It's the economy stupid!

Basically this sums up most people's knowledge of Economics - they think they know a lot about it but when their logic is challenged by real economists, the stick fingers in their ears and go LAALAAALAAAAA I'M NOT LISTENING!

Money isn't evil, the pursuit of money is

'Real's gluttony is killing the game'

An excellent article on the corruptive force money has on football (the world game - not Aussie Rules).
When there's money, there's always an incentive to cover up the truth. So there might be some unseen forces manipulating the game we love. I hope this isn't the case because competitive sports would be poorer for it.

Thank God for sensibility!

Just because you are atheist doesn't invalidate the beliefs of others and vice versa.

It befuddles me why some Americans are spewing over Obama's inauguration. Whatever happened to the First Amendment?

Those atheists have got better things to complain IMO e.g. why must US$1 bills have 'IN GOD WE TRUST'?

I ran into a Mormon evangelist a few days back and that encounter got me to think about Truth VS Perception. Personally I think Mormons are misguided but what is my basis for that? Is their source of the Bible wrong? What is my basis for deeming it wrong?

While my rational mind screams at me "WTF!?!?!?" when I hear golden plates, the Bible itself also warns of false prophets. So I'll believe in my perceptions and you can believe in yours. Whichever leads to the enlightening truth...time will tell.

P.S.
To those silly Americans DON'T LISTEN TO THE INAUGURATION!

I can't believe...

1) I've gone through 2 books in less than a month. They were fantastic reads and I highly recommend them.

2) I told a Korean food stall owner how to improve their food quality. It was ok - neither good nor bad, not sure if they took my constructive criticism seriously but in hindsight, I'm glad to be in one piece =P

Life is like the Internet, you never know what you're going to get...

...sometimes Chow Mein Sandwiches (see below) and sometimes TasteSpotting...now the world's balance is restored =P

Also I've found (possibly) the best board game in the world!

If that doesn't put a smile on your face, maybe today's picture of the day will =P

If you are what you eat...

...then you must be blind, stupid and dying of starvation to even consider putting this anywhere near your taste buds.

In the name of good taste (and political correctness) YOU...SHALL NOT...PASS!!!

Mirror Neurons - Mine's broken =P

For all the frustrated parents of teenage kids out there, here's something (that may or may not be) comforting:

Impressionable children are just that and marketers are taking every advantage of it. That's why sales of branded clothes and thing-a-ma-jigs have been better than ever. We're just wired to be better than our current selves and associate value to things that people better than us have.

I never buy branded clothing unless
a) it is heavily discounted
b) it comes bundled with freebie(s) that are value for money
c) you point a gun to my head =P

However the most insidious manipulation of mirror neurons has got to be by cigarette companies. They don't even have to show you a picture of their brand / logo / cigarette to induce the craving to smoke.

Our rational brains might cringe at the diseased body parts in cigarette warnings but our far more powerful subconscious brain over-rides rationalism in search of pleasure. Which mean those anti-smoking have gone horrible horribly wrong O_o

Today's post credited to Martin Lindstrom's 'Buy.ology '

Also I throughly enjoyed watching Ip Man again. Goes to show watching one guy beat up other guys NEVER gets old ;)

Let's all start wearing potatoe sacks!

I was never into branded clothing so this doesn't really concern me - LoL at Giffen & luxury goods.

Also this is really funny...if you get it at all =P

What me worry?

Apparently making resolutions for the New Year is bad for health...

Well if you don't put in 110% (i.e. resolve to achieve), then you'd most likely fail. Then even if you didn't reach your target, you wouldn't feel like crap because you gave it your best.

That's why I'm setting money goals instead =P

Everyone falls the first time...

I've come to the recent conclusion that despite the fantasy world Blizzard has deliberately created, World of Warcraft (WoW) mimics the real world on many levels:

- Maths: Number crunching is a favorite pastime of egotistical damage per second (DPS) players, but is also a vital tool for the serious raider. Education boards take note WoW can be a good learning tool: ask kids to choose between this & this

- Science: During an Australian economics history tutorial we were asked how steel was made. Nobody knew the answer...there was dead silence for a while ("Is there NO ONE?!?")...but somehow I managed to utter out "Iron and coal?". The tutor was impressed and the local students' jaws collectively dropped to the floor (TRUE STORY)! How did I know that? I learnt from WoW ;)

- Finance: Auction House should be included as learning material for stock market traders. It has everything from undercutting the competition, arbitrage and of course world market crashes. The prices of goods from the 'old world' WoW plummeted with the release of the first expansion (The Burning Crusade) and similarly with the second expansion (Wrath of the Lich King).

- Economics: Instead of paying guinea pigs for experiments why not tap into the willing pool of WoW players? The behavioral economist in me is having a field day =)