Having watched both the Olympics short programs and free skate of the women's figure skating, and not being any kind of expert, IMHO something is not right with the scoring. We have seen a similar fishy result with the Chinese gymnasts not being old enough to compete. It is certainly way overdue for a more transparent way of scoring. Perhaps a list of the required elements, extra elements and their scores could be displayed. It is very hard that there was not some sort of bias.
Latest on the employment front: So not only are employers advertising positions that they don't intend to fill, at least not immediately, but they are also pre- pre-screening applicants. This certainly promulgates false hopes and wastes everyone's time and efforts. Lining up potential employees before actually getting a contract is not new. What is new, is not immediately responding with a confirmation that you might still be in the running for a position. Confirmations on applications are like vegetarian Great White's. They probably don't exist and nobody is certainly expecting to find one. How very frustrating the "new" world is!
Helmsman Training
A young man who wants to see the world signs on to a steamship to be trained as a helmsman. He masters the classroom instruction, then starts his practical training on the wheel of the vessel. In his first lesson, the mate gives him a heading, and the young fellow holds to it. Then the mate orders, "Come starboard."
Pleased at knowing immediately which way starboard is, the young man leaves the helm and walks over to his instructor.
The mate has an incredulous look on his face as the helm swings freely. Then, rather gently considering the circumstance, he asks politely, "Could you bring the ship with you?"
AAADD - Classic Grumpy Old Man Syndrome
Recently, I was diagnosed with AAADD - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it manifests itself:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the rubbish bin under the table, and notice that the bin is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the rubbish first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only
one cheque left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go
inside the house to my desk where I find the can of coke that I had been
drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the coke
aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the coke is
getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep
it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the coke, a vase of flowers on the
counter catches my eye: they need to be watered.Grumpy Whinge
I place the coke down on the work surface, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the work top, fill a container with water
and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone has left it on the kitchen
table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the
remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I
decide to put it back in the lounge where it belongs, but first I'll
water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the
floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and
wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
The car isn't washed.
The bills aren't paid.
There is a warm can of coke sitting on the work surface.
The flowers don't have enough water.
There is still only one check in my checkbook.
I can't find the TV remote.
I can't find my glasses and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really
baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it,
but first I'll check my e-mail.
PS. I just remembered, I left the water running......................................
AS PROMISED: "The lighter side..." and free erudite opinions (and whines and gripes, that may not be politically correct), hyperboles and advice (on current events as well as topics for the digerati), and even some temporary(?) insanities too (daily risibility exercises)!... And the Picture-Of-The-Week:
Picoftheweek
My Statement
"Let me emphatically say that I am not anti-Facebook (Fleecebook), anti-smart phone, anti-Microsoft, anti-Apple, anti-Google or anti-Internet. I do believe, though, that the consumer is being ripped off of his privacy, identity and purchase history. We are being herded into a Facebook corner where what we "Like" and where we go physically and on the net will be scrutinized and sold numerous times to actually corrode and erode our culture while tempting us only with convenience, high tech and flashing video screens. The unsuspecting consumers need to be aware..." - Gary Lapman
Quote of Note
“If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.”-W.C. Fields
"For the strength of the Wolf is in the Pack, and the strength of the Pack is in the Wolf." - Rudyard Kipling
"For the strength of the Wolf is in the Pack, and the strength of the Pack is in the Wolf." - Rudyard Kipling
“Fame is vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, but only character endures.” - Matthew McConaughey
"In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him"
"Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason" - Jerry Seinfeld
"Fleecebook is free, you (and your identity) is the product!" - Gary Lapman
"Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves." - Eric Sevareid
"'Smart' phones are only smart for the cell phone providers!" - Gary Lapman
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." -- Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity.” -Albert Einstein
"Technology creates the illusion of companionship without the intimacy of friendship." - unknown
"No worry, there's an app for that..." - Gary Lapman
Friday, February 21, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Anti Stove-pipe Thinking
It has been a while since my last post, but let me assure you, not much has changed except for my level of anxiety. Apparently experience and flexibility no longer means what it did. Now one must have keywords in your repertoire that match the advertised ones to matter. This is a shortcut for the HR people, but doesn't scratch the surface of one's true experiences. What is a good employee? What is a good engineer?
