06 Feb 2013
Rohan’s post a few days ago got me thinking about this.
It’s good advice – work hard while you’re young. As hard as you can.
I tend agree with current thinking that there really is no such thing as work/life balance. If you are doing the right work, it’s really not like work at all. On the other hand, there is a time to knock off, spend time with the family, etc. To turn the work off, so to speak.
I look back on my 46 years and I see times in my life when I should have taken more time off to spend with family. As a matter of fact, I didn’t really learn how to relax from work until my oldest son was almost four. I’m glad I learned in time to at least spend a lot of time with him.
But I also see times where I could have worked harder.
The idea of working hard when you are young so you can enjoy yourself later reminds me of something I wrote recently about money ( buried as a side note on this post ). The point is not to postpone all of your enjoyment until some long future date. The point is to build momentum so that you can enjoy more and more along the way.
At least that’s the way I see it.
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04 Feb 2013
I see the path before me. I will follow it, choose my travel companions, decide when to retrace my steps, and pick the right times to rest. It’s my path. It’s not yours.
For Trifecta: Week Sixty-Three
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03 Feb 2013
Seth Godin on why we care about football …
No, it turns out that, quite accidentally, football, more than any other sport, is made for television. It’s better on TV than it is live. The combination of the play clock, the angles, the repetition and the opportunity for analysis all make it perfect to watch on TV. And perfect to run commercials on. TV and football grew up together, side by side. Instant replay and the thirty-second commercial, supporting each other.
I couldn’t agree more that it’s better on television. We had season tickets for my wife’s Redskins in the past, and I’ve seen my Jets play a few times in the stadium, but if you are really interested in the game ( which, btw, I really am not), than it’s better on TV.
I’ve always thought television had a lot to do with the success of football, but I have a slightly different take on it.
Before the days of television, sports fans followed by reading box scores in the newspaper and listening on the radio. With the advent of television, I think it became more difficult in some ways to be a sports fan. With the ability to watch games on TV, came the question “how can you call yourself a fan if you don’t watch every game?” Since football is played once per week, it is much easier to actually watch every game involving your favorite team. This creates a connection that I think is key.
BTW, I think basketball benefits in a similar way. Baseball is my favorite sport. Hands down. No question about it. But, I always felt like I cared more about the Nets than the Mets. Since there were only 12 men on the team, I felt like I could “keep up” if that makes sense.
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01 Feb 2013
I’ve been reading Drive by Daniel Pink recently, and the author describes something called flow, the mental state when the challenge before us is so exquisitely matched to our abilities that we lose our sense of time and forget ourselves in a function. Some call this being “in the zone” and if you’ve ever been there, you know what it is.
One of the suggestions the author gives is to set up a way to randomly test your flow. The idea is to set up some kind of random message to yourself to record your level of flow and what you are doing – so you can study the data later. The randomness is supposed to give you a real look at different situations throughout your week.
My first thought was to use if this then that for this. I decided how I would to the recording part right away. I use texts and/or emails to ifttt.com all the time for appending data to a Google spreadsheet, so that part was a no brainer for me. I set it up so that any text to ifttt.com with #flow in it would record the other info into a sheet.
The only part I needed to sort out was a reminder to do it randomly. I assumed I could set up a random message using the Date/Time trigger, but I was disappointed to learn that you can’t random as a time trigger.
So I asked Google what to do and learned someone else had set up something almost exactly like I wanted. It was actually a little more than I needed because he set up a database etc for recording info, but I used his idea to build my solution.
I’ve posted the details over here.
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18 Jan 2013
In a discussion I was having the other day, we talked about how George Carlin seems to have it all figured out. I had a quote of his in mind, but couldn’t remember enough of it to find it. Eventually, after having given up, I found it.
War is rich old men protecting their property by sending middle class and low class young men off to die. It’s all about owning things. - George Carlin
A couple of days later I learned of Aaron Swartz’s suicide. I’ve been sick about the news ever since, but something struck me a few days ago.
It really is all about owning things.
I can’t say for sure what drove Aaron to suicide. As other’s have written, he might have made this choice under different circumstances, but many have expressed concern that the threat of extreme penalties in this case may have convinced Aaron he had no other choice.
Elliot Peters, lead counsel for Aaron Swartz, spoke openly about the over zealous prosecution of this case.
“There was such rigidity with the people we were dealing with,” Peters said. “I couldn’t find anyone in that office to talk about proportionality and humanity. It was driven by a desire to turn this into a significant case, so that some prosecutor could put it in his portfolio.”
Peters stopped short of blaming prosecutors for Swartz’s suicide.
“I’m too much a student of human nature to ascribe a 26-year-old’s suicide to any one thing,” Peters said. “Only God and Aaron know why that happened.” - Boston Globe
In Tuesday’s blog post, Philip Greenspun shares a thought from a book that points out that the threat of these unreasonable penalties amounts to torture. It’s a strong argument. How many people have the guts to face 100 years in prison when compared to a “deal” of 12-15 years? A very good question indeed.
Matt Stoller, in an excellent piece about Aaron’s politics, reminds us that this is a flaw in our system.
Aaron suffered from depression, but that is not why he died. Aaron is dead because the institutions that govern our society have decided that it is more important to target geniuses like Aaron than nurture them, because the values he sought – openness, justice, curiosity – are values these institutions now oppose. In previous generations, people like Aaron would have been treasured and recognized as the remarkable gifts they are. We do not live in a world like that today. And Aaron would be the first to point out, if he could observe the discussion happening now, that the pressure he felt from the an oppressive government is felt by millions of people, every year. I’m glad his family have not let the justice system off the hook, and have not allowed this suicide to be medicalized, or the fault of one prosecutor. What happened to Aaron is not isolated to Aaron, but is the flip side of the corruption he hated.
As we think about what happened to Aaron, we need to recognize that it was not just prosecutorial overreach that killed him. That’s too easy, because that implies it’s one bad apple. We know that’s not true. What killed him was corruption. Corruption isn’t just people profiting from betraying the public interest. It’s also people being punished for upholding the public interest. In our institutions of power, when you do the right thing and challenge abusive power, you end up destroying a job prospect, an economic opportunity, a political or social connection, or an opportunity for media. Or if you are truly dangerous and brilliantly subversive, as Aaron was, you are bankrupted and destroyed. There’s a reason whistleblowers get fired. There’s a reason Bradley Manning is in jail. There’s a reason the only CIA official who has gone to jail for torture is the person – John Kiriako – who told the world it was going on. There’s a reason those who destroyed the financial system “dine at the White House”, as Lawrence Lessig put it. There’s a reason former Senator Russ Feingold is a college professor whereas former Senator Chris Dodd is now a multi-millionaire. There’s a reason DOJ officials do not go after bankers who illegally foreclose, and then get jobs as partners in white collar criminal defense. There’s a reason no one has been held accountable for decisions leading to the financial crisis, or the war in Iraq. This reason is the modern ethic in American society that defines success as climbing up the ladder, consequences be damned. Corrupt self-interest, when it goes systemwide, demands that it protect rentiers from people like Aaron, that it intimidate, co-opt, humiliate, fire, destroy, and/or bankrupt those who stand for justice. - Matt Stoller
The fact that MIT made this out to be a crime that costs millions of dollars is both laughable, and beside the point. Why must we punish these crimes with such unspeakable penalties?
Because it really is about owning things.
access to knowledge and access to justice have become all about access to money, and Aaron tried to change that. That should never have been considered a criminal activity. - Carl Malamud, founder of public.resource.org, in the New York Times
I remember when Jim Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his crime of over selling reservations or whatever they were at his theme park or whatever he thought it was. I remember thinking at the time how unfair it was. Make no mistake – I was never a supporter of Jim Bakker. I actually visited Heritage USA as a kid twice but that doesn’t mean I supported him in any way. (BTW, as far as I know, I was the first to break the news of that scandal in Lynchburg, VA – that story is buried in a very long post about something else. ) He and I don’t agree on matters of theology and probably a host of other issues – certainly we disagree on how one should earn a living.
BUT why do financial crimes carry such a steep penalty? I am no expert on these matters, but I have always had questions about the justice system in our country. I’m sure it’s not as simple as all this, but from where I sit it seems that one can commit horrendous crimes like rape and murder and be punished with ridiculously lenient sentences. If, on the other hand, one commits a crime of finance, the punishment is much, much more severe.
