Nothing out of the ordinary

Truth hurts

2010-08-11T21:19:00.005Z

Today I got negative feedback. Few days ago, during a meeting, after hearing lots of percentages and how they are different, I asked “did you run any significance test?“. The answer was worse than I expected: “what’s that?”. I said a plain “thank you” and tried to listen further. Someone asked “what’s a significance test?” and I said shortly “it’s a test that shows you if those numbers are

Owls are not what they seem

2010-07-15T21:48:00.009Z

These days I have the opportunity to watch live the TED conferences. Today, computational neuroscientist Sebastian Seung, while talking about connectome said something like “…when we’ll be able to test and prove…” At that point I had a flash: two words that sounded wired together. We can test but can we really prove?As a statistics person it just crossed my mind that every experiment designed

The power of No

2010-06-10T22:04:00.007Z

I bet at least once in your life you couldn’t say No. For example when a lady asked you “doesn’t this dress make me look slimmer?” You couldn’t say even “it seems the same to me” not to mention “No”! And I bet at least once in your life you were afraid of hearing No. Like not saying someone you have some special feelings just because you were afraid of hearing “No, I don’t share your feelings”.

To give or not to give

2010-06-04T21:28:00.004Z

Few years ago I was commuting between two jobs by tram. I had two jobs because the full time one meant in fact just six hours of work and I had enough time to work part-time for a second company. It was a very good period of my life: both jobs offered me the opportunity to do two very different things I like, plus one was more physical while the other was more intellectual. I felt like being

Verify when you'll die

2010-04-20T18:11:00.008Z

I’m in the mood for classical music so I was searching the Internet for the full version of Ravel’s Boléro. I have found a video with the Russian ballet so I watched. For a moment I looked on the right side of the page and saw a Google add that draw my attention - title: Verify when you’ll die, second line: Find out the date of your death, how much left for you to live. I imagined immediately

Beauty is in the eyes of the reader

2010-04-10T19:58:00.002Z

There is about a half a year I’m watching every weekend the astrological predictions of a renowned Romanian that calls herself Urania. Her predictions are quite accurate, or at least you can recognize yourself in them. At the beginning of this year I was in a bad state of mind and I told to myself that I have to change this. So every single minute when I was unhappy of something I said to myself

Living two lives

2010-04-07T20:13:00.002Z

I live in two worlds – the real one and the one in my head. At least I thought so until a while ago. The real one is in my home town. Each day I commute to get where I have to be. I walk on the streets, I take the buss or tram. Everywhere I see people. Crowd. They seldom look at me and more rarely they even see me. And those who see me look so surprised that I get surprised too. One day I

When a No means Yes

2010-03-30T21:50:00.008Z

I was reading in Tor Nørretranders’ book, The User Illusion, about the information (the embodiment of an idea, its summary or the least amount of bits needed to transmit a message that trigger a certain reality into the receptor) and about the exformation (the bits that are removed but that can be decoded by a receptor with a common codec with the transmitter). Nothing new so far – we learnt in

Flood of feelings

2010-03-24T20:36:00.002Z

Brain tempest, heart storm, Words caressing the soul,Sounds remembering aliveness,Inflections awakening the feelings.Emotions rising up,Flocking towards the throat,Holding fast with pain,Kept by a dam of thoughts.They crystallize into wordsLike diamonds under pressure,Making a murmur noiseIncreasing to thunder.They burst into vocables,You say them out loud,Repeat them over and overHoping to ease

Unspoken words

2010-02-23T20:10:00.002Z

Three little words carrying a universe of feelingsnever articulated but floating always around us,they were never uttered nor whispered,they were never even thought but just felt.You carried me into your arms when I was sick,you caressed me gently when I was sad,you taught me to get up when I was falling down,you showed me how to be a human.But you never said those three words.I worked with you,

Sounds

2008-12-29T12:26:00.006Z

Denaturized Christmas carolshounding your brains out,too much drum beats, too little melody.A cohort of nervous, puzzled dogs barking even louder.The always drunk neighbor shouting and cursing at the same hour,heating your adrenaline till the point of boiling.Saw and hammer screechesscratching your overloaded brain.All of a sudden, a miracle lasting about an hour:the perfect sound of

Déjà vu

2008-11-27T22:33:00.005Z

When past amalgamates with the present, when fulfilled past wishes mix with the current ones, when future emerges from lost thoughts, an avalanche of words floods your head, a paralyzing sickness, a déjà vu sensation freezes you, making you feel like trapped in a certain moment in time. If you struggle to escape you'll feel nausea and even more trapped, so you'll fight back even harder. Like in

Empty words

2008-01-22T11:13:00.003Z

Empty words, vibrating like a broken church bellShallow words caressing and petting our egoFlooding words overrunning our brainsNasty words tormenting our soulWords of hate, words of loveWords of rage, words of pityWords of folly, words of wisdomWords of sorrow, words of joyWords in life and words in deathWe cannot live withoutWe cannot die withoutWe aren’t entirely happy or sad withoutWe fight

VIP - a benefit or a handicap?

