An interesting picture (though a little out of date ~2003) showing the growth of Starbucks and McDonalds and where their tasty treats come from.

Awesome Tool for graphing the Case-Shiller Index

A Real-Estate derivative contract and very good forward predictor of the US real-esate market with the ability to focus on individual markets.

One insight is that the Chicago market really does look a lot more stable over the (kinda) long haul. Would be nice to see data further back than circa 1987, which was the last real retraction of any magnitude.

Paper Money - A Real Estate Bubble Blog

It looks as though we have crossed a critical inflection point in the housing market:

Home prices fall at fastest rate in 13 years - MarketWatch

Inflation Adjusted Housing Prices Graph

The New York Times > Week in Review > Image > Graphic: A History of Home Values

This is a fantastic piece about tech lust...

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades: Joel Johnson Returns...to Spank Us All for Supporting Crap - Gizmodo

So good not to be back. We extended a ten day trip a couple more days. Can you blame us?

Mama cat adopts Rottweiler puppy - Pet Health - MSNBC.com

There is hope for the Middle East!

website: 37signals & techmeme

Beautiful Rockefeller Chapel on a COLD day