In This Episode: When you really look into something that’s “obvious” and “common sense,” sometimes you’ll find that …the “experts” are wrong! This is the story of a man who was pretty sure the industry experts were wrong about something, and boy did it take him a lot of effort to turn that industry around. But he did, because his Uncommon Sense beat their common sense.
Technology
Why My New Podcast Host is So Cool
I’m Excited About My New Podcast Host. There’s no Uncommon Sense Podcast episode this week: I spent my podcast time last week moving everything to a new hosting site since I’ve been unhappy with the old one. The new host lets me do something special, especially for those of you who aren’t really techie: give you really easy access via your smartphone or tablet.
Make Cheating Wrong Again
The Georgia State Trooper scandal has some True-worthy details that didn’t fit into the story. First, let’s start with that story, from True’s 16 February 2020 issue:
061: The Domino Effect
In This Episode: When you follow your gut and push to be the best, amazing things can happen. James Flanagan did that, and the domino effect that followed is so amazing, you’ll find it hard to believe that one guy’s efforts are probably a part of your life every day — even though he’s been dead for several years.
058: Solving Cultural Amnesia
In This Episode: We know our ancient cultural history because of stone tablets and paper scrolls. We know more recent history because it was printed in books. But with the Internet, where is our history? There are millions of web sites, but if the owner dies and stops paying the bills for their server, it’s shut down, the domain name expires, and all of its knowledge can instantly be lost forever. Someone is trying to do something about that.
054: Pre-Silicon Valley
In This Episode: A news story going around on social media sounds too amazing to be true. So I’m going to dig into the idea that the smartphone was invented in 1953. The back story is even more impressive: it nicely demonstrates that you don’t need a college education to have Uncommon Sense.
051: Out of Thin Air
In This Episode: Now here’s a fun example of Uncommon Sense in action — in the adult beverage category…?! You could call it another concept for “neutral spirits,” and it ties in with a very interesting early episode.
050: The Mother of All Demos
In This Episode: One person with Uncommon Sense can have a profound effect on the world. Wait until you hear the story of Doug Engelbart: he’s the visionary behind many of the technologies you use most every day.
047: Standing in Line
In This Episode: How does a man use his years of experience working for IBM as they introduced computers to business, leverage that experience to invent a worldwide phenomenon that you have used many, many times? He uses Uncommon Sense.
032: “Give Me a Shot at It. I’m an Engineer”
In This Episode: The story of a man who wasn’t satisfied with mere success. He took Uncommon Sense to a new level in order to help others, yet refused to get rich from it.
029: 32 Glasses of Water Go Down the Black Hole
In This Episode: I love watching others and recognizing signs of Uncommon Sense. I’m going to tell you about another friend of mine (who has no idea I’m going to talk about this), since it’s a great example of taking something you see with a grain of salt, and calling B.S. when it’s necessary. And then, I take on the universe.
024: Extending Thinking Beyond Humans
In This Episode: Thinking about thinking that might occur in machines — for the betterment of humanity.
020: How to Lose Everything, Instantly
In This Episode: The Hewlett-Packard fire that destroyed early Silicon Valley History is anything but Uncommon Sense, but you can learn from it: it’s a real “Wake-Up Call”.
014: Expect the Unexpected
In This Episode: Just how much impact one person can have by refusing to be stymied by those who don’t have it. Because he did that, you might owe this guy your life.
006: The X Factor
In This Episode: How two men 70 years apart inspired others to change the world in a massive display of Uncommon Sense. It’s a story about how someone figured out a way to get people to push forward, to think hard, and to solve real problems. I call it: The X Factor.
Contempt of Cop
Two stories in this week’s This is True illustrate a problem that’s growing, when it should be shrinking. Let’s start with the stories.
003: Cassini: The Bigger Picture
In This Episode: From California, where I came to see and reflect on the End of Mission for the Cassini spacecraft — its so-called Grand Finale. This isn’t about the mission per se, but rather the thinking behind it, how that fits into True’s mission, and how that ties into this week’s Honorary Unsubscribe! In other words, The Bigger Picture.
Online News: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Sometimes I Smile, Sometimes I Roll My Eyes: About the news business, that is. As a news commentary column, news is, of course, the road this publication drives on. Here’s what I mean.
1989: An Amazing Year for NASA/JPL
Note: I actually wrote this in January to explain the background on an item I had put up for auction. It was deleted once the auction was over, but a reader wanted to be able to point someone at the text because he thought it was interesting. So here it is. –RC
This is Not a Drill
When it Comes to “Big” News Stories, I like to focus on some of the smaller points — the parts that illustrate the “thinking” aspects of the stories, or what should be the “lessons learned” from them. Hawaii’s “ballistic missile” incident is a perfect example. Let’s start with my take on it, from True’s 14 January 2018 issue: