Todd Suomela

However, there are fewer and fewer biologists who practice traditional taxonomy, or the collection, description, naming and categorization of organisms through intense study of their physical attributes. In general, the field of taxonomy, or systematics as it is often called, has been leaning towards the molecular end of the spectrum since genetic technology matured in the late 1970s and 1980s, and traditional taxonomic skills have been dwindling as older taxonomic experts retire. Many taxonomists blend traditional methods, such as morphological and behavioral study, with modern molecular techniques, such as DNA sequencing, to fully characterize their pet taxa. But taxonomists like Cognato and Hulcr, who rely on fieldwork and morphological study as core aspects of their taxonomic work, appear to be slowly going extinct. - Todd Suomela

State governments are shutting down interstate rest-stops because of money woes and competition from KwikMats and McDonalds. - Todd Suomela

GoLoco is an easy way to share trips with your friends -- and friends of friends. We use a system of alerts to notify you whenever your friends or interest groups are going places you want to go. - Todd Suomela

Robin Chase, founder ZipCar and GoLoco (for ridsharing). - Todd Suomela

Great guide to modifying and adding keyboard bindings to Macintosh programs. - Todd Suomela

4 arguments for strong regulation of banks. "But we regulate banks not because they'll make too much money, but for fear that, left to themselves, they'll lose too much." - Todd Suomela

But suppose you are buying meat that won't be supplied for 20 years? Still want to rely on the greed of the butcher? Thought not. By the time you have found out if he is cheating you, it will be too late to switch supplier. When there is a substantial time lag between purchase and consumption, as there is for pensions, savings schemes and sub-prime debt, the market loses its magic and the purchaser is vulnerable. - Todd Suomela

Pope Benedict XVI criticized the international economic system yesterday and called for a new global structure based on social responsibility, concern for the dignity of the worker and a respect for ethics. - Todd Suomela

B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Corporations are unlike traditional responsible businesses because they: - Todd Suomela

When so many public figures are deliberately shocking and offensive because they want us to join them in being small and mean and petty and tribal -- I’m thinking of the likes of Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh -- Baron Cohen is doing so for the very opposite reasons. And that is a good thing, and a thing very much worth celebrating. - Todd Suomela

When so many public figures are deliberately shocking and offensive because they want us to join them in being small and mean and petty and tribal -- I’m thinking of the likes of Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh -- Baron Cohen is doing so for the very opposite reasons. And that is a good thing, and a thing very much worth celebrating. - Todd Suomela

What makes capital markets businesses different from any other form of enterprise I can think of is the amount of discretion given of necessity to non-managerial employees, meaning traders, salesmen, investment bankers, analysts. In pretty much any other large scale business, decisions that have a meaningful bottom line impact (pricing, new sales campaign, investment decision) are deliberate affairs, ultimately decided at a reasonably senior level. - Todd Suomela

The New York Times has a piece (Future Vision Banished to the Past") about the likely destruction of Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower, a "rare built example of Japanese Metabolism, a movement whose fantastic urban visions became emblems of the country’s postwar cultural resurgence." - Todd Suomela

In contrast, this post presents an unconventional indicator of global economic activity that shows no sign of truly global recession yet. This indicator is the seasonally adjusted atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Admittedly, the rate of carbon dioxide emission varies between different industries, and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is affected by natural variables such as sea surface temperature, making it a noisy indicator of economic activity - Todd Suomela

CHEAP : The High Cost of Discount Culture By Ellen Ruppel Shell FREE: The Future of a Radical Price By Chris Anderson - Todd Suomela