Relaxing as key to productivity
Fascinating new research about how relaxing and getting comfortable can actually make you more productive. Piece by Tony Schwartz for the NYT:
More and more of us find ourselves unable to juggle overwhelming demands and maintain a seemingly unsustainable pace. Paradoxically, the best way to get more done may be to spend more time doing less. A new and growing body of multidisciplinary research shows that strategic renewal — including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations — boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.
Relaxing as key to productivity
Fascinating new research about how relaxing and getting comfortable can actually make you more productive. Piece by Tony Schwartz for the NYT:
More and more of us find ourselves unable to juggle overwhelming demands and maintain a seemingly unsustainable pace. Paradoxically, the best way to get more done may be to spend more time doing less. A new and growing body of multidisciplinary research shows that strategic renewal — including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations — boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.
Two system for successful startups
There seems to be two product systems which are quite popular and successful at the moment, for mobile apps.
1. Simple, mono-action apps
Focus around a unique use case, craft a superb user experience, wait for the market.
Instagram: Take a picture, apply a filter, share it to all social networks.
Vine: Take a 6 second, non-continuous video, share it to all social networks.
2. Kill the middleman
This is Uber, Airbnb, iCracked and Exec.
Find some market which does not need a middleman, as we now have phones with constant Internet connections. Then make connections, and exchanges of goods/services between people super easy, peer-to-peer style.
Airbnb: peer-to-peer house/room rentals
Exec: peer-to-peer house cleaning
In the case of Uber and iCracked it’s business-to-peer via the app.
So you know what you have to do, if you want to build a startup now. (Or you could build a cheap, efficient solar panel (apparently, you can’t).)
Two system for successful startups
There seems to be two product systems which are quite popular and successful at the moment, for mobile apps.
1. Simple, mono-action apps
Focus around a unique use case, craft a superb user experience, wait for the market.
Instagram: Take a picture, apply a filter, share it to all social networks.
Vine: Take a 6 second, non-continuous video, share it to all social networks.
2. Kill the middleman
This is Uber, Airbnb, iCracked and Exec.
Find some market which does not need a middleman, as we now have phones with constant Internet connections. Then make connections, and exchanges of goods/services between people super easy, peer-to-peer style.
Airbnb: peer-to-peer house/room rentals
Exec: peer-to-peer house cleaning
In the case of Uber and iCracked it’s business-to-peer via the app.
So you know what you have to do, if you want to build a startup now. (Or you could build a cheap, efficient solar panel (apparently, you can’t).)
Famous typewriters.
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Famous typewriters.
The history of pasta
“Today, pasta con sarde, or pasta with sardines, is one of Sicily’s signature dishes. Yet as legends go, this version of how pasta became a staple of Italian cuisine is far less familiar than the tale of Marco Polo’s supposed discovery of noodles in China in the 13th century—a tale that has been subject to more spin than a forkful of spaghetti. In the first place, Polo actually wrote in his account of his travels that the noodles he ate in the Orient were “as good as the ones I have tasted many times in Italy,” and likened them to vermicelli and lasagna. Second, there are commercial documents recording pasta shipments and production in Italy long before Polo’s journey. Most convincingly, scholars have pointed out that the whole story was a deliberate fabrication published in the late 1920’s by editors of The Macaroni Journal, a trade publication of North American pasta manufacturers. While the Asad ibn al-Furat tale may be no less fanciful, there is evidence to suggest that pasta may have come from the Middle East. Still, the story of the humble noodle’s journey from east to west has as many twists and turns as a strand of fusili, and is often as slippery.”— The surprising history of pasta, which may have actually originated in the Middle East. Complement with an architectural anatomy of pasta designs.
The history of pasta
http://exp.lore.com/post/42879094091/today-pasta-con-sarde-or-pasta-with-sardines-is
“Today, pasta con sarde, or pasta with sardines, is one of Sicily’s signature dishes. Yet as legends go, this version of how pasta became a staple of Italian cuisine is far less familiar than the tale of Marco Polo’s supposed discovery of noodles in China in the 13th century—a tale that has been subject to more spin than a forkful of spaghetti. In the first place, Polo actually wrote in his account of his travels that the noodles he ate in the Orient were “as good as the ones I have tasted many times in Italy,” and likened them to vermicelli and lasagna. Second, there are commercial documents recording pasta shipments and production in Italy long before Polo’s journey. Most convincingly, scholars have pointed out that the whole story was a deliberate fabrication published in the late 1920’s by editors of The Macaroni Journal, a trade publication of North American pasta manufacturers. While the Asad ibn al-Furat tale may be no less fanciful, there is evidence to suggest that pasta may have come from the Middle East. Still, the story of the humble noodle’s journey from east to west has as many twists and turns as a strand of fusili, and is often as slippery.”— The surprising history of pasta, which may have actually originated in the Middle East. Complement with an architectural anatomy of pasta designs.
I think about what constantly-flowing information means for blogging. In some ways this is Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc. But what if someone started a stand-alone blog that wasn’t a series of posts, but rather a continuous stream of blurbs, almost like chat. For example: “I just heard…” or “Microsoft launching this is stupid, here’s why…” — things like that. More like an always-on live blog, I guess.
