Cruise

from WSJ

CruiseCritic.com offers reviews boat-by-boat and port-by-port, evaluating cruise lines and itineraries and offering recommendations for cruises suited for families or couples or adventurers or mature adults. It has a fairly large database of cruise reviews from travelers, and you can pick up a lot of tips, especially if you aren't an experienced cruiser.

ShoreTrips.com offers links and reviews of shore trips offered by local firms, sometimes a better value than the shore excursions offered by cruise lines. Prices can be cheaper, and the trips may be longer than what the companies linked to the cruise-line offers.

And before you buy a cruise, it's worthwhile to check the sanitary record of the ship you are considering at , the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posts inspection scores under its Vessel Sanitation Program. On the current "green sheet" of inspection scores, six ships out of 153 failed to achieve acceptable scores: Amadea, Celebrity Infinity, MV Clipper Pacific, Nautilus Explorer, Pride of Aloha and Stad Amsterdam.

French

http://www.tv5.org/TV5Site/enseigner-apprendre-francais/accueil_apprendre.php

credit score

from WSJ

Problem: You want to apply for new credit, but aren't sure if your credit is good enough. Solution: Get a free credit score. Several Web sites -- Credit.com, CreditKarma.com and Quizzle.com -- allow consumers to check their credit scores free. Although CreditKarma and Quizzle offer scores developed by the credit-reporting companies, including TransUnion and Experian, and not the widely used FICO score developed by Fair Isaac Corp., they can still provide users with a quick snapshot of where they stand. At CreditKarma.com, consumers can estimate how certain actions -- such as applying for a new card, being late on a payment or paying on time -- will change their score.
It's also a good idea to check your detailed credit reports at least once a year, which you can do free of charge at annualcreditreport.com.

infoplease.com

http://www.infoplease.com/

I saw an analyst report with Hurricane information from the site.

LinkedIn valuation $1 billion

LinkedIn, the professional networking site, said it has raised $53 million from investors that places the company's overall estimated valuation at more than $1 billion

An unemployed person came to see me yesterday and asked me for names and phone numbers. This person did not ask for email addresses, nor offered one. I was so struck by the "analog" nature of the whole job search.

I recently saw Jeff Zucker interview on Charlie Rose. Zucker said his children were "born digital." Charlie loved the phrase so much that Zucker gave Charlie permission to use the phrase.

I guess I'm somewhere between analog and digital.

Gift cards

I came across this entry while reading the Limited Brands 10K.
"During the fourth quarter of 2007, we recognized $48 million in pretax income related to the initial recognition of gift card breakage at Victoria’s Secret."
Victoria’s Secret had operating income of $718m that year, which means 6.7% came from these "breakages." Assuming that $48m is spread over 3 years, as much as 2% of each year's pretax income comes from gift card breakage.

This is from a retailer that sell gift cards with no expiration dates and also do not charge administrative fees on unused gift cards.

I found a couple of $50 VS gift cards for sale at $41 on Ebay, implying 18% value destruction as soon as you buy a gift card.

Why does anyone give gift cards?

The Prestige

I recently read the book and wanted to make some comparisons to the movie. I definitely recommend both the movie and the book.

The Prestige -
In the book, the prestige refers to the empty shell that gets left behind when Angier goes through the machine. In the movie, it is simply the third part of a magic trick, bringing it back the thing that disappeared.

Ingenieurs -
Ingenieurs play a very minor role in the book. Both magicians have them and that's all there is to it. In the movie, ingeniuers are very important. Angier's ingenieur Cutter (Michael Caine) is the star witness in Borden's trial. Borden's ingenieur Fallon is also very important.

Trial -
There's no trial in the book. Borden dies a natural death. Angier dies from injuries caused by Borden meddling with the machine's electricity. In the movie, both have violent deaths.

Julia Angier (Piper Perabo)
In the book, she has a miscarriage because of Borden. She was an actress who initially helped Angier to do memory tricks. Angier then moves on to seances and she was part of that act. Borden sees his aunt paying for a fake seance and is determined to expose the fraud. After the miscarriage, Julia goes on to have other children and lives a long life. Borden and Angier never worked together in the book and barely knew each other. In the movie, Julia drowns because Borden tied the wrong knot. In the book, there is a brief mention of how Angier himself almost drowned because of Borden's meddling and I guess the movie uses that incident.

Sarah Borden
In the book, she has a happy life, never even knows that Borden has a mistress.

Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson)
In the book, it was Olivia's idea to leave Angier to go to Borden. Borden did not know that Olivia was Angier's mistress. He only finds out when she tells him. In the movie, Angier forces Olivia to go to Borden and she tells Borden up front that she was sent by Angier.

I always found it curious that studios come out with same kinds of movies at about the same time. Less than two months apart? Did people who went to see the Illusionist also go see the Prestige?

The Prestige
Release Date: 20 October 2006, $53m US Box

The Illusionist
Release Date: 1 September 2006, $40m US Box