Current Events

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings at the Wilbur Theater – December 13, 2011

Posted on December 16, 2011December 15, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Boston/Cambridge, Current Events, Music

I’ve had a good week of music. I saw Ryan Adams last Thursday, the White Owls Monday, and then Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Tuesday. It was the last show of Gillian and David’s tour, and they put on a spectacular show. I’ve never seen someone play the guitar as deliberately as Rawlings does. He closes his eyes and just dominates the fret board. I recorded a few clips. Here’s ‘Look at Miss Ohio’: Look at Miss Ohio And here’s ‘I’ll Fly Away’ from the ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ soundtrack: I’ll Fly Away

Vanessa Kafka and The Unnamed – Live at Sally O’Briens

Posted on December 14, 2011December 14, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Current Events, Music

I played a show with Vanessa Kafka, Matt Beals, and Aaron Pearsall at Sally O’Brien’s last Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came to see us perform. We had a great time. Here’s one track John DeTore caught on his iPhone: I have some footage of the entire show, which I should have up soon. Also, we’d love any suggestions for a band name. Vanessa Kafka and the…

The Great Norwegian Butter Shortage of 2011

Posted on December 13, 2011December 13, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Current Events, Economics

This article threw me for a number of reasons. I’ll comment on it paragraph by paragraph: “An acute butter shortage in Norway, one of the world’s richest countries, has left people worrying how to bake their Christmas goodies with store shelves emptied and prices through the roof.” Why not ship some from Sweden? Or Denmark? Or the UK? Sounds like a good short term operation for someone with a truck. Or a boat. “The shortfall, expected to last into January, amounts to between 500 and 1,000 tonnes, said Tine, Norway’s main dairy company, while online sellers have offered 500-gramme packs for up to 350 euros ($465).” Whoa! Seriously? This is nearly $1,000/kilo, or $907,000 per ton. A truck can hold

Cryogenics

Posted on December 12, 2011December 12, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Cartoons, Current Events, Science

Two Things. The Japanese and Russians plan to clone a Wolly Mammoth Jurassic Park style from DNA found in in a frozen mammoth thigh. It’s about time. And this:

Ryan Adams at the Orpheum (December 8, 2011)

Posted on December 9, 2011December 9, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Boston/Cambridge, Current Events, Music

I was lucky to catch Ryan Adams’ solo show at the Orpheum last night. It was just Ryan, two acoustic guitars, and a piano. His performance was warm and dynamic, with songs ranging from soft ballads such as ‘Dirty Rain’ from the new record, to more upbeat tunes like ‘Let it Ride’. He played about 25 songs in all, touching on a wide range of his collection with an emphasis on Heartbreaker, Cold Roses, and Ashes & Fire. Ryan showed a self-critical and reflective side throughout the show. He opened with ‘Oh My Sweet Carolina’ and was clearly distracted throughout the entire song. The guitar work and vocals were so subtle and nuanced that the sound of audience members hurrying

Food Chain Shake-Up

Posted on December 8, 2011December 8, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Cartoons, Current Events

Via this very reliable publication, it looks like there may be evidence of a “food-chain-shake-up”. An Osprey took down a lion, and what’s next seems to be anybody’s guess: This is one of the most satisfying nonsensical flow charts I’ve seen in a while. And I see a lot of nonsensical flow charts in business school.

Death to the Penny

Posted on December 3, 2011December 3, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Current Events, Economics

Via Marginal Revolution, this is very well-done:

Innovation Strategy and the Technology S-Curve

Posted on December 3, 2011December 3, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Current Events, Technology

Two of my classmates, Matt Lieber and Michael Shafrir, put together a promo video for the Innovation Strategy course that will be taught by Professor Pierre Azoulay this spring at MIT Sloan: The technology s-curve. There you have it. “Cameras, diapers, and pretty much any other kind of technology…” Matt and Michael don’t normally spend their time making promo videos for MBA courses. They’ll be the TAs this semester.

Giant Bug!

Posted on December 2, 2011December 2, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Current Events

This is all:

How to Feed 400,000 People In One Location

Posted on November 25, 2011November 25, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in Current Events

I recently came across a TechCrunch post discussing the logistics of feeding 400,000 workers at one of Foxconn’s factories in China (Foxconn is one of the main manufacturers of Apple products). The post is interesting throughout, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how many people work there, at a single factory (albeit many buildings). To put that number in perspective: 1 in 3,250 people in China work at this factory site 1 in 17,500 people in the world work there The workforce at this factory exceeds Iceland’s population of 318,000 What a huge number. Anyways, here are a few worthwhile excerpts from the post: Driving from the Foxconn Factory, down the road from the main gate, we spotted a truck