Boroda4.ru

Experimental Error: OMG, So Many Science Careers

2011-11-05T11:57:00.001+04:00

Last month, I spoke on two different career panels to roomfuls of young scientists. Every time a student raised a hand to speak, I noticed they all had the same question about jobs in science: “May I have one, please?”

As general as the panelists tried to keep their advice, the questions had a predictable undercurrent: Those aspiring young scientists didn’t just want to find out what it was like to work in science. They wanted us to say, “Okay. You win. I’ve got 50 open positions, and I’ll offer them to all of you today. Who wants health insurance?”

For example, there was the classic (and, in my experience, largely useless) question about how we each found our current jobs. I could tell that the students really wanted to hear stories about how we noticed a posting on Science Careers or Monster.com, answered an ad, and survived competition with 200 random applicants - because that’s their own best idea for how to land a position. Instead, each of the panel members talked about how we found our own careers through serendipitous meetings, friends-of-friends, and good old blatant nepotism.

And so we lectured to disappointed students - some of whom had actually come equipped with stacks of resumes - telling them how great our lives are, what a typical day at work entails (which was the opportunity for each person to say, “At my company, there is no typical day!”), and how they might find themselves in similar careers, most likely by killing us and taking our jobs.

What did impress me, though, was the breadth of careers available to scientists. Even though none of the panelists showed up looking to find new employees, apparently our science training prepares us for a number of semi-related careers beyond the usual few. For example:

Academic scientist: If you like grant writing, writing grants, and obtaining grants via writing, you may enjoy life as an academic scientist. You’ll also experience the thrill of teaching overly broad, university-mandated survey courses (“Introduction to Biology, Chemistry, and Physics Without Algebra”), flexible work hours (You work 22 hours a day, but you pick the 22 hours!), and doing the Tenure Tango (“You put your left foot in, you take your left foot out, you put your left foot in the grave.”).

Industry scientist, large biotech/pharma: Academics often say disdainfully that you need a certain quality to work at a large biotech or pharmaceutical company, and that quality is evil. Apparently only evil people apply their skills to solve real-world problems, and only evil people are paid well.

Industry scientist, small biotech/pharma: That’s me! As an employee at a startup biotech company, I face the daily excitement of knowing that my job is so cutting-edge that it might not exist in a year. Now that’s cutting-edge!

CREDIT: Hal Mayforth - Click here to enlarge image

Consultant: A consultant’s job is to tell other people what they’re doing wrong. (In this way, my wife is a consultant. Zing!) A lot of consulting firms have been hiring scientists lately because of our problem-solving skills, our ability to analyze large datasets, and because they’re slowly realizing that all the MBAs they hired are just morons with nice hair.

Government scientist: Working as a government scientist is a great idea, because the government is really popular right now. Read any newspaper and you’ll see stories about how much people love and trust the government.

Law: Every scientist has that friend from graduate school who graduated and then announced, “I’m going to law school!” and we all wept a little inside. Why would someone who worked in science find anything exciting about law? Why would someone who spent 7 years earning a Ph.D. want to go back to school? Did he or she wake up one day and say, “I don’t think I’m carrying enough debt! Is there a way I can fix this while still delaying adulthood for a few years?”

Military science: Okay, here’s what drives me nuts. Several times, I’ve visited my scientific collaborators in the Army or Navy, and they’re always wearing camouflage in the lab. Desert camouflage. Beige, with little squares of off-beige. But the lab is, you know, indoors, and white. And they have all kinds of weird rules about when they are and aren’t supposed to wear their hats.

Adjunct teaching: Ah, the free life of an adjunct instructor! Adjuncting offers freedom from the tenure struggle, freedom from the stifling responsibilities of a full-time professor, and freedom from the burden of income. As an adjunct, you’ll bounce among the local colleges, teaching classes on six different campuses a day, but you’ll know that you no longer have to worry about pointless things like research -- all that matters is whether you can convince a classroom of 18-year-olds not to plagiarize their take-home exams. (You can’t.)

Science advocacy: Let’s face it: Scientists aren’t great at expressing themselves. We end up saying things like, “Hepatitis kills over 1 million people every year. THEREFORE GIVE ME MONEY TO BUILD A MECHANIZED KANGAROO WITH LASERS.” That’s why there are science advocates, people who explain to nonscientists why we matter. And if I have to explain why that’s important, I guess that makes me a science advocate advocate.

Science policy: Unlike a consulting firm, which overpays you to advise wealthy companies to rely too heavily on your minimally informed advice, a job in science policy will pay you to advise lawmakers who’ll ignore you. “We value your advice!” they’ll tell you, then go vote against the laws of thermodynamics.

Found your own startup: Finally, if you don’t like the science jobs out there, make your own! First, give your company a slick name that says nothing about what you do, like “Slick Technologies” or “Digital Goose Inc.” Next, come up with a meaningless slogan, such as, “Managing your outflow from within,” or “Where technology and people meet the 21st century … with deliverables.” Then sit back and wait for a large company to buy yours -- because your startup may not actually do anything, but what you don’t do is so confusing that they’d rather buy you than risk letting you do things.

* * *

Sometimes it seems that grad school mentors convince their young science students that they have only two career options: They can become academics, or they can become disappointments.

When we reach the end of our training, why are so many of us unaware of the array of potential careers available to us? I certainly never knew about many of these until I sat on the career panels last month. (Could I have vanquished my ignorance by reading Science Careers? Why yes, I could have! Let’s click on more wonderful articles!)

Perhaps it’s because the very people training us are the ones who’ve found their niche in the academic world. They’re happy in their professorial jobs, and they want to remake their students in their own image.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but make sure you don’t end your search at the university lab bench. If you’re looking for a career in science, consider all of the nontraditional possibilities as well. You may just find a job you never thought you’d love.

Or at least a spot on a career panel.

Adam Ruben, Ph.D., is a practicing scientist and the author of Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School

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Why the Best Days of Open Hardware are Yet to Come

2011-09-27T16:13:00.001+04:00

from bunnie's blog

Recently, I gave a talk at the 2011 Open Hardware Summit. The program committee had requested that I prepare a “vision” talk, something that addresses open hardware issues 20-30 years out. These kinds of talks are notoriously difficult to get right, and I don’t really consider myself a vision guy; but I gave it my best shot. Fortunately, the talk was well-received, so I’m sharing the ideas here on my blog.

Abstract

Currently, open hardware is a niche industry. In this post, I highlight the trends that have caused the hardware industry to favor large, closed businesses at the expense of small or individual innovators. However, looking 20-30 years into the future, I see a fundamental shift in trends that can tilt the balance of power to favor innovation over scale.

Where we Came From: Open to Closed

In the beginning, hardware was open. Early consumer electronic products, such as vacuum tube radios, often shipped with user manuals that contained full schematics, a list of replacement parts, and instructions for service. In the 80’s, computers often shipped with schematics. For example, the Apple II shipped with a reference manual that included a full schematic of the mainboard, an artifact that I credit as strongly influencing me to get into hardware. However, contemporary user manuals lack such depth of information; the most complex diagram in a recent Mac Pro user instructs on how to sit at the computer: “thighs slightly lifted”, “shoulders relaxed”, etc.

What happened? Did electronics just get too hard and complex? On the contrary, improving electronics got to easy: the pace of Moore’s Law has been too much for small-scale innovators to keep up.

Where we Are: Sit and Wait > Innovate

Consider this snapshot of Moore’s law, illustrating “goodness” (pick virtually any metric — performance, density, price-per-quanta) doubling every 18 months. This chart is unusual in that the vertical axis is linear. Most charts depicting Moore’s law use a logarithic vertical scale, which flattens the curve’s sharp upward trend into a much more innocuous looking straight line.

Above: Moore’s Law, doubling once every 18 months (red) versus linear improvement of 75% per year (blue). The small green sliver between the red and blue lines (found at t < 2yrs) represents the window of opportunity where linear improvement exceeds Moore's law. Note that the vertical axis on this graph is linear scale.

Plotted in blue is a line that represents a linear improvement over time. This might be representative of a small innovator working at a constant but respectable rate of 75% per year, non compounding, to add or improve features on a given platform. The tiny (almost invisible) green sliver between the curves represents the market opportunity of the small innovator versus Moore’s law.

The juxtaposition of these two curves highlights the central challenge facing small innovators over the past three decades. It has been more rewarding to “sit and wait” rather than innovate: if it takes two years to implement an innovation that doubles the performance of a system, one is better served by not trying and simply waiting and upgrading to the latest hardware two years later. It is a Sisyphean exercise to race against Moore’s Law.

This exponential growth mechanic favors large businesses with the resources to achieve huge scale. Instead of developing one product at a time, a competitive business must have the resources and hopefully the vision to develop 3 or 4 generations of products simultaneously. Furthermore, reaching the global market within the timespan of a single technology generation requires a supply chain and distribution channel that can do millions of units a month: consider that selling at a rate of 10,000 units per month would take 8 years to reach “only” a million users, or about 1% of the households in the US alone. And, significantly, the small barrier (a few months time) created by closing a design and forcing the competition to reverse engineer products can be an advantage, especially when contrasted to the pace of Moore’s law. Thus, technology markets have become progressively inaccessible to small innovators over the past three decades as individuals struggle to keep up with the technology treadmill, and big companies continue to close their designs to gain a thin edge on their competition.

However, this trend is changing.

Where we are Going: Heirloom Laptops

Below is a plot of Intel CPU clock speed at introduction versus time. There is an abrupt plateau in 2003 where clock speed stopped increasing. Since then, CPU makers have been using multi-core technology to drive performance (effective performance extrapolated as the pink dashed line), but this wasn’t by choice: certain physical limits were reached that prevented practical clock scaling (primarily related to power and wire delay scaling). Transistor density (and hence core count) continues to scale, but the pace is decelerating. In the 90’s, transistor count was doubling once every 18 months; today, it is probably slower than once every 24 months. Soon, transistor density scaling will slow to a pace of 36 months per generation, and eventually it will come to an effective stand-still. The absolute endpoint for transistor scaling is a topic of debate, but one study indicates that scaling may stop at around 5nm effective gate length sometime around 2020 or 2030 (H. Iwai, Microelectronics Engineering (2009), doi: 10.1016 / j.mee.2009.03.129). 5 nm is about the space between 10 silicon atoms, so even if this guess is wrong, it can’t be wrong by much.

The implications are profound. Someday, you cannot rely on buying a faster computer next year. Your phone won’t get any smaller or more powerful. And the flash drive you buy next year will cost the same yet store the same number of bits. The idea of an “heirloom laptop” may sound preposterous today, but someday we may perceive our computers as cherished and useful looms to hand down to our children as part of our legacy.

This slowing trend is good for small businesses, and likewise open hardware practices. To see why this is the case, let’s revisit the plot of Moore’s Law versus linear improvement, but this time overlay two new scenarios: technology doubling once every 24 and 36 months.

Above: Moore’s Law versus linear improvement (blue), plotted against the scenarios of doubling once every 18 months (red), every 24 months (black), and every 36 months (pink). The green area between the pink and blue lines represents the window of opportunity where linear improvement exceeds Moore’s law when the doubling interval is set to 36 months. Note that the vertical axis on this graph is log scale.

