Mulling over the truth of multitasking (2007-02-07)

"It’s not a Papal Edict, people; it’s 180 seconds of caffeinated ranting."--Merlin Mann, Responses to "43F Podcast: The Myth of Multi-tasking"

The summary for one of the podcasts I listened to from 43 Folders yesterday says this:

“Multi-taskers” are really just splitting their time and attention into smaller slices than you; no one can really do more than one thing at a time.

The "myth" of multitasking, Merlin says, is as credible as the yeti. He elaborates with exaggerated examples and the alleged expectation that we should be "parallel processing computers."

This caffeinated rant is confused from beginning to end. To "discover" that multitasking is "actually just... splitting... into very small slices" is to "discover" what is in computing the definition of multitasking. As the Wikipedia entry states, "The act of reassigning a CPU from one task to another one is called a context switch. When context switches occur frequently enough the illusion of parallelism is achieved."

Nevertheless true parallel processing--not simply the illusion of parallelism produced by multitasking--is also possible for humans. This morning I washed dishes while participating in a Skype standing meeting. My hands didn't stop rinsing dishes while I listened; I did two tasks simultaneously by any reasonable and useful definition.

Merlin's rant sounds as though its intent is to soothe the self-esteem of those who can't switch contexts easily. I disagree with the assertions and want to clarify the concepts. I find far more useful Steve Pavlina's "Do It Now" distinction between tasks requiring high attention and tasks requiring low attention:

The idea of multitasking may seem to contradict the previous piece of advice to work all the time you work. But whereas the previous tip refers to high intensity work where you must concentrate all your mental resources in order to do the best job you can, this tip addresses low intensity work where you have plenty of capacity to do other things at the same time, like standing in line, cooking dinner, flying on a plane, or walking from point A to point B. Multitasking shouldn't be used where it will significantly degrade your performance on a crucial task, but it should be intelligently used to take advantage of excess capacity.

Reading, and Listening to Podcasts

"Something was going on which I didn't get."--Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

In the week and a half since my last blog post about a book, I've been reading Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man for a book club meeting February 19. I would probably not read this book if someone else hadn't selected it; it's not in my usual genres.

I find myself reading Invisible Man slowly because the narrator is frequently bewildered. If, in contrast, I understood the events he witnessed, this would be dramatic irony. Since I don't understand, either, it's simply confusing.

Savage Love Podcast

So sometimes I make transit time more tolerable by listening to podcasts instead of reading. I tried this several years ago with an MP3 player, and found the downloading and updating inconvenient. I tried again with a second-generation iPod nano, and the synchronizing is automatic, now that I use iTunes instead of WinAmp. I can listen in the car as well as on the bus, using a cassette tape adapter. On my iPod currently are .NET Rocks!, 43 Folders, AA Meeting: The Academy-Awards Related Obsessions of David Schmader (and Guests), and--because sex has always fascinated me--Dan Savage's explicit Savage Love sex advice podcasts. Several of these are Seattle locals.

Walking Ebeys Landing (2007-02-02)

Reading The Omega Diet (2007-01-09/28)

Everyone I know seems to have a different approach to nutrition: Atkins, Mediterranean, Nourishing Traditions, South Beach, etc. Each has a different approach to carbohydrates, monounsaturated fats, saturated fats, milk products, fiber, etc. Each cites research in a controversial field.

I need to have healthy diet and exercise (although there appears to be more consensus on the latter). I'd like to have the metabolism of my last decade. The various contrary opinions confuse me, however. Which diet would be best for me?

Imagining that it would be better to have some plan than none at all, I selected the diet in a book my doctor recommended to me during a recent routine checkup: The Omega Diet: The Lifesaving Nutritional Program Based on the Diet of the Island of Crete by Artemis P. Simopoulos, M.D. The American Heart Association Dietary Guidelines: Revision 2000 has some similarity to this diet.

The Omega Diet, based on the traditional diet of Crete, attempts to mimic the characteristics (particularly the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 essential fatty acids) of the diet on which human beings evolved. Below are "The Seven Dietary Guidelines of The Omega Diet":

1. Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as fatty fish (salmon, tuna, trout, herring, mackerel), walnuts, canola oil, flaxseeds, and green leafy vegetables. Or, if you prefer, take omega-3 supplements.
2. Use monounsaturated oils such as olive oil and canola oil as your primary fat.
3. Eat seven or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
4. Eat more vegetable protein, including peas, beans, and nuts.
5. Avoid saturated fat by choosing lean meat over fatty meat (if you eat meat) and low-fat over full-fat milk products.
6. Avoid oils that are high in omega-6 fatty acids, including corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, and cottonseed oils.
7. Reduce your intake of trans-fatty acids by cutting back on margarine, vegetable shortening, commercial pastries, deep-fat friend food, and most prepared snacks, mixes, and convenience food.

