Post 522 - Another week, another set of data, some national, some international.
The U.S. government is spending 2.6 million of our tax dollars to study the drinking habits of Chinese prostitutes and another $400,000 to study gay sexual behavior in bars in Argentina.
Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy examined computer use among a half-million 5th through 8th graders in North Carolina. They found that the spread of home computers and high-speed Internet access was associated with significant declines in math and reading scores.
U.S. studies indicate that 20 percent of recently married couples originally met online.
Today, manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is about 166,000 - lower than it was before the first personal computer, the MITS Altair 2800, was assembled in 1975. Meanwhile, a very effective computer-manufacturing industry has emerged in Asia, employing about 1.5 million workers - factory employees, engineers and managers.
For every Apple worker in the U.S. there are 10 people in China working on iMacs, iPods and iPhones. The same roughly 10-to-1 relationship holds for Dell, disk-drive maker Seagate Technology, and other U.S. tech companies.
A Silicon Valley company that sells equipment used to manufacture photo-active films ships close to 10 times more machines to China than to manufacturers in the U.S., and this gap is growing.
Figures provided by FICO Inc., show that 25.5 percent of consumers - 43.4 million - now have a credit score of 599 or below, marking them as poor risks for lenders. On the positive side, the number of consumers who have a top score of 800 or above has increased in recent years and now stands at 17.9 percent, above the historical average of 13 percent. People with moderate credit scores, those between 650 and 699, now represent less than 12 percent of consumers, down from a historical average of 15 percent.
Stretched to the limit by budget cuts and a rising caseload (traffic filings alone rose nearly 10 percent to 1.83 million last year) the Los Angeles County justice system has been struggling to contend with what appears to be a growing number of celebrities gone bad, done wrong, or otherwise in need of adjudication. New filings aren’t scanned into the court’s electronic system for days, sometimes leaving judges without access to the latest paperwork in one or another of the roughly three million cases that come in each year. And callers get lost in an automated telephone system that because of the layoffs no longer has a human being at its end. In March, the court laid off 329 of its more than 5,000 employees, while using furloughs and weekday closings to help trim a budget shortfall that was estimated at $79 million.
Last week, Lady Gaga became the first living person to hit 10 million followers on Facebook.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Threat, a poem by Denise Levertov.
Post 521 - Denise Levertov (1923 – 1997) was a British-born American poet. After moving to Massachusetts, Levertov taught at Brandeis University, MIT and Tufts University. On the West Coast, she had a part-time teaching position at the University of Washington and for 11 years (1982-1993) held a full professorship at Stanford University. In 1984 she received a Litt. D. from Bates College. After retiring from teaching, she spent a year giving poetry readings in the U.S. and Britain. Levertov wrote and published 20 books of poetry, criticism, and translations. She also edited several anthologies. Among her many awards and honors, she received the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Frost Medal, the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Lannan Award, a Catherine Luck Memorial Grant, a grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
She once said that, “Acknowledgement, and celebration, of mystery probably constitutes the most consistent theme of my poetry.”
Threat by Denise Levertov.
You can live for years next door
to a big pine tree, honored to have
so venerable a neighbor, even
when it sheds needles all over your flowers
or wakes you, dropping big cones
onto your deck at still of night.
Only when, before dawn one year
at the vernal equinox, the wind
rises and rises, raising images
of cockleshell boats tossed among huge
advancing walls of waves,
do you become aware that always,
under respect, under your faith
in the pine tree's beauty, there lies
the fear it will crash someday
down on your house, on you in your bed,
on the fragility of the safe
dailiness you have almost
grown used to.
She once said that, “Acknowledgement, and celebration, of mystery probably constitutes the most consistent theme of my poetry.”
Threat by Denise Levertov.
You can live for years next door
to a big pine tree, honored to have
so venerable a neighbor, even
when it sheds needles all over your flowers
or wakes you, dropping big cones
onto your deck at still of night.
