TBP Open Your Mind

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
– Theodore Roosevelt

…open your mind, achieve your dreams…

It’s raining. No really it is! What do you do when it starts raining? Do you frown and run for cover? Do you mutter under your breath ‘i wish it would stop raining’? Strangely that one doesn’t work (!). Do you skip around with excitement like a young child? Or maybe you ignore it completely and carry on about your business.

All of these reactions are possible, and fairly common. Which do you think would feel the best?

People interpret events differently. The same weather could have people jumping with joy (metaphorically), or hiding away under cover. We all have different filters or beliefs, and these affect the way we see the world, and the way we react to things.

This is particularly important to remember when you are trying to explain something to someone. They may not understand quite what you mean. At this stage you might try explaining it again, maybe by s p e a k i n g s l o w l y, or RAISING YOUR VOICE - but it is unlikely this will make the explanation any clearer to them.

By realising that people view things differently, you could instead explain it a different way. This could be as simple as using less-technical words - they may not be familiar with the jargon or terms you are using.

Another approach is to consider why they want to know. Maybe you could simplify what you are describing (they probably aren’t as keen on the finer details as much as you) they might just want to know what the outcome will be and how long it would take (or cost).

A Big Shot is a Little Shot that kept shooting.

…open your mind, achieve your dreams…

A new clean energy source discovered by a high school student as a weekend science project, impressive. The story appeared in Wired recently.

A 16-year-old high school student has invented a new way of producing electricity by harnessing the brawny power of bacteria.

Kartik Madiraju, an 11th-grader from Montreal, was able to generate about half the voltage of a normal AA battery with a fifth of an ounce of naturally occurring magnetic bacteria. And the bacteria kept pumping current for 48 hours nonstop.

“No one has ever used magnetic bacteria to produce an electrical current before,” Madiraju said.

The experiment is being presented this week at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, an über-science geek competition in which the chipmaker annually hands out $4 million in prize money to students. Winners will be announced Friday.

Magnetotactic or magnetic bacteria have extremely small crystals of magnetite inside their bodies. Only discovered in 1975, these aquatic bacteria are quite common and found in fresh water and saltwater around the world.

A bit of a science whiz kid, Madiraju was browsing through the science journal Nature and happened to see something about magnetic bacteria while trying to think of a project to benefit the environment. “I knew that spinning windmills use a magnetic generator to produce electricity and wondered if I got the magnetic bacteria spinning they might generate a current and be a clean, alternative energy source,” he said.

Madiraju put the free-floating bacteria, which are essentially tiny magnets, into plastic boxes less than a fifth of a cubic inch. Metal strips on two sides act as electrodes and get them spinning, generating a magnetic field and an electric current. Current and power were sustained at 25 microamps and 5.5 microwatts, respectively, beyond 48 hours at a resistance of 10 kohms.

“I thought the idea was outlandish originally and was one of the most surprised when it worked the very first time,” said John Sheppard, a professor in the Department of Bioresource Engineering at Montreal’s McGill University.

“I’m optimistic about the practical applications; he’s developed the technology quite a bit just working on weekends,” said Sheppard.

Madiraju envisions clean-running underwater power plants in the developing world. “The latter is long-term of course, but not too far-fetched,” he said.

Micro-energy sources in nanotechnology or biosensors would be easier to do and are more likely uses, said Sheppard, who was Madiraju’s mentor under the strict conditions of two big science contests, the Intel competition and Canada’s Sanofi-Aventis Biotech Challenge. Madiraju has won in various categories previously and on May 10, his magnetic bacteria battery demonstration placed third in the Canadian competition.

Results aside, as a science fair project, inventing a new clean and green source of electricity sure tops the old papier-mâché volcano.

So there you have it. Get some bacteria and spin it around apparently. Have you noticed how many great-sounding discoveries like this are talked about briefly and then disappear never to be heard of again?

I hope a better form of energy comes along soon the way fuel prices are going up!

Previously Nintendo gave us a long line of games consoles from the NES, SNES, GameBoy (and later spinoffs) through to the current N64 and the portable dual screen DS. It is fair to say these names are pretty dull, but safe.

They have tried to be more imaginative with their latest creation, which is due out later this year, and have called it Wii. Yes that’s right, it is pronounced wee. I’m sure companies do lots of research into finding names which are not offensive or have unintended meanings in other languages - something like a games console is an international item after all. So this seems a very unfortunate choice of name by Nintendo.

The console itself is going to join to Xbox 360 vs PS3 battle, and might be the best as it is the latest of the 3 to be released. Of course that depends if people are willing to wait that long. Once people have either a 360 or PS3 they probably won’t need a Wii as well.

Let’s hope they don’t bring out a portable version, the wee-wii ?!

Whilst browsing the internet today i came across this ice cream novelty. Not sure how practical it is but fairly certain you won’t have come across one before!

As the shop website says:
“Load the removable dish with ice cream, push the button and the ice cream turns while you enjoy one of the world’s most popular treats. No more licking around the edges of a drippy cone. Fun for all ages.”

Basically its a plastic ice cream cone with a motor which rotates the ice cream as you lick. If you find it too much effort to rotate the cone in your hand this could be exactly what you need..

“There’s no such word as can’t”, How many times did you hear that when you were little and didn’t have the confidence to do what you had been asked - or was it that you didn’t want to do something?!.

It is interesting how often people use the word can’t, even when they are grown-ups and the task they are describing clearly could be done, or should at least be attempted with a high possibility of success.

If saying “I can’t” is a habit you would like to change, there are two alternatives:

The first is instead of saying i can’t, say i won’t. This way has a nice honesty to it because you are acknowledging that the task in question is (or at least could be) possible, and that you are making a choice not to do it.

You may find that a bit too confrontational, or maybe not effective enough at encouraging you to attempt new things. An alternative approach would be to ask the questions how can i do that? and what would happen if i did?

Taking this last idea further, you could ask yourself additional questions such as what is the worst that could happen if i attempted this? (and what could you do to prevent that happening?!)

By stopping to question yourself before saying i can’t, you are allowing yourself more freedom and potential for success - which is better than giving up before you start…

“The success secrets of the Ancients.”
“The most inspring book on wealth ever written.”

These are some of the accolades this book by George Clason received, so what is it about, and is it worth reading?

I bought this book over 2 years ago, and i still pick it up several times a year to re-read it. I always feel I get something new from it each time too. The book is a self-help book about money - how to increase the amount of money you have available. However where this book stands out is its unique approach to this popular subject. This is the reason why you should read this book.

Rather than giving a step-by-step ‘do this, then do that’ methodology to the process, it teaches the concepts through seven short stories. These are centered around the life of a simple tradesman in ancient Babylon, and describe his journey from having next to no money, to achieving great wealth.

At first i didn’t like the short-story format of the book, but after a few chapters i had got used to the idea and really found it made the book more readable overall, and definately more memorable.

The stories themselves are short, maybe 15-20 pages each, which makes them very easy to read before bed or during the lunch break. Each of the seven lessons are almost hidden in the stories - more something you realise after putting the book down and whilst thinking over what happened.

Again i see this as a good thing. So many self-help books preach about right and wrong, and telling you why you should do it this way not that way, and so on. It is a pleasant change to learn these lessons in a more subtle manner.

Will you be reading The Richest Man in Babylon?