Fabulous in the jungle

So I don't want to trivialize the tragic events in Bangladesh described in the article that accompanied this picture, but how great is the Bangla army's camo?

Everything is amazing

In an appearance on Conan (tear!), Louie C.K. makes some interesting points about how jaded we are to the miracles of technology without reverting to Andy Rooney "Get off my lawn!" crap.

"Showing a Little Ankle to the Anchors"

...was the headline to this blog post, which is about the White House previewing Obama's speech about the economy scheduled for tonight at a lunch with Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and some other newsy people. Not naughty and coquettish at all! Would anyone want to conjure up an image like that regarding the last president?

Financial crisis in a handy chart

I have a vague idea that it has something to do with credit default swaps; but (like everyone else) I'm still a little fuzzy on exactly how the whole mess started. This CRS report made a succinct chart that lists 26 causes AND counterarguments to each including aforementioned credit default swaps, "relaxed regulation of leverage", and my favorite, "human frailty". There's something very comforting about seeing such an orderly presentation of a decidedly disorderly situation.

Planet Money: Dept. Of Canned Debate

Proctor & Gamble service-ready

Proctor & Gamble has announced that it's expanding its presence the services sector with a chain Mr. Clean car washes. It's already dabbled in the dry cleaning business with three Tide shops in Kansas City. As these contributors to the Harvard Business Review point out it's a lot harder to ensure consistency and quality in a service-based business than on a highly mechanized, monitored production line; and nonessential services like car washes and dry cleaning may take a hit as people cut their household budgets. But Mr. Clean and Tide's economies of scale and name recognition could make them powerful contenders and there's plenty of room for other product-retail linkages:

So, what's next? Olay Spas? Gillette Barbershops? And what about the competition? Sunsilk Hair Care Salons, or Slim-Fast Diet Centers? What about Huggies Day Care Centers from Kimberly-Clark?

I'd be sad to see my neighborhood dry cleaners go, but then again of the three dry cleaners within a 10 block radius of my apartment not one is open on Sunday. If the possibility of getting edged out by Tide is enough to get one of them to operate seven days a week, I'll send P&G a thank-you note.

What street is this?

I don't pay them for sex...

"I pay them to leave." One of the Freakonomics columnists opens with this quote from Charlie Sheen to explain, among other things, why businesses hire consulting firms and why people go to ATMs so they won't have to interact with a bank teller. This column, about the trend towards "restricting and regulating our contractual relationships" (even though, although the author doesn't get into this, we reveal more and more about ourselves through social media), made me kind of uneasy. Why? Because after one month of working from home, the lack of human interaction barely registers as a negative. My biggest complaint is that my apartment is kind of cold but my old office was freezing and, unlike here, I couldn't protect myself with two hoodies, two pairs of wool socks, and a scarf.

Freakonomics: I Pay Them to Leave

How to Keep Awake While Reading

No matter how engrossed I can be by a book when I'm sitting on the train or the sofa, if I try to read it in bed I rarely make it longer than 10 minutes before I pass out. I wake up at 4 am, still dressed and lights blazing, with a book crumpled next to me probably about once a month and it's a disorienting experience I'd prefer to avoid. Dr. Mortimer J. Adler limits his advice to books "with which the movies cannot compete", but I'd have the same problem with an Archie digest so a few tweaks will be in order to suit my needs.

The art of reading consists in the habit of asking the right questions in the right order. Let me illustrate this by giving you the four main questions you must ask about any book or, to make it more concrete, about any nonfiction book.

• What is the book as a whole about? Here you must try to discover the leading theme of the books. And how the author develops this theme in an orderly way by subdividing it into its essential subordinate topics.
• What in detail is being said, and how? Here you must try to underline for yourself -- with a pencil, perhaps, or mentally if the book is borrowed -- the main ideas, assertions, and arguments that constitute the author's message.
• Is it true, in whole or part? You cannot answer this question until you have answered the first two. You have to know what is being said -- and to do that you must know how it is being said, for you must be able to penetrate through the author's language of his mind -- before you can sit in judgment and decide whether you agree or disagree. When you do understand a point, however, you are obligated, if you are reading seriously, to make up your own mind. Knowing the author's is not enough.
• What of it? If the book has given you information, and especially if it is true, you must certainly ask about its significance. Why does the author think it is important to know these facts? If the book has not only informed you, but also enlightened you, it is still necessary to seek further enlightenment by asking what follows next, what is further implied or suggested.

The School of Life: How to Keep Awake While Reading