Monthly Archives: May 2011

Psychologist and economist George Loewenstein, Carnegie Mellon University, was an avid mountain climber “until I had kids and couldn’t tolerate the risk.” — [TAKEAWAYS]

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Chris F. Masse

- Mountainous Memoirs (PDF file): “[] in 1986, [] I almost killed my wife, Donna, on Mt. Assiniboine in the Canadian Rockies.” – George Loewenstein has extensively written about the motivation of mountain climbers and their appreciation of risk. – … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, People, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

InTrade CEO John Delaney (42) died on May 21, 2011, while climbing Mount Everest, and his body will remain there. — [OBITUARY]

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chris F. Masse

New York Times & CNBC. John Delaney, 41, from Ireland, has collapsed less than 50m from the top. He left for the expedition on April 9 and was due back in Ireland at the end of this month. His body … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Exchanges & Markets, People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Meet the masters of collective intelligence. — [VIDEO]

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chris F. Masse

Scobble interviews the founder of Spigit. ADDENDUM: As you know, the wisdom of crowds requires diversity, decentralization and independence (among a total of 4 criteria). Confirmation with this study.

Posted in Collective Intelligence - Wisdom Of Crowds, Inventions & Innovations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rand Paul makes sense everytime he speaks. — [VIDEO]

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chris F. Masse

Awesome talk about the Patriot Act.

Posted in Philosophy, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BetFair employees believe that David Yu and the other top brass are a bunch of schmucks who are incapable of delivering leadership. — [NEWS]

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Chris F. Masse

Via a reader, The Guardian lists the execs who have recently fled BetFair HQ: – Mathias Entenmann – Charlie Palmer – Robin Osmond – Lee Cowles – Tim Phillips – Emily Foge – Rob Glynne – Alex Deacon – Tony … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Exchange & Market Management, Exchanges & Markets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Political Forecasting by Pundits — [VIDEO]

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Chris F. Masse

Excellent editorial from Lawrence O’Donnell. Make sure to watch the whole segment till the end.

Posted in Forecasting (Science & Practice), Individual Intelligence - Anti Consensus, Journalism, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Eurocopter – X3 Hybrid Helicopter Demonstrator Achieving To Exceed 220 Knots (407 Km/h)

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Chris F. Masse
Posted in Inventions & Innovations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tyler Cowen, proven wrong on PBS? — [VIDEO]

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Chris F. Masse

Brian Caplan tweeted that the GMU prof was wrong and the MIT prof was right. Is that your personal view? I am not impressed by the futuristic MIT gadgets, as they won’t necessary correspond to people’s needs. Hence, I don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Inventions & Innovations, The Global Economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

FaceBook acts as a de facto information gathering source for US intelligence agencies such as NSA, CIA and FBI. — [VIDEO]

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Chris F. Masse

More.

Posted in Ethics, Information Technology, Inventions & Innovations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Emmanuel Todd predicted the Arab Spring by looking at demo data. — [VIDEO IN FRENCH]

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Chris F. Masse

Emmanuel Tood @ Wikipedia – Tyler Cowen has a book review. Sorry, it is only in French, but I hope it gets translated on the Web

Posted in Economics, Politics, Research, The Global Economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment