Inspirational Motivators

The CEO of my friend's company recently advised all the employees not to expect a salary increase this year.  When asked why the CEO responded that 2009 had been a tough year economically and that the competition was not hiring.

This reminds me of the joke about the two hikers who were charged by a bear.  While one hiker started panicking the other calmly removed his hiking boots and put on his sneakers.  "What are you doing?" said the first hiker, "Sneakers will not help you outrun the bear".  "I don't need to outrun the bear", replied his friend, "I just need to outrun you."

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A Sense Of Entitlement

Have you noticed that all the women-targeted TV commercials nowadays end with "because I deserve it"?

I feel bad for people who feel that they don't deserve. I feel equally bad for people who feel that they do deserve. But above all I feel that those advertisers who try to take advantage of people's insecurities don't deserve anything.

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If You Can't Beat Them, Sue Them

Yesterday Nokia filed yet another patent complaint against Apple, proving (yet again) that patent infringement suits are the last refuge of the incompetent tech companies.  Thank you, Nokia, for your homage to Isaac Asimov.

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Glub Glub Glub

When a ship sinks the people who remain on board are the ones who are afraid of the water.  Ironically the fate they face is drowning.

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A Sense Of Direction

Headwind is a wind that blows against you regardless of the direction in which you're heading. It is an atmospheric phenomenon which forms when you try to run outdoors.

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The Closer We Get The Further Apart I Become

Up until a few dozen years ago traveling globally involved a lengthy and often dangerous journey. Communication schemes were not too advanced either. Consequently people's lives (family, friends, work) tended to be localized to a confined geographical area.

This is far from being the case today. You hop onto an airplane and after a couple of movies and a few peanuts you find yourself on another continent; you lift the phone and speak to your family, wherever you are; you email jokes to your friends who receive them instantly. People can relocate easily, visit each other relatively often, and stay in touch on a daily basis. My close family is roughly 8,500 miles away. My girlfriend is closer, "only" ~3,000 miles away.

Technology may work towards consolidating humanity, but has the side effect of fragmenting our individual lives.

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Efficiency

We can safely shrink the beta phase of any software release down to a single day. All the problems get discovered during the last day anyway.

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