Tron Legacy

If you're a nerd too, you remember the 80's classic Tron with great nostalgia. You will also be watching the sequel, Tron Legacy, when it comes out in theaters in a little over a year. In the words of one friend: "Where's my inhaler?"

Tabbouleh

Remy is a comic based in Arlington, VA. He's got a lot of great videos on YouTube; this one is the best. Very many thanks to my friends Kris and Lauren for introducing me to such genius.

As of this writing, this video is number three when you google "tabbouleh."

Globalization Upside Down

I was listening this afternoon to an interview with the author of $20 Per Gallon, a book about the potential societal impacts of rising fuel costs. It made me think: What happens to the concept of globalization -- that is, the shifting of production to where each good can be produced most cheaply -- if a significant proportion of the unit cost of every good is incurred by the fuel required for its transportation? Presidents from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush have pushed for tariffs to protect domestic production from foreign competition. They may get their wishes after all, and without any such heavy-handed interference with the free market.

Corollary: Given that the cost of transporting an object is a result of the fixed product of its weight and the distance it travels, which countries' exports seek to benefit most in a time of high fuel prices: those whose products have low costs and low margins, or those whose products have high costs and are of high sophistication?

Fond Memories

I was recently flying into Los Angeles when I ran into a big group of high school-age kids wearing polo shirts that read "People to People Student Ambassador." I asked one of them where they were traveling to.

"Australia," he answered.

About 15 years ago, I traveled with People to People to Australia myself. (Back then, the trip included New Zealand as well. The young gentleman I spoke with informed me that they were going to Australia only.) I consider myself fairly well traveled, but that trip was an early highlight. I vividly remember the wildlife, the people I met, and the amazing things we got to see.

"You're going to have an incredible time," I told my fellow traveler.

Michael Jackson, Greatest Human Being ... Ever

Michael Jackson was surely a tremendously talented, hard-working, and influential artist. But that's not all.

At today's memorial service, Nelson Mandela remembered how "...he was able to triumph over tragedy on some many occasion in his life." Like the tragedy of being phenomenally wealthy, or the tragedy of being held accountable, almost, for his inappropriate attentions to young children.

The Reverend Al Sharpton gave him credit for the election of Barack Obama -- and more. Pay attention as the man lays it out:

Step 1, Comfort --> Oprah: "It was that comfort level that kids from Japan and Ghana and France and Iowa and Pennsylvania got comfortable enough with each other so later it wasn't strange to us to watch Oprah on television."

Step 2, Oprah --> Barack Obama: "Those young kids grew up from being teenage comfortable fans of Michael to being 40 years old and being comfortable to vote for a person of color to be the president of the United States of America."

Step 3, Barack Obama --> World Peace: "Michael made us love each other."

The details may be blurry, but the good Reverend has always been a strong Idea Man.

Perhaps Carlos Riley of Denver, CO said it best in an NPR interview: "Thousands of years from now, people will freak out when they think that this was a real person who once walked this earth."

Making It Work

The following was originally posted on my RTI blog.

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I’ve been having a problem with my car, so I brought it in to the shop today. (No, this is not a parable invented for the purpose of this post. This is a true story, I promise.) I brought the problem to the mechanic, who said, “It could be that your [part] is broken. The [part]s are along the back wall; you can buy one at the register there, then bring it around to me, and I’ll put it in for you.”

I don’t know a thing about cars, so it seemed to me that there was a flaw in this plan.

“What if,” I asked, feeling like a jerk already, “it turns out that my [part] isn’t broken after all, and the problem is caused by something else? Then I’ll have a brand new [part] on my hands that’s of no use to me.”

The mechanic looked frustrated. “Well, I could run an electrical test first. We charge $35 for that. Do you want me to do it that way?”

I resisted the urge to retort, “You’re the mechanic; you tell me!”

The thing is, he really wanted me to pay him for a part, and I really wanted to pay him to make my car work. If I’d been an expert myself, and knew in detail what my problem was, and how to fix it, I would have been very happy to buy a part. I bought one in any case and crossed my fingers — I got lucky this time. But next time, I’ll be looking for someone else to help me, someone more able to speak to me in my language.

I’m sure there’s an analogy to software in there somewhere.