It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. | |
― J.K. Rowling | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | I Was A Percentage Man |
2015 | It Waits Patiently |
2014 | Unknown |
2013 | Explaining Love? |
2012 | Echoes of 1% |
2011 | Salaam, Egypt!! |
Where Do You Learn? | |
Archive for January, 2017
Don’t Forget
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Dreams, J.K. Rowling, Living Life, Philosophy, Quotes, Sound Advice on January 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »
We Cannot Afford Enemies
Posted in Environment, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged 2010 A.D., Babies, Enemies, Environment, Isaac Asimov, Over-Population, Philosophy, Pollution, Population, Quotes on January 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »
We cannot afford enemies any more … Within a generation or two human society will be in total destructive disarray. Heaven knows how bad it will be. The most optimistic view I can take is this: Things will get so bad within a dozen years that it will become obvious … that we must, whether were like each other or not, work together. We have no choice in the matter. … Technologically, we can stop overpopulation, but we have to persuade people to accept the technology. … Babies are the enemies of the human race … Let’s consider it this way: by the time the world doubles its population, the amount of energy we will be using will be increased sevenfold which means probably the amount of pollution that we are producing will also be increased sevenfold. If we are now threatened by pollution at the present rate, how will we be threatened with sevenfold pollution by, say, 2010 A.D., distributed among twice the population? We’ll be having to grow twice the food out of soil that is being poisoned at seven times the rate. | |
— Isaac Asimov | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Love Is Just A State Of Mind |
2015 | Waiting? |
2014 | Big C, Little B (II) |
Where God Has Not | |
2013 | Chasing His Dragon |
Shaped And Molded | |
2012 | Believe In Yourself |
2011 | Cultural Equivalence |
Why Not? | |
Books About Books | |
The Basis For Adult Continuing Education | |
Seems Reasonable To Me
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Goals, Langston Hughes, Philosophy, Quotes, Things I Like To Do on January 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. | |
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life. | |
― Langston Hughes | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | We Can Get Through This Together (In Time) |
2015 | How Long Is A Piece Of String? |
2014 | Heathen, n. |
2013 | Wisdom’s Folly |
2012 | When The Student Is Ready |
Disconnected Leadership | |
2011 | The Complex Richness Of Life |
Developing Translations
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Dreams, Education, Hope, Philosophy, President John F. Kennedy, Quotes on January 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation. | |
— John F. Kennedy | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Think Like A Hero |
2015 | Reductionism |
2014 | Gravitation, n. |
2013 | Ups And Downs |
2012 | Nerd Heard – And Good-Bye |
Your Continuum | |
2011 | Career Tips (Part 2) |
Knowledge Pays
Posted in Economics, Investing, My Journal, Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Benjamin Franklin, Economics, Investing, My Journal, On Learning, Philosophy, Quotes on January 27, 2017| 3 Comments »
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. | |
— Benjamin Franklin | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Brief Glimpses And Full Glances |
2015 | Pursuing Perspective |
2014 | Wearing Down? |
2013 | Labouring Under A Curse |
2012 | Listen To Yourself |
2011 | Career Tips (Part 1) |
No Captain Dunsel | |
Timely Planning
Posted in Leadership, My Journal, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Edmund Burke, Leadership, My Journal, Philosophy, Quotes on January 26, 2017| Leave a Comment »
You can never plan the future by the past. | |
— Edmund Burke | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Just Too Easy To Know Fewer And Fewer |
2015 | A Fine Balance |
2014 | Next Rung |
2013 | Super Bowl Prep |
Romantics | |
A Goal For Zen? | |
2012 | Mutant Powers Of Obsession |
2011 | Federal Stars |
Mud Pie | |
In The Mind
Posted in My Journal, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Beauty, David Hume, My Journal, Philosophy, Quotes on January 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them. | |
— David Hume | |
[I would argue this is only true for subjective beauty. A person’s beautiful inner spirit exists even when no one else contemplates it. But, that’s just my view. — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Dreaming |
2015 | The Best Medicine Is Also Contagious |
2014 | Eyes Off |
2013 | The More Things Change… |
2012 | The Delicate Moment Of Giving |
2011 | Ready, Shoot, Aim!! |
Apt Enough?
