PhDs have been searching for a solution to the plastic waste problem, and this 16-year-old finds the answer.

A friend of mine sent me the following quote:

Most existing monitoring tools are ugly plugs with lame LCD screens and while some companies, namely Tendril (http://www.tendrilinc.com/) and Greenbox (http://www.getgreenbox.com/) are taking a more integrated and systematic approach.

This is an interesting area in the transition from electron based power systems to future alternatives. One of the most interesting alternatives to me is the concept of bio energy or bio replacements. For example, instead of burning a filment using electrons to create light, why not use a bioluminescence process that proceeses human waste and carbon dioxide into carbon waste…

While traveling around the country by Jeep, I spent a little time
listening to Trucker Radio. The current diesel costs and the impact on
the economy were hot topics of discussion. I had a bit of revelation
that there are probably 1000s of business models that are only viable
due to cheap fuel. The interesting thing about fuel is that the costs
compound for every material/ingredient in a consumer good or
manufactured food.

Some questions that are stuck in my head is… How expensive does fuel
have to become before locally produced goods become competitive? Will
there be a return of the “family farm”? Could local micro-factories
inspired by web economics and sustainable practices be profitable?

The tools that I’m missing are ones that help me as a entrepreneur
identify niche goods and markets that are ready to be brought home.
How do we identify the commonality of goods and services in our
everyday lives? Can we use modern concepts of software engineering
like DRY and YAGNI to identify potential business ideas?

If we could analyze incoming goods and their contents like data
packets, we should be able to perform some interesting compression.

Just some thoughts…

I am on Continental Flight 71, originally slated to land at 4:00 PM in Newark. However, I am experiencing a 3+ hour delay, so I may get in anywhere between 6 and 7 PM – you can check status below:

http://www.continental.com/

When I get into town, I will call you on your cell, but I probably need to go to the hospital Emergency Room right away in response to abdominal pain: New York-Presbyterian Hospital – 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065  (212) 305-3101. If I cannot get in touch when I land, I will take a cab there.

As of Friday morning, I have been experiencing abdominal pain on my right side between my hip and belly button, which are likely symptoms of appendicitis. Unfortunately, the recommended solution is laparoscopic surgery before the appendix ruptures.

I have 4 hours before the flight takes off and 8 hours in the air. The pain will have started less than 48 hours earlier, so I should be OK, though, if it is Appendicitis, the Appendix normally ruptures between 36 and 72 hours. So, if I get any worse symptoms, I will cancel my flight and go to the hospital in Amsterdam.

On Saturday, April 5th, two days after my birthday at 10:00 PM EST, I had my appendix removed in a top New York City hospital. It was appendicitis. My father’s doctor, stunned by the thought that someone would fly 8 hours with appendicitis, came to visit me in the hospital and said: "I just wanted to meet the guy who flew with a correct self-diagnosis of appendicitis."

I walked out of the hospital on Sunday, April 6th, at noon EST, just 13 hours after the surgery was completed. I am mobile and attended one meeting and a poker game on Monday, less than 48 hours after the surgery. Don’t get me wrong, the pain is intense, so I will be taking it easy today and tomorrow… Pretty crazy stuff.

Wow.

Anyway, I took the liberty of aggressively shorting the entire equities market by purchasing positions in the following:

• SKF – Short Financial
• DXD – Short the Dow
• SRS – Short Real Estate
• REW – Short Technology

All in all, the decisions seem prudent given the chaos. I am also aggressively shorting the dollar, as discussed here.

Meanwhile, the Google stock price has been collapsing, dropping another 5% today. It looks like it might drop below $400 per share, and the next stop will be $350 by mid next week. We are in for some pain.

• First, the concept that each citizen is a shareholder in the city itself with different amount ownership earned through contribution.
• Second, a concept of a public/governmental banking system that loans money without interest for pre-approved projects that increase greater good of the city.
• Third, a restriction, such as a heavy tax, on all other forms of consumer credit with interest.

There appears no good reason not to use the legal tender of a surrounding country, especially if it is relatively stable. Taxation becomes a tricky question. What do you tax and how do you use the money?

More thoughts to come on taxation later.

Enjoy!

The GOOG stock sank this morning to the $440 range, which means that, unless you bought stock before October 2006, you have likely lost money on your Google investment. In other words, a year and a half of value creation was eradicated, and, in my humble opinion, this is just the beginning. I have already advised my friends to look for a $425 price target with dips below the $400 level within the next couple of days.

A dark cloud now hangs over the search giant and many problems will start to compound themselves inside and outside the organization. For the best managers, the problems that Google now faces are nearly impossibly to overcome, but Google does not have the type of hard-nosed managers needed to avert further collapse. The very unbridled optimism and originality that created tremendous shareholder value is now the enemy to present day stock performance.

The first problem is morale within the organization. By the end of this month, top Google talent will be sending out resumes or looking to return to their scientific training at Universities. The chrome plating has chipped off, and the great minds that Google has attracted do not stand to be heroic millionaires in a idyllic organization. Instead, they face the realization that they are well paid functionaries in a machine that is starting to resemble any other company. Worse, many are probably facing personal financial losses on the hedging, borrowing, and other vehicles employed to translate wealth "on paper" into homes, food, gas, and cars.

Second, the nervousness around the offices worldwide, as employees speak with their respective bankers while glued to the falling red numbers on Google finance, leads to a massive cross-company productivity loss. Teams are now working at 50% to 60% capacity and managers are working at even less. Stories of amazing personal losses are being told around the water cooler, as code for new functionality sits in repositories untouched and unreleased.

Third, the fast declining stock price breezing through fixed and arbitrary sale thresholds: short positions, large institution price targets, lower boundary employee hedge positions, personal investor pain levels, etc. Each time that the stock settles at new 52 week lows for a day or two, there is a large institution plotting to liquidate some or all of their GOOG holdings. Of course, these institutions can not just blanket dump the stock, so their traders are slowing pumping shares into the market, along with everyone else.

Fourth, there are not any "real" buyers for the flood of GOOG stock hitting the market. Most of the stock gets eaten up by bright-eyed and opportunistic value investors looking to make a quick buck in the volatility. I cannot imagine any wise institution that is looking to buy into Google with a P/E ratio greater than 33 based on advertising model during a global recession.

Right now, a giant has fallen and will likely be down for the count. There are some things that can be done to avert disaster, but none of them underway, so the dark days at Google are just beginning.

http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/new-materials-can-selectively-45139.aspx

By the time that MediaWiki is customized to make it good for planning the City of the Future, a specialized application designed with the specific requirements could be launched. Unfortunate, but true…

I am going to give it one more shot before I quit for good.