Nice to know we are competing with Saudi Arabia, and winning

On the lack of privacy front.
Story

The US government wants to force all services with access to the USA to preemptively build the ability to serve them with plain text of any information send over their service.  I'm not a networking expert, but I think this kills or significantly hampers P2P networks, such as Skype.  The US would immediately become a more expensive and less trusted place to operate an Internet enabled company.  Chile, get ready to accept more entrepreneurs.  Chilecon Vally has a ring to it.

No shorts for sale in Miami Beach

That is correct.  I went to Ross and TJ MAXX today to buy short and neither place had more than a dozen standard shorts, as in solid color or simple patterned cotton shorts.  I asked a clerk in TJ MAXX it that was their entire selection and he explained that it is nearing October, meaning the end of warm weather in most of the USA.  Don't you think retailers could adjust their inventory according to climate?  Even if shorts are not being manufactured there must be extra stock somewhere on earth.  I plan to write both companies emails to see what they say and will keep you posted.

Here is the text of my email.  I am waiting for responses.


I just returned from you store in Miami Beach disappointed that you only had about 8 men's cottons shorts to choose from.  The clerk explained that during the end of summer there are none available.  This appears silly because clearly you are able to stock according to climate.  Please clarify the reasoning for not keeping shorts available in Miami Beach.  My experience is being chronicled on my blog www.underwhatconditions.com.

Best regards,

Rob Nelson

TJ MAXX update:
Thank you for contacting T.J. Maxx.

T.J. Maxx purchases all of it's merchandise "opportunistically", meaning that we buy the best brand name and quality merchandise whenever available. Our buyers would rather go a little lighter in a particular department, rather than buying merchandise that does not meet our high standards for price, style and value.

We can't say for sure if your local store will carry Men's shorts in the future, but we suggest you continue to visit your local store for this item.   And remember, if we don?t have what you're looking for this week, we could the following, so be sure to check back often! Each store receives over thousands of new items each week!

We appreciate your inquiry.

Sincerely,

Rhonda
T.J. Maxx Customer Service

How has image manipulation changed the world?`

My girlfriend runs a small business retouching photos of models.  It got me thinking how being able to retouch photos has changed the requirements for being a model.  

In other words under what conditions can one be a model pre versus post Photoshop?

Another way to ask the question is, "What cannot be replicated or corrected post shoot."

Cannot be: Bone structure of face, 

When will models cease to exist and cloths are digitally pasted onto avatars?

Here is an article on the impact of photoshop?

Credibility? Wave of the future?

Conventional media and advertisers might have a hard time dealing with the internet.  Here is a great solution.

"Many muscle magazines are owned by supplement companies. Weider Nutrition Group launched "Muscle and Fitness" and "Flex." EAS Supplements grew out of "Muscle Media Magazine," and then really took off with the bestselling "Body for Life" book series, which was largely a glorified brochure for EAS products. Between the books and the magazines, the supplement industry has much of the weightlifting public convinced that they must consume protein powders to gain muscle."  Link



What other industries have the same?  
Under what conditions will companies own the media focussed on their products?
Under what conditions will companies advertise to the readers that the companies own the media?


In asset management, my industry, companies create much collateral, but it is typically branded.  Some of this is possibly to comply with SEC or FINRA regulations, but having a separate media corp might mitigate compliance risk.  


Thoughts?

GreenPeace should be sued for Libel

video

This video is incredibly annoying.
1. Saying Zuckerberd did not have any friends is simply false.  He got sued by former friends.
2. To say he chose coal is false.  He chose a location and some of the electricity (58%) provided by the utility is that area is produced by burning coal.
3. Greanpeace's servers are in an area where 46% of the electricity is coal generated.

They are a "by any means necessary" organization which make them dangerous in a bad way.

What public figures have integrity?

I'm having a hard time coming up with many independently and oddly Google is failing to find a list.

Nelson Mandela
Garry Kasparov
Oprah Winfrey
Ellen DeGeneres
David Letterman
Simon Cowell

Help!

Castro the old

Read this.  The riddle of the sphinx rings throughout.