Posted in My Journal, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged My Journal, On Learning, Quotes, Thomas Powell on January 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »
He who has no inclination to learn more will be very apt to think that he knows enough. | |
— Thomas Powell | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Now Or Ever |
21, Pause, Restart | |
2015 | I Am Shocked, Sir, Shocked… |
Lucy & FSND-2 | |
2014 | Less Difficult |
2013 | The Spirit Of Liberty |
2012 | The Essential Freedom Of Aloneness |
2011 | A Problem Of Scale |
Fred Doesn’t Live Here Anymore | |
2010 | Another Book, Another Jog… |
Getting It Done
Posted in My Journal, Quotes, Work, tagged Dignity Of Labor, Edwin Osgood Grover, My Journal, Quotes, Work on January 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »
The dignity of labor depends not on what you do, but how you do it. | |
— Edwin Osgood Grover | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Getting To Know Me |
2015 | Why I Pay Taxes |
2014 | Inequality Of Sacrifice |
2013 | I Never Saw A Moor |
2012 | Fill In The Blank |
Not For Naught | |
Cliff Notes To Life? | |
2011 | Conference Games Sunday |
Sincerely Yours
Posted in My Journal, Quotes, tagged Charles Kettering, Education, My Journal, Quotes, Sincerity, Stupidity on January 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »
My definition of an educated man is the fellow who knows the right thing to do at the right time it has to be done… You can be sincere and still be stupid. | |
— Charles Kettering | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Only Good To Say |
2015 | A Series Of Temporary Conditions |
2014 | Gaps |
2013 | Duty |
2012 | Cost Not Price |
Superheroes | |
2011 | The Simple Normalcy Of Everyday Life – “Squirrel!” |
Two Geniuses
Posted in Movie Review, Movies, tagged Alan Turing, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Doctor Strange, G. H. Hardy, Genius, Highly Recommended Movie, Jeremy Irons, Joan Clarke, Keira Knightley, Sherlock Holmes, Srinivasa Ramanujan, The Imitation Game - movie review, The Man Who Knew Infinity - movie review on January 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Today’s reviews are for a pair of biographical movies about two geniuses. The men are Srinivasa Ramanujan and Alan Turing. Technically, both are mathematicians, but Turing is more remembered for his work with computers. The two movies are titled: “The Man Who Knew Infinity” (2015) about Ramanujan, and “The Imitation Game” (2014) about Turing. | |
“The Man Who Knew Infinity” (2015) — movie review | |
This movie stars Dev Patel as Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan and Jeremy Irons as his British mentor (collaborator) G. H. Hardy. Basically, a poor, self-taught mathematician moves to Trinity College at Cambridge after mailing some of his work to a world famous mathematics professor (Hardy). The two collaborate (and publish), but the movie is basically about their personal relationship and not about their maths. The movie is beautifully shot in both India and England and I was moved by the depictions of both environments: brightly colored poverty contrasted with muted earth-toned (relative) wealth. A second major plot contrast is Hardy’s atheism vs Ramanujan’s devout Hindu faith. Ramanujan tells Hardy that his math comes from the lips of his god. Hardy can only struggle to understand divine inspiration. In the end, Hardy accepts that his friend believes it is true even if he cannot share that belief. | |
Final recommendation: highly recommended and I look forward to reading the book (of the same title) the movie is based on. | |
“The Imitation Game” (2014) — movie review | |
This movie stars Benedict Cumberbatch (aka Sherlock Holmes / Doctor Strange) as Alan Turing and Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke who was Turing’s fiancé briefly. Turing was a homosexual and at that time, being gay was considered a serious crime in England. Both Turing and Clarke were mathematicians who became cryptologists. They famously developed a computer which was used to break the Nazi Enigma cypher. This movie describes this invention and Turing’s subsequent suicide. As a personal note: I consider Turing to be one of the seminal figures in computer science and in artificial intelligence. The “test” for general purpose artificial intelligence is named “The Turing Test” and based on one of his papers. | |
