it's clear to me...

Hello.

I’m Ben McInnis.

I live in downtown Seattle.

I work at Microsoft.

I love the Internet.

I love economics.

I love art.

You can reach me at [first name] dot [last name] at gmail.com.

Also, the opinions expressed here are my own and don't reflect the views of my employer.
FORTNIGHTLY!  

This is awesome.  More people should use this word.

FORTNIGHTLY!

This is awesome. More people should use this word.

the Surface team within MSR have taken natural interaction to the next level…again. The new prototype surface enables physical objects like tracing paper to reveal a second dimension of data in real-time and…real-space.

these guys are doing amazing work.

I appear to be “beating the Street” but I’m not sure this slow bleed is much more appealing than the radical swings I could see by getting back into the market more aggressively.  

Overall my investment ethos tends toward the fear side of the greed-fear spectrum (though I suspect that fear is largely a function of greed) and in today’s market I can’t justify the risk (yes, even given my age).  

That said, this approach isn’t doing much for me either.  I think my only remaining options are gold, and CDs which, frankly, bore the shit out of me.  

There should really be a more hands-on kind of investment vehicle for the regular investors (read: people like me).

I appear to be “beating the Street” but I’m not sure this slow bleed is much more appealing than the radical swings I could see by getting back into the market more aggressively.

Overall my investment ethos tends toward the fear side of the greed-fear spectrum (though I suspect that fear is largely a function of greed) and in today’s market I can’t justify the risk (yes, even given my age).

That said, this approach isn’t doing much for me either. I think my only remaining options are gold, and CDs which, frankly, bore the shit out of me.

There should really be a more hands-on kind of investment vehicle for the regular investors (read: people like me).

This whole situation about the card counting iPhone app being banned in Vegas made we think about all those early 90’s technologists that predicted we’d all walk around “wearing” computers integrated into our attire that we’d use to augment our minds.  They would appear to have been somewhat correct in spirit, if not in concept.  

If only there was an app that would remember to sync my iPhone…

via Engadget

This whole situation about the card counting iPhone app being banned in Vegas made we think about all those early 90’s technologists that predicted we’d all walk around “wearing” computers integrated into our attire that we’d use to augment our minds. They would appear to have been somewhat correct in spirit, if not in concept.

If only there was an app that would remember to sync my iPhone…

via Engadget

Louis Perdrier RoseVintage: Non-vintageFrom: FrancePrice: $14 - 17Notes: Somehow flavorless and awful tasting.  I literally had one sip and poured this into the sink.  Our grade: F

Louis Perdrier Rose
Vintage: Non-vintage
From: France
Price: $14 - 17
Notes: Somehow flavorless and awful tasting. I literally had one sip and poured this into the sink.
Our grade: F

Roger Ebert's review of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo

From Roger’s review of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (0 stars): “The movie created a spot of controversy in February 2005. According to a story by Larry Carroll of MTV News, Rob Schneider took offense when Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times listed this year’s Best Picture nominees and wrote that they were ‘ignored, unloved, and turned down flat by most of the same studios that … bankroll hundreds of sequels, including a follow-up to Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, a film that was sadly overlooked at Oscar time because apparently nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered by a Third-Rate Comic.’
“Schneider retaliated by attacking Goldstein in full-page ads in Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. In an open letter to Goldstein, Schneider wrote: ‘Well, Mr. Goldstein, I decided to do some research to find out what awards you have won. I went online and found that you have won nothing. Absolutely nothing. No journalistic awards of any kind… . Maybe you didn’t win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven’t invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who’s Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers… .’

“Schneider was nominated for a 2000 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor, but lost to Jar-Jar Binks. But Schneider is correct, and Patrick Goldstein has not yet won a Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, Goldstein is not qualified to complain that Columbia financed Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo while passing on the opportunity to participate in Million Dollar Baby, Ray, The Aviator, Sideways, and Finding Neverland. As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.”

Amazing visual showing the epic value destruction we’ve all just witnessed.  
 - via JP Morgan
(Click for big)

Amazing visual showing the epic value destruction we’ve all just witnessed.
- via JP Morgan
(Click for big)

This other Ben McInnis looks deranged.  How can I get him to change his name?

This other Ben McInnis looks deranged. How can I get him to change his name?

The CB2 “Draper Sofa” looks pretty neat.  

CB2 appears to be taking some inspiration from Mad Men.  Though their naming could stand to be a bit less overt.

The CB2 “Draper Sofa” looks pretty neat.

CB2 appears to be taking some inspiration from Mad Men. Though their naming could stand to be a bit less overt.