Again, the green area represents the market opportunity for linear improvement vs. Moore’s Law. In the 36-month scenario, linear improvement not only has over 8 years to go before it is lapped by Moore’s Law, there is a point at around year 2 or 3 where the optimized solution is clearly superior to Moore’s Law. In other words, there is a genuine market window for monetizing innovative solutions at a pace that small businesses can handle.

Also, as Moore’s law decelerates, there is a potential for greater standardization of platforms. While today it seems ridiculous to create a standard tablet or mobile phone chassis with interchangeable components, this becomes a reasonable proposition when components stop shrinking and changing so much. As technology decelerates, there will be a convergence between that which is found in mobile phones, and that which is found in embedded CPU modules (such as the Arduino). The creation of stable, performance-competitive open platforms will be enabling for small businesses. Of course, a small business can still choose to be closed, but by doing so it must create a vertical set of proprietary infrastructure, and the dilution of focus to implement such a stack could be disadvantageous.

In the post-Moore’s law future, FPGAs may find themselves performing respectably to their hard-wired CPU kin, for at least two reasons: the flexible yet regular structure of an FPGA may lend it a longer scaling curve, in part due to the FPGA’s ability to reconfigure circuits around small-scale fluctuations in fabrication tolerances, and because the extra effort to optimize code for hardware acceleration will amortize more favorably as CPU performance scaling increasingly relies upon difficult techniques such as massive parallelism. After all, today’s massively multicore CPU architectures are starting to look a lot like the coarse-grain FPGA architectures proposed in academic circles in the mid to late 90’s. An equalization of FPGA to CPU performance should greatly facilitate the penetration of open hardware at a very deep level.

There will be a rise in repair culture as technology becomes less disposable and more permanent. Replacing worn out computer parts five years from their purchase date won’t seem so silly when the replacement part has virtually the same specifications and price as the old part. This rise in repair culture will create a demand for schematics and spare parts that in turn facilitates the growth of open ecosystems and small businesses.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the return of artisan engineering, where elegance, optimization and balance are valued over feature creep, and where I can use the same tool for a decade and not be viewed as an anachronism (most people laugh when they hear my email client is still Eudora 7).

Examples

The deceleration of Moore’s Law is already showing its impact on markets that are not as sensitive to performance. Consider the rise of the Arduino platform. The Arduino took several years to gain popularity, with virtually the same hardware at its core since 2005. Fortunately, the demands of Arduino’s primary market (physical computing, education, and embedded control applications) has not grown and thus the platform can be very stable. This stability in turn has enabled Arduino to grow deep roots in a thriving user community with open and interoperable standards.

Another example is the Shanzhai phenomenon in China; in a nutshell, the Shanzhai are typically small businesses, and they rely upon an ecosystem of “shared” blueprints. The Shanzhai are masters at building low-end “feature phones”. The market for feature phones is largely insensitive to improvements in CPU technology; you don’t need a GHz-class CPU to drive the simple UIs found on feature phones. Thus, the same core chipset can be re-used for years with little adverse impact on demand or competitiveness of the final product. This platform stability has afforded these small, agile innovators the time to learn the platform thoroughly, and to recover this investment by creating riff after riff on the same theme. Often times, the results are astonishingly innovative, yet accomplished on a shoe string budget. Initially, the Shanzhai were viewed simply as copycatters; but thanks to the relative stability of the feature phone platform, they have learned their tools well and are now pumping out novel and creative works.

The scene is set for the open hardware ecosystem to blossom over the next couple of decades, with some hard work and a bit of luck. The inevitable slowdown of Moore’s Law may spell trouble for today’s technology giants, but it also creates an opportunity for the fledgling open hardware movement to grow roots and be the start of something potentially very big. In order to seize this opportunity, today’s open hardware pioneers will need to set the stage by creating a culture of permissive standards and customs that can scale into the future.

I look forward to being a part of open hardware’s bright future.

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Toss Productivity Out

2011-09-08T10:36:00.001+04:00

Post written by Leo Babauta.

For at least a couple of years, Zen Habits was one of the top productivity blogs, dispensing productivity crack for a nominal fee (your reading time).

I’d like to think I helped people move closer to their dreams, but today I have different advice:

Toss productivity advice out the window.

Most of it is well-meaning, but the advice is wrong for a simple reason: it’s meant to squeeze the most productivity out of every day, instead of making your days better.

Imagine instead of cranking out a lot of widgets, you made space for what’s important. Imagine that you worked slower instead of faster, and enjoyed your work. Imagine a world where people matter more than profits.

If any of that appeals to you, let’s look at some traditional productivity advice, and see why we should just toss them out.

1. Get Organized. Sounds good, but getting organized is just rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. It does nothing to stop the ship from sinking. Instead, simplify. If you have a desk with 5 things in it, you don’t need to organize. If you have a closet with only a handful of clothes, it doesn’t need a closet organizer. If your day has only one or two appointments, there’s no need for a detailed schedule organizer. Simplifying means making important choices about what’s important, rather than ignoring that question and just trying to cram everything into your day (and space) in a logical way.

2. Keep an Idea List. The idea is that whenever you have an idea, you should write it down. Then you’ll never lose an idea, and you’ll always have a list of ideas that you can come back to. Sounds great, right? Except in practice, the idea list is never filled with your best ideas. That’s because when you have a really great idea, you get so excited about it you jump up and want to work on it immediately. Your best ideas are ones that you can’t put off until tomorrow. That’s how you know it’s a great idea. The ideas that go on the Idea List are not your best.

3. Set a Lot of Goals. Only five years ago, I had a long list of goals for each year, and I was pretty decent at getting them done (better than 50% at least). Then I experimented with three goals a year, and I was even more focused. Then I did One Goal, and that was amazing, because it really helped me focus everything I did. Now I do No Goals, and it’s best of all. I let go of future-focused thinking, and focus on what inspires and excites me now. I get even more accomplished, but let go of all the time I used to spend on goal administration (it’s more than you might think) and all my mental energy is freed to do what I want to do right now. You might not want to do No Goals, but try One Goal or three goals.

4. Track Everything. If you want to change it, you have to measure it, right? If you want fast results, you need to track it. Except that’s complete crap. Why do you need such fast results in the first place? And who says you need to track something to change it? I’ve found more meaningful, lasting results when I don’t track, but focus on enjoyment of the activity. For example, if I focus on enjoying running, that makes me want to run more often, and that’s a habit that lasts much longer. If I focus on tracking the running (mileage, speed, VO2 max, intervals, etc), that takes the enjoyment away from the activity (running) and focuses on the results. If you are so focused on the results, the activity becomes only a means to an end. That makes the activity less enjoyable, and therefore less sustainable over the long run. I’ve become fitter than ever by not tracking, but instead enjoying being active. I’ve grown my site more now that I don’t track stats, but instead enjoy the writing. Over the long run, not tracking is better.

5. Be Productive When You’re Waiting. Lots of people do this — you bring a laptop or mobile device or some papers to do some work while you’re waiting at a doctor’s office or at DMV or on the train or in traffic. There’s nothing wrong with this, really, except in the philosophy behind it: that every second should be filled with work, or it’s wasted. I object to this. Sitting in a waiting room, doing nothing but sitting in silence or watching other people, is a beautiful way to spend your time. Reading a novel on a train, or taking a nap, is also wonderful. Waiting in line at DMV or the post office and eavesdropping on other human beings, or making conversation with someone, or just soaking in the sounds of humanity, is arguably more important than doing more work or reading work-related documents. Life isn’t only about work, and productivity isn’t everything. Try some unproductivity instead.

6. Keep Detailed, Context To-Do Lists. In the early days of Zen Habits, back in 2007, I did exactly this — I kept a series of contextual to-do lists for home, work, phone calls, errands, someday, and so on. This became too much work for me, and so instead of organizing, I simplified. I now focus on one or two things to do each day, and if when I get them done, my day is golden. Everything else I do that day is gravy. And the to-do lists gather dust, which turns out to be a very productive thing for them to do.

7. Work Hard in Bursts, with Frequent Breaks. Work hard for 10 minutes and take a break for 5! Or maybe 12 and 3? Maybe 30 minutes of hard work and 10 minutes of break? The exact numbers really depend on your flavor of productivity, but at their heart they miss the point: you shouldn’t be forcing yourself to work hard on something you dread doing, and then take a break to reward or relieve yourself from that dreaded work. You should work on stuff you love, so that you can’t wait to do it, and taking a break is just a matter of enjoying something else (maybe a nice walk, a nice book, a nice conversation with a friend). Life where you work hard in bursts, with some breaks, is dreadful. Life where you’re always doing something you love is art.

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Одностишия Ольги Арефьевой (в подражание В.Вишневскому)

