Powell On the Indispensable Employee

My folks at the previous place would do well to hear Powell's words.. especially Kendall Wilhelmshaver :

I have run into too many people in public life who thing they turn on the sun every morning. If not for them, there would be no light and heat. I have run into too many people who have long passed their sell-by date and don't accept it's time to leave. I have run into too many leaders who have never given a thought to succession or building a leadership team in depth. Too many leaders are too insecure to face those realities.

And I have run into too many leaders who have not faced the reality that it is the indispensable person who is holding their organization back. Leaders have an obligation to constantly examine their organization and prune those who are not performing. The good followers know who the under-performers are. They are waiting for the leader to do something about them. When necessary pruning is not done, good followers often slack off. But when it is done successfully, black clouds lift from over the team. Even the best, most treasured, most successful members of the team can lose their edge and become under-productive. Leaders need to be able to replace anyone who is no longer up to the task. Don't reorganize around a weak follower. Retrain, move or fire them. Then you are doing that person a favour in the long term and you are doing your team a favour immediately.

You're Smarter Than a Chimp? Yes, but..

The chimp sees the numbers 1–5 for only 200 milliseconds. They are then covered by blank squares, and the chimp has to touch the locations in numerical order to receive an apple reward.

You can't beat the Chimp at this game because your brain has filters that do processing on incoming information. That inherently limits your speed. 

Dealing with Tenants from Hell

Hoping I get lucky with my place. But, I gotta prepare :

Here's what Brandon Turner says :

1. Don't Scream, Screen : call ALL previous landlords
2. Have a written policy
3. Be strict and carry a big stick (late fees, etc)
4. Don't be the landlord : Speak to a lawyer, form a legal entity to own the house, manage that entity - say you'll talk to the owner and get back..
5. Don't be afraid to remove the problem

If you're looking a property management outfit, think about Real Property Management..

Immortal Game - Oh What a Feeling :)

Never mind the endgame blunders that let me get away :) After being whacked by some solid opponents, I really needed this one to go to bed with a good feeling :

What a sad end for the man. If he had just nabbed my rook with the K when he was under check.. He had me!

(See older post for the player link) (BTW, here's how the 13 year old Magnus gave Kasparov the jitters. Even though that page displays the moves list with symbols, just cut and paste in the player and all is well:)

1.Pe2e4 Pe7e5
2.Ng1f3 Nb8c6
3.Pd2d4 Pe5xd4
4.Nf3xd4 Qd8f6
5.Bc1e3 Bf8c5
6.Pc2c3 Nc6xd4
7.Be3xd4 Bc5xd4
8.Qd1xd4 Qf6xd4
9.Pc3xd4 Ng8f6
10.Bf1d3 O-O
11.Nb1c3 Pc7c6
12.O-O-O Pd7d5
13.Pe4e5 Nf6g4
14.Rd1d2 Pf7f6
15.Ph2h3 Ng4h6
16.Pf2f4 Bc8f5
17.Bd3xf5 Nh6xf5
18.Pg2g4 Nf5e3
19.Rh1e1 Ne3c4
20.Rd2e2 Pf6xe5
21.Pb2b3 Pe5xd4
22.Pb3xc4 Pd4xc3
23.Pf4f5 Pd5d4
24.Kc1c2 Ra8d8
25.Re1d1 Rd8d7
26.Re2e4 Rf8d8
27.Rd1d3 Pa7a6
28.Pa2a4 Pb7b5
29.Pa4xb5 Pa6xb5
30.Kc2b3 Pb5xc4+
31.Kb3xc4 Pc3c2
32.Re4e1 Rd7b7
33.Re1c1 Pc6c5
34.Rc1xc2 Rd8c8
35.Kc4d5 Kg8f7
36.Rc2xc5 Rb7d7+
37.Kd5c4 Rc8a8
38.Kc4b5 Kf7f6
39.Ph3h4 Ph7h6
40.Rc5c6+ Kf6e5
41.Rc6e6+ Ke5f4
42.Re6g6 Ra8e8
43.Kb5c5 Kf4e4
44.Rg6e6+ Re8xe6
45.Pf5xe6 Rd7d5+
46.Kc5c4 Ke4e5
47.Pe6e7 Rd5d6
48.Pe7e8=Q Rd6e6
49.Qe8b5+ Ke5f6
50.Qb5f5+ Kf6e7
51.Rd3xd4 Pg7g6
52.Qf5c5+ Ke7f7
53.Rd4d7+ Kf7f6
54.Qc5f8+ Kf6e5
55.Rd7d5+ Ke5e4
56.Rd5d4+ Ke4e5
57.Qf8f4#  1-0

Immortal Game

After a youngie with handle Kryzhalee whipped my a couple of times with solid foundation and mate! Got my good feeling by whipping a certain JC

