The Mother of Invention
I once sat on a plane at Phoenix airport waiting to return home at the end of a business trip. The pilot announced that our flight was delayed due to a problem with the flaps, a detail which qualified as TMI (i.e., “too much information”) judging from the anxiety it caused among the passengers. Those […]
A Random Walk with AI
My wife and I recently joined some of the last homeowners to contribute to the $11 billion robot vacuum industry. Since I am usually the one who does the vacuuming, I liked the idea of completing this chore with the simple push of a button. It was an exciting day when I took our new […]
The Rise of Artificial Stupidity
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.” – George Carlin Judging from the number of times we use the word “stupid” in our daily discourse, you might conclude that it’s on our minds a lot. It should come as no surprise that Merriam-Webster has numerous definitions for stupid. We have all vilified […]
Metathesiophobes Beware
I was born and raised in Southern California and by the time my wife and I had settled our young family in Santa Barbara (aka Paradise), I swore we would never leave. Nine years later we moved to Niwot, Colorado (aka God’s Country). The scripted answer to “Why?” centered on a job offer that was […]
Best If Used By 12-25-1995
When you consider the dreadful truth about food poisoning, you would expect a government-mandate for labeling the stuff we eat. There isn’t one. The FDA does require that baby formula have a “Use by…” date, but once you’re off the bottle, you’re on your own. The lack of a legal requirement hasn’t kept food manufacturers […]
Entangled
If you’re a Network Data Professional and you walk into the server room to find this, you know it will not be a good day. It’s as though the word “entangle” (verb – “to twist together or entwine into a confusing mass”) was coined just for this. Another word commonly used for this situation cannot […]
The End of Eleven
One of the funniest movies ever made, “This is Spinal Tap”, is a mockumentary about a failing heavy metal band. At one point in the film, guitarist Nigel is explaining his amplifier to a filmmaker who is doing a piece on the band. “It’s very special, because, as you can see–the numbers all go […]
Just the Facts
“The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” Anyone who can still remember the sixties will recognize this as the tagline for the TV drama Dragnet. For four seasons beginning in 1967, Sergeant Joe Friday and his sidekick Officer Bill Gannon investigated crimes in the […]
Review: Target Funding by Kedma Ough
The cover image of Target Funding by Kedma Ough – an arrow hitting a conventional target – makes sense but doesn’t do justice to the vast array of funding sources that she is about to reveal; perhaps a needle in a haystack would be more accurate. Although there are multitudes of funding opportunities out there, […]
Forget About It
Selective memory is well known. For example, I am quite clear on all the mistakes that others around me have made, but I have difficulty recalling my own screw-ups. I’m sure there are smart people who can explain the reasons for this. My own increasing tendency to forget stuff in general is of more immediate […]
