Archive for May, 2008

The Dice Brain Teaser: A Technical Interview Question that Can Help You Solve Problems Better

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

Every Tuesday is a Game Theory article at Mind Your Decisions. Today’s puzzle is special. I like it even more than previous brain teasers I’ve discussed, like the monk problem and the hat puzzle. Like the others, this is a technical question sometimes asked during job interviews (hat tip: Reasonable ...

Thinking about the 401(k) Account: Should I Have One? How Much Should I Contribute? What are the Risks? Trying to Interpret the Experts

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

Planning for retirement raises a number of difficult questions. I'll admit that I often get confused coming up with answers. And I'm an economics graduate who started investing in high school and enjoys reading financial articles. I have sympathy for anyone that feels overwhelmed or confused by the ...

Three Ways to Protect Your Email Privacy Using Low-Tech Encryption (Caesar Cipher, Vigenère Cipher, Three-Pass Protocol)

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

Every Tuesday is a Game Theory article at Mind Your Decisions Emails worry me I wrote half as many emails the day after meeting the company legal staff. I learned that emails are often discoverable in court, and it was rumored company email was being scanned. This whole episode annoyed me, because ...

Line Etiquette Pays: How I Accidentally Saved Money at the Grocery Store

Monday, May 12th, 2008

image source: Jimmy_Joe's via flickr Recently, the supermarket gods have rewarded me twice with free food. I would like to say I planned this, but it really came about by accident. It happened because I was practicing good etiquette, and I like to think that no good deed goes unrewarded. What are ...

Your Age by Diner & Restaurant Math–Why the Math Works

Friday, May 9th, 2008

The trick Here's one of those fun math tricks I got in the email. Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway-but your waiter may know! YOUR AGE BY DINER & RESTAURANT MATH It takes less than a minute. Work this out as you read. Be sure you don't read ...