Weekend Update: Berlin and Tough Guy

Friday morning, I caught a flight to Berlin for the World Money Fair. Basically a convention for anyone that trades monetary items in physical form. Lots of different aspects represented from people that trade in rare fiat currencies to numismatic collectors to sovereign mints (UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc). Almost purely a business trip, but I did manage to see (and touch) a piece of the Berlin wall.

My overall impressions of Berlin, which shouldn't be taken too seriously because of the nature and duration, is that is very much an industrial city. I guess its good to have seen a little bit of it, but overall I greatly preferred Munich.

On Saturday afternoon, I caught a flight back to London in order to get my kit together for the Tough Guy (www.toughguy.co.uk). I met up with the guys from Thames Crossfit (not Central London, where I normally workout) and we drove for a few hours North to Wolverhampton in the tiniest station wagon I've ever seen. 

I am going to do a separate write-up for the Tough Guy, but in brief: it was miserable. The most fun I NEVER want to have again. They have perfectly figured out how much suffering and abuse a human body can take and that is exactly how much you go through. Hopefully, they will post action pictures in the next couple of days for me to share.

Links (per Tinker's request)

Alberto Contador has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title after evidence of using PEDs. This all started when they found abnormally high levels of plastic in his blood. It's official, every cyclist is doing it. (Outside Mag)

Ray's MTB is an indoor mountain biking gym with terrain to please every style: freeride, bmx, or even XC (my favorite). Granted, is only economically feasible in certain areas that are too cold to ride 6+ months per year, but Cleveland and Milwaukee have their very own slice of mountain bike lore. (Adventure Journal)

Former NFL lineman and current creator/head of Crossfit Football (crossftfootball.com) on the 13 Iowa Hawkeyes who got rhabdo (Talk to Me Johnnie)

Best in bounds pass ever (Deadspin)

Apparently I'll be enjoying Meat Week here in London soon (Meat Week)

Remember the terrifying velociraptors in Jurassic Park? They were actually Deinonychus'. Surprised you didn't know that already (Smithsonian H/T TBP)

More troops lost in Iraq/Afghanistan to suicide than to combat (Congress.org H/T TBP)

Hulu looking at changing its business model (WSJ)

Mossberg: the road ahead for tablets (WSJ)

EU and UK face stagflation. Likely central bank tightening is strengthening the currencies against loose monetary policy in the US.  (WSJ). Reminds me of this video (thanks Blake)



IHOPs are ridiculous. I RIDE THE RIDE (Deadspin) NOT SAFE FOR WORK (some language at the end)


The Provo brothers go Snurfing (Hat tip backcountry.com blog) After the jump:

Amazing looking new MTB film coming: Life Cycles

Check out this trailer. I've watched it twice now. I've already bought the HD version on iTunes for $10. I'll probably watch it tonight or on my flight to Berlin Friday.

Life Cycles OFFICIAL Trailer from Life Cycles on Vimeo.

Upcoming Travel!

After a few weeks of getting back into the routine, my travel/adventure calendar is gearing back up a little bit. This weekend had some nightlife in London, indoor bouldering at The Arch Climbing Wall and was supposed to have some paragliding lessons today. Apparently the weather was particularly cold and windy today, so my paragliding lesson was cancelled. While I don't have a huge interest in paragliding alone, it is a good stepping stone to something I definitely want to try: speedflying. Check out a video below (watch in HD for full wow!)



This week I fly to Berlin on Friday (Jan 28) for a trade conference. Fly back Saturday night. Early the next morning, I'll catch a train towards Birmingham to participate in the Tough Guy race. That will be a long weekend. For more info about Tough Guy, check out the video below:





The weekend after that  (Feb 4-5), we have tentative plans to go to Norway (near Lillehamer) and do some winter sports and trekking.

Now you have an update on my itinerary for the near future. Knowledge is power.

Crowded Lineup at Jaws? Not at 2am

From Outside Magazine Blog

OKCupid Analysis: The Mathematics of Beauty & Game Theory

OKCupid is an online dating service with something like 4 million users. Nothing noteworthy in and of itself it would seem. BUT they have a reputation for doing some really interesting analysis on their own users in order to unearth some findings about humans as social creatures. Their most recent post (Hat tip Barry Ritholtz for pointing it out) looks at how a girl's perceived attractiveness influences the number of messages she receives.

Of course, the most simple correlation is being hot. A higher attractiveness rating generally leads to a higher number of messages received, but there is another factor as well. It seems that a higher standard deviation of opinions leads to a higher received message total as well. Basically, if men disagree on whether the girl is attractive or not, the ones that find her attractive are more likely to send her a message while generically 'cute' girls (ranked 3 and 4 consistently on a 5 star scale) get relatively ignored.

Here is where game theory comes into play: The authors' supposition is that if men think there is less likely competition for a girl they find attractive, their perceived likelihood of success (i.e. a reply message) goes up. That increase in probability of desired outcome increases their cost-benefit of acting (by sending a message). In a wager, there are two factors that increase your desire to gamble:
1. Higher potential winnings (in this case a more attractive partner)
2. Higher probability of winning (a reply message from said potential partner)

The interestingly worded result: "If someone doesn't think you're hot, the next best thing for them to think is that you're ugly."


Brilliant! Basically, it is suggesting that women creating an online profile should have an edgy picture (unless you are guaranteed to get all 5's, in which case you are probably not on an online dating site). As they suggest:

If you're a little chubby, play it up. If you have a big nose, play it up. If you have a weird snaggletooth, play it up: statistically, the guys who don't like it can only help you, and the ones who do like it will be all the more excited.

