Will Power

Grok Science Podcast - Kelly McGonigal on Will Power

• Biological Capacity
• Long Term Goals
• Overriding Stress/Desire
• Prefrontal Cortex

Trio of MBAs

Since podcasts are what I do in the car I'm constantly looking for new material.  Here is a, not too, Highbrow book reviewing podcast by a trio of MBA students.

http://cocktailpartystatement.podomatic.com/

Memories

Moonwalking with Einstein is a book by Joshua Foer chronicling his serendipitous stumble into The World Memory Championship.

US Debt

Total US Government debt includes debt held by the public (T-Bills, etc.) and debt held by government accounts (Social Security, Medicaid, etc.).  The idea of a debt ceiling appears first around the time of World War I and the issuance of the Liberty Bonds for financing the was efforts.  The bonds did not go over very well and required selling below par value. 

Fixing Things

I broke the main shaft on the Kohler Engine Starter - part number 32 098 01-S.  Just the last in a line of broken household items, including the washer machine and my #4 fuel injector.  What a month!

The Troybilt has been good to me, although I probably should be better to the beast.  The Kohler Courage engine (PS-SV720-0018, 3533913593) is sometimes home to the resident mouse family.

My May Podcast Highlights

Software Engineering Radio had a very interesting interview with Andrew Brownsword on Modern Game Design and Development.

Very poignant and brusk interview with Ayende Rahien on the topic of Criticism on This Developer's Life.  Then I went back to episode 1.0.9 on Management to hear about leaving the developer's mindset and enter the world of meetings.

Buck Woody gives an insightful interview on Deep Fried Bytes.

Glenn Block of MEF fame is interview on .NET Rocks about his work in the WCF Community on CodePlex.  He clarifies the definition of the word RESTful.

Freeman Dyson is in his late 80's, yet is mind is sharp while his speech is slow.  He discusses a range of topics on science and economics with the host of EconTalk Russ Roberts.  And don't forget the see The Fight of the Century rap video.

May Money Matters

5/2/2011 - Silver is high and volatile.  SLV dropped hard today.  Cummins (CMI) and Caterpillar (CAT) Millicom (MICC) may be done rising.  Cliffs (CLF) is heading down.  Crown Castle continues its drop back to support.  PPH the Pharm index is nonstop up and definately needs a breather -- either stop out or hedge with a PUT.  Same for Merck (MRK) only it is about done filling the gap.  ABX is heading down again, however it never saw the highs of the other gold issues, an interesting factor is the high amount of volume.

5/18/2011 - The SLV PUT worked out well.  Exiting the trade early didn't full capture the move, but who expected such a dramatic fall for the shiny metal.