BaldwinP

72 posts
In a world full of people, only some want to fly. Isn't that crazy? Baldwin Periphetes wants to fly, and also to juggle, tell jokes, and rule the world. He is at least halfway to his goal.

Baywatch Where Are They Now

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A show so successful that it ran for over 10 years, and so derided that it has an average rating on IMDB of 4.8 out of 10. Perhaps best known for women in red swimsuits running in slow motion, it starred a lead actor with an inexplicable international singing career who has since had some infamous struggles with the bottle.  And if that’s where he ended up, you may wonder- what became of all the lesser known lifeguards?  Spoiler: terms like “rehab”, “Dr Drew”, “Celebrity Fit Club” and “militant vegan” are about to figure prominently. Continue reading →

Meet China’s New Leadership

Rejected titles included “Profiles in Courage”, “The Outcome of the Chinese Election” and “Seven Guys Named Mao”. Unfortunately, the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC)- China’s highest governing body- aren’t truly elected, didn’t get where they are through great personal courage and are not all named Mao, even if 6 of the 7 did attend the Party Congress in identical suits with identical red ties.

Despite all this, they will almost certainly have more impact on the world in the next 5 years than any other world leader besides Barack Obama (and quite possibly more than him). It would make sense to know a bit about them, right?  So read on, and become informed. Continue reading →

Pistorius Beaten, And What It Means For Disabled Athletes At The Olympics

As discussed during an episode of Radio Crass, Oscar Pistorius (aka “The Blade Runner”) is a South African runner with a disability: he’s a double amputee with both legs removed above the knee. He can run by wearing not mere prosthetic legs, but special curved carbon fibre “blades”. And with those blades, he has not only been able to run faster than any other man in the history of the Paralympics but fast enough to qualify for the real Olympics. In fact, he made the semi-finals of the 400m race at the recent London Olympics, but came last in his semi-final (although had he repeated his best time, he would have made the final). Continue reading →

The Libor Scandal Explained

Barclays Bank has today been fined a combined £290M by regulators in the USA, UK and EU for manipulating the LIBOR; an acronym which stands for “London Interbank Offered Rate”. If you think this doesn’t sound sexy, you’re right. But if you think it isn’t critically important and one of the worst scandals to be exposed from the GFC so far, you’re wrong. The LIBOR is meant to be an objectively-set interest rate. It is used as the reference rate for an estimate $350 trillion in derivatives, not to mention an unknowable number of mortgages, international loans and financing arrangements. Many GFC scandals have involved institutions and hedge funds swindling each other out of paper wealth which never really existed. This one has involved one or more banks ripping off any number of governments, businesses, pensions funds and homeowners, and the fines so far are only the precursor to civil lawsuits and further criminal investigations. Continue reading →

Microsoft, “Do Not Track” and the War for Internet Privacy

They call it “The Evil Empire”.  They call it “M$”. They call it “Microsuck”. Now, it seems, Microsoft wants to be known as The People’s Champion. It has taken a step that “Don’t Be Evil” Google and Firefox-creators Mozilla have vocally refused to do. It has announced that in the forthcoming Internet Explorer 10, the “Do Not Track” setting will be on by default. Continue reading →

LinkedIn and eHarmony Passwords Hacked

As the headline says, passwords to headhunting-slash-social-networking site LinkedIn and “headhunting”-slash-“social networking” site eHarmony have been hacked and are in the wild.  A hacker posted files with literally millions of passwords to these sites in public, asking for help.

Security experts say that the hacker probably has many more passwords than he or she posted, and was just asking for help cracking the stronger ones (or subtly boasting about it).  To be on the safe side, assume that this hacker and others by now have ALL LinkedIn and eHarmony passwords, and change yours (and if you used the same username and password on other internet sites, change it there too). Continue reading →

QOTD: If You Could Turn Back Time, If You Could Find A Way

Whether you’re 16, 36 or 60, there will have been many moments in your life when you’re reading a book, watching a TV show or a movie or staring down at the ruins of a lost civilization and thinking to yourself “whoa man, I wish I could have seen that, daddio!” (Note for 16 year olds: “daddio” used to be cool slang. Ask your Dad).

So, if you were granted the ability to go back in time (whether this is by means of a time machine, magic or an angel is up to you and your belief system) to observe 5 things but without the ability to interfere or change anything, what 5 things would you choose? Continue reading →