Don't see so much of this in America

It's things like this that make us love Japan.

Since the credit crisis started shaking the world financial markets this summer, many professional traders have taken big losses. Another, less likely group of investors has, too: middle-class Japanese homemakers who moonlight as amateur currency speculators.

He's rolling over in his grave...

... probably saying "Let me out! I'm not dead!!" Scott McNealy, according to John Gruber.

Once he gets out he's going to be angry that Sun is going to be shipping Windows systems.

Things we are not hearing a lot about II

Here's another story that's not getting a lot of airtime -- what can only be described as terrorist attacks in Mexico against industrial targets. You would think this would get more coverage not only because Mexico's business is our business, but there are significant implications to the economy from this.

Things we are not hearing a lot about I

Other things from Ynetnews -- this story appeared today but is getting scant coverage in the US press, at least so far. Report: Israel spots nuclear installations in Syria. Note that North Korea issued an angry condemnation of Israel's action.

The Six Day War

This description of the Six Day War (from Israel's point of view, at least) is good reading. Many analogies with today -- in fact, nothing really changes.

Checked exceptions

Java programmers might be interested. Here is an article interviewing Bruce Eckel about the pitfalls of checked exceptions. Personally, I like checked exceptions -- while Eckel argues that the API designer is unnecessarily putting handcuffs on the API user, I think that's the nature of what an API designer does anyway -- he specifies how you have to use the interface, in detail, and that's what you have to do if you want to use his interface. It would be nice if I could leave arguments out and change the calls around to be more convenient in my code, but I'm not allowed to.

Perhaps I've just read too much production code in my career that had almost no error checking.

Have a smile

Did you notice that Coca-Cola's graphics have changed?

Sentient Fedex planes

Cool. Fedex planes avoiding a thunderstorm in Memphis. (This item has sound.)


FedEx Planes Dodging Storm - Watch more free videos

Oh, so that's who Joe Average is

Over the weekend I read this article in Der Spiegel about the current economic difficulties and saw this quote:

The leftist Berliner Zeitung writes:

"The current mini-crash is a painful sign of what the companies constructed of air and the extremely convoluted financial constructions are capable of. Whether this gambling pays off will all depend on more down-to-earth economics: If Joe Average in the USA can't pay his mortgage, we're all screwed."

That got me wondering, that was translated from German. How did they get "Joe Average"? Not to mention, how did they get "we're all screwed"?

The original from the Berliner Zeitung is here:

Wenn Otto Normalverbraucher, der in den USA Joe Average heißt, seine Hypothek nicht mehr bedienen kann, gehen alle baden.

That's Otto Normal Consumer, who we are informed "is called Joe Average in the USA". And rather than being screwed, everything is going in the bath for us.

Thank goodness

Best sarcastic line of the day. Did anyone besides me think that the last thing the economy needed was to make it more likely that people would never be able to get out from under their debts?

Speaking of not-rich people, thank goodness we've restricted personal bankruptcy so that all these subprime mortgage defaults can generate a robust system of economic slavery. People had felt in control of their lives for far too long.

We're now going to reap the benefits of this attitude.