Category: Uncategorized

Quite Literally Nothing To Do

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Later this week I’ll be visiting some rural villages with a local development organization to learn about effective agricultural, sanitation, and water purification technology dissemination strategies. The trip is likely to include a number of stops at some pig farms, and one of the places I might visit is a town called Svay Rieng. Here’s what my guide book had to say: “Svay Rieng is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it provincial capital that many travelers whistle past when making the journey between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City. There is quite literally nothing to do here.” Well, uh, Lonely Planet must not know about the pig farms!

Worlds Smallest Home

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“Ever imagined what it would be like to live inside a giant egg?” From China Daily: “Dai Haifei, 24, a newly graduated architect, decided to make his own egg-style home after being unable to afford Beijing’s sky-high rental prices. The two-meter high house with two wheels underneath is made from sack bags on the outside wall, bamboo splints on the inside and wood chippings and grass seeds in between. ‘The seeds will grow in the natural environment and it’s cold-proof,’ Dai explained.” “He moved the house steps away from his office where he would stay until midnight before going to sleep inside the ‘egg’.” Well, at least the commute sounds great.

The Jersey Shore As An Economic Indicator?

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Kid Dynamite writes: “I couldn’t help but thinking, as I watched portions of MTV’s New Year’s Eve coverage which featured the cast of the Jersey Shore, that it’s hard to be bullish on America.   Why?  Simple answer:  Jersey Shore Season 3 – the mere fact that it exists.  That alone is bearish.” Anyone have any other examples of discouraging pop-culture indicators? Shouldn’t be too hard. He then links to an older posting titled “Issac Newton, Mean Reversion, and Momentum” which I found to be a particularly insightful view on market psychology and effective investment strategies.

What Happened To All The Beer?

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Part of the reason I started this blog was to write about beer, and to provide some “homebrewing crash courses” for those who are interested in making their own beer, but want to learn by brewing, rather than by reading some of the more extensive (but extremely useful) books out there. That’s still the plan. I’m hoping to write a new guide covering an aspect of the brewing process every couple weeks. Over time I’ll work towards building a comprehensive collection of these “crash courses” describing everything from all-grain brewing to the bottling process. I’ll include detailed pictures along with each step, so that the guides are easy to follow, and so it’s clear which equipment is used along the

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