Common Folk Collective » How My Mind Works

Everything Happens for a Reason

DCDan — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 13:51:13 +0000

Are you tired of vapid motivational messages? So am I.

Yet Another You Can Be Defined (Version A Type)

DCDan — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 20:42:08 +0000

Huffington Post has a post, probably just reblogged from elsewhere, 16 Signs You’re a Little Type A wherein they reenforce that everyone can fit into a box. Much like a horoscope one can easily read into these diagnoses. Rather than take them at face value I decided to have a little fun with them.

Waiting in long lines kills you a little bit inside.
I don’t wait in lines, there are not many events or items that warrant waiting in a line.

You’ve been described as a perfectionist, overachiever, workaholic or all of the above.
Overacheiver only because the competition sucks

You bite your nails or grind your teeth.
I used but it makes your fingers look gross so I stopped because I have discipline.

You have a serious phobia of wasting time.
Time isn’t wasted when you’re getting wasted.

You’re highly conscientious.
Don’t think that because I understand I care

You’ve always been a bit of a catastrophist.
I plan for the worst and welcome the end of humanity.

You frequently talk over and interrupt people.
Most people don’t have anything good to say, I just don’t like motherfuckers, I haven’t meet too many motherfuckers I like.

You have a hard time falling asleep at night.
Nothing that a stiff drink can’t help

People can’t keep up with you — in conversation or on the sidewalk.
I’m usually three steps ahead of you in converstaion I skip the irreveleant details b/c you SHOULD be able to fill them in but you often cannot.

You put more energy into your career than your relationships
I learned to how to properly manage my time long ago.

Relaxing can be hard work for you.
NOPE

You have a low tolerance for incompetence.
Results or GTFO

You’d be lost without your to-do list.
You’d be lost with my to-do list.

At work, everything is urgent.
Nope, I set my priorities.

You’re sensitive to stress.
Stress free, if no one is going to die then it’s not that important.

You make it happen.
Yep, I get shit done.

Popular Doesn’t Mean Good

DCDan — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 21:57:14 +0000

Spotify suggested this today:

Straight up now tell me do I really want to oppress forever.

Hey Spotify,

Apartheid was popular when I was in high school as well, it doesn’t mean I want to relive it.

Thanks,
Dan

In the Spirit of Cyber Monday

DCDan — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 14:26:26 +0000

For Cyber Monday my family all gathers around a Google Hangout and combines all of our discount codes to take advantage of the one family member with a Prime account. This tradition started in the 1800s when my great-great-grandfather was the first person in his town with an internet connection. Dialup over telegraph, talk about conserving bandwidth he didn’t even load JavaScript or Images and loading Flash would get you removed from the will.

Happy Cyber Monday everyone may your connection be strong, your shopping cart full and discount codes be plentiful.

If You See Something Say Something

DCDan — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 16:15:46 +0000

If you want amateur security you should hire amateurs. A great example of the effectiveness of the “See something, say something campaign” or as I call it “Start Snitching”

Gimme a break.

Netflix – HBOGO and the Future

DCDan — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:34:38 +0000

Reed Hastings always says “Netflix needs to become HBO before HBO becomes Netflix.” If the interface of HBOGO is any indication Netflix will be the Blockbuster of online video if they don’t tighten up their game.

My Plan to End Street Harassment

DCDan — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 22:58:11 +0000

I have a plan to end street harassment and if I understood how Tumblr worked I would have used their tool to promote a post I came across today “My plan to end street harassment forever”. I have a much less violent way to stop street harassment of women.* There are way too many corners or construction sites in our cities that many women avoid because of the regular harassment and catcalling, which are really one in the same.

My solution is code named “OPERATION URSA MAJOR.” The plan is to gather a bunch of bears and have them hang out at the aforementioned spots. They would then whistle and catcall at the people who are usually harassing women. My guess is after a week or so the harassers would get the point.

As a reminder to the general public the only time a catcall is ever acceptable is at a wet t-shirt contest, but if you are at a wet t-shirt contest you, as a participant or viewer, should probably question your life decisions.

via Flickr user Hope Abrams

*I haven’t posted this earlier because I felt it reeked of a patriarchal tone of “how to protect the women from evil men”

Privilege and Gender Politics

DCDan — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 04:10:42 +0000

Recently on Facebook a friend posted this article from the Washington Post Funny how gender never came up during Bernanke’s nomination. Or Greenspan’s. Or Volcker’s.

My comment was something to the effect of:

My career in software development has exposed me to more of this bullshit than anyone should have to bear. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some super smart people and I learned tons from them. Unfortunately I’ve also been in the room (and few times when they weren’t in the room) where I saw first hand how since “they were a girl” they didn’t get the respect they deserved. S’s comment really resonates because very early in my career I didn’t understand how privilege worked. Luckily I grew up and was educated alongside many smart and talented people and at the end of the day I don’t care what chromosomes you have as long as you kick ass.

To borrow a quote from Roosevelt Franklin

Does anybody even notice? Does anybody even care? I think I’m way too smart to fall for this bullshit, but I realized I’m way too dumb to figure out how to stop it. One day I’ll figure it out, man, it’s like something’s gotta give.

From jezebel.com

Government as VCs is Bad M’kay

DCDan — Thu, 30 May 2013 12:43:04 +0000

The government is not a business and it shouldn’t be run like one.
Say this about 1000 times until you understand it.

Done? Good

This morning I read Scott Woolley’s post on Slate Tesla Is Worse Than Solyndra that laments the US gov investment didn’t look the like the investments of the venture capitalists and that the US gov should now own a stake in Tesla as a result. While on a very superficial level I could see why one would think so, but if you dig deeper it is a horrible idea for the gov to play VC.

VCs use their connections and influence in an attempt to ensure the success of their investments. Imagine the world of conflicts of interest that would arise were the gov to do the same? Oh we want to give Tesla a chance let’s raise gasoline taxes and offer tax credits for buying an electric car. Let’s make all new fed vehicle purchases Teslas. Let’s legislate a ban on non-electric cars… You see where I’m going with this the gov acting as a VC is rife with problems.

The way the gov approached Tesla is the same way the gov approaches its investment in college education, they back loans that wouldn’t be granted by conventional institutions with knowledge that many will fail and some will succeed, but the overall goal is to have a more educated population. What they did with Tesla and Solyndra is the same, they backed loans on favorable terms in order to achieve a goal that makes the country better as a whole. Having a cutting edge electric car company is good for the US just as having an educated population is good for the US. You’d never suggest that the gov claim an ownership stake in students with the expectation of a cut of future earnings, so why should it be the same for Tesla. The US gov will receive its payback when Tesla creates jobs and pays taxes. If there were any terms the gov should have stipulated it should have been to ensure that Tesla stay in the US for 20 years and isn’t allowed offshore tax shelters or outsourced labor.

Where your job is your credit. Fellow C-List DC Blogger DCKatastrophe gifted me my very own car this weekend, she got a bunch of Eastern Motors schwag after mentioning them in her blog. I wonder if this is subliminally related to a not forgotten promise that if I’m ever in the the position where I can easily piss away $30k I’m going to buy her a pink Miata with the vanity plates “SNDYVAG”
Thanks!

Open Letter to Maker’s Mark

DCDan — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:01:12 +0000

Dear Maker’s Mark,

I read about your supply problems and your solution of watering down your bourbon to meet demand. As such I’d like to apply for the much needed position of business advisor. Unlike your current business advisor I understand the basic concepts of economics such as supply and demand curves and how they can be used to determine optimized pricing. In addition I’m very good at drinking bourbon. I look forward to speaking with you more about this opportunity.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Dan