Sports

  • Resilience

    080815 Phelps 250
    Watching the Olympics
    has been an uplifting reminder for me.  The sport of it is fun to
    watch.  Yet, the deeper story is even better.

    For example,
    Michael Phelps was expected to break Mark Spitz's record in Athens
    four-years ago.  While he was dominating, it just didn't happen, then. 

    Can you imagine setting world records, winning gold medals, and still feeling like you came up short?

    Can you imagine how many times he replayed the missing hundredths of a second that separated him from his dream?
    So how did he do it this time?

    Somehow
    the great ones are resilient and durable in distressing situations. 
    They adapt and cope; and ultimately gain strength from adversity —
    often converting it into a gift.  They find a way to transform what
    seemed like setbacks into the fuel they need to get to the next level.

    Nietzsche
    said "that which does not kill me, makes me stronger."  And that
    statement applies to trading and funds management as well.   Trading
    often seems like it is not fair – and that can be very good for us. 

  • Cool Chart Showing Olympic Medals Won

    Technical traders use a lot of data visualization tools.  So it isn't surprising that this tendency spills over into other areas of my life.  Consequently, I enjoy chart porn like this map showing which countries won Olympic medals.  It is interactive, and fun to play with for a minute or two.

    080804 Map of Olympic Medals(NYTimes)

  • Olympic Extra

    Beijing2008
    In China, "8" is believed to be a most powerful, and lucky, number.

    So it is not surprising that Chinese began the Olympics on 08-08-08 at 8:08 PM.

    Here is a link to Wikipedia's info page  and NBC's covering these Olympic games.

    And here is a link to Wired's coverage of the tech behind the games.

  • Olympic Extra

    Beijing2008
    In China, "8" is believed to be a most powerful, and lucky, number.

    So it is not surprising that Chinese began the Olympics on 08-08-08 at 8:08 PM.

    Here is a link to Wikipedia's info page  and NBC's covering these Olympic games.

    And here is a link to Wired's coverage of the tech behind the games.

  • An Olympic Attempt At Humor

    As the Olympics begin, I saw this and thought it was worth sharing.

    Indexed2Janet
    The artist/author has a blog called "Indexed" here, and a book here.

    By the way, the Court threw out fine against CBS for airing the wardrobe malfunction. (DMN)

    Let's just say she captured a few eyeballs; in most replayed moment in Tivo history. (CNet)

  • An Olympic Attempt At Humor

    As the Olympics begin, I saw this and thought it was worth sharing.

    Indexed2Janet
    The artist/author has a blog called "Indexed" here, and a book here.

    By the way, the Court threw out fine against CBS for airing the wardrobe malfunction. (DMN)

    Let's just say she captured a few eyeballs; in most replayed moment in Tivo history. (CNet)