xiaoguang drunk ethanol/喝无水乙醇:
Friday, January 11, 2008
Job Search Hack- Organize Your Search Using The Rule Of Thirds zz from www.thejobbored.com
A job search is a complicated and time consuming business. Sometimes your goal is simple: you know exactly the job you’re looking for, so there’s not a lot of “search” involved. It’s all a matter of getting your face in front of the person who does the hiring for that position.
But more often than not, it’s a job “search” because you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. You know you need a new job, but the who, what, where and which job questions are wide open. It’s this sort of job search that can become chaotic. The choices are overwhelming.
This approach gives your job search organization and focus
Nowadays, people in this sort of situation just hit the job boards and carpet bomb their resumes everywhere they can think of. This is one of my problems with using the job boards as your primary job search tool. They make it so easy (A click of a mouse and your resume has been sent out 200 times! Surely one of those resumes will get a response!) that you get fooled into thinking 10 minutes of job search activity is sufficient.
This is a very counterproductive job search method. If you’re managing 200 applications, you’re not really focusing on any one of them. In addition, have you given 200 different positions any thought at all? A successful job search is about research, focus and a careful consideration of your qualifications and chances. You need a strategy, not a roll of the dice.
So, instead of the scatter shot method above, why not consider employing a strategy I’ve been suggesting to my clients for years?
It’s called the Rule of Thirds.
No, this has nothing to do with photography.
The Rule Of Thirds
The basic concept is a simple one. You need to bring some sort of organization and cohesiveness to your job search. So what you do is divide the positions you’re looking at into three categories and focus of these one set at a time.
* The first category represents jobs you think are probably outside your league. These are the jobs you run across that make you say, “Gee, I’d love to have that job. In another life maybe.” They’re jobs you’re not quite qualified for, or positions at companies you’d love to work for but don’t think you’d be able to stand out from the competition. In other words, these are the dream jobs.
* The second category covers the jobs you think you can probably get. These are the most likely candidates, maybe not as glamorous as category-one jobs, but perfectly respectable. These are jobs you’d be happy to have and jobs you are pretty sure you could qualify for easily.
* The third categories are random jobs. I mean, completely random, out-of-left field jobs that you stumble across and think, “Why not?” Maybe you’re qualified, maybe not. Maybe they’re outside your career field even, but hey, they’d be fun.
So what I would tell my clients to do is bring me three jobs that fit each category… a total of 9 jobs. Then, we’d sit down and evaluate them and apply to each one. We’d agree on a period of time to wait for responses (24 hours, 72 hours, a week… all depending on the situation). The key would be, the job searcher wouldn’t apply to any other jobs until the time period was up.
Sometimes if time was an issue, we’d select only 3 jobs (one from each category) or even 15 (five from each category) but never more than that.
Why This Works
This method always seemed to be unusually successful. I think the reasons are twofold…
The Rule of Thirds gives you discipline
Firstly, the three categories give structure to the job search. This method has a set of purposes and goals, instead of the mindless lets-play-the-numbers approach of carpet bombing your resume 200 times. The three categories are each balanced to allow for taking a chance, playing it safe, and random chance. Don’t underestimate the random approach of category three. As in love, there’s a lot of serendipity to the job search, and you should always allow for that.
So the three category approach gives your job search focus… a game plan that is still wide open and flexible to fit several different kinds of opportunities. But secondly, the Rule of Thirds also gives you discipline.
The very act of selecting and categorizing the openings forces you to give each position greater consideration and scrutiny. In addition, forcing yourself to wait a given amount of time allows you to think about each job and really suss out potentials and strategies. By forcing my clients to wait, I found that they’d done more research on each company/position in the intervening time. They were often better prepared, and sometimes had even taken the time to find other avenues of applying, such as walking in and applying in person.
The modern job search approach of pointing and clicking is impersonal. No job opening is anything more than a mouse click different than another. You’re just another faceless application to the employer; and the employers are just another name on a list to you. The Rule of Thirds approach slows you down enough to make it more real.
So, give it a try and let me know your results. Don’t be afraid to tailor it to your own situation. If you’re skeptical, try it out with only 3 total jobs at first, one for each category. Maybe try varying your focus time limit… sometimes wait a day and sometimes wait a week.
If you try this and have any feedback, let me know in the comments.
But more often than not, it’s a job “search” because you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. You know you need a new job, but the who, what, where and which job questions are wide open. It’s this sort of job search that can become chaotic. The choices are overwhelming.
