Even those 100 Dollar Textbooks Can Make Big Mistakes

The beginning of a college semester can tend to be quite excruciating when it comes to buy textbooks only realize that you've paid about 1000 dollars just buying reading material that will only get used for a few months. One of my books of this semester is on game theory titled, Games of Strategy third edition, which I believe I paid around 100 dollars for in January. The worst part about it is while this book has supposedly been edited it has left some pretty sizable errors that I or even someone not familiar with the subject matter are able to catch.

Chapter 17 is on Bidding Strategy and Auction Design. Page 660 talks about the types of auctions and reads:
"Other, less common, configurations also can be used to sell goods at auction. For example, you could set up an auction in which the highest bidder wins but the top two bidders pay their bids, or one in which the high bidder wins but all bidders pay their bids, a procedure discussed in Section 5. Although we do not attempt to consider all possible combinations in this chapter, we do analyze several of the most common auction schemes by using examples that bring out important strategic concepts."

Page 661 regarding Auction environments reads:
"Other, less common, configuarations also can be used to sell goods at auction. For example, you could set up an auction in which the highest bidder wins but the top two bidders pay their bids, or one in which the high bidder wins but all bidders pay their bids, a procedure discussed in Section 5. We do not attempt to consider all possible combinations here. Rather, we analyze several of the most common auction schemes by using examples that bring out important strategic concepts."

Being so close together, you would assume the editors would catch nearly identical paragraphs, but even they were unable to do what I did on my first reading of the chapter. Another less grievous error is that on page 722 the header states: "[CH. 17] BARGAINING" when it should state "[CH. 18] BARGAINING" because this page is on Chapter 18 and not 17 (in fact this page is closer to Chapter 19 than 18)

Now the book is selling for substantially less than I bought it for which makes me think a new edition is underway. With the make of a new edition the publishers and authors will end up getting a lot more money by preventing causing people to trash their old editions and causing resale...in other words benefiting for their own mistake. This is not so much a knack on this book; however, it is more of a criticism of the publishing industry in general that has a disincentive to produce good editions in the first place.

Kind Acts

There are a lot of rotten people in the world, but I would like to believe that there are a great deal more of good ones. Yesterday, when I was at the airport, I took the forward escalator to get to my gate. There were a few people in front of me and one way up ahead dropped his boarding pass. I did not even see the ticket drop but the woman right in front of me picked it up and successfully tracked the guy down to deliver him his boarding pass. Of course the easier thing to do would have been to just leave the boarding pass, but sometimes a small inconvenience for one can mean a lot for someone else…so much that it had inspired me to write about it!

Dansby and Rolle to Go

Getty Images

It's tough times for the Arizona Cardinals as the team was unable to resign linebacker Karlos Dansby and safety Antrel Rolle. Dansby signed a contract to play for the Miami Dolphins after the dolphins released two other linebackers. Rolle agreed to a contract with the New York Giants. Both these players were two explosive defensive players for the Cardinals - a team who can not afford to get any weaker on D. This is coming after wide receiver Anquan Boldin was traded to Baltimore for 3rd and 4th round draft picks in the 2010 draft. I was not too upset with the Boldin trade because post-trade Cardinals will still have a very strong receiving core with Fitzgerald, Breaston and Doucet. Additionally, Boldin, over the past two years, has expressed seemingly unwarranted frustrations with offensive decisions by the Cardinals particularly when the Cardinals have been playing well...Terrell Owens anyone? Boldin even indicated he would not like to play for the Cardinals the day the Cardinals made it to the Superbowl. Nonetheless, with the loss of Boldin you would hope to free up salary space to resign Rolle and Dansby, unfortunately the Cardinals were unable to do either. With a larger amount of draft picks and a bit extra cash, hopefully the Cardinals can get some quality players to have a strong team for the coming season.

(500) Days of Summer Absent from Oscars

The nominees are out for the 82nd Academy Awards that will take place this Sunday, March 7th. While I have yet to hear the results, I can already say that the Academy has made an immense mistake by not nominating the (500) Days of Summer for anything. I am happy with the inclusion of some films, but then again what movie critic could argue that none of the best films and performances are not included? At the same time, it is amazing to see such a huge blunder for such a good movie. There are now 10 Oscar Nominees for Best Picture, so it shocks me that a movie as good as (500) Days of Summer could not even make the top 10 of the year. While I am not necessarily saying it would or should win this particular category it is definitely worthy of some recognition. I am not alone on this either. Probably the two most popular online movie databases IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes gave (500) Days of Summer stellar ratings. (500) Days of Summer has such a unique plot, is not cliche (as shocking as it may seem for a "story about love"), and is packed with comedy. The elements in (500) Days of Summer including the end split frame that contrasts reality and fantasy are so well done. However, while this movie would be nominated for Golden Globes the Oscars decided to focus on movies that had more "serious" storylines or involved bigger name actors.

