A little item has crossed my desk twice in the past week. As is often the case, it came from two different correspondents, a continent apart. How and why such things spread is worthy of another post, but for now, allow me to point you to this: A little thought and some research that confirmed my hypothesis was very satisfying, …
Hydrodynamics and Crowds
I took some time today to try to catch up on readings that have eluded me owing to other, perhaps more pressing matters. An article in the December 2011 issue of Communications of the ACM 54(12) caught my eye, with the engaging title of “Visual Crowd Surveillance through a Hydrodynamics Lens”, by Moore, Ali, Mehran, and Shah (included just for …
Organic Connections
The Communications of the ACM (Vol. 54, No. 6, June 2011) had a fascinating article entitled, “Biology-Inspired Networking”, wherein the author described how a team at Carnegie Mellon University has developed a new networking algorithm. Their approach is based on the observation that developing neural cells in fruit flies organize not just themselves, but also the cells around them to …
Married to an Idea: Is it Time for a Divorce?
I’ve been working on an in-house project for a couple of months. It’s one of those things that can (and did) become almost all-consuming, as there were many components, all of which had to fit together into a cohesive unit for optimum effectiveness. I was within days of launching it, when I realized that a major piece of it just …
Pedantry vs. Mastery
Unless I maintain vigilance, I tend to be rather rule bound. It’s a part of my personality that I’m not fond of, so I do my best to be aware of my response in situations. That’s why this quote, from A Word a Day struck me as being noteworthy: Pedantry and mastery are opposite attitudes toward rules. To apply a …
A Thought for Today
A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying. –B.F. Skinner, American psychologist, inventor, and author Questions: None. Just consider its applications in your own activities.
When It’s Someone Else’s Turn
The Lovely and Talented Janice just got through a very hard week, preparing for and participating in a crafts show to support the local women’s help center. I’ve learned over the years to just stay out of her way during such periods, and to do more than my usual share of household support in addition to what emotional and logistical …
But I Don’t Want To!
About 25 years ago I chided my father for hiring folks to do various things around his house that I felt he not only could have, but should have done himself. Fast forward to today, and I find myself in the unfortunate position of wanting to hire folks to do various things around the house that I not only could, …
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 …
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 …