Category: new!

Drug-Makers Paying Off Competitors To Keep Cheap Generics Off Market

This sounds almost too hard to believe. According to TPM, Drug-Makers Paying Off Competitors To Keep Cheap Generics Off Market.
Indeed:

Over the last few years, drug-makers have embraced a startlingly simple tactic for fending off competition from generic brands: paying them off. In a nutshell, the company that holds the patent on a profitable drug strikes a deal with the maker of the cheaper generic brand: you hold off on marketing your generic for several years, and in return, we’ll give you a share of our profits on the drug.

So common have these deals become lately that they’ve been given a name: pay-for-delay. The approach — a textbook anti-competitive tactic — is worth billions to drug-makers, because it essentially allows them to buy more protection than their patent confers.

That was made more or less explicit by Frank Balsino, the CEO of Cephalon, which makes the sleep-disorder drug Provigil. In a 2006 interview, Baldino trumpeted recent deals with four generic drug-makers that kept generic versions of Provigil off the market until 2012, declaring: “We were able to get six more years of patent protection. That’s $4 billion in sales that no one expected.”

Whatever the reason for this — good, bad, or indifferent — it adds up to greater costs to the consumer and the organizations that insure them. It also sounds like abuse of the patent process. To say the least.

How much do you think this typewriter is worth?

$11? $50? Or $20,000? If you guessed the last answer, you’d be correct. For this Olivetti typewriter, a well designed machine in its own right, is worth so much more because it used to belong to Cormac McCarthy. A good story about McCarthy and his Olivetti typewriter can be found (at this somewhat punnily titled article) here: No Country for Old Typewriters – A Well-Used One Heads to Auction – NYTimes.com

The positive effects of the U.S. Federal Stimulus Package

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it has produced 600,000 to 1.6 Million Employed by Stimulus according to the WSJ.com, as well as boosted the GDP.

You may argue with the cost/benefits of such stimulus, but it appears to be doing what it should be doing, which is create short term jobs and stimulate the economy. And jobs, especially in the U.S., are certainly needed.

Looking for gift ideas? Check out these 10 great gifts under $50 from Style At Home

Now, the list of 10 great gifts under $50, includes glass bowls, throws, and other fine things. But frankly, they had me at Tiffany’s!

Sure, you can get a cheaper deck of cards than these, but how many gifts can you get from Tiffany’s that is under $50 that will actually be useful? Not many, I say. But hey, whether it’s this or something else on the list, I believe now your Christmas shopping — and mine — just got a bit easier.

Good luck!

Where’s the best place in the world to live? According to expats polled by HSBC, it’s Canada

More reasons to be proud of Canada! According to this  Expat Experience Report 2009 by HSBC Bank International, Canada ranks #1 in terms of ranking by expats. As the surveys says, Canada “scored well across all categories, with ‘making expat friends’ the only category where it was ranked outside of the top ten. It scored in the top three for setting up utilities, making local friends and joining community groups.”

To be fair to other places like the UK, Canadian accomodation tends to be newer. And Canadians — most people, actually — likely work less than those in places like Hong Kong. Needless the say, the UK, the US, HK, and many of the other places are great places to live or move to for all sorts of reasons.

That said, I was still delighted (but not surprised) that Canada came in first. Now if it only didn’t get dark so early in the wintertime. 🙂

Check out the report: it fairly comprehensive.

Polyvore: the next big thing in fashion?

My 13 year old is a fan of Polyvore, where users of the site can “play fashion editor and create collages featuring pictures of clothes, accessories and models from across the Web”, according to NYTimes.com. What caught my attention was this:

Founded by three ex-Yahoo engineers, Polyvore has been focused on getting people to visit the site. It seems to be working. Polyvore had more than 835,000 unique visitors in June, almost 25 percent more than the traffic to Style.com, run by Vogue, and InStyle.com, according to Compete, a Web analytics firm. It is also far bigger than the Web sites of Lucky and Harper’s Bazaar. While other fashion magazine sites have been struggling to hold an online audience, Polyvore has tripled its traffic in the last year.

Not only is it getting traffic, but it is getting it using highly interactive approaches. I believe this is the future. I don’t think sites can just demonstrate content (or worse, locked in Flash content). I think the sites that allow the user to take control of the content will be the ones that succeed. If that’s true, Polyvore should do well. Let’s see.

On Being A Dad

No matter how important you may be in the role you perform or the job you do, your kids see you mainly as a dad. Watching this video of President Obama Pardoning the White House Turkey, what I noticed after awhile is the response of his kids. It made me laugh, because they are being typical kids! They’re patient for a little while, but even though the speech is short, you can see them getting bored and fidgety very soon! Others in attendence might thing: oh, we get to see the President and visit the White House. For kids, they may be thinking: c’mon Dad, stop talking and pardon the turkey already!

