Tag: down

std::pointer types — a tear down and discussion

I was wanting to get a more complete understanding of exactly what code gets generated when we compile some typical smart pointer patterns in C++ so I created a sample app that did some of the things. I then looked at the disassembly and annotated it heavily. Now we should keep in mind that this is ...

Burning Out While the World is Burning Down

Writing about activism and politics can be difficult. Part of the gig is that you have an eye on what’s going on around the world, and a front-row seat to the news when things go horribly wrong. There are days when it feels overwhelming. Look, another wildfire. Look, another law that target...

The Art of Slowing Down

Is creativity a fast or slow process? According to the idiom, ideas strike, just like lightning. And when I think of some of the great artists from history and today, it seems that speed is sometimes essential. When Jackson Pollock prowled around his canvas, dripping paint from a pot, he did...

Slowing Down the Clock: Regaining Our Perception of Time

I’m sitting at my desk at work looking over some papers at around 3:30 PM. As I go through the papers while in a a flow state, I get through a lot of my work with joy. I get through some of those papers and look up at the clock only to realize it’s 7:00 PM. To be frank, it felt only like...

The least we can do is turn the org chart upside down

We are in the midst of a leadership crisis. The rational, ego-driven authority model of organizations that is based on ideas that are over a century old will not work anymore in the future. We can dive deep into this like I did in previous essays about a non-hierarchical leadership model o...

Makes Me Lie Down

From 2020 to the present I do not know what it is like to be a shepherd, but I do know when I am trying to care and when I am being cared for. The people on horses walk with the cattle to guide them and rescue them when one goes astray. The fences that animals rub against, push through, jump over...

How I hunted Game Balance down and how can you

Once I became a Game Designer I started to dive deep into different aspects of Game Design — feature design, decision-making, game decomposition, etc. But one of the most questionable, alluring, and non-intuitive parts of game design for me appeared to be Game Balance. Since there’s not ...

Put Your Phone Down and Talk to Someone

I was packing up at the end of a trade show at Hanscom AFB and this man came up and asked if he could have a pen. I said of course. He took one. Just one. I said to him “you can have them all if you like we have so many.” He was surprised but happy and took them, there were about a do...

Melbourne — World’s Most Lock down City

Its been a while since I have written anything on my blog. The main reason behind this was that I was thinking what to write and how to write. People think a lot while writing and I am not saying there is anything wrong in that. There are different kinds of writing and it depends on the purpose o...

Way Down in The Hole

The Hole is a tiny New York City neighborhood that flirts with legend. Partly, that legend lies in its history as a mob dumping ground and we’ll get to that. But visually, it’s unlike anything else you’ll see in the NYC area, too. The Hole squats right on the border of Queens ...

The MTA has let New York City down far too many times

With continuous fare hikes followed by degraded service, delayed trains, and old buses it begs why the MTA hasn’t been improving, especially since so many New Yorkers rely on it every single day. And the problem is only made worse when accounting for already disenfranchised communities. The...

Falling Down the Rabbit Hole of Sydney’s “Wonderland”

Ihave always loved theme parks and the unique thrills and opportunities they offer. As a child who spent all their life in small rural towns around New South Wales, it was always a joy for me whenever my parents had the funds to take the family on a roadtrip to Queensland to spend a weekend visiting...

Exploring the Land Down Under: 10 Remarkable Cities of Australia and their Iconic Attractions

Australia, a vast and diverse continent, is home to a collection of vibrant cities that showcase the country’s unique culture, stunning landscapes, and famous landmarks. From the iconic Opera House in Sydney to the cultural hub of Melbourne and the tropical beauty of Cairns, each city has its ...

Take time to look up, take care to look down

I can’t remember the first time when I saw a Malaysian Night Heron, but I know that it was in Taipei. They are called Malaysian Night Herons because they are normally seen out feeding in nearby parks in the evening, but just as “morning sickness” could last the whole day for some w...

Reconsidering Watership Down Going Into COP28

Two years ago, I wrote an article called Waiting for Bigwig, using the archetypal rabbits from Richard Adams’ 1972 novel Watership Down to explain the power dynamics of the climate crisis. “Watership is an ecological novel,” I said, “for it is ultimat...

Natural Gas Is Bringing Down Big Oil

Natural gas has fallen off a cliff towards international obscurity over the nearly two years since Russia invaded Ukraine. Conventional wisdom has long been that natural gas would be the longest-living of the three main fossil fuels, with coal use dying off first, followed by oil, and gas benefiting...

It All Comes Down to Faith, Hope, and Love

Over the last four years, I have had the joy and privilege of coming alongside the PACE Faith In/And Democracy Learning Community to tell the stories of some remarkable grantees, and share insights regarding what we have learned along the way. This community has been an inspiration to...

Just Because You Can Afford the Down Payment…Doesn’t Mean You Should Buy A House (Part II)

First, if you have a credit score of 700 (remember, the OP’s minimum score was 620), that’s pretty good! You’re a little under the national average, but that’s still pretty good! So why do you have a score of 700, rather than, say, 750, or even 800? There are a lot of...

What Is a Down Payment?

Whether you’re eyeing your dream home or the latest car, the term “down payment” often pops up, shrouded in mystery and financial jargon. In essence, a down payment is your upfront contribution to the purchase price of a big-ticket item. It demonstrates your commitment and reduces ...

Not just torn down posters

A week after the events of October 7, the day that Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 240 civilians in Israel, the day that a war broke out between Israel and Hamas and a day that inevitably spurred global antisemitism, I walk to my local tube and I am bombarded by a riot of red and white poster...

What Makes a ‘True Story’? Part III: Sit Down and Shut Up?

