To stand out
I walk about
With colours bright
To show you light
What is it you desire?
That which you admire,
It puts your mind on fire!
Excel, my friend, come out!
You are such a wonderful sight!
2013-08-06
2013-07-02
A problem with Word
"Can you come to my office, quickly, I need help!"
I run to the office, where the client is working with a document in Microsoft Word.
"See, here is a graph of our economy the last 5 years."
"Yes?"
"And as you can see, we have spent more money this year than last year."
"Yes?"
"How do I write, with some good phrases, why we spent more money this year than last year?"
"You click here and start typing."
"Yes, of course, but what words do I use?"
"Errr... just explain why we spent more money?"
"But exactly which word to I write?"
"I don't quite see how this is an IT problem."
"It's in Microsoft Word."
Give me strength! (This incident happened to me a few years ago.)
I run to the office, where the client is working with a document in Microsoft Word.
"See, here is a graph of our economy the last 5 years."
"Yes?"
"And as you can see, we have spent more money this year than last year."
"Yes?"
"How do I write, with some good phrases, why we spent more money this year than last year?"
"You click here and start typing."
"Yes, of course, but what words do I use?"
"Errr... just explain why we spent more money?"
"But exactly which word to I write?"
"I don't quite see how this is an IT problem."
"It's in Microsoft Word."
Give me strength! (This incident happened to me a few years ago.)
2013-06-13
The three symptoms of stress
Once upon a time, the three brothers Stress Symptoms were going to an overworked business to make some lives miserable. On their way there, they had to cross the desk of a fierce bureaucrat. First, little Headache had to cross the desk.
"Who is aching on my desk?" asked the bureaucrat.
"It's the little Headache, and I'm on my way to make some overworked lives miserable."
"Ha! I chomp down Headaches with my extra strong coffee every ten minutes!"
"Oh no! Please, don't caffeinate me! After me comes my bigger brother, a much bigger Stress Symptom!"
"Fine! You may go."
And so, the little Headache went on to make some lives miserable in the office.
Next to cross the desk of the fierce bureaucrat was the average drowsy Sleeplessness.
"Who is drowsing on my desk?" asked the bureaucrat.
"It's the average drowsy Sleeplessness. I'm on my way to make some overworked lives miserable my making them sleepless at night and drowsy at day."
"Ha! I chomp down Sleeplessness with prescription drugs every night! Muahahahaha!"
"Oh no! Please, don't drug me! After me comes the greatest Stress Symptom of all!"
"Fine! You may go."
And so, the office got drowsy, nobody slept at night and productivity halted.
Finally came the great Heart Attack.
"Who is attacking my desk?" asked the bureaucrat.
"It's the great Heart Attack! I'm on my way to relieve some overworked lives from their misery."
And so the bureaucrat died.
"Who is aching on my desk?" asked the bureaucrat.
"It's the little Headache, and I'm on my way to make some overworked lives miserable."
"Ha! I chomp down Headaches with my extra strong coffee every ten minutes!"
"Oh no! Please, don't caffeinate me! After me comes my bigger brother, a much bigger Stress Symptom!"
"Fine! You may go."
And so, the little Headache went on to make some lives miserable in the office.
Next to cross the desk of the fierce bureaucrat was the average drowsy Sleeplessness.
"Who is drowsing on my desk?" asked the bureaucrat.
"It's the average drowsy Sleeplessness. I'm on my way to make some overworked lives miserable my making them sleepless at night and drowsy at day."
"Ha! I chomp down Sleeplessness with prescription drugs every night! Muahahahaha!"
"Oh no! Please, don't drug me! After me comes the greatest Stress Symptom of all!"
"Fine! You may go."
And so, the office got drowsy, nobody slept at night and productivity halted.
Finally came the great Heart Attack.
"Who is attacking my desk?" asked the bureaucrat.
"It's the great Heart Attack! I'm on my way to relieve some overworked lives from their misery."
And so the bureaucrat died.
2013-05-03
Celebrating the Norwegian constitution
May 17th
May 17th is Constitution Day in Norway. Albeit everyone agrees that the day is to be celebrated with parades, flags and speeches, the country is fairly split about the details. Some like their sour cream porridge with sugar and cinnamon only, while others insist on having a dash of butter on it, sugar is optional and yet others prefer a hot dog.
Being a day to celebrate the constitution, which was signed during the power vaccuum between the fall of Napoleon and Norway being handed over to Sweden, gave birth to the independent kingdom of Norway. The king was imported from Denmark to secure royal blood, which means the King was Norway's first official immigrant.
The conflict
Fast forward 2013 and the 199th celebration of the Norwegian Constitution. The details are still being decided by local comitees, making it an incredibly democratic and diverse celebration. In the city of Ålesund, a school celebrates its 90th year, and want to show off the diverse roots of its students. They have already made paper flags showing the Norwegian flag on one side and their country of origin on the other side. They as the local committee if these flags may be used as an additional prop during this year's parade. The committee allows this.
