A Short Guide to a Happy Life: Anna Quindlen on Work, Joy, and How to Live Rather Than Exist | Brain Pickings by Maria Popova “You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are.” The commencement address is a special kind of modern communication art, and its greatest masterpieces tend to either become a book — take, for instance, David Foster Wallace on the meaning of life, Neil Gaiman on the resilience of the creative spirit, Ann Patchett on storytelling and belonging, and Joseph Brodsky on winning the game of life — or have originated from a book, such as Debbie Millman on courage and the creative life. One of the greatest commencement speeches of all time, however, has an unusual story that flies in the face of both traditional trajectories. In 2000, Villanova University invited Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, journalist, and New York Times op-ed columnist Anna Quindlen to deliver the annual commencement address. Anna Quindlen (artwork based on a photograph by Grant M. Quindlen begins: I’ve never earned a doctorate, or even a master’s degree. And know it she does:
11 cheap gifts guaranteed to impress science geeks | DVICE - StumbleUpon Science comes up with a lot of awesome stuff, and you don't need a Ph.D, a secret lab, or government funding to get your hands on some of the coolest discoveries. We've got a list of 11 mostly affordable gifts that are guaranteed to blow your mind, whether or not you're a science geek. Click on any image to see it enlarged. 1. Aerogel Also known as frozen smoke, Aerogel is the world's lowest density solid, clocking in at 96% air. Aerogel isn't just neat, it's useful. Price: $35 2. Inside these sealed glass balls live shrimp, algae, and bacteria, all swimming around in filtered seawater. EcoSpheres came out of research looking at ways to develop self-contained ecosystems for long duration space travel. Price: $80 3. NASA has been trying to figure out how to get a sample of rock back from Mars for a while now. Every once in a while, a meteorite smashes into Mars hard enough to eject some rocks out into orbit around the sun. Price: $70+ 4. Price: $150 5. Price: $110 6. Price: $80 7. Price: $15 8.
Willpower Part III: How to Strengthen Your Willpower and 20 Ways to Conserve It In the first post in this series, we discussed the nature of willpower, noting that is a real mental energy. In the second post, we explored the way in which this mental energy is a finite resource and how it can be depleted through the exercising of self-control and the making of decisions. Now if willpower is a real, finite energy, the question that naturally arises is this: What can I do to strengthen, conserve, and harness this force to help me reach my full potential? The answer to that question is what we will be diving into today. How to Strengthen Your Willpower While there are many ways to conserve your willpower, there’s really just one way to strengthen it. By working on any goal or habit that exercises your self-control. Remember when we talked about how willpower is like a muscle, and that just like a muscle, you have to exhaust it in the short-term in order to build its strength in the long-term? How to Conserve Your Willpower 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. What happened to you in there?
Future 2020 | 2020s Technology | Future | Timeline | 2050 | 2100 | 2150 | 2200 | 21st century | 22nd century | 23rd century | Far Future | Technology | Healthy People 2020 Malaria | Hodgkin lymphoma five year survival | Car Free City China | 30000 drones World oil crisis Throughout this period, the world is thrown into turmoil, as oil and gas prices begin to spiral out of control – crippling many economies and triggering widespread social unrest. Many countries in the West experience a decline in living standards, with oil rationing and conservation measures introduced by governments. There are sharp reductions in travel, tourism and aviation, leading to increased localisation of goods and services. Cheap access to light and sweet conventional crude oil had fuelled much of the world's growth and prosperity during the 20th century. By the 2020s, the world's economy is in peril. The Euclid Space Telescope reveals new insights into dark matter and dark energy Euclid – named after the ancient Greek mathematician – is part of the European Space Agency (ESA) Cosmic Vision programme, with NASA providing some assistance in the form of instrumentation and scientific analysis. Credit: ESA Generation X is reshaping global politics Texting by thinking
Ändrade villkor för lärande när alla elever får egen dator Anna Åkerfeldt, som är doktorand i didaktik vid Stockholms universitet vid institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik, har under tre år (2009-2011) deltagit i ett utvärderingsprojekt där en kommun satsade på att sponsra de kommunala skolornas elever och lärare med bärbara datorer i en så kallad en-till-en satsning. I projektet följdes fyra klasser över en treårsperiod. Eleverna som deltog var i åldern 7-18 år. Resultaten visar på en komplex bild av implementeringen av en-till-en: Lärare har lämnat ”tips och trix”-stadiet och för nu samtal om vikten att använda datorn för att kunna öppna upp klassrummet till det omgivande samhället. De pekar samtidigt på vikten av it-pedagoger som stöd i arbetet med digitala resurser. Redskapen påverkar hur uppgifterna utförs En del av projektet, men framförallt Annas avhandlingsarbete, fokuserar hur digitala resurser påverkar individers möjlighet och förutsättningar att representera sin kunskap i skolan: Mindre lärobok, mer visuellt material
