#343 – WHY DO MEMORIES FADE AS WE AGE? – ALLEN TAYLOR

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We have all encountered people, perhaps our grandparents, who now have trouble remembering things that they could instantly recall when they were younger. What happened to those missing memories? Why are they so hard for an older person to recall? Those memories used to be present in the brain and easily accessible. What has changed? Continue reading

#342 – PARTNERSHIPS: HEAVEN, HONEYMOONS, OR HELL – MALCOLM PEART

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When it comes to business Bob Parsons, the founder of possibly the world’s largest domain-name registry, believes that “the best partner is no partner”.  The belief is based on that time-honoured Napoleonic phrase which we all utter, or mutter, from time to time “if you want a job doing well, do it yourself”. Continue reading

#340 – HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR STORIES – BILL POMFRET PH.D.

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For several years I have been visiting elder friends in homes for the aged, it was my way of giving back to society for the good life I had, this of course was up until the Corvid 19 Pandemic arrived almost 18 months ago, and my visits had to be put on hold.

Due to the Pandemic, two of the people I visited, passed away, one 87 and the other 91, I was very sad, that I could not say good bye. Continue reading

#340 – ‘WHAT IF’ ANALYSIS – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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What if you knew all the possible outcomes for your product’s reliability performance due to component variations, for example? What if you knew the future with enough certainty to make a difference?

Building on brainstorming, what-if analysis involved using models or prototypes that allow you to change something and see how it alters the output or performance. What if we change this support bracket from iron to aluminum? What if we swap out this 100 ohm resistor for a 200 ohm one? Continue reading

#326 – BEING SET UP FOR FAILURE – JOSEPH PARIS

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Employers don’t hire people – or assign them a project or task – in the hopes they will fail.  And employees don’t take on a job, project, or task in the hopes they will fail.  On the contraire, the expectations all around are that the outcome will be successful.

Certainly, sometimes the outcomes are not successful.  But these unsuccessful outcomes are generally more tolerated – even expected – in companies that are in their early stages or have a company culture that is more entrepreneurial and not so risk adverse.  And when an unsuccessful outcome in such companies occurs, it’s usually a disappointment (and you certainly don’t want to make being unsuccessful a habit), but it’s not usually a negative mark on the employee. Continue reading