This approach gives your job search organization and focus
Nowadays, people in this sort of situation just hit the job boards and carpet bomb their resumes everywhere they can think of. This is one of my problems with using the job boards as your primary job search tool. They make it so easy (A click of a mouse and your resume has been sent out 200 times! Surely one of those resumes will get a response!) that you get fooled into thinking 10 minutes of job search activity is sufficient.
This is a very counterproductive job search method. If you’re managing 200 applications, you’re not really focusing on any one of them. In addition, have you given 200 different positions any thought at all? A successful job search is about research, focus and a careful consideration of your qualifications and chances. You need a strategy, not a roll of the dice.
So, instead of the scatter shot method above, why not consider employing a strategy I’ve been suggesting to my clients for years?
It’s called the Rule of Thirds.
No, this has nothing to do with photography.
The Rule Of Thirds
The basic concept is a simple one. You need to bring some sort of organization and cohesiveness to your job search. So what you do is divide the positions you’re looking at into three categories and focus of these one set at a time.
* The first category represents jobs you think are probably outside your league. These are the jobs you run across that make you say, “Gee, I’d love to have that job. In another life maybe.” They’re jobs you’re not quite qualified for, or positions at companies you’d love to work for but don’t think you’d be able to stand out from the competition. In other words, these are the dream jobs.
* The second category covers the jobs you think you can probably get. These are the most likely candidates, maybe not as glamorous as category-one jobs, but perfectly respectable. These are jobs you’d be happy to have and jobs you are pretty sure you could qualify for easily.
* The third categories are random jobs. I mean, completely random, out-of-left field jobs that you stumble across and think, “Why not?” Maybe you’re qualified, maybe not. Maybe they’re outside your career field even, but hey, they’d be fun.
So what I would tell my clients to do is bring me three jobs that fit each category… a total of 9 jobs. Then, we’d sit down and evaluate them and apply to each one. We’d agree on a period of time to wait for responses (24 hours, 72 hours, a week… all depending on the situation). The key would be, the job searcher wouldn’t apply to any other jobs until the time period was up.
Sometimes if time was an issue, we’d select only 3 jobs (one from each category) or even 15 (five from each category) but never more than that.
Why This Works
This method always seemed to be unusually successful. I think the reasons are twofold…
The Rule of Thirds gives you discipline
Firstly, the three categories give structure to the job search. This method has a set of purposes and goals, instead of the mindless lets-play-the-numbers approach of carpet bombing your resume 200 times. The three categories are each balanced to allow for taking a chance, playing it safe, and random chance. Don’t underestimate the random approach of category three. As in love, there’s a lot of serendipity to the job search, and you should always allow for that.
So the three category approach gives your job search focus… a game plan that is still wide open and flexible to fit several different kinds of opportunities. But secondly, the Rule of Thirds also gives you discipline.
The very act of selecting and categorizing the openings forces you to give each position greater consideration and scrutiny. In addition, forcing yourself to wait a given amount of time allows you to think about each job and really suss out potentials and strategies. By forcing my clients to wait, I found that they’d done more research on each company/position in the intervening time. They were often better prepared, and sometimes had even taken the time to find other avenues of applying, such as walking in and applying in person.
The modern job search approach of pointing and clicking is impersonal. No job opening is anything more than a mouse click different than another. You’re just another faceless application to the employer; and the employers are just another name on a list to you. The Rule of Thirds approach slows you down enough to make it more real.
So, give it a try and let me know your results. Don’t be afraid to tailor it to your own situation. If you’re skeptical, try it out with only 3 total jobs at first, one for each category. Maybe try varying your focus time limit… sometimes wait a day and sometimes wait a week.
If you try this and have any feedback, let me know in the comments.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
how to show you are the right person for the right job -- zz from lifehack
We all deal with the problem of needing to build support for our ideas. Maybe you’re trying to sell your boss on a new program, maybe you’re trying to get a loan or grant to start a small business or to undertake a research project, or maybe you’re just trying to get a job. What do you have to do to convince your audience, whoever they are, that you’re ready and able to handle whatever’s thrown at you?
Writers face this all the time. In publishing, the quality of the writing alone rarely speaks for itself. Publishers need some assurance that a new title will sell, and alas, that involves far more than just whether a book is any good or not. Readers don’t know a book is good until they’ve read it, which means quality doesn’t play much of a role in getting them to read something. Instead, reader’s choices are made on the basis of perceived expertise, name-recognition, and familiarity — the same factors we use to make most of our other decisions in life.
In publishing, the combination of all these factors is referred to as an author’s “platform”. In Bill O’Hanlon’s book Write is a Verb, O’Hanlon (author of 28 books)describes the following elements or “planks” that are part of a writer’s platform:
- credibility
- marketing abilities
- marketing channels
- mass media presence
- media abilities and experience
- track record in publishing
- celebrity
- reputation
- unique topic or slant
- borrowed planks
While not all of these apply beyond the publishing world, with a little tweaking we can adapt O’Hanlon’s description to just about any situation where you need to show others that you are capable of taking on a task or project.
The Planks of Your Platform
- Your credibility: How much relevant education or experience you bring to a project. If you have a PhD in physics, you probably have a lot of credibility when it comes to talking about lasers — but not so much when it comes to talking about fashion design.
- Your willingness and ability to push a project: Your passion and desire to stand behind a project, your leadership qualities, your demonstrated competence, and your skill at promotion all come into play here. If you are lacking in any off these, you run the risk of seeing someone else given control — even when the original idea was your.
- Your network: Who you know and, more importantly, can draw on to advance your project. The channels — marketing, word-of-mouth, influence — you control and can exploit.
- Your media presence: Outlets to the public, whether as a whole or in your niche, that you control or have access to. If you have a TV show, a monthly magazine column, a popular blog, or a series of books, you can easily get the word out about a new project — attracting attention, financial investment, and other resources to move your project forward.
- Your track record: Your demonstrated record to get projects done, and done well. If you’ve launched a dozen successful marketing campaigns, you are going to be more desirable to start the next one than someone who has launched a dozen failures or someone who has launched just one successful one, all other things equal.
- Your reputation: What people know or have heard about you. If you have a reputation for being brilliant but lazy, hard to work with, or disloyal, people will be hesitant to work with you. On the other hand, if you always get your work in on time, are easy-going but professional, and bring a single-minded focus to your work, people are going to want you on their team.
- Your celebrity: The fame and recognition you bring to a project by your involvement, even though your fame is derived from another field. People want, say, self-help books written by pop stars, even though most pop stars don’t have much of a background in psychotherapy. This probably doesn’t apply to most people, but it’s worth including as food for thought.
- Your uniqueness: Brilliance, insight, an off-beat sensibility — the value you add to a project simply by your own unique talents and abilities. In writing, it’s your unique slant on your topic; in, say, design, it might be your distinct style.
- Borrowed planks: The support of others with big platforms. Endorsements, recommendations, awards, outside research — anything from other people with credibility, reputations, celebrity, etc. that supports your idea.
How Big is Your Platform?
As you think through this list, consider how your own experience and life details can be described in a way that contributes to your platform. How can you describe your own experiences in a way that shows how credible, well-connected, successful, or unique you are?
Consider, too, the gaps in your platform — what can you do to add planks that aren’t already there, or build up the ones that aren’t particularly strong? It’s not necessary to have every plank above — most people do well without celebrity, for example, and those with celebrity often do well without many of the others — but the more planks you have, and the stronger they are, the more likely others are to see you as someone they can trust to get the job done.
And that means they are more likely to support you, whether by hiring you, promoting you, putting you in charge of a big project, offering you a contract, buying your product, investing in your business, or whatever. In the end, this is about confidence — give people a reason (or many reasons) to have confidence in you, and leverage that confidence to do the things you want to do.
Resolution Makeover: 5 Things To Consider When Setting This Year’s Goals - zz from Zen habits
Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be. - Henry David Thoreau
Typical resolutions consist of activities that require some teeth-pulling. Exercise more. Eat better. Stop smoking. These are things we don’t really want to do. These are the resolutions we make and break every year, minutes after writing them down. Instead, we should make resolutions for things we want to do. Make resolutions to do things that you didn’t do enough of or didn’t get to last year. Have you been delaying a trip to Europe? Do you want to spend more time with your family and friends? Make resolutions for things that will make you happy, and you’ll be more motivated to commit to them.
There are five basic things to consider when deciding on your resolutions:
Time
Reflect on what you’re doing with your time, and ask yourself whether things need to be readjusted. Make time to do the things that you really want to do—spend time with your loved ones, make a phone call instead of sending a quick birthday wish in an email, write, read, take a bubble bath. There’ll never be enough time to do everything, but there’ll always enough time to do what’s really important (yes, a bubble bath is important!).
