The top 6 FAQs about facial recognition How facial recognition works. Via HowStuffWorks.com. With the FTC currently focusing on facial recognition, we figured it was a good time to provide answers to the 6 biggest questions about this technology and how it affects you. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. A stranger snaps a picture of you with his iPhone camera while you’re walking down the street on your way to work in the morning. Your face is your identity: you should have control over it. Sounds like science fiction? 1. When we talk about facial recognition, we’re really talking about two different applications: basic and advanced. Who IS this guy? Advanced facial recognition builds on these principles to answer the question, “Is this a particular face?” Facial recognition is alive and flourishing. SceneTap’s interface. Lots of mobile apps use facial recognition, too. Companies give two main reasons for using facial recognition technology: it helps with security, and it makes photo editing and sharing easier. 3. 4. 6. Is it cool?
10 Ways Gratitude Can Change Your Life & 4 Step Gratitude Plan Gratitude can motivate others, increase self-control, build social ties and more…plus 4-step gratitude plan. Gratitude is the new miracle emotion. Although gratitude has been around for as long as human beings, it’s only recently started to get the big thumbs-up from science. So here are 10 ways gratitude can change your life, followed by a quick 4-step plan to help maximise your own gratitude, whatever level you start from. There’s even a trick for those suffering from ‘gratitude burnout’. 1. Gratitude is different things to different people: amongst them could be counting your blessings, savouring what life has given you, thanking someone or wondering at the natural world. Whatever form it takes, one of the best known and most researched effects of practicing gratitude is it makes you happier. Participants in one study were 25% happier, on average, after practicing a little gratitude over a 10-week period. 2. Gratitude isn’t just about feeling better, it’s also about thinking better. 3. 4.
The Mental Pain Of Choice Psychology of Choice The agony of choice Freedom of choice China and North Korea are controlled and run by a dictator. From a Western perspective, it must seem terrible to be one of these countries. In today's society, we can label as our best 'consumer', almost everything is a free choice. As we age, will the choices we make more important and far-reaching to be. Barry Schwartz is this view. The more is the better? The more is the better, is ultimately a statement that does not go on. 1. 2. 3. 4. Research has shown that countries where freedom of choice is limited is, eg Denmark, happier people are.
Alternative Sleep Cycles: 7-10 Hours Are Not Needed The average person requires 7-10 hours of sleep per night according to the National Sleep Foundation. But is it possible that using different sleep cycles, where the benefits of sleep are still achieved, we can sleep less? Much less? Most of us are familiar with what is called a monophasic sleep cycle. This cycle is used by most people as it’s what we hear about and learn the most. Fact is, there are 4 other sleep cycles that can provide all the benefits of sleep, while sleeping much less. Not only that but sleeping has always been something I wish I could do when I felt like it and not because I’m ‘supposed to.’ if I could spend less time lying awake at night trying to sleep, then great. The Monophasic cycle consists of various stages of sleep with REM (rapid eye movement) being the most important. The Byphasic cycle, also called the Siesta, is the most common of polyphasic cycles as it can be viewed as the most practical for people. How will you sleep?
10 Things to Do Before You Go to Bed Everyone is obsessed with how successful people start their day. And if you’ve decided to do something about the quality of your life, you’ll start working on developing a morning routine and trying different versions of it. But we seem to forget that what productive people – those who work each day to achieve what they want and have hacked so many areas of their life – do before they go to bed is as important. The evening routine is one of the most underestimated habits, and yet an absolute must when it comes down to changing how your day goes and whether you want to get stuff done. A nighttime ritual affects your sleep and the mood you’ll be in when you get up, and thus becomes the foundation of your whole day. It’s a wind down period and there are many things you can do at that time. Here’s what you can include in it: A walk. Go for a short walk in the evening. Asses your day. Every single night Benjamin Franklin took the time to make an examination of the day. Read. Meditate. Unplug. Journal.
PsychTronics Learning to Learn: leveraging your circadian rhythm There are a few distinct, precious moments of heightened sensory elation that we can achieve through unique actions; whether that be hitting the sweet spot on your driver from the tee box, tossing that crumpled up piece of paper that started out as a great idea and delivering it perfectly into the waste basket 10 feet away, or something as simple as arriving at the perfect adjective when telling a story to a friend. Achieving a greater sense of cognitive ability when interacting with either the external environment around you or the internal synapses of your own brain is an equally satisfying accomplishment that many believe would lead to immediate success. There is no special formula for arriving at a heightened rate of learning, enhanced memory, or sudden talent for verbiage; however there is a proven internal process that you can utilize in order to maximize your work output, in channeling your Circadian Rhythm. Spend a few days tracking your levels of focus, energy, and hunger.
