Explaining New Stuff in the Computer Information World

http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/08/issue/feature_social.1.asp

Worcester 5 Mile Walk

Worcester 5 Mile Walk

During the week after work, if its not too hot, too cold or too rainy, I'll go for a long walk from my apartment to downtown, past the DCUCenter (former Centrum) (what does DCU stand for anyhow?), under 290 to Shrewbury Street, past the 111 ChopHouse, up to the Bancroft School of Massage Therapy (when I get a massage, I am really loose on the way home) to the end of Shrewsbury Street (all of this street is a long, gradual uphill), turn sharp left onto Belmont Ave at the UHaul, past UMassMedical, down the hill, over 290, up the hill past the CourtHouse, onto Harvard Street and back to the apartment. Sometimes I'll miss the last turn and end up at the Boynton, especially if I'm thirsty and there is a ball game on.

Large Lobsta

Price Chopper had a sale last week (sun-Sat) on lobsters over 3 pounds for $6.99/pound. Pat and I went in on the 1st Monday 7/4 at 5pm and were told they were all out which made sense since it was a holiday and no deliveries until Tuesday. Dissappointed, we left, but on Saturday, we went back in and I asked the same guy what was the largest lobster he had. He looked at me, then without saying anything, went to the tank and pulled out a monster. After taping the crusher claw with electrical tape, he put it on the scale and it weighed in at 6.54 pounds! $45 later and we were on our way home.

A young woman was there with her son buying three 1.25-1.5 pound lobsters. Her husband came up when our lobster was on the scale and exclaimed," What are you doing?" I let him know the lobster was ours. They paid ~$45 for 4.2 pounds in 3 lobsters. Ha. People who know better always tell others that the big lobsters are tough to eat, so they'll still be in the tank when we get there.

Everything we read says immerse in boiling water for 15 minutes for the usual 1.5 pound and add 1 minute for every pound thereafter. So, in 20 minutes, we had a nice feast. We used the new grill with the side burner to boil the water. I opened up the tail and we had that with corn on the cob the first night. Crusher claw cold with salad on Sunday, Biter claw in a wrap for lunch today. Pat's got the rest in the fridge at home which I expect will be gone when I get back Friday night.

Picture from: http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/faq/fishfaq3b.html

Fast Car

from Raven at Nothing in Particular

A couple had been debating buying a vehicle for weeks. He wanted a truck. She wanted a fast little sports-like car so she could zip through traffic around town. He would probably have settled on any beat up old truck, but everything she seemed to like was way out of their price range.

"Look!" she said. "I want something that goes from 0 to 200 in just a few seconds. Nothing else will do. My birthday is coming up so surprise me!"

He did just that. For her birthday, he bought her a brand new bathroom scale. Nobody has seen or heard from him since.

Get Ready for Internship and Follow these Guidelines

Recommendations from Medical Madhouse 6/2/2005
As the medical school year comes to an end hundreds of graduates prepare for the grueling year they’ve been anticipating their whole life. Graduations are celebrated across the country and the seniors, thinking about their fleeting time, come to realize that the now they must apply all they’ve learned in their new world, the medicine floor. I thought I would take the time to give the incoming class of interns a few suggestions I think will certainly come in handy.The most important thing to remember is that like any other workplace the hospital is it’s own society, with it’s own rules. Each is different in that it has it’s strentgths and its faults. You still do not know most of these about your particular future place of work, no matter how many times you interviewd there. More importantly in the hospital, like the real world, it’s not what you know but who you know. If you want to be an effective intern, know everyone. Let us begin, remember, the keys are in the details:
1. Most of medicine is common sense. You’ve heard this so many times and yet you don’t understand it yet. You will, later this year.
2. Don’t make your resident look bad. You will pay for that.
3. When you don’t know, find someone who will. This is really not about you. Anyways, we think you don’t know anything, regardless of what you really know. So take advantage of that.
4. You’ll hate the nursing, no matter how good it is. Understand, you will catch a lot more bees with honey. BTW, nurses can make your life hell so your choice will be smart and well-rested versus right and exhausted.
5. Having your own patients is so much better than seeing four new patients each session. This way, you will learn nothing. If you have a continuation clinic, know the months that you will be there. Schedule your patients to come back on those months. If your patient must be seen during a time when your not there, make a deal with another resident and send him your patient, so that he will send your patient back to you.Your patients will love you so much more for it.
6. Most of the time your diagnosis will be a symptom, that means, what you actually learned in medical school only applies less than thirty percent of the time. I’m not kidding!
7. If a patient has more than three complaints in one office visit the diagnosis is depression. There is no other diagnosis, don’t waste your time and our money.
8. You will need to bribe everyone. Since you can’t use money (You won’t have any) chocolate is the next best thing. You can move mountains with chocolate. (this is my personal favorite advice, consider yourself lucky to know this before you start, you can get any tech motivated with enough chocolate)
9. When you call a consult say “Hi, this is Joe Schmoe, intern in medicine” don’t say “Hi this is Dr. Shmoe” it just sounds more confrontational and is the key to a bad phone call.
10. Some operational alerts:
a. When a patient says he only drinks alcohol socially, your follow up question should be “How social are you?” You’ll be surprised.
b. When you ask if a patient smokes and he says yes your follow up question is not “How much?” but rather “What?”

