First Blog

Humor is a near unique aspect of humans that leaves untouched just about every endeavor, every aspiration, and every desperation we have.   Not the least of these is aging.   While in Part I of this note on aging we reflected on the majesty and melancholy of aging, here we look at the humor.   Most speak to some aspect of youth when viewed from the lens of age.   Each speaks for itself, comments are not needed.    There are hundreds of published quotes online and in print.   Selected here are some of the very funny ones from notable people - all current graduates of that select club.         The older I get, the better I was. - Henry Louis Mencken     Do not regret growing old; many are denied the privilege. - Ogden Nash     Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age. - Victor Hugo       It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals t...

I am what I am. I work out, I travel, I write, I teach and research, do a lot of computing, and importantly I continually plan for the future.  But for many, many years I do recall thinking about aging, its processes, and watching others age. Aging has been on my mind; I guess it’s always been on my mind. A good question is “How do we age?” How about bitterly, regretfully, remorsefully, disgustingly, gracefully, joyfully, disappointingly, philosophically, or wisely? Millions upon millions, blessed with the arrival of old age, have penned their thoughts, their ideas, and their wisdom upon aging. In this note we take up sayings and aphorisms on growing old from many luminaries past and present, then add commentaries. There are numerous categories about aging. They range across (a) Physical aspects (conditioning and fitness, aches and pains, activity), (b) Mental aspects (memory, intelligence, interests, sense of humor), (c) Financial (costs), (d) Death (prepar...

Three Simple Words Remember these from our school days, reading, writing, and arithmetic, the basic three R’s? They encapsulate much of our school subjects, and are among the very important things we have learned. More generally, they point a way we classify important ideas and directions in a simple and memorable way. It is the way we work; it is who we are. Let’s generalize. Nowadays, with our incredibly complex lives which include just plain living, politics, education, workplace, and more, we need simplicity to keep everything straight, as it were “all in our heads at the same time.” We need simple rules for complex subjects, partly because there are so many of them. The Questions . How do we, as a people, transmit, contain, understand, remember, and reflect upon, information and ideas? How do we understand the drivers of ongoing initiatives? How do we relate to a subject? How do we express the rules of the game, our game? ...

What do Mozart and I have in common? At first blush you might suggest, “Both of you like Mozart’s music,” not adding that, “and it ends there.” Yet, there is common ground. The answer is that ... Mozart and I are both “techies.” It all began in 1698. After hundreds of attempts by dozens of craftsmen, the Italian instrument maker Bartolmeo Cristofori* finally solved all the problems inherent in making a harpsichord with hammers , the Piano Forte. While it is unimportant just what the problems were, the result was the creation of a new instrument with a dynamic range that completely eclipsed the harpsichord. The new sound excited the public; the powerful and rich Medici’s listed one of Christofori’s instruments in a 1700 inventory of instruments. Here was a powerful new tool, hardly touched by new composition. Techniques and rules of composition for it did not exist. The first explorers with the new technology, which included Moza...

Personal Learning and Growth.  How we do it?  How does it happen? How does it progress? We all like to improve ourselves, growing to become a more informed, more intelligent, more discerning, more discriminating, and overall a more enlightened person; moreover we like learning important new skills, learning things we always wanted to know about, and learning brand new things to enrich our lives - not to mention saving our jobs. That you agree with at least part of this is established by your reading this note and generally looking out there on the Internet for new and interesting ideas. We posit here what I have long regarded as the reasons, the how, the why, and the results of new learning and growth.  They are uncomplicated and, because of this, open to dissent.  That's ok.  Let's get something on paper.  Then we can fix it, as needed. Our small observations on personal growth can be classified by a few simple words, a...

The concept of consciousness is particularly ephemeral.  It has challenged philosophers, psychologists, physicist, and more.  It is difficult.  My approach to understanding a tough subject is to form a model that I can personally understand.  We have followed this desideratum here by indicating that consciousness is a collective of three aspects of intelligent life: self-awareness, problem solving, and innovation.  In defining consciousness, we seem to be challenging a problem for which any proposed solution generates new questions and new problems.   But, here we go... For us to define consciousness   leads to philosophical, psychological and emotional problems, as above and more.  One way to attack the problem is to propose what would constitute consciousness in a computing machine.  This has been well explored.  No consensus has been achieved.  In this note, we connect consciousness with  the subjects of se...

