Nov 5 2012
Monday News: A Bookish Wedding; Wall Street’s love affair with Amazon; Disaster supply kit list
It was a wedding full of books, paper flowers, and Legos. Take a gander at the gallery of the wedding of Cindy & Sam by RubinWeddings.com
Amazon profits: They don’t exist, but the company keeps on keeping on. – Matthew Yglesias argues that the unrealistically optimistic view of Amazon’s business plan by the investor class is propping up Amazon’s razor thin margins. As long as Amazon increases its market share, Wall Street keeps rewarding it.
“But what makes Amazon not just amazing but downright dangerous is that as a financial matter it has something even better than profits—the boundless faith of the investment community. You can think of a company’s stock price as jointly determined by its profits (“earnings”) and by Wall Street’s level of optimism about the future, expressed as a price-to-earnings ratio.”Slate
CETA: EU ditches criminal sanctions…. almost – This report seems to suggest that the EU is in favor or removing criminal sanctions for piracy except in the cases of “camcording” where individuals take a video of a movie in a theater and then, presumably, sell that copy.
“In documents seen by EDRi, the current Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union made a proposal at the beginning of October to delete the criminal sanctions section of the proposed EU/Canada Free Trade Agreement.
Following initially positive responses from the Member States, it has now been provisionally agreed that the deletion of criminal sanctions from CETA are now part of the EU negotiation strategy with Canada.”EDRI
Basic Disaster Supplies Kit – In light of the East Coast disaster, I thought this link was highly relevant. In doing my own personal accounting of supplies, I note that I lack a non electric charger, a hand crank radio, or a whistle.
Someone on Twitter linked to this Biolite CampStove that can charge your gadget with a fire. Although someone else said you’d need to burn an entire table to get one full charge. Still, in the case of an apocalypse, you might be able to burn your neighbor’s table. Ready.gov
Send to Kindle
Nov 05, 2012 @ 05:09:16
I’m still stuck out of the country, (omg do I hate airlines), but my family is still without power; thankfully that’s the only problem we experienced with the storm. The list is interesting- from my family’s experience I would put matches, a chlorinated Brita water filter (can be used for far longer than 3 days), and a hand cranked generator on the top list, and in cold environments those weird heat-retention aluminum blanket things (work well, are relatively cheap, and really small to store). Far more useful than a dust mask; t-shirt over the face anyone?
The hand-cranked generator from Brookstone, coupled with a universal charger adaptor thing have been a god-send. The entire neighborhood has been using them.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 05:25:08
Oh, oh, oh! The bookish wedding is a bit too hip for me, but books as table centerpieces? OH YES. Romance novels as table centerpieces: HOT DAMN YES. Because weddings can be a bit long and boring – people would love having something to read.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 06:39:21
The wedding couple don’t seem to know any fat or even a little chubby people. Weird how that is what I noticed.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 07:25:32
I love bandanas. They work as bandages, dust masks, head coverings, extra bag, hot pan holders, wash cloths etc. I’d stick a big bandana in.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 08:47:17
That wedding is one of the most beautiful and interesting I’ve seen. I love the book theme, the centerpieces, and the food looks amazing!! Her dress is so pretty, and the Lego boutonnieres are great. It’s a mix of playful and classic. Plus, they look like they had fun at their own wedding, and sometimes that doesn’t happen because everyone is so stressed about “perfect.”
Nov 05, 2012 @ 10:12:29
Looks like that was a super fun wedding. Love the Lego boutonnieres. The various reflective shots are certainly different than most “standard” wedding pictures. I also like the one of the attendees snapping pics of their own with their phones and the final sparklers one.
My brother owns a solar panel cell phone charger he uses a lot when he goes camping. He also has a USB charger that can run on batteries.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 10:23:33
My husband and my youngest daughter had fun making MintyBoost chargers that run on batteries. Amazon even sells some kits, and I’m sure you can get them other places.
Here’s a link for a kit at ThinkGeek: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f102/
and one for a MintyBoost FAQ sheet:
http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/faq.html
Nov 05, 2012 @ 11:27:48
@LisaCharlotte: I’m sure they do. Photographers just aren’t equal opportunity.
When my brother-in-law got married, the photographer didn’t include me in a single picture. I’ve known him since he was 16, my husband was the officiant, and we were standing/sitting near both of them for much of the night, but only my wrist and a glimpse of my wheelchair’s headrest made it into a photo.
I don’t think it was accidental.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 11:28:38
I have a hand crank radio that will also charge a phone (if you have the right cord) – it also runs on batteries. I love that we have it although I’m not sure I’ve ever used it.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 12:13:35
My emergency torch (flashlight) is the wind-up kind, because I am rubbish at remembering to get new batteries. But it’s good to know it will also work in case of disaster.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 12:44:49
@LisaCharlotte:
I had the same reaction. I thought I must be shallow. But according to Ridley, it is the photographer that was shallow.
Thank goodness my wedding photog wasn’t similarly inclined or the only pics at my wedding would have been of the ring bearers (three years old and boys), the (WW thin for the wedding) bride, the groom and my sister-in-law who had just gotten out of eight weeks in intensive care. Not that we are all fat, but let’s just say we are a well-rounded gene pool.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 12:48:44
Wedding book arch! Love it.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 14:51:17
REI (and other outdoor outfitters) offer SteriPENs for UV water purification. They’re lightweight, reusable and relatively inexpensive. They do require the more expensive lithium batteries but you get something like 7,000 uses out of it before you should need to replace them. I use it for international travel but would definitely include it in my emergency supplies.
Nov 05, 2012 @ 14:58:26
@LisaCharlotte:
That’s how I feel every time I go to New York.
Nov 06, 2012 @ 06:46:21
@Ros: Not to detract from their happy day, but I’m afraid it’s all too teeth achingly trendy for me.
Nov 09, 2012 @ 10:55:23
@Ridley: Your brother-in-law must be rather pissed at the photographer …