:: Our God, who art in heaven, and who art totally the best
A passing reference to Zoroastrianism* led me to briefly review its history and tenets, during which I discovered some nicknames for Ahura Mazda, its supreme deity. Here, some are invoked in a sacred hymn:
Then Zarathushtra said: 'Reveal unto me that name of thine, O Ahura Mazda! that is the greatest, the best, the fairest, the most effective, the most fiend-smiting, the best-healing, that destroyeth best the malice of Daevas and Men;
A designer friend of mine once told me that you should never try to steer clients in a given direction by including choices that are patently inferior to those you want them to select, because inevitably the inferior will be chosen. Maybe something has been lost in the translation, but I imagine "the best" and "the most effective" were lobbed up to the naming committee to make "fiend-smiting" all the more intimidating and somehow made it through. Ahura Mazda: the best choice for fast-acting, effective salvation.
*No, not the one about Freddy Mercury having directly descended from a group of ancient Zoroastrians fleeing to India from Persia around the 8th century who still live as a tight-knit mostly-endogamous enclave to this day (the Parsis), although I do wish that reference would come up more often as it is highly awesome.
Pike said there are myriad reasons for ultra-long-term food storage, including maintaining surplus food stocks for humanitarian aid or national emergencies. He also doesn't discount the likelihood of individuals keeping stockpiles for years or decades.
In some cases, they already are. To get samples for edibility testing, Brigham Young researchers put an ad in the LDS Church News, a Mormon publication, asking for donations of old packaged food that had been stored under stable conditions. Pike said he chose the periodical for soliciting donations because the church advises members to store a year's supply of food in preparation for hard times.
"In preparation for hard times" may be the most innocuous way in which I've ever heard the purpose of that practice described.
But as Yahoo strives to enter the league of Walt Disney Co., Viacom Inc. and other media giants, success hinges on its ability to merge two inherently different cultures: the brash, flashy ethos of entertainment executives and the rumpled, brainiac realm of computer nerds.
In the year since the company consolidated its Santa Monica office and began hiring a slew of former Hollywood executives bent on "convergence," Yahoo's leaders have sought to downplay the tensions. But the union has sometimes been rocky.
In Sunnyvale, it's "a cubicle society," said a person close to Yahoo, referring to the willingness of people at all levels to work in cramped workstations. Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from Yahoo, this person said the Santa Monica office, by contrast, was about " 'How big is my office? Where is my parking spot? You report to me. I don't need to talk to you.' It's very much the studio hierarchy mentality."
The article continues to make the point that while Silicon Valley is no stranger to egotism it prefers a more reserved, less berating vintage. What short a short collective memory we have should we think that. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hurls chairs in anger. A biography about Larry Ellison is entitled "The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison (God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison)". And Steve Jobs has made so many employees break down in tears he's responsible for more Californian irrigation than the Owens Valley.
The clash within Yahoo! can't be completely reduced to that between a Valley culture and a Hollywood one. The latest technology mega-boom left some unusually humble people at the head of multi-million and multi-billion dollar organizations. Whether their more egalitarian managerial doctrines stemmed from academic idealism (though I would be hard-pressed to find a more rigidly hierarchical arena than career academia - perhaps it is due to an early, pre-jading egress), entrepreneurial iconoclasm, or a youthful reaction to the cult of their predecessors, many of the companies that survived the collapse have some amount of modesty in their administrative DNA. It's heartbreaking to see one example of that fade, especially when the lack of private offices and parking spaces didn't seem to keep them off the track to make somewhere around $1 billion in profits alone this year.
One night in early 1993, a shy, precociously handsome 13 year-old boy sat in his family's den waiting for his favorite television show to air on the fledgling FOX network. The appointed hour came and passed, and the show was not to be seen. Curious, the boy conducted some research which, as he would not have internet access for another year or so, took some leg work and found that The Ben Stiller Show had been cancelled. The boy cried. The boy became a man.
Now, almost thirteen years later, that same television network has shattered that same man's heart once again. This time, hopefully, the fan base will be emboldened by the success of The Family Guy reprise and mobilize. Arrested Development must live.
Hard-core business travelers can grow to loathe trekking across the country for a few days' work, but seeing as I don't travel often I find it a nice break from the norm. Furthermore, when a trip includes one's first NASCAR race (featuring a personal appearance by Jeff Burton, the driver of the #31 Cingular car), a chance to see Koolhaas' new Seattle Public Library in person, and visiting infrequently-seen friends, there's really no basis for complaint.
