Quoted: What are you going to do when your hunches don't match the data that's now pouring in? The data shows, for example, that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving drunk. It doesn't feel that way, of course, but will you respect the data and stop, cold turkey? The data shows that the vast majority of wine drinkers can't tell the difference between a $20 bottle and a $100 bottle. Will that keep you from buying the fancy wine? How much is the placebo effect worth? The data shows that famous colleges underperform many cheaper, friendlier, smaller colleges. How much is your neighbor's envy worth?
What are you going to do when your hunches don't match the data that's now pouring in? The data shows, for example, that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving drunk. It doesn't feel that way, of course, but will you respect the data and stop, cold turkey? The data shows that the vast majority of wine drinkers can't tell the difference between a $20 bottle and a $100 bottle. Will that keep you from buying the fancy wine? How much is the placebo effect worth? The data shows that famous colleges underperform many cheaper, friendlier, smaller colleges. How much is your neighbor's envy worth?

Every time I go to a chiropractor or a new dentist or...they want to do some kind of X-ray - even if I have ones in my file. A rad tech friend said that it was an easy way for the clinic/hospital to make an extra $50-100, but it just can't be good to get hit with unnecessary high-energy particles.

The rad tech in the pic hit a child with 151 scans of the same area, over 6 times the normal amount, over the course of nearly an hour (vs. the usual 2 or 3 minutes). She claims she didn't make a mistake, but the parents of the child will probably worry about radiation overdose complications for the rest of his life.

Quoted: At a time when Americans receive far more diagnostic radiation than ever before, the cases underscore the risks posed by a diagnostic tool when used incorrectly.

According to the article, no one has built more hotels in the city than Mr. Chang.

Quoted: Mr. Chang’s hotels have been popular with budget travelers, but not with New York City community boards or the construction and hotel workers’ unions. Since December 2006, his construction company, Tritel, has accumulated 207 serious building violations, 47 of which are still unresolved. Community Board 7 in the Bronx often found him unresponsive when work on a hotel near Fordham University weakened the foundation of an adjoining home, flooding the basement. “Their whole approach to the community was very dismissive,” said Gregory Faulkner, chairman of the community board.

Makes sense. Get paid for your results, not your efforts. Increasingly, the real world is losing a pat-yourself-on-the-back reward system for that effort column we got used to having since grade school.

Quoted: In fact, in a digital world where everything can be measured, we all work on commission. And why not? If you do great work and it works, you should get rewarded. And if you don't, it's hard to see why a rational organization would keep you on.

Quoted: Amid the collapse of the subprime lending market, the government has taken up the slack. The F.H.A. has insured nearly a quarter of all new loans made this year, and about 80 percent of that business is from first-time home buyers.

Quoted: I think it looks like this: Attitude Approach Goals Strategy Tactics Execution We spend all our time on execution. Use this word instead of that one. This web host. That color. This material or that frequency of mailing. Big news:...

Even if the worst is over, the road to recovery will not be easy, swift or pain-free.

Quoted: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared Friday that the U.S. economy is on the verge of a long-awaited recovery after enduring a brutal recession and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Economic activity in both the U.S. and around the world appears to be "leveling out," and "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good," Bernanke said in a speech at an annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

This is an interesting article, based upon another that was written on the Redfin site. The "Disappointment Index" charts the difference (which is pretty big) between the original asking price of a property and the final sales price.

It's wild because the difference is big. In slower markets outside of the city core, it's not uncommon for me to see prices that have dropped $50K within 6 months. The major problems I think are with lack of pricing research and unrealistic pricing.

Quoted: Tim just posted an interesting set of stats on Redfin, titled Biggest Discounts, and one of them particularly caught my eye.  His primary topic was the di...

I get this question a lot, what happens when values go down? Quoted: The county's 2009 assessed values are, on average, down 12 to 18 percent from last year's, Assessor Lynn Gering said. But that doesn't mean tax bills will go down.