Atoms and Beer
As the story goes, there once was an engineer who claimed to have the best job in the world. When asked why it was so great, he replied “My work is so far-out that even my boss doesn’t understand it. When I tell him what an awesome job I am doing, he has no choice […]
You Are Not Special
Linus Benedict Torvalds is special. If you’re not sure why, allow me to issue a prompt – Linux. Linus is the Finnish software engineer widely recognized for creating the open-source computer OS which led to the ubiquitous Linux kernel. For programmers collaboratively developing source code, he also invented Git, a version control system for tracking […]
Chaos Always Wins
The laws under which we live serve to guard our general safety and protect us from harm by other members of our community. Some have changed over time to reflect differences between our modern society, and that of 1789 when our Constitution was born. We are similarly governed by the laws of physics which, except […]
What is Your Job?
In William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It, the character Jaques has no job in the plot- he only provides wry comment on the others. Most of us have worked with people like this. Jacques is remembered for the iconic line, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players…”. If […]
The Time-Delay Life
I love watching football. It is by far my favorite game on TV. The display of athleticism and skill, the sophistication of the plays, and the strategic battle between opposing coaches all captivate me. Thanks to modern technology, my wristwatch will even prompt me with scoring updates from my favorite teams when I am unable […]
Introducing ChatGPT
The first chatbot was ELIZA, created in 1966 by computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT. ELIZA was designed to simulate a psychotherapist in natural language conversations and was based on pattern matching and substitution methods. ELIZA was designed to simulate a psychotherapist as a way to demonstrate the power of computer language processing. Joseph Weizenbaum […]
The Woo-Woo Engineers
While the burden of proof in our legal system rests on the accuser, an opposite of sorts is in play for new ideas – even a modicum of credibility is often enough to give wings to a novel suggestion. This worldview is exemplified by a quote from John Lennon – “I believe in everything until […]
The Entrepreneurs: The Relentless Quest for Value by Derek Lidow – A Review
Most of us think of an entrepreneur as someone who makes a lot of money for a lot of people very quickly.
Connections Are Everything
My doctor, my financial planner and my trust attorney all roll their eyes when I tell them I intend to live to 100, but I am dead serious. Although I have yet to become a germophobic vegan gym rat, I am still drawn to click-bait like “10 ways to Live Longer and Better.” Beyond the […]
Show the Value of What You Do by Patricia and Jack Phillips: A Review
Bragging at work, even the humble kind, is generally not looked upon favorably. In performance appraisals where I have been required to rate myself, I feel I am treading on dangerous ground – too high and I’ll appear arrogant, too low and my superiors will suspect I know something that they don’t. In Show the […]
