Life

In this life, people create models of the world in which they live in. Some of these models can be simple and codify critical yet simple rules, e.g. if it’s cold, you search for warmth. Other models can be rather more complex and express things we might not even be able to always explain, like who we feel comfortable being around. What both types of models and others along the spectrum can have in common is a propensity for bias. And by bias, I’m referring to assumptions that are made and taken for granted. Some of them can be harmless, and others can be quite damaging. ...

What do you do when you have several things you think you should be doing, but aren’t sure which of them you should do next, either right now or at some other point in the near future? This is what is called task paralysis. And it happens to all of us, at one point or another. You look up from your screen and you suddenly realize there are sticky notes filled with things you need or want to do on your desk, from checking out that presentation about market places to reviewing a pull request. It started off small with three items. Just reminders, so you wouldn’t forget anything important you wanted to do. ...

I travelled recently, and while I waited at a terminal for my connecting flight, I noticed something intriguing about air travelling: Airline. Let’s start with definitions. Airline is the language used by airlines to communicate with their customers. As an investigator/scientist at heart, I could not help but to take it upon myself the selfless duty of documenting this obscure language. And so I paid close attention throughout my trip, and made an effort to document and analyse it as much as I could, and I now share with the world my efforts in translating some of the most important terms in Airline into plain English. ...