2011-09-06T09:07:00.001+04:00

О, не пиши так много одностиший!
Уж если изменять - так сразу многим!
Ты интерфейсом мне не угрожай!
Ну поиграй, хотя бы "Чижик-пыжик"!
Как много металлистов вышло в барды...
Ему гитару в руки не давайте!
О, не лежи так явно на постели...
Да, я звезда, а что мне остаётся?
Ну ты хотя бы ночью не кричи...
Он не стыдился песен в ля-миноре...
Хоть наши песни всё равно в народе...
Он раньше чаще попадал по струнам...
Ну хорошо, гремите, только тихо!
Зачем играть? Я без того известен...
Бывало, он настраивал гитару...
Мы невостребованы. Но и непродажны!
Громи буржуев! (Спонсоров не трогать!)
Ты б хоть постриглась, чтоб не быть как парень!
Куда ты наливаешь - это бонги!
При исполненьи хватит целоваться!
Свирепо глянув в зал, он дал по струнам...
И пусть нестройно - я авангардист!
"Виолончель" - звучит конечно гордо...
Что за привычка - как концерт - на сцену?
Постой, так ты играл не в ЛЯ-миноре?!!
Куда-то задевалось пианино...
Лишь тот играет правильно, кто громко!
Так это у него в кармане ...КУКИШ!
А, понятно, куда он так рвался...
Как подло на ремонт закрыть сортиры...
Ты можешь не играть. И так всё ясно.
Чем хуже голос, тем короче юбка...
Чего опять уставились на сцену?
Как выпьет - буйный, как не пьёт - зануда...
Как эротична форма микрофона...
А то, что пьяный - это так и надо!
Ну хоть милиции до нас есть дело...
Как ни визжи - не выйдет Джанис Джоплин...
Так вот чего в рояле так воняло...
Вчера ты вроде бы была без бороды...
Я так красива, что сама б влюбилась...
Величие заметно после смерти...
Я неподкупен. Но беру натурой.
А "гонорар натурой" - были гвозди!
Способностей лишён. Но сразу гений.
"Уйди, противный" - понимал буквально...
Докуда поднимаем эйфорию?
"Нахал" - совсем не значит "прекратите"!
Постой вот здесь. О нет, ложись скорее.
Люблю... Не лезьте ж, это я не вам!
Любить Вас с Вами легче, чем без Вас...
Какие мои письма не любовны?
Пусть у тебя вибрирует хоть пейджер...
Нас с поприща любовного попёрли...
Прижмись ко мне мобильным телефоном...
Как жаль, что поздно нам играть в бирюльки...
Какие зоны здесь не эрогенны...
Я ураган. Неважно, что в стакане.
Ну и к чему Вы приходили с розой?
Представим, что мы только что проснулись...
Сентенции мои сентиментальны...
Опять ты пишешь непереводимо!
Итак, попался. А теперь что делать?
Чего мы это с Вами врозь, да врозь?
Как эротично спать с тобою врозь!
Все гении в такое время дрыхнут.
Вчера нам низко пасть так и не вышло...
Звонить не надо - я и так всё знаю...
Вы клеились ко мне, не отпирайтесь!
Опять мы так бездарно артистичны...
Так поздно, что уже, похоже, рано...
Ну что, проснулся? Засыпай обратно...
Родимая... На мне ты как пятно.
Столкнула нас судьба и растолкнула...
Проснулись мы в различных помещеньях...
Проснулись в неприличных положеньях...
Влюблённые - такие идиоты...
Я не сдурела. Я вообще такая.
Я долго буду мучить Вас собою...
Бессовестный... Ты знал всё это сразу!
Лежать, молчать! А то я растеряюсь...
Забыла. Мы чего уединились?
Родной, ты так уместен в женском платье...
Всё. Сплю. Теперь уж Вам пускай не спится...
Не надо мне так сразу отдаваться!
Мне мокро жить, когда так крыша каплет...
И скользко жить, когда так крыша едет...
Звоните мне! Но только не по делу...
Как твой автоответчик возбуждает...
Мне колка дров уже не помогает...
Цинично одеяло отобрав...
Я слышу март по собственному "м я у!"
Презерватив - оплот самообмана...
Ты безопасен в принципе не будешь...
А одностишья - свежий вид интима!
И нам уж всё равно, что мы не мыты...
И вредной быть по-своему полезно...
И ты любви покорен? Это возраст...
Да. Мои шутки полностью серьёзны.
Я гений. Парадоксы - лишь прикрытье...
Нет, я людей практически не ем...
А мне легко всё время прибедняться?
Как абонент сети, неудержима...
В метро без нас хватает пассажиров...
Куда ещё нам расширять сознанье!
Звоните, всё равно меня нет дома...
Прелюдия порой главней финала...
Он любит борщ... Воспользуемся этим.
Мужик голодный - лёгкая добыча...
Как ты домой пойдёшь, весь мной пропахший?
Проснувшись от позыва к одностишью...
С утра коты помуркаться приходят.
Чего-то я без дела улыбаюсь...
На что ты намекал мне поцелуем?
Так радуешь меня, что просто плачу...
С восьми утра терплю у телефона...
Ой, не туда угрозы ты отправил...
Взят при попытке связи СМС-кой...
Я-то терплю. Но ты-то пожалеешь...
Бесценное теперь не стоит денег...
Режим спортивный ты нарушил мною...
Я в гневе офигительно прекрасна...
Нанюхалась тебя до одуренья...
Когда влюбляюсь - становлюсь опасной...
"Пять лет без секса" - не медаль, а орден!
С чем нас теперь застигли папарацци?
Мужчиною по вызову мне будешь?
Я думаю о Вас в опасных дозах...
Смываемся - пока не смылась краска...
Верни мои предметы фетишизма!
Любви моей не порти хмурой миной...
Влюбиться мне в тебя не расхотелось...
Не мне, отец, учить тебя - и баста!
Не Вам, сынок, учить меня - и баста!
Ты сэкономь энергию на мне...
Пока ты не со мною - не ревную.
Я влюблена, бесспорно. Но в кого?
Была с тобой, хоть ты со мною не был.
Я Вас люблю. И что же дальше?
И с Вами я - практически без Вас.
Я вру. Но это тоже способ правды.
И смена ритма - тоже способ джаза...
Люби меня. Но не по расписанью...
В "давай не надо" слышал лишь "давай!"
Хоть с розой был - жениться не обязан...
Мы оба не в себе. Вовне столкнёмся.
Люблю вас. Просто в очень редкой форме.
С печатью интеллекта под глазами...
Печать интеллигентности под глазом...
О, не мешай мне грезить о тебе!
Не слабость чувства, милый. Просто слабость.
Я занята, родной, не охладела...
Приду в себя - тогда уж и в себя...
Все формы связи, кроме сексуальной...

Источник

См. также здесь

Scientists and central planning

2011-08-24T12:53:00.001+04:00

by Daniel Lemire

Overconfident individuals often win by claiming more resources than they could defend (Johnson and Fowler). If nobody knows who is strongest, whoever thinks he is the strongest might win by default. That is, there is no better way to fool others than to first fool yourself.

Accordingly, human beings are often overconfident:

The teachers know that lecturing is highly effective (even when it is not).
Sex partners know that they are great lovers (even when they are not).
Star scientists know that they are more often right than others (even if that’s not true).
Economists know how they economy work (even when they don’t).
The entrepreneur knows his new business will succeed (even when most fails).

In scholarship, overconfidence is a great asset. I routinely fool myself into thinking that I can make a lasting contribution with my next research projects. By being overconfident, I take risks that I would not take otherwise. If I were more cautious, I would go work in the financial industry, make a lot of money and retire early. Instead, I keep thinking that my next research project might advance Science.

Thus, scientists often develop a God complex: they somehow know that whatever theories they hold must be true. They also believe that they can accurately assess the significance of the work of others. This is not entirely conscious, of course. They know that it is impossible to make fair assessments. Yet they fool themselves long enough to believe that their assessments are largely correct (even when they are not).

This is somewhat ironic in that Science’s ultimate purpose is to tame our God complex. Yet the very people who pursue science have gigantic egos. They would never admit that Science is built on trial and error. They want you to believe that Science is driven by superior intellects. How can such pompous people be in charge of moderating our God complex? Because while the scientist might be driven by overconfidence, his tools keep him honest. The scientist is like a high speed train: he might have a huge engine, he is (mostly) forced to follow tracks. A scientist operating entirely based on his inflated ego will eventually be derailed.

The God complex leads us straight to the conventional peer review system: write a paper, send it to a journal where a handful of review will assess it. Can reviewers really tell whether the work is significant? Of course, they can’t! But they believe so, for a time. The scientific way is to try and verify. That is how, ultimately, scientists deal with their God complex. Hence all (apparently) correct research papers should be published. Work that has stood the test of time should form the foundation of a field, not work that has been selected by (false) Gods.

But surely, scientists cannot try all possible theories? They must someone select the most promising directions. However, once we acknowledge the God complex, some natural strategies emerge:

We should reject central planning. We must reject the authority of the few to decide the worthwhile research directions. We should choose to support many small projects rather than fund one large initiative driven by a handful of individuals. Results matter, not authority.
We should test as many different ideas as we can. Scientists should be encouraged to try many different things.

If you think that these strategies sound sensible, consider that they are almost entirely the opposite of what is being done:

Science is increasingly planned centrally around large government bureaucracies. We want to build scientific heroes who will direct other (lesser) scientists. Large teams focus on a narrow set of problems and directed by experienced researchers are the gold standard. Independent thinkers who try different things “waste resources”.
We encourage specialization. One argument which is often raised is that if a professor tries his hand at a new topic, he will be unable to train new Ph.D.s in this new area, thus limiting our ability to produce more Ph.D.s. It is also frowned upon to try an idea, see it fail, and write up the results as a research report: every project should lead to a publication in a respected venue.

By analogy between Science and capitalism, it is as if the government was funding large corporations at the expense of small shops. It is as if the government funded companies that are highly specific and inflexible at the expense of agile ventures because more stable companies can better train their employees. And, more importantly, it is as if the fate of start-up companies was determined by small secret committees of experts: unless such a committee concludes that the company will work, it cannot launch. It is as if we believed it best to direct the consumer to a few trusted companies, for fear that he might choose to deal with a young unpolished start-up.

In effect, the modern scientist has rejected the free market of ideas. He prefers state-directed communism where a few choose for the masses.

Wikipedia opportunity: There is no entry in Wikipedia for Garage science where independent researchers do bona fide research with modest means.

Further reading: The perils of filter-then-publish and Improve your impact with abundance-based design.

Update: The original title of this post was “scientists are communists”.

Mint jelly

2011-05-31T11:25:00.001+04:00

Mint jelly is a translucent jewel. Not only does it have many uses in cooking, it makes a delicious spread for bread and a tasty condiment with lamb or pork. Used as a glaze for roast or grilled meat or stirred into marinades, mint jelly adds refreshing flavor to many foods.

1.5 cups - firmly packed mint leaves - 375 mL

2.25 cups – water - 550 mL

2 tbsp - lemon juice - 30 mL

3.5 cups - granulated sugar - 875 mL

Green food coloring (optional)

pouch (3 ozl - 85 mL) liquid pectin

Place 4 clean 8-ounce (250 mL) mason jars on a rack in a boiling-water canner. (You can also use a large, deep saucepan or stockpot that is at least 3 inches/7.5 cm deeper than the height of the jars.) Fill the jars and canner with cool water that reaches the top of the jars. Cover and bring water to a simmer over medium heat. Do not boil.
Prepare 4 two-piece closures. Set screw bands aside. Place lids in a small saucepan and cover with water. Heat just to a simmer over medium heat, but do not boil. Keep lids warm until ready to use. Do not heat screw bands.
In a colander placed over a sink, rinse mint leaves thoroughly under cold running water. Shake off excess moisture and chop finely.
In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine mint and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Pour liquid into a damp jelly bag or a cheesecloth-lined sieve set over a large glass measure. Let drip until you have 1 %cups (425 mL) of mint-flavored liquid.
In a clean large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine mint-flavored liquid, lemon juice and sugar. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in liquid pectin, squeezing the full content from the pouch. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add a few drops of food coloring (if using). Remove from heat and, using a large slotted metal spoon, skim off foam.
Some jellies set up very quickly, so it is important to move quickly when transferring cooked jelly from the pot to the jars. Because jellies are pure liquids, bubble removal for each jar is not required. Remove a jar from canner and empty hot water back into canner. (Do not dry jar.) Place jar on a tray or towel-covered counter and place a canning funnel in it. Quickly ladle or pour hot jelly into hot jar, leaving 14 inch (0.5 cm) headspace. With a clean damp cloth or paper towel, wipe jar rim and threads to remove any food residue. Using a magnetic or nonmetallic utensil, lift a hot lid from water and center it on jar. Place screw band on jar and, with your fingers, screw band down evenly and firmly, just until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight. Do not over-tighten or use any tools to apply screw bands. Return jar to canner rack and repeat until all jelly is used.
When all jars are filled, lower rack into canner and ensure jars are completely covered by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) of hot water. Cover canner and bring water to a full rolling boil over high heat. Process (continue boiling rapidly) for 10 minutes, starting timer only when water reaches a ~ rolling boil. At the end of the processing time, turn heat off and remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, without tilting. Place jars upright on a towel in a draft-free place and let cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, check lids for seal. Remove screw bands and press down on center of each lid with your finger. Sealed lids will be concave (they'll curve downward) and will show no movement when pressed. Jars that haven't sealed properly must be refrigerated immediately or reprocessed (see page 418). Rinse and dry screw bands. Wipe jars and, if desired, loosely reapply screw bands. Label jars and store in a cool, dry, dark place.

***

2011-05-18T08:36:00.001+04:00

..то, что мы называем разумом человека, его сердцем, его волей, есть плод не индивидуального, а общественного развития, в нас, быть может, 9/10 общественных элементов и лишь 1/10 чисто личного начала.

П.Ф. Каптерев

Лошадь сдохла – слезь!

2011-05-15T21:49:00.001+04:00

В жизни есть огромное количество ситуаций, вещей, или людей, которые нас не устраивают и уже давно.
Например:
– Отношения, которые давно в тягость.
– Работа, которая давно надоела.
– Бизнес, который приносит одни убытки.

Но по неизвестным причинам мы цепляемся за борт тонущего корабля в надежде, что он может быть, поплывет когда-нибудь, тратя на это оставшиеся нервы, время, деньги.

Разумеется, если принимать во внимание установки – «терпенье и труд, все перетрут», необходимо проявлять упорство и не сдаваться. И в этом случае должен быть индикатор – показатель – точные сроки исполнения целей.

Но если его нет, тогда уясни древнюю индейскую пословицу:

Лошадь сдохла – слезь!

Казалось бы все ясно, но

Мы уговариваем себя, что есть еще надежда.
Мы бьем лошадь сильнее.
Мы говорим «Мы всегда так скакали».
Мы организовываем мероприятие по оживлению дохлых лошадей.
Мы объясняем что наша дохлая лошадь гораздо «лучше, быстрее и дешевле».
Мы организовываем сравнение различных дохлых лошадей.
Мы сидим возле лошади и уговариваем ее не быть дохлой.
Мы покупаем средства, которые помогают скакать быстрее на дохлых лошадях.
Мы изменяем критерии опознавания дохлых лошадей.
Мы посещаем другие места чтобы посмотреть, как там скачут на дохлых лошадях.
Мы собираем коллег, чтобы дохлую лошадь проанализировать.
Мы стаскиваем дохлых лошадей ,в надежде, что вместе они будут скакать быстрее.
Мы нанимаем специалистов по дохлым лошадям.

Если лошадь сдохла – слезь.

источник

Мрачные ночные раздумья

2011-05-09T14:55:00.001+04:00

Что-то я начала думать о старости, которая меня (надеюсь) ждет. Проблема даже сложнее чем только деньги на спокойное и безбедное житье в хорошем климате или почти неизбежное одиночество, а также пара десятилетий жизни в новом мире, ставшем абсолютно непонятным.

Я неверующий человек, дистиллированный атеист, но в христианской идее загробной жизни, как я ее понимаю, есть очень верное зерно. Опять-таки, насколько я понимаю, весь рост и развитие бессмертной души считается возможным только в период земной жизни. После смерти душа уже не изменится, нельзя будет ничего в себе создать или стать лучше. Лубочные картинки сияющего рая, где все занимаются вольным творчеством на золотых полях, не имеют отношения к доктрине. Как и булгаковский образ маленького домика в чистилище, где Мастер будет писать новые романы - мертвые ничего не создают. Вся наша способность к творению действительна только на земле. Поэтому короткая земная жизнь, при всей ее нелепости, так важна. Некоторые атеисты, думая, что загоняют верующего собеседника в ловкую ловушку, спрашивают - "Если твоя душа бессмертна, и ты хорошо себя вел, то почему с моей стороны будет однозначно плохим поступком убить тебя прямо сейчас? Ты же прямиком на небо отправишься, избегнув множество тягот. И даже не будешь читером, срезавшим угол длинной дистанции". Ответ - преждевременная смерть не дает человеку пройти весь путь развития, доработать свою душу до состояния, пригодного к полноценной вечности. По этой же причине в религиозном сознании так печальна смерть ребенка - он не успел наделать грехов, которые стоило бы выправлять, но и вообще ничего не успел сделать с собой, поэтому страшно обделен. Поэтому же страшно умирать внезапно - нужно подготовиться. Есть еще история с искуплением через адские страдания, но, насколько я понимаю, это тоже апокрифическая картинка. Сковородки, как и арфы, не предусмотрены. Грешные души мучаются не под специально организованными пытками, а от своей недоделанности в земной жизни и невозможности единения с божественным.

Старость - это период, начинающийся с печального момента, когда человек теряет способность серьезно менять свою жизнь. Что-то мне подсказывает, что однажды это случается - кончаются силы, подводит здоровье, теряется понимание устройства окружающего мира и способность осваивать новое. Можно еще как-то управлять событиями и принимать решения, но, по большому счету, радикально уже ничего не сделаешь - не родишь детей, не заработаешь денег, не построишь дом, не поменяешь страну, не изменишь отношения с важными людьми. Выстрел прозвучал, пуля в воздухе, ничего не исправишь. Фактически, аналог загробной жизни.

И это надолго. Здоровая женщина может рассчитывать прожить лет до девяноста, из которых пятнадцать придется на настоящую старость, когда можно только пожинать сделанное ранее и наблюдать за окружающим миром. Видимо, это и имеется ввиду в известном афоризме "чтобы не было мучительно больно". Пятнадцать лет, неимоверный срок, при современных темпах развития пара эпох пройдет. Длинные дни, еще более длинные ночи под бессонницу. Перспективы нет, планы, которые так помогают сейчас, бессмысленны.

Не думаю, что нужно всю жизнь работать на старость, но иметь ввиду перспективу необходимо.

Мне кажется продуктивной идея судить об общих жизненных результатах по тому периоду, когда уже ничего не можешь сделать. Абсолютный гамбургский счет, все понятно, чего там стоили проекты, статусы, книги, статьи, друзья, семейная жизнь, дома и финансовые проекты. Еще понятней после смерти, но это уже не так интересно.

Даже временные периоды без контроля помогают что-то важное осознать. Сны, например. Несколько раз меня весьма огорчали собственные поступки в сновидениях. Или сильное алкогольное опьянение, когда все непрочные ограничители слетают. Для меня один алкогольный эпизод стал весьма сильным стимулом к развитию - утром я ясно увидела некоторую правду о себе и поняла, что таких душевных свойств мне не нужно, пусть даже они и не проявляются в поведении почти никогда.

Источник

Новая украинская потребительская корзина

2011-04-24T17:25:00.001+04:00

Новая «корзинка» отличается от старой лишь косметическими изменениями. Но главное, что их объединяет, — прожить на этот минимум можно только в глубочайшей нищете.

Приложения к постановлению — таблицы с десятками наименований товаров для разных групп населения (дети до шести лет, дети 6—18 лет, трудоспособные мужчины и женщины, а также нетрудоспособные мужчины и женщины) — нужно читать с калькулятором в руках. Чтобы пересчитать, например, годовые нормы потребления продуктов питания в суточные. Гарантирую, получите море эмоций!

Кто съел наше сало?

На кухне мы редко вспоминаем о калькуляторе и калориях. Но человеку, увлекающемуся туризмом и время от времени составляющему продуктовые раскладки, при чтении части постановления, относящейся к продуктам питания, становится ясно: к завхозу, который так умеет считать, в походе будут испытывать смешанные чувства. С одной стороны, ему будут благодарны за небольшой вес продуктов, с другой — на третий день его съедят.

Кроме того, закрадывается подозрение, что в правительстве затаилась глубоко законспирированная террористическая организация. Именно ее происками объясняется наличие в «потребительской корзинке» всего двух килограммов сала в год (или 5,5 г в день) на одного взрослого и полутора килограммов (чуть более четырех граммов в день) на подростка.
Однако действуют во власти и оптимистические силы. Норма потребления яиц — основного оружия политической борьбы — составляет одно в день на подростка, пол-яйца на ребенка и 0,6 яйца на взрослого. То есть для обеспечения минимума потребления нужно порядка 16 млрд. яиц в год. Тогда как реальное производство не превышает 12 млрд. Где будут изысканы резервы, остается только догадываться.

Что еще оказалось в «продуктовой корзине»? В нормах образца 2000 года одному трудоспособному едоку предлагалось ограничиться в год 14 кг говядины, телятины и баранины, то теперь — 16 кг, но только говядины (43 с небольшим грамма в день). Свинины предлагается 8 кг в год (21 г в день). Из корзинки исключены кролики, зато добавились два кило птицы (14 кг в год, или 38 г в день).

О трагедии с салом мы уже упомянули (правда, последние пять лет норма была такая же). Второй нацсимволпродукт — колбаса — предлагается в объеме 9 кг в год (24,5 г, или один кусочек, в день).

Из продуктов первейшей необходимости на год нам предлагается 62 кг белого хлеба (169,8 г в день, жить можно), 95 кг картошки (260 г в день, тоже лучше, чем ситуация с салом). А также 25 кг помидоров и огурцов вместе (68 г в день, на закуску не хватит), 60 кг фруктов и ягод (164 г в день, полтора яблока). И раз уж внесли в «минимум» 13 кг кондитерских изделий, то почему не внесли водку?

Детям нормы увеличены немного больше. Если в «корзине-2000» тем, кому до шести лет, полагалось съесть в год 11,7 кг говядины, баранины, телятины, а от 6 до 18 лет — 18,3 кг, в ближайшую пятилетку будут «выдавать» по 12,9 и 20 кг соответственно. Свинины в минувшую пятилетку детям до шести лет полагалось 5,8 кг в год, подросткам — 9,2 кг, а с этого года — соответственно 8,1 и 12,7.

Рацион для нетрудоспособных традиционно менее обилен, чем для работающих. Их почему-то решили кормить рыбой: раньше ее полагалось 2,5 кг в год, а теперь — 9,5 в год да сверх того 1,3 кг рыбопродуктов. Правда, у некоторых экспертов возникает подозрение: то ли в старый документ, то ли в новый вкралась опечатка.

Волшебный шкаф…

Кабмин «расписал» и гардероб для всех групп населения. Он фактически не претерпел изменений со времен 2000 года. То есть остается таким же малореальным. Теоретически, верхнюю зимнюю одежду (куртку на синтапоне), конечно, можно носить четыре года (именно раз в четыре года запланирована ее покупка). Однако уже на третий год в этой куртке в приличные места заходить будет стыдно. Или предполагается, что те, кто живет на «минимум», в приличные места не ходят?

Мужской костюм предлагается носить пять лет, а пять рубашек — четыре года. Срок носки галстука снижен с десяти до пяти лет. А вот джинсы теперь предлагается носить две пары семь лет, тогда как раньше была одна пара на три года. Может, в приложении к постановлению правительству указать, где продаются такие джинсы? Потому что те, что есть в большинстве магазинов, носятся до пузырей на коленях и дыр на заднице от силы год.

Женское пальто предлагается носить восемь лет, женскую осеннюю куртку — семь. На этот же срок положены два платья. А одну шерстяную юбку предлагается носить пять лет. Как и три блузки. Хотя, казалось бы, женщинам положено менять гардероб чаще. Даже тем, что живут на прожиточный минимум. Четыре года должен прослужить купальник (пенсионеркам и купальник не положен), а трусов на те же два года положено не пять штук, а шесть. Но есть и прогресс: срок носки одной пары женских зимних сапог сокращен с пяти лет до трех.

Хит детского «потребительского шкафчика» — «гарнитур для новорожденных (шапочка, сорочечка, пеленки)», срок службы которого установлен в шесть(!) лет. При желании можно, конечно, догадаться, что не пользование пеленками в течение шести лет имелось в виду чиновниками Кабмина, а то, что среднестатистический новорожденный должен, по их подсчетам, появляться в среднестатистической семье раз в шесть лет. Правда, двух пеленок для новорожденного маловато, а одноразовых подгузников в детскую «корзинку» не внесли.

