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3639769 In Texas, no man was more of a coward than the one who was chicken shit with his money. H.G. Bissinger
fde1c28 He lost the testicle but he did make All-State. H.G. Bissinger
901d052 Will Bates was drummed out of Carter and reassigned to teach industrial arts in a middle school. He was given an unsatisfactory evaluation rating, placed on probation for a year, and had his salary frozen. And, of course, he was forbidden to teach math to prevent further threats to the sanctity of football. H.G. Bissinger
16a811e how could they be expected to accept the harsh reality of studies showing that of the thirty million children taking part in youth sports in the United States, only about two hundred would go on to become professionals in any given year? H.G. Bissinger
181fc5e On the SAT exam, boys who took the test during 1988-89 at Permian had a combined average score of 915 (433 verbal, 482 mathematical), 19 points below the national average for boys. Girls had a combined score of 840 (404 verbal, 436 mathematical), 75 points below their male counterparts at Permian and 35 points below the national average for girls. Of the 132 girls who took the test during the 1988-89 school year, there wasn't one who got ab.. H.G. Bissinger
e2e1555 And because she was intelligent (she graduated from Permian in 1986 and went on to become an honors English major at Swarthmore College), she also felt ostracized. H.G. Bissinger
3a20d27 under the right circumstances, the demon wins the heart of the most steadfast soul, and the nemesis always becomes a lover. Permian H.G. Bissinger
92a1acb They knew their economic livelihoods were completely at the mercy of OPEC and that it was all but impossible to have much say in the matter when the average American well produced 13 barrels of oil a day while the average one in Saudi Arabia produced 6,881 barrels a day and the average one in Iran 27,233 barrels. H.G. Bissinger
8f6944b relationship with Shayla, he saw them only sporadically, but at least they spent Thanksgiving that year with him. They were around eleven at the time. But they have since moved to Houston, and Boobie hasn't seen them in four months. He's tried to call them, but they're never available. I know many things about Boobie, H.G. Bissinger
7883515 Odessa eked out a living from the livestock trade, all dreams of Utopia gone forever when the town's first sheriff, Elias Dawson, decided that the ban on alcohol constituted cruel and unusual punishment and became the proprietor, along with his brother, of the town's first saloon. H.G. Bissinger
47285d1 Nothing about living in Odessa was easy. Finding a scrubby tree that could barely serve as a Christmas tree took two days. Even dealings with cattle rustlers and horse thieves had to be compromised; they were shot instead of hanged because there weren't any trees tall enough from which to let them swing. H.G. Bissinger
834f101 In 1982, the thirty-seven murders that took place inside Ector County gave Odessa the distinction of having the highest murder rate in the country. Most agreed that was a pretty high number, but mention of gun control was as popular as a suggestion to change the Ten Commandments. A year later, Odessa made national news again when someone made the fateful mistake of accusing an escaped convict from Alabama named Leamon Ray Price of cheating .. H.G. Bissinger
655ce76 Molly Ivins, a columnist for the Dallas Times Herald, described Odessa as an "armpit," which, as the Odessa American pointed out, was actually quite a few rungs up from its usual anatomical comparison with a rectum." H.G. Bissinger
cd734c2 Absconding resembles swarming, except that no bees are left behind in the parent colony. The entire colony leaves its hive. Before H.G. Bissinger
1653a79 pollen pickle. H.G. Bissinger
6d9a55d Alarm pheromone is the scent that bees emit to alert other bees to danger. It's worth noting that alarm pheromone smells a lot like banana oil, and you should avoid eating bananas in the bee yard. Any H.G. Bissinger
7a928b8 fruits, nuts, and vegetables are highly dependent on insect pollinators, especially bees. Bees will always play a valuable role in our food system. Food H.G. Bissinger
bad1ba4 Keeping bees is a lot like falling in love. Both provide a lot of sweetness tempered with an occasional sting. Furthering H.G. Bissinger
1db2902 Although royal jelly is often sold for human use, its production is extremely labor intensive, and the purity (or even authenticity) of what you can buy is questionable at best. Beebread H.G. Bissinger
3bf378a the proper natural mapping requires no diagrams, no labels, and no instructions. Donald A. Norman
d4f18db Even as simple a task as picking up a glass with the hand requires feedback to aim the hand properly, to grasp the glass, and to lift it. A misplaced hand will spill the contents, too hard a grip will break the glass, and too weak a grip will allow it to fall. Donald A. Norman
aab2f5f We have become dependent upon our technologies to navigate the world, to hold intelligent conversation, to write intelligently, and to remember. Donald A. Norman
c3d80c1 Beauty comes from conscious reflection and experience. It is influenced by knowledge, learning, and culture. Objects that are unattractive on the surface can give pleasure. Discordant music, for example, can be beautiful. Ugly art can be beautiful. Donald A. Norman