Love Is Forever: A Children’s Book That Helps Kids Deal with Losing a Loved One | Brain Pickings by Maria Popova A tender lesson in living with loss from Little Owl. If grief is so gargantuan a struggle even for grownups, how are tiny humans to handle a weight so monumental once it presses down? That’s precisely what writer Casey Rislov, who holds a master’s degree in elementary education and has an intense interest in special needs, and Minneapolis-based children’s book illustrator Rachel Balsaits explore in Love is Forever (public library) — the story of Little Owl, who loves her Grandfather Owl very much, and how she, with the help of her parents and baby brother, deals with the sadness of her grandfather’s death by learning to keep his love alive forever. In sweet verses and tender illustrations, the story unpacks with elegant simplicity the complexities of loss and presents a refreshing outlier as one of those rare children’s books that go beyond not shying away from darker subjects and actually tackle them head-on. Donating = Loving Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter.
How to Cure Neurasthenia (Restlessness) At the turn and beginning of the 20th century, life was changing rapidly for Americans. People were moving from the farm to the city and taking jobs in the new industrial economy. Consumerism as we know it today really began to take root in society. New technology was being developed every day, and life was moving at a faster pace than ever before. Even those who didn’t feel they were suffering from neurasthenia’s physical symptoms felt plagued by a sense of “unreality.” Modern “Neurasthenia” While the cause of neurasthenia was never agreed upon and it’s no longer considered officially recognized as psycho-physical condition, the feelings associated with it are quite real and seem to be experiencing a resurgence these days. The Symptoms Do you feel lost, restless, or shiftless? Do you feel like there’s this great life you should be living but you just don’t know how to make it happen? Do find yourself wishing that life would finally start for you? The Causes The Cure Take small steps.
60+ Epic Futuristic Design So you know how much we like Technology and Design around here. Well you also know that one of our favorite ways of exploring and thinking about this, is by looking at really awesome futuristic design concepts! There is almost nothing more exciting (and fulfilling) than going where no man (or Woman!) Future By Design If you love thinking about the future of our civilization here on earth (or out abroad in the galaxy) and enjoy drawing up futuristic designs & concepts about what it might look like, or how it might work. The Venus Project is a culmination of Fresco’s life work and serves as a foundation that represents his vision of a future without poverty, crime, war, corruption, or waste. Today we have collected many great examples of futuristic design concepts, some are actual modern living examples captured in photography, some are illustrations, some are 3D renders of what might be, and some are the artistic visions of Jacque Fresco. Awesome Futuristic Landscapes! Freaking Awesome
Futurewise Region Halland Nedan finner du presentationerna som Peter Siljerud höll i oktober 2014. Klicka på pilarna för att navigera i presentationerna nedan. Notera att presentationerna inte står helt på egna ben utan är tänkt att presenteras live. (Presentationen är i Flashformat vilket inte stöds av Apples mobiler och surfplattor i dagsläget.) Har du problem att visa presentationen? 1) Presentationen ska fungera på både Mac och PC. 2) Om inte detta är felet kan det bero på att bandbredden är för låg. 3) Om inte det heller är felet kan det ha att göra med datorns minne som kan vara för litet. 4) Om inte det heller är felet kan det förstås vara en tillfällig störning på Prezis server och då kan du prova igen lite senare. Klicka här för att läsa mer om boken 100 trender (nominerad till Årets marknadsföringsbok).
53 Colorized Black & White Photos From History Will Blow You Away Subscribe Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Share Tweet Up until the 1970s, color photography was extremely rare, and so when we think about history prior to that time, we often envision it in black and white. Take a trip back in time through these photos below. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Jordan J. 6. 7. 8. 9. Jordan J. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Jordan J. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. Patty Allison 35. 36. 37. Jordan J. 38. 39. 40. 1920s Australian mugshots from the New South Wales Police Dept. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. Jordan J. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. Source: Reddit Seeing these photos in color for the first time makes it easy to imagine we could all have been part of a world that we’ve never even seen. Share these amazing photos with others.