The last fishing day of 2007 (December 29)
December 30, 2007
John K., Gary H. and I explored the upper part of the lower Deschutes River near Warm Springs, OR for our last shot at fishing in the 2007 calendar year.
BTW, as a reminder it is time for all of you to go out and grab your 2008 license.
It was a slow afternoon. We each hooked 1 to 3 fish. The fish I landed was a bit of a surprise – a nice bull trout which is a threatened species in the Deschutes Basin. These char can reach up to 30 inches or more in the Metolius River, but this is a fairly big bull for the Deschutes. The last one I saw caught was six years ago by John K. during December in the Warm Springs area also.
More fishing next year…… Happy New Year everyone!
- S.
Digitize Your Memories
December 26, 2007
Digitize Your Memories by Wilson Rothman (p. 106)
Money Magazine’s January 2008 issue by Wilson Rothman
Dust off your old photos: There’s now an easy way to get them onto your computer
What to Look For -
ScanCafe.com was given an A- rating.
They took the longest, but the wait was deemed worth it by the reviewers because:
* It delivered high-quality scans with good color, contrast and detail.
* It allows one to preview scans – which saves money (you only pay for those you request burned onto DVD/CD)
* It offered a low price of $0.27 per print and $0.19 per negative frame.
“DIGITIZE YOUR MEMORIES, by Wilson Rothman, page 106
Dust off your old photos: There’s now an easy way to get them onto your computer.
With a flatbed scanner and a whole lot of patience, you could scan in your own prints. But in the past few years, a host of scanning services have popped up, all eager to do the job for you. You send photos or negatives and the companies burn the images to a CD or DVD, the contents of which you can upload to your computer, no sweat. MONEY uncovers the best companies to care for your photos.”
Winter humor with Calvin & Hobbes: Calvin and the Snowmen
December 26, 2007
My friend Dr. Michael F. passed this one along -
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/zzaran/calvin.html
A little gem from my friend Tom G.:
Provocative Tax Allegory/Parable
December 26, 2007
I publish this provacative tax allegory here in tribute to my good friend Rob M. who I respect heartily and those of you who know me well know that I’m a bit of a political enigma……
- S.
http://www.chinatownconnection.com/tax-cut-rich.htm
Tax Cut For the Rich Explained
Sometimes politicians, journalists and others exclaim; “It’s just a tax cut for the rich!” and that is just accepted to be fact, without question. But what does that really mean? Just in case you are not completely clear on this issue, the following might help.Let’s put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer, drink the same amount, and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1…
The sixth would pay $3…
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So , that’s what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.”Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
“I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,” but he got $10!”
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!”
“That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, PhD
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
More humor (and irony) – fewer fishing pictures for the moment
December 22, 2007
Cubism at Intel
I guess the Conan O’Brien coverage convinced someone at Intel they needed some better PR re: The Cube Farm….
http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070506/conan-intel-video/
http://www.brainstormnw.com/coverstory.html
Escape from the Cube (Cubism – Thinking Outside and Working Inside the Box)
Inside Intel’s plans for open work spaces
By Lisa Baker
Cubism: Early 1900s European art technique popularized by Picasso and Braque depicting complex scenes as simplified planes, lines and geometric shapes.
Rubik’s Cube: Three-dimensional puzzle produced by Ideal Toys in 1980 that challenges players to arrange sets of squares until each side of the cube is a single color.
Cubicle: Space enclosed on multiple sides with partitions.
Prairie Dogging: A phenomenon in which cubicle workers pop up to look over partition walls.
Connoisseurs of Pablo Picasso’s foray into cubism have called the resulting work “simultaneously seductive and horrifying.”
While cubism was revolutionary, even radical, most people found it baffling, disturbing, even surreal, having little resemblance to the world as they knew it.
Much later, in the 1980s, the Rubik’s Cube was invented and it too was baffling to many. Even disturbing.
Nevertheless, cubism made the leap from art and puzzles to office space, popularized by newly formed tech companies whose rising tide of white-collar office workers needed space — quickly and on the cheap.
To install thousands of new tech workers in full-size offices — with doors — would have been catastrophically expensive to fragile new ventures. And the previously popular bullpen design had drawn criticism from workers who said the environment was too noisy and distracting.
In every way, for its time, the cubicle was perfect.
Intel Corp. liked the simplicity, and the egalitarian aspect. No competition for corner offices: Everyone was equal. Combined with muted colors and high partitions, there was little chance for bullpen-like distraction. Everyone would be absorbed in work, and productivity would be the sparkling result.
The cubicle became the staple of office design. Everyone had them: tech companies, banks, accounting firms.
It wasn’t long before the complaints began. Workers noticed that while the walls offered visual shields from the more obnoxious colleagues, sound traveled through them as if they weren’t there. High partitions blocked any natural light. Drab colors accentuated the depressing atmosphere. Some complained that the partitions also made it hard to collaborate with colleagues. The maze of floor after floor of identical cubes was confusing, even with the labeled alphanumeric pillars arranged to help with navigation.
