Concerns

This is my one of my bigger concerns with Huckabee. Well, that and the whole fair tax thing. Any reason why I should think he has a chance?

Global Warming Silver Bullet!

Harvard researchers solve Global Warming!

Disappearing countries

I hope Belgium doesn't dissapear.

Signs of a truly global economy

June huh?

So, I was reading in the Wall Street Journal the other day, and I came across a fastinating article. It was about how some people are taking out mortgages from foreign banks. Why would you do this, you ask? Well, your mortgage rate is based on a currencies fed rate, and in general this drives mortgage costs up or down. In the US the average mortage is about 6.3%. But, in Switzerland, for example, the average mortage rate is 4.7%. This is a drastic difference. It could mean hundreds of dollars different per month for the same mortage amount. A fascinating idea, indeed.

Oh, there is one other thing however. Your mortage would necessarily have to be in Swiss frances. Which are not tied to US dollars. Which means, that essentially this is a play in currencies, where the mortgage is a highly leveraged bet that the US dollar will stay steady or increase in relationship to the foreign currency. Judging from the recent lows that the dollar has achieved, this might not be the best time to venture out into those dangerous waters. But if the dollar has bottomed out... That could make for a very profitable loan indeed...Anyway, another product brought to you by your local global economy. It will be on my list of options when we start looking for a house...Whenever that might be...

Product Placement

I found it curious that a couple weekends ago tens of millions of Americans paid a lot of money to root for a group of persons whose purpose is to seek glory and eternal life while fighting the established government. This government brings order to things, but is corrupted and cruel, mainly for attempting to elliminate certain rouge persons. These persons, if they hope to survive, have no hope but to band together and fight for their freedom against the oppressors. If they succeed, they will be able to continue terrorizing the world while being governed by a strict moral code. If they fail, the world will be ruled by the materialistic, evil western government.

So... how much do you want to bet Al Queda paid Disney for such prominent product placement?

On a sort of serious note, in the US we are used to such...inconsistencies (?) in our entertainment, but the movie is doing very well internationally. One wonders how such messages are taken in, say, Indonesia, or Egypt.

A dislike for networking

TCP/IP? Naw, those are awesome. I don't know what I would do without them. Network analyzers? Also enjoyable. Having a machine calculate S parameters is fine with me. It's the (ab)use of your relationships to enhance your professional career that I dislike. Perhaps I won't mind it in 5-10 years when I have something to offer back, but at the moment I abhore the fact that I am being upbraided to utilize my friendships for gain.

Perhaps it is just that I have not built many friendships of utility and so I am having to convert other types of relationships to fill the void. Cicero would be disappointed. The job hunt has begun, and everywhere I look the first suggestion that is made is to network. On the one hand, I can absolutely see the benefit to using contacts. It is dreadfully difficult to get a true handle on a person through a 1-2 page document, and a couple of discussions. If there is a previous relationship, there is a much greater guarantee that the person is who s/he claims to be. But, I care about my friends and relationships, and I dislike asking people for things. Perhaps that is fundamentally the issue. My neurosis to be independent strikes again. One would think experience would have quelled that by now, but bad desires die hard.

Sigh...

Anyone have any good optical engineering positions opening in their departments? ;-)

--The Wallaby

Need any advice

in building a diffractive optical element? I'm your man. Perhap I have some other skills also. I guess it is time to go market them. Ladies and gentlemen, a 19 year chapter of my life has just come to a close. Time to go figure out what I want to do with my life.

Want to learn some math?

This should keep you busy for a while. The internet is a big place.