Use http://chesstempo.com/pgn-viewer.html to view.. (paste the moves)

1.Pe2e4 Pc7c5
2.Bf1c4 Pe7e6
3.Pd2d3 Nb8c6
4.Bc1e3 Ng8f6
5.Ng1f3 Bf8e7
6.O-O O-O
7.Nb1c3 Pe6e5
8.Nc3d5 Nf6xd5
9.Bc4xd5 Nc6d4
10.Nf3xe5 Be7f6
11.Ne5c4 Pd7d6
12.Pc2c3 Nd4c6
13.Pf2f4 Ra8b8
14.Pf4f5 Nc6e5
15.Nc4xe5 Bf6xe5
16.Qd1h5 Be5f6
17.Rf1f3 Bc8d7
18.Rf3h3 Ph7h6
19.Ra1f1 Bd7c6
20.Bd5b3 Qd8e7
21.Be3xh6 Rf8c8
22.Bh6g5 Bf6xg5
23.Qh5h7+ Kg8f8
24.Qh7h8#  1-0

Wait! What the h was I thinking Qh7? Stage time? Crap.. Could have saved a move and boosted me ELO rating half a point..

How a Nobel Laureate Tells It

Basic semiconductor physics at the high-school level. Try staying awake. What a classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdr89n_nf9Y

Jacob Beningo Plugs Pi

Gosh, the typos on his PPTs. I wonder if he gets paid to do these webinars.. that's genius.

To follow along with his learn Python stuff, you don't actually need to download and install python..

You can do it online through your browser :

https://www.pythonanywhere.com/try-ipython/

The Big Book of Lumosity Tricks

There underperformance and then, there's indiaperformance.

What can explain India's mediocrity? Do you think that a martial law style government like China would make a difference in showings at competitions?

What's missing?

Enough ranting. If you've read this far, you're entitled to these tips that have worked for me. BTW, there's a 60 year old woman out there who's topped about 250k in Penguin Pursuit.

These aren't "lumosity" tricks - they're in the spirit of "how to be brilliant every day." I just happen to notice when playing..

1) Get plenty of sleep - or, quality sleep. If you're a guy, you might wonder why you get better scores after a wet dream - it's because testosterone boosts spatial processing.
2) Do them relaxation exerises. Do one..
3) Eat a healthy breakfast - no refined sugar. Some protein.
4) Shower, do another relaxation exercise.
5) Do some rhythmic breathing - in-4, out-6, hold-2
6) Meditate for a few minutes.

See if you can't crack level 24 of PP this way:) And 57 trains in tot.

Notorious Russell Peters (Sydney) : Super

Had me laughing all the way. How does he get away saying stuff like that and asking people those kinds of questions?

My ex-wife is a very attractive woman, on the outside.

She's like a Ferrari without the engine - doesn't go anywhere, just sits there and costs me money.

The Lesser Known Feynman - Juval Ne-eman

In one sphere, at least, Feynman made a deliberate effort to play the role of enfant terrible. Combining his love for scientific truth and his hatred of "impostors," he was always willing to play cat- and-mouse games to expose flaws and pretense - all of which made him the terror of lecturers who came to Caltech to present their intellectual wares. On my first visit, I gave a series of ten lectures on "group theory," the mathematical apparatus I used, and Feynman interrupted me with questions every 3-4 minutes. I knew the material, however, and in the end it was Feynman who got tired out. On the other hand, I remember the visit of a well-known Swiss physicist, Johann Jauch, who after half an hour of torture, flung the chalk away, announced he could not go on this way, and walked out the door.

In 1976, Werner Heisenberg, one of the leading physicists of the 20th century, made a stop at Caltech as part of a cross-country lecture tour. Since 1950, he had been expounding a certain theory that was generally acknowledged as worthless. Out of respect, however, people usually refrained from arguing with him. His lecture at Caltech was on this theory. Gell-Mann stayed away purposely, but Feynman was there and made his presence felt. At a certain point he got up and shouted: "If that's so, your theory is crap." Mortified, Heisenberg left the hall, and according to the distinguished physicist Harald Fritzsch, who was at Caltech at the time and on close terms with him, he never recovered from the shock. He died that same year.

But there was someone who gave Feynman a taste of his own medicine. The Norwegian-American physicist Ivar Giaever once suffered through a lecture with Feynman. Two years later, he came back to Caltech to give another lecture. This time, however, Giaever not only answered Feynman to the point, but made him look stupid. Obviously, he had done a good job of preparing ahead, deliberately slipping in remarks to provoke Feynman - who walked straight into his trap. Everyone in the lecture hall could feel how stunned Feynman was.

From : http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~yskim/feynman/yuval.html