The "Doom" Building
I had lunch today with a friend of mine at Oakley Sunglasses (yes, she gets me employee discounts and samples) and I am always amazed by their building. It's like the architect took something straight out of the game "Doom" (or similar game) and just threw it onto the blueprint.



They're hard to see, but in the second picture those are metal cones protruding out from the side of the building.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 2:57 PM (Permalink)
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Electronic Voting for The Dead
It's a well known fact that Chicagoans and other citizens of the Midwest have gotten the unique privilege of being able to cast votes from the grave. Of course many of these dead voters end up voting democratic for the first time, but the dead-vote turn-out has proven pivotal in several races, including that of Kennedy, so there needs to be a way to make sure this important democratic group isn't disenfranchised.

It looks like there is a confluence of technologies that will give these newly dead democrats an easier way to vote:

Electronic tombstones - The technology now exists to have motion detectors sense if anyone is around and play a video recording from the deceased. This whole process means putting a screen and electronics into the tombstone and having it weather protected, which is not a big deal.

Electronic voting - Although there are problems with the process, these are sure to be ironed out over time.

Seems to me these two technological movements can be added together to give the deceased the option to electronically vote from their tombstones. Of course there will only be a democrat "lever" on the machine, but as long as it's going to be done, we might as well make it easier through technology.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 4:45 PM (Permalink)
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This Didn't Take Long
Edwards Watch

Hat Tip: Presto Pundit (That's two for them today...)

posted by Director_Mitch @ 4:12 PM (Permalink)
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Housing Bubble or Just New Price Point?
My neighbors are the original owners of their house. They bought it in 1964 and paid $28,000, less than I paid for my last car. At the time they didn't know how they were going to afford the mortgage on his policeman's salary, but they not only made it, but as the home value increased, they borrowed against it and bought a second house just a few blocks away as rental property.

The house they are in is worth around $900,000 today. Add the rental property a few blocks away, and this retired cop is sitting on close to $2 million in non-mortgaged real estate, never mind any other assets he may have.

This true story comes to mind whenever I read or hear someone talking about a housing bubble, like at Presto Pundit today. I have no doubt that housing is inflated due to lower interest rates, but the question is by how much. My guess for my area: it won't drop much.

Why? A "bubble burst" isn't going to bring my neighbor's home (and by extension mine) down from $900K down to its original cost of $28K. Real estate levels in the past 40 years in this area have steadily increased, independent of interest rates. These reasons include inflation (especially during the 70s), changes in property tax law (Prop 13), demographic changes (the biggest factor, I believe) and, of course, the overall economy (his property value did drop in the early 90s when the aerospace companies in SoCal were laying off like mad, but it quickly recovered a few years later). The housing market also isn't liquid like the stock market, and everyone has to live somewhere, so demand is never going to zero, like it did for, say, Enron stock.

His property value will probably dip somewhat as interest rates increase, but I don't see any sort of meltdown in value. I think maybe he'll see a single digit decrease, but like home values in NoCal, I think the new price levels in SoCal - especially along the coast - are simply the new price point for property. You can't wait for a bursting bubble and pick up oceanfront property for $250K. You'll never see that price point again. Ever.

I talk to lots of people buying homes in various parts of the country and keep hearing about increasing home values. In each of these cases I think the demographic and economic changes are more important factors than interest rates. While I have no doubt there is a lot speculation going on in the real estate market (one of the hallmarks of a bubble), I don't believe that people are ever going to be able to pick up homes at 25% discounts from where they are today. I think property values have simply reset at a new level.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 3:17 PM (Permalink)
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Donate to My Alma Mater? Hah!
Jim Carson has a post on why he won't donate to his Alma Mater and relates some pretty heavy horror stories as to why. Jim and I are on the same page for this for our undergrad degree, but I found I sort of had to donate to my MBA school.

