Blog of a Silicon Valley Hick

Sleeping in a Plane, a New Twist

siliconvalleyhick — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:46:25 +0000

Sleeping on a plane usually comes with negative connotation as it can be quite uncomfortable for prolonged period of time, even in first class. Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Dios is trying to change the negative image of sleeping on a plane. He converted an old (1976) Boeing 747-200 jet into Jumbo Hostel at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. It boasts 25 rooms, 85 beds, a cafe, an observational deck and the most coveted room – cockpit suite (2 beds in the cockpit). For more photos, check out this link. Jumbo Hostel is also featured in a video on CNN Business Traveller. I guess this means that you can sleep a bit longer before making the 10 min trek to the ticket counter!

Vanguard Fund Correlation Tool

siliconvalleyhick — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:28:30 +0000

Given today’s financial climate, diversification is the key. As someone who holds several mutual funds, I look for Morningstar rating, past performance, risk measures (alpha, beta, R-squared, standard deviation, sharp ratio), etc. But, if you have some Vanguard Mutual Funds, you may be interested in this Vanguard Fund Correlation Tool (it’s in the lower right column). It allows you to determine how correlated one Vanguard Mutual Fund is to another Vanguard Mutual Fund. For instance, Vanguard MidCap Growth Index (VMGIX) is very highly (0.97) correlated with Vanguard SmallCap Growth Index (VISGX). So, if you’re thinking of investing some money into different Vanguard Mutual Funds (e.g. Roth IRAs) and want to diversify (i.e. achieve low correlation between funds), check out the correlation tool. I wish there was a tool for all the mutual funds, not just Vanguard funds, and am thinking of writing the tool myself…

Check Google Account Storage Usage

siliconvalleyhick — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:09:27 +0000

If you use Google products Gmail and Picasa, you are aware of that there is a storage limit to each product. One easy way to check both is to check for storage usage. If you’re close to the limit, you may want to think of purchasing additional storage space to be shared among all Google products.

Library of Congress Collection on Flickr

siliconvalleyhick — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:55:41 +0000

If you’re ever curious about what the Library of Congress has in its vast collection, check out their (probably incomplete) digitized version of photos on Flickr.

Shrinking Market Caps of Banks in the Last 18 Months

siliconvalleyhick — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:22:35 +0000

Oh my! How much has the banking industry changed in the last eighteen months!

Men’s Health 2009 Worst 20 Foods in America

siliconvalleyhick — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 04:28:48 +0000

Do you eat out often? Want to know the 20 foods to avoid? If so, check out Men’s Health 2009 Worst Foods in America.

Heartland Payment Systems Breach Leaves 100 Million Credit and Debit Accounts Vulnerable

siliconvalleyhick — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 04:15:18 +0000

Heartland Payment Systems, which processes credit and debit card (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover, prepaid) transaction payments for 250,000 businesses nationwide, announced on Tuesday that there was a security breach last year due to a malware, leaving 100 million accounts vulnerable. Only the credit card number and/or cardholders’ names were compromised. For more information from the company directly, they have set up a website.

PCMag’s 173 Best Free Software of 2009

siliconvalleyhick — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:29:42 +0000

PCMag just came out with their list of 173 Best Free Software of 2009. I use a number of these. Even if you don’t find any use for the software on this list, this reference list can be quite handy when you’re in a pinch for something quick and free.

Eli Lilly Fined $1.42 billion for Off-label Promotion of Zyprexa (Olanzapine)

siliconvalleyhick — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:53:22 +0000

Eli Lilly, a top US drugmaker, is fined $1.42 billion for off-label promotion of Zyprexa (olanzapine), ending a five-year federal investigation. Here’s a breakdown of where the money is going:

Criminal fine: $515 million (largest criminal fine in the US!)
Civil settlement (no admission of wrongdoing): $800 million (roughly half to the federal government and the rest to the states) + $100 million in assets

This is in addition to the $1.2 billion Eli Lilly paid to settle ~20,000 lawsuits claiming it down-played the side-effect of weight gain and that Zyprexa led to development of diabetes and other diseases.

Zyprexa, first approved (by the FDA) in 1996, is FDA-approved for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but was marketed for the treatment of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression. Zyprexa is Lilly’s most profitable drug, accounting for worldwide sales of nearly $40 billion (since 1996) and $4.8 billion in 2007.

Off-label uses are legal and provide much-needed relief or treatment of rare or overlooked (by the drugmakers) diseases, but this fine illustrates that this is a drugmaker gone too far! Thoughts? Leave comments. Thanks.

Online Instructional Cooking Videos

siliconvalleyhick — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:11:57 +0000

As someone who doesn’t know how to cook more than a handful of dishes, I am happy to see that there are a few sites offering online instructional cooking videos, especially for those of us who doesn’t have access to the cooking channels.

Rouxbe – offers a rather polished, step-by-step instruction to food preparation but may require a free membership to watch some videos.

Foodtube – free, extensive collection of cooking videos

Thoughts? Leave comments. Thanks.