John Robb's Weblog

Thwarted Car Bomb

Here's a correction to a statement by David Ignatius:   It was a makeshift plot by a new generation of terrorists that was thwarted by a combination of high-tech surveillance and vigilant citizens.

Warren Buffett as the Bankster

For decades, Warren Buffett has carefully crafted the image of a homespun everyman, that happens to be a billionaire++. 

Wow, that PR effort is shriveling up under the harsh glare of financial pressure. His big lobbying effort to get special treatment for his derivative positions (at the expense of financial reform) and his staunch dismissal of the malfeasance of Goldman Sachs is finally giving us a sense of his true nature.

An Idiot

Was doing some research for my book.  

Here's a guy called Justin Credible that rips off a Nigerian trying to rent a room from him on Craigslist (from 2005).  He incorrectly assumes the person sending him a check is a scammer (hint: scammers don't send you money).  Worse, he thinks he is smart.  The guy is a crook. Frankly, if he didn't like the sound of transaction (it seemed risky given the potential that he was laundering money from an expense account), he should have ignored it.

Demographic Dystopia

Back in 1996, I worked on the implications of matching just-in-time advertising with highly accurate personal data with the senior leadership of Firefly.  My conclusion was that once that connection could be made, we create the opportunity for a demographic dystopia.  In short, because you have great data (money, spending habits, public/network influence, etc.) you will get lots of free stuff.  For example, you walk into a movie theater, ping the kiosk with you phone, and it says, "John Robb, it's so great to have you here. Please let us offer you a free ticket."  The next guy in line pings it with his phone, "$17.95 please."

In short, a demographic dystopia, where having more gets you more, built into the fabric of our lives.  Dave has a different take on this.  He calls it, "The mother of all business models."

Avatar

Saw it in 3D IMAX with the family today.  All I can say is "insert favorite explicative here" James Cameron.  He's done it again, and even better than before. 

Climate change summit = financial scam

Limos, parties, caviar....  A party to launch another big kleptocratic event. Not even hiding that this is all about the money that can be made by the global financial system on carbon credits.