А у других предметов детской необходимости очень завышены сроки службы. Так, детям до трех лет предлагается носить верхнюю зимнюю и демисезонную одежду по два года, как и платья для девочек и рубашки для мальчиков. У детей от шести до 18 лет та же проблема: джинсы, рубашки, футболки, бюстгальтеры, свитера — все предлагается носить по два, а то и по три года. По два года предлагается носить обувь — туфли, кроссовки, утепленные ботинки. А купальник/плавки — так вообще пять лет.

Но ведь дети имеют свойство расти. И обновки им приходится покупать каждый год не потому, что старые вещи изнашиваются, а потому, что дети из них просто вырастают! Однако чиновникам была поставлена задача «вписаться» в прожиточный минимум, и они сделали все для ее выполнения. Без всякого учета элементарных жизненных реалий.

…А также всякие иные предметы

Для детей школьного возраста прописаны нормы по школьным принадлежностям. На учебный год в прожиточный минимум входят 50 тетрадок, 10 ручек и два(!) учебника. Ноу комментс.

Три одеяла предлагается использовать 10 лет, три подушки — 15. Странно, почему не пятьдесят, ведь встречаются в семьях и бабушкины одеяла. Правда, качество тогда было получше…

Шесть пододеяльников должны прослужить пять лет, шесть простыней — четыре года, равно как шесть наволочек. Шести полотенец должно хватить на три года, трех махровых полотенец — на восемь лет. Из нового варианта «потребительской корзины» почему-то исключены носовые платки: ранее на год их предлагалось три штуки.

Для пущей наглядности минимальный набор предметов санитарии и лекарств тоже пересчитаем на месячные нормы. Тогда на среднестатистическую семью в месяц получается 3,5 куска туалетного мыла и два куска хозяйственного (в прошлой «корзинке» было три). А также две пачки стирального порошка, полбутылки шампуня и 1,4 тюбика зубной пасты. И три рулончика туалетной бумаги.

Медикаменты на год: три пачки ваты (было пять), пять десятиметровых пакетов бинта, пять упаковок валидола/валерианы, три баночки йода и зеленки, шесть упаковок болеутоляющего/жаропонижающего. А также девять пачек витаминов и одна… пачка горчичников. В общем, болеть Кабмин не рекомендует.

Посуда: шесть тарелок на три года, четыре кастрюли и две сковороды на девять лет, а также один чайник на восемь. Чайный сервиз на пять лет. Срок службы ложек и вилок — десять лет.

Холодильник среднестатистической семье предлагается менять раз в 15 лет, телевизор — раз в десять, стиральную машину — раз в 14. Люстру и настольную лампу — раз в 25 лет.

Что ж, гулять — так гулять! Ознакомимся с нормами по услугам. С 21 до 24,3 увеличилось количество квадратных метров жилья в расчете на одного человека. Нормы водоснабжения остались неизменными, на уровне 3,2—5,6 кубометра на человека в зависимости от типа дома. Нормы газоснабжения оказались пересчитанными на одного человека, тогда как старые нормы были в расчете на среднестатистическую семью. Если среднестатистическая семья состоит из трех человек, то они уменьшились. Жителю городской квартиры теперь полагается 9,8 кубометра газа на месяц, тогда как ранее было 31,36 кубометра на семью…

Месячная норма потребления электроэнергии — 110 кВт.ч для квартир с газовыми плитами, 225 — для квартир с электроплитами. Месячная норма разговоров по телефону — 20 минут (какой тут Интернет…). Месячная норма получения печатных изданий по подписке или в розницу — 52 экземпляра (один еженедельник). С 1 до 1,3 увеличена месячная норма отправки писем. Раз в месяц предлагается посещать библиотеку или покупать книгу.

В год запланировано одно человекопосещение бани, стирка двух килограммов белья в прачечной, четыре стрижки и 0,2 фотографирования. А еще — 524 поездки общественным транспортом (1,4 в день — не каждый вернется домой)…

Вместо послесловия

Какое, казалось бы, отношение к реальной жизни имеет вся эта цифровая эквилибристика? А самое что ни на есть непосредственное. На потребительской корзинке строится расчет прожиточного минимума. К прожиточному минимуму, в свою очередь, привязаны в Украине многие социальные гарантии, в том числе, с недавних пор, и святая святых — размер минимальной пенсии по старости. В этом смысле свежий «набор» от Кабмина вскрывает значительно более мощный пласт социально-экономических проблем, чем это может показаться скептикам-журналистам, по уровню доходов все же относящимся к среднему классу и с легкостью иронизирующим над предложенными нормами потребления продуктов и товаров…

Поставить себя на место человека, считающего каждую копейку и кусок хлеба, бывает сложно. Однако порой полезно хотя бы попытаться. Не выжить? А есть ли дело до этого чиновникам, которые все «утрамбовывали» и «утрамбовывали» цифирь, пока окончательно не «утрамбовали»?..

http://www.zn.ua/newspaper/articles/46176

я вот думаю-а если обязать,именно обязать в обязательном порядке всех депутатов и членов в правительстве жить только на такую корзину-вот класно то будет. А вообще получается,что все мы живем в роскоши-наши расходы значительно выше этой минималки. Особенно про новорожденных мне понравилось-грнитур новорожденного на 6 лет…
Раньше был"шоб ты жил на одну зарплату"-а теперь"шоб ты жил по списку корзины"

Источник

Шоковая терапия

2011-03-30T11:15:00.001+04:00

Max Kraynov опубликовал позитивный отзыв на книгу Вячеслава Панкратова "Чёрная книга менеджера":

По сути это сборник монологов от лица владельца IT компании, направленных на менеджера проекта или продукта. Книга написана грубым языком (и порой грубости излишек, или это просто не мой стиль), но такая “шоковая терапия” неплохо прочищает мысли и чакры. Ниже приведены мысли, особенно резонирующие с моими.

Работа. Если ты сказал, что что-то невозможно, а потом сделал – кого волнует, что ты скажешь в следующий раз? Дела не делаются у одних и тех же людей, независимо от компании или проекта. Когда понимаешь, что ошибся, нормальному человеку хочется делать ещё и ещё. “Сделал или не сделал” не имеет никакого отношения к “знал или не знал”.
Опыт.Ты чего-то стоишь, пока ты в этой конторе, а за ее пределами ты снова идешь искать работу, чтобы продать свои навыки и продолжать верить в иллюзию, что твои навыки ценны сами по себе. Твой навык не самостоятелен, на рынке он будет конвертироваться в бабло, только если кто-то даст тебе проект, заказчика и людей.
Деньги.Если тебя от бизнеса нужны только бабки и в голове у тебя только “дай”, то откуда у меня будет по отношению к тебе хоть полграмма уважения? С чего ты тогда удивляешься, что получая прибавку к зарплате, ты автоматически продвигаешься в очереди на увольнение? Если человек самостоятельно делает хотя бы 80% поставленных ему задач, значит мы ему платим среднюю ЗП по рынку. Если около 100% – то платим выше рынка и думаем, как его голову приложить еще. Если человек делает все на автомате, его надо заменить кем-то попроще и включить его голову туда, где не хватает головы.
Люди.У твоего сотрудника есть вещи поважнее тебя и твоих планов.
Мотивация.Как твои люди будут относиться к делу, к компании, к Заказчику и друг-другу если ты им талдычишь что вокруг все плохо и все полные урюки? Откуда у твоих людей возьмется мотивация что-то делать, если ты сам этого не хочешь? Если человек не делает, его надо учить, если не помогает – тогда лечить, если все равно не помогает – тогда мочить. Увольнять и идти дальше, даже урезанным составом. Пусть работает трое, чем не работает четверо.
Время. Приходить вовремя – это такой знак уважения. Уважения, к которому ты не привык, потому что еще сам не стоишь ничего, а демонстрируя неуважение, ты дешевеешь прямо на глазах. Как менеджер, трать время на управление людьми, а не на исследование технологий и т.п., ибо: а) тебе платят не за это; б) ты всё равно не станешь лучше своих подчинённых, которые занимаются работой в режиме нон-стоп.
Опоздания. Перезванивай, если опаздываешь. Предупреждай, если сроки проекта сдвигаются. У заказчика тоже могут быть планы, он может терять реальные деньги или с трудом построенную репутацию, которая может стоить дороже, чем весь твой отдел с потрохами.
Уважение.Если ты не уважаешь, значит ты еще сам не заработал и не испытал уважения. С такими не договариваются, таким просто говорят что надо делать. Нервный, это тот, кто кричит на своего шефа, а тот кто кричит на подчиненных, тот просто хам. Самые серьезные вещи говорятся тихо и спокойно. Да, иногда не теми словами, но очень спокойно. Уважение к заказчику строится на том простом факте, что нам он платит бабки, которые уже успел заработать сам.
Проблемы.Решая вопрос, решай проблему, а не человека. Любая задача решается множеством способов, если только ты не дотянул ее до проблемы и не решаешь свои комплексы, вместо того, чтобы делать дело с помощью тех умных и талантливых людей, которые тебе доверил бизнес, надеясь что ты сможешь или научишся делать дело.

60 Inconvenient Personal Development Truths

2011-03-21T18:32:00.001+03:00

I know you want to be the best you can be. We all do. But sometimes we look for success in the wrong places or we try to achieve it in the wrong ways.

Here are 60 inconvenient truths about personal development to help you stay on track.

The acquisition of knowledge doesn’t mean you’re growing. Growing happens when what you know changes how you live.
You can’t have good ideas unless you’re willing to generate a lot of bad ones.
A good idea without action is nothing at all.
It’s not so much about finding opportunities as it is about creating them.
10% of our lives is decided by uncontrollable circumstances. 90% is decided by how we react to those circumstances.
What we don’t start today won’t be finished by tomorrow.
If you’re waiting for the perfect conditions, ideas or plans to get started, you’ll never achieve anything.
If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.
Change is often resisted when it is needed the most.
Discipline is choosing what you want most over what you want right now. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
The harder you work, the luckier you will become.
Kindness and hard work together will always carry you farther than intelligence.
Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile.
Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.
Lots of successful people have failed as many times as they have succeeded.
Nobody succeeds all by themselves.
Right now, there’s a lot you don’t know.
Having a plan, even a flawed one at first, is better than no plan at all.
In the beginning, you need to say “yes” to a lot of things to discover and establish your goals. Later on, you need to say “no” to a lot of things and concentrate on your goals.
No matter how you make a living or who you think you work for, you only work for one person, yourself. The big question is: What are you selling, and to whom?
We all have different strengths. What worked for someone else might not work for you.
To be great does not mean you have to dominate others. It means you have to dominate your own potential.
Being successful is a journey, not a destination.
Results are more important than the time it takes to achieve them.
Being busy and being productive are two different things.
Being happy and being successful are two different things.
You don’t have to settle. It’s simply a choice you make every day.
Life is full of opportunities to feel exactly the way you want to feel.
You have every right to be happy, but it’s up to YOU and only YOU to exercise that right. Read The Happiness Project.
You have the ability to clear negativity from your mind with a single thought.
We are all multi-dimensional human beings with simultaneous dimensions of success and failure in our lives.
Your success isn’t just about you. It’s about how you positively impact the lives around you.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do.
Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else – you are the one who gets burned.
Life isn’t always logical.
When you spend time worrying, you’re simply using your imagination to create things you don’t want.
It’s usually only as good or bad as you think it is.
There is a lesson in everything you do, and learning the lesson is how you move forward.
No matter how smart you are, you will make mistakes.
There’s no such thing as ‘risk free.’ Everything you do or don’t do has an inherent risk.
Saying “no” to right people gives you the time and resources required to say “yes” to right opportunities.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
When you’re caught up in the moment and your emotions are soaring, you’re bound to make poor decisions.
Simplicity is often a major factor of success. But the process of simplifying things is rarely easy.
Cutting your losses is often better than the alternative.
It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo, but it’s worth it.
You can raise the bar or you can wait for others to raise it. Either way, it’s getting raised.
Oftentimes, the only reason they want you to fit in is that once you do they can ignore you and go about their business.
Confusion isn’t a bad thing. It means you’re growing and thinking.
When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
Trying to be somebody you’re not is not sexy. Be you. That’s when you’re beautiful.
Good looks attracts the eyes. Personality attracts the heart.
Sometimes you just have to do your own thing your own way, no matter what anyone else thinks or says about you.
When you receive negative feedback, remember, it doesn’t matter how many people don’t get it, it matters how many do. Read The 4-Hour Workweek.
If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
Truly ‘rich’ people need ‘less’ to be happy.
A good life is when you assume nothing, do more, need less, smile often and realize how fortunate you are right now.
If you want love, give love. If you want friends, be friendly. If you want money, provide value. It really is this simple.
If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.

