From wnbc.com: Even More Famous Women: How They’ve Aged It’s a photo slideshow. My comment after viewing it: Read more →
July 2007
Why Men Make More Money Than Women
Another study quizzed graduating master’s degree students who had received job offers about whether they had simply accepted the offered starting salary or had tried to negotiate for more. Four times as many men — 51 percent of the men vs. 12.5 percent of the women — said they had pushed for a better deal. Not surprisingly, those who negotiated tended to be rewarded — they got 7.4 percent more, on average — compared with those who did not negotiate. — Washington Post A Carnegie Mellon professor has figured out why men make more than women for the same job. I actually figured that out myself the first time I heard about it. Salaries are negotiable. You can’t pay someone less than they’re willing to work for. Hence, women must be willing to work for less money. It’s the only possible explanation. UPDATE: I should have emphasized that 7.4 percent… Read more →
Ingmar Bergman, 1918-2007
Ingmar Bergman died today, age 89. I swear to God I though he was already dead. Read more →
My Dog Comments on the Local News
Cypress man rescued by pet pug — Orange County Register, July 26, 2007 I’m not surprised by this. Pugs are smart, brave, loving and loyal. Do not underestimate the pug. Your canine correspondent, Lightning Epps Read more →
The Claw is Our Master
Stoney’s Sports Cafe in Estero, Florida, has an interesting variation on the crane game. Instead of the usual collection of stuffed toys, the machine is filled with water and live lobsters. If you manage to catch one (at $2 a chance), they’ll cook it up and serve it to you. Live by the claw, die by the claw. Read more →
Free Ride
One thing I learned on my recent vacation is that Florida, unlike California, doesn’t have a helmet law for motorcycles. If you’re wondering what percentage of riders will wear a helmet for safety reasons if they’re not required to by law, the answer appears to be zero, although more than half the riders I observed did take the precautionary measure of wearing a shirt. Read more →
Hat Trick
My son’s hockey team didn’t do so well at NARCh this time around. They got knocked out in the round-robin portion of the tournament. That left us with some extra time on our hands, some of which we used to drive up to Tampa to watch the Angels get worked by the ordinarily hapless Devil Rays, 7-2. We got good seats though! — right behind home plate about 10 rows up. Completing the hat trick of futility, I arrived back in California to find that the mortgage bank I worked for had laid off 400 people, including me. The good news is that I did get a severance package, unlike the last time I got laid off (from a dot-com company), when all I got was a handshake and an escort to the parking lot. Oh, and I’ve got more time to read the last Harry Potter book. I’m really… Read more →
The Intellectual Climate
DemandDebate.com has new t-shirts for sale: Read more →
The Saddest Cartoon I’ve Ever Seen
Off to Florida
We’re off to NARCh for a week. I hope there won’t be thunderstorms every day like the last time we were there. Let’s have a look at the 5-day . . . Read more →
Why I Got Into Management
My first 10 years in the software business, I had great managers. They did the management thing and I did the programming thing and we got great results together. Then, after the dot-com boom torpedoed industry hiring standards, I got tired of working for managers who should not have been allowed anywhere near a software project, people who were not fit to direct a professional software developer to a table at the Olive Garden, much less direct their activities on a complex project. I couldn’t possibly have continued to work for people like that — it just made a mockery of all the work I’d done over the years to actually learn something — but I still miss being a developer . . . Thus spoke The Programmer. Read more →
What is the Use of Knowing the Evil in the World?
And often you asked me, “What is the use of knowing the evil in the world?” I am out of your way now, Spoon River, Choose your own good and call it good. For I could never make you see That no one knows what is good Who knows not what is evil; And no one knows what is true Who knows not what is false. — Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology, “Seth Compton” Read more →
Overheard
A male and female co-worker are bickering, as they often do. An onlooker says, “You two are like a married couple . . . but without the sex and everything.” Read more →
Lady Bird Johnson, 1912-2007
7-Eleven marks 80 years with free Slurpees — Dallas Morning News, July 11, 2007 Former first lady Lady Bird Johnson dies — Dallas Morning News, July 11, 2007 She was 94 years old. I actually thought she was already dead. I hope she got her free Slurpee . . . Read more →
Miyamoto Musashi
On second thought, we have a family member who perceives things that cannot be seen, so #7 may be more indicative of mental illness than enlightenment . . . Read more →
Get to Work
The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. — Emile Zola Read more →
Rather Disrespectful
Another aspect of respecting people is the idea that the process that the team uses to generate value is owned by the team. The process is what the team uses to achieve its goals. By the time things get formalized, it rapidly morphs into a situation where the team is a tool that the process uses to achieve its goals. That’s rather disrespectful of the individuals involved. It doesn’t leverage their capabilities and strengths and insights. — Tom Poppendieck Read more →
This is the Way
This is the Way for men who want to learn my strategy: Do not think dishonestly. The Way is in training. Become acquainted with every art. Know the Ways of all professions. Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters. Develop intuitive judgment and understanding for everything. Perceive those things that cannot be seen. Pay attention even to trifles. Do nothing which is of no use. — Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings UPDATE: One of my son’s friends has a hamster named Miyamoto Musashi. His book says he’s very famous in Japan, but then it would say that. Read more →
Pacific Cup 2007
My son’s roller hockey team won the Pacific Cup final last weekend. For teams in California, Arizona and Nevada, Pacific Cup is the biggest tournament of the year, not counting national championships. The team will be playing at NARCh in a couple of weeks. His 12-and-under team won the NARCh tournament two years ago, but I’m not as optimistic with this year’s bunch. The problems include: Read more →
Proud to Be Livin’ in the U.S.A.
Ain’t getting old, ain’t getting younger though Just getting used to the lay of the land I ain’t tongue-tied, just don’t got nothin’ to say I’m proud to be livin’ in the U.S.A. — Neil Young, “Hawks and Doves” Read more →