Apple v Samsung

I am sure this is only the start of the patent litigation in the tech industry. It looks like Apple have won their case against Samsung products copying Apple ideas that are patented.

Samsung shares have slid on the ruling that sees them paying $1bn dollars in compensation, and maybe having products withdrawn from the US market.

Overall I agree with those that say it will be bad for consumers in the market and limit competition. How long can ideas that are "out there" be something a company can protect, Apple sell a high margin product and locking out competition for many years is surely counter productive.

I always sympathise with the James Dyson views on patents, he won a case when he was trying to bring his vacuum cleaners to market - so I do feel they have a place. Here is his comments on the case:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/9500480/Its-obvious-that-British-courts-should-defend-firms-patents.html

Neil Armstrong RIP

Very sad news of the death of Neil Armstrong yesterday. Inspired a generation even though he kept out of the limelight and led a normal life after the landings.

I saw this quote and I think it sums him up very well:

"I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer -- born under the second law of thermodynamics, steeped in the steam tables, in love with free-body diagrams, transformed by Laplace, and propelled by compressible flow"

Here is the link to the Telegraph obituary:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/science-obituaries/9499820/Neil-Armstrong.html

Facebook Economics III

I can't resist another analysis. There are 2.13809 billion shares issued. Currently trading at $19.41 per share, $41.50 billion market cap That's a loss of $44.02 billion...

Olympics 2012 Memories

Now the Olympics have finished here are the memories I will look back on:

1. Mo Farah 5000 & 1000 metre double, incredible achievement.
2. Usain Bolt 100m/200m double and the relay record, proof that it was not all talk.
3. US 100m women's relay record.
4. Bradley Wiggins time trial victory in cycling.
5. David Rudisha breaking the 800 metre record.
6. An opening ceremony the trod the line between eccentricity and absurdity well.
7. Jessica Ennis winning the Heptathlon, 200m and 800m in particular.

In short it will be remembered as a great event, despite all the initial worrying (remember the wrong flag being raised for the Koreans?). It is a boost for the countries image, and will probably be a tourist boost for years to come.

Book read: Cosmos by Carl Sagan

I bought this book on the back of watching the iconic 1980s series Cosmos. It is an interesting and thought provoking read, covering similar areas to the series but going into more detail on some areas.

Clearly a big thing for Sagan is the search for extra terrestrial life and how we would go about it, or even recognise any signals we might receive. The book also gives a general treatment of scientific advance right through to Einstein's ground breaking work on relativity. It also analyses missions such as Voyager, and theoretical missions of how far we could travel in the vast distances of space.

Of course the book feels like a bit of history now, Sagan sadly died in 1996 at 62. He would have been fascinated by the continued discoveries like exoplanets and images from space telescopes.

Book read: Fear Index by Robert Harris

I had resisted reading this book even though I like the authors other work. To me a book based around financial engineering and low latency trading seemed to have limited options - compared to maybe Enigma or Fatherland the other works I had read.

Now having read it I quite enjoyed it, Harris does a good job of explaining the technicalities of hedge fund trading and works a thriller plot into the book by having the central character doubt his sanity as an investigation of a break in and assault at his luxury home.

A subtext of the book is to make the reader stand back and wonder about how obscure financial trading has become, relying on computers and automated processes to do the work - the hedge fund company in the book has developed such a automated system and is looking for new investment.

Betting Results 2011-2012

Last year I started tracking my sports betting - I do not bet much per event but it is a way of keeping interest in things like football, as I've long since been an avid fan.

So the year is up how did I do?

Name	Value
Total staked	£626.05
Avg Odds	2.31
Profit/Loss	-£17.75
Avg Profit Per Week	-0.40

A breakdown by sport:

	Total	Won	Lost	% Win
Football	406	195	201	48.03
Tennis	35	27	8	77.14
F1	30	22	8	73.33

This year I am trying some different approaches:

1. A cleaned up spreadsheet with weeks properly demarcated.
2. A virtual bets to test out some more outlandish odds.