This post covers the third of several non-Method methods. People often try to improve their lives by changing only their beliefs. Typical examples of changing beliefs include believing money, friends, or health will come your way. Since the book and movie “The Secret” so popularly propagated this strategy a few years ago, I call this strategy “The Secret” or “Law of Attraction.” Before delving into it, I’ll point out that[…] Keep reading →

I commented on a post on another board that expanded on my earlier post “What’s wrong with ‘making the world a better place‘”, referring to this post: I understand the goals of the ethic, but I’d suggest a change to one part. “World improvement” sounds noble, but every sane person believes they are making the world a better place — whether dictators, telemarketers, soldiers, marketers of sugary beverages to children,[…] Keep reading →

This post covers the second of several non-Method methods. People often try to improve their lives by changing only their behavior. After doing something one way for a while they resolve to do it differently. This strategy comes from a belief that something rooted in their behavior holds them back from a better life, or at least that changing only their behavior will improve it. I call this strategy “New[…] Keep reading →

Continuing writing about my North Korea trip… Now let’s see some pictures. Click on them for larger views. The view from our hotel window. The sky was bluer than this picture shows, contrasting with the overcast and polluted skies of Beijing and Shanghai, the other two places I visited on this trip. Nearly all the pictures I’ve seen online of Pyongyang include something about our hotel. It seems all visitors[…] Keep reading →

Dennis Ritchie died today. In computer circles, he is like Einstein. For those curious about this computer science version of Einstein, this Economist article will give you some background. I’ve written only a bit in C, which he created and is arguably the most important computer language, but of course I use GNU/Linux, arguably the closest to the spirit of the original Unix, which he co-created. Since I write more[…] Keep reading →

Last summer at a Brooklyn art gallery a friend curated featuring a cityscape-like artwork, I took a camera and moved it around through the cityscape to make short movies that looked like you were flying through a city. They looked great. Unfortunately I did it with the camera of another friend, who deleted the movies. Now when I see a cityscape I like to make fly-through movies of it. Shanghai’s[…] Keep reading →

Continuing writing about my North Korea trip… Here are some basic observations I saw in North Korea without embellishment or analysis. When I looked out my hotel room the first night we arrived to see about half the city, because of their dearth of electrical power I could count the number of cars driving: two. Buildings outside Pyongyang were bunker-like concrete slabs, many unfinished. Many people appeared to live in[…] Keep reading →

Continuing writing about my North Korea trip… One of this trip’s major themes was the difference between expectations and experiences; also recognizing that expectations — Americans have wild expectations of North Korea — say things about yourself, not them. Experiences say something about the interaction between others and yourself. Americans, myself included, know little about North Korea and North Koreans. Our expectations tell us about what gets past the filters[…] Keep reading →

Living near what may potentially become a significant movement in the United States — Occupy Wall Street — I can’t believe I took over three weeks to visit the main site they’re sitting in, especially because a friend told me about the plans in the works several days before it started. That friend ended up interviewed on several national television shows. I finally visited today. I think the New York[…] Keep reading →