Motivation

It occurs to me that the number of people motivated to work hard is inversely proportional to the quality of life for the poorest portion of a population (I'm an alliteration dynamo).

Said another way, if the poor ever regularly got fanned with palm leaves and fed juicy grapes by robotic servants the entire population would have extremely low motivation. However, if being poor meant you'd be thrown into a lion's den for sport and the entertainment of others, the entire population would have a much higher intrinsic motivation to accomplish things to ensure they never became impoverished.

It's with this observation that I ask whether the stereotypical American "Social Safety Net" for impoverished individuals is a good or bad thing. I'm of the opinion that the government should guarantee a minimum quality of life of (a) 150 sq ft of temperature controlled housing, (b) three square meals per day, (c) access to free information/education, and (d) contemporary communication options including a voice cell phone and an e-mail address.

That being said, I think there are rights currently afforded to impoverished individuals that ought to be taken away. It seems to me like poor people get to raise children and I see this as a danger to society because it disenfranchises the children. Right now, it seems like the only way to lose your children is to actively abuse or neglect them. I think this might be due in part to the fact that (a) nobody wants to adopt older children who are "damaged goods" and (b) there's no better mechanism to handle them except foster homes which historically get underfunded (and have a stigma of being bad environments to grow up).

These are problems that need to be saved for another day, though. But my point is, we need to improve the way impoverished children are handled in our society so we can worsen (by taking away their children) the way impoverished adults are handled. This worsening will generate a thrust of motivation that will help the overall country improve its overall health due to the inversely proportional relationship that I mentioned earlier.

(Footnote: I'm not actively suggesting that we go take children away from people, only that we consider the option so that people who are in the position to bring new children into the world are aware of the risk that they could lose their currently unborn children in the future if they don't stay motivated to find ways to contribute to society.)

Solutions Journal

A friend of mine is working to develop a sophisticated means of addressing the information gap between (1) academic researchers, (2) peer-reviewed publishing, and (3) the general public. The result comes to the world in a form called The Solutions Journal. The target is somewhat of a hybrid between an academic journal and a print magazine. I think it's a novel (pleasantly new or different) & noble (indicative of high or elevated character) concept.

I submitted a brief write-up of my 30-Hour Work Week idea to the Your Solutions section of this journal/magazine, where it's (currently) listed as a Featured Solution.

There's a lot of good things going on here.

• All articles submitted to the Solutions Journal (including the Your Solutions section) are reviewed for quality before they are posted to the site. Review is generally good.
• There's a discussion/comment system to facilitate the exchange of different opinions.
• There's a cost advantage, since most scientific journals are insanely expensive (because they pay salaries for the publishing houses that print them). Meanwhile, the Solutions Journal print edition costs only $29.99 per year (6 issues) for individuals and $299.99 for institutions - quite affordable.
• There's a editorial staff of many Ph.D's (including a recent Nobel Prize winner).
• And while I haven't gone through the fine print, I believe Solutions is different from traditional scientific journals that require authors to relinquish copyright of their articles (a practice that slows down the rate of innovation).

So, kudos to the Solutions Journal.

Cipher Number Two

This is a follow-up to the July 9, 2009 post, Rob's Cipher:

