Marc's Journal
Sep. 19th, 2008
10:43 am - EFTs
So to begin this week I was way too exposed (long) to financials. When the market bounced a little bit on Monday mid-morning, I got out of UYG (Ultra long financial) and purchased some SEF (regular short financial). Then the market tanked throughout the afternoon and I got back in to UYG at a much lower price and figured I'd keep my SEF as a hedge. So I'm long financials again and hoping for a rally. Which I got.
But, this morning SEF is showing as down nearly 80% while SKF (the ultra short version of the ETF) is only down 20%... does anybody know wtf is going on?
UPDATE: SEF now on the tape down about 8%... Just a little glitch in the matrix?
May. 21st, 2008
12:57 pm - Do my work for me?
So, in one of the great developments of my professional career we are chasing a lead to help a large, off-shore gambling site develop their new poker client.
Two questions:
1. What are some online poker features that already exist today that you find really valuable?
2. If you were building a new poker client from the ground up, what new features (if any) would you try to develop? I have some thoughts on this (voice/chat integration, voice activated commands, integrated statistics provision...), but if you have a second, I would really love to hear what you think...
May. 8th, 2008
05:34 pm - La Dolce Vita
Well, I'm back in Italy but this time for work. I flew into Bologna on Sunday morning and from Monday through Wednesday I criss-crossed between Bologna, Treviso and Brescia putting about 1000 kms on a rental car. Having spent 3 weeks in Italy last Sept-Oct Sharon and I began to sour on it. But, after four months back in Boston it sure is easy to appreciate all this country has to offer.
Mon-Wed was brutal, but now I have a couple of days to kill. After a final interview in Brescia on Wed afternoon, I picked nearby Ferrara (more or less randomly out of the guide book - Parma's hotels were full) to relax and get some work done. Today I sat in the piazza in front of my hotel. The castle dominated the view in front of me as I worked on my laptop off the hotel's wireless connection:
Ferrara seems to perfectly balance the cosmopolitan ways of Northern Italy with the stunning architecture, natural beauty and (relatively) down to earth folks we encountered during our time in Tuscany and Amalfi. For instance, while just about every resident is meticulously groomed, they still have the sense of practicality to choose bikes for transport around town, something we did not see in the hill towns:
I did a full double take when I saw the maid walk out of the hotel having fully transformed from her work outfit (complete with apron and hat) into just another fashionable local wearing designer jeans and Dolce & Gabana shades...
The weather was a pleasant 75 and sunny with a comfortable breeze all day. I had a pheonomenal dinner with a spectacular half-bottle of sangiovese... sigh, I could go on. It really is almost too perfect here.
Mar. 20th, 2008
01:38 pm - Planning a Vegas Trip
I'm planning a four night trip to Vegas for late June. My buddy and I are going to play in a $2K buy-in NLH tourney (Event #48) starting on a Friday, we will arrive on Thursday. My wife will come along as well.
I've never been to a WSOP event, but have read an awful lot over the past few years about how painful the logistics of playing in an event can be - so I wanted to see if anyone out there in LiveJournal land could help me avoid some pitfalls.
For accomodations, ideally we'd have a 2 bedroom suite that would give us a bit of privacy, but also have some living space to chillax and shoot the shit together. It seemed to me that the Rio would be a great match because we'd have the convenience of just stumbling downstairs for the start of the tourney on Friday. But, both wife and friend want to avoid the Rio because they think it is going to be really crowded and crazy there. Is this sound thinking or does the convenience of staying at the Rio outweigh the headaches?
For other options, where else should we consider staying that won't be too much of a pain the ass getting to and from the Rio? It appears that the Bellagio and Caesar's are both options. But, 2 bedroom suites at the Bellagio or Caesar's are really expensive (Bellagio.com quotes $1200 for one night). So a second question is, do any of these suites become available at discounted rates? If so, where should I be looking? I don't even see suites for Bellagio or Caesar's listed at Kayak, Orbitz, etc.
Those are the key questions I have for now, but if you have anything else to add about maximizing our WSOP experience in general, I'm all ears. Thanks!
Aug. 27th, 2007
04:39 pm - Life is good
One week from today Sharon and I will fly to Paris to begin a four month round the world trip. I have been planning and saving for this trip for about five years. The fact that we are so close to our departure date overwhelms me with joy and anticipation. I have an amazing partner to share this experience with and a job that supports the plan. In fact, both of us will be returning to our current jobs when we return in January.
One of the many inspiring aspects of the seminar conducted by Dr. Hegde that I attended in Bangalore (written about in this journal in the past) was his urging to take life moment by moment, to not fixate on the future and what is to come. It has been very hard for me to do this for the past six months as (other than work priorities) my entire life has been dedicated to finalizing the planning and preparation for a trip that was still months off. So, even though I've failed Dr. Hegde's advice for the past six months, starting today this will be my mantra. I am going to savor the last few days of work with colleagues I am proud to call my friends. I will enjoy my wait in line tonight at CVS picking up a prescription, the walk home, my wife's anxieties... I am going to absorb and appreciate all of it. Because every aspect of life truly is a gift and my life has been particularly lucky and blessed.
