Victor Lustig, a conman from the early 90s who once managed to sell the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal left behind a list of commandments for aspiring con-men. Some of them include:

• Be a patient listener
• Wait for the other person to reveal political or religious beliefs – then change yours to match theirs.
• Never boast, instead let your importance be quietly obvious.
• Don’t get drunk.

Aspiring to be a con artist? Then you might want to check out the full list and find out about the role that sex-talk has to play.

Source: Lists of note

Via: Kottke

Why was the automotive industry concentrated in Detroit? Slate answered the question:

• Detroit did have several geographical advantages. Iron and wood (crucial components for manufacturing cars at the time) were abundantly available in the region. Rail and water access meant that cars could easily be shipped to other regions.
• However several other regions had those advantages and more. What made Detroit different was that several automobile innovators including Henry Ford happened to be from that city.
• After that, cross-pollination of talent, and a silicon-valley type model where workers would often change industries or start their own entrepreneurial efforts, led to significant advantages in having an industry based in one location.

To read more about the one decision made by a car manufacturer that changed everything, as well as the role that Mitt Romney’s father played, click here.

Source: Slate

Abnormal Returns takes a look at why individual investors have it better now than ever before:

• Sites such as Twitter draw attention to the very best ideas and practices, making it easier for investors to identify opportunities amid the mass of information accessible on the web.
• With the vast range of instruments available individual investors can easily build a diversified global portfolio.
• Computer algorithms allow you to avoid having to micro-manage your portfolio.
• Real time stock quotes – a dream reserved for those willing to pay top dollar – are now available to all.
• Brokerage fees are being driven closer and closer to zero, allowing you to make trades for free.

To read more about some of the unbelievable advancements made, what investment strategy you should pick based on access to all the technologies available to us, and the behavioural biases that work against us when we invest, click here.

Source: Abnormal Returns

Via: Newmark’s Door

Brian Palmer took a look at why North Korea is perennially dealing with food shortages:

• The country is cold and mountainous – less than ideal conditions for growing food.
• In the 80s after the Soviet Union cut subsidies to North Korea, the North Korean government responded by using drastic measures in a desperate attempt to increase the amount of arable land. This included removing all natural vegetation from the hillsides to create farm land.
• This strategy worked for a while but over time rains washed away the soil which, without any vegetation to keep it tied to the ground, quickly filled the rivers with silt, leaving North Korea with neither vegetation nor farmland.
• Kim Jong-Il is believed to have had a radical plan to flatten the country by destroying the mountains, thus creating more arable land. He never had the resources to follow through with the idea.
• State-directed farming is inefficient.

To read more about the role that the Soviet Union played in sustaining North Korea, some of Kim Jong-Il’s other ideas, and the simple solutions that would solve the food shortage, click here.

Source: Slate

Michael Posner reports on a new initiative to create a territorial entity just off the coast of the United States that would exist outside the jurisdiction of the maritime laws of all countries. Some of the highlights of the report include:

• Silicon Valley has become the home of entrepreneurship, but the US immigration authoriteis have made it difficult for those with innovative business ideas to obtain a visa to the United States.
• To deal with this two immigrants to the United States have launched Blueseed – a planned cruise ship that is retrofitted to be a floating hub of innovation. Residents of Blueship can utilize the B-1 Business visa that allows them to make short visits to the United States over the course of ten years. Entrepreneurs could arrive at Silicon Valley in the morning and take a helicopter back ‘home’ in the evening.
• The project is expected to cost at least $25 million.
• Blueseed would make money by charging the 1,000 tenants a rent of $1,200 a month.
• Billionaire Peter Thiel – somebody who has invested in other hits such as Facebook, Yelp, Zynga and LinkedIn – has given financial backing to the project.

To read more about the initiative, the history of such “seasteading” projects, and other alternatives that are being developed that would allow innovators to build networks with those in the United States, click here.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Via: Marginal Revolution

This month marked the 100^th anniversary of The Oreo. Brian Palmer discussed the longevity of the delightful treat:

• The Oreo was not the first sandwich cookie on the market. Sunshine Baking had been selling Hydroxes for a couple of years before Oreos hit the market.
• However the parent company behind Oreo had significantly more marketing power, and was able to advertise its sandwich cookie more effectively.
• But why has the Oreo survived so long while other cookies from the same company haven’t? Some argue it’s because of the unique name. Others say that it’s because, just like eggs, there are numerous ways to consume the treat. Still others argue that it’s because it’s challenging to perfectly disassemble the cookie, enticing consumers to repeatedly try and thus eat more cookies.
• In 1982 ten cents of every dollar spent on cookies were spent on Oreos.
• The name of the parent company of Oreo, “Nabisco” is actually a shortening of National Biscuit Company

To read what “Oreo” means, why the visual design of the Oreo might have mattered, and why Nabisco had a troubling time penetrating the Jewish market click here.

Source: Slate