Four Neat Things

A Friday Hodgepodge

I am in a hurry to head up to Mississippi this morning to join my brothers and mother to celebrate her 80th birthday!

Mom carefully encouraged my bookishness when I was growing up, cautioning me against a tendency to over-generalize and sometimes joking about my propensity to collect "useless" information or my great interest in maps. Of the last two counts, I am still guilty as charged.

Happy Birthday, Mom, and this collection of useless (but neat!) information that I mostly found on my phone while out on walks (Yes, I still do that, too.) is dedicated to you. (I hope a few of my readers will also enjoy them, of course.)

Most parents in Mississippi, especially the way it was back then, wouldn't have given me the kind of freedom I needed to grow. Thank you, Mom!

***

1. At Ask a Manager, Alison Green once again curates a madcap collection of office war stories battle tales shenanigans, this time about the territory reportedly under that job description phrase other duties as assigned.

This one reminds me of Mom, who passed along her love of cats to me:

We had an office cat named Baconfingers. She belonged to an employee who passed away, so folks had a lot of affection for her. When I was hired, I was told that if she wanted attention, I was allowed to stop working and give her scritches for up to 15 minutes, and to code that time under office management.

Most of the time, Baconfingers roosted on top of a filing cabinet, but occasionally she would just make her rounds around the office, going from desk to desk getting scritches from different people in 15 minute increments.

My favorite, "the lost ear," reminds me of the British comedies Mom introduced me to, but is a little on the gory side.

2. I mentioned maps earlier, so here's a fun collection of 19 World Maps in the Styles of Famous Artists.

On the nostalgia front, this one also reminds me of my Dad (also a great parent), who was locally famous for the watercolors he painted on the side.

3. Speaking of artists, sidelines, and maps (or at least highways), this story is about a clever artist who addressed his frustration with an inadequate highway sign -- by posing as a CalTrans maintenance worker and adding some missing information to that sign:

[Richard Ankrom] spent more than three months preparing, researching the color and shape of the signs, mixing his own custom paint to get the colors just right, and applying a bit of faux patina to finish it off. Ankrom even spent time tracking down the button-shaped reflectors used on other legitimate signs and convincing the supplier to give him some. Once he was satisfied that it looked authentic, he came up with a plan to install it.

At first, the artist wanted to dress in black and install the sign under the cloak of darkness. He instead decided if what he was doing was truly in the name of the public's wellbeing that it should be done in broad daylight. So that's exactly what he did, complete with a hard hat and reflective vest that he bought from Home Depot.

Ankrom eventually leaked word of his sign-editing escapade to the press, and when the time came to replace the sign, the new one included his improvements.

(I'll set aside the moral and legal problems inherent in this action today, and note with relief that this was so difficult to carry out that I doubt someone with bad intentions would have the ability or inclination to pull off something like this.)

4. It's information-dense and very Web 1.0, but today's search of my bookmarks yielded something that might make a few hours' interesting reading: How Intelligent Are Cats?, which is part of a larger, non-academic site maintained by cat fancier Sarah Hartwell.

Not having yet read this, I am optimistic that it would be worthwhile between some initial sampling and the author's bio:

My best academic subjects had always been biology and genetics. I started studying genetics when I was 12 or 13 and have continued study the subject ever since - that's over 40 years of genetics study, 35 years of which centred on cat genetics. I started off working in hospital laboratories and despite an aptitude for medical sciences, I opted for a career in the better-paid fields software engineering, got a BSc (Hons) in that field, and then moved into quality assurance (which had the added benefit of not involving animal experimentation). Although I worked in engineering, I continued studying biology, genetics and cat behaviour as a hobby. I corresponded with behaviourists and geneticists and went to veterinary and behavioural lectures and conferences where my early medical background provided an understanding of the jargon. Had the fields of domestic animal genetics or pet behavioural studies existed when I was at school, my career path would have been much easier.

That noted, here's a sample:

Sacha Scofield [personal correspondence] suggests an alternative view on feline self awareness. She suggests that the mirror test does not accommodate the different mindsets of social and non-social subjects. The supposition is that cats lose interest in their reflection in the mirror because it appears to be another cat which doesn't interact with the subject. Sacha believes that cats understand mirrors to be reflections of the real world, and that they will use mirrors to observe objects that ... are out of their line of sight. Sacha has observed her own cats apparently watching each other, and watching their owner, via a mirror. In some cases, the cat has met the eyes of its owner in the reflection and meowed a greeting, demonstrating recognition of the image. After moving house, the older cat (15 year old Flossy) used the mirror more frequently to observe other household members. She can see from the lounge to the bedroom and vice versa using the mirror. She also uses it to observe me in bed, usually when she wants attention. She seems the use the mirror to compensate for her deafness [i.e.] detecting whether another cat is approaching from behind.

Interesting indeed, but for another day.

Time to go!

-- CAV