How low can you go?

IQ scores reflect one's general capacity for performing intellectual tasks, such as trying to figure out the origin of the universe... To simplify matters, complications such as the "g" factor, chronometric, "Flynn effect" etc... are deliberately left out of this page.

Whether you believe in it or not, the average IQ score is 100. The standard deviation of IQ scores is 15. So, this means:

· 50% of people have IQ scores between 90 and 110
· 2.5% of people are very superior in intelligence (over 130)
· 2.5% of people are deficient (under 70)
· 0.5% of people are near genius or genius (over 140)

Disclaimer: (Do not trust these numbers, do your own calculation or consult with members of one of many of the "High IQ societies.")



As a benchmark of measurement, Einstein was clocked at 160+, but that did not prevent his high school teachers to say that he was a "lazy dog" and did not think highly of him. That may give you a hint on where they themselves ranked on the scale.

Here is a suggested rating... to bust the "bell curve" as it is customarily said...

People with IQs of 1:

Spammers requesting a receipt acknowledgement of their spams.

Nigerians offering multi million dollars windfalls.
Nigerians disguised as English solicitors looking for trusty partners to disburse 40% of their multi million dollars.
Nigerians disguised as rich deposed African dictators' spouses needing help to smuggle multi million dollar fortunes out of their local treasure chests.
Nigerians disguised as Arab sheiks attempting to share their deepest wells...

People believing the ones above.

I often wonder if single digit scores like such for people otherwise classified as "normal" can put them in limbo in life, and please, that is not a reference to a dance...

Can one go lower? One wonders!

My music died today...

As if it were a premonition, I read a few days ago somewhere a column of someone marveling about the new and forever smaller and smaller gadgets that the modern homo heidelbergensis (if you cannot understand this fancy word, here's help: homo sapiens. Feeling better?) cannot live without. He went on to jokingly say that he has all his music in this wonderfully little device. ALL OF HIS MUSIC! Then he jokingly said that when his device crashes... You know what he meant!



I must always have the most modern gadgets that come out first. I cannot live without any of them. Really! I have a 1GB super fast memory card in my first ever 5GB digital camera. I carry all my "must be backed up" codes I write in my spare time in this tiny 1GB USB device that always dangles in my key chain. Of course, I have ALL MY MUSIC converted into MP3 in the first ever "fit in your shirt pocket" digital MP3 player.

Well today is the fateful day of all days. While driving, my favorite public radio station has the infinite wisdom to broadcast the political wrangling of the local school board so I turned to my trusted MP3 player. You know what I am leading to... Read the paragraph at the top that said the dreaded word "premonition."

Below is the confirmation that just came in my email of my most recent on line chat...

**************************************************
'TLMainDB=001-445-653'Dell Chat-Interaction

The session has been accepted.

{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:33:43 PM} My Dell DJ 15 GB hard drive is dead. What can I do?
{Kumar 8:34:04 PM} Thank you for contacting Dell Technical Chat Support. My name is Sushil.
May I have the service tag of the DJ?
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:34:30 PM} 9cnbd31
{Kumar 8:34:39 PM} Please give me a minute to pull up the account information. In the mean time, may I have the full name on the account and the initial shipping address please?
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:34:52 PM} Lan Nghiem-Phu
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:34:57 PM} ...censored...
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:35:03 PM} Miami, Florida
{Kumar 8:35:54 PM} Thank you
{Kumar 8:36:13 PM} May I call you Lan?
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:36:21 PM} Sure.
{Kumar 8:36:31 PM} Thank you
{Kumar 8:37:06 PM} How the harddrive is damaged?
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:37:59 PM} It just quits today. It has been working fine. I tried to reboot but cannot. I tried to reformat. It says hard disk is bad and quits.
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:38:33 PM} I tried to reboot many times. The drive makes strange noise.
{Kumar 8:39:00 PM} What error is displayed on the screen?
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:39:58 PM} It goes into the 4 choices: Cleanup (does nothing); Reboot (does nothing); Firmware reboot (does nothing); Reformat (It says hard disk is bad.)
{Kumar 8:40:31 PM} ok
{Kumar 8:41:20 PM} Lan, as I see the account details, the warranty of this DJ is expired.
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:42:13 PM} Great. Anything I can do except buy a new one?
{Kumar 8:42:27 PM} Therefore you need to purchase a new DJ.
{Kumar 8:42:55 PM} You may contact Dell sales at 800-915-3355.
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:43:07 PM} Wonderful. Thank you for your help. Can I ask why I had to answer all the questions before you told me I need to buy a new one?
{Kumar 8:44:33 PM} I collected the information for the privacy and security of your account.
{Kumar 8:44:53 PM} Is there any other technical issue I may assist you with, today?
{Lan Nghiem-Phu 8:45:21 PM} Great. No. Thank you for your time. Have a wonderful day. Bye.
{Kumar 8:45:56 PM} Thank you for contacting Dell Technical Chat Support. Have a great day
The visitor has ended the chat session.
*************************************************

There you have it! I am not sure how long I can survive... Well... the 15GB was all filled up anyway... I need more room... iPod or not iPod? That is the question! Nah! Let's help Kumar keep her job and go for the 30GB. Sushil Kumar, here I come!!!!

The Art of War

One wakes up everyday to find pleasant and not so pleasant events greeting at the doorstep. An effective way to greet them cheerfully into one's life is to sort and guide them to two bins. The pleasant bin on one side and the unpleasant one on the opposite side. It goes without saying that the likable bin is one's oasis in the desert, while the dark one has the power to guide one's soul directly into the abyss. If you feel that you must be in a fighting mood, read the following quote from one of the innumerable sites on the internet. Since it is not possible to credit the quote correctly and accurately, reference is not cited. For the curious readers, you all know how to Google... This may not be the words of wisdom for everyone, but a French quotation that appears at the top of this blog is repeated here as a reminder:

IL DEPEND DE CELUI QUI PASSE QUE JE SOIS TOMBE OU TRESOR QUE JE PARLE OU ME TAISE CECI NE TIENT QU'A TOI AMI N'ENTRE PAS SANS DESIR Palais de Chaillot - Paris

A quote from a translation of SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR:

“…To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength;
to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight;
to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

What the ancients called a clever fighter is
one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

Hence his victories bring him neither reputation
for wisdom nor credit for courage.

He wins his battles by making no mistakes.
Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty
of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is
already defeated.

Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into
a position which makes defeat impossible, and does
not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist
only seeks battle after the victory has been won,
whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights
and afterwards looks for victory.

The consummate leader cultivates the moral law,
and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is
in his power to control success….”

Yes! Indeed!