WordPress keyboard shortcuts Jun 20, 2006
One thing I really like about WordPress is its ability to handle keyboard shortcuts in post-writing (assuming you're using the plain text editor, not the WYSIWYG editor) and comment-writing (assuming you have the Comment Quicktags plugin enabled).  The shortcuts can be seen (and edited) in the /wp-includes/js/quicktags.js file.  Here's a list of some common ones: 

Alt+a - Link
Alt+b - Bold
Alt+i - Italics
Alt+u - Unordered list (or in my case, Underline)
Alt+s - Insert (or in my case, Strike) #technology
Underlying Jun 20, 2006
[Sometimes I feel like Milhouse from the Simpsons when he said, "Bart, remember when I was crying at recess?  I think I'm finally ready to tell you why."]

I can't help but notice that there's almost always an underlying meaning/message/theme/etc. behind any thought, action, word, or problem.  A few weeks ago, I lost something in my house (I think it was a cable that connects a camera to a computer).  Not a big deal; not a big ticket item.  But the weird thing is that I had quite a bit of trouble getting it off my mind.  And when it came right down to it, it had nothing to do with the cable.  It had everything to do with the fact that I lost something.  I'm a pretty organized person, and I tend to have most things in order and under control.  That's how I am, and that's how I like things.  But losing something is like a shot in the face of my organized lifestyle.  It says that I'm not that organized and I don't have everything under control.  This really got to me. 

The drinking showdown I just wrote about yesterday is another good example of this.  The fact that I can't convince people of what I believe is nothing new to me.  That didn't really upset me.  What really got to me was the fact that I was arguing against a bunch of Christians who I think should have been agreeing with me in the first place.  It showed me that the group isn't as hardcore as I thought, and that kind of made me unhappy.  And it also had something to say about me as a leader, seeing that when people aren't following, it doesn't look like I'm leading.  And whether or not any of these notions are true is beside the point.  Truth often has nothing to do with feelings. 

When I was in high school, I was told by a friend that I didn't have an opinion about a certain issue because I didn't think.  This got me really mad and broke communications between the two of us for a while.  And when I think about it now, I realize that the reason the comment affected me so much was because it was true.  I don't think about things.  I claim to have a lot of thoughts and opinions, but there are certain huge topics that I conveniently glance past because I'm not interested or because they're threatening.  But to be called out on it was beyond what I could handle. 

I keep encountering new examples of this idea.  I feel like I'm Superman and I'm able to see through solid steel, or in this case, the veil of a problem.  Something comes up and I try to figure out what the solution would be, and then I realize that the problem isn't what I originally thought.  In fact, it's often far from what it seems. #psychology
Mathematical oddity (5) Jun 20, 2006
Does 0.99999... (0.9 repeating) equal 1?  Most people think so.  And this guy proves it.  I think the best proof he provided was this:  
10x = 9.9999999999...
- x = 0.9999999999...
---------------------
 9x = 9
  x = 1 = 0.9999999999...
The awesome part about this little mathematical oddity is that people get really mad about it and ferociously fight to explain their point of view.  I personally think we should burn at the stake anyone who doesn't agree.  At least I'm not angry about it.  (via Digg) #math
Hindsight (2) Jun 20, 2006
The saying goes, "Hindsight is 20/20".  For a while now, I've disagreed with it.  How can you say that, if given the chance, you wouldn't do things the way you did them?  But then it came to me last night:  The saying is true for small things, but not for big things.  For example, I can think back to a few many moments in my past that I'd like to undo.  If I could go back in time and do things differently or not do them at all, I would definitely make use of that opportunity.  There was the time when I sort of flipped out when playing football recently; the time when I flipped out while playing golf a while ago; the time when I flipped out when I lost Mike in the middle of Bonnaroo (notice a pattern here?).  These kinds of things were small events.  They didn't have a big impact on the grand scheme of things, but they caused more problems than they helped.  So if I could redo certain small events in my life, these are the kinds of things that I would use my hindsight to redo. 

But then there are the big things.  There was the time I got arrested; the time I drank until I puked; the time I drank until I puked; the time I lied to my parents about a road trip and they found out.  These are mostly bad things, and I have my regrets about their respective outcomes.  But I can't honestly say that I would do things differently if I had the chance.  In reality, if I was in the same situation at the same point in my life, surrounded by the same people, and involved in the same circumstances, I would most likely make these mistakes over again.  Sure, I can say that these things were "mistakes" and "I should've known better", but I'd probably do them all over again.  So maybe hindsight is 20/20 in these cases too, but if I had the opportunity to redo or undo these things, I wouldn't. #psychology
Groupthink (2) Jun 20, 2006
Groupthink is "the act or practice of reasoning or decision-making by a group, especially when characterized by uncritical acceptance or conformity to prevailing points of view."  I first learned this term in a psychology class in college.  It was new to me, but I quickly understood its meaning and relevance. 

I'm in a lot of groups in life.  At work, I'm on integrated product teams.  I take grad classes, so I have to do group projects.  But most importantly and most significantly, I'm in a lot of Bible studies and other similar Christian groups.  The thing with these kinds of groups is that they're full of lackluster Christians who don't have much of an opinion about anything and hardly want to be there in the first place (that's not always the case, but that's often what it looks like).  When it comes time for the group to make a decision, it's often tedious and drawn-out, and often ends with a forced suggestion by the leaders of the group.  But one thing I've found is that when an idea is suggested, it's often selected by default.  Since no other options are presented, the group goes with the only one on the table, even if it's ridiculous and nobody really likes it or agrees with it.  "Let's all drink some Kool-Aid and jump off that bridge."  Any other ideas?  No?  Ok, we'll go with that one.  In groups like this, a single person can have a lot of influence because they often encounter no opposition. #religion