OddThoughts

I had a big of a “discussion” with my wife th other morning regarding the concept of “Daylight Savings Time “.

For those unfamilar with the concept, many areas at different times of the year, push their clocks ahead 1 hour (in the spring) and back 1 hour (in the fall) . Essentially what this means is in the spring months there will be less daylight in the morning, and hense more daylight in the afternoon.

The problem we had was with the notion of “savings”. Technically, you are not really saving anything. Although we adjust the clock, we do not save any time. We simply adjust the period in which the light is used.

So an agreed upon defintion would be that at certain times of the year we adjust our clocks in order to make “more efficient” usage of the daylight hours.

So it is unlike a “savings account”. Where you bank your money with the anticipation of using it at a later time.  You can’t “bank” the daylight and use it later. We can only adjust our notion of where the daylight occurs, or essentially adjust our lives.  It’s not like you can “save” this hour and use it at some point in the future.

So I prosed that the concept of “savings” may have multiple meanings. In addition to being something that can be “held on to” and used later (like money), which got me thinking about efficiency.

Efficiency is often described as “doing more.., better”, or doing more in less time. Efficiency implies savings. If something is efficient it must have saved us something right? If it didn’t save us anything (time, money, resources) it wasn’t really effecient was it?

So we can’t even save time then can we? Time will pass regardless of what we try to do about it.  No matter how organized you are, your day still has 24 hours, your week 7 days, your year (well you get the idea).

If we adjust our tasks in such a way as to get more done in the same amount of time, we call this efficient, and we consider that we have “Saved time”. But you can’t put that time in a time bank account and spend it later.

Often it seems in life, that the more time we “Save”, the more work that fills in the gap. So our “Reward” for saving time, is to get more work.. doesn’t seem fair does it?

Just a few random things for you to ponder.

I had this interesting idea. Wouldn’t it be nice, if my cellphone knew my location and could respond accordingly.

So I was hacking around with some bluetooth settings and stuff, so then when I arrive at
work, or at home, my computers recognize my presence and run various interesting little scripts.

I then further postulated, what an interesting idea this would combined with other locations. Stores could
have software with bluetooth keys, or using the phone’s internal GPS to tell the phone it’s location and respond accordingly.

Now, I just heard all about this today on TWIT 151, basically discussing the exact same idea ! I see a lot of potential.

Concept:

A simple java J2ME App that would execute various scripts/send SMS/update your twitter, or send your reminders based on the phone’s location.

Basically, the app would have 2 modes. (MAP MODE, and SCAN MODE).

MAP MODE:

Functions: Load a MAP, Save a MAP, Create an Entry

Create an Entry -> An Entry is a grid (basic shape co-ordinates, squares or
rectangle). You enter the GPS co-ordinates of area) and define a custom
name \”Eg: The Mall\”. If you don’t know the GPS co-ordinates, you could
simply walk to the corners of the area and click ‘get sample’ which
would grab the co-ordinates from the GPS and input them automatically.

Entry would contain 2  scripts which would execute, “ON_ENTER” and “ON_EXIT”.
These would be run when the phone enters and leaves the grid area respectively while in SCAN MODE.

Load A MAP/Save a MAP -> Simply saves the map location, names, and execution scripts to a file
(probably XML File). The idea would be people could upload these maps or send them to one other to share their areas with others.

SCAN MODE:

Scan mode mode would be pretty simple. A background process, would
periodically (say every 2-3 minutes) get the GPS location, and compare
to each item in the grid of maps stored on the mobile device. When the
phone moves into one or more of the grids, the ON scripts is executed,
and when it leaves the GRIDS the off script is execulted.

Possible Uses:

1) Could be implemented with your TASK list. So if you have an item “Pick
up milk” you would get a reminder when you arrive at the store

2) Smart Devices: When you arrive at home, your computer could log you in, or send a twitter message. When you at work, it could start your messenger etc.

3) Location based advertising: Your device could get “advert” reminders when you arrive in a location. Good for
advertisers, maybe bad for cell phone users. UNLESS perhaps this makes the cell phone usage cheaper to recieve adverts !

I want to combine the above statement which I am sure is well known to most people into a condensed version. “It is the American Way to find the Truth and make sure that Justice is served.” Justice is served when the person(s) responsible feel remorse for their actions. This is the way many criminal punishment systems work. It should be noted also however that the public must be satisfied with the way justice is served otherwise the system is not held in very high regard. Given my definition of truth.. Justice can easily be served once we make the individual believe he/she has a conscience and then remorse will follow which will thereby serve justice.

