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Archives
04
Jan 12
Forecasting with the Internet?
Conclusion, via the New York Federal Reserve:
Economists are always looking for ways to improve their forecasts—to make their crystal ball a bit less cloudy. We find that Internet search counts possess useful information, not available in other variables, to now-cast or forecast the trajectory of some financial market data. While this predictive power is by no means universal—as we observe above, for a number of markets, Internet search data do not provide explanatory power beyond that of more traditional forecasting methods—the basic message is of a useful addition to the economist’s toolkit.
14
Dec 11
Squeezing the Middlemen.
Comedian Louis CK [website, Twitter] is the latest of real world creatives to sidestep the various middlemen involved in content distribution to go it alone. He went directly to his fans, releasing a show taped at the Beacon Theater for the low price of $5. He also omitted any digital rights measures (DRM), opening the door to potential content piracy via various online methods such as download sites, torrents, or newsgroups.
Louis, in a stunning moment of transparency, released a statement breaking down his revenue, costs, and profits: