Google's fraud

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/04/googles-black-b.html

Read the comments. There are people complaining about their Adsense rate getting cut 75%, there are people who's account was banned. All sort of stuff.

I agree that google's revenue is basically a black-box. Actually, does the advertiser have the ability to check how many click thru's they have? I mean, by them having so many server farms, is it possible for them to click into their advertisers websites?

The end of oil

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/11413/High-Oil-Prices-You-Ain't-Seen-Nothing-Yet?tickers=xom

"Charles Maxwell is known as the “Dean of Energy Analysts,” following decades working on Wall Street and for Mobil Corp. before the XOM deal. As global oil consumption rises and oil production peaks and ebbs, prices will shoot higher — a lot higher, says Maxwell, senior energy analyst at Weeden & Co. in Greenwich, Conn.
Maxwell forecasts $180 oil by 2015, and $300 a barrel by 2020. And at those prices, could rationing be far off in the future? Plus, check in with Tech Ticker later to get Maxwell’s take on smart oil investing plays as oil reaches the bottom of the barrel."

Today's video from tech ticker from yahoo finance kinds of reminds me of a book I read a few years ago.

http://books.google.com/books?id=rsmRY6SfpvUC&dq=the+end+of+oil&pg=PP1&ots=FBOnLd_eco&sig=AfLtV7EHYUkOX9b_eAHJfX48c8Y&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=&q=+The+end+of+oil&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPP1,M1

Although Paul Roberts didn't forecast the price of oil, he did note that non-OPEC oil will peak at 2010, followed by OPEC oil peak at 2015. The exact same thing that Mr. Maxwell said 4 years later! Note: even though the book was published in 2005, Paul probably wrote the book in 2003-2004.

That's reinforces my view on clean tech, coal (it's clean if GE can sequester carbon), and nuclear.

HK: Rich but not happy

NYT have an article today that maps out "how satisfied you are with your life" and GDP per capita.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/business/16leonhardt.html?ex=1365998400&en=bdbfd2384c50f811&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

Look at what an outlier Hong Kong is!




Why why why? The first thing that comes to mind is INEQUITY! Gini index 53.3!

I guess it's inevitable when you have a giant neighbor with a billion unskilled workers. Unskill wages just can't increase as fast as the economy as a whole.