Results for “markets in everything” 1878 found
Swedish emotion markets in everything
The world’s first “emotional” auction, where people pay with feelings rather than money, has taken place in Sweden.
Bids were generated by the way people’s biometrics – heart rate and sweat changes – altered when they saw an item for sale.
Note that if you click on the link, it will make sounds and set a video in motion, caveat emptor. Via Colin Camerer. If all markets were run on this basis, what is it you would take home at the end of the day? And who would be taking you home?
Toronto markets in everything
Happy July 4th!
Black markets in everything, electronic medical records edition
As health data become increasingly digital and the use of electronic health records booms, thieves see patient records in a vulnerable health care system as attractive bait, according to experts interviewed by POLITICO. On the black market, a full identity profile contained in a single record can bring as much as $500.
China fashion markets in everything
Fashionistas no longer have to choose between looking stylish and protecting their lungs.
Next week, Beijing- and Hong Kong-based designer Nina Griffee, owner of face-painting and body art company Face Slap, will introduce a new line of outfits that incorporate face masks on the runway as part of a collection at Hong Kong Fashion Week.
Even the designer, who was born in England, admits that the eight outfits she’s created to launch the line – which look something like burkas for the space age – might not be everyone’s cup of tea. “There’s a fine line between fashion and costume,” she says. “I’m not entirely sure we made it completely into the fashion category.”
Though it isn’t the first time models will have appeared on stage wearing masks, it appears to be the first time the effect is so deliberate.
The outfits incorporate Vogmask pollution masks—already a choice among many of the pollution cognoscenti as the most stylish face coverings—attached by a zipper to shawls, dresses and ponchos. The zipper allows the wearer to remove the mask to dine, for instance, while retaining the high-fashion look.
There is more here, with good stylish photos too.
Norwegian betting bite markets in everything
A Norwegian football fan has scooped a cool £500 after betting on Luis Suarez to bite somebody at the World Cup in Brazil.
Suarez has twice been spotted biting opponents in recent years, so the punter thought he’d put £3 on the striker to take a munch out of somebody at Brazil 2014.
And low and behold, towards the end of Uruguay’s clash with Italy, he bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini – triggering the bookmaker to pay out.
With odds of 175/1, it was a pretty amazing outcome, despite Suarez’s reliability for biting his rivals.
See above for the betting slip, all numbers are in Norwegian krone.
The link with photo is here. For the pointer I thank Carlos Cinelli.
Do I feel lucky markets in everything?
Here is a new paper by Christin, Egelman, Vidas, and Grossklags, entitled “It’s All About the Benjamins”:
We examine the cost for an attacker to pay users to execute arbitrary code—potentially malware. We asked users at home to download and run an executable we wrote without being told what it did and without any way of knowing it was harmless. Each week, we increased the payment amount. Our goal was to examine whether users would ignore common security advice—not to run untrusted executables—if there was a direct incentive, and how much this incentive would need to be. We observed that for payments as low as $0.01, 22% of the people who viewed the task ultimately ran our executable. Once increased to $1.00, this proportion increased to 43%. We show that as the price increased, more and more users who understood the risks ultimately ran the code. We conclude that users are generally unopposed to running programs of unknown provenance, so long as their incentives exceed their inconvenience.
The article is here (pdf), for the pointer I thank Bruce Schnier.
Time markets in everything, mainstream media edition
The Financial Times recently announced that it will sell display ads based off the time its audience spends with content. The British newspaper hopes this will solve some of the viewability problems that plague the advertising industry, and more properly value The Financial Times‘ deeply engaged audience. According to Jon Slade, commercial director of digital advertising for The Financial Times, the newspaper’s readers are spending six times more time on The Financial Times than on similar business sites.
This strategic shift is part of the broader vision that the The Financial Times sees for the future of advertising. Slade said that The Financial Times wants to distinguish every aspect of their brand through quality, and using time as an advertising currency fits that mission perfectly.
There is more here. N = 1 here, but I can vouch that I spend lots of time with most of the FT stories I read.
The rise of the $8 ice cube, markets in everything
So how can an ice cube be worth eight dollars? It is simple eough:
“Gläce Luxury Ice is a meticulously designed and differentiated ice brand specifically designed for use in premium drinks and cocktails. The Gläce Mariko Sphere is a perfectly spherical 2.5-inch piece with a melting rate of 20-30 minutes. The Gläce G-Cubed, a symmetrical 2.5-inch cube, has a dilution rate of 20-40 minutes. Gläce Ice pieces are individually carved from a 300-lb. block to ensure flawless quality and a zero-taste profile, never contaminating the essence of premium liquors and drinks.”
Better yet:
In addition to their cubes, Gläce also offers the “Mariko,” a sphere that the company claims “is the most mathematically efficient way to cool your drink” — though probably not so for your bank account: 50 “spheres” run $325 (same as their cube counterparts).
And how does the company describe the “Mariko”?