Over the years, remembering individual algorithms or formulas has been replaced with recognizing the need and recalling where to look for that information. This method adds to the flexibility needed in problem solving based on analysis and design. There were not any specific acronyms or keywords involved. The problem was recognized and a solution was at hand. I suppose this makes me believe that I am a bit old-school...
It has been very interesting explaining this conundrum to interviewers or in a letter of introduction. Why are they too stove-piped in their processes to see that, and how will I explain my methods' perceived worth?
Being back in the job market has provided me with an opportunity to witness an eye-opener first hand. I am not grateful for the opportunity, but certainly I am willing to share my experiences to ease someone else grief. The job market, albeit bad for the most part, is worse here in the Santa Barbara area. One advantage that we do have is the local university. There are several start-ups locally which could provide some opportunities that I wouldn't normally have.
The way you say it
It's not what you say, but the way you say it.
On a blind date, the boy said to the girl: "Time stands still when I look into your eyes."
The girl was very flattered.
What the boy had really meant was, "You have a face that would stop a clock."
Big ethical dilemma
Upon seeing an elderly lady for the drafting of her will, the attorney charged her $100.
She gave him a $100 bill, not noticing that it was stuck to another $100 bill.
On seeing the two bills stuck together, the ethical question came to the attorney's mind: "Do I tell my partner?"
Over the years, remembering individual algorithms or formulas has been replaced with recognizing the need and recalling where to look for that information. This method adds to the flexibility needed in problem solving based on analysis and design. There were not any specific acronyms or keywords involved. The problem was recognized and a solution was at hand. I suppose this makes me believe that I am a bit old-school...
It has been very interesting explaining this conundrum to interviewers or in a letter of introduction. Why are they too stove-piped in their processes to see that, and how will I explain my methods' perceived worth?
Being back in the job market has provided me with an opportunity to witness an eye-opener first hand. I am not grateful for the opportunity, but certainly I am willing to share my experiences to ease someone else grief. The job market, albeit bad for the most part, is worse here in the Santa Barbara area. One advantage that we do have is the local university. There are several start-ups locally which could provide some opportunities that I wouldn't normally have.
The way you say it
It's not what you say, but the way you say it.
On a blind date, the boy said to the girl: "Time stands still when I look into your eyes."
The girl was very flattered.
What the boy had really meant was, "You have a face that would stop a clock."
Big ethical dilemma
Upon seeing an elderly lady for the drafting of her will, the attorney charged her $100.
She gave him a $100 bill, not noticing that it was stuck to another $100 bill.
On seeing the two bills stuck together, the ethical question came to the attorney's mind: "Do I tell my partner?"
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Data, directionless data.
In my last post I claimed that this post would be created on my new computer. I wish that were true. It was ordered almost two weeks ago, but has not yet been shipped to me. While I have been patient, I did complain at how unexpected this "bad" service was. I asked that the order be expedited, given that the computer is still available. If not, please let me know so I can order a substitute.
So far, I have not heard anything. That is pretty much the same reaction that I am not getting from the local HR representatives regarding my job applications. Going totally electronic means they can more easily ignore me.
So meanwhile, the computer order was not expedited, but now they are claiming that there is a shortage of a needed part. Of course, they couldn't possibly have told me that ahead of time.
We have way too much data floating about, without a reason for having it, or a direction for it to go. It is causing us way too much trouble, and we haven't seen the end of it yet. The fact that someone figured out how to make money on collected data means that it will never stop!
Qualities of Leadership
Can you imagine working at the following Company? It has a little over 500 employees with the following statistics:
29 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have bankrupted at least two businesses
3 have been arrested for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are current defendants in lawsuits
84 were stopped for drunk driving
Can you guess which organization this is?
