Thinking Outside the Book
As I was growing up, we had a kindly old family doctor who would make house calls if you couldn’t come to his office (yes, I’m that old). When he retired, his son took over the practice and took care of me during my anxiety-ridden teenage years. There was a time when I had difficulty […]
Sampling Error
Sampling error is a useful tool in the hands of anyone who routinely gathers data, which is pretty much anyone. It has great value for two-year olds, who spend nearly all of their waking hours collecting data about the world. It is equally as valuable to adult scientists whose working hours are generally spent recording […]
Creep
If you’re an engineer, creep is the slow, permanent deformation of a body resulting from the continued application of heat or stress. If you’re a regular human, it might signify stealthy movement, or perhaps a detestable person. To a select few, Creep is a song from Radiohead’s Pablo Honey album. The fact that a creep […]
For the Memories
Memory is not to be trusted. It is unpredictable, frustratingly fleeting, and only gets worse with age. It will forever cling tightly to useless facts and yet misplace the freshest, most essential ones. I can remember my childhood phone number, the tune and lyrics to Let It Be, and most of the Gettysburg Address, and […]
3.61 Degrees of Separation
That basketball game you really wanted to see is sold out? Relax, I have connections. You want the best price on a new car? No problem, my brother-in-law works at the dealership. Frustrated in your job search? Forget about patrolling the Internet – “networking” is to modern employment what “plastics” was to Benjamin. From entertainment […]
Stuff Happens When You Fool Mother Nature
Butter is milk fat that is rapidly converted by the body into people fat. Butter had been around for 4000 years with no real competition until 1869, when French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès horrified American dairy farmers with his patented, lower-priced spread known as margarine. Frantic political lobbying and prohibitive licensing fees ensued. Margarine was blamed […]
God’s Analytics
For anyone who’s ever written for the web, Analytics are everything. If you are an amateur, Analytics feed your ego and if you are a pro, Analytics feed your paycheck (and your ego). One of the most reliable ways to take the pulse of our culture and measure what we are collectively thinking about is […]
Hair Maker
Great inventions are often born at the intersection of two seemingly unrelated observations. Consider hot glue guns and bald guys. Observation #1: Sometimes when you pull a glue gun back from the item being glued it leaves a thin, hair-like strand of hardened plastic. Observation #2: Bald guys have no hair. Although assaulting a bald […]
Building a Brand
Andrew, Katrina, what’s in a name? A hurricane by any other name would still be as devastating. If you want to get the public to pay attention, branding is key. A big part of branding, Shakespeare notwithstanding, is the selection of a name. The names Kleenex, Scotch Tape and Advil are so recognizable that we […]
Just What Do You Think You’re Doing?
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is widely regarded as one of the most influential films ever made. Themes of existentialism and artificial intelligence were reinforced by scientifically accurate depictions of space flight and cutting-edge pre-CGI special effects. In one of the movie’s most memorable and prescient sequences, the working relationship between pseudo-sentient mission computer […]
