Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Embracing Inequality

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This is one of those posts that has nothing to do with trading, the “markets”, charting, or anything else related to our efforts to claw a few dollars out of financial instruments. It’s one of those posts that may alienate some readers, deepen the commitment of others, and merely annoy some in the middle. But I have to get it off my chest, and it’s about the “diversity report” from Google that has been getting so much press this week. (more…)

My First Computer

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When I was kid, back in the mid-1970s, my notion of a computer was what I saw on Star Trek: a big box with blinking lights which one could address directly and, after it said “Work-ing” and made a lot of clickety-clack punching sounds, it would provide an answer in a nasal female voice (which, in retrospect, I correctly guessed was Majel Barrett, doing double duty as Nurse Chapel).

I thought it would be really cool to have such a thing, and after my parents gave me a red Panasonic cassette recorder for Christmas in 1977, I had an idea: I would make a recording that would have long pauses (during which I’d ask a question), then had clickety-clack sounds, and then – in my own best impression of a nasal computer voice, provide the pre-canned answer. (more…)

A Plea for Civility

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Note from Tim: Five-Star Sloper Iggy wrote and asked that I publish the item below. There’s a naughty word or two, so steel yourself – – but I wanted to present it unedited. I’ll say only this: I’ve been online since 1981 (longer than some of you have even lived), and I understand the nature of online interactions very deeply. My belief is that the horrendous tug-of-war going on in the market is fraying nerves and causing fistfights. I appreciate Iggy’s insistence on decent and civil discourse within the hallowed halls of the Slope of Hope: (more…)