… China now accounts for a fifth of global manufacturing. Its factories have made so much, so cheaply that they have curbed inflation in many of its trading partners. But the era of cheap China may be drawing to a close. …
… Foxconn, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer that makes Apple’s iPads (and much more besides) in Shenzhen, put up salaries by 16-25% last month. …
… if China’s currency and shipping costs were to rise by 5% annually and wages were to go up by 30% a year, by 2015 it would be just as cheap to make things in North America as to make them in China and ship them there (see chart). In reality, the convergence will probably be slower. But the trend is clear. …
If cheap China is fading, what will replace it? …
read more on Economist – The end of cheap China
Tupac Shakur – hologram
An eye-popping hologram of murdered rapper Tupac Shakur has stolen the show at US music festival Coachella and amplified questions about the future of “live” performance.
The high-definition projection of the gangsta rap icon appeared with superstars Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre in a stunning end to the first weekend of the annual music festival in California, setting off a wave of social media debate.
Thousands in the crowd gasped as the shirtless Tupac – killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996 – rose up on the stage.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
related – Tupac Hologram Rebounds Late Rapper Onto The Charts
when people believe The Onion is true
I’m enjoying a laugh daily on this blog:
“LITERALLY UNBELIEVABLE“
Stories from The Onion as interpreted by Facebook
Here’s a sample Onion post, with some of the responses beneath.
Obama jams with Jimmy Fallon
It’s tough for Romney to compete with this.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Students will be voting Obama in November.
(via Kottke)
who’s honouring Colbert now?
TIME magazine:
… Before every show, Stephen visits the green room and tells that evening’s guest the same thing: “My character’s an idiot. Your job is to set him straight.”
The greatest comedian in the world today.
kids grow up fast
Here’s the evidence. Newborn to teenager in 3min.
Frans Hofmeester filmed his daughter Lotte once a week for the past twelve years and produced this time lapse film. …
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
(via Kottke)
The Windup Girl – Paolo Bacigalupi
On Warren’s recommendation, I bought an audio copy of this book, Winner of the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel.
… Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen’s Calorie Man in Thailand.
Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok’s street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history’s lost calories.
There, he encounters Emiko. Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok.
Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. …
Bio-engineered plagues?
Genetically modified, sterile crops?
Here’s a real news story dated April 21st, 2011:
Vietnam says it will ask for international help to find out what is causing a skin infection that has already killed 19 people. …
BBC – Vietnam seeks foreign help to beat mystery skin disease
Bacigalupi was inspired to write this book after living through the SARS scare in Asia.
Like this:
Clossons in Egypt
Amazon vs. Best Buy
A new business model. And an old model.
Best Buy is not dead yet.
… it plans to close 50 “big-box” U.S. stores, reflecting the shift in electronics retail as it opens 100 new “small-format” Best Buy Mobile stores. …
Or maybe it is — Cringely – Best Buy is Doomed
I wish Amazon Canada would expand their line of goods. I buy nothing from Amazon though I love the company.
(via Daring Fireball)
way down upon the Suwannee River
I’m in Georgia for NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships. By coincidence, I’m staying in the small town of Suwannee, GA.
Here’s Suwanee City Hall.
Tomorrow morning I’ll run the Suwanee Creek Greenway.
… Way down upon de Swanee Ribber,
Far, far away, …
