This youtube-hosted video is a very engaging and entertaining quick view of queuing theory that provides an eminently practical everyday application. Questions: Are you aware of what criteria you use when making decisions? If so, what are those criteria? Are your criteria based on emotions or logic? Do you always use the same approach to making decisions? Is …
How Would You Bet?
Lots of news today about a finding that under some conditions neutrinos may (I emphasize may) travel faster than the speed of light, a clear contravention of a basic tenet of physics. In this light (yes, that’s a joke), I found this little item to be of interest: Source: https://xkcd.com/955/ Given all the pronouncements lately about changes to established paradigms—often …
Is Failure an Option?
Failure seems to be much in the news lately. Over the space of just a few days, I came across several interesting items in the New York Times (What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?), the Harvard Business Review (Three Ways to Turn Setbacks into Progress), and a blog post from The 99 Percent (Why Success Always Starts with …
Why Fix It…
An item in this morning’s online Wall Street Journal caught my eye. It deals with a redesign of a very common office and household item, the venerable paper clip. In summary, ACCO Brands Corp., one of two key manufacturers of this item, is introducing a new version of the paper clip, which they’ve been making since 1903. From a purely …
Perceived Powerlessness
As I write this, the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. is feeling more than a bit of what Earth’s dynamic systems can evince: Hurricane Irene—while weakening from its higher-powered status—is causing major disruptions to various ecological systems and those wrought by humanity, as well. Whole areas of Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware are being evacuated, and the mayor of New …
Selling the Sizzle?
I’ve always been fascinated by spaceships–first, the science-fiction variety, with the then-requisite pointy nosecones, swept-back wings, and cockpit canopies, all of which made them look like super, super-fast fighter jets. As I got older (I’m not sure I can say “matured”) and began to work as a contractor in and around the NASA environment, I learned that such constructs were …
Connectivity Withdrawal
Our Internet connection went down last night, as a result of a huge lightning strike to our ISP’s central distribution site. We found this out upon returning to the office after a much-needed one-hour respite from professional activities. I can’t speak for the rest of the group, but my immediate reaction—other than a technological “I-wonder-what-happened?”—was a huge yawn. At the …