10 Career Tips for New Grads + 10 More from Chris

10 Career Tips for New Grads By Karen Woodward Provided by College Journal

I worked in Hollywood for 10 years as an assistant to studio executives as well as "talent." I've seen a lot, and all kinds of people. As I'm sure most can imagine, the film industry attracts some very odd types. I've also been on the hiring side of the desk, and it's astounding what some people will say and wear at the office. Here is my advice to 20-somethings about the "real" work world.

1. Lose the attitude. I can't tell you how annoying 20-somethings (men and women) are who, because they are young and cute and went to a good college, think that they are smarter than anyone else.
2. Listen. I learned the most important lessons by simply shutting up and paying attention.
3. Bond with your cohorts. While some kissing up to the higher-ups is important politically, the bonding with people at your own rank is important on a broader level. These are the people you will be moving up the ladder with, and it's best to have them on your side from the beginning. I've seen the people who dated the boss or went out of their way to hang out with the upper-level management, and they have all gone nowhere. The folks with whom I shared a smoke in the emergency stairwell are my closest buddies, and the ones most likely to look out for me.
4. Don't try to be clever or cute. If you have these qualities, they'll be noticed, so you don't need to try. One time I got into an email battle with a high-ranking assistant (when I was a midlevel assistant) and, while I thought I was clever in copying it to just the other assistants (who enjoyed it immensely), it was also copied to the human-resources department, who didn't find it funny at all.
5. Own up to your mistakes. Covering for them rarely works. Just say, " I screwed up," don't make excuses, and take steps to fix it. This works with most bosses. I did have one boss who yelled at me while I was on the phone, amending my mistake. (The person on the other end of the line was laughing, "Who is that yelling at you?")
6. If you don't know, ask. It takes less time to ask for clarification or information than it takes to do something the wrong way, screw it up and start over again.
7. Project confidence and competence. Not to be confused with No. 1. Lose the attitude. But you must appear unruffled. If you don't know the answer to something, just say, "I don't know, I will find out." When your boss throws a million things at you, just say "OK" and believe me, you will find a way to get it done (and you can use it as fodder with your cohorts at lunch or in the smoking stairway).
8. Don't be afraid to leave your comfort zone. It's so easy to get comfortable in a job, and then you end up staying there for years longer than you should. Once you feel yourself getting secure in a job, you should consider looking for another one.
9. Dress appropriately. I don't mean you have to wear suits or look really conservative. But please remember that you are not in college, and you are not at a bar.
10. The No. 1 person who will look out for you is you. Remember, if you can't respect yourself, how can you possibly expect others to? Also, keep in mind that everyone has his or her own agenda, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, because you have an agenda, too.

Having said that, the real world is not a scary place. It's actually not unlike high school.
Ms. Woodward is pursuing a master's degree in media studies at Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y.
article originally from biz.yahoo.com

My 2 Cents Worth
1. Grooming - No visible piercings or tattoos. Show up with a clean shave every day, get a haircut every 4-6 weeks, and get your neck shaved every 2-3 weeks by someone you trust.
2. Learn to clean and iron your clothes yourself so you'll look good especially if you are on a business trip. Always button down a button down collar shirt.
3. Say "yes" and/or "no problem" and/or "I'll get right on it" to all requests with enthusiasm!
4. Don't argue with your ears closed.
5. Be on time and attend every day. Keep your transportation medium tuned up on the weekend so you'll be ready during the week.
6. Leave all personal problems and excuses at home. Do not discuss anything of this type at work. Emphasis on "all." Not over the phone, not with coworkers. Don't do it.
7. Learn to touch type really fast and then learn and use as many quick keystrokes for productivity software as you can.
8. Learn as much as you can about compnay processes and excell in them as soon as possible.
9. Don't repeat or makeup bullshit. Make sure you backup what you say with data.
10. Report your status/progress to your boss once a day no matter what - no more (unless specifically requested), no less.