From this, it doesn't take long before a right wing online paper puts up the headline "Children will be denied waving the Norwegian flag on May 17th". And representatives of anti-immigration political parties make a big deal out of the idea that "we are celebrating Norway, not the UN!" and "Celebrating with any other flag than the Norwegian flag is an incidence of misunderstood multiculturalism."
Democracy
One of the things the constitution secures is local democracy. As such, any attempts to overturn the decisions made locally on something as little as this is an insult to the same constitution that is to be celebrated. I am not and advocate of suspending democracy in order to celebrate democracy.
How Ålesund decides to celebrate the constitution is completely their own thing. I may have opinions about it, but it is their celebration, and I am more than happy to let them make their own decisions.
Inclusion
For my own part, I recall the years I celebrated national days in other countries. In the US, I felt the strong patriotism from the Americans around me, this was a celebration of the USA, it was about how it was the best country in the world. As an alien, I did not really feel welcome. I could really feel my status, not only as a guest, but as a guest whose presence was completely irrelevant. Largely, I ended up staying at home or away from people on 4th of July.
Canada was a great contrast to this. More strangers than usual spoke to me. Everyone were happy. The concept was "come, let's celebrate Canada's birthday. I don't care who you are, let's just celebrate and be happy!" I always felt welcome on 1st of July. It made me very happy about being in Canada. It made me feel proud to be a Canadian, even though I very well knew that I was not.
For "my own country", I would much rather have "guests" experience the inclusion I experienced in Canada. Did I see other flags in Canada than the Canadian? Hell yes!
The alternative
The Norwegian flag of 1814 - and it is May 17th 1814 we are celebrating, right? Looked quite different. We should possibly pull these out of our great grand parents' closets. That said, we are not even celebrating the flag or the nation as such. The day is called "constitution day" and it is the constitution we celebrate.
I therefore suggest that we all print our own copy of the consitution and celebrate by bringing it with us in the parade, where we can discuss the terminology, legal implications and loopholes. Another idea is to have fleets that visualize the various paragraphs in the constitution. We could have concerts where the constitution is used as the lyrics. There are so many constitution-things we could do.
In the end, I can only quote Bill and Ted: Be excellent to each other, and party on dudes!
May 17th is Constitution Day in Norway. Albeit everyone agrees that the day is to be celebrated with parades, flags and speeches, the country is fairly split about the details. Some like their sour cream porridge with sugar and cinnamon only, while others insist on having a dash of butter on it, sugar is optional and yet others prefer a hot dog.
Being a day to celebrate the constitution, which was signed during the power vaccuum between the fall of Napoleon and Norway being handed over to Sweden, gave birth to the independent kingdom of Norway. The king was imported from Denmark to secure royal blood, which means the King was Norway's first official immigrant.
The conflict
Fast forward 2013 and the 199th celebration of the Norwegian Constitution. The details are still being decided by local comitees, making it an incredibly democratic and diverse celebration. In the city of Ålesund, a school celebrates its 90th year, and want to show off the diverse roots of its students. They have already made paper flags showing the Norwegian flag on one side and their country of origin on the other side. They as the local committee if these flags may be used as an additional prop during this year's parade. The committee allows this.
From this, it doesn't take long before a right wing online paper puts up the headline "Children will be denied waving the Norwegian flag on May 17th". And representatives of anti-immigration political parties make a big deal out of the idea that "we are celebrating Norway, not the UN!" and "Celebrating with any other flag than the Norwegian flag is an incidence of misunderstood multiculturalism."
Democracy
One of the things the constitution secures is local democracy. As such, any attempts to overturn the decisions made locally on something as little as this is an insult to the same constitution that is to be celebrated. I am not and advocate of suspending democracy in order to celebrate democracy.
How Ålesund decides to celebrate the constitution is completely their own thing. I may have opinions about it, but it is their celebration, and I am more than happy to let them make their own decisions.
Inclusion
For my own part, I recall the years I celebrated national days in other countries. In the US, I felt the strong patriotism from the Americans around me, this was a celebration of the USA, it was about how it was the best country in the world. As an alien, I did not really feel welcome. I could really feel my status, not only as a guest, but as a guest whose presence was completely irrelevant. Largely, I ended up staying at home or away from people on 4th of July.
Canada was a great contrast to this. More strangers than usual spoke to me. Everyone were happy. The concept was "come, let's celebrate Canada's birthday. I don't care who you are, let's just celebrate and be happy!" I always felt welcome on 1st of July. It made me very happy about being in Canada. It made me feel proud to be a Canadian, even though I very well knew that I was not.
