I imagine there are some people who arrive/leave work at seemingly random times on successive days as a means of avoiding physical harm by others during the daily commute to and from home. This behavior is probably most common in metropolitan areas with heavily used public transportation systems. A subway passenger who gets on the…
There’s this idea that engineers serve the public, and it’s kind of sick in some cases. For example, I was reading an article authored by some PhD junkie and it was about defining an architectural framework that supports multimedia service delivery. I don’t understand even half of the article and it’s peppered with abbreviations, but…
There must be some lines of work that frequently get refreshed with a new workforce for security reasons. I’m thinking something like road checkpoints in occupied territories, where the guards inspecting vehicles have to maintain high scrutiny behavior and remain alert. It’s probably been found that no matter how emphasized the importance of remaining on…
If you’re a pedestrian, it’s safer to be out and about during a downpour because drivers will be less likely to leave the comfort of their warm and dry vehicle interiors to kill you.
When two people meet for the first time, the stage is set for a common phenomena where what is initially said by person A to person B has a larger impact on how person B perceives person A than what person A says subsequently, and vice-versa. With few exceptions, as time passes, what person A…
There ought to be a word to describe the situation where someone is so taken by a current event, partially because their name is involved, that it influences their career choice. For example, a young girl in elementary school named Valerie happens to read about the ruckus surrounding Valerie Plame and, because it concerns a…
I envision a future where power is delivered wirelessly, time passes faster for one circuit element than it does for another, and small wind turbines are installed behind the front grille of vehicles.
There’s a tendency for public speakers (often lawmakers or other elected officials) to emphasize their point through speaking at a tempered pace and repeating a phrase, so that instead of “The people have said they’re tired of Washington corruption, dependence on foreign oil, and a suffering economy.” We are more likely to hear “The people…
On Thom Yorke’s new album there’s a track called Harrowdown Hill, named after the neighborhood where a government scientist and weapons inspector was found dead in the woods shortly after it was discovered that he was the source for a BBC report accusing Blair’s government of fabricating evidence to justify going to war in Iraq….
If I ever marry, it’ll be at 4AM. I want to be half asleep when I say ‘I do.’ At the same time, I like the idea of dating some girl seriously for years without ever asking her the big question. Eventually her parents will ask why I’m taking so long, given that we’ve been…