Links for 3/2

[admin]

Drinking games, groping, crude jokes, and the bullying hunt for weakness, whether over drink or women, are the norm. Anthropologist John Osburg spent several years mixing with the rich in Chengdu, Sichuan province for his bookAnxious Wealth: Money and Morality Among China’s New Rich. “These events are like a junior high school party—but with booze and hookers,” he told me.

The dark art of dealmaking in China - Business Insider

In a society where trust of strangers is minimal, contract law is fragile, contracts themselves regarded more as guidelines than binding commitments, and the civil courts largely swayed by personal influence rather than legal right, the shared fraternity of the night out is one route to trust between partners. It may not, as businessmen admit, be a particularly effective or reliable way, but it’s all they’ve got to work with.

The dark art of dealmaking in China - Business Insider

When you boil it down, the stock market isn't much different than a game with some winners and more than a few losers. Granted, it's a complicated game, and I wouldn't advise you to actually hand over your hard earned money to anyone who considers it just a game. But basically, it is a game.

5 games to sharpen your stock-trading skills | Komando.com

Here’s some advice. Don’t — unless you really, absolutely have to — buy a piece of mobile tech until at least the end of March. If not longer. Yes, it’ll be difficult, and yes, you’ll probably be tempted. A lot. But abstinence is character building, and in this case, it’ll be a very sensible decision. Why hold off? It’s because of what’s likely to come over the next few months.

Don't Buy A Smartphone or Smartwatch Right Now | Digital Trends

A study by the International Monetary Fund tracked three decades of income and found that as unionization declined, the wealth of the richest 10 percent in advanced countries showed a continuous increase. More specifically, the study’s authors found that when researching income levels during the period of 1980-2010, the decline in unionization explained about half of the rise in incomes for the richest 10 percent, and half of the increase in the Gini coefficient (a measure of income inequality).

Rich get richer from fewer labor unions, study says — RT USA

[admin]

Does he ever suffer jet lag? Nope. "Jet lag is psychological," he tells us, "If you don’t think you’re gonna have jet lag, you won’t." That said, he does have a few strategies for avoiding it. There's the classic one: "live on local time," he says. The key tip to that is to sleep on the plane before you arrive.

How to beat jet lag - Business Insider

A startup is betting more than half a billion dollars that it will dazzle you with its approach to creating 3-D imagery.

What It’s Like to Try Magic Leap’s Take on Virtual Reality | MIT Technology Review

The unsettling oddness was there from the first moment, on March 8, when Malaysia Airlines announced that a plane from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing, Flight 370, had disappeared over the South China Sea in the middle of the night. There had been no bad weather, no distress call, no wreckage, no eyewitness accounts of a fireball in the sky—just a plane that said good-bye to one air-traffic controller and, two minutes later, failed to say hello to the next. And the crash, if it was a crash, got stranger from there.

How Crazy Am I to Think I Know Where MH370 Is? -- NYMag

But this shows an incomplete understanding of how science works. Yes, there's always debate. But at some point, scientific theories become widely enough accepted that other scientists consider the problem resolved, and they begin to look for more interesting problems to solve. This is how scientific progress happens.

Anti-science movement hurts America - Business Insider

US personal spending dropped 0.2% in January - twice as bad as the 0.1% drop expected and the 3rd miss in a row. The spending drop was driven in large part by a slide in non-durables. Personal income also missed excpectations, rising just 0.3% (against a +0.4% expectation) hovering at its lowest growth since September. The savings rates surged to 5.5% - its highest since Dec 2012.

US Savings Rate Surges To Highest Since 2012 As Consumers Save "Gas Tax Cut" Instead Of Spending | Zero Hedge

[admin]

Following a poor performance in December, emerging market (EM) assets look undervalued and could draw investor interest again, analysts say.

Time to get bullish on emerging markets

It’s been a little more than six months since the full brunt of Western sanctions took force against Russia. The punishment, while slow in coming, has proven devastatingly effective—especially when paired with the crash in oil prices.

How Much More Economic Pain Can Vladimir Putin Take? - Bloomberg Business

Some studies have linked consumption to heart risk factors, such as raised cholesterol or blood pressure, while others suggest the beverage may offer some heart protection. But there is no conclusive evidence either way, and the latest research from South Korea, which is published in the journal Heart, only adds to the discussion.

BBC News - Regular coffee drinkers have 'cleaner' arteries

Aimen Dean is a founder member of al-Qaeda, who changed tack in 1998 and became a spy for Britain's security and intelligence services, MI5 and MI6. Interviewed by Peter Marshall, he describes his years working in Afghanistan and London as one of the West's most valuable assets in the fight against militant Islam.