Golden Rule???? The first transgression one accuses another of is that same transgression one will commit. It seems that the innocent will view the criminal of making against them what they would do personally.  This is a reversal or revision of the Golden Rule.  The new version is: "Accuse of others what you would do to them." On major crimes, you and I cannot quite understand and are horrified by a charge of... Murder, because you just could not do it. Bank robbery,  because you would not do it. Child molestation, because this is abhorrent. Stock price manipulation, because it is wrong. This is what makes these charges so interesting, so sensational, and so downright riveting on news broadcasts.  But  there are minor crimes you could do and see as possible, partly because you, yourself, could commit them. Crimes of rumor, gossip, and innuendo are a part of these.  On  personal note....

Social Media . One item of note today is the great preponderance of cell phones, blogs, twitters, and Facebook.  There are a dozen or more others, as you know.  The question I pose here is why? The Worldwide Data.   All numbers given are estimates, as there is no clear methodology for such data collection ('cept maybe cell phones) as there is for medical conditions, educational information, voters, religions, and the like.  Cell phones: There are  an estimated 5,980,000,000 mobile accounts worldwide, greater than the world population. Mobile accounts out number land lines 5:1. India and China account for at least 30% of this business.  Blogs: There are more than 160,000,000 blogs and 75% of that number are blog readers.  Some estimates are vastly higher. Twitter: There are at least 500,000,000 accounts, with more than 170,000,000 tweeting daily. The average visit time is more than 11 minutes.  People tweet, organizations tweet...

The other day I was feeling like nothing was happening, that I'm not getting anywhere, and  there were few prospects.  Then it occurred to me that I have done a lot of things and I shouldn't forget it.  The spark that was is still there.  I thought to write it down.  And then I added a few more. It is important to remember ... All you have achieved. What is not important. What is important. Your goals, and to form new ones. Your friends; they are the shadows of your personality. Your childhood; all you are is rooted there. Your parents; their signature is a goodly part of you. It is important to.. Enjoy living. Exercise your mind and body. Love much; hate not too much. Help out, when you can. Have favorite things. Honor and appreciate your friends. Forget grudges, even if you can't forgive them. Drive on calmly, despite all the morons on the road. Keep your tank full. Listen to good music. Know a few really good jokes. Read ...

Preamble. There is one achievement of the US educational system.  They have convinced our students of how smart they are. This is good and bad.  Some students are elevated by this pronouncement, and get smarter.  Some students are elevated by this pronouncement, and don't try to get smarter. Why bother, they might ask when I'm already smart?  Some of these folks are idiots. In this note, we classify students and adults by their intellectual capacities. This applies well beyond the USA. Fundamental premise :  "Every body thinks they're smart."  Not really! Rankings . Smart vs Dumb Smart and know they're smart but don't press the "smart" issue. Smart and know they're smart, but do try to impress their smartness. Smart, but don't know it, are insecure about the whole matter.  Smart but doubt their smartness. Not so smart but think they're smart. Act like they're smart. Not so smart and know it.  They work around the mat...

Education differentiated by campus, by course level, by private and public, and by state have long existed.  Mostly, the differentiation is cost-based.  Lower level courses are cheaper than advanced courses.  Public schools are cheaper than private schools. One state/country may have better education than another.  In this note we suggest cost-based tuition based on educational services used by the student.  This is not really new, but it is coming.  Driving factors: Education is expensive; times are hard; something must be done cut expenses; alternative and proven methods are available. Background.   We read from ancient history and up to current times how students were educated by personal teacher/tutors.  Wealthy parents hired a teacher to live inside the household and educate their children.  For example, Aristotle was the teacher/tutor of Alexander the Great.  A companion of this was the hire of a tutor to attend to individua...

As soon as possible you should experience what the artist has put into his/her painting - not talk about it.  To get away from the verbal to another seat of consciousness.