Use Your Words
For parents of preschoolers, there comes a time – often in the evening – known as “the storm before the calm.” It can also come about during the day if expectations of some kind are not met, or perhaps if a child is just “hangry.” Our preferred solution was to remain calm and tell them […]
A Few Words About Nothing
If I told you that only 26% of the population can demonstrate a basic understanding of calculus, and 63% of those are women, you might be surprised. It would appear that calculus must be a niche specialty where women are well ahead of men. You could not help but wonder how men have dominated the […]
We Know What Causes That
Dr. Franz H. Messerli, a recognized expert in hypertensive cardio-vascular disease, has published over 600 papers and written 20 books. In 2012, in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Messerli wrote a short article about Nobel prizes and chocolate consumption. His research uncovered a strong linear correlation (r=0.791, P<0.0001) between the number of […]
Why Bother?
My sister-in-law’s Starbucks order is something like “Venti non-fat decaf low-foam not-too-hot lactose free artificially sweetened latte.” I’ll concede that we all have different reasons for doing what we do, but I’m sure Starbucks could simplify things by adding a drink to the menu dubbed the “Why Bother?” I can visualize a whole new line […]
Good Enough
In my very first job as a young engineer fresh out of college, I worked under an old, curmudgeonly manager who was approaching retirement. Bob (his real name) was an anxious chain-smoker, in the days when smoking in the office was allowed. For all his idiosyncrasies, he taught me some important lessons about “thinking outside […]
The Ultimate Guide to Power and Influence: Everything You Need to Know by Robert L. Dilenschneider – A Review
The thought of someone who seeks power and influence brings forth images of one who is greedy, immodest, inflexible and insincere. The Ultimate Guide to Power and Influence by Robert L. Dilenschneider works against this stereotype as the author describes how to position yourself to gain power and influence, what to do with it when […]
Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation by Michael Lenox – A Review
Technological progress is rapid and accelerating. Biologist Paul Ehrlich reassures us that as long as the human brain is setting the pace, we needn’t fear – basic human intelligence has remained the same for thousands of years. On the other hand, Singularity Theory (e.g., I. J. Good 1965) warns that Artificial Intelligence could beget machines […]
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 […]
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 […]
