Capitalogix

FT's Funny 404 Error Page Panders to Smart People

The web is a messy place ... and errors are bound to happen.  Consequently, you've probably run across your share of “Page not found” notifications.

This is what a typical old error page looks like:

  

 

Recently, I ran across a better version.  The Financial Times staff created a version where the error was explained from the perspective of different economic theories.

 

 

 

The 404 page now shows a list of reasons, based on theories you once crammed to pass that Econ elective, why you haven’t found a page. Ideas include the Efficient Market Hypothesis (If you had paid enough for the page, it would have appeared), the Speculative Bubble (the page never actually existed and was fundamentally impossible, but everyone bought into it in a frenzy and it’s all now ending in tears), and Socialism (If you were to get the page you wanted you might get a better page than someone else, which would be unfair. This way at least everyone gets the same.)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

The new 'Female Viagra' may have side-effects ... but not headaches.

 

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• The 50 Smartest Companies 2015 - from Tesla to Uber. (MIT Tech Review)
• Big Data and Predictive Analytics: Hope or Hype? (HiddenBrains)
• Ray Kurzweil's Mind-Boggling Predictions for the Next 25 Years. (Singularity)
• Can We Design Trust Between Humans and Artificial Intelligence? (FastCo)
• One-Armed Robot Beats Samurai In Sword Competition. (PopSci)

 

Trading Links:

• Data Analytics Technology: The New Game Changer. (Forbes)
• Hackers Target Hedge Funds to Manipulate Trading Algorithms. (SCM)
• Insights from a Founding Father of Behavioral Finance. (USAT)
• Google's Latest Project: Reinventing Cities. (LATimes)
• The Most Important Insights from Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Trends Report. (TechCrunch)

Last Quarter, the iPhone Generated More Revenue than Google, eBay & Facebook Combined

Did you buy the new iPhone?

The scope and scale of Apple's iPhone business creates an amazing competitive advantage.

It is Apple’s largest cash cow ... and accounted for 69 percent of the company’s revenue in the 2014 holiday quarter.

But how big is BIG?  This chart compares Apple's iPhone revenue (by itself) to the total revenue of other tech companies in the most recently reported fiscal quarter.

 

via Statista.

 

For context, in the past Quarter, Apple generated more revenue selling iPhones than Google, eBay and Facebook did combined.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

The Bank of China bought billboards advertising the RMB as the 'New Choice" for the World's Reserve Currency.

 

 

This one is just outside the airport in Bangkok Thailand.

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• Persistence, Not Patience, Key To Entrepreneurship. (Mashable)
• 20 Inspirational Stephen Hawking Quotes. (Lifehack)
• 600 Years Of Global War & Peace [Chart]. (ZeroHedge)
• Why Artificial Intelligence Will Not Obliterate Humanity. (PopSci)
• OneGo Will Offer Unlimited West Coast Flights for $1,500 a Month. (TechCrunch)

 

Trading Links:

• China’s Yuan Has ‘Long March’ To Reserve-Currency Status. (Marketwatch)
• Why China Devalues Its Currency | Stratfor. (Stratfor)
• ETFs Have Overtaken Hedge Funds as an Investment Vehicle. (Economist)
• GOLDMAN: ETF Assets Will Double To $6 Trillion by 2020. (BI)
• Exponential Finance: Ray Kurzweil Stresses Humanity’s ‘Moral Imperative' in Developing Artificial Intelligence. (Singularity Hub)

Workout Fails Video: Worth Going to the Gym to See

A look in the mirror tells me it is time to return to the gym.

Here is a compilation of clips showing people mis-using the equipment.

Almost worth going to the gym to see ...

 

 

 

via YouTube.

Hope you have a good week.

Watch Wayne Dyer Movie for Free

Tense matters ...  For example, 'Has' versus 'Had'.

Here is a quote I've thought about several times.

 

 

The guy who said that was Wayne Dyer.  Unfortunately, he just passed away.

To celebrate his life and work, his publisher made some of his content free to watch,  including his film, "The Shif".

 

In this film, Dyer explores the journey from ambition to meaning. The powerful departure from our obsession with self and status (and always wanting more) is shown in stark contrast to a life of meaning, focused on serving and giving back … and living with purpose.

 

DR. WAYNE W. DYER   Dr. Wayne W. Dyer was an internationally renowned author, speaker, and pioneer in the field of self-development. Over the four decades of his career, he wrote more than 40 books (21 of which became New York Times best-sellers), created numerous audio programs and videos, and appeared on thousands of television and radio shows.    Wayne held a doctorate in educational counseling from Wayne State University, was an associate professor at St. John’s University in New York, and honored a lifetime commitment to learning and finding the Higher Self.  Website: www.DrWayneDyer.com

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

Not everything is new yet.

You've seen kids trying to swipe restaurant menus like an iPad, only to be confused why it doesn't show them something else.

Well, following the same logic, the slot in your car must be good for something; right?

 

 

In case you are curious ... no, this doesn't work. 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• Cars are ‘Ultimate Mobile Device’ and other Apple Insights. (Cult of Mac)
• Why Today’s Automobile Industry Looks a Lot Like IBM in 1985. (TechCrunch)
• Diet that Mimics Fasting May Boost Health. (Futurity)
• 20 Quotes to Inspire Successful Innovation. (Mindjet)
• Malcolm Gladwell on the Surprising Upsides of Being a Loser. (Wired)

 

Trading Links:

• A World of Pain. The giants of global finance are in trouble. (Economist)
• Financial Services Invaded by Robots and AI. (TFB)
• Eight Reasons You Make Bad Financial Decisions. (TheGuardian)
• Math Is Hard (for Journalists). (Wall Street Journal)
• Apple's Carplay and Google's Android Auto Will Soon Dominate Connected Car Services. (BusinessInsider)

Gartner's 2015 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies Identifies the Computing Innovations Worth Monitoring

Which are the most hyped technologies today? Check out Gartner's latest 2015 Hype Cycle Report, which illustrates the market excitement, maturity, and benefit of various technologies.