Only when, before dawn one year
at the vernal equinox, the wind
rises and rises, raising images
of cockleshell boats tossed among huge
advancing walls of waves,
do you become aware that always,
under respect, under your faith
in the pine tree's beauty, there lies
the fear it will crash someday
down on your house, on you in your bed,
on the fragility of the safe
dailiness you have almost
grown used to.
Tips on looking for a partner.
Post 520 - Why do we fall in love with one person and not with another? I’m told there are three basic ingredients for romantic attraction: intellectual, emotional and sexual, and all of these need to be strong enough if we’re to make a good connection that can evolve into a lasting relationship.
The main difference between a good and an ideal relationship is that the latter prepares us for life, and helps us to become a better person in the world. Sometimes we choose partners who make us feel good but only when we’re together. If this kind of wonderful intensity is the only thing present in the relationship, it usually doesn’t continue to make us feel more and more alive in the longer term. Eventually, the relationship turns in on itself rather than developing into a partnership which illuminates the world anew each day. What makes a relationship good isn’t necessarily what we feel towards each other, but what we create of each other.
Some couples feel really good together, but the relationship doesn't generate any individual personal development. If your partner doesn't help you or cause you to develop, chances are you won't grow very much on an emotional level. The choice of a partner should take this into account. While the desire for growth is intrinsic, the actual process of growing gets a boost by the interaction with another compatible being. The positive energy that flows from a close relationship with another allows people to grow more on their own, even when their partner isn’t present.
if you’re looking for a lifelong partner, you have to decide in advance what personal characteristics will be most important to you. Couples from the same social class, with similar education and religious and political orientations often have more in common in relationships and family life than those from a different value background. However, whenever I’ve dated someone who I felt was exactly like me, it hasn't worked out. Instead, I think it’s better to emphasize the value of friendship because, over time, friendship is more enduring than love.
"The best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you ... the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass." - The Dad in the movie Juno.
The main difference between a good and an ideal relationship is that the latter prepares us for life, and helps us to become a better person in the world. Sometimes we choose partners who make us feel good but only when we’re together. If this kind of wonderful intensity is the only thing present in the relationship, it usually doesn’t continue to make us feel more and more alive in the longer term. Eventually, the relationship turns in on itself rather than developing into a partnership which illuminates the world anew each day. What makes a relationship good isn’t necessarily what we feel towards each other, but what we create of each other.
Some couples feel really good together, but the relationship doesn't generate any individual personal development. If your partner doesn't help you or cause you to develop, chances are you won't grow very much on an emotional level. The choice of a partner should take this into account. While the desire for growth is intrinsic, the actual process of growing gets a boost by the interaction with another compatible being. The positive energy that flows from a close relationship with another allows people to grow more on their own, even when their partner isn’t present.
if you’re looking for a lifelong partner, you have to decide in advance what personal characteristics will be most important to you. Couples from the same social class, with similar education and religious and political orientations often have more in common in relationships and family life than those from a different value background. However, whenever I’ve dated someone who I felt was exactly like me, it hasn't worked out. Instead, I think it’s better to emphasize the value of friendship because, over time, friendship is more enduring than love.
"The best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you ... the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass." - The Dad in the movie Juno.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Promising areas for innovation in the future.
Post 519 - In 2009, a research team at McKinsey revisited and retested assumptions about key global trends that they believe will define the years ahead. They identified five areas where the stresses and tensions will be greatest and that therefore offer the richest opportunities for companies to innovate and change. These are:
• The productivity imperative.
Economies in the developed world will need to generate significant gains in productivity to support continued economic growth. The most dramatic innovations are likely to be those that accelerate economic productivity.
• The global grid.
The global economy is growing more and more connected. Complex flows of capital, goods, information, and people are creating an interlinked network that spans geographies, social groups, and economies, which in turn allows large-scale interactions at any given moment. This expanding grid is generating new business models and accelerating the pace of innovation. It also increases the chances of destabilizing cycles of volatility.
• Pricing the planet.
A collision is shaping up among the rising demand for resources, constrained supplies, and changing social attitudes toward environmental protection. The next decade will see an increased focus on the productivity of resources, the emergence of large clean-tech industries, and more regulatory initiatives.
