Upside Down

Rick Thues March 15, 2021 Uncategorized No Comments

Episode #633 March 20, 2021 My skydiving guru told me, “There is no up in skydiving.” This double entendre observes that during free fall you are always going down with gravity.  It also speaks to the fact that every body position is correct. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq8k-ZbsXDI Belly to earth, back to earth, standing or head down there is no up and no down, only stability. Relative to each other, skydivers are hovering. Position is always assessed relative to the observer in free fall.  If a diver flies past a formation he is said to be sinking. If a fellow skydiver observes you...

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Forgiveness

Rick Thues March 8, 2021 Uncategorized 2 Comments

Episode #632 March 13, 2021 “You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” — Jesus Christ, Bible (Matthew 5:38) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCra2GifbcY Difficult advice. How can you bring yourself to forgive another? i have four ways: Love someone anyway. Agree to disagree. Walk away. Listen and engage with added fervor. In computing i have employed all of the above. Sometimes Apple “improves” an operating...

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Efficiency

Rick Thues February 28, 2021 Uncategorized 3 Comments

Episode #631 March 6, 2021 We like things to be efficient and to do things with efficiency. Efficiency saves energy, time, money and effort. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbxqtbqyoRk Efficiency is a tool used to enhance a process. It is not an end result or a goal. When doing repetitive operations in a project i have used different approaches. SUBSYSTEM APPROACH: When building a composite graphic: Find the clip art. Edit the art. Store the modified image. Repeat for all clip art elements. Assemble the elements. Refine the final graphic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjAZGUcjrP8 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT APPROACH: When building a composite graphic: Find the clip art. Edit...

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Entropy

Rick Thues February 22, 2021 Uncategorized 2 Comments

  Episode #630 February 27, 2021 Entropy is a randomness that is opposite of all we know and love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2w6Oxx0kQ EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE IS CONSTANT: The total energy of an isolated system is constant; energy can be transformed from one form to another, but can be neither created nor destroyed. — First law of thermodynamics DISORDER IS THE GOAL OF MAXIMUM RANDOMNESS: Entropy (the degree of randomness) always increases with time. — Second law of thermodynamics ALL THINGS SEEK EQUILIBRIUM: A system's entropy approaches a constant value as its temperature approaches absolute zero. — Third law of thermodynamics:  ...

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A Book?

Rick Thues February 17, 2021 Uncategorized 6 Comments

Episode #629 February 20.2021   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOuxVDgV6CY i was pleased when an old high school classmate contacted me about forming a writer’s support group. We are a diverse group of human beings. Among us is a fiction writer, philosopher, documentarian, historian, poet, playwright and technical writer. The format of the meetings is Zoom, a video conferencing platform. Since the COVID-19 pandemic Zoom has become a social meeting place pulling together people from distant locations. This pandemic's silver lining is Zoom (in the Cloud) bringing disparate people together... a cloud with a silver lining. The timing of the support group is good...

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Circular

Rick Thues February 9, 2021 Uncategorized 5 Comments

Episode #628 February 13, 2021 A circle is a line which begins nowhere and never ends.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxGEVIvSFeY Before quantum physics i was taught that an atom was a particle with electrons circling around it. A moons orbit around a planet. A sun has planets in its orbit. Solar systems circle black holes in the center of galaxies. Galaxies rotate around something in the center of the universe. So much of what we are is circular. Our routines are circular. They repeat in an unending loop. In a good argument we circle around to the premise with which we started. In...

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