Poor, poor pitiful BofA

When I glanced at read the Wall Street Journal story on BofA being threatened, just threatened, with a comeuppance by the government, I wanted to weep. With laughter. Then Mashable did this. Now I’m chortling.

Finovate highlight

EyeLock, a new security device that replaces passwords with iris authentication, debuted last month at Finovate, a financial innovation conference in San Francisco. All of the 7-minute presentations are now online. Your iris is the ultimate biometric tool as this video demonstrates. Now go get one and then go buy something on iTunes.

Our Brain: More Than Film. Our Eyes: More Than a Camera

The Elinor Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center opened this weekend. Event tickets were free. I got two to a lecture on cognitive film theory by Antonio Damasio. The title was “Brain, Self and Cinema” and was sponsored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, which gave out free sodas and bags of stale popcorn (but thanks just the same).

Damasio is a professor of neuroscience, psychology and neurology, and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California. Here are some of the insights he shared.

Inside Job

From the Los Angeles Times, a story about a data breach affecting Bank of America customers on the West Coast, which probably explains why there wasn’t much coverage on the East Coast. This LA Times photo is of Andrew Goldstein, whose bank accounts were drained of $20,000 by a fraud ring. The crooks, using insider information, accessed enough information about him to order checks, forward his phone calls, and request money transfers from one account to another. Regional bank fraud is no less worrisome to customers than nationwide bank fraud. Shouldn’t all Bank of America customers be told about this? And shouldn’t they hear it from their bank first, instead of a newspaper article?

Send a Postcard

Can you spare five minutes and a postcard? Halley asks nicely if you would send a one-sentence postcard to her mum, who is sick, and enjoys postcards from far away. Halley is in New Zealand, so when you see the 1/6/2011 on her post, that’s June 1. Her mom is in Connecticut, so no extra postage required. See, I did it. I’ll bet you can, too.

Brad Pitt Is God …

in Terrence Malick’s new film, Tree of Life. That’s my view of his character, Mr. O’Brien, the father to three sons growing up in the 1950s and ’60s Texas. The concept of God and eternal life is omnipresent. The movie has several scenes in a church, from a funeral to a Sunday service to Pitt sitting alone in a pew. But what makes Mr. O’Brien so godlike is how he appears to his sons. He’s the teacher, the father who teaches you how to fight, because he believes you are definitely going to need it, and the head of the household whose absence at home is more typical than his presence. Robert De Niro did a better job of explaining the movie. De Niro, head of the jury at Cannes that awarded the Palme D’Or to the film last month, said “Most of us felt it was the movie with the size, importance, intention … whatever you want to call it, that seemed to fit the prize.” Most of us. It’s not a movie that everyone will say is great. It’s not a perfect movie, but perfection lives within it. The Village Voice review by Nick Pinkerton made it seem irresistible. I’m glad I sat in a sold-out theater on a Sunday afternoon in May and watched it unfold.

Finovate Spring 2011

What exactly signifies innovation in banking? I’m here in San Francisco at the SF Design Center to discover. Finovate is a product demo conference. Two days of 7-minute show and tell, showcasing innovative products for the financial world. Meet and greet. Eighteen presenters before lunch.
I’m here as the guest of presenter Jeff Carter from Hoyos. I just watched an attendee walk past the Hoyos table, and read the sign that explains that Hoyos technology secures online identity with iris identification. “Is that for real?” I heard him ask.
Oh yeah, it’s for real. And I can’t wait to watch the audience reaction as it is unveiled this morning.

Sonoma Winery Tour — A Virtual Invitation

Next week I’ll be in San Francisco and you’re coming with me. I’ll be attending Finovate, the fast-paced showcase for financial technology for business. Then, I’ll be in Sonoma, attending wine showcases. I’ll be guest blogging about everything I see and taste for Wine and Walnuts. It’s my first visit to the area, and only my second to California. It’s always a treat to enjoy food and wine near its source.

Clos LaChance — Found

Ever since I tasted the Clos LaChance sauvignon blanc at the Food and Wine Festival in Dallas last year, I’ve been trying to find a bottle to enjoy at home. There were no wine shops in my corner of Dallas, and the grocery store selections were miserable, especially for whites. I’m happy to report that in New York City, the wine shop closest to me, 67 Wine & Spirits, has the hummingbirds. I’ve taken home two bottles already, and would drink more if I wasn’t so dazzled by all the other wines I haven’t tried.

Pop It

Wine and Walnuts blogger Kimberly Houston is a fellow bubbly lover, and she had a fun, cheap date with an Argentinian pink.