Owner: VAULT45 URL:http://www.vault45.com Join Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:42:25 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Vault45.com is personal blog of Pavol Sulek. It features news and commentary on current events, new media and technology, politics and all kinds of random and interesting stuff. Site statistics:Click here
Headline of the Day: Company used waterboarding to motivate workers 2008-02-29 23:01:26 Via The Salt Lake Tribune:
A supervisor at a motivational coaching business in Provo is accused of waterboarding an employee in front of his sales team to demonstrate that they should work as hard on sales as the employee had worked to breathe. In a lawsuit filed last month, former Prosper, Inc. salesman Chad Hudgens alleges his managers also allowed the supervisor to draw mustaches on employees' faces, take away their chairs and beat on their desks with a wooden paddle "because it resulted in increased revenues for the company."
WTF!?
Read more:Headline
Steve Berry - The Alexandria Link 2008-02-21 18:37:55 Ballantine Books (US), 2007 (paperback, 485 p., in English)
Fiction, Suspense, Adventure
The Alexandria
Link is SteveBerry
's fifth novel, published in 2007. On the heels of Berry's New York Times best seller The Templar Legacy, this the second fact-based novel to feature Cotton Malone, a former employee of the covert branch of the U.S. Justice Department. The plot is based on the mystery of the ancient Library of Alexandria, once the largest library in the world, which mysteriously vanished 1,500 years ago.
According to Wikipedia, the book received mixed responses from viewers; mostly positive responses about the plot and the style of writing, but critical responses about the way the 1948 Arab-Israeli War is portrayed.Plot summary:
Cotton Malone retired from the high-risk world of elit
The best investment advice you'll never get 2008-02-18 02:36:54 I stumbled upon this excellent article today discussing the current state of financial industry — the most overcompensated industry in U.S. I always thought that index funds are the best option for seasonal investors looking for consistent returns. This quote is just another proof that I was right:
Brokers and financial planners don't like indexed mutual funds for two basic reasons. For one thing, the funds are an affront to their ego because they discount their ability to assemble a winning portfolio, the very talent they're trained and paid to offer. Also, index funds don't make brokers and planners much money. If you have your money in an account that's following the natural movements of the market — also called passive investing — you don't need fancy managers to watch it for yo Read more:investment
Quote of the Day 2008-02-15 03:23:09 Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.
— Kristin Wilson, Nintendo Inc., 1989.
LMFAO right now.
Read more:Quote
Headline of the Day: Sex-starved woman faces jail 2008-02-15 02:37:27 Via The Sun:
A SEX-starvedwoman
could be jailed after making 700 calls to the emergency services, local army headquarters and the town council demanding a man for sex.
Hanna Wozniak, 42, from Koszalin in central Poland could be jailed for up to a year. After police traced the calls back to her home, she told them: "I was desperate for sex. It's been so long since I had someone in my bed."
Police who said she had been charged with wasting emergency services' time and making threatening phone calls said she had told phone operators that she would happily start a fire if it meant a hunky fireman would come round for sex afterwards.
LOL. But I think this story is fake.
Read more:Headline
, faces
Microsoft's new Research Building: #99 2008-02-14 17:50:23
Former Microsoft
evangelist and tech geek blogger Robert Scoble has posted a bunch of awesome pictures of the new research facility at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. I have to say that the building looks amazing! One could wish that Microsoft's engineers would come up with some exciting software and online services in the near future. Gasp..
Microsoft's cool new research building, a photostory [Scobleizer]
Read more:Research
, Building
Feelin' disconnected 2008-02-14 06:26:31
I had couple of folks from Slovakia staying at my house recently. Good times. But during their short stay I've realized something very important: The sad truth is that in last few years I've been almost completely ignoring my old pals from back home. I feel like an asshole. They were always there for me when I needed them so I have to start calling them again and keep in touch.
NYC stores and retailers accept Euro 2008-02-07 17:01:32 Via Reuters:
In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain't what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise. The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable exchange rates.
A bunch of NYC stores
and retailers
are making it clear that money is money, whatever the currency: "Euro Accepted" signs are popping up all over the city and European tourists couldn't be happier. I knew it was coming.
Headline of the Day: FBI wants palm prints, eye scans, tattoo mapping 2008-02-04 15:24:18 Via CNN:
The FBI
is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists. [...] The bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information — from palm prints
to eye scans.
