I remember reading George Orwell’s “1984” (around 1975 or so), and I thought “this guy is paranoid-no way this will ever happen”. I was wrong. While there is no Big Brother, there is a Big Data. And Big Data can record my location, my spending habits, my work habits, my driving habits, and my cholesterol. […]
The Law of Averages
The Law of Averages is a principle that states that a large randomly selected subgroup is likely to reflect the population as a whole. For example, if 10% of the entire population is left-handed, then it is likely that 10% of a randomly selected large group will also be left-handed. But that law doesn’t work […]
Bifocals
Bill Lyons used to write sports columns for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Once in a while, he would digress, and write columns that he called “Random Thoughts and Second Thoughts”. They were columns about random things and events. I loved those columns. I loved that he wasn’t bound by the traditional format of a 1500 word […]
Gravity
Websters defines status as “the relative position or standing” of something or someone. We pay a lot of attention to status in our society. If you’ve ever flown on an airplane, you’ve had to wait while people with “higher status” board the plane. The same thing applies almost everywhere we travel. Hotels have separate check-in […]
Funerals
I go to funerals. I think it shows respect for the deceased, and for their family and friends. So if I know someone who dies, I try to go to their funeral, whenever I can. I try to find some meaning in the act of attending funerals. Years ago, I read a quote (I think […]
Role Models
I have four role models. These are people I have known and watched forever. One of my friends calls them “angels”. I won’t name them by name here, but they know who they are. A few years ago, there was a TV commercial about role models. In that commercial, a famous athlete came on […]
Advertising
I remember the first time I learned that a sports arena sold its naming rights to a company. The arena was the old L.A. Forum, and they changed their name to the “Sponsor” Forum. I was shocked. How could they do this?! Now, every arena and stadium sells naming rights. In fact, some companies sponsor […]
Civility
I have the opportunity to travel to a faraway place for work. I go there a lot. When I land there, I arrive in a city of 25 million people. It is a big city. I have been there 10 times so far. I have spent about 2-3 months of my life in this city. […]
The Cathedral of Rouen
I had a 12th grade English teacher, who loved Shakespeare. He tried to introduce us to all things Shakespeare. At the time, all that I could handle was the Cliff Notes version. So I didn’t absorb very much. But one thing that I do remember, is that he highlighted the role of Shakespeare’s Fool. (This […]
Mother Nature
When I was in school, I remember learning about Weather. We did experiments on condensation, precipitation, and evaporation. None of it made an impact. Today, I am looking out my window, and the snow is starting. This is supposed to be a big one. Some forecasters are even capitalizing it: a Big One. There are […]