The Apple One Day Sale and one good bargain: the Nike + iPod Sensor

Although we don’t participate in Black Friday in Canada, some retailers like Apple have good prices for Canadians, too. There aren’t great deals at the One-Day Apple Shopping Event – Apple Store (Canada), at least not that I can see, with the exception of the Nike + iPod Sensor, which is now $18.00 “Was $25.00 Save $7.00”. That’s around a 28% saving. If you need one, or you want a second/backup one, today’s a good day to get it.

Mary Walsh, as Marg Delahunty, Goes Rogue trying to talk to Sarah Palin

Well. What to say. I guess first, for those of you who don’t know, the “journalist” trying to interview Sarah Palin is actually the great Canadian comedian, Mary Walsh.  While I think the “protection” Sarah Palin has in this video is ridiculous, I have to say it’s a good thing Mary Walsh didn’t get to pin her down. Although, as you can see in the video…

Way to go, Mary! You make me proud to be a Canadian.

The Huffington Post has more here: Palin Tricked By Comedian Again, Says Canada Should Drop Public Health Care (VIDEO)

How smart reporters use Facebook and why you should know about this

Kashmir Hill is a journalist writing on how she uses Facebook for reporting. If you use Facebook, you’d be smart to read this. Even if you don’t think journalists are interested in what you are up to, others may be. They may use the same techniques to find out more about you; even things you think are private, or protected by certain privacy settings.

Take heed.

Where is Phil Agre?

Sadly, Phil Agre, who suffers from manic depression, has abandoned his apartment and his job and has disappeared, according to the All Tech Considered, Technology News And Culture Blog from NPR. If you weren’t involved with the Internet in the 1990s, you may not know who he is. But like alot of people back then, I was a big follower of his famous mailing list, Red Rock Eater. I agree with NPR, when they say:

“Agre’s online influence reaches far and wide – which makes it all the more surprising that he could have gone missing for such a long time without more people noticing. He was the publisher of the Red Rock Eaters News Service, an influential mailing list he started in the mid-1990s that ran for around a decade. A mix of news, Internet policy and politics, RRE served as a model for many of today’s political blogs and online newsletters.

I was influenced by Agre, too. I became a fan of the Red Rock Eaters list in the 90s, and encountered online references to it almost on a daily basis. I was always excited to see one of my articles or projects cited in it. With Agre’s curation, RRE reached thousands of Internet researchers, policymakers and some of the first bloggers. Agre had established a sizable online network and knew how to use it – so much so, he even published a how-to guide on using the Net to strengthen your professional relationships.”

I started my own list, Smart People I Know, due in a large part to the influence of Phil Agre and RRE. Eventually it turned into this blog.

I hope they find him safe and sound, soon.

How to describe colour? Crayola knows. The Associated Press does not.

The American Prospect points out a stupid comment made with regards to the colour of the gown that Michelle Obama wore recently, namely, AP said:

First lady Michelle Obama chose to wear a gleaming silver-sequined, flesh-colored gown Tuesday night to the first state dinner held by her husband’s administration.

Now if you look at what I underlined and then you look at this photo:

You can see it is not “flesh” colored, at least when it comes to the skin tone of Mrs. Obama. AP should know better.

AP mistakes aside, what this article did point me to was this page on the history of Crayola Crayons. I found it fascinating to see how they started with 8 basic colours in 1903, only to expand out to 48 colours in 1949. At that time, they retired Prussian Blue to Midnight Blue based on requests of teachers, and they replaced Flesh with Peach in 1962, “partially as a result of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement”.  Later on, the replaced Indian Red in 1999 with Chestnut. And in 2003 they replaced a number of other, less controversial, colours.

So there: I think it is entirely accurate to talk about the peach-coloured gown of Michelle Obama.

I am curious though about the controversy about Prussian Blue, since I believe Prussian Blue is still a paint colour that artists use. Was there some anti-Prussian sentiment that drove this change? Regardless, the Crayola page is interesting to anyone who has used one of their crayons (which is Canada and the U.S., probably everyone!)

Before there was Muhammad Ali, there was Sugar Ray Robinson

As dashing as he is here, he could be deadly in the ring. He is one of the greatest fighters of all time, and now there is a biography on Sugar Ray, nicely titled, ‘Sweet Thunder,’ by Wil Haygood (Review – NYTimes.com). If you know a boxing, sports, history or biography fan in your family, this could be a superb gift. It’s a great story from many different angles, and you don’t necessarily have to be fight fan to appreciate the life and times of this man. Check out the review, then head on over to Amazon or your favourite book seller and pick up a copy.

