“It’s 11:00 PM and I check my email. 98 new messages have arrived since yesterday. At 2-3 minutes per message, I’ll need about 4 hours to handle them. I’d like to grant them my highest security classification – DBR: Delete Before Reading.”
:Michael Detouzos, Director of the MIT Media Lab in The Unifinished Revolution
The Best of Proverbs
If it’s true that we are here to help others,
then, what exactly are the others here for?
Since light travels faster than sound, people
appear bright until you hear them speak.
How come “abbreviated” is such a long word ?
Don’t frown. You never know who is falling in
love with your smile.
Should women have children after 35?
No, 35 children are enough
Living on Earth may be expensive…
but it includes an annual free trip around the Sun.
Your future depends on your dreams
So go to sleep !
ALCOHOL KILLS SLOWLY So what ?
Who’s in a hurry ?
Love is photogenic;
it needs darkness to develop
A good discussion is like a miniskirt;
Short enough to pertain interest and long enough to cover the subject
Children in backseats cause accidents;
Accidents in backseats cause children!
A drunk was hauled into court.
Mister, the judge began, you’ve been brought here for drinking….
Great, the drunk exclaimed. When do we get started?
Can you do anything that other people can’t?
Sure, I can read my handwriting.
:Sent to me by Devika A.
Human beings are not supposed to be sitting in little cubicles staring at computer screens.
:Office Space – the movie.
That’s 32 days folks, not yards. Anyhow, there’s actually a fair amount of new crap on sneaker.org, except I’ve been remiss in not updating the what’s new blog (this one) as often…. sorry. In fact there is so much new stuff in Eavesdropped that it doesn’t even fit on the index page and you’ll have to dig into the archives to find it all.
New in Thought — caught in the act!* on Saturday, February 2, 2002
New in Rants and Raves* on Saturday, February 2, 2002
New in Eavesdropped!* on Saturday, February 2, 2002
LEASH: A strap which attaches to your collar, enabling
you to lead your person where you want him/her to go.
DOG BED: any soft, clean surface, such as the white
bedspread in the guest room or the newly upholstered
couch in the living room.
DROOL: Is what you do when your persons have food and
you don’t. To do this properly you must sit as close as you
can and look sad and let the drool fall to the floor, or
better yet, on their laps.
SNIFF: A social custom to use when you greet other dogs.
Place your nose as close as you can to the other dog’s rear
end and inhale deeply, repeat several times, or until your
person makes you stop.
GARBAGE CAN: A container which your neighbors put
out once a week to test your ingenuity. You must stand on
your hind legs and try to push the lid off with your nose. If
you do it right you are rewarded with margarine wrappers
to shred, beef bones to consume and moldy crusts of
bread.
BICYCLES: Two-wheeled exercise machines, invented for
dogs to control body fat. To get maximum aerobic benefit,
you must hide behind a bush and dash out, bark loudly
and run alongside for a few yards; the person then
swerves and falls into the bushes, and you prance away.
DEAFNESS: This is a malady which affects dogs when
their person want them in and they want to stay out.
Symptoms include staring blankly at the person, then
running in the opposite direction, or lying down.
THUNDER: This is a signal that the world is coming to
an end. Humans remain amazingly calm during
thunderstorms, so it is necessary to warn them of the
danger by trembling uncontrollably, panting, rolling your
eyes wildly, and following at their heels.
WASTEBASKET: This is a dog toy filled with paper,
envelopes, and old candy wrapper. When you get bored,
turn over the basket and strew the papers all over the
house until your person comes home
SOFAS: Are to dogs like napkins are to people. After
eating it is polite to run up and down the front of the sofa
and wipe your whiskers clean.
BATH: This is a process by which the humans drench the
floor, walls and themselves. You can help by shaking
vigorously and frequently.
LEAN: Every good dogs’s response to the command “sit !”,
especially if your person is dressed for an evening out.
Incredibly effective before black-tie events.
BUMP: The best way to get your human’s attention when
they are drinking a fresh cup of coffee or tea.
GOOSE BUMP: A maneuver to use as a last resort when
the Regular Bump doesn’t get the attention you
require…..especially effective when combined with The
Sniff. See above.
LOVE: Is a feeling of intense affection, given freely and
without restriction. The best way you can show your love
is to wag your tail. If you’re lucky, a human will love you
in return.
– Sent to me by my mom 🙂
When I started this section on reviewing things, I said that I would review people too. Well,Ive never done it yet. The first person that I am going to write about is Richard P. Feynman. I’m sure some fo the regulars on sneaker.org have already noticed the barrage of quotes and references to books and things by Feynman on here. But before I get started, I’ll point out that I am writing this not because I think of myself as “Feynman-fan,” but solely because I cannot express well enough how much respect I have for this one individual as a person (even more so than as a physicist) (In fact, you’re invited to check out my recent rant on The Fan Syndrome to see what I think of that…)
Unfortunately, I never had and never will have the chance to meet Richard Feynman in person (he died in 1988) and so my only exposure to his work and his person has been through is books and books about him. Therefore, the opinions I have developed are based on that information.
I think I first read Feynman’s book Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman when I was twelve or so. I don’t have an exact recollection of when it was, but that time sounds about right. I read it again a couple of weeks ago — because I remembered how much I’d enjoyed reading it, but had forgotten a lot of the details. And reading it agan was about as enthralling as the first time. I think what fascinated me about Feynman at that time was how smart this person was and yet at the same time, so down to earth and so cool. So unlike most “smart” people. It is where I first learnt that there is a place called MIT. A place called Princeton. A place called Cornell and a place called Caltech. It is what got me started to think about whether I could one day go to a University of the same calibre.
This time when I read Feynman’s book, I wasn’t as much in awe of the great Universities or the amazing achievements he had (Not because they aren’t amazing, but because I already knew of them) but more so in awe of Feynman as a person. A person who truly had a great mind. A mind which was open, and always thinking. A mind for someone who could talk not only about why things are the way they are at a sub-atomic, heck a sub-neucleic level, but also talk about why things are the way they are in society, religion, culture and life.
Thought I cannot be certian of this now since I don’t remember well enough, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Feynman’s books that I read when I was an adolescent played a significant part in shaping my views on questioning everything and trying to learn as much as possible.
All I can say is for anyone who likes to think, you owe it to your mind to read Feynman. And to Richard Feynman – Thank you.