I’m all right jack, keep your hands off of my stack! - Pink Floyd
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16 Jan 2013
As I’ve written already, I’m very upset about the death of Aaron Swartz. I have been able to think of almost nothing else since I heard the news. I did not know Aaron, but I’ve followed his work since the very beginning and I know and respect many others who have worked with him, and I’ve supported many of the same causes he represented.
I was working on a post about some things this has me thinking about. I won’t have those thoughts ready to share until tomorrow, but I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve been reading over the last few days. I do these kinds of posts once in a while so I have a place to find this stuff when I want to share it with someone.
Several people I admire and respect a great deal have written from their hearts about the issues this raises for them.
Brad Feld posted his thoughts about the importance of a monthly cadence with close friends.
Micah Baldwin shared his thoughts on “chasing the gleam” which I already linked to, but deserves to be shared again.
David Brunton’s post was very powerful. I don’t usually quote from the very end of someone else’s post, and I resisted the urge to do so in this case ( though I came close ). It’s not very long – you should read the entire post.
Now, we have lost Aaron. The actions that resulted in his incarceration were somewhere between a juvenile prank and justifiable civil disobedience. Yet it remains that he spent the past two years hounded by the government that I work for and vote for. I suppose he is a martyr to these causes, but we needed him more as a prophet. David Brunton
Cory Doctorow, who knew Aaron very well, shared his thoughts barely an hour after he learned the news.
Because whatever problems Aaron was facing, killing himself didn’t solve them. Whatever problems Aaron was facing, they will go unsolved forever. If he was lonely, he will never again be embraced by his friends. If he was despairing of the fight, he will never again rally his comrades with brilliant strategies and leadership. If he was sorrowing, he will never again be lifted from it. Cory Doctorow
This was a longer piece, but very much worth the time to read. He gives those of use who only knew of Aaron an excellent look at who he really was – good and bad.
Matt Stoller wrote a fantastic post for Naked Capitalism entitled Aaron Swartz’s Politics. I will have more to say about this piece tomorrow, but I mention it here for several reasons. One, it gives us a broader insight into some of the things Aaron was working on and things which concerned him. Second, I found a lot of the other posts I’ve mentioned linked to on this page.
I also read several posts written by Aaron himself. Lean into the pain and How to get a job like mine were especially powerful.
I have read his writings before, but some of this was new to me and it confirmed in my mind what a unique person he was – and how there were certainly signs that he struggled. When we read the struggles of others, sometimes we assume they are coping as well, or better, than we – and so we dont’ always do what we can to reach out to them. I’m going to make a conscious effort to change that.
So, what about remembering Aaron and his work? Dave Winer, who also wrote a great piece confirming that Aaron was curious (something Aaron had said of himself), suggests we retire his number. Someone set up a github repository for memories of Aaron. Someone else has shared a tool for liberating JSTOR papers in honor of Aaron.
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14 Jan 2013
I am absolutely sick over the news of the suicide of Aaron Swartz.
He may have made different choices than many of us would have made, but that’s exactly what made him so special. He was a real freedom fighter and he will be missed deeply.
Others have written more eloquently about this tremendous loss.
I found this post particularly moving. It doesn’t explicitly mention Aaron’s death, but it couldn’t be more timely ( and I acquired the author’s permission before sharing it in this context ).
Lawrence Lessig and Philip Greenspun, who each spent some time collaborating with Aaron, share a little bit with us here and here.
The family has set up and official memorial site where you can contribute code, memory, and donations over here.
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11 Jan 2013
A while back I decided to start a Friday feature, and then I got away from regular blogging for a while. Over the past few weeks, I have been meaning to catch up.
So here goes …
Great Times with Family
As much as I miss having Billy around, I’m enjoying the new memories I’m making with Becky. This was the second year that Becky helped me set up the Christmas tree and hang the lights on the house. Billy used to help me set up the tree and then we would all decorate it, and Billy and I always did the house ourselves. Last year – 2011 – was the first year Becky and I did those things and it was a lot of fun. I looked forward to it this year. It is like the handing of the torch.
I wrote about this a bit already, but I also got to take Becky to her first midnight movie opening recently – and for a movie I’ve looked forward to for more than thirty years. 
Speaking of movies … We’ve always watched a lot of movies in the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards, but this year and last we have seen even more movies because Billy is home from school and actually has time to watch. I’ve watched 29 films during his break this year – 13 since January 1.
I’m worried about Mike Piazza
All the talk about steroids and the hall of fame has been very worried about Mike Piazza. I don’t know if Piazza was a user or not. My problem, though, is that he was drafted in the 62nd round and then turned out to be the best offensive catcher of all time. I’m just afraid the voters will make the assumption that he’s a cheater.
Like I said yesterday, cheaters belong in the hall of fame anyway, but it seems many voters do not agree.
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10 Jan 2013
I’m a huge fan of baseball, and I hate cheating, but Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza, and Craig Biggio belong in the hall of fame.
Not because I think they are innocent.
First, take a look at the saga of Lance Armstrong before buying that “never failed a drug test” crap. – Hampton Stevens
For all I know, they all used PEDs. I’m sure about it in some cases.
Not because “everyone does it.”
“Curt Schilling made a good point. Everyone was guilty. Either you used PEDs, or you did nothing to stop their use,” Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt said in an email to The Associated Press. – Ronald Blum, Associated Press
Ubiquitous use doesn’t make it okay.
Not because it’s inevitable.
(And now for the really bad news: All the voters did was kick the can down the road again. Bonds and Clemens have 14 more years on the ballot. Sigh.) – Lynn Zinser, New York Times
There is one little problem with the heroic stand taken by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to keep the Hall of Fame steroid-free.
It came too late. You can be virtually certain that there already are Hall of Famers who used performance-enhancing drugs. You can be even more positive that PED users will be enshrined in the future. -Phil Sheridan, Inquirer
I just think cheaters belong in the hall of fame. The hall of fame already enshrines womanizers, dirty players, wife-beaters, racists, criminals, and all manner of scum – even guys who bet on baseball!!! As a matter of fact, there are already cheaters in the hall of fame, and there will be again.
Jason Stark at ESPN.com describes best what I think about the wholes mess.
The votes are in. The earth is still rumbling. Now let’s try to digest the magnitude of what just happened here:
A man who hit 762 home runs wasn’t elected to the Hall of Fame.
A pitcher who won seven Cy Young Awards wasn’t elected to the Hall of Fame.
A man who hit 609 home runs only got 12.5 percent of the vote.
A catcher who made 12 All-Star teams missed election by 98 votes.
Even a guy who got 3,060 hits found out Wednesday he didn’t do enough to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
It boggles the mind. Doesn’t it? We were just presented the most star-studded Hall of Fame ballot in maybe 75 years. And NOBODY got elected?
It’s enough to make you wonder: What kind of Hall of Fame are we building here?
I’m not sure Stark falls on the same side of the issue I do, but his observations are spot on. Matt Snyder of CBS Sports, who has been saying the same thing for weeks, asks the right question – “Where does the Baseball Hall of Fame go from here?”
Where, indeed?
NOTES:
- I’m not necessarily against the stand the writers took with this year’s ballot. Something needs to be done about the cheating. I’m just making the point that these guys belong in the hall of fame. I am not sure when. I’m not sure how they get in, and I’m certainly not a fan of throwing them a big party to celebrate their induction. That’s a separate issue.
- While we are on the subject, Pete Rose belongs in the hall of fame too!
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09 Jan 2013
Chris Brogan posted an excellent piece yesterday about the way “we” view money.
I agree with most of what Chris wrote …
- people say they can’t afford things when clearly what they mean is that they choose to spend money on other things ( like Grandma always said – “thems does most what they likes best” )
- people spend a lot more money than they realize by spending in very small chunks over and over and over again
I do think, however, that saving is the key. If you start saving early in life, and keep at it, you can continue to save in smaller amounts later in life which should give you more to spend on the things you enjoy.
Every time I have a discussion about saving for retirement, someone always brings up the “I don’t want to wait until I’m old to enjoy my money,” but this is completely missing the point. I remind them that if they save small amounts in their twenties, they will be saving less than their friends in their forties, and therefore will be able to have more disposable income ( all other things being equal, of course).
but that’s not really what I want to talk about today.
