Author Archives: Felix

New Blu on Ave C

Posted on February 28, 2006 by Felix

Nublu, the nightclub on Avenue C between 4th and 5th Streets (I won’t link ‘cos the website resizes one’s browser) has long marked itself with a blue light above the door. Now, a block down, between 3rd and 4th, there’s … Continue reading →

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Web stats

Posted on February 27, 2006 by Felix

Statistics are hard, as Charles helpfully pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago. But one has the idea that techier people grasp the relevant concepts more than your standard arty journalist might. And then one reads Paul Boutin … Continue reading →

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Kottke and promises

Posted on February 22, 2006 by Felix

One year ago, Jason Kottke gave up his $10,000-a-month web design gig to become a full-time blogger. A good website, he assured us, was about to get much better: The goal is to use the increased level of focus and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Wine Contest!

Posted on February 11, 2006 by Felix

I hosted a wine contest last night. Thirteen people came, and each brought two bottles of wine. We all tasted one of the bottles, while the other bottle was put into a prize pool. (Hat tip to Gothamist for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 15 Comments

Long live the glossies

Posted on February 2, 2006 by Felix

Simon Dumenco is not a lazy columnist. But even the most avid columnist has an off week, when he simply can’t think of anything to write about. The worst solution to this problem is the "I can’t think of anything … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction

Posted on January 11, 2006 by Felix

It is impossible, today, to experience a work of art the same way as it would have been experienced 100 or 200 or 400 years ago. Orchestras can play baroque music on original instruments; churches can display the same altarpieces … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 3 Comments

Who is Treasury under secretary for international affairs?

Posted on December 13, 2005 by Felix

The job of under secretary for international affairs at the US Treasury is a hugely important job which few people have ever heard of. It’s a political position, which means the decision as to who gets it is made not … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | 3 Comments

Authorship and ownership

Posted on December 6, 2005 by Felix

The ongoing debate over Google Print Google Book Search is yet another manifestation of a more fundamental debate over intellectual property rights. But one thing has been nagging at me for a while, and it’s based on the whole idea … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 7 Comments

The Forty-Part Motet

Posted on November 1, 2005 by Felix

I haven’t posted here since mid-September; it’s now November. I have a couple of excuses (I got married, had a honeymoon, am moving house, have been posting at MemeFirst), but it’s still a very poor show. Maybe all the goings-on … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 6 Comments

Race and mortgages

Posted on September 14, 2005 by Felix

Everybody knows that American blacks pay more for their groceries than American whites do. The same, it seems, is true of mortgages. (Update: I just, you know, actually read this first sentence. And no, it doesn’t mean that American mortgages … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | 7 Comments

Hurricanes and global warming

Posted on September 12, 2005 by Felix

According to Nick Kristof of the New York Times, MIT’s Kerry Emanuel is a "hurricane guru". Conveniently, Mr Emanuel published a major hurricane study in Nature just before Katrina hit the US. What did that study say? According to Kristof, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

When we become what we formerly scorned

Posted on August 24, 2005 by Felix

I had this very conversation just yesterday, when my friend Ephrat came over at lunchtime with a tailcoat she’d embroidered for my upcoming wedding. But today Lindsay has nailed it with a bile-filled stream-of-consciousness rant which I sympathise with 100%. … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 19 Comments

Barney Calame, the toothless ombudsman

Posted on August 7, 2005 by Felix

The top brass at the New York Times must be ecstatically happy about their new ombudsman. Far from making use of his privileged position to speak truth to power, Byron (Barney) Calame seems to think that his job is to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

How not to cover Murdoch

Posted on July 30, 2005 by Felix

The New York Times can’t compete with the Wall Street Journal on general business and finance stories. But it does have aspirations to own one particular beat: media, that most New York of American businesses. So when Lachlan Murdoch resigned … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 3 Comments

Stock and flow

Posted on July 27, 2005 by Felix

I’ve already made it very clear what I think about credit cards: this post is an attempt to flesh out one theory of how and why they work the way they do – to the benefit of banks and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | 7 Comments

London

Posted on July 26, 2005 by Felix

I’ve just got back from London, after an absence of about a year in which time I bought a New York City apartment. I don’t know if that’s why, but this time was my first visit ever where I didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 13 Comments

All counterfeiting statistics are bullshit

Posted on June 9, 2005 by Felix

At the end of May, the US Congress passed the Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act. Faced with a huge and growing problem, the Congress acted decisively: simple possession of counterfeit labels can now mean the confiscation of an entire … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | 39 Comments

Is debt relief aid?

Posted on May 27, 2005 by Felix

UK charity Action Aid has been getting quite a bit of press today with its report that only one-third of G7 overseas development assistance (ODA) is "real" aid. The rest, they say, is "phantom aid". (If you’re interested, the full … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | 4 Comments

Lessig vs Butler

Posted on May 24, 2005 by Felix

Yesterday, I was unhappy, because my computer had to make a trip to the emergency room. Today, I am happy, because it is back and shiny and happy and has a Tiger in the tank. With any luck, this development … Continue reading →

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Make Dia free!

Posted on May 9, 2005 by Felix

Dia: Chelsea is relocating to become Dia: Meatpacking, anchoring the southern end of the High Line redevelopment. The New York Times quotes Michael Govan, Dia’s director: Plans call for building a simple two-story museum with 45,000 square feet of gallery … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 13 Comments

Freedom Tower update

Posted on April 26, 2005 by Felix

Sometimes the wall between the news and opinion pages at US newspapers is mildly exasperating. Last Sunday, the opinion page of the City section of the New York Times ran an interesting editorial about the Ground Zero Freedom Tower, saying … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | 11 Comments

Financial quacks

Posted on March 22, 2005 by Felix

Whenever I rail against journalistic innumeracy, which is often, I tend to point out that journalists are normally creative arts-graduate types, who frequently have very little grasp of numbers. In turn, this means that they’re at risk of being taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | 9 Comments

Wolfowitz

Posted on March 19, 2005 by Felix

I’ve recently written an article about Wolfowitz at the World Bank for publication, so I was going to avoid the topic here. But then I found myself today reading Thursday’s WSJ editorial on the subject, and it incensed me so … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 14 Comments

Freakonomics

Posted on March 17, 2005 by Felix

Last year, I said some nice things about Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, or at least about an article they wrote in the New York Times Magazine: The best piece of all in the magazine, however, doesn’t look big, it … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | 27 Comments

Calipari and rendition

Posted on March 7, 2005 by Felix

The Bush administration, I think it’s fair to say, never tells the truth when it would be better served by a lie. We saw this when it came to WMDs, of course, but we’ve also seen it time and time … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 3 Comments