The Good Old Days vs. the Better Now

Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.

— Franklin Pierce Adams

In the next week, many of you will have interesting discussions with family members and friends. One or two might even throw at you the famous “things were so much better in the good old days”. In fact, this idea that things were so much better in the past seems to be a major thread for the past two years on the political side of things.

My first reaction to this kind of speech is always: yeah sure, the good old days meant dying at age 30-40 (yes that was the average lifespan not so long ago) from pneumonia or any kind of infections (no antibiotics), deadly viruses (no vaccines), surgeons were actually the local butchers, and the premier approach in the medical art was leeches…and this is only to start.

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Christmas Gift – The Perfect Backpack

About 2.5 years ago, I decided in was time to part ways with my humongous, generic black computer/gear backpack for something a little more professional, something  that while confortable enough to bring with me anywhere, would have no trouble to be in a meeting with CEOs and other meetings of the sort. At some points, many peoples in professional jobs consider buying a nice leather briefcase or attaché. 

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On New Year’s Resolution or Simply Planning any New Project

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” 

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

 

Adopting a new year resolution, which many will do in the coming weeks, is no different than planning for any another project…ok maybe the former tends to have a built-in guilt component. In any case, a little planning goes a long way, so let’s talk about planning.

Planning is a promise you make with yourself about work you will be doing in the future, irrespective how far in time that future is. Any task you put down is a contract with yourself for your attention, time, energy, …

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Explanation of how a computer work by the legendary Richard Feynman

This was relayed to me by a colleague at work. Done at the most basic level, in a style typical to the incredible teacher that was physics Nobel winner Richard Feynman and for the general public. How computer works from the inside out! Still highly relevant today – see here from YouTube.

Switching automatically between Light and Dark mode in OSX: Welcome to NightOwl!

The latest release of MacOS 10.14 introduce a Dark mode. It does look great and make it really easy on the eye at night. Personally though, I do not like it during the day. Especially for apps that have presents lots of information such as DevonThink Pro or even Mail. In broad day light, I find the light mode easier.

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Do boring speakers talk longer?

According to this Nature blog post (Do boring speakers really talk for longer?), yes! It seems that having rhythm, a clear structure and sticking to it as well as practice your talk should be obvious practice but not always applied by the research community.