The Happy Moron

It’s not that John didn’t want to talk to his wife when he came home from work. It’s just that he didn’t feel… well, he just didn’t feel particularly talkative. He was sure that Sheila didn’t mean to be bothersome, but she sure picked some strange things to talk about.
Tonight’s victim of scrutiny was his [...]

Crosswords are a great example of problem solving. If you want to build a framework for understanding problems, crosswords are a very good place to start.
Crosswords are problems we solve for fun. We may learn a little bit from them, but most of the benefit we derive comes from the experience of solving them. It [...]

…stuff happens at the freakonomics blog.
I’ve been reading it for a while but it’s only now going on my blogroll.

Sometimes, people call me names. I watch a group of people, huddled tightly, and I hear their furtive murmurs. They’re working up the courage to approach. Eventually, one of them does.
“Excuse me, I don’t mean to intrude, but are you a…, what I mean to say is, that George said you were a…”
A computer person? [...]

…is a fine example of risk analysis.
Is it still okay after all that time in the fridge?
If it’s edible, I should be trying as hard as I can to finish it off before it spoils.
On the other hand, if it’s spoiled, the last thing I should be doing is consuming large quantities in a short [...]

Computer programming is a funny activity; it’s not straightforward to describe. Programmers, bloggers and academics have spilled a lot of text in trying to best explain what goes on when you program a computer.
It has aspects of design; it has aspects of writing; it’s a creative process. You come up with the steps you want [...]

Today I’m swiping links from Raymond Chen.
Las Vegas has a lot of shame to hide. Hiding shame is its tagline – “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”
When I embrace something shameful as a rule of life, it has a drastic consequence: I are forced to abandon truth. It becomes impossible to hold onto the [...]

When does something become real to me?
It’s not when I hear about it or learn about it. Sometimes it’s not even when I see it or touch it. Something becomes real to me when I make decisions based on its nature. When I live a part of my life (however small) according to its existence [...]