Irritation gave way to hilarity with the launch of “Dilbert,” a comic about the lives and times of a cadre of sad sack cubicle dwellers.
Despite complaints and mockery, it appeared the iconic cubicle was here to stay. Inhabitants, after all, were making the best of it. Articles in business magazines suggested ways to personalize cubicles with homey décor and some workers took it to heart, posting photos of family and friends, bringing in objets d’art of various sorts. Others “decorated” with another ’90s innovation: Post-It notes.
Even Yahoo — the upstart, the maverick, the “fun” company — resorted to cubicles when it opened its customer service center in Hillsboro in 2005. They were brightly colored cubicles, but cubes just the same.
And then came October with the astonishing announcement: Intel was undergoing a redesign which could — wait for it — replace its infamous cube farms with Something New.
The startled reaction among other companies was palpable.
“Wow. I just don’t know,” said Ry Schwark, spokesman for Wilsonville-based Mentor Graphics. “Intel without cubicles,” he mused. “Isn’t that the second sign of the Apocalypse?”
On the drawing board: Wide open work areas similar to airline lounges with multiple computer stations that anyone can use, conversation areas with cushy chairs, small conference rooms for teamwork. The few remaining cubicles, Intel says, would be reserved for those whose tasks require them.
A prototype will be constructed this year on Hillsboro’s Intel campus. Two others will be built, one at Intel’s Santa Clara campus and one at the Chandler, Ariz., location. A final decision on design will come three months after installation of the pilot workspaces.
The new idea, Intel officials say, is fallout from Intel’s own survey in May, which found that 88 percent of its employees hated their cubes. (Actually, in company parlance, the survey results said it was “time for a change.”) More than half of the respondents said they wanted radical change rather than cosmetic measures.
Neil Tunmore, who is overseeing the change, said the company discovered its employees were working outside their habitats, er, cubicles, 60 percent of the time — in conference rooms, cafes or at home. Intel’s interpretation of the data is that its employees are finding places elsewhere to collaborate with one another — something they will be able to do in-house with the new, “flex” spaces.
Tripp Robinson, Intel’s emergency manager, is an 18-year inmate whose 6-foot-4 frame isn’t designed for cubicle life. He says he’s excited by the idea of more open space.
His biggest frustration: Cubicle walls are so tall that even at his height he can’t see who’s “home” and who’s not, requiring him to navigate the maze to find colleagues who most often aren’t there. So, often, meetings are scheduled online. Face-to-face meetings require finding communal space such as open conference rooms, which are frequently booked days or weeks in advance. The last and most common solution: taking the long jaunt to the cafeteria, where creativity competes with the clatter and chatter of mealtime.
Robinson says that because Intel’s workforce is more mobile than ever — laptops, cell phones and wireless tech — no one has to be tied to the cube anymore anyway. “You can really work anywhere now,” he says. Even personal storage isn’t an issue anymore because most people store information online instead of in paper files. “Even if I’m a packrat online, I can access it anywhere.”
But the new design isn’t universally loved. Tunmore says there’s been some “push-back” from Intel workers who believe the new ideas are company-speak for “we’re taking your office away.”
There’s also the issue of the remaining cubicles for those with what Tunmore calls “heads-down” work. They’re smaller than the current 8-by-6-foot cube.
Bill MacKenzie, Intel spokesman, says the space will be compensated for with new, smaller furniture and less storage space, which is often unused anyway.
No word on what employees think of smaller furniture.
If one company’s experience with redesign holds true, Intel could be looking at more than a little grousing in the ranks.
Fortune magazine, in a 2006 history-of-the-cubicle tour de force, related a similar anti-cube revolution in 1993, when the Chiat/Day advertising agency in New York attempted a “loungy” Starbucks-like design where workers came and went but had no designated workplace. The January 2005 edition of Architectural Review hailed the lounge act as “prophetic” and “an exuberant playpen.” But worker disaffection, according to Fortune, was massive: They simply stayed home and telecommuted.
But Intel isn’t the first global high-tech company to re-examine its workplace.
Hewlett-Packard last year announced changes of its own along a similar theme: more “open seating and shared team spaces to increase collaboration and innovation,” according to the company’s press release.
But the change is not just about employee comfort — or even about encouraging collaboration. It’s also about dollars.
As Cisco Systems told Fortune last year, open workspaces make it possible to fit more employees into less space without sacrificing morale. For Cisco, it meant 140 people could fit into a space where bulky cubicles once accommodated only 88. Hewlett-Packard’s renovations — planned for all of its offices — are expected to reduce expenses by $230 million in their first year, according to Fortune’s report.
