Ryminate

Ambitious, Yet Paced Change

By nature, I am someone who likes change-not just mild change, but ambitious, revolutionary change.  This bodes well in many situations, not so well with others. 

Recently, I've begun running again with a friend from law school.  Instead of setting up a master running schedule consisting of 5:00 a.m. runs 6 days a week until we reach a goal of logging 30 miles a week, (which seems to be the way I have done this in the past), we decided to purposely be as unambitious as possible.  We setup a schedule of running twice a week, Tuesday and Friday mornings at 7:15 a.m.   I guess our thinking was we wanted to make it easy to succeed.  Our first day out we ran about a mile. Our second day out we also ran about a mile.  Usually this would drive me crazy, but after a few weeks we are up to two miles, and I've learned an important lesson:

To build lasting change, lasting success, often it is better to start somewhat unambitiously.  (Perhaps "unambitiously" is the wrong word as just getting out and running is somewhat ambitious).    . . . , often it is better to start very slowly.  Control the desire to move as fast as you are able and be satisfied with paced change.  Such change is often healthier. This is often true in regard to running, other personal goals, or even within complex organizations.

1-800-Free411

If you're like me, you hesitate to call 411 for an address or phone number because it costs way too much.  When you do use it, you feel guilty.  Well, now you can dial guilt free.  1-800-Free411 is exactly that--FREE.  You do have to listen to a 10 second commercial before you receive the requested information, but that seems a small price to pay to avoid 411 guilt.

Geoengineering

I've heard of cloud seeding, a technique used to trigger rain, but this takes weather manipulation to another level.

Scott Stevens, a TV meteorologist out of Pocatello, ID, has recently resigned from his job to pursue what he terms a "weather conspiracy."  According to Stevens, the Japanese Yakuza Mafia used a Russian-made electromagnetic generator to cause Hurricane Katrina in a bid to avenge the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima.  (How does someone living in Pocatello, ID gain this kind of information :)  ).

While Stevens theories are ridiculous, it makes you wonder what geoengineering capabilities have been explored, and to what extent.  It seems to me that triggering seismic events (i.e., earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamais) would perhaps be a more realistic possibility.  (Maybe I've watched one too many episodes of Alias).

Here's more from Stevens :

"The Soviets boasted of their geoengineering capabilities; these impressive accomplishments must be taken at face value simply because we are observing weather events that simply have never occurred before, never!" Stevens wrote on his Web site. "The evidence of these weapons at work found within the clouds overhead is simply unmistakable. These patterns and odd geometric shapes seen in our skies, each and every day, are clear and present evidence that our weather has been stolen from us, only to be used by those whose designs for humanity are rarely in alignment with that of the common man."

Joke Of The Day

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the President his daily briefing on Iraq.   

He concludes by saying:  "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed." 

"OH NO!" the President exclaims.  "That's terrible!" 

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands. 

Finally, President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"

Incredible landing

If you haven't seen this already, check it out: airplane landing. 
I hope these pilots get a nice bonus!

Daniels Ranking

The Wall Street Journal released its 2006 rankings of the world's best business schools.  Daniels once again has done well.  They were ranked No. 4 in the world for recruiting MBAs with high ethical standards, moving us up one spot from last year.  Daniels also moved up to No. 8 on the list of 47 North American regional business schools.  For a summary of this years rankings click here. 

While "rankings" of institutions of learning must be taken with a grain of salt, WSJ's "rankings" are somewhat different in that they are the only business school ranking based solely on feedback from corporate recruiters.  Whether that lends them more or less credibility is argueable, but nevertheless this is good news for Daniels.

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