Learning and Knowledge: Outside the Ivory Towers

Fernsehturm, Berlin

The Conman Victor Lustig’s attitude to scams was go big or go home, and so his favourite scam was selling the Eiffel Tower to aspiring French businessmen. So good he was, or so gullible were the Frenchmen, that he managed to sell the Eiffel Tower twice within the space of six months. Honestly, I think … Continued

Wikipedia and Blogs: Lies, Damn Lies

Blogging

I love newspapers. As a nerdish kid, I’d lie on the floor of our kitchen, reading the Irish Times from cover to cover. I even followed the stock market regliously, in the process convincing my father to make disasterous trades costing him thousands. It was all money well spent on my education (hint: you can’t … Continued

Less is More: Living in the Middle of Nowhere

French countryside

Arbitrage is about taking advantage of the price difference between two markets. That’s what I’m currently doing by living in a tiny town in rural France where traditionally Communists hold office. I grew up in the back arse of no-where on the coast of Ireland, and back then I wanted to live in a city … Continued