• The market state.
The often contradictory demands of driving economic growth while also providing the necessary safety nets to maintain social stability have put governments under extraordinary pressure. Globalization applies even additional pressure. How will distinctly national entities govern in an increasingly globalized world?
This research is exploratory rather than definitive. Just how these forces will unfold and how they will interact is still a work in progress. However, McKinsey’s research, extensive one-on-one contacts, and broader survey data provide confidence that these topics should be framing every organization’s strategic conversations about how best to chart its future course. The opportunities for smart strategy will likely be most promising where the stresses and tensions will be greatest.
• The productivity imperative.
Economies in the developed world will need to generate significant gains in productivity to support continued economic growth. The most dramatic innovations are likely to be those that accelerate economic productivity.
• The global grid.
The global economy is growing more and more connected. Complex flows of capital, goods, information, and people are creating an interlinked network that spans geographies, social groups, and economies, which in turn allows large-scale interactions at any given moment. This expanding grid is generating new business models and accelerating the pace of innovation. It also increases the chances of destabilizing cycles of volatility.
• Pricing the planet.
A collision is shaping up among the rising demand for resources, constrained supplies, and changing social attitudes toward environmental protection. The next decade will see an increased focus on the productivity of resources, the emergence of large clean-tech industries, and more regulatory initiatives.
• The market state.
The often contradictory demands of driving economic growth while also providing the necessary safety nets to maintain social stability have put governments under extraordinary pressure. Globalization applies even additional pressure. How will distinctly national entities govern in an increasingly globalized world?
This research is exploratory rather than definitive. Just how these forces will unfold and how they will interact is still a work in progress. However, McKinsey’s research, extensive one-on-one contacts, and broader survey data provide confidence that these topics should be framing every organization’s strategic conversations about how best to chart its future course. The opportunities for smart strategy will likely be most promising where the stresses and tensions will be greatest.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Strange facts, figures and findings.
Post 518 - Another week, another set of facts and figures to think about - or not!
In California today, 7.5 percent of the state budget goes to higher education, while 11 percent goes to prisons. 30 years ago, 10 percent of the budget went to higher education and only 3 percent was allocated to corrections.
Only 46 percent of Americans think they’ll have enough money to retire compared to 92 percent ten years ago according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. Among retirees, just 22 percent think their 401(k) will be a major source of income while 54 percent expect that Social Security will provide for them.
Iran executed 388 people last year – more than any other country in the world apart from China, according to Amnesty International. By comparison, there were 52 executions in the United States in 2009. Texas executed 24; followed by Alabama with 6; Ohio 5; Virginia, Oklahoma, and Georgia 3; Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee 2; and Missouri and Indiana 1 each. Russia hasn’t executed anyone since 1996, and the regulations of the Council of Europe prohibit it from doing so at any time in future.
It’s estimated that between 50 and 70 percent of jobs in larger companies are filled from the inside by internal transfers and promotions. This must make it difficult for these companies to bring in new ideas … it certainly doesn’t help.
Many people complain they never have enough time. Yet a lifetime, if calculated from week to week, is just 168 hours, repeated again and again. Subtract 56 weekly sleeping hours (eight a night) and 50 for work, and you still have 62 unscheduled hours each week. Husbands and wives talk to each other for a mere 12 minutes a day. So, whatever do you do with the rest of your time?
Lady Gaga has more Facebook fans that President Obama. Maybe it’s because she says she’ll ‘never forget you.’
Did you know that the World Health Organization has a Women's Orgasm Committee? Cindy Meston, who ‘s the head of the committee, interviewed over a thousand women to find out why they had sex. Their answers ranged from “it’s the closest thing to God” to “it gets rid of my migraines.” 60% of college students said they had friends-with-sexual-benefits relationships. 84% of women reported having sex even though they didn’t want to because, well, anything for a quiet life or because they wanted their partner to put out the garbage. I think Joan Crawford had possibly the best line ever on this topic: “I need sex for a clear complexion.” I guess men are more fun than Clearasil.