BBC News - The spy who came in from al-Qaeda

Along with three of the other attackers, Singh is now appealing against his death sentence. In 16 hours of interviews, Singh showed no remorse and kept expressing bewilderment that such a fuss was being made about this rape, when everyone was at it. "A decent girl won't roam around at nine o'clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy," he said.

BBC News - Delhi rapist says victim shouldn't have fought back

[admin]

But the past year has also seen growing interest in a host of non-currency applications for bitcoin’s core technology. Innovators are devising all manner of ideas to “decentralize” commercial and social activity: “smart contracts” that function without lawyers; stock exchanges without central clearinghouses; financial record-keeping systems that can be verified without an auditor; even tamper-proof voting systems that automatically guarantee one-person-one-vote.

The surprising tech that could soon power cars, stock markets, and voting booths - MarketWatch

Investors are still holding a lot of cash, and S&P 500 companies haven't taken on much leverage

Bank of America: Here Are 10 Reasons to Stay Long the S&P 500 - Bloomberg Business

but a determination in this regard should of course rest primarily on an assessment by Member States themselves and by the relevant European institutions.

FT Alphaville | FT Alphaville – Market Commentary – FT.com

There have been any number of pieces written about how the millennial generation is consciously refusing to do things that preceding generations thought were perfectly reasonable, such as playing golf or investing in the stock market or even doing a SINGLE NICE THING  for someone else!

Wall Street Has Its Eyes on Millennials' $30 Trillion Inheritance - Bloomberg Business

The jungle-choked remains of a "lost city", abandoned by a mysterious civilisation several centuries ago and long fabled for reports of its gold and "monkey children", have been uncovered in the depths of the rainforests of Honduras.

Ancient 'lost city' home to a vanished civilisation found deep in jungles of Honduras - Telegraph

[admin]

The pitchman for Robinhood, the no-fee stock brokerage, looks a little like actor Seth Rogen: bearded, chubby, and, to some viewers, possibly stoned. In the company’s 80-second online ads, he takes aim at millennials, assuring them that they don’t need much cash to triumph in the stock market. Using Robinhood, he says, you don’t even have to pay the industry standard trading commissions that can erode profits on the small trades newbies tend to make. All you’ll need is Robinhood’s sleek iPhone app.

IPhone App Robinhood Luring Users With Zero-Commission Trading - Bloomberg Business

A few weeks ago after reading an article here on Business Insider, I decided to breathe new life into my old 2011 MacBook Pro. I replaced the old hard drive that came with the computer with a snazzy new SSD, or solid state drive. Solid state drives are much faster — and that tweak alone will completely change your computing experience.

I made 2 tweaks to my sister's 2009 iMac and now it runs like a brand new machine - Business Insider

Share repurchases by the S&P 500 corporations totaled a staggering $2.1 trillion from Q1-2009 through the latest available data, for Q3-2014. Over the same period through Q4-2014, these companies paid dividends of $1.6 trillion. Many investors tend to reinvest dividends in the stock market. The S&P 500 has been highly correlated with the sum of these two cash flows.

Stock buybacks are in a bull market - Business Insider

He now thinks he’s built a solution in the form of Vurb, an app released last week for the iPhone (an Android version is expected in a few months). Vurb, which is free, lets you search for things like restaurants, movies, and concerts, and get results close to where you are, laid out on information-packed cards that include data from several different sources—reviews, related videos, maps, show times, and links to get a ride there via Uber or Lyft. These slides can then be shared with friends.

An App to Simplify Nights Out | MIT Technology Review

And the code for women in this country is simple: Dress modestly, don't go out at night, don't go to bars and clubs, don't go out alone. If you break the code, you will be blamed for the consequences.

Here's what most Indian men think about rape - Business Insider

[admin]

Anti-fly technology has progressed in leaps and bounds over the past couple years, and now, thanks to artist Lorenzo Maggiore, there’s a better way to rid your home of unwelcome, winged intruders.  You might remember Maggiore’s first invention from a couple years ago: the Bug-A-Salt gun. It’s essentially a plastic shotgun that fires concentrated bursts of table salt. It’s not powerful enough to break through skin (or even a plastic bag), but to a fly, the hail of Morton’s is as effective as a blast of hot lead.

