Elocutionist's Treatise

The subway denizens are usually not interesting enough to keep me occupied on my daily travels to and from work. Instead, I fill my time with nonsense.

Game Boy -- At 24-years-old, Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel is becoming an old man in a sport where an athlete peaks in his late teens. Fatal1ty is a hardcore gamer, and one who is in top form in his sport, but hot on his heels are younger players vying for the glory, the respect and the payday. Fatal1ty has a plan however -- he's aiming for higher glory in his sport. He's building a brand, and is looking to bring respectability and acceptance to his sport before he leaves the spotlight. Think you know gaming? Read for more.

Star Search -- Here's an interesting premise: invest in your human capital, and you stand a better chance of success, and responding to the rapidly changing world. However, like many things, executives take a short-term view of human capital and pay the subject the merest of lip service. The lip service can be brutal for employees: the external coaching, 360-reviews, employee satisfaction surveys and other such well-being evaluations. If businesses realize however, that there is an impending shortage of qualified staff, they may pay more attention. The baby boomers will be retiring in droves, and their sheer numbers can't be filled by GenX-ers -- as there aren't that many of them. If businesses invest in their employees, there's a greater likelihood that they will be able to retain those people when headhunters come calling.

Wolfram -- Stephen Wolfram has built a mini empire around his Mathematica software, and is also looking to leverage it to rewrite scientific thinking. What if the universe was just an algorithm? And what if you could use Mathematica to explore it? Well then, the first thing I would do is download a pirated version of Mathematica and start tweaking the universe for free! For related reading, check out:

Read Stephen Wolfram's A New Kind of Science online

Stephen Wolfram interview at BioITWorld.com, after the publishing of his book.

Ray Kurzweil's Reflections on Stephen Wolfram's 'A New Kind of Science'