TED Talk - Parag Khanna maps the future of countries

Wow really interesting video;

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/parag_khanna_maps_the_future_of_countries.html
Many people think the lines on the map no longer matter, but Parag Khanna says they do. Using maps of the past and present, he explains the root causes of border conflicts worldwide and proposes simple yet cunning solutions for each.

Thanks Janera


Cheers,
Dean

Global Debt Comparison

Interesting website; http://buttonwood.economist.com/content/gdc

The per capita (USA $22,067.80 and Australia $6,944.05) always seems the most 'personal factor to me. Eg compare it with your personal credit card debt you might be carrying.

Though at the end of the day is the percentage against GDP that is the 'most important' (USA
48.3% Australia 17.3%). This is the percentage of what you 'owe' versus the amount you 'earn' each year.

Though like all things 'national' the ability to pay things off is determine by the value of your currency. The main issue for the USA is what their dollar is worth - luckily for the USA unlike Australia most of the rest of the world doesn't want the US dollar to sneeze otherwise they (China) would catch a cold.


Cheers,
Dean

P.S. if you want to get really tricky check out the 'year' slider. For example in 2000 Australia owed $95b BUT it was 25% of gdp compared to 17% now for almost 50% more in dollar value. Could have been currency based but i think it's probably productivity based.

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

I went to see Der Baader Meinhof Komplex movie tonight
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765432/

Fantastic movie. I dont know why more people haven't been talking about this.

Never in a movie have i flipped from supporting one side to the other (lol at times i felt like a far right republican to a leftist radical supporter).

There were people you could see on both sides who were passionate and intelligent . By the end you just feel a desire for something/anything to change the eventual outcome - it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion and no one around you seems to be doing anything about it but at the same time you also dont have any solutions of your own.

I'm surprised people aren't drawing parallels about what is happening in the world today.

Great movie that will have you talking and thinking for days.


Cheers,
Dean
BTW Johanna Wokalek http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0937557/ sensational actress. Not sure about her range but in this roll as a motivator you can see why the 2nd and 3rd generation followed. Hopefully she'll be able to cross over into english films and get more exposure.

The Art of the Long View - Peter Chernin and Gordon Crawford

hmmm cable tv was invented in Pennsylvania, in 1948 !!! wow i had no idea.

Check out the history of how we got to here from around 4 minutes to 7 minutes in this video



Some other comments on the video topics;

Laughing at the comment around the 12 minute mark about "who bought cd's recently" - i only buy cd's BECAUSE i prefer not to be 'controlled' by someone elses DRM that may disappear in the future. Sorry i'll pay the $15 once and own for good even though i rip all my music content as 192bitrate mp3's to store electronically on my own servers.


al la carte cable programming at about 22 minutes - yes but if no one is watching the 250 channels then don't they deserve to go away....?


29 mins - I love the comment about 'value' hasn't gone away it's just shifted to other people. I totally think technology is just shifting 'leaders', it's only the losers (NYT eg mentioned at 30 mins that are complaining).



lol - boiling trees tossing onto people driveways comment at 34 mins. I've never heard it put that way about "Yesterdays news - is the practise that we are trying to defend"

55mins - smart guy, better to cannibalise yourself rather than have someone else cannibalise you. never a smarter sentence been said about being revolutionary and surfing the 'leading edge wave'


Cheers,
Dean

lol yeh right

Dont you love spamming companies who market you something like "Learn how to build on demand apps" but cant event manage a mailinglist properly.

Dear Salesforce, Force.com, Ciol.com, CyberMedia India Online Ltd - You #FAIL

Time Warner residential ISP in NYC - 50/5 wideband :)

Drats, brooklyn heights missed out but cant be far away.

Time Warner Cable has joined the ranks of cable operators who have deployed DOCSIS 3.0-enabled data services with the launch today of a business and residential service in New York City.
Residential subscribers can sink their teeth into a 50 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream wideband service, which is called Time Warner Cable Wideband Internet, for $99.95 per month.
http://www.cedmagazine.com/News-TWC-DOCSIS-bandwagon-092409.aspx


currently i have 20mb down/2mb up for around $50 a month so I'm a definate candidate for the upgrade as soon as it's available here :)

I only wish i could justify fixed ip addresses.


Cheers,
Dean

How much do Mexicans spend annually on trips into the U.S.?

How much do Mexicans spend annually on trips into the U.S.?

Forty billion dollars annually.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=113819&lfe=1


Wow really? I had no idea it would be that much.


Toni Banuelos, Hispanic marketing manager for Ikea, says, "The Tijuana consumer is important to our San Diego store, and having the opportunity to influence their purchasing decision as they sit idle at the border is a key factor to driving our business from Tijuana." Toni says that Ikea asks consumers at point-of-sale for their zip codes. For foreign consumers, it enters a special code for non-U.S. residents. "We know from that data that 7% of our consumers in our San Diego store come from Mexico although we conservatively account for an extra 3% because of additional sales at the self-serve kiosks plus some Mexicans use a U.S. post office box or a zip code from their American relatives."

Australia needs a 20x population explosion

An article in The Australian newspaper today
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,26116017-5013479,00.html

Caused my friend to write this comment - my reply is below.



Hey Max, hate to say this but you are wrong.

What he is saying is that population increase for Australia is a good thing. I totally agree.

We desperately need a 20x increase in the number of Australian residents.

Until we do Australia will always be a 2 city country.

No one wants to live in Wangaratta.....because no one lives in Wangaratta (ask me why wangaratta in another medium....too long a story for Facebook but has to do with copper mesh floors).

The best thing Australia could do is implement a 5 year 'rural only visa') that opened the floodgates to anyone willing to move to Australia BUT live in the country/rural areas for the first 5 years.

Employment and manafacturing for this new influx would then spring up in places like..... Wangaratta :)


Cheers,
Dean

upfront vesus monthly

Reading the article about espn apple app - http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/34452/ESPN-Radio-app-goes-live-for-iPhone


Makes me wonder is getting $2.10 upfront ($3 - 30% for apple) is better than getting someone to sign up for a subscription at $1 a month?

I mean apart from the 10% compound interest per month for the upfront - the attrition rate from $1 per month subscription fees, you would probably also find that the decision making process for a $1 subscription is "longer and more tortured" than a one off $3 purchase.

If you have purchased a low value application - what do you think?
If you sell a low value application - what do you think?


Cheers,
Dean

net neutrality speech by fcc

http://openinternet.gov/read-speech.html

I see the 'desire' but I'm waiting to hear exactly how they will create the 'stick'.
What if the ISP's just say no?


Cheers,Dean