It's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group that perpetually cranks out hundreds upon hundreds of new laws designed to keep the rest of us in line.
The Seagull
A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore, where a seagull lay dead in the sand.
"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.
"He died and went to Heaven," the dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?"
Good Pedigree
The lil' Columbia, Maryland Yuppette was shopping in an upscale pet center. "I want a dog of which I can be proud," she told the salesman. "Does that one have a good pedigree?"
"Miss," declared the clerk, "if she could speak, she wouldn't talk to either one of us."
Plowing at Night
A husband and wife were driving down a country lane on their way to visit some friends. They came to a muddy patch in the road and the car became bogged. After a few minutes of trying to get the car out by themselves, they saw a young farmer coming down the lane, driving some oxen before him.
He stopped when he saw the couple in trouble and offered to pull the car out of the mud for $50. The husband accepted and minutes later the car was free.
The farmer turned to the husband and said, "You know, you're the tenth car I've helped out of the mud today."
The husband looks around at the fields incredulously and asks the farmer, "When do you have time to plow your land? At night?"
"No," the young farmer replied seriously, "Night is when I put the water in the hole"
Car Privileges
The mother and father had just given their teenage daughter family-car privileges. On Saturday night she returned home very late from a party.
The next morning her father went out to the driveway to get the newspaper and came back into the house frowning. At 11:30 AM the girl sleepily walked into the kitchen, and her father asked her, "Sweetheart, what time did you get in last night?"
"Not too late, Dad." she replied nervously.
Dead-panned, her father said, "Then, my precious one, I'll have to talk with the paperboy about putting my paper under the front tire of the car."
So far, I have not heard anything. That is pretty much the same reaction that I am not getting from the local HR representatives regarding my job applications. Going totally electronic means they can more easily ignore me.
So meanwhile, the computer order was not expedited, but now they are claiming that there is a shortage of a needed part. Of course, they couldn't possibly have told me that ahead of time.
We have way too much data floating about, without a reason for having it, or a direction for it to go. It is causing us way too much trouble, and we haven't seen the end of it yet. The fact that someone figured out how to make money on collected data means that it will never stop!
Qualities of Leadership
Can you imagine working at the following Company? It has a little over 500 employees with the following statistics:
29 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have bankrupted at least two businesses
3 have been arrested for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are current defendants in lawsuits
84 were stopped for drunk driving
Can you guess which organization this is?
It's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group that perpetually cranks out hundreds upon hundreds of new laws designed to keep the rest of us in line.
The Seagull
A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore, where a seagull lay dead in the sand.
"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.
"He died and went to Heaven," the dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?"
Good Pedigree
The lil' Columbia, Maryland Yuppette was shopping in an upscale pet center. "I want a dog of which I can be proud," she told the salesman. "Does that one have a good pedigree?"
"Miss," declared the clerk, "if she could speak, she wouldn't talk to either one of us."
Plowing at Night
A husband and wife were driving down a country lane on their way to visit some friends. They came to a muddy patch in the road and the car became bogged. After a few minutes of trying to get the car out by themselves, they saw a young farmer coming down the lane, driving some oxen before him.
He stopped when he saw the couple in trouble and offered to pull the car out of the mud for $50. The husband accepted and minutes later the car was free.
The farmer turned to the husband and said, "You know, you're the tenth car I've helped out of the mud today."
The husband looks around at the fields incredulously and asks the farmer, "When do you have time to plow your land? At night?"
"No," the young farmer replied seriously, "Night is when I put the water in the hole"
Car Privileges
The mother and father had just given their teenage daughter family-car privileges. On Saturday night she returned home very late from a party.
The next morning her father went out to the driveway to get the newspaper and came back into the house frowning. At 11:30 AM the girl sleepily walked into the kitchen, and her father asked her, "Sweetheart, what time did you get in last night?"
"Not too late, Dad." she replied nervously.
Dead-panned, her father said, "Then, my precious one, I'll have to talk with the paperboy about putting my paper under the front tire of the car."
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