Apr

26

Boredom Correlates to Mistakes

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We never get to stay bored at work for very long. Every day has an emergency from something caused by a user of the institutions we host, the admins at the institution, or even people who work for our project. Wait…. Maybe it is the boredom which is the cause of the mistakes which keeps the rest of us from really getting bored. So eliminating the boredom in one part of the system would cause boredom in other parts.

Thankfully our philosophy is to automate monotonous activities as much as possible. Computer brains do not get bored to make mistakes.

According to Dr Eichele of Norway and Dr Stefan Debener of the UK, when the brain switches to autopilot is when we are likely to start making mistakes. The brain economizes by shifting electrical activity from the prefrontal cortex (attention) to the default mode network.

I can’t want for them to figure out brains which sit in the default mode network are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s or dementia. :)

Of course, the worst mistake you could possibly make is to get bored enough to get involved in social networks.

Apr

22

Happy Earth Day

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The Earth is an amazing place.

Mar

24

Wrong Number

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A ticket our Blackboard technical support manager marked as really urgent was picked up by another technical support person who left a note about calling me. Except, the familiar phone number called wasn’t my office number or even my cell number. Nope, it is the office number at my previous job. Yup. I have not worked there in over two years. Yet, no one at WebCT or Blackboard has updated my contact information so Blackboard employees can find me. Isn’t the whole point of having my phone number to be able to call me? It is okay. As it is the end of the work day I was headed home anyway.
:)

Sorry, Andy, if they left a message….

Feb

27

Coolest Last Name

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I get some variant of, “You have the coolest last name,” from many strangers. Freelove sounds hippie, care free, and … well… loving. Its nice, you know?

Marriage proposals over how cool it is… That is new.

Sharon: Is “Freelove” really your name?
Ezra: Yes, it is.
Sharon: Can I marry you?

About a year ago, a woman said she would love to marry me just to get the name. This is the first time a woman just asked.

Feb

11

Artificial !Always= Better

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I fit the criteria of obese. My weight is not an obsession. I lost a good 20 pounds in a few months by making sure to walk 1.5-2 miles 4-5 times a week and not eating many calories. Thing is…. I am lazy. So I put that weight right back on after not maintaining the habit. Working in a sedentary job doesn’t help.

I keep being told I need to drink Diet Pepsi. My thought to that is, I’ll kill myself first. That artificial sweeteners are linked to weight gain gives me a new salvo in return fire. Everyone I know who uses the “Diet” soft drinks as part of their weight loss plan don’t seem to do very well. Only those who cut out all soft drink all together did well.

Feb

11

A Soliloquy Remake

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True?

To update or not to update, that is the question;
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The freezes and crashes of sloppy code,
Or to take arms against a sea of developers,
And by opposing, end them.

I know… It’s bad…

Feb

7

Happy New Year!

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It’s the Chinese Year of the Brown Earth Rat!

Feb

4

Elementary!

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Is it the poll that is revealing or the pollsters or asking people who watch a ton of TV: “58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Holmes actually existed“?

Jan

26

Safe From Falling Satellites?

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A U.S. military spy satellite the size of a school bus is falling. Without power, the controllers on the ground no longer can ensure it comes down in a controlled manner into the ocean. It could hit the ground in a month. At present, its unknown when or where it might hit.

The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab, the 78-ton abandoned space station that fell from orbit in 1979. Its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia.

This quote got me thinking… Assuming this object comes down anywhere on the surface of the Earth, what are the odds of it hitting 1) a major city, 2) a populated area, 3) anyone, or 4) harmless to any human life? It seems to me the highest odds are on #4. Consider: 71% of the surface of the Earth is covered by water. So the only risk is it hitting a ship. The odds of #4 would be at the lowest 65-70%. People tend to congregate in groups up to tens of millions. Even farmland makes up only 40% of the land. Probably populated areas would not even get us to 50% of the land surface area.

Probably since the odds are so low anyone will be hit is the reason for the lack of “OMG we’re going to die!”

Jan

11

Separated at Birth

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I wondered how often this happens. Turns out it has at least once.

Twins who were separated at birth got married without realizing they were brother and sister….

“Everyone has a right to knowledge about their lineage, genealogy andidentity. And if they don’t, then it will lead to cases of incest,”[Lord David] Alton.
Twins unwittingly got married in Britain

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