What I have just stated is done everyday and maybe commonly known as “hitting below the belt” when we are hurt it seems to be tendency for us to “hurt” back with something at least, if not more hurtful than what hurt us. We, as a people, will do almost anything to make another feel guilty for his/her actions because we want that person to understand how we feel. So our system of justice, given my definition of truth, is based upon my second example (given above) of “common knowledge”

The next question to ask is whether or not such a system is a correct system? Let me ask you this: If I physically hurt you ..would you WANT to hurt me back. Keep in mind that I’m not asking WOULD you hurt me back. I’m just asking would you WANT to. This question deserves a whole chapter on its own but just in case you answered the question already then keep in mind that I did not yet give you all the relevant information. For example: Suppose I hurt you when I pushed you out of the way of a car that was about to run you down.

Would you still want to hurt me back?

I came across and interesting entry the other day over at geekyspeaky regarding what is known as a “Google Bomb” at the time (Feb5th) when you did a search for the phrase “Dangerous Cult” the top result returned was to the Scientology.org website. It doesn’t seem to work now and unfortunately, I didn’t take a screen cap, but it did work when Colleen posted it and I found this quite fascinating.

I did some research and found that the idea of Google Bombing is actually quite simple, and has been around for quite a long time. It is based on the ‘popularity’ algorithm that Google uses to match key words/phrases with websites. So for example, if everyone with a website / blog suddenly linked to the scientology websites with the phrase “Dangerous Cult”. The google engine happily matches that keyword with the referenced site, and returns it in the top results.

Here is a screen cap I found where people did just this for the term “miserable failure”

And that’s all there really is to it. It does seem that Google keeps track of these, or that the algorithm changes as needed because an interesting results page one day does not gaurentee to stay that way the next day, but it is very interesting indeed.

From: wonderingmind42What’s the worst that can happen? That’s the simple question the guy in this video asks (updated to give approperiate credit). In today’s times, the environment can be a hot topic. Debates rage on, does global climate change really exist? Here is an interesting hypothesis on the environment that promises

to put to an end any arguments on global warming. There seems to be a very strong argument here that by choosing to do nothing, or even by wasting time debating we are really choosing to do something…something that can really quite scarry.

The original video

…at least I thought it was a good argument, then I learned the logically flaw. It uses a technique widely used in the political world known as the Precautionary Principle. You can see in the video to the left how this principle can be applied and the dangers that can occur. So in the end which is more dangerous, taking action to prevent the worst imagined consequences or taking action

without sufficient evidence/justification?

WonderingMind42’s updated video to cover the flaw

New points:
Please know, I argue purely from a philosophical stand-point, on the logical ideas presented. I completely agree with wonderingmind42 and the need to help the environment. I just don’t think we can approach the problem with science, at least not to change people’s minds.
Most People don’t change their minds based on science, facts or evidence. Most people make decisions based on ‘feelings’. Besides, I find it fun to argue, and use the time I have left to argue, because when it all ends, there won’t be anytime left to do this.

I was having a conversation with a work colleague the other day regarding RRSP’s and taxes. I’m no money expert at all and I only have a slight understanding of the idea; at least how it works in Canada.

RRSP’s are “tax deferred”. Which means any monies you contribute to an RRSP, the tax is deferred to the time that you withdraw it (normally at retirement) the money is not taxed at the time you earn it.

The “theory” is that when you retire, you will require less income to live because many of the expenses (mortgage, kids, car) will be paid off. When you retire then you will be in a lower tax bracket and less tax will be taken from using it. (FYI: It doesn’t always work out this way)

So what does this mean for the average joe?

If you make say $40,000, normally the government will take a percentage (tax) of that $40,000. But if you took $5,000 of it and put it in an RRSP, then the government will only tax you at $35,000. Sounds simple right?

It gets a bit more complicated when you consider there are 2 ways you can contribute to your RRSP

1) You can have your employer put your contribution directly into the RRSP (ie: it never touches your hands)

2) You can take the money after you’ve received it from your employer and then put it it in an RRSP

If you choose Option 1) you can set it up such that tax on the amount you contribute is not taken off at source. So if you gross $40,000, tax is deducted as if you made only $35,000 and the other $5,000 goes straight to your RRSP

If you choose Option 2) then tax is taken off (withheld) the entire $40,000 at once, and later at the end of the year when you do your taxes. Basically the government will give you back the tax they withheld for the $5,000 you contributed.

Similarily, let’s take an example where you make $40,000, but you earned a one time bonus of $5,000 at the end of the year.

If your employer puts the bonus directly into an RRSP,your RRSP will then grow by exactly $5,000 (no tax is taken off)

If your employer writes you a cheque for the $5,000 bonus then you will not get the full $5,000 you will get $5,000 - the tax that the government witholds. So a $5,000 cheque may really only be about $3,000 in your pocket.

Now you can take that $3,000 and put in into an RRSP, and again when the end of the year arrives you can claim this $3,000 as non-taxable income and get a percentage back from what was withheld

So it is more of an advantage (when possible) to have monies transferred direct from your employeer into an RRSP then to have it touch your hands first.

Got it?

If so, then I will through one more gotcha into the process. An “investment analysit” or a financial planner migh put it to you this way:

If at the end of the year you make a $5,000 RRSP contribution, you will get an     additional $2,000 back in your taxes at the end of the year. In otherwords your $5,000 investment has an immediate 40% return ! So it’s a no-brainer to contribute to an RRSP.

