The Big Picture

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• Lykan Hypersport: World’s Most Expensive Car
• A Pension Deficit Disorder
• Site Redesign: Update
• What Would Steve Do?
• Here’s The Thing: Kristen Wiig
• Financial Innovation: A Risky Business?
• 10 Weekend Reads

Lykan Hypersport: World’s Most Expensive Car Posted: 24 Mar 2013 03:00 AM PDT Revealed at this year's Dubai International Boat Show, the Lykan HyperSport 2013 (from W Motors) is the world’s most expensive car absurdly priced at $3.4 million dollars. Only 7 will be made, all manufactured in Dubai — the first Arabian supercar (is it also the first Arabian car of any type?) • mid-engine twin turbo flat-six (built by RUF) • 750 HP. • 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds • Top speed 395 km/h. • Only 7 units to ever be made. • $3.4 million USD. Diamond-encrusted LEDs? WTF! Video after the jump   click for larger photos ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~   Assorted photos from W Motors, Car Scoops     ~~~

A Pension Deficit Disorder Posted: 24 Mar 2013 02:30 AM PDT

Site Redesign: Update Posted: 23 Mar 2013 04:30 PM PDT Last week, we rolled out the new site design. Lots of very helpful and productive comments. Here is the general overview of what most readers were saying: The positives: Cleaner; Site loads much faster (about 4X); is more stable; creates more meta-data about posts; generates more page views per visitor. The negatives: Clicking to open pages annoys some; colors are distracting; sidebar is “filler.” Overall seemed positive, with the two biggest complaints being clicking to open pages and the candy colors. If the layout  were to open every post, there is a load penalty for graphics, flash, charts, video, etc. This applies to all pages, even the ones that you may not be interested in. That tradeoff is something I don’t want to make, and too be blunt, I don’t find clicking on a page to be all that troublesome. The tradeoff of speed for convenience is huge, and it simply mean you have to click. Perhaps a good balance could be achieved opening the first 2 or 3 posts. As to the candy colors, I totally agree — they did not translate that well from the original design to a web version. It is something I plan on changing shortly. I have been thinking about variations on the illustration theme; one possibility is after the jump.   Please share your thoughts.     click for ginormous graphic

What Would Steve Do? Posted: 23 Mar 2013 12:00 PM PDT What Would Steve Do? 10 Lessons from the World’s Most Captivating Presenters What Would Steve Do? 10 Lessons from the World's Most Captivating Presenters from HubSpot All-in-one Marketing Software Get more tips from the world’s best presenters: http://bit.ly/Z8Spem

Here’s The Thing: Kristen Wiig Posted: 23 Mar 2013 09:00 AM PDT Alec talks with Kristen Wiig — who catered, did floral design, answered phones at a law firm and handed out peach samples at a farmer's market — all before landing her current gig, as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Kristen says she loves performing, but admits there's also a "big part of me that's just like: don't look at me." Kristen talks about auditioning for SNL, and the prospect of life beyond SNL: "I mean that's my family, it's my heart, it's New York to me." Kristen Wiig Monday, April 09, 2012

Financial Innovation: A Risky Business? Posted: 23 Mar 2013 07:00 AM PDT On September 7, 2012 the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School filmed “Financial Innovation: A Risky Business?” The event brought together individuals with a breadth of experiences and viewpoints to explore questions around the promise and risks of innovation in financial services and the potential of financial innovations to advance the public good and goals. This project was completed in conjunction with the Fred Friendly Seminars. The speakers included David Abrams, Caroline Baum, Ed Conard, Wilson Ervin, Representative Barney Frank, Gary Gensler, Linda Gibbs, Robert Solow, Alicia Glen, Bruce Greenwald, Blythe Masters, Andrew Ross Sorkin, and Peter Stringham Moderated by Professor Robert Jackson of Columbia Law School. For more detail, visit: http://ow.ly/g6oog or http://ow.ly/g6owZ This discussion is part of the Individual, Business, and Society curriculum that uses a series of discussions to foster a community dialogue on tradeoffs, choices, and accountability related to values-based leadership, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility. To learn more, please visit http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/leadership/finnovation

10 Weekend Reads Posted: 23 Mar 2013 03:30 AM PDT During the week, I save the longer form reads I come across for the weekend, when you have more time to pour yourself a cup of tea, and really give these works some focus. This week is another strange and interesting set: • We Aren't the World: Shaking the foundations of psychology and economics (Pacific Standard) • When Ian Fleming picked my grandfather to steal Nazi secrets (BBC) • What Fracking Means for Southeast Asia (The Diplomat) • The Miner’s Daughter: Australia's richest—and most controversial—billionaire. (The New Yorker) • Adult Children Ignoring Confucius Risk Lawsuits in China (Bloomberg) • How The Glock Became America’s Weapon Of Choice (NPR) see also NRA money helped reshape gun law (The Washington Post) • How I advise advisors to run an advisory business from my pulpit (RiaBiz) • The Lock Pickers (Slate) • A Letter to Paul Wolfowitz (Harper’s) see also How Americans were swindled by the hidden cost of the Iraq war (The Raw Story) • Who, What, Why: What does a pope do? (BBC) What’s up for the weekend?   Stagnant Japan Rolls Dice on New Era of Easy Money Source: WSJ

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