Some words, like icebergs, only show 10% of their meaning above the water. “Guru” is one of those words that seem nice, positive, valuable. When used in the workplace, though, it’s that big hidden part under the surface that will sink your career-ship. Just to disambiguate the word, here’s Wikipedia. [Side note, Wikipedia uses...
Rapture Was a Big Success
I’m not very interested in the crazy guy who tried to sell everyone on the idea that Saturday was going to be the date of the Rapture. We have people making a lot of religious-psycho claims walking around DC. Many predict the end of the world. Nobody follows these guys around waiting to point...
Dirty Jokes as Network Testers?
I recently saw an email that made a joke about STDs. All the women had been removed from the cc list. I remember being the only guy in an office and having to step out so the women could share a crude picture. But that doesn’t always happen. Among peers, in certain circumstances, in...
Not Everybody is Real
How many times have you met someone, recognized them as part of a type, treated them according to that type, and gotten responses that are entirely consistent with that type? Do you get to know someone, but still think of them as an amalgam of preconceptions based on education, profession, clothing style, ethnic background,...
Tea Bagging Isn’t Funny Anymore
Some of us who spend too much time being careful like having an outrageous friend. The friend who makes broadly offensive challenging statements that undercut the generally vanilla consensus most of society gets by on. Sure, we don’t take what she says too seriously, but sometimes we’ll defend it as something that could be...
Catastrophe vs. Trivialization — More on Nuclear Meltdowns
I’m seeing this on Facebook a lot: this is too tragic to be trivialized. Meanwhile, even the New York Times is busting out headlines that shout “Nuclear Catastrophe!” I have opinions, and I did once work in the nuclear power industry. But I am not advocating anything (I don’t think). I just wish there...