Game Review: Infectonator World Dominator

Rating: 4.5/5

Infectonator World Dominator by Toge Productions is an extremely fun game where you must strategically capture certain units to charm them on your side and fight your foes. However, in this case you are “charming” opponents to become zombies that attack human forces. The game is full of skill because you can only infect humans a limited amount of time so the player must try to infect a densely populated area. When the zombies attack they have a chance of infecting attacked humans to join the zombie forces. OK…you are probably thinking that this game sounds a quite weird and admittedly it is, however, this game is extremely addicting and fun. The features of this game make it a significant improvement from the original Infectonator that is now labeled as the “60’s edition. More upgrades have been included so that special units such as Michael Jackson and Ronald McDonald zombies can be spawned once unlocked after a certain stage in the game. As before, spawned zombies can receive bonuses such as attack, defense, and speed boosts with cash received from destroying units and cities. Overall this game is excellent. While the graphics are poor the gameplay is good enough to get you instantly hooked which is why Infectonator World Dominator receives a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

Is Nobody Going to Televise Klitschko v. Chambers Match?

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Images From: www.aworldofboxing.com and fightnight.easports.com/

On March 20, one of the best imaginable heavyweight boxing matchups will take place in Dusseldorf, Germany. The matchup is between Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko and American Eddie Chambers. Wladimir Klitschko is the IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine champion. ESPN sports expert Dan Rafael ranks Klitschko as the number 1 heavyweight boxer in the world. While massively undersized compared to Klitschko Eddie Chambers is a fast-punching boxer and currently the top American heavyweight. While Wladimir is the overwhelming favorite we see underdogs pull upsets in boxing all the time. Furthermore, this game is between two excellent boxers and it baffles me that no American television network is willing to pick up this fight. I was looking forward to watching this fight live on TV...could it possibly be that American networks are going to let this one go by?

In Epic Finals Canada Hockey Beats Team USA 3-2 Taking Gold

The Finals of Olympic Hockey took place today. The game was absolutely epic as Canada got ahead 2-0 early on, but little would the Canadian hockey team realize that Team USA would come back to tie it up scoring their second goal in the final 25 seconds of play in the third period. This lead to overtime in which Sydney Crosby of the Canadian team scored the winning goal despite Miller's outstanding saves that had taken place earlier. As a result, Canada took the gold medal in hockey whereas USA took silver.

Boston College Residential Life v. Students of Boston College

Early during the 2009-2010 academic school year, a few senior residents of Boston College decided to custom-design their common room. At Boston College all of the senior living arrangements have common rooms, and many students decide to spruce it up with posters or flags to make it visually appealing. However, these students decided to have the artist amongst them paint the four teenage mutant ninja turtles on the wall - images that are reminiscent of their childhood. Not surprisingly, Residential Life was unhappy with the walls being drawn on when they did their health and safety inspections of the college dorms.

Despite the name of the housing sweep, it is clear that the painting does not represent a safety, health or fire hazard. Instead, Residential Life is concerned that the paintings deface campus property, which is an entirely legitimate concern. However, in this case, no furniture has been damaged and the wall is fully functional. Not to mention these paintings of the teenage mutant turtles are beyond impressive and not even the strictest staff member of Residential Life can ignore that. Unfortunately, this is a hard-to-win battle despite the heavy disapproval from the senior class of Boston College who are unhappy with ResLife's decision to immediately paint over the turtles and impose a fine on the residents. It is important to note that these paintings are neither profane nor destructive but rather a work of art. While I understand why ResLife policy can be harsh at times, I think BC ResLife needs to make an exception for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If Residential Life is intent on wanting plain looking, unblemished walls for future students, Residential Life could simply allow the residents to keep the turtle paintings for the remainder of the semester while requiring the students to paint over the entire wall in white before they leave. I think such a measure would still capture the goals of ResLife without facing opposition from the student body - especially considering the students are paying for housing for a year.