Although this looks really nice; hopefully you can now see that techincally it isn’t “really” true. A $5,000 RRSP investment means that the government will give you back $2,000 of the money they withheld automatically from you, because since your bought an RRSP your taxable income is know lower and they should not have taken off as much tax as they did; therefore you are refunded your own money.

You didn’t “really” make money on the $5,000, you are just getting your own money back that you otherwise would not have recieved if you did not make the contribution.

In summary; RRSP’s are not a tax credit. It is a tax deferral. Typically tax credits refund you a portion of the tax you paid for certain expenses. (For example interest paid to your student loans) You don’t have to may as much tax on monies you paid on interest in Canada Student loans. (Yeah Canada!) You don’t have to pay any tax on monies invested in RRSP’s. At least until you try to withdrawl them.

At least that’s my understanding of how it works today in our current legal and economical environment. As always other comments are welcome and appreciated to set me straight!

I have been giving some thought to the concept of “ownership” specifically how it applies to a work environment.

Do you feel like you are an ‘owner’ at the company you are working?

Perhaps, more importantly, Should you feel like you are an ‘owner’ at the company you are working?

Not too surprisingly, this idea relates closely to my theories on responsibility and authority. If you do happen to actually own the company you are working at, then this post is probably not for you. I’m talking about a ’sense of ownership’

I was at an awesome presentation in my company the other day where the President/CEO commented “When was the last time you washed a rental car?”

The idea is that you put more “effort”, or at least “view” differently something that you “own” vs something that you just “do” or “rent”

I think a distinction can be made here between “owning your work”, and “owning your company”. Owning your work applies to all aspect of life including your job, it is part of personal integrity, deliverying what your promise to people when you promise it. Owning your work is tightly connected with bulding and maintaining your “Emotional Bank Account”. We all are responsible for owning or work.

Owning your company is a different concept. It doesn’t mean that you have to take on all the “worries” of the company yourself. It is not about being at the top or making the “big decisions”. It is about your ability to action, respond, and provide feedback within your company. It is about your role in your work environment.

I love the ‘washing a rental car analogy’. Your job is what you do on a daily basis, it is about achieving your commitments, satisfying your clients (internal and external)and feeling a sense of joy and pride. However, this is “ownership of the work” not the company.

Ownership of the company involves looking at what is around you and thinking to yourself..”What can I do to help?”, “How can I use my skills to improve things”, “What new ideas or tips do I have that might help others”.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you are a programmer on a particular. You job is to write software for your clients, test it, and deploy it. You are an owner of your work, you give estimates to your project manager, and work hard to achieve them, sending updates, risks, and problems as they occur. You enjoy your job and are happy with your work environment.

While at lunch, you overhear members of another project team, they are discouraged, having a problem meeting a deadline, or solving a particular problem. Perhaps this is not unfamilar to you, perhaps everyday you hear concerns from other project members of a similar nature.

Now, you are busy and working very hard to meet your deadlines on your project, your project is doing well and your clients are happy. You can emphasise with the problem you are hearing, you’ve been there before yourself. So you go back to your desk and continue working.

No one has asked for your advice, you don’t know the details of the “other project”, and perhaps you don’t even know the team members very well. Perhaps the other project is even in a different location alltogether. It’s not your project, and perhaps you feel you shouldn’t interfere.

In some cases, there are problems that are occuring that you are not even “aware of”. People may not even be taking in lunch rooms or common areas as far as you know, “everybody is doing great !” and you are unaware of any reason to think differently.

None of this is a “bad” thing, it does not make you a “bad” employee. If fact you are probably a very good employee, you maybe known to others as a person that can be “counted upon”. However, in this situation you are not an “owner of your company”

Should you be an “owner of your company?”

The short answer…”It Depends”

Another phrase runs through my head something like “Too many cooks spoil the broth”. If I own my own car, sure I wash it and take care of it. If I own my company it stands to reason I will take care of it too. But what if everyone tries to was “my car” ? ..and what if I don’t like the way “they do it” ?

My dad taught me to pick my battles wisely. The same is true with ownership. It is great to be an owner of your company, but it is also important to choose wisely where you want to invest your time and how you want to invest it. You want to find the balance that works best for you. There is no absolute right/wrong, however there are some things that might help keep you on the “right” track.

When you refer to the company you work at do you use phrases like “At my company we…”, or do you say “At [Your CompanyName], it’s done this way”, or “Corporate does this or that”.

Do you feel empowered in your job? I’m not taking about your ability to make decisions, I mean do you know you feel your thoughts, and ideas are recognized, and given consideration if/when shared with others. Do you believe you can make a difference in your company?

Most of us spend at least 40/hrs week at your jobs..that’s almost 1/4 of your life. It’s only going to be as good as you make it..so what do you want to do about it ?