What's the Hype Cycle about? 

As technology advances, we tend to get over-excited about new buzz-words & trends in technology and then disappointed when expectations of results go down.

This year, Autonomous Cars and the Internet of Things stay at the peak - while big data has matured past the hype stage. 

Here is the chart.

 

Figure 1. Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2015

Source: Gartner (August 2015).

For comparison, here is the chart from last year.

Fig. 2: Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2014.
 

Source: Gartner (August 2014).

 
The hype cycle gives us an idea of which of these technologies survive the market hype and have a potential to become a part of our daily life. 

Here are the five regions of Gartner's Hype cycle:

1. Innovation Trigger (potential technology breakthrough kicks off),
2. Peak of Inflated Expectations (Success stories through early publicity),
3. Trough of Disillusionment (waning interest),
4. Slope of Enlightenment (2nd & 3rd generation products appear), and
5. Plateau of Productivity (Mainstream adoption starts). 

Here are some of the key Big Data-related technologies:

• Autonomous vehicles, their placement is shown to have shifted from pre-peak 2014 to peak 2015 of the Hype Cycle. According to Gartner, "while autonomous vehicles (like driverless cars) are still embryonic, this movement still represents a significant advancement, with all major automotive companies putting autonomous vehicles on their near-term roadmaps".
• Internet of Things (Network of Intelligent objects around us coordinating activities) remains consistently almost at the Peak in both years. It is thought of as the most disruptive technology in decades - once widely deployed.
• Natural Language Process Question Answering, last year’s winner, is on its slide down to the Trough. It is still questionable how quickly it will make it through.
• Big data is nowhere to be seen in the 2015 hype cycle; whereas, last year, it was entering the trough of disillusionment. This may mean that the most talked about big data related technologies are now into practice ... and are no more a 'hype'.
• Machine Learning made its first appearance on the chart this year, but already past the peak of inflated expectations - and now takes the place of Big Data.
• Digital Humanism, as Gartner defines - makes people better, not technology better.  Wearables and the Internet of Things are at the top of the "peak of inflated expectations" on the cycle, along with machine learning and advanced analytics. All those trends are expected to plateau in between two and five years.
• Citizen Data Scientist: Gartner added this new class (in the innovation trigger region) and is expecting it to reach a plateau in 2-5 years.  Think of it as Data Scientist Lite, as businesses cultivate people who may have some data skills (possibly from a math or even social science degree) and put them to work exploring and analyzing data.
• Enterprise 3D Printing and Gesture Control Technologies are heading for the plateau fast, but are currently placed in the "slope of enlightenment".
• Digital Dexterity is new.  "Today's employees possess a greater degree of digital dexterity," said Matt Cain, research vice president at Gartner. "They operate their own wireless networks at home, attach and manage various devices, and use apps and Web services in almost every facet of their personal lives. Gartner has outlined several ways in which the IT organization should exploit employees' digital dexterity.
• Data Security, which is aready a critical priority today, seems to be surprisingly less of a hype - and is shown as "Digital Security" in pre-peak and close to the trigger region of the hype cycle.
• None of these technologies entered the plateau of productivity, unlike Speech Recognition last year. This may change in the upcoming years with more technologies growing mature.

Which technologies do you think are over-hyped ... and which ones might survive the hype?

Additional information is available in Gartner's "Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2015." This report is part of Gartner's Hype Cycle Special Report for 2015. This Special Report provides strategists and planners with an assessment of the market hype, maturity, business benefit and future direction of more than 2,000 technologies, grouped into 112 areas.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

The six-year bull market has been getting carved up lately.

 

 

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• 100 Motivational Quotes from Successful Entrepreneurs. (FN)
• Siri, How Many Questions Do You Answer Per Minute? (USAToday)
• Will You Fall in Love With Your Sex Robot? (DisInfo)
• We're Doomed: Robots Can Now Learn To Adapt To Injuries. (FC)
• Cowboys to Use Virtual Reality to Help Players in Film Study. (ESPN)

 

 

Trading Links:

• Scientists Show Future Events Decide What Happens in the Past. (SN)
• Experimenting With Virtual Reality, Financial Services Enter The Matrix. (TC)
• Real Madrid, Dallas Cowboys Top Forbes Sport Value List. (Sports)
• George Soros Says America Needs To Make Friends With China. (Insider)
• China's Building the Most Extensive Global Commercial-Military Empire In History. (Qz)

 

Here is a Map Showing Countries Scaled Based on the Size of Their Stock Markets

There has been a lot of news lately about global markets ... and how something that happens in one affects the others.

This chart is interesting because it puts the world's markets in a different perspective.

It shows the world according to free-float equity market capitalization in billions of dollars measured by the MSCI. 

   

 

From BofAML’s Transforming World Atlas. 

The US, with a market cap of $19.8 trillion, is the biggest and represents 52% of the world's market cap. Japan is in second place at $3 trillion, followed by the UK at $2.7 trillion, and then France at $1.3 trillion.

Notably, Hong Kong's market cap is nearly the same size of China (both of which are significantly smaller than countries like the US and Japan). 

Meanwhile, Russia, which has a bigger surface area than Pluto, is about the same size as Finland in terms of market cap.

Interesting.