It’s sort of strange to me that blogs are still based around the idea of fully-formed articles of old. This works well for some content, but I don’t see why it has to be that way for all content. The real-time communication aspect of the web should be utilized more, especially in a mobile world.
Great ideas from MG Siegler.
An always-on blog, strapped to the news and connected to social services which would allows for a continuous stream of blurbs. Or reactions, if you see that always-on blog as some sort of news identity.
I think about what constantly-flowing information means for blogging. In some ways this is Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc. But what if someone started a stand-alone blog that wasn’t a series of posts, but rather a continuous stream of blurbs, almost like chat. For example: “I just heard…” or “Microsoft launching this is stupid, here’s why…” — things like that. More like an always-on live blog, I guess.
It’s sort of strange to me that blogs are still based around the idea of fully-formed articles of old. This works well for some content, but I don’t see why it has to be that way for all content. The real-time communication aspect of the web should be utilized more, especially in a mobile world.
Great ideas from MG Siegler.
An always-on blog, strapped to the news and connected to social services which would allows for a continuous stream of blurbs. Or reactions, if you see that always-on blog as some sort of news identity.
Your chance of dying various deaths, nifty infographic by The Economist.
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Your chance of dying various deaths, nifty infographic by The Economist.
Ok so Daft Punk changed their website, confirmed its signing with Columbia Records and uploaded an image (see above). The world trembled. I conclude that they still have it. A new album must be on the way, come on now.
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Ok so Daft Punk changed their website, confirmed its signing with Columbia Records and uploaded an image (see above). The world trembled. I conclude that they still have it. A new album must be on the way, come on now.
Unit 61398
It was purportedly the People’s Liberation Army of China which led hacking attacks on US sites:
The building off Datong Road, surrounded by restaurants, massage parlors and a wine importer, is the headquarters of P.L.A. Unit 61398. A growing body of digital forensic evidence — confirmed by American intelligence officials who say they have tapped into the activity of the army unit for years — leaves little doubt that an overwhelming percentage of the attacks on American corporations, organizations and government agencies originate in and around the white tower.
Perhaps psychiatry is a bad mix of science and ethics
Perhaps psychiatry is a bad mix of science and ethics
Some psychiatrists wish to revise the definition of depression. This controversy sheds light on psychiatry as a science.
As Gary Gutting, professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame shares puts it, in the NYT:
Psychiatric practice does seem to be based on implicit moral assumptions in addition to explicit empirical considerations, and efforts to treat mental illness can be society’s way of controlling what it views as immoral (or otherwise undesirable) behavior. Not long ago, homosexuals and women who rejected their stereotypical roles were judged “mentally ill,” and there’s no guarantee that even today psychiatry is free of similarly dubious judgments.
And:
Foucault is, then, right: psychiatric practice makes essential use of moral (and other evaluative) judgments. Why is this dangerous? Because, first of all, psychiatrists as such have no special knowledge about how people should live. They can, from their clinical experience, give us crucial information about the likely psychological consequences of living in various ways (for sexual pleasure, for one’s children, for a political cause). But they have no special insight into what sorts of consequences make for a good human life. It is, therefore, dangerous to make them privileged judges of what syndromes should be labeled “mental illnesses.”
Perhaps psychiatry is a bad mix of science and ethics
opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/0…
Some psychiatrists wish to revise the definition of depression. This controversy sheds light on psychiatry as a science.
As Gary Gutting, professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame shares puts it, in the NYT:
Psychiatric practice does seem to be based on implicit moral assumptions in addition to explicit empirical considerations, and efforts to treat mental illness can be society’s way of controlling what it views as immoral (or otherwise undesirable) behavior. Not long ago, homosexuals and women who rejected their stereotypical roles were judged “mentally ill,” and there’s no guarantee that even today psychiatry is free of similarly dubious judgments.
And:
Foucault is, then, right: psychiatric practice makes essential use of moral (and other evaluative) judgments. Why is this dangerous? Because, first of all, psychiatrists as such have no special knowledge about how people should live. They can, from their clinical experience, give us crucial information about the likely psychological consequences of living in various ways (for sexual pleasure, for one’s children, for a political cause). But they have no special insight into what sorts of consequences make for a good human life. It is, therefore, dangerous to make them privileged judges of what syndromes should be labeled “mental illnesses.”
Tonguz and colleagues are designing a road-efficiency system, based on emerging-vehicle-to-vehicle technology, called Virtual Traffic Lights. The idea is to shift traffic control from fixed street signals to the moving cars themselves. The result, says Tonguz, is an optimized traffic flow that should greatly reduce city congestion.
How Virtual Traffic Lights Could Cut Down on Congestion, let’s get rid of these.
Tonguz and colleagues are designing a road-efficiency system, based on emerging-vehicle-to-vehicle technology, called Virtual Traffic Lights. The idea is to shift traffic control from fixed street signals to the moving cars themselves. The result, says Tonguz, is an optimized traffic flow that should greatly reduce city congestion.
Story Rush, a kindergarten teacher from Greenwood, Alaska, fires an M1919 Browning .30 caliber machine gun on the first night of the Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot and Trade Show
Amazing photo for the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards.