“The sphere is the most efficient shape in nature holding the greatest volume to surface area ratio of any other geometric shape. Purified of minerals, additives and other pollutants that may contaminate the taste of premium liquors and drinks, the Gläce Luxury Ice Mariko sphere is meticulously crafted to deliver and embody the finest accessory for top shelf drinks. Each five pieces are elegantly contained in a re-sealable pouch equipped with a one-way air check valve to ensure freshness.”
There is more here, including photos.
Markets in everything the packing culture that is New York
The division of labor is indeed limited by the extent of the market:
New York City mommies with money to burn are hiring professional organizers to pack their kids’ trunks for summer camp — because their darlings can’t live without their 1,000-thread-count sheets.
Barbara Reich of Resourceful Consultants says she and other high-paid neat freaks have been inundated with requests — and the job is no small feat.
It takes three to four hours to pack for clients who demand that she fit all of the comforts of home in the luggage, including delicate touches like French-milled soaps and scented candles.
At $250 an hour, the cost for a well-packed kid can run $1,000.
There is more here, via the excellent Mark Thorson.
Markets in everything
Danieal Cormier of Quispamsis, N.B., is hoping to revolutionize the men’s underwear industry with a new design that provides pockets for cellphones and other gadgets.
Cormier, 20, came up with idea while sitting around alone at home in his boxers one day.
“I had my cellphone and I kept doing the hand motion to put my cellphone in my pocket, but my underwear didn’t have any pocket,” he said.
“So that’s when it kind of sparked in my head — ‘Why don’t underwear come with pockets?'”
The story is here, via Michelle Dawson.
Call option markets in everything
Options Away lets you lock in the price of a flight and hold it for days or weeks.
The site is here, and for the pointer I thank Mitch Berkson.
Against against commodification (markets in everything)
Jason Brennan reports:
Commodification is a hot topic in recent philosophy. There’s a limitless market for books about the limits of markets. The question: Are there some things which you permissibly may possess, use, and give away, but which are wrong to buy and sell? Most authors who write about this say yes. Peter Jaworski and I say no. There are no inherent limits to markets. Everything you may give away you may sell, and everything you may take for free you may buy. We defend that thesis in our book Markets without Limits, which will be published by Routledge Press, most likely in late 2015 or early 2016. As of now, we have a completed first draft.
We plan to commodify the book itself. We will sell acknowledgements in the preface of the book.
There is more information here. I thank Michael Wiebe for a relevant pointer.
Korean markets in everything, prison meditation edition
In the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Hongcheon, 58 miles northeast of Seoul, Kwon Yong-seok runs “Prison Inside Me,” a stress-reduction center with a penal theme. A meditation building, auditorium and management center sit on a 2-acre piece of land.
It is like this:
In June last year, the construction of the prison-like spiritual house was completed. It took a year and cost Mr. Kwon and his wife Roh Ji-hyang, head of a theater company, 2 billion won, or $19 million. Parts of the cost were covered by donations and loans from friends and relatives. Mr. Kwon says the goal of the facility, which has 28 solitary confinement cells, isn’t to make a profit.
On top of private meditation sessions, paying guests are helped to reflect on their lives and learn how to free themselves from what Mr. Kwon calls the “inner prison,” through meditation, spiritual classes and “healing” plays in a group session in the auditorium. A two-night stay costs 150,000 won or about $146.
But it may not succeed:
So far, it hasn’t been as easy for the couple to run the place as they had envisioned. They had to cut the length of stays to as little as two days because people aren’t willing to, or simply can’t, take time off. Also the facility had to make another big concession to modernity—allowing guests to check their smartphones at least once a day.
The full story is here, and for the pointer I thank Ben Smeal.
California markets in everything
Frustrated San Francisco drivers who are fed up having to circle around trying find a parking space on the street can use a new app that allows them to purchase a spot from someone who is already parked in one.
The app, called ‘Monkey Parking,’ connects drivers looking for empty spaces with someone who is also on the app who is willing to give up their prized spot, but for a fee of anywhere between $5 and $20.
That article is here, and there is another here.
For pointers I thank John Thorne and Mark Thorson and Daniel Kent.
Meanwhile, here is markets in everything at Newport Beach High School, namely paying for higher “draft picks” for the prom…via George Pearkes.
Speaking of California, here is Virginia Postrel on overindividuation in Mother’s Day gift giving.
Qatari license plate markets in everything
A Qatari man with far too much money and way too little common sense has bought Qatar’s most expensive license plate. The registration ’55555′ cost just under $4 million. I’ve never felt the urge to steal a license plate before just to inconvenience someone, now, however…
Still, I am sure that this guy feels hugely inadequate as compared to the Emirati who splashed the practically immoral sum of $14.3 million dollars for the licence plate ’1′ in 2008.
Calling Robert H. Frank…
Background is here, price information is here.
For the pointer I thank Paul Musgrave.