Awesome Tech You Can't Buy Yet: KegSmarts, Phorm, & More | Digital Trends

The Runcible is both the strangest and most intriguing device that I've seen at Mobile World Congress this year. It offers many of the same capabilities as a smartphone, but it looks like a trinket you would find in a trendy vintage store. That's by design, though: Its creator, Monohm, wants the circular gizmo to challenge the now ubiquitous smartphone experience, which is increasingly defined by a relentless stream of notifications. Aubrey Anderson, the company's founder and CEO, describes the Runcible as a "quieter" gadget that can help people relax and live in the moment, while still staying connected online.

Relaxing with Runcible, the circular 'anti-smartphone'

With 881,000 bikes in a city of 780,559 people and only 400,000 designated bike parking spaces, Amsterdam had to figure out a better parking system to ease the two-wheeled invasion that’s plugging its downtown.

Amsterdam's radical solution to its bike invasion

More than 2.4bn people have untreated tooth decay across the globe, a study in the Journal of Dental Research suggests. Experts say it is alarming it has been neglected to this level - despite known ways to both treat and prevent it.

BBC News - Billions 'have untreated tooth decay'

Greek workers have had a bad press recently but, as we reported in February, they work longer hours than any other Europeans. Their average of 2,017 hours a year puts them third in the international ranking, based on figures compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

BBC News - Which countries work the longest hours?

[admin]

The hope is that the boost to profitability, which is now significantly higher than during the relative boom years of Koizumi, will encourage additional domestic investment and make managers comfortable with the idea of handing out raises. So far, neither has happened, although this year’s pay negotiations between workers and management are almost done. Japan handled the collapse of the 1980s bubble with relative grace partly because inequality didn’t widen that much, at least compared to other rich countries. Will that continue if the policies meant to restore Japanese economic growth end up boosting the fortunes of the most well-off at the expense of falling living standards for everyone else?

Abenomics and Japanese inequality, again | FT Alphaville

Walmart’s decision last week to raise its workers’ salaries could be read as either a smart move or inadequate, depending on the company’s larger goals.

Will Walmart's Wage Increase Pay Off?

Mrs Choyleva says China's true growth rate fell to 4.4pc last year, and to just 1.7pc in the fourth quarter. "Beijing needs to support growth and its only viable option is a weaker yuan," she said.

Liquidity evaporates in China as 'fiscal cliff' nears - Telegraph

Steering central bank policy depends more than anything on assessing where the economy is heading. Yet, central bankers, surprisingly, are seldom picked for their forecasting acumen. More often they are former public servants, bankers or academics. Then there is Janet Yellen. Her forecasts as a Fed official have been strikingly accurate, as the release of 2009 transcripts to the Fed’s deliberations make clear. If she worked on Wall Street, she’d be a “hot hand.” This does not mean as chairwoman she is necessarily right; but it does suggest her forecasts deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Janet Yellen, Forecasting Ace - Real Time Economics - WSJ

Transcripts of FOMC meetings in 2009, released Wednesday, reinforce this point. Ms Yellen is repeatedly more gloomy about the outlook, less worried about inflation, and more in favor of forceful monetary stimulus than her colleagues. Her foresight on inflation is especially noteworthy. Discussing its outlook in January, 2009, she said: “We could see a prolonged period in which inflation falls well below the level consistent with our dual goals of price stability and maximum sustainable employment.” That, of course, is what has happened: inflation has consistently run below the Fed’s 2% target.

Janet Yellen, Forecasting Ace - Real Time Economics - WSJ

[admin]

Self-driving cars could generate billions of dollars a year in revenue from mobile internet services and products, even if occupants spend only a fraction of their free time on the web, according to a new study by McKinsey & Company.

McKinsey: Self-driving cars could boost Internet revenue by billions and save tens of thousands of lives in the US - Business Insider

Professional athletes improve performance by measuring their efforts, analysing data and targeting how to train. Thanks to wearables we can start to do this but not as effectively as possible, until now. Stryd is a new wearable that offers runners the ultimate readout: power.

World’s first power meter for running is here to make you faster, meet Stryd - Pocket-lint

Perhaps Glyph's best trick is how it delivers visuals to you. Instead of using small LCD/OLED displays, it uses micromirror projection technology. This means the image is beamed into your eyes, and effectively does away with pixels (at least in the way we're used to). The end result is a wonderfully sharp image, easily the most detailed I have seen on any headset. The field of view isn't huge, about 45-degrees, but it's ideal for watching movies. If you want a more immersive experience, Avegant is working on that, and we tested its Jellyfish prototype at CES. But, the Glyph was designed for media consumption, and the current field of view is ideal for that.

Avegant's Glyph video headset will change how you see movies

With the Vive, HTC and Valve Software took me to other worlds for the first time in my waking life. It was frightening, astounding, surreal, and I desperately hope to return.

