Autumn Weekend Back East

Out shopping for supper, we pass too many pretty trees to ignore. Paula runs back inside to get the camera. Then we scout out some local color for you. Our favorite Ginko Biloba on Runneymede never fails to impress and this is the right weekend to catch it in yellow splendor.

Up on Five Corners we spot a late Japanese Maple in the shadow of the Suntrust Bank that is worth a stop. Paula basks in the orange glow.

Gall's Law

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. The inverse proposition also appears to be true: A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be made to work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system.
See Gall's Law (Wiki)

Anatomy of One Scary Virus

Stuxnet: Anatomy of a Computer Virus from Patrick Clair on Vimeo.

Stormy...

Glad I wasn't there!

Exotic Vets

Congratulations, Dr. Stoertz! Above, Salvador Dali walks his anteater out of the subway in New York. This picture honors of all your newly graduated classmates from N.C. State specializing in Exotic Veterinary Medicine. There's a precedent for you.

Men Not at Work

Very seldom do I find the New York Times quotable - or even credible. How this excellent opinion page slipped in is beyond me but definitely worth reading. The Missing Fifth "...in 1954, about 96 percent of American men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked. Today that number is around 80 percent. One-fifth of all men in their prime working ages are not getting up and going to work."

However, David Brooks is embarrassingly inconclusive about WHY this problem is occurring. Might I surmise a few possibilities?

• Unemployment is at an all-time high.
• Unemployment benefits are too easy to get. I know of MANY anecdotes of men preferring not to work because they could get as much (or more) on the dole for less (no) work.
• Disability is incredibly easy to get. I also can name several men who are perfectly fit and potentially productive but prefer to get the disability benefits.
• Minimum wage is so high that it precludes an employer from hiring anyone worth less per hour. I can personally vouch for the fact that many people are worth less than minimum wage... for example, look at the demand for illegal alien workers.
• People are staying in college later and retiring earlier.

Royal Wedding

Don't get me wrong - I'm sure it's a match made in heaven. But I didn't watch.