Category Archives: Life

Arguing that DRM doesn’t work is, it turns out, missing the point. DRM is working really well in the video and book space. https://web.archive.org/web/20140906214521/https://plus.google.com/+IanHickson/posts/iPmatxBYuj2 Things that continue are working. They might not be working for their intended purposes, or the purposes you suppose they’re for. But make no mistake, they’re working in some way. AndContinue reading “Anything That Continues Is Working”

Once Humana’s vaccine mandate was announced, I had to immediately start searching for a new job. And here I am! Today is day two of my onboarding at Goodwill Industries of Kentucky. Everybody is so warm and friendly. It’s less like working at a corporate, and more like being at a very big church!

Here is my review of the music band Lake Street Dive. Upon my death, please reincarnate me as a bass for Bridget Kearney to thrash for eternity. That is all.

I highly recommend Scott Adams’ book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. Here I’ll quote his blog, talking about a chapter in the book. For example, losing ten pounds is a goal (that most people can’t maintain), whereas learning to eat right is a system that substitutes knowledge for willpower. https://www.scottadamssays.com/2013/11/18/goals-vs-systems/Continue reading “Incremental Systems and Habits”

When humans wield their power in the world, they are limited by the linear nature of their thinking. The best example of this linearization is the top-down planning of modern suburbs. Contrast this with how nations and states emerged in a bottom-up fashion. https://invertedpassion.com/life-is-fractal-markets-are-square/

The word was “Disregard!” “That’s what I’d forgotten!” he shouted (in the middle of the night). “You have to worry about your own work and ignore what everyone else is doing.” At first light, he called his wife, Gweneth, and said, “I think I’ve figured it out. Now I’ll be able to work again!” https://stepsandleaps.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/feynmans-breakthrough-disregard-others/

It seems to me that you only pardon the sins that you don’t really think sinful. You only forgive criminals when they commit what you don’t regard as crimes, but rather as conventions. You forgive a conventional duel just as you forgive a conventional divorce. You forgive because there isn’t anything to be forgiven. https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything-except-the-outgroup/

When I line my jet up on the runway I will always check that I have full and free controls, that there are no other aircraft on the final approach that might land on top of me and that the runway ahead is clear. I also check that I have the correct flap selected andContinue reading “How I Almost Destroyed a £50 million War Plane and The Normalisation of Deviance”

Paradoxically, aiming at feelings of satisfaction drives you away from joy. Happiness is best approached obliquely. If you want to be happy, you can’t target it directly. Instead, focus on something outside of yourself. https://medium.com/personal-growth/what-if-controlling-unhappiness-contains-the-secret-to-happiness-acd96242970c

This paper presents thirteen patterns that, when used together, we have found helpful to manage our busy lives […]. Recording these patterns in a format that others can both understand and use is the result of an assignment for a course on Patterns […]. Surprisingly, many of these patterns have general applicability to other areasContinue reading “Busy Person Patterns”