Forget about freedom and personal privacy — both are long gone.
Read more:Headline
, wants
, tattoo
I'm moving 2008-02-01 18:34:04 I decided to move out of my current apartment in Astoria, Queens at the end of this month. I haven't decided where I'm gonna move yet, but I'm thinking about staying in Astoria. The neighborhood here is nice, convenient and safe with lots of good restaurants, bars and pretty much everything else I need. It's also pretty close to the city and the subway has been running on time with no crazy delays at all.
I was thinking about getting an apartment somewhere in Brooklyn, however, that just doesn't seem like a good idea. Why? Well.. mostly for one reason: Have you ever ride the L train? Yup, that's exactly why.
Headline of the Day: Zimbabwe bank to issue $10m bill 2008-01-26 00:25:00 Yesterday I wrote about a stock broker who somehow managed to generate a $7.2 billion loss — the largest in banking history. Today I've got another "gem" for you.
Via BBC:
Zimbabwe
's central bank is to introduce new higher-denomination banknotes in an effort to ease the critical shortage of cash in the country. Zimbabwe has been in economic decline for the past eight years, with annual inflation widely thought to be in excess of 50,000%. The highest value note that will go into circulation on Friday is worth 10m Zimbabwean dollars.
But wait, here's the money line:
But that is worth less than US$3.90 (£2; 2.60 euros) on the black market.
LOL
Read more:Headline
, issue
Headline of the Day: Societe Generale Reports EU4.9 Billion Trading Loss 2008-01-25 02:16:29 Via Bloomberg:
Societe Generale SA said bets on stock index futures by a rogue trader caused a 4.9 billion-euro ($7.2 billion) trading loss, the largest in banking history. Jerome Kerviel, 31, was the trader responsible, the Paris- based bank said today. Societe Generale plans to raise 5.5 billion euros from shareholders after the loss and subprime-related writedowns depleted capital. The Bank of France, the country's banking regulator, is investigating the alleged fraud.
Talk about stock market crash and investors losing money. What an idiot. Never heard of risk management, asset allocation, or portfolio rebalancing?
Read more:Headline
, Trading
Another day, another lame PR email 2008-01-24 22:54:15 Another day, another lame PR email spam in my inbox:
I came across your website , and would like to propose a link exchange between your site and HotTanningBeds.com.
HotTanningBeds.com is a manufacturer and reseller of tanning beds for both commercial and residential use. HotTanningBeds.com currently has a PR3 as well as many prominent search engine rankings and we are constantly trying to do better.
Please consider adding our link to your site on your page:
[...]
Thank you for your consideration,
Angela Kanner
[email removed]
Cyberactive Marketing, LLC
9831 E Bell Rd. #110
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Why the hell should I link to a site that sells BEDS on a site about electronic music!? Am I missing something here? Someone please give a few marketing lessons to this person...
Clitoral Economics 2008-01-23 23:07:11 Here's the opening paragraph from Barbara Ehrenreich's latest column, simply titled "Clitoral Economics
":
With all the talk about how to stimulate it, you'd think that the economy is a giant clitoris. Ben Bernanke may not employ this imagery, but the immediate challenge-and the issue bound to replace Iraq and immigration in the presidential race-is how best to get the economy engorged and throbbing again.
Gotta love Huffington Post!
Clitoral Economics [The Huffington Post]
Update 2008-03-28 13:02:46 So I'm almost done with moving and stuff. It's taking longer than I expected, however, everything should be finished in next few days. My new job is kinda hectic too - I'm friggin glad I've got at least some time to sleep. P.
Read more:Update
Read this: 2008-07-22 03:30:42 The Debt Trap: A series about the surge in consumer debt and the lenders who made it possible. [NYTimes]
Globalization: Some Numbers [A VC]
The magic tree 2008-07-16 00:34:53
This is gotta be probably the most beautiful wallpaper I've ever seen. Put it on your desktop, cellphone, iPhone, etc. It is a stunning piece of art! You can download it here.
I finally got my 'berry 2008-07-15 23:59:57 I finally got my first-ever BlackBerry today: a fancy Curve in titanium. It was a pretty hard decision which one to choose - either the old-fashioned Berry or the fancy 3G iPhone. Berry won mainly because I just can't get used to a touch screen keyboard for some reason. So, my email accounts are now fully synchronized and up and running so I can finally start responding to all emails promtly. Well
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