I conclude with a sample day on the Omega Diet (not including healthy snacks ):

Breakfast

• 1 bagel
• 2 oz lox (cold-smoked salmon)
• 2 T low-fat cream cheese or 3 T low-fat cottage cheese
• Tomatoes, sliced onions, or capers
• 8 oz. juice

approximate calories: 462

Lunch

• 2 cups vegetable soup
  (Hot and Sour Soup)
• 5 crackers (nonfat or canola-based)
• 1 cup mixed green salad with 2 T olive oil vinaigrette

approximate calories: 427

Dinner

• Lean burger
  (5 oz. lean meat or veggie patty, 1 whole-wheat hamburger bun or roll, 1 T. canola oil mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato)
• 3/4 cups cooked carrots marinated in 1 T. olive oil vinaigrette (served cold)

approximate calories: 620

At Ancient Grounds (2007-01-24)

If you want art, atmosphere, coffee, WiFi, or wine while you wait for your transfer bus, then I recommend a small shop called Ancient Grounds, 1220 First Ave. The walls have Japanese, Native American, and other art. The sound of running water emanates from fountains.

I found Ancient Grounds by looking on Plazes map for a coffee shop in Seattle near the buses on 1st Avenue and Columbia (four blocks away). I wanted a place to meet a friend today along his bus route from the University District to West Seattle. I enjoyed the atmosphere (and my soy hot chocolate with mint).

Reading The Laws of Simplicity (2007-01-20/21)

In The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda writes, "I originally conceived this book as a sort of Simplicity 101, to give readers an understanding of the foundation of simplicity as it relates to design, technology, business, and life." The laws of simplicity are in three clusters of three laws each. "Of the three clusters, basic simplicity (1 to 3) is immediately applicable to thinking about the design of a product or the layout of your living room." These are my initial thoughts on reading The Laws of Simplicity:

1. Reduce
"The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction." The author's approach to thoughtful reduction is "shrink, hide, embody."

• Design
In the agile development of a recent internal alpha release, for an iteration of "Work trays can be shown or hidden at the user's discretion," the software design engineer put the following menu items on the View menu:


Insert WorkTray	Left
	Right
	Bottom
Delete WorkTray	Left
	Right
	Bottom

In the "Expected Results" I wrote, "The 'View' menu would contain a 'Worktray' submenu, containing 'Left', 'Right', and 'Bottom', each with or without a check mark indicating whether the associated worktray is visible." The actual window implementation may have to be "insert with previous state and delete". We can hide this complexity from the user, whose mental model is "show and hide."

• Business
Last year I noticed that, due to low net income, the amount in my company's accounts receivable was declining without an increase in checking and savings, but rather with an increase in the amount on lines of credit. My business partner and I disagreed on whether to focus our efforts on directing net income into debt repayment (rather than distribution) or on increasing revenue. We agreed, however, that our debt was too large, so we could agree on a simple goal: achieve a current ratio of 2.0 by 2007-02-01 (and an ongoing current ratio of 1.5). This goal hid accounting complexity and embodied the relationship between current assets and liabilities.


2. Organize
"Organization makes a system of many appear fewer."

• Life
Since reading Stephen R. Covey's First Things First, I have organized my priorities and tasks around the roles I have. Currently I have goals for these roles:

• boyfriend,
• business owner,
• citizen,
  
• friend, and
• self.
  


3. Time
"Savings in time feel like simplicity."

• Life
John Maeda writes this about time:


Saving time is thus the tradeoff between the quantitatively fast and the qualitatively fast:


How can you make the wait shorter?

<--->

How can you make the wait more tolerable?

One of my goals for 2007 as a "Citizen" is to drive less than 1200 miles per month. Another goal for my (mental) "Self" is to blog 50 books. I'm looking forward to reading on the bus to further both goals. While not making transit time any shorter, it may make it more tolerable.

Watching Stranger Than Fiction (2007-01-12)

Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
'Cause I'm the taxman
Yeah, I'm the taxman
--The Beatles, "Taxman"

Appropriate to my needed renewed empathy for those who aren't "neurotypical," the friend who showed us the existential comedy I Heart Huckabees recently invited us to see Stranger Than Fiction. After dinner in the nearly-empty Bambuza Vietnamese Bistro, we walked to Meridian 16 for the movie.

Will Ferrell describes his character, Harold Crick--an IRS auditor--, as "slightly OCD." If the distinction is "those with OCD know their behavior is problematic where the symptoms of OCPD are part of a person's personality," I would describe Harold as OCPD.

I like movies with multiple levels, stories within stories, and interaction between form and content, so I found the film enjoyable. It's "a movie about a guy who has a narrator." Especially entertaining were the numbers and thin white schematics in scenes emphasizing Harold's counting and alignment.

