In the category of random internet, and also a part of my fascination with odd religion. I honestly can't tell how much of this is parody. Is Jesus trying to lure Jimmy from weed by offering sexual hedonism?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Extra!
I had a chance to help some friends out by performing as an extra for their web series, "Family." You should check it out.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Scale of Useful Numbers
I listened to Freakonomics on audiobook a few weeks ago, and it stimulated some thinking that led to the following analysis:
The usefullness of a number can be evaluated on the following scale, the higher, the better:
1) A number by itself. For example, '5 were spoiled.' What does '5' mean? Well, not much by itself, but it is fairly low, while also greater than '0'... ultimately there's infinite room for uncertainty when a number is presented by itself.
2) A number with a denomenator, eg, '5 out of 7 were spoiled' aka, 5/7ths. Now we're getting somewhere. At we have some sense of scale. More than half, less than 6/7ths...
3) Even better is a number, with a denomenator, plus a unit. '5 of 7 apples were spoiled.' This tells a fairly useful story. Now, it can also be deceptive because it's still a small slice of reality. How many were spoiled last time? How much of other kinds of things are also spoiled? Is it something special about the apples that are making them spoil quickly, or are we lucky to have two fresh ones...
4) The best combination for understanding something is a number, with denomenator, unit and additional comparisons. For example, '5 of 7 apples were spoiled, but 1 out of 10 oranges were smashed.' Or perhaps, '75 out of 100 patients with this diagnosis will die, but if given a specific drug, 60 out of 100 will die.' If you only had the second part of that example, '60 out of 100 will die' you might think it was a terrible thing, but really it's quite good when compared with the 75 of 100 who would otherwise be expected to pass away.
The mainstream press rarely has the patience to provide useful comparisons of data. We see metrics about accidents, failure rates, and deaths, but rarely are these compared with other baselines, so we can understand the real scale of the problems.
The usefullness of a number can be evaluated on the following scale, the higher, the better:
1) A number by itself. For example, '5 were spoiled.' What does '5' mean? Well, not much by itself, but it is fairly low, while also greater than '0'... ultimately there's infinite room for uncertainty when a number is presented by itself.
2) A number with a denomenator, eg, '5 out of 7 were spoiled' aka, 5/7ths. Now we're getting somewhere. At we have some sense of scale. More than half, less than 6/7ths...
3) Even better is a number, with a denomenator, plus a unit. '5 of 7 apples were spoiled.' This tells a fairly useful story. Now, it can also be deceptive because it's still a small slice of reality. How many were spoiled last time? How much of other kinds of things are also spoiled? Is it something special about the apples that are making them spoil quickly, or are we lucky to have two fresh ones...
4) The best combination for understanding something is a number, with denomenator, unit and additional comparisons. For example, '5 of 7 apples were spoiled, but 1 out of 10 oranges were smashed.' Or perhaps, '75 out of 100 patients with this diagnosis will die, but if given a specific drug, 60 out of 100 will die.' If you only had the second part of that example, '60 out of 100 will die' you might think it was a terrible thing, but really it's quite good when compared with the 75 of 100 who would otherwise be expected to pass away.
The mainstream press rarely has the patience to provide useful comparisons of data. We see metrics about accidents, failure rates, and deaths, but rarely are these compared with other baselines, so we can understand the real scale of the problems.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Marvel to D&D 4th Edition
I'm hoping to get my old, once per year rpg friends to play some D&D 4th edition this summer, and we might try to convert the old Marvel characters into D&D, in order to keep the story going in some way.
As such, I've created a quick table of 4th edition classes by role to help their decision making:
Defender
fighter
warden
paladin
swordmage
Striker
rogue
warlock
barbarian
sorcerer
avenger
ranger
Leader
cleric
bard
shaman
artificer
warlord
Controller
wizard
invoker
druid
As such, I've created a quick table of 4th edition classes by role to help their decision making:
Defender
fighter
warden
paladin
swordmage
Striker
rogue
warlock
barbarian
sorcerer
avenger
ranger
Leader
cleric
bard
shaman
artificer
warlord
Controller
wizard
invoker
druid
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Bookends – More Productive Thoughts
First thing Monday morning, glance over the entire week. Identify key meetings and determine the best time to prepare for them.
At the end of Friday, while doing the weekly report, look forward to next week. See what’s coming up and where to start on Monday.
First thing every morning, glance at the day’s calendar. Make a specific plan for travel, lunch and second breakfast.
Make a list of tasks that need to be completed today.
Clean out the email inbox by deleting, archiving and responding to messages, as appropriate.
At the end of the day, glance over the next day’s schedule. Identify where the day will begin and get a general sense for its shape.
At the end of Friday, while doing the weekly report, look forward to next week. See what’s coming up and where to start on Monday.
First thing every morning, glance at the day’s calendar. Make a specific plan for travel, lunch and second breakfast.
Make a list of tasks that need to be completed today.
Clean out the email inbox by deleting, archiving and responding to messages, as appropriate.
