Seeds Of Doubt
We pride ourselves on our skepticism and our nullius in verba approach to scientific questions. Many people are familiar with the works of Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, and Martin Gardner. The vague platitudes of astrology and the self-delusion of television psychics are not for us. However, scientists such as ourselves are not immune to self-delusion, and even the brightest among us can fall prey to the substitution of wishful thinking for rigorous logic when the science points to conclusions that uncomfortably conflict with our world view.
Posted: May 21st, 2011
at 4:00pm by mnp
Categories: too good to be true,politricks,fo' real?,science,"ninja",development,philosophy
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Most of Your Work Sucks
In the ten or so years I’ve been shooting photos, I cannot tell you how many I’ve taken. Not because the number is so staggeringly large (it’s probably under 100,000) but because I’ve deleted so many I have no way to keep an accurate tally anymore. If you were to look through the ones that I’ve deemed "good enough" to keep, you’d probably say that most of them sucked. This culling process is one of the reasons there are only 85 photographs on my website, spread across 5 different categories. Still, looking at that site now, with nearly a year between today and my last significant photography project, I could easily cut half the shots featured there.
But, that’s the nature of creative work. Nobody produces all masterpieces. In a medium like photography, creating great work means producing a lot of work. When Ansel Adams was still a full time professional landscape photographer, he used to say he was doing great if he got 12 significant images per year. In a medium like writing, creating great work means not only producing a lot of work, but doing even more editing. Honing ideas, stories, scenes, and phrases until they are as good as they can reasonably be. Even though most of your output may suck, with enough refinement, you can eventually produce something fantastic.
Posted: May 21st, 2011
at 10:55am by mnp
Categories: myninjaplease,life,art,too good to be true,weaponry,photo,development,blogs
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"Look Ma, No Hands" aka Pragmatic Solutions to Sagging Pants
In an effort to show you that they have nothing better to do than act racist, the Florida legislature has approved a bill to outlaw, not only sagging pants, but all other manner of fun and tomfoolery, like hands-free biking and whatnot (…wonder if this applies to unicycles).
From TCPalm:
The "sagging pants bill"
Belt (blt) n. — A band, as of leather or cloth, worn around the waist to support clothing.
It probably won’t show up on their SAT vocabulary list anytime soon, but if a few legislators get their way, Florida students might have to reacquaint themselves with this old-fashioned piece of clothing that seems to have gone the way of the wristwatch in recent years.
Concerned that too many kids these days are lookin’ like fools with their pants on the ground, in late March the Florida Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 228 — dubbed the "sagging pants bill." A similar version is ready for a full House vote, but it doesn’t seem likely this late in session.
The bill would require school districts to adopt a dress code policy that forbids students from wearing clothing that "exposes underwear or body parts in an indecent or vulgar manner." Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, has been pushing the bill since 2005.
Scofflaws could face penalties ranging from a verbal warning to an in-school suspension.
"I would think the dress code issue would have already been dealt with by the schools," said Jessica Baker, 25, of Port St. Lucie. (source, which I recommend reading)
So if this all sounds very 2007 to you, that’s because it is.
In response to any concerns about accidental exposure, a colleague and friend of mine has located the following, extremely pragmatic, solution:
Posted: May 10th, 2011
at 9:08am by Black Ock
Categories: too good to be true,politricks,real life news
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Dining Out
Getting some grub…
Posted: May 5th, 2011
at 4:27pm by mnp
Categories: myninjaplease,too good to be true,grub,real life news,"ninja",10th dan
Comments: 1 comment
Every Bird Should Get to Fly
Posted: May 1st, 2011
at 7:05pm by mnp
Categories: youtube,too good to be true,10th dan
Comments: 1 comment
Evolution of the MBA
Posted: April 28th, 2011
at 3:51pm by mnp
Categories: life,too good to be true,business,mnp is for the children,"ninja",education
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The Atomic Garden
Eradicating famine? My ninja, please.
After WWII, there was a concerted effort to find ‘peaceful’ uses for atomic energy. One of the ideas was to bombard plants with radiation and produce lots of mutations, some of which, it was hoped, would lead to plants that bore more heavily or were disease or cold-resistant or just had unusual colors. (Source)
Posted: April 25th, 2011
at 11:39am by mnp
Categories: myninjaplease,too good to be true,green,science,ethics
Comments: No comments
The High Heel Bubble?
I sincerely hope education is a bubble. If it is a bubble, it will eventually pop, and we will find our way to a global maxima. But I don’t see much reason for optimism. I expect that rather than popping, the education industry will level off at a high level and the world will be stuck in a Nash Equilibrium which is less optimal than where we are now. Our children will all waste 4 years of their life and $100k of our money and educators will become wealthier. It would be great if this could be prevented, but I see little mechanism by which that would occur. (Source)
Posted: April 23rd, 2011
at 3:41pm by mnp
Categories: myninjaplease,too good to be true,business,"ninja",development,education
Comments: No comments