10 thoughts for December 12, 2013

It's official: I'm a lazy bum who prefers to jot down these 10 daily thoughts than write long form.

1. You must try this festive, musical interactive from Moo.com.  Some serious fun.
2. Just a reminder: Java and Javascript are not the same thing.  There aren't many websites that use Java, but I'm guessing about 99% of all websites use Javascript.  Your Java installation must be updated regularly.  Javascript has nothing to update.  If someone writes malware via Javascript, your choices are: The internet blocks access to that website hosting malware or you actively block Javascript via your browser settings.  I've written about this a few times: I actively block all Javasccript and selectively whitelist websites one-by-one.  It's not the most convenient way of using the internet, but it's a solid protocol to lower your risk.
3. Energy companies should probably know best, how to price carbon emissions, don't you think?  Whether or not they're setting prices for self-interest in lowering cost, is a separate issue, of course.  But if you look at this chart, you'll notice that they're almost all setting their internal price estimate of one ton of carbon very close to, or above, that of the White House's.  At the very bottom of the spectrum: Microsoft.  Ha.  Long-term planning at Microsoft seems to underestimate future costs, were carbon emissions to be taxed.
4. The AP does not treat the English language carefully.  Long ago on this very blog, I dismissed AP sourced stories as terribly written and poorly researched.  I bring this up because in this AP story, Loretta Fuddy, the director of the Hawai'i Department of Health who just died in a plane crash, was called "notorious" for her role in confirming Barack Obama's birth certificate.  I suppose that would maker her infamous, a la Dumb and Dumber, right?
5. I'm going to write about this separately, but I couldn't hold it in: Jolicloud's beta is really good!  Miss iGoogle?  Jolicloud is like a one-stop site to digest most of your subscribed content.  A new Jolicloud is now in beta, and it sure does look spiffy, with cards of your content, including Feedly RSS feeds.
6. Macroeconomic Advisers commented that the 2-year budget will result in a slight boost above projections in GDP for 2014, followed by a slight reduction in GDP in 2015 and 2016.  The total effect = long-term zero sum.  The House passed the spending bill, 332-92, which means that it had strong bipartisan support.  All of this simply means that, however the economy turns, Congress will no longer be the cause of consternation for its frequent confrontations bringing the economy to the edge of collapse.
7. And good news, because many economists are now coming out suggesting that 2014 will be a huge boost in economic growth.  Perhaps the Feds will be able to taper sooner and faster without any market reaction.
8. But wait, there still is one more issue out there: The Treasury's Debt Ceiling  is coming up in a few months (yet again).
9. Because Senate Democrats removed the filibuster from certain procedures, Senate Republicans have vowed to use the standing filibuster to temporarily block one of President Obama's nominations.  Good for them -- this is exactly what Democrats wanted -- I don't think Republicans get the humor of it all, though.  (In the end, they're punishing themselves to prove a worthless point.)
10. Breaking news: Something happened!  Is there ever a news broadcast these days, that doesn't have breaking news at the start?  Breaking news: Truck overturned on rural road!  Breaking news: Men arrested for answering Craigslist ad for underage sex!  Breaking news: Storm hits and a tree fell down!  On a car!