In California today, 7.5 percent of the state budget goes to higher education, while 11 percent goes to prisons. 30 years ago, 10 percent of the budget went to higher education and only 3 percent was allocated to corrections.
Only 46 percent of Americans think they’ll have enough money to retire compared to 92 percent ten years ago according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. Among retirees, just 22 percent think their 401(k) will be a major source of income while 54 percent expect that Social Security will provide for them.
Iran executed 388 people last year – more than any other country in the world apart from China, according to Amnesty International. By comparison, there were 52 executions in the United States in 2009. Texas executed 24; followed by Alabama with 6; Ohio 5; Virginia, Oklahoma, and Georgia 3; Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee 2; and Missouri and Indiana 1 each. Russia hasn’t executed anyone since 1996, and the regulations of the Council of Europe prohibit it from doing so at any time in future.
It’s estimated that between 50 and 70 percent of jobs in larger companies are filled from the inside by internal transfers and promotions. This must make it difficult for these companies to bring in new ideas … it certainly doesn’t help.
Many people complain they never have enough time. Yet a lifetime, if calculated from week to week, is just 168 hours, repeated again and again. Subtract 56 weekly sleeping hours (eight a night) and 50 for work, and you still have 62 unscheduled hours each week. Husbands and wives talk to each other for a mere 12 minutes a day. So, whatever do you do with the rest of your time?
Lady Gaga has more Facebook fans that President Obama. Maybe it’s because she says she’ll ‘never forget you.’
Did you know that the World Health Organization has a Women's Orgasm Committee? Cindy Meston, who ‘s the head of the committee, interviewed over a thousand women to find out why they had sex. Their answers ranged from “it’s the closest thing to God” to “it gets rid of my migraines.” 60% of college students said they had friends-with-sexual-benefits relationships. 84% of women reported having sex even though they didn’t want to because, well, anything for a quiet life or because they wanted their partner to put out the garbage. I think Joan Crawford had possibly the best line ever on this topic: “I need sex for a clear complexion.” I guess men are more fun than Clearasil.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Do You Love Me? a poem by Rumi.
Post 517 - Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi, also known as Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, was a 13th century Persian poet, philosopher and mysic. He was born in 1207 in greater Balkh, which is in present day Afghanistan. He died in 1273 in Konya in present day Turkey. He was laid to rest beside his father, and a splendid shrine was erected over his remains. This Mevlana Mausoleum continues to draw pilgrims from all parts of the Muslim and non-Muslim world to this day. Rumi’s epitaph reads: "When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men."
His original works are widely read across the Persian-speaking world. His poetry has influenced Persian literature as well as Urdu, Punjabi and other Pakistani languages written in Perso/Arabic script, such as Pashto and Sindhi. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats. In 2007, he was described by the BBC as the "most popular poet in America."
He believed that in life, “You wander from room to room, hunting for the diamond necklace that’s already around your neck.” He also said, “Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.”
Do You Love Me? by Rumi
A lover asked his beloved,
Do you love yourself more
than you love me?
The beloved replied,
I have died to myself
and I live for you.
I’ve disappeared from myself
and my attributes.
I am present only for you.
I have forgotten all my learning,
but from knowing you
I have become a scholar.
I have lost all my strength,
but from your power
I am able.
If I love myself
I love you.
If I love you
I love myself.
His original works are widely read across the Persian-speaking world. His poetry has influenced Persian literature as well as Urdu, Punjabi and other Pakistani languages written in Perso/Arabic script, such as Pashto and Sindhi. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats. In 2007, he was described by the BBC as the "most popular poet in America."
He believed that in life, “You wander from room to room, hunting for the diamond necklace that’s already around your neck.” He also said, “Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.”
Do You Love Me? by Rumi
A lover asked his beloved,
Do you love yourself more
than you love me?
The beloved replied,
I have died to myself
and I live for you.
I’ve disappeared from myself
and my attributes.
I am present only for you.
