Morning Reading, selected articles of interest from various publications.

Outfoxing the Counterfeiters- WSJ.com
The new $100 bill is the most sophisticated attempt yet to combat forgery. Since colonial times, the U.S. has engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with criminals and foreign governments eager to pass off brilliant fakes. […]
Yet paper money flourished, thanks to private banks chartered by state legislatures. These banks began issuing their own paper money in denominations and designs of their choice. Thousands of different kinds of “bank notes” floated in circulation, each with their own unique design. Ben Franklin and the other founders appeared on some, but so, too, did everyone (and everything) from portraits of obscure politicians, Greek and Roman gods, scantily clad women, slaves, Indians and scenes of everyday life. Even stranger things—Santa Claus, sea serpents and rampaging polar bears, to name a few—showed up on these private currencies.

It proved next to impossible to remember what genuine notes looked like, never mind counterfeits, and the opening decades of the 19th century marked what one historian has called the “golden age of counterfeiting.” In those decades, millions of dollars in counterfeit notes flooded the economy. The masterminds behind these counterfeits created them with the hope of making money, not sabotaging the country.
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Lina’s comment: Fascinating story about banknotes and counterfeiting attempts through history, for profit and/or political reasons.

Gen Y & Loyalty – calacanis.com
My belief is that one third of Gen Y kicks ass. I meet these folks at
TechCrunch50, Open Angel Forum and on This Week in Startups all the
time. I love them. They inspire me and give me hope.

However, the majority of Gen Y seem to operating under the bizarre
rallying cry of: More money! Less responsibility! Shorter hours! No
stress! More freedom! It’s all about me!

It’s so obvious to me why our country is spiraling like a regional jet
piloted by a $9 an hour, 20 year-old pilot with under 1,000 hours of
flight time.

[…]

If you leave after a year, you don’t get a ticker-tape parade and you
don’t get celebrated. It’s not always about you and your karaoke going
away party–after 90 days! (really? 90 days and you host your own
going away party? lame.)
Read Article

Lina’s comment: Interesting post by Jason Calacanis (I like many of his posts because they are very personal and opinionated). I agree loyalty should not be forgotten. When a company treats you well, you must honour that and not slam the door on their face on your way out. It’s ungracious.