Michael T. Starks

Author: admin

  • Arthur C. Clarke

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    I probably started reading Arthur C. Clarke’s books when I was in grade school. Here are some of my favorites. His short stories have been compiled into The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke. I remember reading a smaller collection of his stories called The Nine Billion Names of God, which is not so easy…

  • Will AI Reduce Call Wait Times?

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    I’m curious how long it’s going to take for AI to improve customer service drastically. For many reasons, great customer service is difficult to find these days. Today, I was on the phone for over a half-hour attempting to get a simple question answered. The automated prompts failed to connect me to someone who could…

  • Curvature of Earth

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    If you look at a tall sailboat on open water heading toward the horizon, you’ll notice that the bottom of the boat is no longer visible when you can still see the top of the sails. This is great evidence indicating that the Earth is round. Yesterday, I noticed something interesting, which may also indicate…

  • Estate Planning

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    While I don’t love the idea of planning for what might happen when I die, I recognize the importance of doing what I can to make things easier for my surviving family members. Lori Trawinski wrote about her experience as an executor in the AARP article My Mom Died. Then Came the Ordeal. She has…

  • Building Wealth

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    I got an email from Motley Fool Wealth Management today that does a great job of reviewing the habits that allow everyday people to build wealth. Here are Five Money Habits to seriously consider. Let’s take a closer look at each of these. To save money, consider using the “50/30/20 budget rule”. Allocate 50% of…

  • Clutter

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    I want to make a more concerted effort to eliminate clutter. For me, the following amount of clutter on my desk is fine. However, it’s not unusual for my desk to look like this. Or worse! One strategy to eliminate clutter is to throw it all into a box or a bag. Then, you can…

  • Who’s Who

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    Apparently, I’ve been listed in Who’s Who again. While I haven’t purchased the services that would let me confirm what the listing looks like, I have downloaded this fancy PNG. Some honors are more meaningful than others.

  • Marcel Proust

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    I’ve never made it all the way through Proust’s epic, Remembrance of Things Past, aka A la Recherche du Temps Perdu. Still, I consider Marcel Proust one of my heroes. His insights into the human condition are nothing short of extraordinary. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the translation by C.K. Scott Moncrieff…

  • Missing Activities

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    It’s been a long time since I’ve been shooting a movie. It’s been a long time since I’ve prepared and presented a Toastmasters speech. It’s been a long time since I’ve taught math and physics classes. It’s been a long time since I’ve played a board game. It’s been a long time since I’ve attended…

  • Getting Discovered

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    Before Facebook was big, smaller communities could gather online using Content Management Systems. For some reason, I found Drupal. Karilyn and I decided to create an online community for teenage ghost hunters. We called it the Teen Paranormal Adventure Club (TPAC). In retrospect, this wasn’t a great name. However, the original idea was strong. We…