January, 12, 2003 archives

on a far too regular basis, my mouse stops working. if i simply unplug it from the keyboard and plug it back in, it comes back to life. and there are frequent hiccups where i think the mouse has died, but it has not. it's practically a greek tragedy.

another random thing: sometimes after i've typed stuff into a text box in safari (like the one i'm using now) and then let it sit for a few seconds (or the focus moves?), the text inside the box reflows for no apparent reason whatsoever. very odd. it's a very peripheral-vision sort of moment, where you're not really sure that anything has really happened. (after playing round a bit more, it appears that the text is getting reflowed when i mouse over the buttons to submit the form. very bizarre.

this article in the economist about the perfect investment for 2003 is fun. felicity foresight is their hypothetical investor who always picks the perfect investment for each year (where henry hindsight always invests in the perfect investment for the previous year). the bottom line for this year? She would be wise to recall 1931, when the best performing asset was cash, offering 1% interest.