LENNY TALKS ABOUT LENNY
"I've got a job to do right now, which is to lead a restructuring … I've got to focus on that job and not worry about Leonard Asper."
- After placing the company founded by his father into bankruptcy protection this week, CanWest Global Communications Corp. CEO Leonard Asper adopts the third-person to tell The Globe and Mail's Grant Robertson that now is not the time to worry whether he's destined for the unemployment line.
GIVING '52-WEEK HIGH' A NEW MEANING
"As portfolios swell, we start to feel a collective buzz courtesy of dopamine, a feel-good chemical that the brain produces at the mere thought of making money. The more dopamine is produced, the more primitive our decision-making becomes, making it harder to think logically."
- A new online investor-psychology quiz from personal-finance publisher Kiplinger explains that the herd mentality in the markets is more than just emotional - rallies actually deliver a neurochemical buzz. (Anyone else got a wicked case of the munchies yet?)
FLOGGING A DEAD FELINE?
"In the market's jargon, this could be the mother of all dead cat bounces."
- Paul Ashworth, U..S. economist at Capital Economics, warns that the surge in U.S. economic growth in the coming months may prove short-lived, to be followed by a return of below-trend growth by 2011. He said the growth spurt is being pumped up by an inventory re-build that will run out of steam, while consumer demand will remain "lacklustre."
MAYBE THE ERROR MESSAGES ARE ALSO RECORDED IN HIS OWN VOICE
"What new features await you with the Steve Ballmer edition of Windows 7? For starters, when you open the box, it yells, 'Developers! Developers! Developers!' at 200 decibels. And then it tries to smash any iPhones in the vicinity."
- eWeek Microsoft Watch blogger Nicholas Kolakowski jokes about the special features of a limited edition of Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system. The special edition - in reality, just Windows 7 Ultimate in pimped-up packaging and autographed by the Microsoft CEO - is being offered as a perk to people who volunteer to host a house party in celebration of Windows 7's launch on Oct. 22.
UM, I THINK I HAVE TO WASH MY HAIR THAT NIGHT
"In a lot of ways, you're just throwing a party, with Windows 7 as an honoured guest."
- A not-very-convincing actor, in a Microsoft-produced video guide to hosting a Windows 7 launch party , enthuses about what fun it will be having your soon-to-be-ex-friends over for an evening-long amateur software sales pitch:
David Parkinson