Furthermore, I believe that if BC students were to know in advance of a room painted with these turtles, such a dorm room would be one of the first to go in the lottery system. I can believe students would find it very neat to be the ones with the "turtle room." However, if BC is going to turn the blind eye to artwork, in which many homeowners have paid hundreds of dollars on similar wall paintings, they can at least take some form of middle ground that allows the students to maintain the turtles for the rest of the semester. If Boston College honestly finds the need to fine and paint over the turtles, would it not make sense to wait to do that anyways? I fail to see how the turtles on the wall pose any health or safety concern. Furthermore, there is certainly no immediate need to paint over the wall, which is why I find Boston College ResLife unjustified in wanting to paint over the turtles while the residents are still living in the dorm.


(reproduced with permission of resident)

A Coupon for a Coupon?

This past Sunday I went on a grocery run, at the local Shaws. Often times after I make a purchase I tend to get coupons to save money on my next visit; however, this time I received something a little bit different. I got a "Coupon" to "Receive a Coupon to save up to $3.50 when you buy General Mills." The right of this offer states that if I buy three Betty Crocker (Betty Crocker is owned by General Mills) Fruit Flavored Snacks I will receive a $1.50 coupon, 4 for a 2.50 coupon and 5+ for 3.50. I apologize that the image quality above is not the greatest, but mark my words: I just received a coupon for a coupon. What is this world coming to?

Apology to the Boston College Hockey Team

Two nights ago (technically morning) at 3:00AM I was still up doing some studying for class. At around that time I was interrupted by boisterous screams of "Beanpot!" Of course I was quite frustrated and agitated. Even worse I got knocks on the door and chimes of the doorbell...four of my roomates were already asleep and I was virtually certain they would wake up from the noise. I went over to the door to say please leave before I call the school police. For some reason that message did not quite sink. While they left the door they decided to pioneer towards the back glass door continuing to scream "Beanpot!" and they showed this massive trophy. I was not exactly sure what this trophy meant but I did not care, I had work to do and the noise was not helping so I kindly told them, "Please leave, I have a lot of work to do," fortunately after I said that much they left.

It was not until I left that the three or five guys rudely interrupting at 3AM were members of the Boston College Hockey Team who had won the beanpot that night, the second most important college hockey feat for hockey players in the Northeast (second only to winning the national championship). I found out later from a friend that the hockey players visited all of the Modular houses who had their lights still on (signifying someone was still up) and my place was the only one that did not let the hockey players in. This statistic surprises me and I think even college athletes do not have the right to barge into anywhere they like even if they have had the best day of the entire year. Nonetheless, four of my roomates are intense hockey fans and gave me a frown when I told them what happened and passed up the opportunity to meet and congratulate the hockey team as opposed to kick them out. I even passed up the opportunity to drink from or hold the beanpot. Boston College winning the beanpot is was a huge deal on campus and rightfully earned them the top spot on ESPN Sportscenter's top plays. While I think it is perfectly appropriate not to let in who had to be the most excited athletes in the nation on that particular night, I definitely apologize for kicking them out the way I did instead of at least congratulating the hockey team. It is funny that as I am writing this I turn left and view my roomate's flag on our room's wall that says Boston College Hockey Beanpot Champions (and lists the years in which Boston College has won the beanpot). It looks like he is going to have to get a new flag that includes 2010.

I apologize BC Hockey team and congratulations on such an excellent achievement!

How about them ads?

Before and after every Superbowl there is some type of discussion of commercials and how good of a job advertisers do. In my opinion, the last two Superbowls have been busts in terms of advertising in that I felt there was a dearth of good and humorous commercials. This year, there were several excellent advertisements. My favorite ad is one of the Doritos commercials that has got to be one of the best commercials I have seen in my life.

Here it is:

No Longer the Ain'ts...Who Dat?

The New Orleans Saints beat the the Indianapolis Colts in Superbowl XLIV. The Colts were favored by 3 with the odds from InLine, however, few could refute that the Saints and the Colts were the two top teams going into the playoffs. This Superbowl was sure to be interesting and the Saints certainly delivered New Orleans a night to remember. The New Orleans Saints franchise had been one of the worst franchises over the years such that they used to be referred to as the Aints in the 80s and 90s. Prior to today the Saints had never gone to the Superbowl. Tonight the Saints could rightfully call themselves the best team in the NFL after beating the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 31 to 17.