(Photo from the review, The Times of London).

 

 

Good economic news from…Mint.com?

Mint has published some charts that show a consumer comeback story here: Black Friday 2009 – Black Friday Sales Numbers Walmart, Best Buy, Target | MintLife Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice. This is good news overall.

What I find interesting as an aside, though, is that Mint, because it has access to alot of personal data, could potentially be a source of economic information that is unique. For example, they could aggregate information about saving and spending patterns and start making predictions better than others. And it wouldn’t have to be intrusive. People could allow for their data to be aggregated in exchange for better services.

Twitter Best Practices for (Nonprofit) Organizations

The list found here, DIOSA | Communications: Twitter Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations, is aimed at nonprofit organizations using Twitter, but I’d add that any organization could benefit from reviewing this list and putting these best practices into action. Anyone advocating the use of Twitter within an organization would also be well advised to incorporate these practices into their proposal.

A great list. Found via Twitter, of course!

A modest propopal: how Goldman Sachs can really apologize

I’ve complained about Sachs before. I think there are long terms things they can do, or should be made to do, to be more accountable. They’ve taken some P.R. steps lately, but as this article rightly states (Editorial – Goldman’s Non-Apology – NYTimes.com) those are “crumbs from its table”. Instead, I like this idea alot better:

So, here’s a thought: A multibillion-dollar gift to the federal Bureau of the Public Debt, which accepts tax-deductible donations to reduce the national debt. The donation can come from the bonuses; that way, it would not harm shareholders, because they only get their cut after the bonuses are paid. Goldman’s tax savings from the donation could help finance the small-business initiative.

The article even tells them where to send a cheque/check.

If the left in the U.S. doesn’t bring them to task, the right will (or at least make noises it will, which will be good enough to defeat the left).
There’s lots that both sides could do and should do to rein Sachs in. This would be a good start.

Christmas for Minimalists

I am something of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas, so I don’t really get this:

I hope this Nativity set didn’t cost alot! (Call me Scrooge! :))  That aside, the Christmas season and the Holidays generally are coming. Time to start thinking of decorating, gifts, and other such things.

From the always entertaining, mogg blogg.

How to train and improve your speed for (half) marathons and races generally – the Rule of 3s

I have run in five marathons and around twice as many half-marathons. My preferred race now is the half-marathon. To train for it, I go with the rule of 3s. (Actually it is more of a guideline than a rule.) I got the idea from this Runner’s World article, The Less-Is-More Marathon Plan. That plan talks about training for a marathon on only 3 runs a week. I haven’t tried that, but I have trained and run half marathons on only three runs a week, and have found it to be very successful. Indeed, running more than 3 times a week is challenging for me because I don’t have the time and because I tend to run hard and I need the next day to recover.

The other thing I like about this Less-Is-More plan is that you train hard for 3 weeks, and then you have an easy (or easier) week. I think this is a great idea, and it helps keep you on the bandwagon. (And avoid injury.) Also, they have a three week taper at the end, which I also think is smart. Finally, each run in a week has a specific purpose.

Now, this plan is pretty detailed. Frankly, I am not that good at following that much detail. Maybe I should be, but I’m not. I am ok with keeping the long run distances and even the tempo distances, but running all those speed intervals is not for me.

What I do manage to do is split up my speed training into three groups. For the first set of speed training, I do fartleks, which is essentially  where I run fast intervals in the middle 1/3 of my run on Tuesdays. Because it is fartlek, I am not too strict in how long the intervals are. Essentially I try to push my body to do speed work, and when I find the quality of the speed work going badly, I slow down and recover. I make sure I do enough of this to make it worthwhile, but I am casual enough about it that I don’t dread it. (Hey, speed work is hard work! :))

For the second set of speed training, I do hill work. I split the hill work up into longer hills and shorter, steeper hills. Again, I do a few miles of warm up runs, then do about a third of my route as hills, then slow down and cool off. I use a HRM (heart rate monitor), and try to push myself enough on the hill workouts while trying to maintain good running form. To do this, I have to shorten my stride. I also recover by running slowly (and lightly, not thudding) down the hill. I also do some speed runs on shorter hills a few weeks after the longer hill workouts are under my belt and I am feeling stronger. (Doing the shorter hills first tends to be discouraging, at least for me.)

