peHUB First Read

* Ryan Block: The iPad may change computing, but not your life. And that's ok. * Paul Ingrassia on the nation's public pension crisis: The difference between General Motors and California is that California hasn’t gone bankrupt. Yet. * The Economist on why there are so few Japanese private equity deals, despite a plethora of homegrown private equity firms. Same question could be asked about Japanese venture capital... * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares dip, the Nikkei rebounds and China shares hit three-week high. * Why @ is held in such high design esteem. * SpeakerText founder Matt Mireles: How I judge venture capitalists * Justin Smith: Which media giant will pull the social gaming trigger first? * Fred Wilson disagrees with Ben Horowitz: Being fat is not healthy (we're talking startup euphemisms here). As an aside, good to see Wilson point out that his comments are specific to software startups, not VC-backed companies in general. Too many other VCs take an ego/sector-centric view on this topic, presuming either: (a) What's good for my type of startups is good for all types of startups; or (b) My types of startups are the only ones worth discussing.