And remember, the extra mile is the stretch of road that’s never crowded. As long as you follow your heart and never stop learning, you’ll turn not older, but newer every day.

Source

100 Blogs that Will Save You Time & Make You More Productive

2011-03-20T12:12:00.001+03:00

Today’s busy lifestyles require that everyone put in extra hours when it comes to careers, family, and even free time. Learn how to better manage your time to get more done in less time. The following blogs will help you find ways to become more productive whether it’s at home or work–and no matter what profession you have. Entrepreneurs, professors, students, creatives, technology buffs, and even those just looking for inspiration for productive lives will all find blogs with plenty of information and suggestions to get things done more efficiently.

Productivity for Life

Many of the blogs listed in this section are super popular–and for good reason. The advice found in these blogs includes suggestions for finding time, managing money, creating more time for family, and even finding your happiness.

Stepcase Lifehack. The posts here not only include ways to become more productive, but also offer suggestions to help streamline and enhance your money, technology, work, and more.
Zen Habits. The inspirational posts here cover many ways to make your life more simple and at the same time, enriched. From family time to work to money, you can find great tips here.
SimpleProductivityBlog. Find tips on productivity, simplicity, ways to incorporate technology, and more at this blog.
Productivity in Context. The posts here offer suggestions for boosting your productivity and also provides tools for increasing your organization.
Scott H Young. Written by a student at university, this popular blog offers tons of information to help balance energy, productivity, and life.
Get Everything Done. Mark Forster writes about time management and personal organization on his blog.
Productivity501. Increase your personal productivity with the advice available here with focus on time management, money, organization, and technology.
The Slacker Method. The tips on this blog are all referred to as "Slacker Method for…" but they are truly just productive ways to manage your day-to-day tasks with tips on everything from getting ready for work in the morning to measuring without a ruler.
Productive Flourishing. This blog is for those who are too busy to try out new productivity systems and need suggestions that affect them immediately. Check out the recent Beyond Productivity series to see what many productivity gurus have been discussing.
Dumb Little Man. Productivity, saving money, and staying sane are the focus of the posts at this popular blog.
Marc and Angel Hack Life. Get tips for personal productivity with this blog.
parent hacks. No one needs to find more time in the day than busy parents, and this blog helps with great tips. Check out the mean maraca tip for dealing with road rage–even non-parents could use this one.
The Cranking Widgets Blog. Personal productivity is the focus of this popular blog with recent posts including disconnecting from the computer, too much work killing productivity, and being a career renegade.
Nick Pagan. With topics such as procrastination, GTD, and cleaning the mind of clutter, this advice at this blog can boost your productivity.
Productivity 101. Lifehacking, GTD, and personal productivity are at the heart of the posts at this blog.
An Extra Hour Every Day. This blog offers great suggestions for saving time and boosting productivity for work, travel, and home.
Tools for Thought. Find ways to change your thinking, behavior, and habits to make positive changes to increase productivity with the tips and information here.
Matthew Cornell. This productivity consultant offers advice for personal and work productivity on his blog.
Ian’s Messy Desk. Get suggestions ranging from risk-taking to mind-mapping to ways to keep a journal with this blog that offers ideas to boost productivity.

Productivity Specifically for Work

While many productivity blogs focus on both personal productivity and productivity at work, these blogs specialize in the work variety.

Productivity Cafe. Learn tips to increase your productivity at work with the advice at this blog.
Organize IT. This blog features organization, personal development, and more to help boost productivity at work to make more time for life.
Business Hacks. From writing great resumes to effective note-taking, this blog offers great advice to creating a more productive work life.
GTD Times. Authorized by David Allen, the founder of Getting Things Done, this blog focuses on GTD in a business environment and also provides a heavy dose of technology and GTD.
The Queen of KAOS. For those who work at home, this blog offers tips for time management, productivity, working with kids in the house, goal-setting, and more.

Productivity for Creatives

If you are a creative type, these blogs are for you and offer plenty of suggestions for ways to work and live more productively.

43 Folders. This blog is devoted to helping spark creativity while increasing productivity at work.
LifeClever. This blog for designers focuses on creativity and productivity in both life and work.
LifeDev. Devoted to empowering creative types, topics include taking care of your body to boost your brain power and ways to boost creativity.
Presentation Zen. If your professional life requires you make presentations, then you must read this blog. From technology to creativity, the tips here are invaluable.
A List Apart. Web designers can find plenty of advice about creating effective websites with this blog.
eirikso.com. Eirik Solheim approaches photography and marketing with a less-is-more approach that he shares with the posts in his blog.
Escape from Cubical Nation. For those creatives trying to break out on their own, this blog offers constructive advice and suggestions to help make the switch to a productive and liberating work experience.
David Seah. The explorative and insightful posts on this blog offer new ways for creatives to think about goals, productivity, and more.

Productivity with Technology

Technology provides so many ways to help people make the most of their time. These blogs provide great advice for ways to incorporate technology into your life to save time and work more efficiently.

Lifehacker. With an emphasis on the high tech, this blog offers tons of suggestions for making work and life more productive.
Gizmodo. While some technology works opposite of productivity, most of the fun gadgets and apps found here will help you live and work more productively–or at least more technically connected.
Hack the Day. This blog promotes personal productivity, ideas for easier computer usage, and software to make life easier.
My Stuff for Getting Things Done. This blog provides tips for getting things done with a special focus on lifehacks and technology.
Smart Productivity. Written by a software engineer, this blog on productivity and GTD has a definite technological edge to it.
Technotheory. This blog strives to bring technology to it’s readers in hopes of improving productivity and happiness.
Did I Get Things Done. This GTD blog offers plenty of tech solutions to aid in your goal of getting it all done.
Wild Apricot Blog. Productivity for organizations through technology is the theme of this blog.
A simple matter of…. With a unique combination of productivity tips and programming tips, those who work in technology can gain plenty of helpful information.
Signal vs. Noise. A blog of 37 Signals, the posts here cover a wide range including technology, design, simplicity, and the surrounding culture.

Entrepreneurship

Many of these blogs teach techniques for entrepreneurs that will help them become better at a specific aspect of the whole business. Some focus on copywriting, others on marketing, and others on communication. Follow this advice and your productivity and time saved will increase by doing things more efficiently and correctly.

Dave Cheong. This software engineer is working towards entrepreneurship and offers plenty of tips to help your entrepreneurial endeavors as well.
Copyblogger. If online marketing is your gig, then you won’t want to miss the copywriting tips available on this blog.
How to Change the World. Guy Kawasaki writes this blog that helps entrepreneurs with topics such as the value of neatness, making the most of collaborative environments, and increasing the value of learning.
Brand Autopsy. This marketing guru passes along plenty of advice to help you cut to the chase when it comes to marketing your products.
Create Your Communications Experience. Bert Decker shares ways to effectively use communication (both written and spoken) to enhance your leadership and business.
Seth’s Blog. Seth Godin offers practical and simple advice to implement effective marketing techniques for your business.
Delightful Work. This blog covers ways to free up time, expressing yourself, putting your vision into practice and more as you move from employee to self-employed.
Careerjolt. While not specifically for entrepreneurs, this blog does offer plenty of advice that business owners and managers alike can use.
Learn This. Leadership, self-education, and successful living are the focus of this blog. Recent topics include humility of leadership, giving direction, and accepting mistakes.
Productivity in Context. Stephen shares his knowledge for leadership, GTD, and productivity for those making their way in the business world.

Productivity in Academia

Whether you are a professor or grad student, you will find helpful information in these blogs especially designed to make your academic life more efficient, productive, and easier to live.

Academic Productivity. Those in academia, whether instructor or student, will find helpful suggestions on increasing productivity, meeting deadlines, and more.
Academhack. From access to inexpensive, yet legal, texts to the debate about wireless in the classroom to free academic email accounts, this blog doesn’t shy away from potentially controversial topics when making suggestions for academic productivity.
Academic Commons. With a focus on technology and liberal arts education, this site seeks to connect those in academia with innovative ways to improve education.
Academic Lifehacker. This blog provides tips and software to help make scholarship more efficient for both students and professors.
Getting Things Done in Academia. Specifically for grad students, this blog offers suggestions for "creativity, scholarship, communication, and time management."
High Touch. With an emphasis on technology and social media, this blog offers insight as well as tips for streamlining your processes.
Productive Scholar. Backing up files, ways to use commute time efficiently, creating great presentations with LaTeX, and portable apps for students are some of the more recent posts on this blog.
Tomorrow’s Professor Blog. MIT and Stanford have created this blog to help facilitate discussion on issues surrounding higher education.
academic coach. Specifically geared toward grad students, recent grads seeking faculty positions, and tenure-track faculty, this blog offers news and advice about succeeding in the academic world.
Professor Time’s Weblog. From creating a supply box that goes along to class with your laptop to grading strategies, this blog has great suggestions for saving time and being more productive.
Proto-Scholar. With tips for productivity to learning to navigate the world of academia, this PhD student shares the journey and lessons learned.

For Students Only

These blogs are specifically for students and offer great suggestions for ways to make the most of your high school or college time and prepare you for a strong future.

