MooPig's Archaeology Update :: "Office Relics"

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | Nov 11, 2012 | Bryan TX

7 office gadgets headed for the graveyard - Slide Show - MarketWatch: "NEW YORK (MarketWatch) —

1. The Rolodex is first up on a list of office tools that may soon become obsolete. Invented in 1956, this rotating filing system for business contacts remained a fixture on most office desks well into the computer age. But some 58% of the 7,000 professionals surveyed by LinkedIn say the devices will likely be seen only on exhibit at the Smithsonian within the next five years. "

'via Blog this'

2. Fax machines: The demise of the fax has been predicted for years, but these office workhorses may finally be put out to pasture, according to 71% of those surveyed. Indeed, they are No. 2 on LinkedIn’s soon-to-be-extinct list. Some of those who regard their paper-eating ways as environmentally unsound have even filmed themselves smashing their faxes to make their point.

3. Desktop phones: Now that email and instant messaging have rendered most phone conversations unnecessary, 35% of professionals say the desktop telephone will soon be merely decorative. This may not be as far-fetched as it sounds, especially if home phones are anything to go by. Only a decade ago, 97% of American homes had a land-line, compared with just 74% of homes today, according to a study by Pew Research.

[Picture LINK and LINK]

4. Tape recorders: When Mark Spoonauer, editor-in-chief at LaptopMag.com, wants to record an interview, he uses the record function on his iPhone. Smartphones are already replacing digital recorders. It’s no wonder that some 79% of those surveyed by LinkedIn say tape recorders will soon be obsolete.

5. USB thumb drives: Around 17% of professionals in the LinkedIn survey say USB thumb drives — the successor to the floppy disc, Zip drive and re-writable CD — will fall out of favor within the next five years. But Mark Spoonauer, editor-in-chief at LaptopMag.com, says they will probably be obsolete even before then. In addition to becoming unnecessary, the devices — which are typically plugged into many different computers — are increasingly being blamed for the spread of computer viruses, he says.

6. Business cards: Why carry around decks of business cards when social networking makes faster — and stickier — connections? LinkedIn says 15% of those surveyed expect business cards to become obsolete. Apps like CardMunch now allow people to hand out an endless supply of digital business cards.

7. The office cubicle: Call it corporate glasnost. Nearly 20% of those surveyed say management will tear down the walls of cubicles and replace them with open-plan work-spaces  But while such layouts may foster teamwork and brainstorming, a recent survey by the Berkeley Center for the Built Environment says people are more sensitive to noise in open-plan offices.

_____________________________Reference
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/7-office-gadgets-headed-for-the-graveyard-2012-09-29?link=MW_story_insert
http://www.steampunklab.com/

MooPig's Baseball Minute

[Picture LINK] [DIRK SHADD | Times]

What is it? It's a trove of arcane information about a sport that has always attracted fans with a special fondness for such minutiae.
In a room in St. Petersburg, 70,000 cards detail minor league baseball players' careers - Tampa Bay Times:

EXCERPT | " ... Inside the main building is a fireproof room, its walls stacked with cinder blocks and stuffed with fiberglass. And inside that room are 11 filing cabinets that stretch from the door to the back wall, propped on blocks of wood, some nearly a century old and weighing more than a metric ton. ... "

'via Blog this'

" ... They are records of careers started, bonuses received, service time earned, promotions enjoyed, trades endured, releases mourned, careers ended. Very simply, player record cards served as a way to keep track of players and roster sizes during a time when some minor league teams failed to keep accurate records of their own and information was far more difficult to find. ... "

Stan the Man
" ... So what good are the cards? Why hold on to them?

Because they tell us that Lou Piniella signed his first contract on June 9, 1962, for $650 a month. That the Red Sox formally added Ted Williams to their roster again on Jan. 21, 1946, after he spent more than three seasons away from baseball helping his country win a war. That Stan Musial was, in fact, suspended three times during the 1938 and 1939 seasons, though it most likely was not for disciplinary reasons but rather so that the high schooler could play in amateur games. ... "
________________Reference
http://www.tampabay.com/features/article1226303.ece

Cartoons and Graphics

MooPig would like to host a contest... but it has no idea what it might be. It could have something to do with cartoons and graphics.

It turns out "doodling" is a function of some humans, as they putter through a day.

gapingvoid.com draws cartoons on the backs of business cards. Hugh signs his name on his... some of those shown here

I sketch on note paper at church, or meetings, or while waiting at the doctor's offices.






Is Einstein the Last Great Genius? [SOURCE]
By Robert Roy Britt, Editorial Director | posted: 05 December 2008 04:53 pm ET

And it is harder now to achieve scientific greatness. A study of Nobel Prize winners in 2005 found that the accumulation of knowledge over time has forced great minds to toil longer before they can make breakthroughs. The age at which thinkers produce significant innovations increased about six years during the 20th century.

Don't count the individual genius out just yet, however.

A balance between individual and institutional approaches is the best idea, according to a new theory by a Duke University engineer Adrian Bejan, who thinks institutions benefit most from the co-existence of large groups that self-organize naturally and lone scientists coming up with brilliant new ideas.

"The history of scientific achievement is marked by solitary investigators, from Archimedes to Newton to Darwin," Bejan points out in the December issue of the International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics. "Solitary thinkers have flourished throughout history because it is natural — science is good for the mind of the thinker and for the well-being of society. Even though the trend is toward the creation of large research groups, the individual will always flourish."

Yet the very notion of individual genius is somewhat overrated, as even some of the geniuses will attest.