Need a name for your project? Need to add a couple of bullet points to your mission statement? Help is on the way with the Special Projects Idea Generator.
Via The Generator Blog.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Joint Astronomy Centre - Birthday Stars -
The light from what star began its journey on the day that you were born: Joint Astronomy Centre - Birthday Stars
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Good hearing starts with good listening
Last week, I met with an ENT doctor and then an audiologist to discuss hearing aids. (Feel free to post your jokes about hearing loss in the Comments section.) I've had hearing problems for 20-or-so years, primarily in my right ear, to the point of having surgery in the mid-90s. The surgery didn't improve my hearing; it seemed to slow the decline for a while. My hearing tests show a notch at 1kHz, just at the start of the range of the spoken voice. Conversations are important, so to stay on the right side of people, I have to stay on the right side of people.
In order to provide the power and signal processing that I need, the aid that I will need (we're planning for just one ear for now) is somewhat large, visible, and dorky. As if I should suddenly be concerned about looking dorky. This article shows that some manufacturers are trying to bring a sense of style to hearing aids.
Some of us, irrespective of our quality of hearing, are temperamentally inclined not to pay attention to what's going on around us. No hearing aid is going to fix that. Being hard of hearing isn't the problem; it's being hard of listening. A bunch of years ago, I was talking excitedly with a friend, a minister from another church, about a new insight I'd recently gained. Listening, I said, was more important than talking. I talked about this for about 10 minutes. It was only as I driving home that I realized that I hadn't asked her a single question.
In order to provide the power and signal processing that I need, the aid that I will need (we're planning for just one ear for now) is somewhat large, visible, and dorky. As if I should suddenly be concerned about looking dorky. This article shows that some manufacturers are trying to bring a sense of style to hearing aids.
Some of us, irrespective of our quality of hearing, are temperamentally inclined not to pay attention to what's going on around us. No hearing aid is going to fix that. Being hard of hearing isn't the problem; it's being hard of listening. A bunch of years ago, I was talking excitedly with a friend, a minister from another church, about a new insight I'd recently gained. Listening, I said, was more important than talking. I talked about this for about 10 minutes. It was only as I driving home that I realized that I hadn't asked her a single question.
Monday, August 13, 2007
The personality of a good worker
This article, from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, describes the way that employers use personality tests to screen job candidates. Now, it's a good idea for everyone if a candidate is a good fit for a job and for the organization. I've been in several situations where I had a job that was well-suited for my skills and interests, but where the management or other parts of the corporate culture had very different ways of working.
I also have a lot of skepticism about standardized tests. When I was a kid, my mother took me to Boston for a series of aptitude tests. I learned that I should be an accountant. I also learned that, even though I am right-handed, I have better dexterity with my left hand than with my right. My highest SAT score was in math. That would probably explain my first-semester A in college algebra; we can blame the second-semester F on the 60s.
In this morning's mail, I saw read about a couple of writing jobs with a former company. Of course I'm not ready to go back to work, but it's nice to think about. It's good to be able to read a job description and know what they're talking about it and know that I've done that work in the past. The underlying concepts of technical writing - topic-orientation, structured authoring, single sourcing, internationalization and localization, and concurrent development - haven't fundamentally changed in the last 20-25 years. We have new words, products, and methodologies, but we're still trying to solve the same problems - how do we describe complex products and tasks, do so quickly and well, meeting aggressive release schedules, and, while we're at it, make it easy to produce Korean and French versions at the same time.
Most folks don't get into trouble at jobs because they don't have the knowledge or skills to make it happen. In my experience as an employee and as a manager, troubles usually come from instincts in collision. Aspects of our personality makes us unwilling or unable to do the job that we have in front of us. It comes back to personality. Now, if there just was a way for us to know if our personalities are a good match for a job. Oh, yeah, right.
I also have a lot of skepticism about standardized tests. When I was a kid, my mother took me to Boston for a series of aptitude tests. I learned that I should be an accountant. I also learned that, even though I am right-handed, I have better dexterity with my left hand than with my right. My highest SAT score was in math. That would probably explain my first-semester A in college algebra; we can blame the second-semester F on the 60s.
In this morning's mail, I saw read about a couple of writing jobs with a former company. Of course I'm not ready to go back to work, but it's nice to think about. It's good to be able to read a job description and know what they're talking about it and know that I've done that work in the past. The underlying concepts of technical writing - topic-orientation, structured authoring, single sourcing, internationalization and localization, and concurrent development - haven't fundamentally changed in the last 20-25 years. We have new words, products, and methodologies, but we're still trying to solve the same problems - how do we describe complex products and tasks, do so quickly and well, meeting aggressive release schedules, and, while we're at it, make it easy to produce Korean and French versions at the same time.
Most folks don't get into trouble at jobs because they don't have the knowledge or skills to make it happen. In my experience as an employee and as a manager, troubles usually come from instincts in collision. Aspects of our personality makes us unwilling or unable to do the job that we have in front of us. It comes back to personality. Now, if there just was a way for us to know if our personalities are a good match for a job. Oh, yeah, right.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Cue "Ain't Misbehavin'"
Fats Waller - Aint Misbehavin'
Sandra's visiting her parents in PEI for a few days, celebrating her mother's birthday. She flew to Charlottetown yesterday, enjoying the non-stop flight from Boston. The weather at the Island is, as Sandra put it, "heavenly." Woody was cooking steaks on the grill for their supper.
Marley and I have had a quiet time, watching a bit of the Red Sox game on TV and turned in early. This afternoon, we'll go to the camp and spend the night. Mike and Adam and their families will be at the camp as well.
If the skies are clear tonight, we should be able to see the Perseid meteor showers. With luck, we might also catch a glimpse of the shuttle and International Space Station; both are expected to be visible around 9:40 PM (EDT). You can find out more about the shuttle, space station, and other stuff flying around the sky at this NASA web site.
Sandra's visiting her parents in PEI for a few days, celebrating her mother's birthday. She flew to Charlottetown yesterday, enjoying the non-stop flight from Boston. The weather at the Island is, as Sandra put it, "heavenly." Woody was cooking steaks on the grill for their supper.
Marley and I have had a quiet time, watching a bit of the Red Sox game on TV and turned in early. This afternoon, we'll go to the camp and spend the night. Mike and Adam and their families will be at the camp as well.
If the skies are clear tonight, we should be able to see the Perseid meteor showers. With luck, we might also catch a glimpse of the shuttle and International Space Station; both are expected to be visible around 9:40 PM (EDT). You can find out more about the shuttle, space station, and other stuff flying around the sky at this NASA web site.
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