7 Things Happy, Healthy People Do Every Morning When you get up in the morning, think of what a priceless privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to learn, to love – and then make the day count! The morning is extremely important. It is the foundation from which the day is built. How you choose to spend your morning can be used to predict what kind of day you are going to have, and thus, what kind of life you are going to live. Each morning truly is a brand new opportunity. The happiest, healthiest people I know embrace this truth and use it to their advantage. 1. In other words, they start the day with love in their hearts and minds, and are truly appreciative of their life and all of its priceless idiosyncrasies. From the research and coaching Angel and I have done over the years, we’ve found that the more a person is inclined to gratitude, the less likely he or she is to be depressed, anxious, lonely, envious, or neurotic. 2. They know it’s a brand new day to start over and do something different. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Related
15 Ways to Identify Psychopaths How to Identify Psychopaths? Facts About Psychopaths Psychopath Test Here are the some interesting facts about the Psychopaths. 1. Most people get anxious in situations of discomfort-- whether it's being late for an appointment, feeling stressed, etcetera. 2. Yep, you heard us. 3. People who have known sociopaths have said numerous times that there is often something very attractive about them, be it physically or charismatically, and it has psychiatrists confused. 4. Sociopaths often have crazy eyes. 5. 1 out of 10 men are psychopathic. If you can count ten guys you know, then the chances are better than not that one of them is a psychopath. 6. Psychopaths and sociopaths often back out of plans last minute or say they are going to do something but then do the opposite. 7. According to science, psychopaths are really intelligent people. 8. 9. Sociopaths love "highs" of all sorts-- anything fleeting that makes them feel a rush of danger interests them. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
13 Things to Remember When Life Gets Rough We’ve all gone through hard times. And we all get through them. However, some get through them better than others. So what is their secret? Most of it has to do with attitude. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. About the Author Carol Morgan has a Ph.D. in communication and is a professor at Wright State University. Credits: Life hack
Creating a Lovely Morning ‘When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.’ ~Marcus Aurelius By Leo Babauta When I wake in the morning, my mind slowly gathers, and I begin to move, the early morning light just starting to seep in. I have a glass of water, start the coffee, then meditate. Then I enjoy the coffee, a good book, and the quiet before the dust and din and steam of the day begins. This is my Lovely Morning, and I get an inordinate amount of pleasure from it. It wasn’t always this way: I used to wake later, rush through a grumpy routine before diving into email and work and errands and meetings. I was wrong. I’ll share them with you here, and if you begin to enjoy the peace of your mornings more, send a smile in my general direction. Wake a little earlier. A Lovely Morning isn’t something that just falls into your lap — it’s created consciously. ‘Waking up this morning, I smile. Creating the Wake Early Habit
The most popular 20 TED Talks, as of now UPDATED: To see all these talks at one click, check out our updated Playlist: The 20 Most Popular Talks of All Time. As 2013 draws to a close, TED is deeply humbled to have posted 1600+ talks, each representing an idea worth spreading. So which ideas have had the most widespread impact? Some fascinating things to notice on this list, if you’d like to compare and contrast it to the most popular talks in 2012, and to the list we shared back in 2011: Amy Cuddy, Susan Cain, David Blaine and Pamela Meyer are all newcomers to the list, with Cuddy’s talk storming to spot #5 thanks to you sharing it. But what really makes this list so incredible is the fact that it spans so many areas of interest, from education to happiness, statistics to creativity, tech demos to illusions. UPDATED: To see all these talks at one click, check out our updated Playlist: The 20 Most Popular Talks of All Time.
How Doing Nothing Can Help You Truly Live - Sharon Salzberg This article was originally published on The Huffington Post, May 4, 2010 When the retreat center I co-founded, the Insight Meditation Society, first opened, someone created a mock brochure describing a retreat there, with sayings like, “Come to IMS and have all the tea you could ever drink.” It also featured a wonderful made up motto for us: “It is better to do nothing than to waste your time.” Although that motto never made it into our official presentation, it actually was an accurate description of insight meditation, or mindfulness meditation. We come to meditation to learn how not to act out the habitual tendencies we generally live by, those actions that create suffering for ourselves and others, and get us into so much trouble. In our usual mind state, we are continually activating the process that in Buddhist terminology is known as “bhava,” which literally means “becoming.” Image from Flickr by jacme31, Creative Commons License