HackCollege. College students can learn plenty of helpful tips including helpful technology, surviving the first semester of college, and hangover-hacking.
Gearfire. Learn how to print your own specialized paper, learn about great time-saving web tools, and even get efficient travel suggestions at this blog devoted to helping students succeed.
School is a Game. Providing plenty of tips to help students compete and get ahead, this blog approaches school achievement as a game that you can win.
studenthacks.com. Students can find study tips, productivity ideas, and more to help ensure scholastic success.
Study Hacks. Get great ideas for ways to boost your productivity when it comes to your school work with ideas such as using free time wisely, learning what to quit, and how to get through difficult courses.
Welcome to the Dr. Wizard Group. Dr. Wizard posts advice for college students in this blog.
Grad Hacker. Specifically aimed at grad students, but offering great advice for anyone wanting to boost productivity, this blog offers lots of great suggestions.
That College Kid. With an eye on technology, this blog features plenty of ways college students can work more efficiently.
Surviving College. Ideas at this blog range from setting goals to keeping in touch to decorating with freebies.
The Students’ Blog. From finding affordable workspaces to useful student websites to staying productive over the summer, this blog offers plenty of ideas to keep college students on track and working efficiently.
University Scholar. Recently undergoing a facelift, this blog will focus on ways to get the most out of your education to prepare for your future.
Zen College Life. From keeping healthy to helpful iPhone apps to rewards for reaching goals, this blog is devoted to simplifying college life.
The Good Habits Blog. A spin-off of the book by the same name, this blog covers good habits that students can follow to help ensure their success.

Organization

Staying organized at home and at the office is a huge boost to productivity and time-management. Take the suggestions from these blogs to get rid of clutter, both physically and mentally, and keep your life organized.

Unclutterer. Learn how to unclutter your space and keep it that way with topics covering issues such as downsizing your house, keeping photos organized, and real-life clutter make-overs.
Apartment Therapy. Living in a small space doesn’t mean you have to live under a bunch of clutter. This blog offers stylish and useful ways to transform your small space.
Remodelista. With a focus on simple, uncluttered living space, this blog offers suggestions as well as places to purchase items to keep your living space streamlined and functional.
Everlasting Designs. This blog has the bonus of not only showing readers ways to simplify and declutter their surroundings, but their habits and attitudes as well.
Virtually Organized. Find out how to get rid of clutter, stop procrastinating, better manage your time, and more at this blog.
Get Organized Wizard. Learn how to organize all the different parts of your life with the suggestions from this professional organizer.
The Organized Life. Get tips of the week archived at this blog, which is an extension of Emily Wilska’s website and business.
Jeri’s Organizing & Decluttering News. From unwanted gifts to coat stands to organizing the bath tub, you’ll find plenty of ways to organize your living space with this blog.
DiscoverOrganization.com. This blog offers simple suggestions for getting your mind in the right frame to sharpen your organizational skills. The posts prompt you to think about color, ways to organize your books, and suggestions for cleaning out your closets.
Creative Organizing Blog. Get tips for creative ways to organize your space, suggestions for books to help organize your life, and more.
It’s Not About Your Stuff. Understand the psychology behind why you clutter with the information and suggestions from this blog. While the posts here have slowed, the archives are timely and worth reading.
The Clutter Diet Blog. Get tons of organizing tips from Lorie Marrero. Recent tips include how to manage "high calorie" clutter, planning ahead, and goal-setting.

Productivity through Inspiration

These blogs provide inspiration for your mind and soul so you can approach the daily tasks of your life in a centered state of mind. Find out how much more productively you work when your mind is at peace by reading these blogs.

The Happiness Project. Finding your happiness will improve how you work and live. This blog reports Gretchen Rubin’s experiments to find the best ways of attaining happiness through practical living.
My Bad Habits. Learn how to change from bad habits to good habits and stick with that change by reading the helpful advice at this blog.
Pick the Brain. Personal productivity, motivation, and self-education are the focus of this blog.
AlexShalman.com. The tips at this blog focus on self-improvement with topics that include ways to create your own success and reaching goals.
Lyved. Focus on the positive with the articles found on this blog that offer suggestions for personal improvement in life and work.
Illuminated Mind. Find your energy and inspiration from the posts at this blog that focus on following dreams, letting go of the unnecessary, and more.
On Simplicity. Learn ways to simplify your life, both physically and mentally, and make the most of your time.
Awake @ the Wheel. With topics such as the lie of needing a life purpose, choosing between money and living, and the power of less, this blog will help you find inspiration to make the best choices for your life.
communicatrix. Living by the idea that people learn best through biography, this blogger shares her life lessons in hopes of educating and inspiring her readers.
Share Yoga Blog. Find meditation, inspiration, yoga, and more at this blog.
LessoninLife.com. This blog covers such a wide range that you can find tips for students, ways to build an emergency fund, relationship advice, and life lessons.
Think Simple Now. Read about ways to simplify your life and achieve happiness with the tips at this blog.

Source

Should You Hire an Overqualified Candidate?

2011-03-04T11:49:00.001+03:00

by Amy Gallo

As politicians and economists puzzle over America's jobless recovery, managers who have started to hire again face another problem: how to handle all the overqualified candidates coming through their doors. The prevailing wisdom is to avoid such applicants. But the unprecedented availability of top talent created by this recession and new research on the success of these candidates may be changing that.

What the Experts Say

Recruiters have traditionally hesitated to place overqualified candidates because of several presumed risks, says Berrin Erdogan, a professor of management at Portland State University and the lead author of a recent study on the subject. "The assumption is that the person will be bored and not motivated, so they will underperform or leave." However, her research shows that these risks may be more perceived than real. In fact, sales associates in her study who were thought to be overqualified actually performed better. And rarely do people move on simply because they feel they're too talented for the job. "People don't stay or leave a company because of their skills. They stay or leave because of working conditions" she says.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a senior adviser at Egon Zehnder International and the author of Great People Decisions and "The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad," agrees that there are more benefits to hiring an overqualified employee than there are risks."When making hiring decisions, visionary leaders don't just focus on the current needs, but on the future," he says.
Here are several things to consider next time you are looking at a stack of overly impressive resumes.

Overqualified or over-experienced?

Don't assume someone is overqualified based on a quick screen of their credentials. "There is a lot of misunderstanding over what overqualified is," says Ergodan. "We define it as meeting and exceeding the skill requirements of the job. So having a lot of education doesn't over-qualify you." Nor does experience, if the person's prior positions are not directly related to the job in question. Get to know the candidate before you decide to pass. There may be reasons why he is interested in this specific position. He may want to shift industries, move to a new location, or achieve greater work/life balance. And there may be ways that you can make use of his "extra" experience.

Think bigger than the job in question

When considering a candidate who is, in fact, overqualified for the job opening, ask yourself if there is room to expand the role and make use of the skills he brings. "While the old paradigm for hiring was to determine that a job was vacant and look for the right candidate, in today's world one should also consider the talent opportunities at hand, and try to find the jobs that may be created or open in the near future for them, in the larger organization," says Fernández-Aráoz.

"Hiring overqualified candidates can help you achieve much higher productivity, grow, and achieve opportunities that you may not even be thinking about pursuing right now." There are other less obvious benefits too: these employees can mentor others, challenge peers to exceed current expectations, and bring in areas of expertise that are not represented at the company.

Bring them on carefully

"Effective onboarding is essential, especially for the overqualified," says Erdogan. "Unmet expectations are one of the more common reasons for turnover," so you should be clear with yourself, the new hire, and the rest of the organization about what the job entails, as well as what it could become. Adds Fernández-Aráoz: "You need a clear and explicit plan for the future, whether you are thinking of a promotion, a lateral move, or a new project altogether. You need to think and discuss beyond the initial stage where he or she may be temporarily underutilized."

Both he and Erdogan caution that recruiters need to manage an additional risk: a boss who feels threatened. "Managers often worry, 'Can I supervise the person effectively?'" says Erdogan. A superior with less experience than the new hire might be concerned that the person will take her job, make her look bad, or be too challenging to manage. This is not reason enough to say no. Instead, focus on the future for that candidate. In cases where the boss is insecure, "you should not bring that new hire in without a plan to promote him in the near term," says Fernández-Aráoz.

Pay what they are worth

Although it's tempting in a bad job market to buy top talent on the cheap, Fernández-Aráoz disapproves of the strategy. "While my experience shows that you can get candidates for up to 25% less in the middle of a big recession, I would not recommend underpaying an overqualified candidate," he says. "We all have the expectation to be rewarded in a way which is reasonably proportional to our effort and contribution, and fair." And if the candidate is as strong as you think, you are likely competing with other employers for her. If you can't afford her, Fernández-Aráoz says it's better to pass than to underpay. If she wants the job anyway, simply have a frank conversation about her future prospects in terms of promotion and compensation so that she fully understands what she's getting into.

Principles to Remember

Do:

Think broadly about your organization and its overall talent needs now and in the future
Consider how you could accommodate a promising candidate's skill set by shaping the job
Onboard carefully and be clear about your plans for the new employee

Don't:

Narrowly define the hiring process as finding one person for one role
Confuse education and experience with skills; a candidate with lots of experience still may not have the capabilities to do the job
Try to pay an overqualified candidate less than he's worth

Case Study: The hiring risk pays off

In 2009 Lara Galinsky, senior vice president at Echoing Green, needed to hire a finance director for the young, but growing, global non-profit. She thought the ideal applicant would be someone relatively young but with a few years of non-profit finance experience. She was not expecting a candidate like John Walker.

John had most recently worked for a venture capital fund that was forced to lay people off because of the economy. Prior to that, he had spent over ten years in the defense industry in a variety of senior design and management roles. "I didn't have a background in social enterprise or non-profit. I didn't know anything about 501(c)(3)s," he says. But he did have deep experience in running, buying, and selling companies.

This was not an unusual situation for Echoing Green. "We get a lot of resumes from people who want to do a sector switch," Lara explains. They have a lot of work experience but not necessarily a lot of experience in the sector." She had previously ruled out candidates who were overqualified for certain positions or who didn't bring enough relevant experience.

But John had been referred by a friend of the organization, and since Echoing Green straddles the world of for-profit business and non-profit organizations, she thought his experience might be applicable.

Lara and her team talk about the risks and the opportunities of hiring each candidate. They knew that there were risks with John because he had never worked in the sector. But they saw many upsides too. "We didn't have anyone on staff with private equity experience and yet we work in that space. We knew we could use a for-profit lens," explains Lara.

In the end, Lara thought the benefits outweighed the risks. They had been impressed with John's willingness to learn what he didn't know. "Hunger and potential are the most important factors we look for in candidates," she explains. "We hire for talent, not necessarily for acumen. I look for people who can grow, mesh, and evolve."

John came on board in early 2009. Lara encouraged and incented him to network with finance directors from other organizations, so that he could gain insight from experts in the field. The learning curve was steep but he was able to come up to speed quickly and is now thriving in the position. As Echoing Green moves into impact investing they have also been able to tap directly into his previous VC experience. While John wasn't the person Lara initially envisioned hiring, she hadn't imagined what someone like him could do in the position. "We have evolved with him — and used his skills in ways we didn't anticipate."

One day of traffic in Europe

2011-03-04T11:31:00.001+03:00

Tales Told in Lead

2011-02-25T12:09:00.001+03:00

Every metal marks a romantic chapter in human history.

...

