Inception-style movie trailers and mashups
I'm somewhat obsessed with the music from Christopher Nolan's latest film Inception, and it turns out I'm not the only one!
The intoxicating music is making waves as re-cut and re-edited "Inception style trailers" for movies like The Dark Knight, The Matrix, Toy Story 3, and Total Recall, among others.
I've shared ...
Complete list of Tangents articles
The lying down game – video
This isn't about game theory, but I thought it was hilarious and wanted to pass it along. Enjoy
Lying down game Youtube video
Game theory – comic from xkcd
I just wanted to share a small comic today.
A while ago Scott emailed me the web comic xkcd's amusing take on the topic of game theory:
I got a kick out of this as it is often joked love cannot be analyzed computationally.
That's not to say all is lost. Mathematics does ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Gifts for economists, 2009
What gift would you give an economist? It's the time of year when I discuss a few ideas.
This is not easy to answer because economists are highly individualist. But there are a few guidelines I go by. All else equal, I feel economists prefer three things. First, they prefer practical ...
Zero-sum medicine
Competition appears to have mixed effects in health care. I'm reading about this topic in an interesting book about medicine in America.
Here is an interesting prediction--more than 20 years ago--as to why the game of health care changed:
Increasingly, the gains of one physician, or group of physicians, will have to ...
Credit crisis: new problem or ancient Roman history?
When things are looking dim, I often look to history to provide perspective. Learning that other societies have faced similar circumstances--and that my problems are not unique--is a reassuring experience. The tales of history provide an unusual source of hope.
So what can history tell us about the economic crisis? Mind ...
Gifts for economists, 2008
[Update: Welcome Freakonomics readers!]
[Also see: Gifts for economists, 2009]
Gift giving time is here, and I bet you know someone that loves economics. Maybe it's your friend that tells you how to invest. Or your professor that lectures you about why free trade is good...What kind of gifts would such people ...
16 fun applications of the pigeonhole principle
[This article is included in the 45th Carnival of Math]
Mathematical logic can produce some great trivia. Did you know that at every instant, there is a spot in the world where no wind is blowing? It is true, and the proof comes as an application of a fixed point theorem ...
Game theory and the math of infinity
Many of us have a sense for physical units like 750 mL, 12 ounces, or a six-pack. But what does it mean to have an infinite size?
The math is fascinating. Perhaps the most remarkable result is that infinity is not a single size. One can talk intelligently about different sizes ...
If you find a small amount of money, what do you do?
Recently I found 50 cents at my supermarket. It's not a lot of money, but it got me thinking about found money in general. What's the proper thing to do?
I've talked to many people and it seems the exact circumstances are important. Here are some of my favorite reactions. I'd ...
How to Make Any Food 99 Percent Fat-Free, and Why Nutrition Labels Make My Head Explode
What is your guilty pleasure? Steak? Chocolate? Butter? No problem. You can turn each of these foods into a 99 percent fat-free product.
Here’s the bare-bones recipe: grind the fatty food in a blender. Add a cup or a few cups of water and ta-da, you have transformed the numbers.
Hey, I ...
Technical Difficulties…
I've been hacked! This blog and its feed are not at full strength, so please bear with me as my security people get to the bottom of it.
Update: Things appear to be working now. Should be posting soon!
Unfortunately, all the time I spent means Game Theory Tuesdays will be ...
Guest Writer: What’s Wrong With Storing Personal Information Electronically?
Editor's Note: The brain is made for thinking, not for memory. If you need to remember something important, why not write it down? Or better yet, why not store it electronically and access it later?
This is a topic discussed by today's guest writer Lekan. What is the proper etiquette ...
Want to Help A Beauty Pageant Winner Run a Charity Date Auction?
This is certainly one for the law of unintended consequences.
I mentioned the idea of auctioning myself for a charity in my article on revenue equivalence to make the narration interesting. Well, lo and behold, this article has turned out to be interesting in a completely different way.
The article is ...
Fast and Frugal Late Night Snacks
The consulting grind encouraged my night owl tendencies. When I retired to my quarters, I found myself snacking on delicious and fattening restaurant leftovers. I was new to the job, but I quickly understood the saying “fat consultant.”
While I still work late at night, I’ve drastically improved my ...
Your Age by Diner & Restaurant Math–Why the Math Works
The trick
Here's one of those fun math tricks I got in the email.
Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway-but your waiter may know!
YOUR AGE BY DINER & RESTAURANT MATH
It takes less than a minute. Work this out as you read. Be sure you don't read ...
Why Rich isn’t Rich; Proposing an Alternate Definition
The rich are rich because they focus on the long-term acquisition of assets... assets such as stocks, bonds, businesses and income producing real estate. Many times the rich will forsake meals, a steady pay check, a vacation, or the comfort of a nice home, to build or acquire real assets.
—Robert ...
Should You Exercise to Live Longer?
I’m not a medical professional, but this is what I understand.
Walking for thirty minutes a day is helpful. It promotes health and trims our waists. I’m amazed we can have happier and longer lives from something as simple as a thirty minute daily stroll.
If moderate exercise is good, then ...
Is Sex Making Men Lose Money?
This is a thought that crossed my mind after mulling over a few recent studies.
I came to one gut reaction: internet pornography is making men lose more money.
Take a look at the evidence for yourself. What do you think?
1. Overwhelmingly, Men Look at Internet Pornography
There are some amazing (and ...
How would being filthy rich change your weekend?
For me, it would not change much.
I have a key observation to back this up. I have friends from many income levels. This ranges from indebted students with limited budgets to millionaire entrepreneurs who can do whatever they want.
What’s different when I hang out with the students and the millionaires? ...
Every Story Has Two Sides
This is the third article in the Mind Your Decisions “week of skepticism.” See the older articles on buying used products and self-serving financial advice.
Today I merely reflect on how humbling it can be to be wrong.
In Africa, two men stand at a river that they are about to cross ...
A Reader Buying an iPhone for the Right Reasons
I previously wrote about how I would approach the decision to buy an iPhone. I appealed to a marginal cost/benefit framework, where I concluded the marginal benefit, the added value, is insufficient compared to the marginal cost, which is the sticker price.
I felt pretty good about myself. One of my ...
The Recipe for Marriage
Here's something to pass along to anyone with a sense of humor (it's an old ad for Lipton Recipe Secrets):
Here's the recipe if the image text is unreadable:
MARRIAGE*
1
lifelong commitment
16
toilet seat lessons
1/2
hour daily cuddling
5
annual reminders about anniversary
21,000
home cooked dinners
30,000
shirts folded
19
subtle hints about breath
2 1/2
pieces lingerie
3
self-help books
Blend ingredients, keeping expectations
at low. Let ...
The Calculating Guru Questions Pricing Tricks
Those late night TV infomercials make me laugh. "It's all yours for under $20! Just pick up the phone and order our product (for $19.99)."
Yes, the product is "under $20." But not by a meaningful amount. Does $19.99 really sound better than $20? Is anyone fooled by the pricing trick?
Apparently ...
Food Fridays Takes a Break: A Lesson in Branding
It’s tough to do, but I’m putting Food Fridays on hold indefinitely. I am going to share my reasoning with you as the experience is a lesson in branding. I’m eager to hear your comments on the change.
I thought about this change for a while, but it was difficult to ...
Food Fridays: Converting Pizza Squares and Triangles
What's the best way to cut up a pizza? Do you like radial slices that form triangles, or grid slices that form squares?
Whatever way you choose, you can finally convert between the two methods using a simple approximation:
1 triangle slice = about 2 square slices
The rule is derived from the ...
I Have Evidence! Virtually Anyone Can Understand My Articles
Though only the really smart can understand my homepage:
These are screenshots of Critics Rant! Readability Test. I think they are using a text analyzer like the one word processors use, but I’m not sure how they convert that into levels.
For fun, I tried to get all the levels I could ...
Food Fridays: Misleading People with Percentages
I enjoy Cape Cod Potato Chips, so one day I decided to try the reduced fat variety. I was pleasantly surprised that they tasted much like the regular. They have a nice crunch and are worthy to be eaten along with (or even inside) a sandwich. I try to avoid ...
It is Really Hard to Prove Causality
I first discussed causality in my post about how vegetarians are healthier, smarter, and often richer.
I came across another intriguing example yesterday.
You're at a crash scene. One person is dead. The driver who caused the collision registers a 0.242 blood alcohol level--the reading that an average male would have at ...
Food Fridays: Cloned Food by the Numbers
This week the FDA announced that cloned food is safe to eat.
I’ve heard about 210 articles—literally all the articles that Google News listed. I’m still forming my opinion on the matter. My initial reaction is that the food is safe to eat, but there are ethical and environmental problems in ...
Food Fridays: Vegetarians Are Healthier, Smarter, and Often Richer
I will start by admitting that I’m not a vegetarian. I eat very little meat nowadays, but I am not sure that I will ever be pure vegetarian.
So relax. This article is not going to be preachy; what you eat is your business.
This article is about explaining some true, but ...
Food Fridays: Kick Your Vodka up a Notch
First of all, a small announcement. I have a lot of year-end festivities coming up, so this will likely be my last post until January. On that note, I toast you with three links about vodka.
1. Making fruit-infused vodka
This comes from the blog Modern Beet, which suggests making infused ...
Food Fridays: Vegetarian Cassoulet and Two Great Comments
I was tickled that Google referred a searcher to its French translation of my blog.
