P.S. A Column On Things

This and That

American Management In Brief
Best interpretation of today's corporate world. From LinkedIn
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Inspiring Teacher Story
Teachers do make a difference. From LinkedIn via Michael Dortch
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Funny Because It’s True
Don’t Jump To Conclusions. Also from LinkedIn
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Of-ten or Off-en
Now matter how often I hear it, when people pronounce the “t” in often, it drives me crazy. The dictionary says both are correct. The dictionary is wrong. Rain down your Pet Peeves on this subject.

This and That

Definition of Insanity
I am sure this was not his intent, but this is the definition of stark raving mad, running the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim.
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Resolve Conflict
From LinkedIn. The best way to resolve conflict without yelling is: "Communicate with clarity. Explain with soft tone."

This and That

Narcissism
From a friend: This is one of the best videos I've seen on Narcissism... funny too.
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Sad Newspaper Commentary
Over The Hedge offers a sad commentary on newspaper readership, which, as Homer Simpson says, is “Funny because it’s true.”
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What’s Happy?
Many interesting answers to many interesting questions in Harvard’s 85-year-old study of its alums.
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Occam’s Razor
I assumed everyone knew of this principle. After a recent dinner with a pair of humanities majors, I discovered that while it is well-known in my crowd, it isn’t general knowledge. If there are two explanations, pick the simpler one.

This and That

Work At Home
From LinkedIn: A solid argument in favor of work at  home. Also: 13 Steins At Once.
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All The Cool Kids
All the cool kids are doing it: go to Spotify and search for Paul Sings Paul. The results will please and entertain you.

Right Column Redux: Paul on Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune

The column to the right on this blog contains permanent content, most of which has appeared at one time or another in the main body. I’ve decided to include a reminder.

Paul on Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune

This and That

Abused Elephants Forced To Listen
I won’t dignify it with a link, but pianist Paul Barton claims to have traded Yorkshire concert halls for Thailand, where he plays piano for handicapped elephants. Dig deeper on Google; it’s a fraud in the service of elephant abuse.
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Brief-o-Rama
If you don’t already subscribe to Semi-Rad, you should; he blogs for a living and finds great links like these:
This is Wildfire: How to Protect Yourself, Your Home, and your Community in the Age of Heat 

 This XKCD comic 

 Ben Gibbard, has a really great line in this podcast about trying to finish an ultramarathon when your body isn’t quite right vs. trying to finish an ultramarathon when your head isn’t quite right
“Free throws but they get increasingly more hilarious”

This and That

Worst Wayfinding Ever
When you get an appointment at Kaiser Martinez they give you a building name All the directional signs show only building numbers. Kaiser won’t tell you, but:  KAISER MARTINEZ CAMPUS BUILDING NAME / NUMBER TRANSLATION. See you at building 6. Hacienda. Whatever.
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Sustainable Development
 Wangechi Kuria posted on Linked In: This man is irrigating his paddy farm using locally available materials without any pollution, with minimal biodiversity damage/loss.
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Fake Texts
From Semi-Rad: A  deep, deep dive into the world of the fake text message screenshots Apple uses every time it rolls out a new iOS
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Ceaselessly Self-Promotional
Anytime is a good time to check out my music at iTunes, Spotify

 

 

 

This and That

MORE MUSIC
You ask if I'll write any more songs? At least one. Not a love song; a song about whether I am going to write any more songs: No More To Say. There are three Easter eggs. Can you find the lyrics from my other songs making a cameo appearance? Since most of you haven't listened,  the only readers with a chance are my daughters. Be the first to comment, girls.
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Favorite Tree
There’s no stopping Semi-Rad: Having A Favorite Tree
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1^st Impeachment Hearing
Charlie Sykes of The Bulwark wrote: “The charitable view is that the first hearing was a dumpster fire inside a clown car wrapped in a fiasco. To put it mildly, the GOP did not bring their best.”
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Graceful Exits
There are about 900 memes on the Internet quoting Ellen Goodman on the subject of graceful exits. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only person who has posted the full October 1976 column in which she coined the phrase. It arrived on a day when my live was in chaos. I appreciated it then; I appreciate it now.
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Future of News
There may be a future for professionally reported and edited local news; just not ad-supported dead-tree news. Thank you Reid Ashe, for finding Leonard Downie’s op-ed in the Washington Post (or Editor& Publisher). Surely you can get past either the paywall or the begging wall.
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Dead Horses
I recently posted, “When your horse is dead, dismount.” Well, Brendan Leonard offers an anecdote which begins, “Many of us have never beaten a dead horse,” following which he stopped beating the… well you know.

This and That

Semi-Rad Link Rolling
To get links like these a week early, subscribe to Semi-Rad. Like this:  A museum loaning an artist $76,000 to recreate a couple pieces of art: result: two blank canvases titled “Take the Money and Run..
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Top Five Sort Of
The Top 5 List now does sloppy seconds; More Signs Your Relationship May Be Over: “Great to See You” kisses among friends don’t usually involve tongue.
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Big Pharma Lies
If you’ve always been a suspicious of Big Pharma lies about the relationship between R&D and drug costs, you’ll enjoy this congressional grilling. Kind of like Big 3 automaker management: “We can’t afford raises… except for us.”

This and That

Memory Lane
The first 26 editions of this column were published during my first year at MIT.  PSACOT / ERGO (20) ,   PSACOT/The Tech (6