Monthly Archive for July, 2010

Why US GDP Isn’t Make Or Break

Published on 30 July 2010 in Financial Markets. 0 Comments

2nd Quarter US GDP is out today and the consensus expects growth to drop by one fifth of a percent to 2.5%. As GDP growth together with manageable inflation is how the US deals organically with taking on extra debt, it’s quite an important figure for the country.

But for Wall St the reality is the US economy is no longer the only one that matters to DJIA constituents. GM has sold more cars so far this year in China. Consumer stables giant Colgate dropped 7% after admitting a Venezuelan currency devaluation would cause it to miss 2nd Quarter earnings expectations. These are mainstreet USA companies playing in a post-US single superpower world.

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Doing the Mongol

Published on 30 July 2010 in Backcountry. 1 Comment

Picture the scene: An assortment of 15 or so overloaded hair dresser hatchbacks making their way through the backroads of Goodwood stop and get out for a confab in the middle of a country lane.

In an area of about 2 square miles, we had managed to lose a field. And fields aren’t really known for their darting about. You may be a little surprised to learn then that every team here would start out on a journey to Mongolia the next day. The fact that some would eventually make it through desert, mountains, rain and snow is nothing short of a miracle for the unprepared & unconcerned traveller. Here is the story of LRDG’s 2009 Mongol Rally.

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Misrepresenting Culture

Published on 17 July 2010 in Belfast and Big Society. 0 Comments

Image courtesy Ardfern

The Derry~Londonderry bid has won the right to host the UK’s first City of Culture in 2013. Apparently one of the organisers trumpeted on the night of the announcment that she wanted to see ‘every child with a musical instrument’ by the time they get round to hosting it.

And that’s what irks me most about this notion of ‘Culture’ being bestowed on a city for a certain period:

Culture is surely one of the most incorrectly used words in the English language today.

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Google & It’s Search For a Social Graph

Published on 12 July 2010 in Facebook, Google and web. 1 Comment

image courtesy Tantek

Techcrunch lead on a $100m investment by Google in Zynga the social network gaming company. It’s the latest in a long line of Google failures in a vital area of capturing web traffic – or, “organising the world’s information” as Google diplomatically puts it.

Canny move or desperation?

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