While Intel stresses worker benefits as the reason behind the renovation, Tunmore acknowledges that it will mean significant real-estate savings as Intel sells off excess buildings and stops having to lease others.
Cash-savvy or no, PGE spokesman Steve Corson, speaking from a taupe-colored cube within PGE central, says cubicles have their uses. PGE, he says, uses a variety of work station designs but uses cubes where they fit the tasks at hand. Corson says he doesn’t mind his personal cube, which is decorated sparsely — mostly photos of family. “Cubicles are a fact of life in the work world,” he says. While most workers at PGE are understated in their choices of cube décor, some have become more daring — such as the employee whose habitat is dressed top to bottom in pink. “She’s fond of pink,” Corson explains.
Julie Schroeder, program manager for the sales arm of Wilsonville’s Mentor Graphics, is enjoying a full-size office-with-a-door, as do most of the company’s staff. Hers comprises sufficient space for a truckload of Elvis memorabilia. The clock with the swinging Elvis legs, the Elvis lunchbox, Elvis posters and the Elvis bank which belts out an Elvis tune with every deposit. At one time, there was a full-size Elvis cutout, but it seemed too much.
Schroeder revels in the space because she was once a cubie herself.
A self-described Loud Talker, she found that her fellow cubies did not appreciate being her neighbors. “Even now when I’m on the phone, people come and shut my office door. At least I have a door to shut.”
Schwark, spokesman for Mentor Graphics, says that while there are a few “small group cubes” at the company’s campus, most work spaces are traditional offices with doors. “A lot of people think an office is a sign of respect and autonomy and much of the base here are knowledge workers — smart people trying to noodle on problems. We built the space in the way it works for them, with lots of windows, a lovely campus with water features and wetlands. It helps them relax a bit and engage in deep thought.”
Sigh.
But is there room for yoga? Answer, according to Schwark: You’ll have to move your chair.
Barbara Baker, vice president for culture enhancement at Roseburg-based Umpqua Bank, says that while her company has cubicles at its corporate offices, it eliminated the feature at its branches so that managers and other bank staff could more easily mix with customers. “The managers now work out with the public — out mingling. There are shelves with computer access if those are needed.” The idea, Baker says, is to enhance customer service and make staff more approachable.
However, when the task at hand, such as opening an account, involves the exchange of private financial information, there are offices for that.
Baker says she remembers when she worked in a cubicle. At the time, it was hard to imagine life outside of it, she says. “It was all about the cube. It was your identity. People would decorate them and even though the wall wasn’t a real wall, you’d start thinking about it that way. It wasn’t my favorite environment, but I stayed in my cube and did my thing.”
Now, she says, business is much more about teamwork. It requires being able to mix with team members — or, if the job is customer service, mix freely with customers.
At the very least, the changes at Intel — and other companies — might cut down on the cubicle comedy, renewed in October when Conan O’Brien visited Intel’s Santa Clara campus with a camera crew and walked the cube mazes, congratulating the company on the perfect coordination of its gray-on-gray color scheme. Told that the cubicles ensure everyone at Intel is treated equally, O’Brien dead-panned, “Yes, it makes people feel that they’re all basically the same, that there is no individuality … no hope … no sense that life has possibilities … ”
With changes potentially coming in the next year, Intel’s Robinson is definitely feeling a sense of hope as he exclaims: “They’re taking down the walls!”
Top 10 Drawbacks to Working in a Cubicle
1. Being told to “think outside the box” when you’re in a freakin’ box all day long.
2. Not being able to check email attachments without turning around to see who’s behind you.
3. Cubicle walls do not offer much protection from any kind of gun fire.
4. That nagging feeling that if you press the right button, you’ll get a piece of cheese.
5. Lack of roof rafters for the noose.
6. The walls are too close together for the hammock to work right.
7. 23 power cords, one outlet.
8. Prison cells are not only bigger, they also have beds.
9. The carpet has been there since 1976 and shows more signs of life than your co-workers.
10. You can’t walk out and slam the door when you quit.
Source: Cubiclecoffee.com
Seventy-two Virgins by Steve Martin (The New Yorker)
December 22, 2007
Shouts & Murmurs
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2007/01/29/070129sh_shouts_martin
Seventy-two Virgins
by Steve Martin January 29, 2007
Virgin No. 1: Yuck.
Virgin No. 2: Ick.
Virgin No. 3: Ew.
Virgin No. 4: Ow.
Virgin No. 5: Do you like cats? I have fourteen!
Virgin No. 6: I’m Becky. I’ll be legal in two years.
Virgin No. 7: Here, I’ll just pull down your zipper. Oh, sorry!
Virgin No. 8: Can we cuddle first?
Virgin No. 9: It was a garlic-and-onion pizza. Why?