In a real world sense, it makes the woman less intimidating.

Check out the full article here

Morning Links

Here's what was on my iPad last night and this morning:

Sports Illustrated has new info in the case against Lance Armstrong

AAPL demolished earnings, but Steve Jobs is taking another leave (WSJ)

The road ahead for the Euro (WSJ)

Reason number 75176 why Montana is cooler than where you live (this is there anti-DUI ad). I posted video after the jump because I couldn't get it smaller.

Pillow Skiing Made Easy

I'm not sure where Mica Heliskiing is (ok, I looked it up, its in British Columbia of course), but wow does this video make me want to go. I've never even tried skiing the pillows like these guys do, but they make it look really easy. I was really glad to see the clips of them falling to prove they are mortal. (Hat tip Adventure Journal)



Deep - Mica Heliskiing from Switchback Entertainment on Vimeo.

Today in American Statistical Trivia

The NYT published some interesting graphic-accompanied statistical data about the US from The US Statistical Abstract. This kind of stuff isn't even close to useful information, but its kind of neat. Plus, anything I can gain in this field puts me one step closer to ever beating Nancy at something trivia-related (24 years of sibling-ness and its yet to happen). Check out the story here. Some of the highlights (file under 'this week's sign of the apocalypse)


- Twice as many young adults bowl as ride bicycles.
- We ate 5.4 pounds less red meat per person since 2000
- We ate 30 pounds fewer vegetables per persons since 2000
- 41% of all births were to unmarried women (up 22 points since 1980)
- 7.3 million adults in jail, on parole or probation in 2008.

Moment of Zen: Weekend Cabins

Adventure Journal is doing a new weekly feature about rural cabins. The inaugural edition is simply a collection of pictures of cabins, but it makes for a nice quiet minute of looking through. Check it out.

US & Israel in Cyberwarfare against Iran

Really interesting article in the NYT today about how the US and Israel used the seeming harmless Stuxnet computer worm to set Iran's nuclear centrifuges back years. Check it out here.

I assumed there was plenty of this stuff going on between the US and China, etc but to read some of the details about the process is fascinating.

Video Dump: Jackson Hole Powder, Homemade Luge and NASA

January Powder in Jackson Hole (thanks Adventure Journal)



Homemade Luge Track (Thanks Backountry.com blog)




Cool NASA video (Narrated by Carl Sagan I believe):

NYT: Why So Many Rich People Don't Feel Very Rich

Fascinating (and short) article in the economics blog of the NYT yesterday. I tended to attribute the income inadequacy feeling to a 'keeping up with the Jones' but this article makes a good point:

Those in the middle earn a little less than people a few percentiles up from them, whereas those at the top earn a lot less than their counterparts in nearby, higher percentiles. For example, those who aspire to hop from the 30th percentile to the 35th percentile would need in increase their cash income by $4,000 annually (or by about 17 percent); those who aspire to hop from the 91st percentile to the 96th percentile would require an increase of $324,900 (or 171 percent).


Good stuff (Hat tip TBP)

Low fly-bys

Slightly cheesy (but still kinda fun) Top Gun intro aside, this video of low fly-bys is pretty cool. For some reason number 4 is my favorite with the three different jets. Check it out:




Hat tip Comerford!

Two quick links: Ski sales and walking straight

Early season numbers indicate the ski industry is doing well this year (snow = $). Unfortunately telemark sales are down (Backcountry blog)

Why can't humans walk straight. Quick video from NPR (Via The Big Picture) about why humans can't walk straight:

A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight? from NPR on Vimeo.

Links!

While perhaps less fun than my ski videos, there are a few worthwhile articles:

Can Banks Foreclose on mortgages they don't own? (i.e. loans were securitized and sold). This could prevent many homes from being foreclosed and would only prolong the excess supply in the housing market. (The Big Picture)

Team MacroMan's Non Predictions (Set 1 Commodities, Set 2 Equities, Set 3 Rates)

Check out this really cool MP3 experiment (H/T TBP)

aBradAbroad in Steamboat: the sequel

This second video is a little better edited and is a compilation of a few runs. Same caveats: chest-mount makes it look less steep and also makes it look like I'm sitting really far back.

Now I'm off to catch a flight back to London...

Steamboat Powder New Year's Eve 2010 from Brad Yates on Vimeo.

World Video Premiere: aBradAbroad in Steamboat

This is my first crack at the whole edit/upload thing. We'll call the first video a very rough cut, but I thought I should try to just get something posted. Also, please note that I shot this from a chest-mounted camera, not the helmet mount, which does two things:
1. My arms look like they are being held up awkwardly high
2. The pitch looks less steep than it actually was.

Enjoy!

aBradAbroad in Steamboat 1.2.2011 from Brad Yates on Vimeo.

Flying out of a tiny mountain airport in winter?

Of course, I am delayed. Good skiing = bad flying. It currently looks like I will make my connection in Denver to get back to Dallas for about 24 hours before I leave again for London. I only have my trusty iPad, so I can't post any cool links or videos, but I promise they are en route.

I had a blast skiing in Steamboat with Blake and Julia. We pushed a couple of comfort zones and tried to kill Julia at one point, but we definitely had fun all around. I used the GoPro POV camera that Mom bought me for Christmas to shoot some (hopefully) cool footage. I'll try to figure out how to edit them down so you don't have to listen to my heavy breathing and/or light swearing. It was bitter cold (minus twenty at the top), but some hiking and steep powder skiing definitely kept me warm. I'll try to get photos or videos posted in the next week or so.

I hope you all had a happy and safe New Year's. Happy Birthday Nancy.

UPDATE: Made it home on time!!!!!


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