Speaking of life being good, I aspire to write up a "State of the (Red) Sox" post in this journal before leaving. But if I fail to, you can follow our adventures here...
http://marcandsharontravels.blogspot.co
Jul. 13th, 2007
03:48 pm - WSOP
Should be interesting to watch the rest of this play out. I've actually logged a fair amount of hands on Stars against both Dario Minieri and RainKhaN. Although most of my hands against Dario were a year or so back when he was playing a lot lower, he is loose and agressive and it seems like LAG play combined with a good run of cards goes a long way in these deep stack events. I have seen some HHs posted of Dario's from 100/200 limit that were funny in a "wow, people play that poorly at that level" kind of way.
I've played a bunch of hands against RainKhaN in the $109 turbos on Stars. He is TAG and unimaginative and played pretty poorly shorthanded, imo. Of course, he is sitting on over a million chips heading into Day 4 of the WSOP and my Stars bankroll right now allows me to play no higher than 1/2 NL... so... well, there's that.
03:25 pm - I guess that is why we do internal reviews
So yesterday I finished a draft of the sixth freakin' case study I've written on an end-user of a certain technology product. By #3 or #4 it was getting pretty old. By #6 I was ready to hurl myself out a window. So, in my boredom while writing it I decided to insert, "Product X is the schnitzel!!!" into the spot on the template reserved for the customer quote.
I finished off the damned case study and circulated to my boss and another colleague. Got a response back today, open up the document, first comment from my boss, "While this quote is a real zinger, I'm not sure it is appropriate for a business case study."
I guess he has a point.
Jun. 5th, 2007
07:33 am - Suki desu
-When the translator told the group of folks I'm working with I'm vegetarian one of them asked him "what flavor vegetarian is he?" I've eaten a lot of edamame so far :)
-The citizens of Tokyo (Tokyoians?) have evolved past talking on their cell phones. No one talks. On the train, everyone has their phone out and they are typing away. It is considered rude to talk on your phone on the bus or train and no one does.
-It is not law, but there is some government guideline that because of global warming companies should not over use A/C. The guideline is that you should not air condition below 28 or 29 celsius. So I'm working at a really old, big, electronics company that is following the guideline and they've revised their dress code accordingly. After June 1, no suit, no tie. I guess I could have left the suits and 10 ties at home...
-Everyone talks about the Japanese toilets and all of the controls on them - but who actually reports back on what they do? I do, baby. So my hotel toilet has the following controls: spray, seat warmer and bidet. I can also increase the water pressure up or down and there is a stand by button (?!). So far I've only experimented with "spray" and seat warmer. All I can say about spray is that it's aim is pretty impressive. I guess I should really research the difference between "spray" and "bidet" and report back.
-It is apparently in-style for Japanese women to strut around in either shorts or a skirt with dark knee or thigh high stockings. I wish I was making this up. I really do.
-"Marc-san" has a nice ring to it. And the business card exchange thing is practically a ceremony. I love it. I'm also bowing like a pro.
![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif){kind=small}
goodMay. 16th, 2007
11:15 am - Bonds
Was listening to an interview with Jim Leyland this morning on WEEI. Leyland essentially said that if Bonds had been a media darling his whole career and kissed people's asses we'd all be running around saying we'd seen the greatest player in the history of the game.
I could not possibly agree with this sentiment more.
Bonds has been victimized by the fact that he is a generally disagreable person with a strong disdain for the media. Did Bonds use steroids? I'd say the likelihood is somewhere around 99.9%. But the fact of the matter is that what Bonds has accomplished in his career is still unprecedented. And he has dominated the game in an age where many of his peers were also abusing the exact same substances, including the pitchers that Bonds has owned, day after day. If the key to hitting 755 homers was to shoot some substance into your ass, we'd have hundreds, if not thousands of major league hitters with that many homers. Any Sox fans out there remember Manny Alexander? Remember how he got pulled over with a syringe and juice like 10 years ago? Yeah, I guess it didn't help him too much...
This is not to even mention that many of the accusations against Bonds' abuse of substances, were not even against the rules of the game. Folks like Gene Orza are the real criminals.
Apr. 3rd, 2007
Mar. 15th, 2007
04:43 pm - Fantasy baseball with my degenerate friends?
Short notice, but the draft is on Monday night at 9PM EST. Buy-in will be either $50 or $100, most likely $50 although I'm of course rooting for $100 since my fantasy baseball skills are unsurpassed. ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
willmagic can attest to this.
Give a shout if you want in and I'll send you the details.
Mar. 14th, 2007
11:09 pm - lol donkaments
so i just watched the high stakes poker episode where barry greenstein says "lol donkaments" to earn $10K for charity. i of course had to google "lol donkaments" to find the 2+2 thread where the charity drive originated.
in the process i stumbled across this gem:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p
Mar. 8th, 2007
02:02 am - Shiva Temple
My driver Balu was supposed to pick me up at 7AM on Sunday morning (my first day off in Bangalore after 6 days of training) but as I would soon discover one of his consistent traits is to arrive anywhere from 15-60 minutes early. I did not worry about making him wait a bit for me and eventually stumbled out of the hotel into the hazy Bangalore morning.