HTC Vive VR: What It’s Like to Use, and How It Works | Digital Trends

There are 11,781 registered lobbyists in Washington, more than enough to represent even the most arcane special interests. The American Racing Pigeon Union has a lobbying firm to work on its behalf. So do the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute, the Owners of Ivory Miniatures, and the International Natural Sausage Casing Association. Within corporate America, food industry lobbyists represent particularly specific interests: Groups advocate for restaurants and frozen foods, franchise associations, and chains. Beef, dairy, corn, potatoes, and apples all have their champions.

Junk Food's Last Stand: The Pizza Lobby Is Not Backing Down - Bloomberg Business

[admin]

Imagine a big-rig, loaded with cargo, barreling down the road in traffic. What happens if the driver falls asleep or becomes incapacitated? Huge crash, people are injured or killed. We've seen it many times on roads all over the world. Volvo Trucks Global has developed a system that could prevent tragic accidents like those with its Collision Warning/Early Braking system. The technology has been developed specifically for Volvo semi-trucks, and the result is mind-boggling. Check the video:

Volvo has a braking system that can stop a 40-ton semi on a dime - Business Insider

European stocks are already enjoying their strongest start to a year in more than two decades. Citigroup Inc. says there’s still further to go. European stocks will surge another 14 percent this year, Jonathan Stubbs, the bank’s head of Europe and U.K. equity strategy, wrote in a note dated March 5.

Europe Stocks Headed for 31% Surge This Year Amid QE, Citi Says - Bloomberg Business

When Jay Sherman needed a quick way of dodging a furious Rainier Wolfcastle, he pointed at his shoes and told him that his laces were undone. On closer inspection, they were loafers, but Sherman’s sleight of hand emphasised that if you need to avoid someone, just make them look the other way.

The Joy of Six: no-look football passes | Jacob Steinberg | Football | The Guardian

Sierra Leone’s top sprinter, who vanished after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last summer, has been found in an emaciated state, living rough on the streets of London. Jimmy Thoronka, 20, his country’s number one 100m sprinter, and tipped by some for a big sporting career, disappeared at the end of the Games last August. Along with several other athletes he failed to return to Sierra Leone, and until now his whereabouts had been unclear. But speaking to the Guardian he has described what has happened to him since he vanished.

'Some days I get no food at all': top Sierra Leone athlete living rough in London | World news | The Guardian

In the wake of the Great Recession, a contentious debate has erupted over whether austerity is helpful or harmful for economic growth. This column compares the experiences of the East Asian countries – whose leaders responded to the East Asian financial crisis with expansionary fiscal policy – with those of the European periphery countries during the Great Recession. The authors argue that it was a mistake for the European periphery countries to pivot from fiscal expansion to consolidation before their economies had recovered.

Austerity and recovery: East Asian lessons for Europe | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal

[admin]

Low-income programs are not driving the nation’s long-term fiscal problems, contrary to the impression that a narrow look at federal spending during the Great Recession and the years that immediately followed might leave.  Lawmakers should bear this in mind as they consider proposals that may emerge in coming weeks for deep cuts in this part of the budget.

Low-Income Programs Not Driving Nation’s Long-Term Fiscal Problem — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

The next evolution in wireless networking holds promises of self-driving cars and movies that download in the blink of an eye. 5G is big at this year's Mobile World Congress, but don't expect it until 2020.

How 5G will push a supercharged network to your phone, home, car - CNET

China dominates energy intensive aluminum and magnesium production because of its massive buildout of coal and hydro power. The US is looking to get back in the game by halving the energy needed for production. The world will about 100 million tons per year of bauxite production by 2020 to meet the projected increase in aluminum. Infinium is developing a technology to produce light metals such as aluminum and titanium using an electrochemical cell design that could reduce energy consumption associated with these processes by over 50%.

Next Big Future: China dominates Aluminum and Magnesium production with cheap power but US trying to get back by halving energy needed

In the mid-1960s, Australian athlete Reg Spiers found himself stranded in London with no money to buy a plane ticket home. Desperate to get back to Australia in time for his daughter's birthday, he decided to post himself in a wooden crate.

BBC News - The man who posted himself to Australia

This time around there is even more reason not to assume that we know where the NAIRU is, because we now know that premature rate hikes can all too easily land you in a low-inflation trap that’s very hard to escape. Think Japan 2000 (an incident I think many people have forgotten), the ECB 2011, Sweden after 2010.

The risk of rising rates too soon by Paul Krugman - NYTimes.com