In all liklihood, this is the last time 2 shuttles will be at the pad at the same time.

photo: Atlantis and Endeavour at the pad

James Duane explains why innocent people should never talk to the police.

"Don't Talk to the Police" by Professor James Duane

My brother has a theme song. When he walks onto stage at Game Developers Conference to give a talk, this thing plays:

http://jurneydownloads.s3.amazonaws.com/gdc/Chris%20Jurney_GDC.mp3

I keep listening and laughing. So funny. First song about C++ and unit melee behavior I've ever heard.

Chris Jurney_GDC.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object)

I learned exactly seven things at Stanford Graduate School of Business getting an MBA degree in 1972. I always used them and never wavered. They were principles that enabled me to put the cookbook formulas that everyone revered in context and in perspective. I think they served my clients (and perhaps me) rather well. Here are those seven principles, and who taught them to me:nullnull

What they Used to Teach You at Stanford Business School - Finance Blog - Felix Salmon - Market Movers - Portfolio.com

flynn23 wrote:
You want the best and brightest to be compensated, with really, no limit.

In this case I think what is frustrating is that we're not talking about "best" or "brightest" but "closest to the money." We have examples of performance bonuses being paid out by companies that are, for all intents and purposes, bankrupt. I'm all for profit sharing by successful companies, but paying it out when your company is bankrupt and being propped up by the federal government is nonsensical. There are no profits to share, so what, exactly, are you sharing? The argument that "we have to do this or we'll loose talented guys" is a non-starter in this environment. No one in the banking industry is on a hiring binge right now. The last thing anyone in any industry wants at this moment is to be on the street looking for work. Those words are a code for something else - something which becomes clear when you look at how AIG's bonuses are structured.

In the case of AIG we're not talking about profit sharing. These are retention bonuses that were negotiated last January when it ought to have been clear to those close to this disaster what was about to go down. These people demanded more money or they would simply walk away from the mess they had created. They've squirreled away enough money at this point that they don't have to work again for the rest of their lives. They clearly threatened, when the going got sour and it was clear that there weren't going to be profits for performance bonuses, that they were unwilling to work at their salary level, and a substitute bonus must be created - or they'd leave.

AIG was not afraid of loosing talent. They were afraid of loosing money. They had billions wrapped up in this stuff. It was about to explode. Their traders were the only people who understand all of it. If those traders left, it will be more difficult to unravel, and more money would be lost.

Imagine if you had a software developer working a piece of code that was extremely complicated, required daily maintenance, and cost billions every day if it broke. And the guy wanted to quit. The million you'd pay him not to quit would cost you less than what you'd loose while the next guy came up to speed on how to maintain the thing.

Basically, these people have gotten themselves into a position where they are responsible for billions of dollars, and they are blackmailing the management of AIG and the United States Government. We have to pay them millions or they will walk away, and we know that will cost us even more. Thats why the Treasury hems and haws about clawing back the bonuses but doesn't do anything effective. They know they're fucked. The banksters have a gun to their heads.

This isn't a case of rewarding talent. This is blackmail. And I don't think its illegal - I don't think prosecutions are coming unless evidence of book cooking comes to light. In this case these bonuses are intentionally disconnected from profits so there is no benefit to cooking the books.

It speaks to a more fundamental disconnect between our idealistic notions of talent and merit and the actual economy that we have, in that its not really about talent - its about what you control. Account executives are typically far better compensated than engineers, for example, not because what they are doing is objectively more important, but because they directly control access to revenue...

RE: Looting AIG

We are building a hacker space in Atlanta.

Want to help? Got time, money, or both?

www.FreesideAtlanta.org

In February 2003, Notarbartolo was arrested for heading a ring of Italian thieves. They were accused of breaking into a vault two floors beneath the Antwerp Diamond Center and making off with at least $100 million worth of loose diamonds, gold, jewelry, and other spoils. The vault was thought to be impenetrable. It was protected by 10 layers of security, including infrared heat detectors, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, a seismic sensor, and a lock with 100 million possible combinations. The robbery was called the heist of the century, and even now the police can't explain exactly how it was done.

The loot was never found, but based on circumstantial evidence, Notarbartolo was sentenced to 10 years. He has always denied having anything to do with the crime and has refused to discuss his case with journalists, preferring to remain silent for the past six years.

Until now.

Notarbartolo sits down across from me at one of the visiting room's two dozen small rectangular tables. He has an intimidating reputation. The Italian anti-Mafia police contend he is tied to the Sicilian mob, that his cousin was tapped to be the next the capo dei capi—the head of the entire organization. Notarbartolo intends to set the record straight. He puts his hands on the table. He has had six years to think about what he is about to say.

"I may be a thief and a liar," he says in beguiling Italian-accented French. "But I am going to tell you a true story."

The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist

A new service for ladies who are given phone numbers, which allows them to hear nightmare stories about those guys, before calling them back.

Funny!

Loser Pages

Dan Kaminsky was in Atlanta yesterday. We and some of the usual suspects met for food and drinks at the Vortex in midtown. Some odd/funny things were said, and To keep track, I kept SMSing myself so I could preserve these for posterity.

Chris: I'm going to create Nemisis-oasis. Its the inverse of Match.com and Facebook. You type in what you like and it finds someone that you would absolutely hate.
Dan: Its like a Fuck You Cupid!

Tom: (handing me a girlie drink) Here Billy, this will make hair grow on your vagina.

(I have no context for this next quote. I have no idea why Tom said this)
Tom: I can only get off if the sheep is from Luxembourg
Billy: I'm totally putting this on Memestreams... how do you spell Luxembourg?

Tom: (About a computer scientist at a recent conference) They're proof that every now and then Appalachia produces something good. So its: Bucked Toothed Redneck, Bucked Toothed Redneck, Bucked Toothed Redneck, Cryptographer, Bucked Toothed Redneck...

A night of drinks

I've heard stories of military drives being sanded down and the particles mixed with concrete, but I have not personally witnessed that process.

I've told a few people about this and all laughed. Very funny 'overkill.'

RE: Lazyweb: Hard Drive Degaussing