Shards of Consciousness

I started this post to show the amount of influence each of us has in the world. I began on the assumption that the six degrees of separation phenomena is true. That if each us is related to every other person in the world by an average of six intermediaries, we therefore influence every other person in the world.

The six degrees of separation belief is widespread, but from what I've found, basically untrue. In 2001 Judith S. Klein published a review of the research on the six degrees phenomenon. Most of the research was poorly designed due to a lack of random sampling in beginning points and due to a locality of focus. Milgram, for example, whose research is a major source of this belief, bought mailing lists from which he chose participants. Many other studies looked at reaching people on the same town, or even on the same …Read more

When I heard about the opi from Lyman in his post My Opi (Finally), the first images to cross my mind came from an old American television series, The Andy Griffith Show with the iconic Opie, son of Sheriff Andy Taylor.Read more

It's Sunday. Go away. Get offline for a bit to find the connected life. Here are ten things to get you started.
Read more

Question EverythingRead more

I'm the first to admit it. Meet me in the flesh, chances are you'll think I'm boring. Even my celphone stays on vibrate 95% of the time because I dislike hearing it.

But, most people like their celphones to have sounds. They like their celphones to have sounds so much that they give individuals in their phone's contact list their own ringtone. That way they know someone is calling, they know who is calling, and they reinforce the image of the person that they have in their mind.

My wife, who will, if you ask her, agree that I am boring, a downright stick in the mud. She will also tell you that that isn't all there is to me. So, this is the ringtone she's got programmed to play when I call.
Read more