At the end of the day, glance over the next day’s schedule. Identify where the day will begin and get a general sense for its shape.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Productivity
I’ve studied the Take Back Your Life system, and used parts of it, for over a year. The use of Tasks has had mixed results. I never quite got the hang of connecting strategic next actions to projects to meaningful objectives. There are many principles that I found tremendously useful and my own system is influenced by it.
Carve out time to be organized – I carve out some time (usually 30 minutes) every day to keep my email under control and to mentally prepare for the rest of the day. This is when I make sure I have travel time, a plan for eating (including 2nd breakfast), and idea for when I’ll be going home. It’s my way of beginning with the end in mind.
I also have a less rigorous, but still frequent habit of looking ahead at the same things. Will I have time to prepare for important meetings the day prior, or do I need to plan ahead? I have a calendar item for this review as well, which acts primarily as a reminder.
Keep the crap moving: when work can be completed (or at least moved on) in two minutes or less, I do it immediately. I trash what can be trashed, and shuffle the archival stuff into the appropriate reference folder.
Folder organization: I primarily organize my archival folders by project, secondarily by person. Inactive projects have their own folder. I do this to keep the clutter down.
The Physical Part
In lieu of notebooks and calendars, I carry a 1 ¼ inch three ring binder. The front pocket is labeled ‘soon.’ It’s for assorted packets and handouts that I wind up with. Things don’t stay there long, and it’s often empty. The rear pocket is for longer term work related reference sheets.
The first page is my ‘where I need to be and when’ page. Sometimes I’ll hand-write my appointments, sometimes I’ll print out a week’s worth and update it with any changes daily. I often jot down time sensitive ‘to do’s’ here.
The next section is my free form notes space. I use the backs of headed-for-recycling pages, turned over and hole punched. Not only is this environmentally friendly, it’s simple and flexible.
As the pages get filled and become less time sensitive, they go to a section near the back. Eventually those are purged as the notes on the pages become clearly outdated.
Outlook Tasks
I have found tasks useful for tracking big, umbrella issues over time. For example, I have an ongoing task for Greycat’s health, my own personal health (which includes training plan, what races are coming up, etc…), different D&D campaigns that need preparation and/or scheduling. Most of these have a title that is tied to my (somewhat) Meaningful Objectives. There is some value in clearly labeling how a group of tasks is associated with Something Important. In order to do that, those Important Somethings need to be explicit and documented.
I think I’ll focus on using my task list for medium to long term work. It’s a nice way of keeping my eye on the ball, but doesn’t work that well for daily minutiae. Since I already have a weekly rhythm, I’ll start by focusing on the task list on Friday afternoons (briefly) and Monday mornings (with more reflection).
Carve out time to be organized – I carve out some time (usually 30 minutes) every day to keep my email under control and to mentally prepare for the rest of the day. This is when I make sure I have travel time, a plan for eating (including 2nd breakfast), and idea for when I’ll be going home. It’s my way of beginning with the end in mind.
I also have a less rigorous, but still frequent habit of looking ahead at the same things. Will I have time to prepare for important meetings the day prior, or do I need to plan ahead? I have a calendar item for this review as well, which acts primarily as a reminder.
Keep the crap moving: when work can be completed (or at least moved on) in two minutes or less, I do it immediately. I trash what can be trashed, and shuffle the archival stuff into the appropriate reference folder.
Folder organization: I primarily organize my archival folders by project, secondarily by person. Inactive projects have their own folder. I do this to keep the clutter down.
The Physical Part
In lieu of notebooks and calendars, I carry a 1 ¼ inch three ring binder. The front pocket is labeled ‘soon.’ It’s for assorted packets and handouts that I wind up with. Things don’t stay there long, and it’s often empty. The rear pocket is for longer term work related reference sheets.
The first page is my ‘where I need to be and when’ page. Sometimes I’ll hand-write my appointments, sometimes I’ll print out a week’s worth and update it with any changes daily. I often jot down time sensitive ‘to do’s’ here.
The next section is my free form notes space. I use the backs of headed-for-recycling pages, turned over and hole punched. Not only is this environmentally friendly, it’s simple and flexible.
As the pages get filled and become less time sensitive, they go to a section near the back. Eventually those are purged as the notes on the pages become clearly outdated.
Outlook Tasks
I have found tasks useful for tracking big, umbrella issues over time. For example, I have an ongoing task for Greycat’s health, my own personal health (which includes training plan, what races are coming up, etc…), different D&D campaigns that need preparation and/or scheduling. Most of these have a title that is tied to my (somewhat) Meaningful Objectives. There is some value in clearly labeling how a group of tasks is associated with Something Important. In order to do that, those Important Somethings need to be explicit and documented.
I think I’ll focus on using my task list for medium to long term work. It’s a nice way of keeping my eye on the ball, but doesn’t work that well for daily minutiae. Since I already have a weekly rhythm, I’ll start by focusing on the task list on Friday afternoons (briefly) and Monday mornings (with more reflection).
Friday, May 01, 2009
Lifehacker: Credit Card Limits
Apparently, it's best to keep your balance for individual credit cards under 25% of the limit. In this part of the credit score calculation, it doesn't matter what your total ratio is, or whether you pay off each month.
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