0000869317699297019970289702897022970201701997032169389699
4170423702897028969389698297032170297703817028969493693896
9389700997029770373693897020770297703516938970163693897017
7702977037370313703737019970351693897029770201693897032770
3737032170309703217022970327701996938970201702497029770381
7019970321703276938970201703217029770271693897027170199693
8970423701997032770351701997032170183701637042369389694677
0351702237016370351693897022970327694936938970297702896938
9698477019970181701997027170177701997032169389695936962369
4936938969623695576955769737693897022970289693897018170163
7032770199693897042370297703736938970181701637028969463703
5169389701837019970181703217042370309703516938970351702237
0229703276938970181702977018370199693897016370289704237035
1702297027170199693897032770297702977028969473694996938969
3896982970163703277022970181701637024970249704236949369389
7038170223701637035169389699116938970381701637028970351693
8970351702976938970327701637042369389702297032769389703517
0223701637035169389699116938970249702977037970199693897042
3702977037369389703797019970321704236938970271703737018170
2236949969389693897009970297703736946370321701996938970351
7022370199693897024970229702077022370351693897029770201693
8970271704236938970249702297020170199694996938969389699116
9389702497029770379701996938970199703797019970321704236938
9702717022970289703737035170199693897038170199693897020770
1997035169389703517029769389703277030970199702897018369389
7035170297702077019970351702237019970321694996938969389699
1170351693897027170163702417019970327693897027170199693897
0223701637030970309704236938970381702237019970289701997037
9701997032169389699116938970327701997019969389704237029770
3736949969389693897006770223701997028969389704237029770373
6938970207701997035169389703517022370229703276938970271701
9970327703277016370207701996949369389699116938970381701637
0289703516938970423702977037369389703517029769389701817016
3702497024969389702717019969389701637028970183693897016370
2897032770381701997032169389703517022370229703276938970313
7037370199703277035170229702977028969389702017029770321693
8970271701996949369389694037006770223701637035169389702297
0327693897035170223702297032170351704236949770327701997037
9701997028969389703517022970271701997032769389703517022370
2297032170351704236949770327701997037970199702896938970163
7028970183693897038170229702497024969389704237029770373693
8970271701637032170321704236938970271701996980969403693896
9389699417029770379701996949369389700097029770177701997032
1703516938970067702297024970249702297016370271693897006170
1637028969389698477042370241693896938970001694997001969499
6938969911702896938970351702237019969389701997037970199702
8970351693897035170223701637035169389702297035169389703517
0163702417019970327693897042370297703736938970249702977028
9702077019970321693897035170297693897018170321701637018170
2416938970351702237019969389701817029770183701996938970351
7022370163702896938970229703516938970183702977019970327693
8970201702977032169389702717019969389703517029769389702077
0199703516938970163693897032170229702897020769389701637028
9701836938970183702976938970351702237022970327693897035170
2237019969389703517032170163701837022970351702297029770289
7016370249693897038170163704236949369389699116938970223701
6370379701996938970351702976938970229702897032770229703277
0351693897029770289693897038170163702297035170229702897020
7693897037370289703517022970249693897016370201703517019970
3216938970297703737032169389703817019970183701837022970289
7020769389703517029769389702497019970351693897042370297703
7369389702017022970207703737032170199693897029770373703516
9389703817022370163703516938970351702237022970327693897032
7701637042370327694996938969389699117028969389701637028970
4236938970181701637032770199694936938969911693897037970199
7032170423693897027170373701817022369389702497029770297702
4169389702017029770321703817016370321701836938970351702976
9389703517022370199693897024970297702977024169389702977028
9693897042370297703737032169389702017016370181701996938970
3817022370199702896938970423702977037369389701817016370289
6938970201702297028970163702497024970423693897032170199701
6370183693897035170223702297032769499693896938969911693897
0163702897035170229701817022970309701637035170199693897022
9703516938970177701997022970289702076938970309703217022970
1817019970249701997032770327694936938970237703737032770351
6938970249702297024170199693897042370297703736938970163703
2170199694996938969389699116938970327701997028970183693897
0351702237022970327693897038170229703517022369389701637024
9702496938970351702237019969389702497029770379701996938969
9116938970223701637037970199693897020770229703797019969499

Happy Decrypting!

Delicious

I've recently discovered del.icio.us. I mean, I was aware of this website in college but at that time the concept of "social bookmarking" seemed rather lame. Suffice it to say, I've grown to enjoy del.icio.us.  With it, I can easily keep track of (and tag) bookmarks.  Also, there's a simple script that let's me integrate my recent bookmarks on my homepage and I think that's cool.

Since signing up for my account, I've been thoughtfully crafting the tags that I apply to my bookmarks. Essentially, I use tags to sort topics (Space, Money, Local, Society, and Transportation) and content-type (Article, Information, Organization, Event, FriendsAndFamily, and UpdatedFrequently).

I think my goal is to tag everything with at least two of these tags, typically using one from each list. At some point I will undoubtedly introduce a Humor tag and a Sports tag, but presently those ones don't exist.

Also, the Firefox Del.icio.us Plug-in is highly recommended.

Expensive Education

People take things for granted when they're going well. I'm no exception. I've known for a long time that I got a good education from the district where I attended high school, but it didn't occur to me until recently how good I had it. Turns out that Midland Park's public schools are better funded then the vast majority of private schools in this country. How do I know this? The numbers are published on the internet. New Jersey, in pursuit of the highest form of capitalism (i.e. open and transparent), doesn't try to hide the value of education. As a result, you can click that link and select:

• (a) County: Bergen
• (b) District: Midland Park Borough
• (c) School: Midland Park H.S.

I'm not going to specifically call out which teachers had the opportunity to educate me, but a significant percentage of these individuals are making six figures. During a conversation I was listening to between a couple of people I know who teach in public high schools, I interjected to make the point that my high school teachers earn over $100,000. I was met with blank stares.

"How is that possible?" they asked. "High taxes," I responded. But I think it's worth it. Currently my mom is struggling to repay the mortgage on her house in that town because taxes are so high, but for the sheer value of living within 2 blocks of one of the best K-12 districts in the country I'd never let her sell to take the gift of education away from either mine or my little sister's future children.