Zopa: Lending and Borrowing

<p><a href="http://www.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/Public/what.shtml">Zopa: Lending and Borrowing</a> – <em></em> <a href="http://del.icio.us/GregoryHeller">Gregory Heller's Del.icio.us</a> </p><p>This is very cool. It is a "company", maybe "investment house" or "broker" fits better, that allows you to make a loan (actually really not make a direct loan) but offer money for borrow on the market. You set your interest rate and you set you exposure (risk level) based on the multiple markets they have (think low risk, medium risk, high risk) and then people can apply for loans from the funds. Your funds are pooled with other people and your risk is managed because your funds are loaned across the market (made to many folks). Well go to the website to read all about it. But it seems like this might be a tool to fund open source...

Larks and Owls

<p>[lk:nytimes.com/2005/03/27/fashion/27SLEEP.html|"Timing of sleep is genetically determined, whether you're an owl or<br /> lark," said Dr. Mark Mahowald, the medical director of the Minnesota<br /> Regional Sleep Disorders Center. While most people are a little bit owl<br /> or a little bit lark, for others, Dr. Mahowald said, altering sleep<br /> habits is "like changing your height or eye color."] This from the NYTimes Styles section in an article about early risers.</p> <p>I am not generally one to rise early, but since I have been staying out at my brother's house, I have been waking up before 7AM, before my alarm even.</p> <p>The bigger issue is teh hegemony of the early risers, how many people are forced to work a 9 to 5 schedule whel 11 to 7 would be better for them? How many children would learn better in school keeping later hours rather than getting there at...

Geo-Greening

<p>Thomas Friedman [lk:www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/opinion/27friedman.html|writes in the NYTimes sunday] about a concept he calls <i>Geo Greening</i> suggesting that the president is squandering an opportunity to take our country and the planet in a more sustainable direction in terms of oil consumption. Great op-ed, among other things he suggests higher gass prices, carbon tax, new nuke plants and solar and wind power. </p><p>One easy start that he doesn't really mention would be [wik:biodiesel]. The government could ban the use of straight diesel fuel and mandate a phase in of [lk:biodiesel.org|BD].</p> <p /> </p><p>In other news, the implementation of a law aimed at limiting diesel emissions at construction sites in NY [lk:s in jeopardy|is in...

John Edwards' First Podcast

<p>I just listened to <a href="http://www.oneamericacommittee.com/podcast/032105_JRE.mp3" target="_blank">John Edwards' first podcast</a>. While i don;t think that it is in and of itself anything to write home about, the fact that John (and Elizabeth) are podcasting is. I am very excited for what the future holds for politicians and more importantly <i>leaders</i> podcasting. The internet truly is the new public square, and to have leaders getting up on the soap box and communicating to the masses is great. </p> <p>As someone who only recently made a first attempt at a podcast, I have to say that for their first one, this was pretty good (there were some hypercritical folks commenting on the blog at <a href="http://blog.oneamericacommittee.com" title="http://blog.oneamericacommittee.com">http://blog.oneamericacommittee.com</a>). </p> <p>A few good additions would be audio comments and questions from listeners and perhaps a little less of the incidental chit chat (about sports for instance) but that is just me, I don't follow sports so hearing anything about it kind of turns me off. But pragmatically, the sports of the day doesn't hold up a week later when someone is listenting to the podcast. The questions and answers about polic issues, civic engagement and that sort of thing do hold up.</p> <p>Congrats John and Elizabeth, and Elizabeth (and the Edwards family) may your treatment and recovery be quick and...

NTEN: NTC Wrap Up

<p><b><br /> Science Fair:</b> Bla, call it what it is, <i>Vendor </i>Fair. Really not fun being pitched to and bribed with little toys and candy. Well the little toys and candy are kind of cool. I now have a new back massager, courtesy of Kintera, and desk clock, and envelope opener (with a sharp razor that made it onto the plane flying out of O'Hare i just realized), but vendors are too busy pitching for the most part to really listen to us about what we need. </p><p>Maybe turn the Fair on its head in the future, and let anyone who wants set up a table to talk about what they are doing and what the need, with a focus not on vendors, but organizations, and let the vendors circulate and talk to folks.</p> <p><b>Small Groups Dinner</b>: Fun, we talked about terrorism, airport security, text messaging, blogs and more. The table was really divided in 2, not sure what they talked about at the other end of the table but Patti, her friend, Jacob and Chris Krinkle from [lk:www.getactive.com|GetActive] and I had some fun conversation. Thanks for diner GetActive.</p> <p><b>Mena Trott Keynote:</b> Bla-er than Bla. This was really possible the [gh:node/73|worst keynote address] I have ever sat through, though I wasn't too impressed with Randle Pinket at the regional nTen in NY. I think it would behoove nTEN to get a real visionary for this slot, (only because I am reading his book right now) [lk:www.lessig.org/blog/|Lawrence Lessig] would ROCK! But there are other folks IN the community who could have given a more interesting keynote address, even on the...