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Friday, March 18, 2005
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2005
Human Beings Found to Be Generally Unproductive
A new study by Microsoft of 38,000 workers in 200 countries shows that human beings average only three "effective" workdays per week, and mostly this has to do with unproductive bureaucratic staff meetings.
Imaginary Friends
Sixty-five percent of children say that by age seven, they've played with an imaginary companion. Children interviewed for a study by psychologists at the University of Washington and University of Oregon were considered to have an imaginary companion if they were able to discuss its psychological traits, "such as 'She is nice to me.'" The study also showed that:
- 27 percent of the children described an imaginary friend that their parents did not know about.
- 57 percent of the imaginary companions of school-age youngsters were humans and 41 percent were animals. One companion was a human capable of transforming herself into any animal the child wanted.
- Not all imaginary companions are friendly. A number were quite uncontrollable and some were a nuisance.
Heroic Stories
HeroicStories brings diverse, international voices to the world - reminding us that people are good, that individuals and individual action matter.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2005
Happy Saint Patrick's Day gang. Hope it's a lucky day for you. My sister's a great photographer of children - this is one of her shots.
Here are my thoughts on a new set of Cabinet Posts:
Secretary of Learning
Secretary of Peace
Secretary of Kindness
Secretary of Industrial Imagination
Secretary of Impossible Projects
Secretary of International Communication
Secretary of Design
What's sad is that people in power would look at this and think it's a joke. Child's play. What's encouraging is that the people in power have no idea how much energy and determination lives in the hearts of the people with enough imagination to know that this list is no joke. This list is the future. And the children that live still in our hearts will create it.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2005
First off, forgive all the wacky formattting. We're having a helluva time trying to get Blogger to play nice with Firefox.
Adversity is the foundry of miracles. Show humanity gravity and it will show you an airplane. Show me a bully and I will show you a revolution. Learn to ride the wave of adversity and see what joy comes of it for you. Do not regard adveristy and obstacles as things to be avoided. Embrace them and they will bring you great wisdom and fulfillment, the likes of which those who seek only comfort will never know. If you think otherwise you will always find yourself frustrated in the midst of adversity when you could be full of enthusiasm.
Extreme Ballooning
Brief: Here's a new trend in ballooning. This guy regularly flies around tied to a cluster of helium filled balloons. He seems to know what he's doing, unlike infamous "ballooner" Larry Walters, who in 1982 tied up flights at LAX with his unsuccessful lawn-chair balloon attempt.
Idea of the Day
E-mail free Fridays
Brief: E-mail has swiftly become the staple means of communication in the workplace, but this has had a downside, especially in reduced face-to-face interaction. E-mail free Fridays would force human beings to take a different approach in their communication, and to use their time more appropriately.
Groningen: The Car-Free City for Bikes
Brief: In Groningen, the Netherlands' sixth largest city, the main form of transport is the bicycle. Sixteen years ago, ruinous traffic congestion led city planners to dig up city-centre motorways. Last year they set about creating a car-free city centre. Now Groningen, with a population of 170,000, has the highest level of bicycle usage in the West. 57% of its inhabitants travel by bicycle - compared with four per cent in the UK.
Apple Announces Melissa Etheridge iTunes Exclusive to Benefit Cancer Research
Brief: Two-time Grammy Award winner Melissa Etheridge and three-time nominee Joss Stone announced on Tuesday that they are releasing an audio version of their Grammy performance tribute to Janis Joplin exclusively on the iTunes Music Store. Proceeds will benefit the City of Hope and the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation. The song will be available for a 30-day period beginning on Tuesday, March 15th.
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Tuesday, March 15, 2005
TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2005
A friend of mine took this amazing photo of bamboo. It feels like magic to me.
The Only Revolving Building in the World
All the apartments in this building in Curitiba, Brazil, are rotating 360 degrees. While many buildings around the globe have rotating rooftops, this is the first time an entire building has rotated, posing some unique engineering challenges. It is in this realm - the realm of imagination that thinks to have every floor of a building rotate when no one ever thought of it before, that we have to encourage and promote and seek out if we want the world to be all that it truly can be. Click here for story.
Nine-Year Old Boy and His Imaginative Mom are Cancer Free
A nine year-old boy with cancer who named his tumor "Frank" and whose mother held an on-line auction to pay for his medical bills is now cancer free. Click here for story.
Thought of the Day
"If you fear making anyone mad then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement." -President Jimmy Carter
Idea of the Day
E-mail delivered by surface mail. Everyone has to send letters by post. Why not create a service to automatically send e-mail by post to people who do not have access to email? Millions of people would use this service. Sometimes you have to think backwards to move forward.
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Sunday, March 13, 2005
MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2005
This article talks about a conservative right-wing guy from D.C. who participated in a Toyota Prius demonstration and says he'll never buy another kind of car. You don't have to be on the left to want to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, or to realize that such a reduction is good all-around for America's security. I wonder what other things we could all agree on if we weren't so focused on what divides us left and right. I was reading George Washington's farewell address yesterday. What he had to say about the dangers of Party was like a premonition:
"Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party, generally. . .The alternative domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful depotism. - But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent depotism.--The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an Individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or fortunate than his competitors, turns the disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the Ruins of Public Liberty..."
My Prius was clocking in at 53 mpg today until I hit the hills, then it ended up at around 47 mpg. I spend about $80 a month on gas, down from around $220 a month before I bought it. I love this thing. Turns out it not only gets great gas mileage, but unites conservatives and liberals. Talk about efficiency.
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