0fb7920 business that makes and sells durable goods faces a problem: As soon as everyone who wants the product has it, then there is no need for more. Donald A. Norman
65970ae Most of human behavior is a result of subconscious processes. We are unaware of them. As a result, many of our beliefs about how people behave--including beliefs about ourselves--are wrong. That is why we have the multiple social and behavioral sciences, with a good dash of mathematics, economics, computer science, information science, and neuroscience. Donald A. Norman
50af3a3 We need to remove the word failure from our vocabulary, replacing it instead with learning experience. To fail is to learn: we learn more from our failures than from our successes. With success, sure, we are pleased, but we often have no idea why we succeeded. With failure, it is often possible to figure out why, to ensure that it will never happen again. Donald A. Norman
cade523 We bridge the Gulf of Execution through the use of signifiers, constraints, mappings, and a conceptual model. We bridge the Gulf of Evaluation through the use of feedback and a conceptual model. Donald A. Norman
9e07686 Each culture has a set of allowable actions for social situations. Thus, in our own culture we know how to behave in a restaurant-- even one we have never been to before. This is how we manage to cope when our host leaves us alone in a strange room, at a strange party, with strange people. And this is why we sometimes feel frustrated, so incapable of action, when we are confronted with a restaurant or group of people from an unfamiliar cult.. Donald A. Norman
7472598 Semantics is the study of meaning. Semantic constraints are those that rely upon the meaning of the situation to control the set of possible actions. Donald A. Norman
c0a8a05 Logical constraints are often used by home dwellers who undertake repair jobs. Suppose you take apart a leaking faucet to replace a washer, but when you put the faucet together again, you discover a part left over. Oops, obviously there was an error: the part should have been installed. This is an example of a logical constraint. Donald A. Norman
81d7413 Conventions are actually a form of cultural constraint, usually associated with how people behave. Some conventions determine what activities should be done; others prohibit or discourage actions. But in all cases, they provide those knowledgeable of the culture with powerful constraints on behavior. Donald A. Norman
d90b2ce Violate conventions and you are marked as an outsider. A rude outsider, at that. Donald A. Norman
0d750ab Machines that give too much feedback are like backseat drivers. Donald A. Norman
2028544 Affordances determine what actions are possible. Signifiers communicate where the action should take place. We Donald A. Norman
82c9d4f With all the alarms that trigger when a problem arises, even though it might be minor, and all the everyday failures, how does one know which might be a significant indicator of a major problem? Every single one usually has a simple, rational explanation, so not making it an urgent item is a sensible decision. In fact, the maintenance crew simply adds it to a list. Most of the time, this is the correct decision. The one time in a thousand (.. Donald A. Norman
80f5453 Hindsight is always superior to foresight. When the accident investigation committee reviews the event that contributed to the problem, they know what actually happened, so it is easy for them to pick out which information was relevant, which was not. This is retrospective decision making. But when the incident was taking place, the people were probably overwhelmed with far too much irrelevant information and probably not a lot of relevant .. Donald A. Norman
ae9a46d Even if the first versions of a product are well done, human-centered, and focused upon real needs, it is the rare organization that is content to let a good product stay untouched. Donald A. Norman
c99d188 The unaided mind is surprisingly limited. It is things that make us smart. Take advantage of them. Donald A. Norman
4170eea In some Australian Aborigine societies, time moves relative to the environment based on the direction in which the sun rises and sets. Give Donald A. Norman
169f14d key to winning the race is not to compete against machines but to compete with machines. Donald A. Norman
468bbd7 seven fundamental principles of design: 1. Discoverability. It is possible to determine what actions are possible and the current state of the device. 2. Feedback. There is full and continuous information about the results of actions and the current state of the product or service. After an action has been executed, it is easy to determine the new state. 3. Conceptual model. The design projects all the information needed to create a good co.. Donald A. Norman
db4e56c There seems to be a conspiracy, one calculated to destroy our sanity by overloading our memory. Many codes, such as postal codes and telephone numbers, exist primarily to make life easier for machines and their designers without any consideration of the burden placed upon people. Fortunately, Donald A. Norman
45803be With open-source software, inexpensive open-source 3-D printers, and even open-source education, we can transform the world. Donald A. Norman
286f229 1. What do I want to accomplish? 2. What are the alternative action sequences? 3. What action can I do now? 4. How do I do it? 5. What happened? 6. What does it mean? 7. Is this okay? Have I accomplished my goal? Donald A. Norman