Tersosity & Verbosity

Rock drummers are like athletes, in terms of stamina and exertion.

Here is one list, in a format I find relatively pleasing. Here is another list in a format I find harder to follow, but which may be more complete, and gives numerical ranges (I’d have bolded those section headers to make it easier to follow.)

Found this list interesting in my travels.

Have you gotten more telephone averse with age? This is something I’ve written about before myself, or close to it, in reference to phone phobia. Even in times of no creditors, my heart leaps up into the roof of my mouth and addles my brain when I hear the phone ring, in large part because of doing phone support. This also relates to the increasing tendency not to be in touch with anyone who lacks online means of contact, like e-mail. And yes, it’s intrusive and all that, as noted.

These sound about right.

Too funny, Bill Gates in a Tandy ad.

Ready for parenthood?

Good post on rules of thumb, some of which are familiar to me. I didn’t know the interruptions thing had a number attached, but I knew it was bad. I can seldom do much of substance without being free of interruptions. And I have to keep my self-sourced interruptions under control. I think part of my ramping up process that means the first lump of time I sit down to do a thing barely touches it is that it serves both as a thinking and mood altering phase, and a clearinghouse for things I’d do to derail myself, be they small tasks or ticks or what. The estimating one is well known, too, and soundly ignored by most.

Credit Card Ghosts, including somr interesting links to factoids and statistics about credi cards.

Apart from cost and fussiness, depending on model, I actually like the compact florescents, and what they did to the electric bill. At least, until the electric usage we were getting billed for nearly doubled for no apparent reason. One of the things I don’t like is that you can’t or couldn’t, put the new ones in covered fixtures, requiring old style in some cases. I mentioned that to someone the other day and surprised them, as they’d not read the directions/warnings and used them that way without apparent issue. At any rate, I can completely understand hoarding incandescent bulbs for various reasons. It should be up to the market to encourage the switching, not government decree.

On an amusingly related not to my consulting fees post the other day, here’s a post on how to sell overpriced services. The dressing part feels tongue in cheek, even though it’s tried and true advice I first saw decades ago, and so not me. The part about being right up front is something I’ve flirted with and lately come around to wanting to do again, though in my situation there may be a balance between every scrap of marginal revenue being vital and it being worthwhile to make the most of what work can be landed at real rates, allowing focus on clients willing to pay realistically.

This is mainly a local interest Massachusetts link, received in e-mail, to an Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields site. It’s of particular interest for the first one on the page, as my grandfather worked for George Clark and lived for a time in that area. I grew up on a street called, before it was later renamed, Clark Ave., surrounded extensive land originally owned by Clark. Yet this is one local airport I’d not even heard of before, no doubt because it was so far before my time. I actually flew for the first time in a small plane out of Taunton, lived near Hanson Airport and a lake with seaplane activity, and was familiar with some of the local airports like Plymouth, as well as curiosities like the small private strip in Plympton that went to trees many years ago.

As I always say, The Constituion Means What It Says. I think Scalia is my new favorite. Wait. Did I have a favorite before?

Trouble is, it means what it says about takings, too. Poor Kelo.

Who’s who and reunion for the famous picture of Microsoft’s early employees.

Via Dan, this is an amusing, lengthy article in which Bill Gates e-mails complaints about Microsoft end user experience to his own staff, which apparently was something he did regularly. I have to agree in general with Dan about Vista.

I already knew some of the harm salt reduction can cause, but this is a great post laying it all out in detail, using the relevant studies and science and history. Just a tiny taste of it:

The lowest sodium intakes — the 1500 mg/day amount some are saying we should all be eating — were associated with an 80% higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared with those consuming the highest salt diets. The lowest salt intakes were associated with a 24% higher risk of all-cause mortality.

Apparently text messages are private from employers, per the court.

Fascinating, cool stuff. The toy specialist on Antiques Road Show would love it.

This is exactly my view of it.

A contrarian view, which is worh considering, if not 100% right.