Recently deceased economist Milton Friedman used the quantity equation of money (MV = PY) as his license plate
“At one time at least, it appeared on the California license plate of Milton Friedman’s personal automobile. That equation is of course the quantity equation, MV = PY, or money times velocity equals the price level times output. This equation can be used to define a link between money growth and inflation that depends on the evolution of the velocity of money.” More on the equation.
People get protective over personal space in virtual worlds too
“Researchers who observed the avatars (digital representations of the humans that control them) of participants in Second Life, a virtual reality universe, found that some of the avatars’ physical behavior was in keeping with studies about how humans protect their personal space. In other words, the digital beings adhered to some unspoken behavioral rules of humans even though they were but pixels on a screen. Humans tend to avert eye gaze if they feel someone is standing too close. They retreat to corners, put distance between themselves and strangers, and sit or stand equidistant from one another like birds on a wire.”
Dupes in Borat movie speak out
“A mix of national and local articles are now telling the stories of the real people in the film. Not all of these people are pleased.” Ya don’t say?
Apple Pro profile of Brian Eno
“The multidisciplinary artist, with the help of a few technical experts, has created a computer program that continually fuses his translucent light paintings to create an ever-evolving artistic display on your computer screen. The piece is accompanied by a randomly assembled ambient track that’s never the same twice. The program is capable of creating about 77 million permutations of Eno’s visual work and is titled, appropriately, ‘77 Million Paintings.’”
[PDF] Uncle Mark 2007 (Mark Hurst’s opinionated shopping guide)
“Plenty of websites and magazines – even Consumer Reports – can give you 17 different options of digital cameras, but that doesn’t help much. You’re not asking to see all the available choices…A better question is, which ONE product should you buy, and why? The pages ahead will tell you.”

Rolling Stone on “The Baby Billionaires of Silicon Valley”
“What the old guard is missing is that this doesn’t feel like a revolution to us. It feels like common sense.”
Wired on the music industry’s “renewal”
“Dragged down by its own bulk and ripped apart by the rebellious energy of the file-sharing revolution, the recording industry hit rock bottom. That was three years ago. Today, signs of renewal are everywhere: amazing technologies, smart business models, even ringtones as hit singles. The best part? An explosion of creativity from artists and fans alike. Rock on.”
Yahoo! Autos partners with Environmental Defense to launch Green Rating on cars
“The Green Rating measures a vehicle’s environmental friendliness on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher a vehicle’s Green Rating, the ‘greener’ it is and the lower its harm to both human health and the health of the planet.” [tx Kira]
The little book of Flow
“Is it possible to have a life where the ‘flow state’ is the norm? Is there a way to have ‘flow’ all the time regardless of where we are, what we are doing or what seems to happening around us? There is.”
How to concentrate on writing
“When I am up against a deadline and I absolutely, definitely have to get on with my work, I use a few tactics to force myself to concentrate…” [tx MS]