2006-11-21T22:00:00.001Z

Every human has dreamed at least once to become famous. Some were famous even as children. Some struggles and schemes to become famous. A chief, a manger, a leader. Something. But it's not so simple: you can learn and graduate several schools but you might end up as unknown as any other guy. On the other hand, you can become the center of your society without any effort and moreover, without

Silver and Gold

2006-09-19T19:26:00.000Z

moon and suncold and warmrebellion and acceptationdrown and burnblack and color-teen and -typessimism and optimismwater and fire << Previous | Back to summary | Next >>

BBC Statistics

2006-09-14T21:49:00.001Z

First get your facts; then you can distort them at your leisure.Mark TwainMore quotesIn August 2006 BBC World conducted the Peacemakers survey. The figures are interesting. Some are as we might expect but others are surprising. Let’s see:It’s not surprising to see that the top three qualities a Peacemaker should have are Problem solving, Persuasive skills and Judgement. But we may ask why

Statement

2006-08-20T10:26:00.000Z

There are just few hours till my train will leave. After a week in the mountains at the summer school I'll fly to my wet recurring dream: the sea. This time the Aegean one.If I won't come back, if you have no news about me or just bad news don't be scared. I have no unfinished businesses with this world. No debts. No unkept promises. Of course I have lots of plans, much more than I ever had

I was walking in sunshine…

2006-08-18T17:56:00.001Z

... heading for home. The soft ray of the afternoon sun tenderly caressed my skin but hurt my eyes. So, I surrendered and I closed them. Being unable to see a thing with my eyes I started to see with my soul. Not only that I managed to avoid any obstacle but I also managed to see myself inside. I was pleasantly surprised realizing that I like what I see.Happiness. No yearning. Fulfillment. No

Numbness

2006-08-10T20:08:00.001Z

High heels. Impeccable pedicure. Nail polish almost the same shade with the skin and also with sandals’ color. Her toes, straight, in harmony with each other, following beautifully the line of the sole. Thin ankles, pleasant curves, nice knees. It was a sight that you hardly find even on models. I felt the urge to see her face. So, I raised my eyes slowly, admiring her elegant yet not fancy

Wonder

2006-08-09T19:54:00.001Z

Can they die twice?! << Previous | Back to summary | Next >>

Melancholia

2006-08-08T07:15:00.001Z

Each summer end is a new fall falling over my soul like a waterfall, washing away my hopes. The only hard rock hope is the thought that a new summer is yet to come!<< Previous | Back to summary | Next >>

A quiet scream for help

2006-08-02T01:00:00.001Z

Prompters are bleeding words of death, scratching my eyes, stabbing my soul.Radio news are flowing slowly but steadilylike drying blood, poisoning the air.Apocalypse images are wounding TV screensshowing a palpable nightmare.I'm just sitting staring at the wall.The inner wall.Can I cross it? Can I break it?What should I do? How should I act? If I would turn my words into bombsit'll be useless:

Freedom

2006-08-01T23:37:00.001Z

1986, Romania under Ceauşescu’s dictatorship, first philosophy seminarShe entered the class, no books, no papers. - Our theme today is freedom. Can anyone define freedom?Nobody dared to answer. She asked again.One rebel colleague shouted:- Freedom is to be able to do everything!- But you are able to kill, right? Does this make you free?- I meant to be allowed to do everything!- Let's say you are

37

2006-07-31T18:58:00.001Z

37 what? No, it's not my age.Could it be the 37 years that passed from the Six-Day War?Close but not!It's a prime number, right?Yes, but 37 what?I'll give you a hint: 37 out of 52.52 might be a deck of cards but 37? Maybe 36!?No, 37!I don't know any game with 37.It's not a game though some might take it as a game.Can you play it just with cards?No, they usually play it with guns!And who wins?

The ring

2006-07-29T15:17:00.001Z

New Year's Eve. She said to herself "This year I'll gonna marry!" knowing that isn't even the slightest possibility. She decided to put an end to those three years of nonvoluntary celibacy. She knew that there was no chance to do it but she set herself this goal. All her friends were married, all her friends' friends were married. Where would she might meet a decent guy? Three months she was