For the third set of speed training, I do actual intervals on a track (or I use Google Maps to help me plan out stretches of road). When I am doing those, I try and mix the distances, just like I in the Plan. Intervals can be boring, so I save them for after my fartleks and hill work. Also, by this point in the training, I should be feeling much stronger. If I do intervals early, I just feel slow and this is also discouraging. Part of the trick of doing any speed work is making sure you manage your mental training as much as your physical training.

By the way, for the tempo runs, I should be getting faster as the weeks progress, so I measure my tempo not so much by how fast I am running as by how fast my heart rate is. It’s also a good way of insuring that my speed work is paying off.

Lastly, your longer runs should be at a slower pace than the tempo run. See the plan (and other places) as to what the pace for that should be. What you are trying to do on the longer runs is get accustomed to running longer without straining yourself. You should still see progress in your pace, though, even though the effort you are exerting is less than what you will ultimately exert in the race.

At race day, the only thing that should prevent you from running faster than ever is bad luck. So, good luck! I hope you run fast and run well!

If you want to know what is the best economy car to buy now, read this

I loved this article: Cars are evil. Which one should I buy? – The Globe and Mail. I liked the banter, I liked the advice, and I even liked the comments at the end. By the time you finish reading it, you will not only know which new economy cars are cheap and reliable, but why you should get one versus another. There’s lots of good detail in this article (you will even appreciate why you want to choose a hatchback over a sedan).

Personally I like this Nissan Versa, but decide for yourself. Even if you aren’t getting a car right now, save this for later. Or just read it for a good chuckle.

 

 

More Photoshop catastrophes, this time of Demi Moore on W. Sheesh.

I honestly don’t know why we just don’t have drawings of people on covers and dispense with the fiction that these “photographs” are supposed to be of a real person. Take this photo:

Even someone with an unskilled eye, like myself, can see the (bad) photoshopping here. And W is no small time magazine. They must have a big staff and no doubt more than one person gets to critique the cover before it gets printed. Sad.

A more thorough / brutal criticism of this hack job can be found here: Was Demi Moore Ralph-Laurenized on “W” mag cover, with missing hip-flesh? – Boing Boing. I hope the original photo surfaces.

BTW, I love how “Ralph Lauren” is now a verb, and not a good one, either. Serves him right.

There is picky, and then there is font-nerd picky

Have you ever had your vacation ruined because the font on a sign was poorly chosen? Or upset by a movie because the font (on a pressure gage, no less) was anachronistic? If you are, then you are likely a font nerd! Font nerds are obsessive about…well, fonts. If you are one or you know one (and I know several), then you will know exactly what I am talking about. If you don’t, read this, Design – Mistakes in Typography Grate the Purists – NYTimes.com, and be glad you wouldn’t be able to identify Helvetica if someone put a gun to your head. 🙂

Is the world going to end in 2012, you wonder? NASA’s got your back

Short answer from NASA: No. The world will not end in 2012. At least, not according to the reasons found in the film 2012.

The detailed answer is here: NASA – 2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won’t End?

As an aside, I came across this because of a comment from someone who thought this was sad: that NASA had to debunk the movie. But to me, I think it is a great idea that NASA did this. If films like 2012 encourage people to learn more about science and be more science-literate, then that is a good thing. In fact, in answering these questions, they touch on astronomy, geophysics, and science history. Perhaps some kid reading this will be interested in learning more about these things. I remember watching “Chariots of the Gods” when I was a kid, and I was determined to know more about these things. Dubious science fiction can lead to better knowledge.

Saturday Night Music: Knotty Pine, Dirty Projectors & David Byrne

The Dirty Projectors were in town this weekend. In case you haven’t heard them before, here there are doing Knotty Pine with David Bryne. As a big fan of Byrne, I can see the affinity he has with this band. (Although one of the You Tube comments was: “This song would be better if it was just the chick singing. The guys’ voices who sing the second half totally pale in comparison to the awesome voice of chicky.” Kids today. :)) Not everyone cup of tea, but old fans of David Byrne should check this out. (And young fans of Dirty Projectors should check out David Byrne!)

Hear:

YouTube – Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors & David Byrne

Give art for Christmas – get it at Art Interiors’s 16th Annual Festival of Smalls

If you want a great inexpensive gift idea for someone this Christmas and you are in the Toronto area, I suggest you check out the 16th Annual Festival of Smalls. Art Interiors is a wonderful gallery in Toronto that annually features smaller works by fine artists at  low prices. There’s a wide array of art works that would appeal to anyone. And at those prices, you can afford it.

