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Betting on the bell curve

Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.

Betting on the bell curve

There's been plenty of talk about the GFC and what caused everything to go so terribly wrong. But odds are, if words like derivative and hedge fund mean nothing to you, neither do most of the explanations out there. In that case, pick up The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb; it's a must-read for anyone who wants to dig deeper without getting entrenched in the messy details. Basically, as Mike Cranna writes, banks have been betting billions on mistaken assumptions, and being thrown off by the influence of low probability, high impact events. If there's one thing you can count on, it's to count on the unexpected—nobody escapes the clutches of Murphy's Law.

A high honour

Street-kid-turned-scientist Ray Avery was named New Zealander of the Year this week for his innovative low-cost medical devices, which are making a difference to some of the world’s neediest citizens.

From intraocular lenses which fight cataracts to high-protein food made from local by-products, there’s a high demand for his inventions in developing countries—and the returns are reinvested through his charity, Medicine Mondiale.According to Prime Minister John Key, what set Avery apart was his decision to “share his success with those less fortunate”. We interviewed him back in 2007, and you can read the full story here.

 

A very handy device

Imagine this: the battery signal on your cell phone is flashing the death flash and you’re about to run out of juice. You take out the battery, twirl it around your finger a few times, and buy yourself a few more minutes. Now wouldn’t that be handy? 130 rotations for two minutes of talk time is a bit much, though—halve that and I’d be sold.

Money: that's what I want

It spawned classic lines like "Greed is good" and "There's no nobility in poverty". Now, a sequel to Wall Street is in the works. Check out the trailer for Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, starring Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Josh Brolin, and the kid from Transformers.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV5hEBqYfTE

How many is too many?

Hasselblad is set to release a 40-megapixel "entry-level" camera and it could be yours for the price of a car. $19,995 will get you the all-new H4D40 with an 80mm lens and a True Focus AF system. Still, a medium-format DSLR was never exactly going to come cheap.

 

When art and maths collide

Whoever said art and mathematics don’t mix has officially been proved wrong. American photographer Nikki Graziano—who studies photography and maths—has combined the two by ‘graphing’ her photos, complete with equations. Hard to explain: see it for yourself here.

Leaving on a poetic note

Hey, if I was going to quit my job, that's how I'd want to do it. Short, sweet and to the point. Sun filed for withdrawal from the stockmarket last month; proof that no business is too big to fail.

Only in Japan...

Cryptically named the White Goat, this little machine recycles shredded office paper and turns it into toilet paper. It all sounds very green, but the gadget itself costs a cool $100,000. Still, it’s the thought that counts, right?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i51zo3LA70U

Job of the week: Digital Account Director (Digital Account Director)

Wellington

* Digital / Design Agency

* Varied Work - Great Client List

* Full time or Part Time option

Our client is seeking a highly skilled Digital Account Director to join their small agency located in Wellington.

You will be digitally savvy and have excellent client servicing skills along with an aptitude for New Business.

This role will work very closely with the Digital Director and Creative Director, working across a variety of brands; therefore you will need to have proven experience in the digital space and have a passion for growing the client list in this area.

As this role will be leading interactive projects, you will be proficient in budgeting, timelines, creative briefs and of course working very closely with the team.

You will have prior experience working on small through to complex and lengthy projects alongside the fast turn around projects and enjoy both equally.

If you feel you have the right credentials for this role, please apply to Louise Lawton at Portfolio Recruitment - louise@portfoliorecruit.co.nz.

Quote of the week

"Bankers are calculating the risk as, “What are the chances of someone being 20,000 feet tall?” when in fact the risk they are exposing their clients’ money to is more in the region of, “How often do the super-wealthy attend football matches”?"

— Mike Cranna breaks down the financial meltdown in everyday terms.

Also in Idealog Weekly …

2010-08-27 13:26:59: 128 pages of pure gold

2010-08-20 11:51:54: Total Semi-Permanent

2010-08-13 13:18:18: Life through a lens

2010-08-06 13:54:12: Pie in the sky

2010-07-29 12:38:14: Great ideas come in twos (or more)

2010-07-23 14:16:23: The bounce factor

2010-07-16 14:59:03: What doesn't kill us makes us stronger

2010-07-09 13:46:23: The future is now

2010-07-02 14:45:16: Sneaking around

2010-06-25 13:52:07: Making their mark

2010-06-18 14:18:59: From C-student to CEO

2010-06-11 12:59:50: Walking the talk

2010-06-04 12:06:56: Stars of the small screen

2010-05-28 13:27:44: A job well done

2010-05-21 11:38:39: Story of my life

2010-05-14 13:34:52: Where are the asteroids?

2010-05-07 15:03:09: Get your fancypants on

2010-04-30 14:44:05: Ready, aim, fire

2010-04-23 15:11:14: Lean machine

2010-04-16 13:38:34: It's better when it's free

2010-04-09 11:11:34: Good fortune

2010-04-01 13:47:45: Forward thinking

2010-03-26 14:58:28: Back to basics

2010-03-19 12:43:58: End of the road

2010-03-12 14:29:30: Under the sea

2010-03-05 14:32:56: Race to the bottom

2010-02-26 14:43:20: Small but mighty

2010-02-19 14:43:04: A taste of what's to come

2010-02-12 16:27:05: The case for saving science

2010-02-05 11:20:54: Betting on the bell curve

2010-01-29 11:43:43: Urban facelift

2010-01-22 12:46:42: Back to business

2009-12-18 12:32:14: An Idealog year

2009-12-11 11:32:17: Cultivating creativity

2009-12-04 12:41:50: Beating the data maze

2009-11-27 13:20:20: Into the wild

2009-11-20 12:09:59: Clever Kiwi

2009-11-13 15:24:34: Behind the scenes

2009-11-06 16:14:16: The garlic solution

2009-10-30 17:36:54: Man of the moment

2009-10-23 18:20:02: By the numbers

2009-10-16 16:18:27: Pavlova principles

2009-10-09 18:53:36: The secret of the songbook

2009-10-02 14:52:56: Free and easy

2009-09-25 14:58:12: What the world wants

2009-09-18 14:58:12: A slice of the pie

2009-09-11 16:16:54: Walking man

2009-09-06 22:39:01: A calmer kind of business

2009-08-28 16:14:07: We have issues

2009-08-21 14:15:49: Mincing about in waistcoats

2009-08-14 15:16:48: Wired on pop culture

2009-08-07 14:33:11: Trust is not a commodity

2009-07-31 14:05:29: Fuzzy logic

2009-07-24 12:44:11: Game of life

2009-07-17 15:07:41: Grape expectations

2009-07-10 15:55:03: Blade runners

2009-07-03 16:10:16: Free: another word for nothing left to lose

2009-06-26 17:29:25: Poorly pleased

2009-06-19 13:07:47: The giver

2009-06-12 15:09:07: Buggy on down

2009-06-05 13:15:14: Brand Cambo

2009-05-29 14:46:37: When the going gets tough, go proactive

2009-05-22 14:49:27: Bayerische Wasserstoffmotorenwerke

2009-05-15 13:37:38: Rugger blogger

2009-05-08 16:19:47: Get on our cloud

2009-05-01 14:23:55: Easy Tiger

2009-04-24 10:45:23: Tiki tacky

2009-04-17 15:41:21: The not-so-great indoors

2009-04-03 15:41:21: A site for sore eyes

2009-03-27 12:01:53: Dual control

2009-03-20 12:41:29: Worth their Alt

2009-03-13 11:40:07: Biofuels or bio-fools?

2009-03-06 13:06:03: It's electrifying

2009-02-27 12:05:00: Experience-rich and theory-poor

2009-02-20 08:34:12: It's a hundred-and-fourteen-pager

2009-02-13 10:17:02: Own your mistakes

2009-02-05 11:08:46: Rules—made to be broken

2009-01-30 12:13:46: Money: that's what I want

2008-12-05 12:15:14: Framed by the thousands

2008-11-28 11:53:12: Spank-branding novelty next week

2008-11-21 10:07:48: In the Loop

2008-11-14 12:30:00: Your good health

2008-11-07 15:29:37: Misfits of science

2008-10-31 00:00:00: No absence of colour

2008-10-24 12:55:16: Plain-speaking Peri

2008-10-17 15:17:07: Rebels with a cause

2008-10-10 14:53:35: Seoulipsism

2008-10-03 13:18:51: Fall seven times and stand up eight

2008-09-26 13:20:53: Don't label us

2008-09-19 14:37:12: Bloody Graham

2008-09-19 14:17:45: Dream proposition

2008-09-05 15:21:48: Taxi!!!

