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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
12/09/09
1. make blow darts out of sewing pins. wrap thread at the end and cut for the feather. blow out of pen housings.
2. using rulers as a fulcrum to emed pushpins into the ceiling.
3. untwist paperclips into a hook and launch them via rubber bands.
12/09/09
Strap on a cheap laser pointer, and you can play "Enemy at the Gates" to your heart's content.
12/09/09
12/09/09
12/09/09
12/09/09
12/09/09
12/09/09
12/09/09
12/09/09
Personally, I'm salaried. As long as I hit my hours, I'm golden.
12/09/09
12/09/09
12/09/09
When it hits, the thumbtack will separate from the pencil and become lodged in the target's skin and require manual removal.
12/09/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
12/01/09
"oh yeah, two random guys just happened to discover a long-thought-destroyed CIA manual which has in it details about the DOUBLE PLUS BLACK OPS AREA 51 SUPER TRIPLE-PROBATION SECRET MK ULTRA 2 PROGRAM."
only 16 dollars on amazon.com
12/01/09
12/01/09
I say mission accomplished.
11/30/09
I appreciate a free-wheeling debate. I like them more, in person, so I hope to meet you over a virgin Pina Colada (I'm a buccaneer who doesn't drink grog, go figure...) and we can sling education statistics and obscure references from social science at each other (be ready to discuss ethnomethodology and radical constructivism, or else I will drink your milkshake.)
James Marcus Bach
11/30/09
11/28/09
Le sigh.
11/28/09
How many people does @jamesmarcusbach employ/manage that are highschool dropouts, and how many of them have college degrees?
It's easy to dismiss the value of an education by citing the people who have made a difference without one. How about listing the many who *do* have degree's that are equally important?
I think that @jamesmarcusbach has made a fundamental flaw in his argument. He says that those on "intellectual autopilot" only study when they're forced to. That's incorrect. They only study subject they care *nothing* about when they're forced too. I don't know of *any* human being that doesn't have passion about *something.* All the author is saying, is taht in 1987, the people working for apple didn't really care much about the job they were doing. That's human nature. Clearly, @JMB was different, he cared about his job, and that's why he excelled.
To his point about college: College isn't for everyone--its unfortunate that not having a degree has a stigma in most societies. If you have a great idea, or have the desire to start a business, or don't want to waste time in college because you already know what you want to do, then by all means work your ass off and make your dreams come true. Some of the most successful businessmen on the planet don't have MBA's let alone formal education.
But if you're dropping out because you don't feel like finishing school, and you're just gonna see what happens, well then thats not a very smart plan. The average salary for a college grad vs a highschool dropout speak for themselves.
11/29/09
This one guy was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and he took advantage of that fact. He might not have a degree, but I bet he probably worked just as hard as someone who does.
11/29/09
11/29/09
Dumbshit.
11/30/09
Meaningless for what? You mean for the purpose of making choices in your life? Most people never climb Mount Everest. Statistically, it's unlikely that any particular person will succeed in a climb of Everest. But if you were interested in climbing it, would you study statistics showing that millions of people don't climb it every year, or would you rather study the people who do climb it, and talk to them, and learn from them?
I prefer to hire people who are self-educated. It's a bias of mine. I also like hiring loud people, since I'm nervous around quiet people, and men, since I'm comfortable with men. But I've also learned that diversifying my team is vital to the quality of my work. So, I work to transcend my biases so that I can have a powerful team. It's a social and legal virtue, too, but really, I seek diversity because diversity works.
My comment on intellectual autopilot is just my empirical experience and the meaning I've made of it. Your mileage may vary, but I promise you I experience this almost daily and it is a major factor in my perception of my success.
You say it's not a smart plan to "see what happens." But you left out some words. You should have added "by the rules of the game I think I'm playing and by the values and temperament I have." Of course, for people with a different temperament than yours, say someone like me who once went to the principal's office for provoking a teacher to physically assault him, a different plan might be smart. Or for someone with a different set of values, such as me, who cannot feel happy saying "yes, I will follow stupid ceremonial rules that dictate who gets a degree, instead of being judged by people I respect on the merits I genuinely demonstrate in subject matter I care about" it may be best to seek the fresh air on out there.
If you don't know what other people's lives are all about, don't impose your parochial values them. Let them choose the path that works for them. Let there be abundance and freedom, not fear and cynicism.
12/01/09
The salary difference between a high school dropout, a high school graduate, and a college graduate are SIGNIFICANT enough to make an educated decision on what will pay off.
Yes, everyone says go to college, to get a good job. The reason, is that college grads make a lot more over their life time than non college grads. Your experience as a high school dropout is an aberration, not the rule. The lesson from your story isn't "Kids who go to college are suckers, be a drop out and win at the game of life." It should be "I followed my own path, and I made my own success."
What is lost on people like you who espouse "I did it this way, and I succeeded" is that you would have succeeded in *anything* you decided to do. Had you gone to college, I would imagine you would have graduated Summa Cum Laude with the highest honors. People wired like you, are driven to succeed. Had you decided to be a musician, you'd likely be a recognized artist.
But not everyone is. And not everyone is driven that way. Not everyone equates success with climbing the corporate ladder, or running their own company, or even climbing mount everest.
You've also misjudged my temperament. Wouldn't someone like you, who doesn't conform to the norm, sit back and question someone like yourself when they came up with an idea. Seems like the person you claim you are, wouldn't take someone else's word as the gospel. And for the record,I was suspended a few times (not just called into the principals office), given detention for insubordination, barely graduated high school (stupid graduation requirements), and recently left a 200k income to start my own business.
We're arguing the same thing, essentially: people shouldn't conform to a path just because they're suppose to. The difference is that I'm not deriding those that do decide to conform to that path, because as you eloquently said in your last pp:
"If you don't know what other people's lives are all about, don't impose your parochial values them. Let them choose the path that works for them. Let there be abundance and freedom, not fear and cynicism."