In 64, as Rome burned, Nero fiddled. And so do we, in 2024.
Oh, the mundanity of the Trump trial
“Oh, the mundanity.” The New York Times chose to write about the mundanity of the Trump trial in New York City. (“Trump’s Trial Challenge: Being Stripped of Control”). “Mundanity” is not a word Oz has heard before. Mundane, for sure. As in, being ordinary and uninteresting. Oz, however, is transported back to the crash of…
The Zen of Wordle
The Zen of Wordle There are days when the letters fall automatically into place. That when your friends say, “You cheat.” Then too, there are days one struggles with Wordle. Wordle, a popular online puzzle hosted by the New York Times, invented by Josh Wardle. Players get six tries to guess a five-letter word, with…
Teach Your Children Well
Teach them well Crosby Stills Nash and Young (1968) told us to teach our children well and gave us words to live by: You, who are on the roadMust have a code you try to live byAnd so become yourselfBecause the past is just a goodbye Graham Nash, Teach Your Children Well, Crosby Stills Nash…
You Are
Free choice For Socrates, free will is impossible without self-control. For Aristotle, we have the power to do or not to do. Be glad you live in a democracy. Finish this phrase, “You are …“ My sister-in-law added, You are who you hang out with. Some people say you are who you are. I like…
P vs NP
The P versus NP problem asks whether every problem whose solution can be quickly verified can also be quickly solved. Hmmm? What if one defines the problem differently. One person makes a point the other person doesn’t get. A situation that repeatedly occurs in Congress and the Supreme Court. Who, Dear Reader, is missing the…
A Total Eclipse
Turn Around Bright Eyes Turn around bright eyes serves as a warning that love can hurt, like a total eclipse of the sun. On Monday, as the path of the moon travels in front of the sun, a lucky few million will experience a total eclipse. The eclipse will sweep across the United States from…
What to Think
To Think “We don’t need to continue beating kids over the head,” Steve Harvey said. Here’s an idea, instead of telling kids “what to think,” tell them “how to think,” or better yet, just “think.” It’s a take off on an idea that Dr. Phil and Steve Harvey shared on the Phil in the Blanks…
Not Everything
Who’s counting? “Not everything that counts can be counted.” Misattributed to Albert Einstein, give William Bruce Cameron his due Einstein supposedly said this but didn’t, proving the very point of the saying. To correct the record, the quote belongs to William Bruce Cameron. Who’s he? Which is why it sounds better coming from the mouth…
P versus NP
P versus NP problem asks whether every problem whose solution can be quickly verified can also be quickly solved. Hmmm? Seems to me that it depends upon the problem solver and luck. Take the infinite monkey theorem. You know, monkeys, typewriters given enough time, yada yada. One monkey might get it right on the first…
Leaving Oz 