CD Sampler at Barnes and Noble

Posted on by


























Picture332_15Jun05









Picture333_15Jun05









Picture334_15Jun05









visual screen for the CD sampler

At the local Barnes and Noble, I came across a gadget that let customers sample any CD in the store by swiping the barcode reader with the CD of choice. My initial reaction was "cool!"; I was lulled into believing that I can listen to any CD and everything on it. Too good to be true: 30 second clips; not every track was available. The reality made more sense than the fantasy of having a celestial jukebox at the local bookseller. Even though I could listen to more music than before, I was still disappointed that I could not listen to everything that I wanted to.

housing bubble?

Posted on by

TechnologyReview.com - Housing Bubble:

    Didier Sornette's and Wei-Xing Zhou's analysis differs from just two years ago, when there was no sign of the faster-than-exponential growth characteristic of a bubble. Their conclusions are strengthened by their successful prediction of a housing bubble in the United Kingdom in 2003, where housing prices began dropping in July 2004. Their analysis is nifty, and the mathematics are simple and straightforward. "Soon" might be a good time to sell.

I'm planning to read Zhou's and Sornette's Is There a Real-Estate Bubble in the US?. I'm really scared to buy a house right now -- but it's also scary not to!