For "my own country", I would much rather have "guests" experience the inclusion I experienced in Canada. Did I see other flags in Canada than the Canadian? Hell yes!
The alternativeThe Norwegian flag of 1814 - and it is May 17th 1814 we are celebrating, right? Looked quite different. We should possibly pull these out of our great grand parents' closets. That said, we are not even celebrating the flag or the nation as such. The day is called "constitution day" and it is the constitution we celebrate.
I therefore suggest that we all print our own copy of the consitution and celebrate by bringing it with us in the parade, where we can discuss the terminology, legal implications and loopholes. Another idea is to have fleets that visualize the various paragraphs in the constitution. We could have concerts where the constitution is used as the lyrics. There are so many constitution-things we could do.
In the end, I can only quote Bill and Ted: Be excellent to each other, and party on dudes!
2013-03-21
Bettervision 2013: Nominees
All songs have been picked for ESC 2013. I have been tempted to go to every country's own finale to find songs that should have been picked, though I will leave that for later. For now, based on the lyrics of each song, I nominate the following countries for Bettervision 2013:
Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Russia, Slovenia, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Latvia, Romania, San Marino and Germany. Playlist:
I don't know if it is Bettervision 2012 that has had an impact, but the number of songs nominated in 2013 is higher than in 2012. The songs will now be evaluated for the following criteria:
Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Russia, Slovenia, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Latvia, Romania, San Marino and Germany. Playlist:
I don't know if it is Bettervision 2012 that has had an impact, but the number of songs nominated in 2013 is higher than in 2012. The songs will now be evaluated for the following criteria:
- Law of attraction
- Musical addictiveness
- Inspiration
I noticed that many songs this year fall into one of two categories:
- Things happening in the universe as an excuse to stick with just you and me and I love you.
- Stuck with how bad things are / craving for things to become better.
I disqualified most of these songs, as they did not really show a way to a better world.
2013-03-13
And so the snow arrives...
Suddenly, the snow came waltzing in from the ocean and dumped itself upon our land...
2013-01-02
Checking the control of firearms
If you had told me a year ago that I would write an article about gun control, I would have thought you were insane. Alas, here I am, trying to be sane while putting together statistics that go in the face of what is considered "common knowledge" around here.
After the Sandy Hook shooting, the issue of gun control in the USA has lit up again, with all the typical arguments back and forth and people not listening to each other. And as usual, the "second amendment" side of the argument often does not see the difference between gun control and gun ban.
Also, there is a lot of pointing to the fact that tobacco is a much greater cause for death than gun violence as a reason not to do anything about gun violence. By this logic, we should also eliminate research on HIV, since tobacco tops also this.
That said, one of the main arguments of the gun control side is that the greater the gun density, the greater the homicide-by-gun-rate. One video I found on the subject made a very strange selection of countries to compare with, creating a feeling of a very biased view. So I continued searching until I found some interesting world data at the Guardian with gun ownership and gun violence rates are listed per country in the entire world.
As is typical, data is presented in a huge table made to confuse you, as you are able to digest only small portions of the data at a time. To see if there is a correlation, one needs to put it in a 2D graph. And so I did:
After the Sandy Hook shooting, the issue of gun control in the USA has lit up again, with all the typical arguments back and forth and people not listening to each other. And as usual, the "second amendment" side of the argument often does not see the difference between gun control and gun ban.
Also, there is a lot of pointing to the fact that tobacco is a much greater cause for death than gun violence as a reason not to do anything about gun violence. By this logic, we should also eliminate research on HIV, since tobacco tops also this.
That said, one of the main arguments of the gun control side is that the greater the gun density, the greater the homicide-by-gun-rate. One video I found on the subject made a very strange selection of countries to compare with, creating a feeling of a very biased view. So I continued searching until I found some interesting world data at the Guardian with gun ownership and gun violence rates are listed per country in the entire world.
As is typical, data is presented in a huge table made to confuse you, as you are able to digest only small portions of the data at a time. To see if there is a correlation, one needs to put it in a 2D graph. And so I did:
The USA is to the far right. Honduras is top left. One could argue that the countries with gun homicide rates above 10 are suffering from something far worse than the number of guns, and that a pattern for gun control may be found if we remove countries with civil war, lack of law, etc. So I removed all countries with a gun violence rate above 5, and got this:
I was a bit surprised to see this. There is only a slight indication that there is a correlation between gun density and gun related homicides when the homicide rate drops below 1. However, even then, it is very clear that other factors have a much greater impact on gun related homicides than the number of guns.
So if gun violence is a symptom, then gun control is a superficial treatment of the symptom, and a sleeping pillow for those who think gun control alone is the number one factor. It does not address the real question: why do so many people want to hurt other people? What is it about society in each of these countries that make people more or less violent? If you can answer that question and implement strategies to correct the social issues, that is likely to have a much greater impact than gun control alone.
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