One of my favourite artists, Emily Bickell, is featured again. I love her abstract water paintings, like this one:

As well, a friend of mine, Jay Hodgins, has a number of his pieces featured in the Festival, including this one, which I really like:

If you are wondering: are they all abstract, then I give you this great work of Canadiana by Elizabeth Lennie, called Shinny 20 (appropriately enough):

 

Go check out the site, here: Art Interiors.

Better yet, go to the gallery and buy something for someone. Oh, and sure, get something for yourself, too. 🙂

Why I prefer Yahoo Maps over Google Maps

When I speak to people about directions, they usually refer to Google Maps. However, I have been burned twice by Google Maps giving me the wrong directions. For example, yesterday, I was going to 165 University Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada and I entered this in maps.google.com and was giving the wrong information and ended up almost being late for my interview. The previous time I was late for a funeral when I ended up miles away from my destination.

Yahoo! Maps has the correct information (as it did the last time). At a minimum I recommend you check both of them, especially if you have an important appointment. Or just use Yahoo! Maps.

The paradox of high-end fashion…

…is that what the designers themselves wear is (more or less) like what everyone else in the world wears. As this article — Fashion Duds | What Designers Wear – The Moment Blog – NYTimes.com  — points out, there are exceptions, like Karl Lagerfeld. (I’d add Gianfranco Ferre.) But lots of designers, be they Alexander McQueen, Dries Van Noten, or Georgio Armani, tend to dress pretty casually.

But don’t believe me: go the the Moment Blog and see the slide show.

How to prepare pig face, or the joy of butchery

Seriously. If you are fascinated by the preparation of food and especially meat like I am, you will be interested in the blog Road To…, which is

…something that chefs including (the author) could use and share techniques that are currently not in books or an interpretation of classic preparations.

For example, how often do you see how to prepare pig’s face?


The author gives a great step by step breakdown of how to prepare this and much more.

Let’s face it: if you saw this:

Especially if it was served with a sauce, you might not think twice about it. 🙂 But that’s what the pig’s face looks like served up.

It’s a great blog/site. Highly recommended for serious food people.

Why I love the site calorie count

What I love about the site  Calorie Count is not only does it tell you the nutritional facts of many popular fast foods, like the Calories in Starbucks Coffee – Cappuccino, but it also gives you nicely printed nutritional labels. (Essentially, they are the same labels you get on most food you buy from the grocery store.)

I think it would be great if all large chains printed such labels with their food.  Of course they won’t, unless they have to. But if most people saw on a regular basis how many calories were in a blueberry scone or some of those coffee flavoured drinks, for instance,  they might have alot less of them, and one would hope they would switch over to something more reasonable.

Regardless, I recommend you check out Calorie Count, especially if you frequent fast food places. Print off some labels of the foods you regularly eat. You might find yourself making better choices.

 

 

 

iPhone and the demise of cameras, PSPs, and every other digital handheld device

Kodak and other camera makers should note this photo:

 

I see people taking photos with five iPhones in this picture: not a camera amongst the lot. Indeed, it is a misnomer to call the iPhone a “Phone”, for it really is a computer. It can make phone calls, take photos, run games…you name it, it will be able to do most of it.

 

I think there will still be specialty devices, but they will be for niches, not the mainstream. Right now the mainstream is looking like this photo here (from TPM Photo Galleries)

How to more than double the size of Canada – or Gallup and the desire of people worldwide to emigrate

Gallup found that over 16% of adults in the world would emigrate if they could, which means 700 Million Worldwide Desire to Migrate Permanently to some country. Where do they want to move?

Interestingly, 45 million people would move to Canada if they could. Not as big as the 165 million who would move to the U.S., but pretty signifigant.

And where do they want to move from?

Largely from sub-Saharan Africa. While I think that in any region, there is always a percentage of the population that has the desire to move regardless of the conditions, conditions in any region has a great deal to do with whether or not someone wants to move.

In the near future, there will be alot more movement of people. With technology and knowledge, moving is easier than ever before. The thing standing in the way is nationalism. I suspect in the 21st century, the will of people to move is going to give nationalism a pounding.

(Found through Matt Yglesias)

Night Music – with Debbie Harry and company

Night Music, first known as Sunday Night, was a short lived show that lasted for 2 seasons — 1988-1990 — but had some great musicians on it. If you go here on YouTube, you can see great videos from the show of Marcus Roberts, Youssou N’Dour, Sting, Curtis Mayfield, the Pixies, Sonny Rollins…the list goes on. Much of it rarely seen.

For example, I think this bit by Debbie Harry is great, yet it has less than 20,000 views. It deserves more. See: