I try to set achievable, measurable resolutions. Read 75 books. In 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, I set the goal for 52 even though I kept reading far more. Hit 25,000 pages. Last year dropped below 20K, so I really need to get the average back up to something respectable. Finish series already started. 24 of the 75…
OK, the year is completely done, so here is where I am with each resolution. Read 52 books. The goal was 52. I read 70. My Goodreads user challenge. Looking at pages, I managed to read 19,669 compared to an average of 21,815 for the prior four years. So while the number of books is good, they were lighter. (I think my…
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon My rating: 5 of 5 stars In this near future, science has figured out how to intervene with children to prevent autism. Lou and his friends, have to navigate the difficult choices when a cure becomes potentially available. It explores experimentation, work policies, social pressures, and what it…
Lots of people claim the reason cats present dead animals to their humans is because they are trying to teach the human to hunt. (Mental Floss, IFLScience, LiveScience) At one point I probably agreed with this. This conclusion rests on cats treating their human as a kitten. I wonder if there is something else at…
Fake clickbait like The Onion is good. ALWAYS click on The Onion. I don’t care if you dislike their fake news stories. I enjoy them. 🙂 The algorithms choose which stories we see. If you dislike what you see, then you need to change what you click. My Facebook feed? It is chock full of science,…
Marty and Jennifer have arrived from 1985. Where’s my flying car and hoverboard? (The joke here is today is the only day Today is the Day Marty McFly Went to the Future actually shows what was in the movie. And, nothing predicted in that future came to pass.)
The overuse of “This is your last chance” annoys me. Last means there are no other chances beyond it. If I do not act now, then I have to accept the penalty for the rest of eternity that I could have taken the offer but failed to do so. However, when someone is trying to…
Several people I know talk about having sleep issues. One of the highly cited things of late is that the blue light from our electronic devices messes with our brains to reset the Circadian rhythm making us fall asleep later. Even I use f.lux to change the light of my computer to a warmer tone just…
The Goodreads Reading Challenge needs a leaderboard. For example, Fitbit displays your rank amongst your friends based on how many steps each has taken that week. This encourages competitiveness amongst friends to take more steps. (Or cheat with Unfitbits style hacks.) Knowing that I am a thousand steps behind a friend is motivation to find ways to…