The smallish temple was buried in the middle of a typically run down, residential neighborhood. Before getting out of the car, Balu made sure I removed my shoes. I asked if I could leave my socks on, he said no problem, but immediately upon exiting the car I realized that was a mistake as the ground was covered in mud and dirty water. I lost the socks and made my way past a few locals who were mostly relaxing in front of the temple entrance.
Balu's punctuality had us at the temple before it opened and we milled around several of the shrines outside of the main structure where Balu explained to me Shiva resided. Balu's birthday was just two days away and he was planning a 500km trek (via bus) to a much larger Shiva Temple with his wife and two children. Balu informed me that Shiva is a very powerful God and if you pray to him he will grant you anything you need. He pretty much told me this matter of factly without the tiniest wavering of doubt in his mind. Eventually, we began to assemble inside the main structure. A man wearing only a small cloth covering his midsection poured buckets of water on the different statues, the only one I could recognize was Ganesha.
In typical Bangalore fashion, a middle-aged man asked me in perfect English if I was here for IT work. He explained to me that he is a manager at Cognizant and offered me his business card. Soon after, the lights suddenly went out and the space was illuminated by only candles. Someone started banging on a bell very loudly, for quite a long time. After a minute of so of this the guy who wasn't wearing much clothers who seemed to be running the show came out to accept donations from the attendees. In return for my donation I was presented with a flower and a banana. Balu told me the show was over and we filtered out of the main structure. Balu asked me if I could provide some help to another older woman who appeared to be associated with the temple in some way, and she seemed quite grateful for the 20 rupees I was happy to give to her.
Nandi is the bull that Lord Shiva rides and is also the gatekeeper of Shiva (at least according to wikipedia). There was a pretty large statue of Nandi right outside the main structure where Shiva resided. Balu encouraged me to whisper into the bull's ear with a request for anything I needed - I guess Nandi will then relay my wish to Shiva. I obliged. I snapped a few photos of the bull and other smaller shrines and we made our way back to the car... Tomorrow, Balu and I will spend about 15 hours together as I travel 70km or so Southwest of Bangalore for a day trip to Mysore. Saturday I come home. I miss Sharon...
Mar. 4th, 2007
Feb. 25th, 2007
07:36 am - India
I left Boston on Friday night and about 30 travel hours later arrived in Bangalore (Sunday morning, local time). So far, so good. Aside from the families on a single motorcycle, the shanty towns built out of tarps and the remarkably pleasant weather, Bangalore reminds me a lot of Boston. Har, har...
Supposedly a lot of people speak English in India (particularly the people who work for my company) yet I'm quite sure no one understands me. They just bobble their head when I talk to them and say, "yes sir." It is quite amusing.
Well anyway, I am trying to stay up as late as I can before crashing to try and get on some semblance of a normal sleep schedule, but it is about 6:15PM now and I think I've hit a wall. Dinner doesn't start until 8PM and I'm about 25:1 against to make it that far.
Random question: I am obviously being careful about only drinking bottled water. Does anyone have a perspective on whether or not it is OK to use tap water for brushing your teeth?
I'm here for two weeks, including 2 nights of camping out (and I quote from the invitation to this program) "away from the maddening crowds" as part of a leadership training course I'm taking. So I'm pretty sure there should be some good stories to come, hopefully not involving me fighting off a terrible case of diarrhea in the Indian back country... :)
*yawn*
![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif){kind=small}
exhaustedFeb. 2nd, 2007
12:13 pm - What is a bigger racket, the dental or auto repair industry?
Long, pointless rant here...
( Read more... )
Feb. 1st, 2007
05:05 pm - lolz
I think the state of massachusetts has hit a new low...
amusedJan. 31st, 2007
10:13 pm - Ranting time
The 535 voting members of the US Congress have nothing better to do than debate a non-binding resolution decrying the "troop surge" in Iraq? Is this really worthy of your time? Are you fucking kidding me?
373 of you voted to authorize President Bush to go to war with Iraq.
159 members of Congress were smart enough to vote against it. 3 of them apparently didn't think this was important enough of an issue to warrant their vote.
And Hilary Clinton, John Kerry, John McCain, Harry Reid, Joe Biden, John Edwards, John Murtha... (sadly I could go on) I don't want to hear that President Bush misled you into voting for this war. I knew that this war would become an albatross at best. My wife knew that. Us and millions of others took to the streets before you authorized this war and said, "hey, this is a really bad idea. Maybe we should at least gain the support of the International community before giving PRESIDENT SHOCK AND AWE a fucking blank check to blow the shit out of Iraq."
So please, do me a favor, do yourself a favor, do democracy a favor and STFU.
Jan. 16th, 2007
02:30 pm - Planning our journey
This is a repost of a message we've put up in a couple of places. If you have anything to add, I'd love to hear from you!
( Read more... )
Jan. 7th, 2007
11:48 am - File under only in Cambridge Mass?
Yesterday I was verbally accosted by a 30-something in a Prius for running a red light at a very quiet intersection... on my bicycle.
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