Money
Like time, the inability to manage money is often due to perspective. If you value saving more than spending, you will save more and spend less. Decide what you really want to use your money for. Instead of making the resolution simply to “spend less,” “save more,” or “pay credit cards down,” make a specific goal. Set a goal of x amount of dollars to go on that trip. Know exactly how much you are trying to save each month (realistically!), rather than making an arbitrary end of the year amount or vague statement of where you want your finances to be eventually. It’s easier to put off saving until tomorrow when you don’t have a specific number you are working towards.
Work
Consider the direction of your career. Since you spend most of your day working, you better be doing something you like. Is this what you really want to do? Will this particular job lead you to where you want to be? Don’t get stuck in a place that doesn’t satisfy your aspirations for yourself. Resolve to take your career into your own hands, no matter how scary it might seem.
Connections
Having supportive and fulfilling relationships will do more for your well being than any kind of “success” in your career or money in your bank account. Resolve to spend more time with the people you love and who love you, give freely, offer help, and be gracious.
Health
Your health will be what allows you to pursue any of the things mentioned above. If you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, low energy, or any other ailments, then eating better and getting more exercise has to be a priority. Don’t resolve to stop smoking because you’re “supposed” to. Do it because you value your health and understand that your well being is important to those you love.
I hope your 2008 resolutions will be a list of things that make you very happy. Have fun doing them!
about youth by samuel ullman
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth means a tempera mental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self distrust bows the heart and turns the spring back to dust.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.
Todestag von Wilhelm Busch
Wilhelm Busch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the football player, see Willy Busch.
Wilhelm Busch (April 15, 1832 (Wiedensahl near Hannover) - January 9, 1908 (Mechtshausen)) was a German painter and poet who is known for his satirical picture stories. After studying first mechanical engineering and then art in Düsseldorf, Antwerpen and Munich, he turned to drawing caricatures.
One of his first picture stories, Max and Moritz (published in 1865), was a huge success. Max and Moritz as well as many of his other picture stories are regarded as one of the main precursors of the modern comic strip. Max and Moritz, for instance, has been an inspiration for the Katzenjammer Kids.
Wilhelm Busch also wrote a number of poems in a similar style to his picture stories. Besides that he produced more than 1,000 oil paintings that weren't sold before his death in 1908. He was also active as a sculptor.
Top 10 Symphonies You Should Own zz from about.com
Want to start a symphony collection, but don't know where to begin? Are you looking to expand upon what you already have? This list of symphonies will provide you with a variety of musical styles upon which to build or add to your symphony collection.
1. Mahler Symphony No. 9 in D Major
If you've never heard Mahler's Symphony No. 9, grab a blanket, sit by the fire, and melt into the lush orchestration Mahler so masterfully created. Mahler wrote this symphony knowing that the end of his life was near. Some believe the fourth movement represents the five psychological stages of death: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Mahler undoubtedly fits the romantic style to the "t"; heart-wrenching tension followed by ever-so-sweet resolve.2. Haydn Symphony No. 34 in d minor
One of Haydn's lesser known works, this flawless piece from the classical period is perfectly balanced with emotion and art. The first movement melodies float above rivers of low tones. The upbeat rhythms of the second movement are sure to make you dance; it's any Haydn lover's "pop" music. The third movement menuetto brings images of courtly balls and high tea. The final movement expertly brings closure to the symphony and sends the audience home happy and content.3. Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in c minor
Although a bit overplayed, something this good should not be excluded. Everyone knows the first movement when they hear it, as for the following movements, that's another story. The second movement is not as "heavy" as the first making it an excellent relief without losing its harmonic brilliance. The third movement includes similar rhythmic patterns as the first which creates a continuity. The triumphant orchestration in the forth movement concludes the symphony in absolute victory.4. Mozart Symphony No. 25 in g minor
Also a lesser known work, this Mozart symphony combines classical form with Mozart's flamboyant expressions. The first movement, although expressive, maintains a lightness in the sound. The orchestration in the second movement gives its pastoral sound. The third movement opens with a unison melody which remains throughout its entirety. The finale gives you the feeling of being "rushed"...only in a good way. This symphony is a must have for those who love Mozart.5. Barber Symphony No. 1 in G Major
Samuel Barber, a 20th century American composer, wrote this symphony in 1936. Its orchestration is similar to that of Mahler's. Barber takes the symphony where Mahler left off and carries into the 20th century. Its complex chords and layered instrumentation gives chills down your spine. This symphony is a great addition to any symphony collection.6. Haydn Symphony No. 94 in G Major