Virgin No. 10: … so I see Heath, and he goes, “Like, what are you doing here?,” and I go, “I’m hangin’ out,” so he goes, “Like, what?” …
Virgin No. 11: First you’re going to have to show me an up-to-date health certificate.
Virgin No. 12: Hurry! My parents are due home!
Virgin No. 13: Do you want the regular or the special?
Virgin No. 14: I’m eighty-four. So what?
Virgin No. 15: Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Virgin No. 16: Even I know that’s tiny.
Virgin No. 17: “Do it”? Meaning what?
Virgin No. 18: I’m saving myself for Jesus.
Virgin No. 19: Somewhere on my body I have hidden a buffalo nickel.
Virgin No. 20: Don’t touch my hair!
Virgin No. 21: I hope you’re not going to sleep with me and then go sleep with seventy-one others.
Virgin No. 22: Do you mind if we listen to Mannheim Steamroller?
Virgin No. 23: Are you O.K. with the dog on the bed?
Virgin No. 24: Would you mind saying, “Could I see you in my office, Miss Witherspoon?”?
Virgin No. 25: Ride me! Ride me, Lucky Buck!
Virgin No. 26: You like your vanilla hot?
Virgin No. 27: Does Ookums like Snookums?
Virgin No. 28: It’s so romantic here, dead.
Virgin No. 29: Well, I’m a virgin, but my hand isn’t.
Virgin No. 30: You are in?
Virgin No. 31: Hi, cowboy. I just rode down from Brokeback Mountain.
Virgin No. 32: I’m a virgin because I’m so ugly.
Virgin No. 33: You like-ee?
Virgin No. 34: I’ll betcha you can’t get an erection. Go on, impress me. C’mon, show me. Show me, big shot.
Virgin No. 35: By the way, here in Heaven “virgin” has a slightly different meaning. It means “chatty.”
Virgin No. 36: Sure, I like you, but as a friend.
Virgin No. 37: No kissing. I save that for my boyfriend.
Virgin No. 38: I’m Zania, from the planet Xeron. My vagina is on my foot.
Virgin No. 39: It’s a lesion, and, no, I don’t know what kind.
Virgin No. 40: I’m Jewish. Why do you ask?
Virgin No. 41: Hi, I’m Becky. Oh, whoops—you again.
Virgin No. 42: I just love camping! Camping is so great! Can we go camping sometime?
Virgin No. 43: In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m a single mom.
Virgin No. 44: You like my breasts? They were my graduation gift.
Virgin No. 45: When you’re done, you should really check out how cool this ceiling is.
Virgin No. 46: I’m almost there. Just another couple of hours.
Virgin No. 47: Get your own beer, you nitwit.
Virgin No. 48: No, you’ve got it wrong. We’re in the Paradise Casino.
Virgin No. 49: I really enjoyed that. Thank you very much. Gee, it’s late.
Virgin No. 50: You make me feel like a real woman. And after this is over I’m going to find one.
Virgin No. 51: What do you mean, “move a little”?
Virgin No. 52: Not now, I’m on my BlackBerry.
Virgin No. 53: I love it when you put on your pants and leave.
Virgin No. 54: We’ve been together twenty-four hours now, and, you know, sometimes it’s O.K. to say something mildly humorous.
Virgin No. 55: That was terrible. I should have listened to the other virgins.
Virgin No. 56: I think I found it. Is that it? Oh. Is this it? Oh, this must be it. No?
Virgin No. 57: It must be hot in here, because I know it’s not me.
Virgin No. 58: Those are my testicles.
Virgin No. 59: Did you know that “virgin” is an anagram of Irving?
Virgin No. 60: First “Spamalot,” then sex.
Virgin No. 61: Great! I was hoping for circumcised.
Virgin No. 62: Was that it?
Virgin No. 63: Dang. George Clooney was being reckless on a motorcycle, but instead I got you.
Virgin No. 64: Tonight, I become a woman. But until then you can call me Bob.
Virgin No. 65: They’re called “adult diapers.” Why?
Virgin No. 66: We could do it here for free, or on a stage in Düsseldorf for money.
Virgin No. 67: I’m just Virgin No. 67 to you, right?
Virgin No. 68: Pee-yoo. Are you wearing Aramis?
Virgin No. 69: Condom, please.
Virgin No. 70: My name is Mother Teresa.
Virgin No. 71: I’m not very good at this, but let’s start with the Reverse Lotus Blossom.
Virgin No. 72: It was paradise, until you showed up. ♦
Holiday Greetings!
December 22, 2007
Happy Holidays everyone! May you and yours have a healthy, happy 2007 holiday season.
I thought this comic would amuse some of you as a end of year commentary on multi-tasking in academia and business in our society.
Best,
Seth
P.S. - Also, if you click on this highlighted field, you will receive a copy of our family holiday letter – holiday-2007.pdf
Additionally, the family blog is tomatofamilyjournal.wordpress.com
