Quote of the Day (32)

9 April 2011 - I read this quote from Herman Hesse's Siddartha on Facebook and I really like it: "When someone is seeking...it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything...because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal." Chapter 12, pg. 113

Tweeting for Dollars

7 April 2011 - Twitter may not yet have found a way to make money for itself but it is doing a good job of generating cash for its users, research suggests. A study conducted by a PhD student at the Technical University of Munich found that investors following stock market tweets could have achieved an average return rate of 15%. Timm Sprenger analysed 250,000 tweets sent over a six-month period. He predicts Twitter will increasingly offer specialised information to users. Thousands of stock-related messages are sent every day via tweets. Tweeting investors mark tweets according to company stock symbols. There was "a striking co-ordination" between what Twitter was saying about shares and other information from investors and analysts, he found. "I don't think it is the Holy Grail to make millions but it is a very credible and legitimate source," he said. He also found that more valuable information was retweeted, meaning that it reached a wider audience. The study formed the basis of the website TweetTrader.net where the real-time sentiment for individual stocks can be accessed. The site is currently in beta (trial).

From Here to Eternity Gay

6 April 2011 - An original version of 1951 novel From Here to Eternity is to be reissued digitally, with previously censored references to homosexuality restored. The heirs of author James Jones have struck a deal with ebook firm Open Road to put out a new edition that includes two scenes with gay content. Jones's novel, about US soldiers serving in Hawaii in the months prior to Pearl Harbor, was filmed in 1953. The uncensored version will be made available online from 10 May. It will include a scene in which Private Angelo Maggio - the character played by singer Frank Sinatra in the film - reveals he is paid to have oral sex with another man.
Another scene referring to a military investigation into possible homosexual activity will also feature in the text.

The restored version will also include profanity that was considered too extreme for Eternity's original publisher Scribner. Jones, who served in Hawaii before World War II and fought at Guadalcanal, had objected to the cuts but eventually acquiesced. "My father fought bitterly to hold on to every four-letter word in the manuscript," his daughter Kaylie told the New York Times. "The publisher was concerned about getting through the censors."

Easter Bunnies

5 April 2011 - The Swiss chocolate firm Lindt and Spruengli has won a marathon court battle to protect its golden Easter bunnies from an Austrian rival. A Vienna court has told the Hauswirth company to stop making its own chocolate rabbits wrapped in gold foil. The legal battle dates back to 2004. The Lindt bunny, sporting a red ribbon and bell, first appeared in 1952 and was given EU trademark status in 2000. The Vienna court said Hauswirth's bunny could be confused with Lindt's. A Lindt manager, Adalbert Lechner, said the judgement had confirmed his company's view that "Hauswirth harmed our trademark". "We hope the legal proceedings are finally closed with this judgement," he said. Hauswirth had argued that Lindt was using its trademark clout to crush competitors.

April Fool's

4 April 2011 - It almost went unnoticed because of the Mongolia trip, but April's fool's day has quietly passed.  Usually, it is the day when newspapers compete to come up with the most inventive spoof stories - but not every bizarre report on 1 April is fictitious. The Metro newspaper in France carried an article about French President Sarkozy and many morninng commuters thought it was an April fool's prank. Not so, as the story is in fact, entirely true. It was reported that Sarkozy uses a £10,000 armour-plated umbrella to protect him from attackers. Carried by the head of state's security guards, the rainproof device is allegedly coated in high-strength Kevlar so it can reduce the force of bullets and resist knife attacks. April's fool? Non Monsieur.

Great Pictures (32)

3 April 2011 - I am back from Mongolia, but because it's such an inspiring place with fantastic people, I publish this picture. I had a great time.