My Little Corner

Ho Chi Mint - my favorite cocktail (Vodka, Cloudy Apple Juice,...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:24:36 -0400

Ho Chi Mint - my favorite cocktail

(Vodka, Cloudy Apple Juice, Pear Nectar, Lemon Juice, Cucumber, Mint leaves)

Innocence is Bliss

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:27:35 -0500

Innocence is Bliss

Interesting read

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:16:37 -0400

Interesting read

The Differences Between Venture Capital and Private Equity

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:01:58 -0400

The Differences Between Venture Capital and Private Equity

Just for fun

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 07:21:00 -0400

Just for fun

“Zou Bisou Bisou” by Megan Draper - Mad Men

Sun, 13 May 2012 03:55:00 -0400

“Zou Bisou Bisou” by Megan Draper - Mad Men

explore-blog: “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation,...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:38:58 -0400

explore-blog:

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change,” researcher-storyteller Brené Brown famously said. In her absolutely fantastic TED 2012 talk, a complement to her equally eloquent 2010 talk on vulnerability, she digs deep into the unspoken epidemic of shame and the spectrum of broken behavior it engenders.

Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection, is a must-read.

Vietnam's Got Talent

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:56:00 -0500

To destress myself before continuing mugging for my economics exam, let’s talk a bit about “Vietnam’s Got Talent”.

I started following this show just some days ago through a small scandal. The “scandalous clip” was really funny to watch, and each time I reopened that Youtube link I always had a big laugh (yes the director of this show had done a good job creating that scandal to entice people like me to the show). But then after watching other “serious” performances as well, I think some of them are actually very enjoyable.

But wait. How come there’s a clear Western influence on all the notable performances? Like that cute little girl up there who sang “You raise me up” beautifully but doesn’t sound very fluent speaking her mother tongue. In a small interview, she even said honestly and innocently that she mostly just sings classical English songs!?!

Nine year-old little angel singing in English, handsome teacher singing in English, young scientist singing Disney song, little boy dancing like Michael Jackson, shy lad singing opera, etc. These are among the most praised performances so far. But seriously? This is the face of Vietnam’s Got Talent?

It’s true that when a participant chooses an English song to perform, he/she can show off not only the singing talent, but also the linguistics talent. And if these turn out to be real “talents”, the audience would probably be left more impressed, for the “talent preference” of the audience is likely to be “monotonic” (the more the better - sorry for the forced application of economics). With that being said, however, the choice of a Vietnamese song is not always at a disadvantage. Not all viewers can understand thoroughly the meaning of English songs (in most cases they come to appreciate those through the nice melodies only), so if a good Vietnamese song is well performed, this can actually leave a much more emotional impact. But it seems that the best singers in this competition chose to sing in English, and that, is really sad.

This somehow gives us some ideas about the current pop culture in Vietnam. More globalization together with a lack of Vietnamese artists who can make an impact, it is indeed in a mess.

Video

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:34:29 -0500

How Goldman Sachs helped mask Greece's debt

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:29:41 -0500

How Goldman Sachs helped mask Greece's debt

La Tangente Nice short film!

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:17:03 -0500

La Tangente

Nice short film!

Furama - Da Nang Wanna go here some time. This summer?

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 07:18:00 -0500

Furama - Da Nang

Wanna go here some time. This summer?

Growth

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:32:00 -0500

Malthusian Growth Model:

- predicts that a technological advance will just increase population, with no long-run change in the standard of living

- in equilibrium: consumption equals output produced

Solow Growth Model:

- predicts that technological progress is necessary for sustained (infinite) increases in standards of living

- diminishing marginal product of capital

- in equilibrium:

Y = C + I (Y, C, I, K will grow at the same rate n - given z, s, n are constant)

k, y, c will converge to a constant steady state

Increasing s can help increase k*, but s can only be increased up to 1

Decreasing n can help increase k*, but n must be > 0

Only increase in z can lead to infinite growth

Endogenous Growth Model:

2012 State Of The Union Address

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:54:00 -0500

2012 State Of The Union Address

Future of Online Sharing?

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:28:00 -0500

Megaupload’s founders are facing a criminal case.

Fileserve, Filesonic have stopped allowing non-registered users to download contents from the sites.

I’m wondering what will be next… Updated: it turned out to be the best of my favorites: library.nu :(

All this fuss started thanks to these conservative guys Lamar Smith (SOPA) and Patrick Leahy (PIPA).

I’d better download whatever I can now and store on my hard drive for future use!

Laptop

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:50:00 -0500

Just bought this for my young bro at a cheap price.

HP G4-1322TX

Intel Core i5-2450M 2.5GHz

4GB DDR3 RAM

640GB HDD

ATI Radeon HD 7450-1GB DDR5

Win 7 Home Premium

14.0’’ HD LED display

Allen Stanford Scandal

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:56:58 -0500

Allen Stanford Scandal

Economic Capital vs. Regulatory Capital

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:16:36 -0500

Economic Capital (internal measure): the amount of risk capital, assessed on a realistic basis, which a firm requires to cover the risks that it is running or collecting as a going concern, such as market risk, credit risk, and operational risk. Firms and financial services regulators should then aim to hold risk capital of an amount equal at least to economic capital.

Regulatory Capital (required by regulators)

How to do well in a Balloon / Sinking Ship Debate?

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:34:00 -0500

As in real life there is no single correct answer to this exercise and most others like it. Any solution could be persuasively argued for, and the final solution you choose is not important. You would be assessed on how logically and eloquently you made your case for whichever individuals you decided to save. Lateral thinking could get you extra marks here: creative uses for objects such as these would probably be marked up. For example the banknotes carried by the bank manager might not have any monetary value on the island, but could be useful for lighting fires or as toilet paper, and the suitcase could be useful for storing and protecting food. You could make a fire using the matches or a magnifying glass so you don’t need both. The magnifying glass would probably take precedence as it won’t get damp and can be reused many times. The novel is not just for reading, it could be used to make fires. Similarly the rum could be used for disinfecting wounds or to prime a fire and the empty bottle might be useful for storing water.

A good starting point might be to decide on the criteria you will use to select and rank people. Some of the possible criteria you could use follow. Which one you chose would not be important, as long as you used it consistently, but it might give some insight into your personality and values!

Most useful individuals.
Compassionate grounds: women, children, sick and elderly first.
Most valuable contribution to society.
Most useful items carried.
Survival of the fittest!
The most harmonious team

Find the right job!

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:24:00 -0500

Not one person in a thousand said that happiness accrued from working as hard as you can to make money to buy whatever you want. Rather, the near-universal view was summed up by an 83-year-old former athlete who worked for decades as an athletic coach and recruiter: “The most important thing is to be involved in a profession that you absolutely love, and that you look forward to going to work to every day.”

Although it can take a while to land that ideal job, you should not give up looking for one that makes you happy. Meanwhile, if you’re stuck in a bad job, try to make the most of it until you can move on. And keep in mind that a promotion may be flattering and lucrative but not worth it if it takes you away from what you most enjoy doing.