Don't need adjectives Sep 30, 2013
Neil DeGrasse Tyson on how big the sun would look if you were standing on the surface of Mercury:  "Twice as big ... When we can quantify it, you don't need adjectives."
On cat videos Sep 26, 2013
On the Media's take on the appeal of internet cat videos over dog videos:  "Dog owners want their dog to be human, and cat owners want to be a cat."
Call it a day Sep 20, 2013
I was driving to work the other day, and I hit traffic right from the get-go.  Normally my 11-mile commute is quiet and uneventful, but occasionally there are a few small backups.  The first backup happened before I even left my town.  The second backup happened so far from any backup I've seen before, I wasn't sure what was even happening.  By the third backup, I should've just turned around and called it a day.  It's one thing if traffic and whatnot is part of your daily life.  But when there are several events that disrupt your day first thing in the morning, what's the point of continuing?  I should've just gone back home and taken a nap, then tried again later.  Or not at all.  It's not like this day was any more important than any other day.  Life's too short to sit around in traffic waiting to get to work.
Ratings and opinions Sep 17, 2013
I started using Goodreads because I wanted some good book recommendations.  But the feature I use most often is simply browsing the books with the highest ratings.  The problem with this is immediately evident:  Highly-rated books aren't necessarily good.  But the other thing I've noticed is that highly-rated books of a specific genre aren't necessarily good if you don't like the genre.  For example, if you're into the young adult dystopian genre and happen to like all the highly-rated books, you might not be able to simply go over to the science fiction genre and immediately like all their best offerings.  In fact, you might end up liking some of the lower-rated ones, because science fiction just isn't your thing, or because the people who like science fiction might rate books based on a certain set of criteria that isn't the same across different genres. 

In conclusion, book ratings are fairly useless, as are pretty much any ratings of things based on personal opinions, which is pretty much everything.  The end.
Windows on shared computers (1) Sep 12, 2013
Every time I go to a meeting at work where there's a shared computer in the conference or meeting room, here's what happens: 
  1. User starts the computer and waits for it to boot.
  2. User logs on.
  3. Computer displays "Welcome..." for 5 minutes.
  4. Computer displays "Setting up your desktop..." for 5 minutes.
  5. User closes the various popups and program setup windows and starts Powerpoint.
  6. Computer asks user to identify self.
  7. Computer flashes a variety of useless, obtrusive features of Windows software.
This is dumb.  And it feels like one of those things Microsoft should've worked out by this point.  The only thing people want on a shared computer is simple, quick access to the features they need right away -- basic file management and office software.  Why isn't there an option on the login screen called "Quick Start" or something?