: automaker, chief engineer, crazy thought, diesel engine, diesel engines]

Big Mean Folder Machine 1.5.1 — If you spend lots of time organize large numbers of files, Big Mean Folder Machine can make your computing life easier.... [Tags: large numbers]