The appearance of Tony Hale ("Arrested Development") was amusing. The performance of Maggie Gyllenhaal--as the happy and lively love interest--was delightful. (I wonder, Did she give Ryan's message to Jake?)

Harold Crick's life looks boring. Nevertheless, he wants to live it. The movie centers on his efforts to do so despite his "imminent death."

Watching El Laberinto del Fauno/Pan's Labyrinth (2007-01-20)

An old friend says he doesn't read fantasy because he read The Lord of the Rings and few--if any--authors match J.R.R. Tolkien's ability. While I'm not as exclusive in my reading of fantasy or other speculative fiction, reading the Inklings has led me to expect of fairy tales the feel of something real. Glimpsing and overhearing the wider world beyond the story are part of that feel.

Roger Ebert calls El Laberinto del Fauno "a fairy tale for grown-ups." Despite the young girl as a protagonist, the tale is definitely for grown-ups: the movie is gory. However, the fairy tale elements go no further than the story, and the realistic elements (1944 Spain) contain implausible evil. (Here's a minor spoiler: one character suffers puncture wounds to the back, chest, and face; drinks an overdose of a sleeping drug; and then chases and catches another character.) The evil was intentionally unpleasant, but a good tale would make the movie enjoyable. While I wanted to enjoy the fantasy, the fairy tale wasn't sufficiently coherent to make a movie I enjoyed.

Reading Garden State soundtrack (2007-01-19)

Today the Music from the Motion Picture Garden State that I ordered arrived in my PO Box. I'm disappointed to see that most of the songs have chords more complicated than the starter guitar chords I'm learning (A, D, E, F, G, Am, Dm, Em, Fm, G7, A7, D7, E7, C, and C7). This quarter I again signed up for the "Beginning Guitar For Adults" group lesson taught by Jack Dowdell from Half Note Studio at UW Experimental College. It appears I need a lot of practice if I want to play songs from Garden State.

At least now I have the correct lyrics to "Fair" by Remy Zero, even if I don't understand them. I still like the sound of the song.

Hey, are you lonely? Summer gone so slowly.
We've found the ground, and that damage is done.
It's cold as you fade into the sun.
Where'd you go? To me.

But you're alive. Well, it's only fallen frames, they told me.
You stand out so loud, and so what if it is?
It's cold as you face into the wind.
And where'd it go? Tonight the sun shall see its light.

So what if you catch me? Where would we land?
In somebody's life for taking his hands.
Sing to me hope as she's thrown on the stand.
All of our work is rated again. Where to go?

And you were somehow the rain this thing could allow.
I've tried, but it's all wrong. You're so strong,
and as life and work, the choice took far too long.
Where'd it go? Tonight the sun shall see its light.

So what if you catch me? Where would we land?
In somebody's life for taking his hands.
Sing to me hope as she's thrown on the stand.
All of our work is rated again.

And I was sure you'd follow through.
My world was turned so blue. (My world was turned so thin.)
When you'd hide, your songs would die, so I'd hide yours with mine.
All my words were bound to fail. Well, I know you won't fail.
See, I can tell.

Reading the curious incident of the dog in the night-time (2007-01-14)

"'...[Y]our father is really pacient [sic] but I'm not, I get cross, even though I don't mean to.'" --Mark Haddon, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

None of the traits I've observed in people I know are anywhere near as upsetting as the behavior of Christopher Boone, the narrator of the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. An old letter from his mother describes this:

And Mr. Land was realy [sic] nice about it but there were boxes and bits of broken bowl on the floor and everyone was staring and I saw that you had wet yourself and I was so cross and I wanted to take you out of the shop but you wouldn't let me touch you and you just lay on the floor and screamed and banged your hands and feet on the floor and the maniger [sic] came and asked what the problem was and I was at the end of my tether and I had to pay for two broken mixers and we just had to wait until you stoped [sic] screaming.

The adults in Christopher's life act and react differently to his behavior. His mother was much less patient than his father, but his father later ends up apologizing and making amends. His mentor is the most admirable, explaining to Christopher the unwritten rules of social behavior--the "hidden curriculum"--in precise literal terms:

Siobhan understands. When she tells me not to do something she tells me exactly what it is that I am not allowed to do. And I like this.

Criticism of the book suggests that the narration is too self-aware for even a high-functioning autistic at Christopher's age. So the traits I've observed in people I know are much less upsetting than the symptoms of various disorders.

In fact--in years as an engineer, graduate student, or software developer--I've explained to significant others that I don't want them to take offense when I am in hack mode, a state of hyperfocus likened to ADHD characteristics. So I understand different ways of thinking that lead to social differences.

Nevertheless I got cross with former subconsultants and friends. I expected empathy, explanation of feelings, repairing of feelings, social time, mature social relating--expectations that may worsen social anxiety. I don't like my reaction; I'd rather have the patience of Siobhan.