I don’t think the point to Brogan’s post was giving advice. He was making a keen observation. We all have a twisted way of viewing money. He’s being nice when he calls it fascinating.
It reminds me of a story I heard once of a young couple who visited a casino during a vacation. Late one night, the young man found himself unable to fall asleep so he decided to head downstairs for a little gambling. He took a five dollar chip he had leftover and thought he’d play a few minutes and then head back to his room.
He started at the craps table and his luck was incredible. He parlayed his five dollars into ten, then fifty, then a hundred, and he kept on winning. About an hour into his session, he was up more than $100,000. He decided to try his luck at some poker. His luck continued. He played for what seemed like days and had his winnings up into the millions. People were gathered around the table amazed at his lucky streak.
Then he decided to play blackjack, and his luck changed. He started losing hand over fist until he was left with only one five dollar chip. He left the table and decided to head back to his room. On the way, he could resist stopping at a roulette table. He placed his chip on red and waited patiently only to see the ball fall on black and watched as the dealer took away his final chip.
He entered his room, and despite his efforts not to disturb his wife, she woke up and asked where he had been.
“I couldn’t sleep so I decided to head downstairs for a little gambling.”
“How did you do?”
“Eh… I lost five bucks?”
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07 Jan 2013
And it’s about to get stranger.
I remember one weekend when I cheered for the Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, and Georgia Bulldogs all on the same weekend ( I know Georgia was up against Alabama, can’t remember the other matchups but I’m going to guess Patriots and Giants).
As the BCS championship approaches, it gets even more complicated. Notre Dame, a team I don’t care for under normal circumstances, is up against a team I despise.
But I can’t get past two news reports – here and here – I read this year about Notre Dame. I know these reports are indicative of the bigger problem – organized sports – and that bothers me a great deal, but I have to hold Notre Dame responsible for the specifics.
Roll Tide!
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03 Jan 2013
Home is now behind you. The world is ahead.
Almost three weeks ago, my daughter and I went to see this excellent film. We had both been looking forward to the film for some time, but I know she was most excited because she finally got to see a midnight movie on opening day. I’ve been meaning to share my thoughts for a while, but since today is Tolkien’s birthday, this is as good a time as any.
As a big fan of the books, I was a little worried about the film. The good news is that my fears were not realized. The bad news is that the film was still a disappointment. No doubt I enjoyed it, and the time with my daughter. A couple of scenes were fantastic and I enjoyed seeing some of the same imagery from the LOTR trilogy, but other parts of the movie had me scratching my head.
One of the advantages of a good book – and this one was a masterpiece, in my opinion – is that you get to imagine it yourself. The disadvantage of the film is that you are seeing what someone else imagines. To me, this film suffers from that in a big way. I didn’t read much of the book the way the filmakers did, apparently.
If you’re as big a fan of the book as I, then you may want to steer clear of the film, but something tells me you won’t. You might, though, want to check out Paul Gould’s excellent piece from yesterday – Lessons from the Hobbit.
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27 Dec 2012
I read this post the other day which features a letter sent in by an employee of a photography company that hosts Santa at the shopping mall every year.
Her contention is that bringing your kids to see Santa and not buying photographs is like stealing from her and her company. I know this was just some elf who works for one of these companies. She doesn’t speak for her employer or any other company, but my suspicion is that this is a common sentiment for many in that business.
I don’t buy it.
This is another one of those cases where someone is complaining about the very nature of the business in which they participate. The truth is that many parents have access to professional grade cameras, and they either have the artistic sensibility to take a good picture or they don’t care about that at all and just want pictures of the cutest kids on the planet – their own – with Santa. If they can take a picture, and that’s what they want, then more power to ‘em.
If footing the bill for Santa’s visit to the mall doesn’t cut it for you financially, step aside and let someone else do it.
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26 Dec 2012
A post I read this morning reminded me of my high school art classes.
When everyone has the same Mac and the same internet, the difference between hackneyed graphic design and extraordinary graphic design is just one thing—the ability to see.
Our teacher constantly reminded us that anyone can draw, so the important thing to learn is how to see. He drove that point home over and over and over again. So much so that I still tell that to anyone who tells me he can’t draw.