As a result of their affinity for silver, lead deposits were eagerly sought in ancient times. The Greek mines at Laurium operating well before 3000 B.C. and the mines of the Iberian Peninsula beginning during the Iron Age are both celebrated for their contributions to the wealth of nations. Likewise, ancient Persian kings owed their legendary wealth to abundant lead/silver deposits. A breakthrough for extracting silver from lead ores, called cupellation, appeared around 3500 B.C. and greatly enhanced the popularity of silver. By the third millennium B.C., silver taken from lead ore had become the chief unit of exchange in the Near East, and the technology rapidly spread to other parts of the Old World. Cupellation remained the dominant process for silver recovery for nearly 5000 years, an important consideration in using archived lead in bogs and other deposits for paleoenvironmental detective work. By my estimate, annual production was about 160, 900, 11,000, 32,000, and 6000 metric tons during the Copper, Bronze, Iron, Roman, and Barbaric ages, respectively. Total production to 1000 A.D. is estimated at 32 million tons. Singer estimated that about 134 million tons of lead was discovered in the Old World throughout recorded history. Thus, about 24% of the discovered lead reserves were mined in ancient times, a more reasonable figure than previous higher rates.

Progress in lead. Logarithmic plot of historical lead production over time.

Source

***

Another arena for massive growth was in the production of coinage Duncan-Jones reckoned that by the middle of the second century there were 7000 million HS of silver coins in circulation, which was roughly four times my estimate of the volume of Roman coins in circulation in the middle of the last century ВСЕ. And the volume of Roman coinage had already grown ten times in the century before that Perhaps. But confirmation of the huge volume of Roman silver-lead mining (silver was produced by cupellation as a by product of lead-mining) comes impressively from an apparently incontrovertible source

I refer of course to the Greenland Icecap, and the peat bogs or lake sediments of Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. A whole series of recent studies from a variety of sites have shown with remarkable concordance that the volume of wind-borne contaminants from smelting mineral ores reached a significant peak in the Roman period. Hong and associates showed that lead pollution from systematic samples of the Greenland icecap, datable to between 500 ВСЕ and 300 CE, reached densities four times the natural (i.e. prehistoric) levels. Renberget aL showed that lead contamination in a wide assortment of sediments from southern Swedish lakes reached a peak in or around the first century CE. Shotyk et aL showed from a study of a Swiss peat bog that there was a huge upsurge in lead pollution from the first century ВСЕ to the third century CE, when pollution (and presumably production) began to decline.

There seems little doubt among these investigators that the main source of contamination in this period was lead smelting and cupellation for silver and copper in the Roman empire, and particularly Spain. Hong and associates showed that copper production in the world rose sevenfold in the last five centuries ВСЕ, continued at a high but reducing level in the first five centuries CE and then fell sevenfold to reach a trough in the thirteenth century. Once again they are convinced that classical civilizations, and in particular the Roman empire was the major source of this wind-borne pollution.

Source

"If it works, why change it?"

2011-02-25T11:58:00.001+03:00

Russian space culture thinks in centuries. Baikonur, the original home of the Soviet space program, now belongs to Kazakhstan, but Russia rents it from Kazakhstan on a hundred-year lease, as Britain in the old days rented Hong Kong from China. The lease still has eighty years to run, and Baikonur feels like a Russian town. Historical relics of Russian space activities are carefully preserved and displayed in museums. The three patron saints are the schoolteacher Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who worked out the mathematics of interplanetary rocketry in the nineteenth century; the engineer Sergei Korolev, who built the first orbiting spacecraft; and the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who first orbited Earth. Korolev and Gagarin lived side by side in Baikonur in simple homes, which are open to the public. In a public square is a full-scale model of the Soyuz launcher that Korolev designed. It is a simple, rugged design and has changed very little since he designed it. It has the best safety record of all existing launchers for human passengers. The Russian space culture says, "If it works, why change it?"

Source

In Solem el Lunam.

2011-02-25T11:03:00.001+03:00

- into Sun and Moon. This use of planetary signs to designate metals dates from the infancy of alchemy. The Liber de mineralibus (III, i, 6; Borgnet ed., V), attributed to Albertus Magnus, gives the reasons for the planetary names of the metals. The Jammy (1651) and the Borgnet (1898) editions of the Alchimia frequently employ: Sol for gold, Luna for silver Venus for copper, Mercury for mercury, Saturn for lead, Jupiter for tin. When the planetary name is used in the Borgnet edition, the present translation capitalizes the name of the metal; for example, Venus is translated as Copper, but cuprum as copper. On the planetary designation of metals, see J. R. Partington, "Report of Discussion upon Chemical and Alchemical Symbolism, Ambix, I (1937), 61; and Pearl Kibre. "The Alkimia minor Ascribed to Albertus Magnus," Isis, XXXII (2) (June, 1949), 270. [Even more interesting than the replacement of the true names of the metals by those of the planets is the fact that the symbols representing the planets came to represent the metals, just as "we write H for an atom of hydrogen, [and] К for an atom of potassium,. . ."(F. Sherwood Taylor, The Alchemists [New York: Schuman, 1949]. p. 51). This convenient shorthand goes back to the earliest Greek alchemical manuscripts, dating from around A.D. 250. "We have considerable lists of the signs in the oldest Greek manuscripts. Some of them are derived from the signs of the planet with which the metals were associated, others from the pictorial representations of the things symbolized, others from the initial letters of the name.

"The connection of the planets and metals is certainly ancient, and it persists throughout the whole of alchemy.

"The metals have all received planetary signs. Gold receiving the sign ..., representing the sun; silver the sign of the waxing moon ...; mercury that of the waning moon ... (Hermes speaks of "that which drips from the waning moon"); copper has the sign of Venus (Aphrodite-Isis-Hathor) ♀ ; lead has the sign of Saturn ...; iron has the sign of Mars ♂. There remain the signs of electrum and tin. Tin has in these old lists the symbol of Hermes, and electrum that of Zeus. In later times (between 500 and 700 A.D.) the symbol of Hermes was given to mercury in place of that of the waning moon. Electrum was no longer considered a separate metal, and its symbol was then given to tin.

Source

The Appian Way

2011-02-15T09:59:00.001+03:00

The world's first all-weather road system was built to facilitate modern warfare. Following their defeat in the Samnite Wars, particularly their humiliation at the Battle of the Caudine Forks along the rocky Apennines in 321 BC, the Roman military began to develop more effective attack formations and better transportation routes through uneven terrain. The formation, the legion, allowed troops to scatter when facing troublesome roads, then reunite easily when conditions improved. The improved transportation route was the Via Appia, or AppianWay.

The Roman censor Appius C laudius Caecus ordered construction of the Appian Way, a paved road uniting Rome and Capua, to be usable by troops in all weather. Begun in 312 BC, the road was built of multiple layers of durable materials, the top layer composed of a mixture of concrete, rubble, and stones set in mortar. The road was instrumental in facilitating Roman victory in future wars with the Samnites.

Equally important was the Appian Way's vatious political uses. It was ctucial to building commercial interests and sustaining cultural links with and poIitical control over the provinces. Over time, several roads were built to link Rome with other cities and colonies, including the Via Flaminia (Flaminian Way), which headed north to link Italy with the Latin colony of Ariminum. In aII, the Roman road system covered more than fifty thousand miles and crossed through thirty countries. Only remnants of the roads still exist.

The last of wine

2011-02-15T09:16:00.001+03:00

The earliest inventions - fire, baws and arrows, wheeled carts - are the most difficult to place in time. New excavations and methods of analysis can overthrow the hoariest of received opinions on who invented what when. A case in point is the first manufacture of wine.

For a long time, the earliest aidence of wine manufacture came from Egypt from about 3000 B.C. Then, in 1991, Canadian graduate student Virginia Badler made a new claim about a dirty fragment of pottery from a Sumerian site in western lran dating from about 3500 B.C. The interior of the pottery, housed at the Royal Ontario Museum, was stained red. Some archaeologists thought it was paint; Badler thought it was wine.

Chemists at the University of Pennsylvania put the issue to the test by analyzing the reddish residue with infrared spectroscory, a method that distinguishes chemicals by the wavelengths of light they absorb. They found that the residue was rich in tannic acid, an organic substance found almost without exception in grapes. Badler was proven right and the date for the invention of wine was pushed back five hundred years.

Райский радиотелескоп

2011-02-13T12:18:00.001+03:00

ALTAIR on the island of Roi Namur by beningh

Gramma versus Computer, Round 1

2011-02-13T11:12:00.001+03:00

-- Okay, this time you get to do it all by yourself. Turn on the computer.
-- No, that's the keyboard.
-- Those are the speakers. Yes, I know you know that.
-- No, gramma, that's the mouse.
-- Of course you'll understand this! Just not all at once. No, that's the monitor, and you've already turned it on.
-- Gramma, you've tried to turn on everything but one.
-- That big box by your right knee, gramma.
-- Yeah, I kinda figured you'd forgotten about it, too.

Grandma's Computer

2011-02-13T10:59:00.001+03:00

Author Unknown

In the not too distant past
I remember very well -
Grandma's tended to their knitting,
and their cookies were just swell.

They were always at the ready,
when you needed some advice.
And their sewing (I can tell you)
Was available - and nice.

Well, Grandma's not deserted you.
She dearly loves you still.
You just won't find her cooking,
but she's right there at the till.

She thinks about you daily,
you haven't been forsook.
Your photos are quite handy,
in her Pentium notebook.

She scans your art work now though,
and combines it with cool sounds,
to make electronic greetings.
She prints pictures by the pounds.

She's right there when you need her -
you really aren't alone.
She's out now with her "puter" pals,
but she took her new cell phone.

You can also leave a message
on her answering machine.
Or page her at the fun meet.
She's been there since nine fifteen.

Yes, the world's a very different place,
there is no doubt of that.
So "E" her from her web page,
or join her in a chat.

She's joined the electronic age,
and it really seems to suit her.
So don't expect the same old gal,
cause Grandma's gone "Computer".

А звезды падали…

2011-02-13T10:50:00.001+03:00

Наблюдение падающих звезд с воздушного шара – иллюстрация из книги "Travels in the Air", 1871, by James Glaisher.

Harvard Engineers Build Tiny Processors out of Nanowires

2011-02-13T10:40:00.001+03:00

Today in the journal Nature, researchers led by Charles Lieber report a big step forward in the field of tiny computing: the creation of linked-up logic circuits made of nanowires, which could be used to build itty-bitty processors.

The devices described in the paper layer additional wires across the germanium-silicon ones; charges can be trapped in these wires, influencing the behavior of the underlying nanowires. This charge trapping is nonvolatile but reversible; in other words, you can switch one of the nanowires on or off by altering the charge stored in its neighborhood. This makes it possible to turn the nanowires into a standard field-effect transistor (the authors term them NWFETs for “nanowire field-effect transistors”). [Ars Technica]

Lieber had been able to create simple versions of those NWFETs before, but those were difficult to build on a large enough scale to create logic circuits.

Lieber’s team reports in this week’s Nature that they’ve been able to build a programmable array of nanowires that can have up to eight distinct logic gates. They dub such an array a “logic tile,” with the idea that multiple tiles could be connected to perform more-complex logic functions. [IEEE Spectrum]

Though Lieber’s achievement is impressive, he concedes that it’s difficult to imagine his tech competing with the incredible pace at which computer processing speed accelerates. But, he says, he doesn’t have to: Nanoscale processors have qualities that could make them more suitable than traditional ones for the very small devices that are on the leading edge of research.

“The key thing is to recognize that we’re not trying to compete directly with high-performance silicon electronics,” he says. Projections show that the new wires could be up to 100 times more energy efficient than conventional technologies. That could make the meshes useful as logic circuits in low-power applications such as small robots, or perhaps biomedical devices. [Nature]

Source