Control-Alt-Delete

We have all used it. Do you happen to know how it actually came about? Engineer David Bradley, a designer on early IBM computers, said he invented the combination as a shortcut during the software development. It was not supposed to be available any place else but software companies got wind of it and it spread. Gates said that the keys to log on or access the control panel should not have been that complicated and the reason for it was that it required users to use both hands and was intended to avoid accidental keystrokes from rebooting a computer. Personally it might be a good thing that it requires the use of two hands because clearly they were thinking ahead of game to make sure that anyone can use computers without messing anything up or changing things that they accidentally did not want to change.

Trust for Facts

Who do you trust when it comes to getting facts and information? After the events of the past week with the Navy Yard shootings and the Kenya mall massacre, new outlets jump the gun, so to speak to be the first with the breaking news and it constantly changes. In the case of the Navy Yard shooting, the facts kept coming in, overlaying the misstatements and flat-out lies that had been generated only hours before. Security clearance questions arose; a history of mental illness popped up; the Department of Veterans Affairs was implicated for failure to see the carnage to come, as was the Department of the Navy for failing to pass along important police information about the shooter. The Virginia gun dealer took a few hits before the truth came out that nothing untoward or illegal had transpired when the shooter purchased not an assault rifle but a shotgun. Journalism has become a race to get the "facts" first, cleaned up by corrections later. It also seems like the slew of internet phone services and social media, we still cannot get the facts right. What are your thoughts on the subject of trust?

Get The Most Out of the Weekend

It's a sad fact of life that vacations -- that precious time off reserved specifically for the purpose of relaxing -- can often cause us additional stress. It’s not surprising that even though your body might be comfortably prone on a beach towel, your brain is still scrolling through to-do lists back home and all the unfinished papers at work. With the long weekend coming up, it might even be worse because of the stress leading up to it and then Monday is spent worrying about the following week. Some of the things that you can do, if you have not already, is disabling the internet fax and email notifications. If unplugging for the weekend is in the realm of possibility for you, consider going off the grid and disabling your work email -- you'll be guaranteed to come back to work on Tuesday feeling more refreshed than if you had spent the weekend glued to your phone. If you cannot unplug, make sure to really prioritize, and be reasonable about it. You will have a more sustained sense of progress over your task load, and will also lose the sense of foreboding that often leads to procrastination of important tasks.