As a matter of fact, I’ve come to believe that applies to all art forms. Both my children have a real interest in writing and photography, and I remind them all the time that the key is to see something – and then share what *you* see.
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19 Dec 2012
Many have accused politicians of using this tragedy as an “opportunity” and I take issue with that.
Anyone who knows anything about my views on these matters probably knows this, but I should start with a few things.
- I distrust government in a big way. I distrust any institution that exercises authority over large groups of people who have little or no influence in the process.
- I have always been suspicious of the wording of gun control legislation. The president is speaking as I write this and when I hear things like “keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” it scares me just a little bit.
- I hate guns.
With that out of the way …
In this case, I firmly believe that politicians are not using this as a political opportunity. I’d like to think that many, if not most or all, are reacting to the tragedy in good faith. They want to save lives.
But it IS an opportunity – THE opportunity – to take some reasonable action that could save lives. This is EXACTLY the time to have this debate. It’s on our minds. We are all sickened by this tragedy. Let’s get together and find a way to prevent as many of these tragedies as we can.
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18 Dec 2012
WARNING: I’ve included a link to an article that uses very strong language. If that is going to bother you, you can still read this post – since I don’t talk like that – but don’t click the link.
My grandfather and and I agreed on very few things. One of them was what he used to say about foul language – “people talk like that because they are too ignorant to think of something intelligent to say.”
Sometimes, though, life throws something at you that you just don’t understand.
The Onion posted a story on the tragedy in Newtown that captures that sentiment exactly. As I’ve already said, if you know you won’t like the language – DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK.
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17 Dec 2012
I was sickened over the news of the tragedy on Friday.
I was also sickened by the response of some Christians.
Of course the kooks were talking about protesting the funerals, etc, but I’m talking about people who should have known better. Specifically, Mike Huckabee, a man who came dangerously close to becoming the Presdident of the United States.
Mr. Huckabee started by blaming the shooting on our “…systematically removing God from our schools.” (youtube link) I assume that after he realized that religious schools, and even churches, are not exempt from these kinds of tragedies – remember the Amish schoolhouse, Mike? – he decided instead to blame it on Obamacare. (youtube link)
He is not the only one saying things like this. Bryan Fischer said that God could have protected the children but didn’t because He “is not giong to go where He is not wanted.” (youtube link) Aside from the fact that these shootings have happened in religouis schools, this is a ridiculous thing to say about God. God most certainly goes where He is unwanted. He does it all the time.
Both of these men should have taken cues from Albert Mohler. Dr. Mohler and I disagree on a good many things, and he has been known to mix his politics and religion before, but he offered what I consider a thoughtful and reasonable statement. More importantly, he was trying to be constructive. The only one to blame here is the shooter.
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04 Dec 2012
I think I’m a pretty smart guy. My mom always said so.
Seriously, people think I’m smart. I had a friend in college who used to introduce me as the smartest person she ever met, and people are always saying things like “you’re a genius” so, naturally, I started to think my mother was right ( I *am* special ).
The truth is, maybe I’m not so smart.
I think it was Dennis Miller who I first heard say “we all do the same stupid sh*t.”
The other day I was going to use the toaster, and I grabbed it like this.
I knew my daughter had just pulled something out of it. I knew it was hot.
So there you go.
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19 Nov 2012
More than twenty years ago, I was injured on the job. My employer acted as though they were worried about me, but I learned later that everything they did – including paying for my treatment – was motivated by self interest. I was not seriously injured, but many others are not as lucky as I was.
If you ever find yourself injured on the job, do not expect your employer, no matter how nice they might be, to look out for your interests. Consult with Workers Comp Lawyer Dalton GA. They have years of experience going to bat for clients who need someone looking out for them. Do NOT fight your own battles – and do NOT learn your lesson the hard way. Get the compensation you deserve by relying on an expert to help you – from among experts who have won millions in actual settlements for clients.
They specialize in offering personal, professional service in all types of workplace and industrial accidents. There is no charge for consultation, and they are conveniently located for clients located in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. You deserve to be treated fairly, let someone help you. Workers Comp Lawyer Dalton GA
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