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Showing posts from 2016

The Next Atomic Bomb

Battleships were once the most destructive weapons on earth, not so long ago. "...after the next war, sure as Hell, they’ll be using spears!"

How to: Suicle(スイクル) Bicycle Rental

Suicle lets you borrow a bicycle from at the train station with your IC card. Rates for registered users can be as low as ¥100 per hour. An ad-hoc, 'visitor/ビジター' rental is ¥500 for a whole day. At time of writing, Suicle is available at Musashi-Sakai/武蔵境, Higashi-Koganei/東小金井, Musashi-Koganei/武蔵小金井, and Kunitachi/国立 stations. You will need: An IC card, e.g. a Suica or Pasmo with at least ¥500 loaded; A Japanese mobile number. This is a potential show-stopper as mobile numbers are a hassle to get in Japan. They probably insist on this so they can trace phone numbers back to people and their addresses if a bicycle goes missing. The website is typically all cutesy marketing fluff and no guides, let alone anything useful in English. Let's walk through an ad-hoc rental I did today:

Divest in yourself

Why invest in ' yourself '? You're not a fantastic investment. Before you splash that money on a degree or a coaching fee, consider the alternatives . 

Proud comes before a fall

Why do Japanese buy expensive new apartments when property prices have stagnated since the '90s? One popular opinion is that Japanese families superficially insist on new homes, because their traditionally flimsy houses are treated as consumables rather than investments. Ignoring that the bubble refuted the notion (at least, between 1955 and 1995), this theory really plays on the supposed exoticism and exceptional motivations of Japanese culture.

Earthquakes, Tectonics, and Nukes, Oh My!

World fault lines, major earthquakes, and nuclear reactors.

1 degree warmer is not enough

1°C is: 6% of Earth's average temperature. The energy of 94,000,000 Hiroshima bombs of extra heat in the atmosphere. The energy of 840,000,000,000 Hiroshima bombs of extra heat in the oceans. Update 16/8/2015: Skeptical Science was ahead of me.

Why Chase Alpha

Why do people try to beat the market? Barry Ritholtz interviews Burton Malkiel in this podcast . I'm a big fan of both, but felt uneasy when they seemed to chuckle at investors who seek consistent market-beating returns despite decades of evidence that such a feat is incredibly rare. I don't subscribe to the idea that the markets are wise while investors are dummies. Knowledge of the returns you can expect is only a Google away. People wouldn't swing for the fences if they could live with hitting a few grounders. Could average market returns then provide for the man on the street? More specifically, would it enable him a decent retirement?

Early Retirement Examined

What more can a poor boy do? Early retirement is based on the idea that cutting the cost of living decreases the amount of time required to build a source of passive income to fund that cost of living . Saving 50% of your income equates to retirement in 17 years. Five years is a common claim for practitioners. At least, for ones who blog about it. However, early retirement blogs like Mr Money Mustache , Early Retirement Extreme , and Go Curry Cracker ignore the limitations of this practice, particularly for those on low incomes.

Time, Doctor Freeman? Bullet-time in Half Life 2

Slowing time, or bullet time, doesn't make Half Life 2 too easy for me, as I'm not a very good player. I often wished time was used as a mechanic, given the science fiction themes. There's a well known cheat to simply slow down time, but I wanted bullet time to be combined with visual and audio cues.

For Your Interest-Only

"Buy a house. Say, a hundred thousand. No money down, interest only loan to keep repayments low. Rent it out. Claim the loss on tax, that's negative gearing. Ten years later, sell it for double. Boom. You've made a hundred thousand out of nothing." I would love to pick this Australian dream to bits. "If he mentions negative gearing one more time ..." I would love to say that you needn't feel like a coward for demurring on a scheme that seems too good to be true. But the math checks out. Kinda.

The History of the Center of the World

The changing geographical midpoints of the world's most powerful cities, and how they influence 'history'. 1AD - All Roads Lead to Balkh

Infinity Limited

Infinity pools. These pretentiously-termed architectural fads seek to blur the boundary between inside and outside, between private and public, artificial and natural. Are they Asian? Yes and no.

Then Ofuro comes Kelong

With the strength to carry on. I wish I could be fishing on a kelong , or soaking in my favourite onsen . Why not both?

Another Beginner Wall

We don't need no explanation.