This idea is not difficult at all to carry out, but it is difficult to recognize the situation. Everyday we are faced with problems of various kinds. Road blocks or some sort, from small to large. Trouble at work, tired, anything random in life that creates  minor obstruction or difficulty. I have a bad habit of problem avoidance. I ignore the problem (only small problems) and stop thinking about it. It's still there, and the problem disappears. At this point I seem to do it unconsciously. But in reality were I to spend even a few minutes considering these problems, I could easily devise a smart solution that solves the problem and provides benefit, which is what everyone else seems to be able to do.

It should be noted that I originally found this website from a startup businesses blog.

OKCupid is some dating site, which are a dime a dozen so nobody really cares. But what really sets it apart is its OKTrends blog, where they publish the results of  all sorts of anonymized (mostly) aggregate data on their users regarding their interactions on the website. More or less, it's research, and there are so many great insights into how people behave. I suppose this would fall under sociology, but I'm not sure.

Bing + Wolfram|Alpha

More Random Internet Musings, November 7, 2009

Pretty funny coincidence. Even mentioned Wolfram|Alpha too, and what do you know, Bing with Wolfram|Alpha results coming soon. Yes, it can be said I didn't see anything, because Wolfram|Alpha already existed. For clarity, Smarter Mainstream Search Engines.

So I completely chose the wrong college. Somehow my parents subconsciously deluded me into attending a local college instead of that other college, which has far more students and a more diverse student body. Instead I'm stuck here at a nerd college. How do I know?

First we can establish the two types of people. There are nerds and "cool people". The following points will (grossly) contrast the two categories which demonstrate how unbelievably nerdy this college is. Yes, I'm in college, and I continue to pen childish articles like this one.

1. The Clothes
The cool kids are the people who actually spend more than zero seconds of their time attending to their appearance. They have the cool jeans (comes with holes, wear and tear!). The cool shoes ($300 Nikes, yo! or $100 Converse). The cool hair (typically styled or arranged into a rugged "bed head" manner which seems to be all the rage these days). The cool shirt (slightly too small polo or graphic tee). And depending on the individual, the cool watch (Userful Tip: The more expensive the watch, the uglier it is).

Then you got your "uncool" people, so to speak. Typically these are the people wearing the faded, generic, white tennis shoes, the standard, unhip jeans, and some random shirt they got for free from somewhere.

So guess which one my college has more of? Bingo! Uncool people! The student body is a mass of generic white sneakers, faded light blue utility jeans (hipster jeans tend to have a stronger aqua tint) and random shirts and unflattering sweaters. Now if I had gone to that other college, I'm certain the common outfit would lean towards the former.

2. The Ringtones
Now that we've established the two types of people, cool kids and nerds. Now I must point out how the ringtones are nerdier as well.

So a cell phone went off in class. Instead of some crazy hip song that gets played one too many times on the radio, it was... Eurodancer. Yes, Eurodancer. Wow. In fact, of the two ringtones I've heard that went off during class (hardly statistically significant, but who cares, I'm ranting), both of them were techno. Now if we were in a hip college, the ringtones would most definitely be some overplayed hip hop, rock, or pop song, because that's what "cool" kids use as their ringtones.

3. The Courtesy
Now what's the difference between nerds and cool people? Courtesy is indeed another factor. It's no secret why "cool" people are seen as "cool". They've got that "I don't give a damn!" attitude that makes them oh so hip, especially when coupled with their already hip attire. So in order to "not give a damn", this attitude includes lower courtesy levels (this only applies to middle school through college, and typically disappears after college). Here at my nerd college, filled with courteous people, I have had doors held for me from over 3 meters away. I'd be amazed if I had a door held for me at the other college.

4. The Major
I've asked countless people, aside from my friends. The only majors I've heard are electrical engineering and computer science.

Now which one am I? Unfortunately I am the latter. I'm wearing my year old tennis shoes, my generic, unhip jeans, and some random polo I got at Wal-Mart, topped off with a Casio watch. Ballin'. Not that I have a problem with wearing this. What I do have a problem with is the fact that I must dress differently if I want to attain more success.

I have mentioned this to two friends, who have graciously took the time to listen to my strange thoughts. The common response was that I was an elitist, arrogant prick who thought he was better than everybody else and that I had "changed". They get this impression because they believe I look down upon the "nerds".

However, this argument is dependent upon the assumption that I believe these "cool" people are in fact superior to everybody else, and that nerds are losers. "What's wrong with just wearing normal clothes?" "You're a greedy dick for thinking people who spend more money on clothes are better." "You must look down on these people because you use terms like nerd."

This is entirely not the case. I do not think there is anything wrong with dressing like a nerd, or at least there shouldn't be. But like it or not, if you dress like a nerd, society as a whole will not think as highly of you. I use the terms that society unconsciously applies to these people.

The cool kids get ahead in life (read: money). These people tend to be more successful, because cool correlates with social skills and hip appearance. Time and time again it has been proven that the gift of gab typically makes up for any other weaknesses. Combined with hip clothes, these attributes allow cool people to talk and charm their way to places a nerd would struggle to reach.

But do I look down upon the nerds? Of course not, because they have positive attributes that the cool people do not have. Unfortunately, these are simply not the attributes that most strongly correlate with success. Thus what appears to be me being an elitist prick is actually me lamenting the fact that if I want to get places in life, I simply cannot dress like a "nerd". Unfortunately, can't wear the more comfortable tennis shoes, or basic jeans that get the job done. I have to wear shoes that not only work well, but look good as well (and cost twice as much). Instead of just my awesome Casio (waterproof up to 100 meters, yo!), I have to shell out many multiples of its cost to get a crap, gaudy, metallic watch encrusted with shiny rocks.

And yet I aspire to be the cool person.

Earlier this week one of my best friends passed away. I hadn't spoken with him in ages since he attended a different college. I checked his Facebook to see what he was up to, and I learned he had passed away. It's unbelievable, surreal. Same age as me, still young, had a whole life to live, and then he was gone. I had only met him two years back. He was a great guy. Someone you'd rarely get the opportunity to know. It's not often I can meet someone with his character. There are so many people with pretenses, fake people. He was the most real, the most down to earth. I remember meeting him for the first time, going to his dorm room, shaking hands and everything. I can remember what he looked like, his mannerisms, his voice. He was generous, talented, intelligent and had the greatest sense of humor. He was always smiling and upbeat, and he would always lift your spirits. We'd always be in his room, joking around, talking about random things. I went to a baseball game with him, I was hoping that I'd get a chance to play golf with him. It's saddening and frightening to realize that somebody I had known so well is gone. I'm left with vague feelings of dread and unhappiness I can't seem to shake.