Here in the UK, there’s been great interest of late in the possibility that not only has the New Atheism faded away, but a revival of interest in Christianity may be on the cards. Justin Brierley has produced a book and podcast series on The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God and...

Slow Down And Rein It In, Ladies

There’s a lot of talk about how boys and men are faring with all this feminist equality-seeking malarkey. In the UK a few months ago, there was quite a buzz around the topic following the launch of author and writer Caitlin Moran’s latest book. Previously a writer for and about women, th...

“Marrying Down” Benefits Men But Hurts Women

When I entered back into the datingsphere after my divorce, I struggled to find a quality relationship. No, really. It was a well-chronicled hellscape. Routinely, men would tell me that the reason I wasn’t finding an amazing long-lasting relationship was that I was looking for the wrong guy. ...

Walking down a dark alley: explaining women’s safety to men

Marco led me to the entrance of a dark alley. The streetlights were far off, and I could barely make out what lay ahead, seeing only dumpsters and a few homeless people huddled in a corner. I heard scurrying city rats. We were on our way to dinner. And we were running late. “Let’s tak...

Women: What We Pass Down

Historical and generational trauma are relatively new concepts. Newly named at least. The trauma has a long history. Historical and generational trauma are two distinct psychological ideas but with a similar source and consequences. Historical trauma is when a traumatic event or set of events happen...

Two Days Before Hearing, Jason White again “Locked Down”

(Jul. 3, 2022) — In early June, Tennessee inmate Jason Lamar White was transported from New Mexico to the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) in Tiptonville, TN in anticipation of a post-conviction petition hearing in the Shelby County Criminal Court scheduled for July 5. In May...

Striking down affirmative action is nowhere close to addressing the real problem

It’s enraging to see my Asian peers celebrating the Supreme Court’s June 29 ruling, which deemed affirmative action as discriminatory. Attending a predominantly Asian high school, I was disheartened last year to hear some of my fellow students lamenting their peers’ admissions t...

Sitting Down with FMCSA Chief Counsel Brian Stansbury: A Day in the Life of a Truck Driver

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Chief Counsel Brian Stansbury recently rode from Dayton, OH to Baltimore, MD with Daniel Clark, a professional truck driver for Classic Carriers of Versailles, OH. Stansbury joined Clark’s route delivering a load of pork products in a refrige...

Why America is so Eager to Flush Democracy Down the Toilet?

The reasons are as vast as the territorial United States. Let’s say American history was fated to have a rendezvous with the strong man. After all, America is fascinated with strong men and a strong culture of imposition on other countries. The GI Joe cow syndrome finally arrived at the barn. ...

No Border Walls, the Plus Side of Tearing Down Fences

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall…” wrote Robert Frost. “…That wants it down.” That ‘something’ is probably nature. Or other beings who like freedom. Or, gravity. Or those wishing to invest in foreign diplomacy to reduce the incre...

Black “Americans?”

Each year the United States doubles down on its insult to Black People in the United States with something called Black History Month. An oddity which takes place no where else in the world. One must ask oneself why this is so. As such, the nation temporarily acquiesces to gratuitous memes of &ld...

My response to white people who say, “If you don’t like it here, then leave”

Today I have love in my heart. So much love. So very, very much love. As in, I just love when I’m arguing with someone and they say, “If you don’t like this country, you should leave!” It happens all the time. There you are, scrolling down your timeline, and a white fri...

Down Syndrome and How it Affects Each Person Differently

Perhaps you’ve noticed at some time that people with Down Syndrome vary widely in their ability to cope with everyday life. Some are bright and smart despite their condition, and others are slow and struggle with everyday tasks, while some fall somewhere between these measures. Here is the ...

Is Simple Dumbing Down? The Science That’ll Change How You Write

I’ve been getting the same criticism for 20 years. It happened again last week. I was writing about the importance of keeping communication simple. Using simple phrases and short sentences. When I received this strong objection: You’ll end up with uneducated and lazy readers&hellip...

Again and again I keep falling down

Today I have fallen, relapsed, or perhaps simply wanted to be numb. To all of this pain that seemingly comes from unknown sources. That’s a lie that I and each addict tell ourselves, wanting to escape pain. Whether it’s drugs, pornography, alcohol, food, or a shiny screen, there se...

Breaking Down Barriers: Why Patients Don’t Take Advantage of Help with Affording Prescription Drugs by Big Pharma

Accessing necessary prescription medications would be straightforward and affordable for everyone. Unfortunately, the reality is often far from this ideal, with many patients needing help to afford the medicines they need to manage their health conditions. While big pharma does offer assistance prog...

What We May Eat And Do When The Grid Goes Down

Men and women evolved as equal partners with sexually dimorphic bodies. Like other primates now, in earlier days, males tended to be bigger. As human apes changed from arboreal to upright positions, our brains became the things where we primarily house sexual drives, language, and collabor...

Why I Shut Down My Print-On-Demand Store After Only Four Months

Starting a business is no easy feat, and it was even more challenging to shut one down after only four months. I had high hopes for my print-on-demand store. According to the YouTubers, it is the perfect business model — low-risk, low-investment, and potentially high returns. However, as wi...

Do Feminists Really ‘Hate’ Men? : Punching Up vs Punching Down

Why is it seen as being socially acceptable for women to make jokes at the expense of men, encouraged even, like it’s part of a ‘girl code’- ‘all men are trash’, but if men were to do the same to women, even if wrapped up as a ‘joke’, then they would be hail...

“Thumb Down/Up”

Definition: A half-court set in which a ball-screener receives a down screen from another offensive player before initiating a pick-and-roll with the ball-handler. Synonyms: Rub Explanation: The notion of a good screener usually refers to an offensive player’s ability to c...