I have forgotten all my learning,
but from knowing you
I have become a scholar.
I have lost all my strength,
but from your power
I am able.
If I love myself
I love you.
If I love you
I love myself.
How men and women differ.
Post 516 - Some of the fundamental differences between men and women are biological. For example, their brains are not only different, but the way they use them differs as well. Women have more connections and more frequent interaction between their brain's left and right hemispheres. As a result, they have better verbal skills and stronger intuition. Men, on the other hand, have greater brain hemisphere separation, which explains their skills for abstract reasoning and visual-spatial intelligence.
Men and women also have different habits which were shaped over the centuries by the process of evolution. Although life conditions have changed, both men and women tend to follow their biological programming.
For example, as they evolved, men’s brains were programmed for hunting, which explains their narrow range of vision, while women’s brains were built to decipher a wider range of information. Men developed a keen sense of direction which they used when they tracked game, killed it, and then found their way home. Women developed better peripheral vision which helped them see what was happening around the home, spot approaching danger, and notice changes in their children’s behavior and appearance. Did you know that women blink nearly twice as much as men?
When entering a room, men look first for threats and then exits, checking out the possible ways to escape. Women pay more attention to the guests’ faces to find out who they are and how they feel. Men are good at processing information, archiving it for future use. Women typically ‘rewind’ information over and over again. They find the best way to stop thinking about a problem is to talk it out. When a woman shares her problems with a man, she’s usually not looking for solutions; rather, she just needs someone to listen to her. Men are better at solving technical problems. However, women have a sharper ear. They use more words while talking, and are better at completing tasks independently.
Based on these biological differences, here are some psychological distinctions between men and women:
- Men tend think globally and grasp situations as a whole, while women think locally, and rely more on details and nuances.
- Men tend to be independent in their thoughts and actions, while women are more willing to follow ideas suggested by others.
- Women criticize themselves, while men are happier with their own performance.
- Men find satisfaction in career progression and prosperity, while women place a higher value on family and children.
- Men have a strong need to fulfill their goals, whereas women rank relationships with others first.
- Women tend to be more concerned about their health. Men get sick twice as often as women.
- Women endure pain and monotonous work better than men.
And finally, here's an old saying I remember about these differences: "Women always worry about the things that men forget; men always worry about the things women remember.”
Men and women also have different habits which were shaped over the centuries by the process of evolution. Although life conditions have changed, both men and women tend to follow their biological programming.
For example, as they evolved, men’s brains were programmed for hunting, which explains their narrow range of vision, while women’s brains were built to decipher a wider range of information. Men developed a keen sense of direction which they used when they tracked game, killed it, and then found their way home. Women developed better peripheral vision which helped them see what was happening around the home, spot approaching danger, and notice changes in their children’s behavior and appearance. Did you know that women blink nearly twice as much as men?
When entering a room, men look first for threats and then exits, checking out the possible ways to escape. Women pay more attention to the guests’ faces to find out who they are and how they feel. Men are good at processing information, archiving it for future use. Women typically ‘rewind’ information over and over again. They find the best way to stop thinking about a problem is to talk it out. When a woman shares her problems with a man, she’s usually not looking for solutions; rather, she just needs someone to listen to her. Men are better at solving technical problems. However, women have a sharper ear. They use more words while talking, and are better at completing tasks independently.
Based on these biological differences, here are some psychological distinctions between men and women:
- Men tend think globally and grasp situations as a whole, while women think locally, and rely more on details and nuances.
- Men tend to be independent in their thoughts and actions, while women are more willing to follow ideas suggested by others.
- Women criticize themselves, while men are happier with their own performance.
- Men find satisfaction in career progression and prosperity, while women place a higher value on family and children.
- Men have a strong need to fulfill their goals, whereas women rank relationships with others first.
- Women tend to be more concerned about their health. Men get sick twice as often as women.
- Women endure pain and monotonous work better than men.
And finally, here's an old saying I remember about these differences: "Women always worry about the things that men forget; men always worry about the things women remember.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
