catalysiS...

Another Friday, gone

Beckett — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:05:50 +0000

13 suns, 13 years, 13 months, 13 weekdays, 13 hours, 13 minutes, 13 seconds, 13 sessions, 13 measures, 13 duty marks, 13 lost memories, 13 drops, 13 lucky tones of shade and just another Friday’s gone.

Canon

Beckett — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 22:22:40 +0000

Went through a 60D and a 5D MKii in the space of 3 weeks. Disappointed at both and both got returned. 60D felt cheap plastic all over. Tried a 600D which felt a bit better built than the 60D (interesting enough) but overall the 600D falls way too short and doesn’t really cut it. The 5D MKii came with more than 10 dead pixels spread across (all over the place). Auto focus was so shockingly slow on the 5D MKii that it became clear it was really not an option. Last chance will be the 7D. Love the way it feels and will be getting one for a run. Still can’t understand the price of the 5DMK3 (way too high). Never thought my 40D would be so hard to replace.

Soul

Beckett — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:24:34 +0000

Steve

Beckett — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:53:38 +0000

Darkness

Beckett — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:34:20 +0000

Getting darker earlier, day by day, and it does affect my internal sense of time.

7 Billion

Beckett — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 22:22:43 +0000

We’ve reached a world population of 7 billion. In 2008, studies were forecasting 7 billion for 2013, we got there 2 years earlier…

Emily

Beckett — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:28:50 +0000

plastic tonguE

Beckett — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:41:55 +0000

ineptitude

Beckett — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:52:40 +0000

The Madoff results…

Wall Street: Money never sleeps

Beckett — Fri, 14 May 2010 22:36:29 +0000

Thee

Beckett — Sun, 09 May 2010 18:19:28 +0000

Seven lean years

Beckett — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:50:52 +0000

The fake perception of wealth.
GMO, 107 Billion dollars under management (institutional investment).

2010

Beckett — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:01:16 +0000

Dance Monkeys… Dance

Beckett — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:34:21 +0000

Fallen art

Beckett — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:51:21 +0000

From FT

Beckett — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:58:33 +0000

Article from the Financial Times:

“In just 16 months, the US unemployment rate has doubled from 4.8 per cent to 9.5 per cent, a remarkable surge by virtually any modern-day metric. It is also likely that the 9.5 per cent rate understates the extent to which labour market conditions are deteriorating. Just witness the increasing number of companies asking employees to take unpaid leave.”

The new killer

Beckett — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:45:12 +0000

Britain, it seems, has a new killer. As the number of swine flu casualties creeps up, each death is accompanied on the news by the “reassuring” information that the victim had other serious underlying health conditions. In other words not to worry; it wasn’t really swine flu that got them.

The message is obvious. Don’t fear swine flu, but stay clear of anyone with underlying health conditions.

Robert Shrimsley (Financial Times)

Parallel

Beckett — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:05:33 +0000

So… Are these lines parallel? What is your view on the subject?

If you say “no, they are not parallel” and someone comes and says your view is a mere mind effect and the lines are actually parallel… Will you buy into that? And what if the person telling you is a “financial specialist”? Will you then buy it?

I was amazed when I got to know that a CEO defended the tools and financial products became so complex and so difficult to attain that not even managers could understand what the products were really about.

So… Would you buy something, would you spend your own hard earned money on something you actually don’t understand to the full extent? No? What if it’s not your money? What if the risks would actually pay off in the upcoming months for yourself and your career? What if doing so would get you a fat pension and great bonuses (even if all hell would break loose afterwards)? Would you do it then? I guess that most people falling in the category of “total absence of professional ethics or values, blind ambition and thirst for power” will have an instant answer for these questions…

Until now, if we exclude Madoff (small fish) did anyone ended up in jail?

The markets will probably keep falling until governments actually show that responsibility will be taken to those responsible.

So if you go to a bank and steal the safe, what will happen to you? Jail?

Now try this… Go to a senior management position and loose money that it’s not even yours in investments you don’t even understand. What will happen to you then? A fat pension?…

Rainy days

Beckett — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:21:23 +0000

Some Jazz and the laptop. Modern life. Nowdays some of us can survive on lithium batteries.

On TV everybody is saying the “D” word… also known as “Depression”. Financial depression. I guess that for a lot of people depression came a long time a go, with foreclosures and sub-prime meltdown. Recession gone into depression. Never thought I would even hear about it during my lifetime… It’s that sort of thing you only read and study in history books.

From talking so much about it I guess TV channels will actually help installing it. It’s the placebo effect. Like going to a doctor that constantly tells you are worst than you already are.

Nonconformity

Beckett — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:58:05 +0000