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Task Failed Successfully: The Cracked Columbia Takeover and Expulsion

The sputtering 18-hour barricade-aided takeover of Columbia University by Hamas supporters ended last night faster than Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall; of course, the occupier’s task failed successfully only after being rightly pushed from the second story ledge of Hamilton Hall by NYPD riot officers. As a graduate of Columbia University, I was chagrined for the students who occupied Hamilton, and who are now about to learn the hard way why — the university does not not belong to the student — and those failed occupiers can now successfully weep into their expulsion letters.

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Lying in Wait and the Unwanted Exposition of Repressed Rage

I spend a lot of my waking hours — when I am not here staring at a computer screen writing to you — walking the urban streets of New York and New Jersey.  I interact with all sorts of personalities and lifestyles.  I am seeing a new trend that concerns me as a pseudo-amateur watcher of human behavior:  The free exposition of lying in wait repressed rage.

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The Cat that Refuses to Listen

In the last year, I have learned a lot about what it means to live with a cat. For the most part, it has been a pleasant experience, with Abby being nice company and a good addition to the mix. Sometimes, however, she can be a supreme, nuisance — fortunately, this is not too often the case.

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Going Places By Being Polite

There are some people who feel that they never get their way when dealing with other people. I have found that much of the time, it has a lot to do with being polite — specifically with the people not being as polite as they think they are being to other people.

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Anticipatory GPS Behavior Models and NYC Taxi Data

GPS is a wonderful technology and the New York City Taxi and Limousine
have been requiring mandatory GPS devices in taxis to track yellow cab
migration and “hot spots” during various points in the day.  In the
example below, the red hotspots are the best places for hailing a cab at
11pm on a Saturday.

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PATH Behavior Semiotics

When the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — PATH — are forced to create cartoon posters inside their trains to train riders how to behave in public, we begin to wonder how and why we became such a debased society in need of such basic correction.

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Learning Emotional Responses Through Performance

Do children learn how to negotiate their role in society by testing their place in the family hierarchy?

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