Like Jim I had a bad experience with the financial aid office during my undergrad education (but not as bad as his). I was going to school during the oil bust of the mid 80s (anyone remember that?) when Dad's small engineering services company went from over 50 people to two, bringing his income to essentially zero. My parents had me go apply for financial aid but I was denied since last year's income was just fine, we don't care what you will make this year. That was strike one. Strike two was that the school raised the tuition every single year I was there. I vowed at the time that I would take those tuition increases out of any money I decided to donate later on in life. Since I still haven't decided to donate, they still have thousands of dollars to work off. The third strike is that the president of this fine institution makes a hell of a lot more than I make today. In fact, he makes more than my wife and I put together. More than the President of the U.S. If they can afford to pay some schmuck nearly half a million dollars a year to run an institution with about 2,000 undergraduates, they obviously aren't in need of any funds. Strike three.

This doesn't count the fact that the last alumni magazine I received before I got my name removed from the mailing list not so subtlely endorsed various left-wing political causes. It's like this place tried to go out its way to piss off half their alumni. So no money for them. Ever.

My business school is a different story. My MBA was largely funded by my employer at the time, so I had no bad experiences with my parents mortgaging their house to make a tuition payment. The main reason I donated, however, is that I am still networked to a lot of my fellow alums, some who serve on the alumni board. So when my buddy whom I have drinks with when we are in the same city calls up and does a pitch for a small donation, I sort of feel compelled to send him some small amount, like what I spend in a week at Starbucks. At least it's tax deductible.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 12:51 PM (Permalink)
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Taking My Cellphone for a Swim
My cellphone decided to take a dip in the pool on July 4th. I can't blame it. It was sunny . It was warm. Everyone had a drink or two. It was in the pool for 20 minutes before I realized it and got it out (Editor: Mitch is neglecting to tell you that he had put the phone into the pocket of his swim trunks and forgot it was there).

Here's the funny part: it's working just fine. This really surprises me, but I did a few things to get it working.

1. The first one was not to even try to turn it on while it was wet. It had gone swimming in a saltwater pool and those sodium ions carry electricity, which could short out the circuits. I immediately took the battery off, opened everything I could on the phone, and let it dry for 24 hours.

2. The second part was to draw out as much water from inside the phone as possible. To do this, I baked it. Yes, you're reading that right. I set my oven on its lowest setting - 170 - got it to temperature, turned the oven off, then put the phone on a cookie sheet and stuck it in there for 10 minutes (note: without the battery; never heat a battery)

In the semiconductor arena, this whole process would be called an HST, or Humidity Stress Test. I think the fact that it was a Samsung phone, and the quality and reliability they require of their vendors (trust me, I know), is the reason this phone is still working after being submerged in saltwater for nearly half an hour.

There is some condensation showing up around the edges of the LCD windows, but I expect those to eventually go away as more air circulates through the phone (or maybe another bake will be needed).

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:03 AM (Permalink)
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Astrologers Predict a Bush Win
Some blogs point to economic models to predict the presidential election. Others look at polling numbers. The Window Manager brings a totally different perspective: astrology predictions.

I don't believe them and never use them, but in this case I'll make an exception. And it's a good one. Astrology News notes

Transiting Saturn at 7° Cancer is approaching a conjunction with Bush's natal Sun at 13°Cancer

Sounds painful, but this is the point

Aspects going on the day of the Presidential Election favor a win for President George Bush

What, this isn't enough proof for you? Well, what about this?

The Moon is at 10°Cancer sitting on Bush's Sun at 13° and the last aspect it makes is a trine to the Sun (10°Scorpio) which trines his natal Sun too. Transiting Mars at 24°Libra will conjoin his natal Jupiter & Venus both at 25°Libra. Transiting Mercury at 26°Scorpio trines his natal Saturn at 27°Cancer.

A trine? Why didn't they say so in the first place? That convinces me. It's Bush all the way.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 1:56 PM (Permalink)
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