To appease the search engine gods, I offer a French-inspired recipe today. It is a recipe for vegetarian cassoulet, which I recently prepared:
Vegetarian cassoulet is a hearty meal and goes well with bread, and a little ...
Food Fridays: Eating Well While on the Clock
I was going to post a recipe today, but I felt it would be lost on my readers who are too busy to cook.
I was thinking about my friend who is an investment banker in New York. He works about 60-80 hours a week. Most days, he is at the ...
Mind Your Information
Do you write a lot of interests on Facebook? Do you share your current location?
I'm amazed how much information people put on social networking sites like Facebook.
I try to keep things private and now I am even happier with that decision.
If you are sharing a lot about yourself, then you ...
Food Fridays: A Health Choice You Do Not Want to Take with a Grain of Salt
Since I know a lot of doctors, I get to hear many interesting health stories. Today I share one story that got me thinking. I’ve changed some identifying information, but otherwise the story is true.
One patient, whom I’ll call Sandy, was taking a prescription steroid to reduce inflammation. I am ...
A New Look
Last Friday I went through on a decision two years in the making. With my brother's help, I shaved my head (RSS subscribers: please click here to see my sidebar picture).
I waited partly because it felt unprofessional to sport in an office environment. And partly because it is not ...
Food Fridays: Mind Over Platter
I was going to write about this topic, but in my research I found a great explanation.
I usually don't link to other sites, but this article is really well written and expresses ideas I agree with.
Plus, this saves me from having to write a post while digesting my Thanksgiving dinner...
Here ...
Food Fridays: Buy Fresh—From Chinatown?
Several months ago, I discovered a great part of San Francisco’s Chinatown: extremely cheap produce. The food was dirt cheap and looked appetizing. But was it too good to be true?
I worried because I believe you get what you pay for. If a retailer sells a good for a lower ...
Welcome to Food Fridays, Plus a Recipe
I somewhat shamefully admit that some of my greatest passions started from watching TV and movies. I took my first game theory course because of the movie A Beautiful Mind, which chronicles the life of John Nash. And I took an interest in cooking and food after watching the Japanese ...
Putting financial jargon in plain English–Warren Buffett style
I believe many financial misconceptions arise from poor writing.
The SEC shares this view and in 1994, Arthur Levitt, the SEC Chairman, talked to the National Press Club about the SEC’s campaign for consumer education.
He gave one example of how financial prospectuses are difficult to understand. Here is a passage from ...
What beer can teach you about comparison shopping
I'm almost always thinking numbers. Yes, even when shopping for beer.
Recently, I was choosing between the Red and Blue Chimay varieties. I have a slight preference for the Blue, but the Red was a couple dollars cheaper and figured I'd give it a try. But I wondered why it was ...
Three ways you can value your time for money decisions
I don't know what happened to me at that hypnotherapist and, I don't know, maybe it was just shock and it's wearing off now, but when I saw that fat man keel over and die - Michael, we don't have a lot of time on this earth! --Office Space
Every one ...
Understanding how taxes affect personal finance
I like to pay taxes. It is purchasing civilization–Oliver Wendell Holmes
Taxes are a big consideration in many financial decisions, including retirement accounts, tax-advantaged investments like municipal bonds, and renting versus buying a house. These financial decisions are so important that knowing basic tax information is critical. Here are four traits ...
Understanding the time value of money
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush–Miguel de Cervantes
The time value of money is fundamental to money management. It is the key to understanding stocks, bonds, financing your loans, and making good business investments. It's the reason why lottery winners often take lump-sum payments at a ...
Lifestyle funds make little sense for people who want the best
Simplify, simplify–Henry David Thoreau
The chef Alice Waters promotes an elegant cooking philosophy in her book Chez Panisse Vegetables: “Good food depends almost entirely on good ingredients…Never cook slavishly, rigidly following a recipe and thoughtlessly adhering to measurements it gives.”
She really has been successful following this philosophy. As one story goes, ...
Understanding your risk tolerance
“Fortune favors the bold”—Virgil
Do you buy a new laptop for $1,000 or reconditioned one for $900? The reconditioned product is $100 cheaper, but presumably more likely to fail. Do the savings make it worth taking a chance? Situations like this, where decisions are made under uncertainty, warrant risk analysis.
The ...
Understanding opportunity costs
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference—Robert Frost
Opportunity cost is one of the most important concepts. Opportunity cost is the true way to measure the cost of something you are doing.
To be specific, let us ...
Preferences, not money, dictate personal finance
Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are—Brillat-Savarin
Preferences are the key to starting your personal finances. I don’t think financial websites emphasize this enough. For example, consider the articles “Skip Graduate School” and “Unpaid Internships are a Waste.” While these articles make valid points, their ...