Turing and Clarke worked closely together and are reported to have actually been very close friends although I’ve seen Turing portrayed as almost autistic in dealing with social settings, so I’m not sure how accurate the descriptions or the portrayals have been. In any case, Turing proposed marriage to Clarke and then later withdrew and admitted to being gay. The movie purports to Clarke being indifferent to Turing’s sexuality as she is contented with having a relationship with a friend and an intellectual equal. | |
The “surprise” hack at the end of the movie is the realization that the Nazi messages all end the same and this can be used as a key to reduce the number of variations the computer needs to evaluate. Whether this is what actually happened or not, I don’t know, but it did make for a plausible ending! Final recommendation: highly recommended! | |
While I enjoyed both movies I would rate “Infinity” slightly higher than “Imitation”. I’m not really sure why, but I’ve already re-watched “Infinity” twice and I’m just getting around to my second viewing of “Imitation”. But, again, both highly recommended… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Come Dance And Laugh With Me |
2015 | Looks Good To Me |
2014 | Desire For The Sea |
2013 | The Fierce Urgency Of NOW |
Happy Inauguration Day! | |
2012 | One Path |
Sorrow And Joy | |
The Seven Year View | |
2011 | Emergent Practicality |
Watched The Inauguration
Posted in My Journal, Politics, Quotes, tagged #DumbDonald, Edgar Allan Poe, Fools, My Journal, Politics, Quotes, Self-Confidence on January 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »
I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it. | |
— Edgar Allan Poe | |
[Please God, Let me be wrong… — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Come Dance And Laugh With Me |
2015 | Looks Good To Me |
2014 | Desire For The Sea |
2013 | The Fierce Urgency Of NOW |
Happy Inauguration Day! | |
2012 | One Path |
Sorrow And Joy | |
The Seven Year View | |
2011 | Emergent Practicality |
Inauguration Day 2017
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Edmund Burke, Evil, Freedom, Inauguration Day 2017, Indifference, Leonard Henry Courtney, Non-Violent Protest, Philosophy, Plato, Politics, Quotes, Vigilance on January 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. | |
― Leonard Henry Courtney | |
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. | |
— Edmund Burke | |
The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. | |
― Plato | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Or A Pot Of Gold After The Storm |
2015 | One, Two, Three… |
2014 | Lend Your Hand |
2013 | Amnesty, n. |
2012 | Best Resolv’d |
The Clock Is Running | |
2011 | Magic |
He Is Alone
Posted in History, Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Andrew Jackson, Decision-Making in the White House, Loneliness, Philosophy, Politics, President John F. Kennedy, Quotes, The Loneliness Of Leadership, Theodore C. Sorensen on January 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »
The loneliness of the President is another well-established truism of essays on the presidential process. It is only part of the story; for, during the rest of the time, no one in the country is more assailed by divergent advice and clamorous counsel. This advice and counsel, indeed, are essential to the process of decision; for they give the President not only needed information and ideas but a sense of the possibilities and the limitations of action. A wise President therefore gathers strength and insight from the Nation. Still, in the end, he is alone. There stands the decision — and there stands the President. “I have accustomed myself to receive with respect the opinions of others,” said Andrew Jackson, “but always take the responsibility of deciding for myself.” | |
— President John F. Kennedy | |
Quoted by: Theodore C. Sorensen | |
From the Foreword to his book: “Decision-Making in the White House“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Compensation |
2015 | Charlie Redux |
2014 | The Crux |
2013 | Erosion And Rechannelling |
Alliance, n. | |
2012 | How Many Thought… (One I Know Of) |
Choices And Decisions | |
2011 | Speed Spoils |
Simply Intended | |
2010 | A Second 4 Hour Jog |