“The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.” -Niels Bohr (1885-1962)

In an article recently, someone asked what I see first when I look at a woman. I replied “the neck.” Sir Peter then asked me if I were a vampire. The answer, it seems, is perhaps. Let’s break it down. I am a night person. I always have been. My mother was always amazed if I got out of bed before noon on the weekends. When I was a lecturer I made a deal with my boss not to schedule any of my classes before 10:00 AM. Over the years I have noticed a definite increase in energy, st...

A friend once told me about his experiences working in a bank, and the lesson about perception that he learned there. This bank employed several women as cashiers, and the bank manager would often offer these women “promotions” rather than raises. So a girl would get a title like “first assistant to the associate cashier” rather than a 3% pay increase for the year. And these women accepted this treatment. At work one day, a few years ago, the subject of whether I could make one of my c...

“Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist.” Michael Levine - Lessons at the Halfway Point

“I said that if people tell you your mother is not prime minister anymore, you just turn around and say, 'So what? How often has your mother been prime minister?'” Benazir Bhutto , Former Pakistani Prime Minister recounting advice she gave her children

"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism." -Carl Gustav Jung "

If JoeUser has a FAQ anywhere, I haven't seen it. So there are a few technical issues that I haven't worked out. One of those is the use of the External URL. What is the purpose of this? Is there some format required (some particular domain, for example)? I've always left mine blank, but I have grown curious enough now to ask.

Back when I was a Lecturer at university, my boss and I would often tease each other about dogs. She was a fervent dog lover, and I do not like the slavishly moronic beasts. This one morning I arrived on campus and proceeded to the department office to check my mail. It was a beautiful spring day, and I was in a pretty good mood. So I enter the office as my boss is leaving. She sees a smile on my face and asks in a slightly sarcastic tone, “What’s got you in such a good mood?” I r...

“Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution.” Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)

"In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock." - Orson Welles (1915-1985) "

Check this out... outside the bathroom... And from inside the bathroom...

"In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce "

If I person is an ass; if a person is hurtful to others; if a person places the happiness and well-being of others below consideration; then this person is probably someone I will not like. And in many cases I would like to be able to tell this person, or tell the world, how I feel. But often that action is not socially acceptable. Why? The answer is simple: I am a white heterosexual male middle-class American. And because of this I am not “allowed” to offer criticism to anyone who is ...

"If I were in the President's place I would not have gotten a chance to resign. I would be laying in a pool of my own blood, hearing Mrs. Armey standing over me saying, 'How do I reload this damn thing?'" - Representative Dick Armey, who when asked if he had been in President Clinton's place, would he have resigned? "

Emergency work on our most recent software release has caused work on the next year's build slip a couple months. Because we have a hard deadline for this current version, we have to address any and all issues that pop up as the highest priority. This means that parallel work for the next two major releases (a one year schedule) has suffered. That's not such a big deal, since plans can change. Next week we were to travel to our sister site for a 3 day re-plan meeting to decide what sche...