The coolest elevator I’ve seen
Elevator in Mumbai office building This was amazing! I loved that the elevator proudly displayed both a "0 floor" for the ground AND a "-1 floor" for the subterranean parking garage. This kind of logic is not widespread in buildings. A few strange examples are explained in Wikipedia's entry for building story's. ...

Why game theory matters for business (quote)
A few weeks ago, I spoke to college students and business professionals in India about game theory. Here is a picture of me from one of the talks: Accepting trophy from NMIMS in Mumbai--said to be "one of the best business schools in India"--me on left I was thrilled to discuss game theory ...

How to fix a broken bet – a puzzle
The point of a normal game is to win. But sometimes rules are written poorly and a player finds it beneficial to throw the contest. The "winning by losing" strategy is a perverse incentive but it is not uncommon. Two examples come to mind. First, a while back I wrote about ...

Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist book review
Warren Buffett is a man who needs little introduction. He's America's most famous and successful stock picker. His holding company Berkshire Hathaway has seen spectacular returns in the past. This is a story that sets the stage for Roger Lowenstein's biography Buffett. The very opening of the book is a graph ...

Bar game: place the last coaster
In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here's a classic puzzle that works well as a bar game. The only thing you need is enough beer coasters to cover a table. You can ask a server for them or you can bring some from home (beer coasters are cheap) The rules Here is how ...

Diversification as a long term investment strategy
Diversification is usually discussed as a method to lower risk. And rightly so: investing in many stocks reduces the influence of any particular holding. But there is another, lesser talked about benefit to diversification: big returns for long-term investors. I learned about this benefit during a high school investment seminar, and it ...

Doing taxes at the last minute
Patterns are fun to find in Google trends, a tool that visualizes search traffic volume. Look at the graph for the search term IRS in the United States: The graph generally has two spikes yearly. Why might this be? I'll take a guess. The first spike is in Jan-Feb when people are ...

Bluffing in poker and game theory
I came across an interesting video clip about bluffing in poker. The video clip features mathematician Ken Binmore and concerns betting strategy in poker. Binmore explains why poker pros bluff wildly and suggests the reason why amateurs don't bluff enough. The advice was timely as it actually helped me in my most ...

Excessive punishments and game theory
How much punishment is enough? This is an interesting question for game theory. One of the reference models is the repeated Prisoner's dilemma where players have to use the threat of punishment as a means to achieve cooperation. Sometimes harsh punishment is the right move. I discussed this before in the context ...

Game theory at Denny’s
After a late night out, I found myself at the only eatery still open in the suburbs, the late night haven that is Denny's. When paying for the meal, I noticed a curious offer on the receipt that read something like: If your receipt does not list a food or drink you ...

The strategy of eating leftover food
image credit: muffet I often end up with leftover food in the fridge. It may be because I buy groceries generously, or because I cook in bulk, or because I often bring food home from restaurants. A while back I had a refrigerator full of leftovers including things like Parmesan cheese, a ...

Las Vegas and game theory: an application of the Prisoner’s Dilemma
The Prisoner's Dilemma is a great example from game theory. The game illustrates why individuals might not cooperate even if it is their best interest to do so. I will briefly summarize the game below, but if you're familiar with the Prisoner's dilemma you can safely skip ahead to the section ...

An evil bidding war
A few readers pointed me to an amusing and devious bidding war featured on the site Gizmodo. You can see the full-sized picture by clicking on the thumbnail image I've posted: The postings suggest an interesting story. Someone has lost her iPod touch and is offering $50 as a reward. And someone ...

Protecting your nest egg
This is so beautiful, and yet in a way so scary. A bird's nest in the winter is entirely exposed to the elements, much like your stock portfolio "nest egg" during a recession. Birds seek shelter. Shouldn't you? (Today is just a picture piece...detailed articles to come) (picture credit: Crystalline Radical)

Rate per person-hour
Sometimes an old trick can come in handy. I was pleased at a recent incident where we used rate per person hour. Is my cleaning service too expensive? A few of us were discussing how much we paid for cleaning services. The numbers were something like the following. One person was paying ...