2008-08-29 11:24:08: Up-Skilling on Idealog TV

2008-08-22 13:16:57: 144 pages of pure pleasure, plus politics

2008-08-15 11:42:43: Wash down that Lovemark with a Steinie

2008-08-08 12:00:07: Strange journey

2008-08-01 15:17:10: SMElly and happy

2008-07-25 13:24:35: What a dive

2008-07-18 12:19:42: Softly and woolly does it

2008-07-11 11:59:13: The saviour from Timaru

2008-07-04 14:50:24: Last laugh

2008-06-27 10:56:38: King Kev

2008-06-20 12:20:14: Slow ART

2008-06-13 11:56:13: Killing two birds with methane

2008-06-06 11:41:39: A combine harvester

2008-05-30 11:55:00: Gold paint

2008-05-23 12:01:40: Rock, out

2008-05-16 10:44:03: Goodwill hunting

2008-05-09 11:53:04: No wine jokes please

2008-05-02 11:51:55: Who's bad?

2008-04-24 13:23:02: Succession success

2008-04-18 13:41:43: Out now or thereabouts

2008-04-11 12:52:49: Paint by numbers

2008-04-04 14:24:53: Reincarnated good

2008-03-28 15:26:16: Making it

2008-03-20 17:03:39: Knock three times

2008-03-14 12:31:52: The customer is always tight

2008-03-07 11:56:55: Beautiful words

2008-02-28 12:55:22: Goodnight, I'm off to work

2008-02-22 12:15:19: The art issue

2008-02-15 11:31:15: Straight to the top

2008-02-08 16:05:53: H for hot

2007-12-13 14:52:13: Nothing in common? Perfect

2007-12-06 12:50:32: Who needs a beer?

2007-11-30 12:37:37: Dirty secret goes public

2007-11-23 13:28:24: Don't speak

2007-11-16 17:01:13: Worthy work (and free beer)

2007-11-02 20:07:12: East meets best

2007-10-25 12:47:59: Raid the fridge

2007-10-19 09:18:05: Looking good

2007-10-13 10:20:34: Can't miss it

2007-10-05 12:55:52: Fresh meat delivery

2007-09-28 11:49:23: If the walls had eyes

2007-09-21 04:13:23: Phoenix rising

2007-09-15 04:32:01: Can we fix it? Yes we can

2007-09-06 19:00:00: Feats of social engineering

2007-08-31 09:01:09: Doesn't bite

2007-08-24 13:21:33: Telling us where to go

2007-08-16 23:00:00: Tomorrow time

2007-08-10 12:15:51: Going West

2007-08-03 12:35:31: How to ... be your business

2007-07-27 14:11:06: Freaky food

2007-07-20 15:05:00: Meet the neighbours

2007-07-12 12:16:19: Free Hollie

2007-07-06 09:03:58: Green queen

2007-06-29 08:59:24: The truth about youth

2007-06-21 16:03:33: Walk this way

2007-06-14 17:58:53: Times ten

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2007-05-25 14:53:52: Yeah, we're still here

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2007-05-03 15:49:14: Friends with the band

2007-04-23 23:00:00: Why worry?

2007-04-19 16:08:21: Done by the big jobs

2007-04-12 22:34:29: A rockin' good read

2007-04-05 13:54:05: No fear

2007-03-29 21:54:07: Out to pasture

2007-03-22 15:38:14: Hip-hop and The Human Touch

2007-03-15 14:27:49: Crazy Frog and Billy T

2007-03-10 01:00:00: The Benadryl edition

2007-03-01 14:30:53: We can be Xero

2007-02-22 17:17:14: Back on board

2006-12-15 12:34:29: Free beer

2006-12-08 11:09:40: December 8, 2006

2006-12-01 10:13:51: December 1, 2006

2006-11-24 13:38:37: November 24, 2006

2006-11-16 12:08:37: November 16, 2006

2006-11-09 12:13:04: November 9, 2006

2006-11-03 13:27:12: November 3, 2006

2006-10-26 13:39:26: October 26, 2006

2006-10-19 16:11:46: October 19, 2006

2006-10-12 17:31:36: October 12, 2006

2006-10-06 10:16:05: October 6, 2006

2006-09-28 16:19:29: September 28, 2006

2006-09-21 15:42:31: September 21, 2006

2006-09-14 13:56:38: September 14, 2006

2006-09-07 00:00:00: September 7, 2006

2006-08-31 00:00:00: August 31, 2006

2006-08-24 00:00:00: August 24, 2006

2006-08-17 00:00:00: August 17, 2006

2006-08-11 00:00:00: August 11, 2006

2006-08-03 00:00:00: August 3, 2006

2006-07-27 00:00:00: July 27, 2006

2006-07-21 00:00:00: July 21, 2006

2006-07-13 00:00:00: July 13, 2006

2006-07-06 00:00:00: July 6, 2006

2006-06-29 00:00:00: June 29, 2006

2006-06-22 00:00:00: June 22, 2006

2006-06-15 00:00:00: June 15, 2006

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