1) Bankers' Deaths Shine Light on Stress in Industry, Tunnel Vision (Bloomberg) - I realize this is a pretty morbid way to open Bonus Bananas, but it's an important discussion that could lead to some positive changes in the business. Some would argue that it already has.
2) Sad quotes from ex-bankers working themselves to death in new industries (eFinancial Careers) - The grass ain't always greener on the other side. It's ironic that your reputation from working in banking precedes you into your next field.
3) 'Minecraft' creator cancels Oculus Rift version following Facebook acquisition (The Verge) - So Facebook bought Oculus VR this week, and the geek world collectively lost their shit. Here's the head of the company that created arguably the most successful app-based video game in the last few years canceling the development of an Oculus version because he refuses to work with Facebook.
4) Oculus Kickstarter Backers Are Demanding Refunds (Kotaku) - More to the point, the folks who invested $2.5 million through Kickstarter to get Oculus going only to see them sell out to Facebook for 1,000 times that amount a few months later are seriously pissed. The comment section on the original Kickstarter campaign is pretty hilarious these days.
5) Is the IPO market in a bubble? What to look for... (CNBC) - Ummm...yes?
6) The New Version of Subprime Lending (National Real Estate Post) - This is some inside baseball on the mortgage lending industry, but in a nutshell there's now a mortgage company out there willing to write home loans for folks with a 535 credit score. But it gets even better: they're refusing to write loans for people whose credit score is over 680. What could possibly go wrong?
7) Silk Road Case Began With Hunt for a John Doe (Dealbook) - Pretty much the must read of the week, if for nothing else than the takedown in the library. This is some James Bond shit right here.
8) Creationists want equal airtime on 'Cosmos' (UPI) - If you're not watching the new Cosmos, you're pretty much failing at life. I've never seen anything cause so much fear in the minds of the religious right than this one little TV show. Science, bitch.
9) China sells BOTTLED AIR to tourists as smog described as 'environmental crisis' (Daily Mail) - Hat tip to @"Addinator" for this gem. Never let it be said that the Chinese don't get capitalism.
10) This Horrifying Clown Is Haunting Staten Island (NY Observer) - Some good old fashioned nightmare fuel here, kiddies.
Video of the Week:
Everybody's favorite psychopath Christopher Walken is an unbelievable actor. But did you know that dance was his first love? This mash-up of Walken dancing in his different movies is fantastic. This guy is such a pimp. Enjoy:
That's it for this week, monkeys! Have a tremendous weekend and let me know what you think about this week's Bananas in the comments.
Eddie,
You realize that "science" is now the new religion right? 99% of people who believe in all of the "science" are really no different than the people that believe in religion. Not because science is unprove-able but because people need something to follow with blind faith. It has always been this way. Science is just really replacing religion among younger generations. When science is completely politicized and commercialized due to grants being needed to conduct research. Grants aren't given to people who find results that differ from what is wanted. So science hasn't been pure in decades. So people who try and end arguments by saying things like "it's science" well they are just as big of idiots as those who try to end arguments by touting religion.
Well... science does provide tangible evidence, so it's not really "blind faith". But I agree that many people today take the word of scientists at face value too often, this stuff always reminds me of the South Park episode with atheism.
I've also always been curious as to how people believe that science completely disproves an omnipotent entity.
I am in no way saying that science isn't based on "facts" however the majority of the facts are manufactured with an end result in mind. Scientific research these days are entirely driven by end results. Climate research is a prime example. The whole 98% of scientists agree is total bullshit, science isn't a consensus. A consensus is created by only funding people who agree with you.
Also the blind faith comment was about the people who tout the finding with zero understanding about what that means.
//www.youtube.com/embed/22bo6CKJcJM
+1. Science is about presenting hypotheses and constantly testing them and questioning them. Not really what happens today in many cases.
Do people really think that Kickstarter is entry-level angel funding?
You "kick-in" a few bucks to see something you like get made/built and you get your perk. That's the deal. The only deal. There is no additional promise of maintaining independence or getting any sort of return on your donation.
I get that. My gut says most of the people complaining would take that $2B if offered.
I have no qualms with atheists or religious folks. There's nothing wrong with believing in God, just as there is nothing wrong with not believing at all. I do have a problem with people who think they're better than others because of what they choose to follow.
Anyway, the Silk Road case is wild. Imagine living a life like that...
I think a chance of God is the same chance of unicorns shitting rainbows. Are we sure it didn't happen? No. But if someone fervently believed this, would you consider yourself more intellectually superior? Yes. And God forbid (see the irony?) they believed THEY were intellectually superior, you can really see why the non-religious are so exasperated. On top of which the religious idiots have everything going for them in this country completely taking a dump on separation of church and state while the rest of the world laughs at how primitive America is in this regard compared with Aussies, NZ, Scandinavia etc. and you see why the non-believers have such a problem with this issue. And the sad part is, comments like this tend to make the on the fencers angry so I usually don't make them.
What makes people intellectual is their ability to listen and have level headed debates about things with people who have opposing views to their own. The fact both sides stoop to personal ad hominem attacks is proof that neither side can claim the high ground.
What I was trying to get at is no one is better than anyone else, intellectually superior or not. This is especially true for you and I, as we're both college students. And if someone is truly intellectually superior, they wouldn't care so much about a birdbrained opinion, would they? I let people believe in whatever pleases them the most and accept the truths that work for me.
4) Pretty insane conversations going on. I'm sure that if Occulus folded and people lost all their money there would be less outrage than seeing them succeed. Strange since the entire point of the funding them was to get a product out, and now it seems like they will be able to do that and much more. They clearly understood the terms of their investment and got what they were promised in return (dev kit and wtv). I doubt if they were offered equity that the campaign would have gotten as much support and actually succeeded. People hate feeling robbed of an opportunity
PS: Some great bonus bananas again, some serious debate starter material here
These banker stories are downright depressing. If you cannot maintain a better work life balance outside of investment banking in a corporate role, well you should just go back to Banking.
If they create a results oriented environment, in the literal sense, then simply get it done and go home.
Don't trade your personality for a fist bump from obscure office workers. None of them are your friends in the first place (ie: co-workers will happily back stab you if it helps them). So the additional bro fist from co-workers is literally meaningless.
The staten island clown story absolutely slays me. Just an absolute circus over there. I'd give that clown two weeks until it's going tanning and lifting weights.
Even the smart people lump us all in with the godamn creationists. Sigh.
My six y/o is addicted hardcore to Minecraft. Good on their founder for not working with a useless click bait repository.
I was curious about the Staten Island clown article, but when I clicked the link I wasn't able to read it because it's blocked at my office.
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