Wrapping up my perfect day, the Ole filter makes a pass, and finds it's all happening...

I meant to call this out earlier because I think it's important and it has soaked up a fair amount of think time from me: Josh Newman's observations about Confidence and Comfort, as he slips into something more.  I'll probably post more about this; right now I'm confident that confidence matters, but still trying to get comfortable with the idea of comfort :) 

Related: trying to figure out how humor fits in...  I've always felt like a good sense of humor was an essential part of being attractive to investors, women, or anyone, and yet somehow while humor is compatible with confidence (especially self-deprecating humor), it seems a bit at odds with being comfortable. A lot of humor is a bit edgy and derives from discomfort. Some humor even causes discomfort...

The Economist notes the axeman cometh: 

… current wisdom among axe wielders is that in the last downturn, joints were allowed to sit idly for far too long before they were carved. This time, they intend to cut early, expecting it will buy them the freedom and legitimacy with their board to expand quickly once recovery begins—when unemployment will be high enough to prevent prospective employees from being too squeamish about their new boss’s past enthusiasm for axe wielding. This augurs a fairly rapid rise in unemployment.

On the other hand, many firms are already stretched thin, with vastly more efficient human-resource management than in the past, so big reductions will not just remove fat, they also risk damaging muscle, unless accompanied by some significant and well-designed organizational restructuring—which is never easy to do right at a time of intense budget pressure.

Yahoo reports jobless rate bolts to 14-year high of 6.5 percent.  "The nation's unemployment rate bolted to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000 jobs were cut, far worse than economists expected and stark proof the economy is deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace."  Sadly, this is a snowball rolling down hill; as more people are laid off, the economy declines further, forcing more companies to cut more jobs.

The market is down incredibly since the election, and Instapundit ponders whether it's fair to blame Obama.  Yes, it is.

In this economy, self-sufficient is the new sexy.  At the personal and business level...

Change you can believe in?  President-elect Obama launches change.gov.  There is a "blog", but they're confused; it looks like it is really a stream of press releases.  Sigh.  [ via Ars Technica ] 

David Pogue reviews the Pico projector - wow, how cool!  Definitely a new product category and one destined for major adoption...  Please Santa, I've been a good boy :) 

Well this sucks - the uber-cool "Mexican walking fish" nears extinction.  It is too cool, surely evolution cannot be so heartless? 

Did you see this?  California gives green light to high-speed train.  "Voters in California this week agreed to bankroll a multi-billion dollar high-speed railway system, with technology to come from either Japan or Europe...  The train would connect San Francisco to Los Angeles and would cost some 45 billion dollars, according to news reports, which said the measure was approved by a vote of some 52 percent to about 48 percent."  It would be cool, but don't hold your breath.  That $45B is bound to double before the first track is laid... 

Wired News with a blast from the past: November 7, 1932: Radio Enters the 25th Century.  "1932: Space adventurer Buck Rogers debuts on CBS radio. The science fiction show, eventually called Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, will delight loyal fans over a span of 15 years and inspire aficionados for decades more."  What a different time that was, can you imagine how strange and amazing it must have been to contemplate space travel in 1932? 

And so here we have the five awesomest TV and Movie spaceships...  not a bad list, but sadly incorrect, as it completely omits the Enterprise!  What?  I have to agree with the Romulan warbird choice, however, that is kickass-looking...