This Is So Cool
that I cannot not post it (the double negative comes with the extra dose of caffeine in the morning). Here is the output that spells my surname. Go to this nifty calculator, input vain words and get ugly equations to your delight.
Building a Nuclear Plant Is Just Like Going to the Cinema
You are sitting in a cinema. The movie sucks. Do you go out now or do you stay till the end of the film? A rational actor would choose to leave immediately because the price of the ticket is sunk cost and it should not affect his decision about the future. Even though he has spent money on getting in the theatre if he could have better time doing something else he should not try to get some bang for his bucks out of a crappy film.
The Bulgarian minister of economy appears not to pay much attention to the concept of sunk cost when discussing whether the country should build a second nuclear power plant in Belene. Traycho Traikov says “We should decide whether to lose the already invested in Belene if we decide to cancel the project” (in Bulgarian via Dnevnik). The question is not whether the country would lose 1-2 billion euro - those are already deep in the ground (or pockets if you believe some really believable rumors) but rather if the cost of finishing the construction and operating a second plant makes economics sense. I have yet to see a convincing analysis in support of that.
Assorted Links
1. ADHD linked to creative genius
2. Our world may be a giant hologram
3. Powerful shots of Haiti three weeks after the disaster
4. A world without nuclear weapons?
How To Report The News
This cracks me up. I vividly remember how some of these principles were hammered in a few TV reporting classes. I knew it then and I know it now that I should have listened to my gut feeling. But I did not and my reports were just as formulaic as the above.
Assorted Links
1. Felix Salmon on the NYT’s paywall
2. Interview with Eugene Fama - how does he believe what he says is a mystery to me.
3. Sergey Brin on witnessing the devastation in Haiti
4. Why are modern scientists so dull?
5. The truth dogs reveal about evolution
Top 10 Films of 2009
This is my list for last year. Even if you have only a faint interest in cinema you should watch all of them.
5. Moon
10. The Wrestler
Honorable mention get Avatar (beautiful effects but terrible script), District 9, The Messenger, Up in the Air, Tyson and Star Treck. I have not seen Fantastic Mr. Fox yet but from what I gather it is great. Let me know about my terrible omissions. Then let me shoot them down.
Assorted Links
1. What the LHC is really looking for (I can’t stop linking to LHC)
2. A few insights about fast news junkies
4. Reuters.com has a new design. I like it.
5. A Collection of George Soros lectures in Central European University
6. The Biology of B-Movie Monsters
Polar Bears and Flight
Your flight has an impact. Plane Stupid’s new cinema ad, written and commissioned by creative agency Mother and made by production company Rattling Stick. Director Daniel Kleinman.
You will probably find it either daring or tasteless depending on which side of the green line you stand. The fact is that flying imposes negative externalities on the environment. If this video’s primary objective is to stimulate discussion on the problem it is a hit. However, the group that came up with it seems to be looking at the wrong solution - they want to limit commercial flying in order to reduce its impact on nature. This could hardly work. A much better way to tackle the issue is to invest heavily in research and implementation of better flight technologies that would increase efficiency and reduce emissions.