Haydn skillfully creates another thoroughly enjoyable symphony, the "Surprise" Symphony. It comes from the original German nickname "Paukenschlag" meaning base drum impact. The first movement's soft melodies and lifting harmonies may possibly put one to sleep. Haydn, knowing this, created a simple melody followed by a large "impact" in the second movement to wake those who fell asleep. The third and fourth movements provide a delightful ending to this classical symphony.7. Dvorak Symphony No. 9 in e minor
Dvorak created this symphony in 1893. It's hard to believe something that can sound this modern is over 100 years old. He composed the symphony in the spirit of the folklore African Americans and American Indians after coming to America. He achieved his greatest success at the world premier of this symphony with the New York Philharmonic on American soil.8. Ives Symphony No. 1 in d minor
Ives wrote this symphony after being influenced by Dvorak Symphony No. 9 (mvmt. 2), Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (mvmt. 3), Schubert's "Unfinished" symphony (mvmt. 1), and Tchaikovsky’s "Pathétique" (mvmt. 4). He clearly had good taste! It is interesting to see how one person can interpret all these symphonies and put them into "his own words". This symphony is a must have for any collection.9. Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D Major
Brahms was heavily influenced by Beethoven. This symphony, although not widely successful, was most significant after Schumann. It follows the "regular" four movement structure as most symphonies do. Its richness of orchestration lies between Beethoven and Mahler. In the first movement, Brahms presents three different motifs simultaneously as the main theme. The fourth movement has a flavor of the final movement in Beethoven's 9th Symphony.10. Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in d minor
Last but not least, there is Beethoven's ninth symphony. Possibly Beethoven's greatest work, almost everyone knows the "Ode to Joy" chorus of the final movement. Beethoven took the symphony to a new level by adding choir to the orchestration. The text in the final movement was from Schiller's "An die Freude". Any symphonic library isn't complete until there is a recording of this symphony. Its wide range of dynamics and orchestration provides hours of enjoyment.Things You Really Need to Learn zz from http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/
Things You Really Need to Learn
Guy Kawasaki last week wrote an item describing 'ten things you should learn this school year' in which readers were advised to learn how to write five sentence emails, create powerpoint slides, and survive boring meetings. It was, to my view, advice on how to be a business toady. My view is that people are worth more than that, that pleasing your boss should be the least of your concerns, and that genuine learning means something more than how to succeed in a business environment.
But what should you learn? Your school will try to teach you facts, which you'll need to pass the test but which are otherwise useless. In passing you may learn some useful skills, like literacy, which you should cultivate. But Guy Kawasaki is right in at least this: schools won't teach you the things you really need to learn in order to be successful, either in business (whether or not you choose to live life as a toady) or in life.
Here, then, is my list. This is, in my view, what you need to learn in order to be successful. Moreover, it is something you can start to learn this year, no matter what grade you're in, no matter how old you are. I could obviously write much more on each of these topics. But take this as a starting point, follow the suggestions, and learn the rest for yourself. And to educators, I ask, if you are not teaching these things in your classes, why are you not?
1. How to predict consequences
The most common utterance at the scene of a disaster is, "I never thought..." The fact is, most people are very bad at predicting consequences, and schools never seem to think to teach them how to improve.
The prediction of consequences is part science, part mathematics, and part visualization. It is essentially the ability to create a mental model imaging the sequence of events that would follow, "what would likely happen if...?"
The danger in such situations is focusing on what you want to happen rather than what might happen instead. When preparing to jump across a gap, for example, you may visualize yourself landing on the other side. This is good; it leads to successful jumping. But you need also to visualize not landing on the other side. What would happen then? Have you even contemplated the likely outcome of a 40 meter fall?
This is where the math and science come in. You need to compare the current situation with your past experience and calculate the probabilities of different outcomes. If, for example, you are looking at a 5 meter gap, you should be asking, "How many times have I successfully jumped 5 meters? How many times have I failed?" If you don't know, you should know enough to attempt a test jump over level ground.
People don't think ahead. But while you are in school, you should always be taking the opportunity to ask yourself, "what will happen next?" Watch situations and interactions unfold in the environment around you and try to predict the outcome. Write down or blog your predictions. With practice, you will become expert at predicting consequences.
Even more interestingly, over time, you will begin to observe patterns and generalities, things that make consequences even easier to predict. Things fall, for example. Glass breaks. People get mad when you insult them. Hot things will be dropped. Dogs sometimes bite. The bus (or train) is sometimes late. These sorts of generalizations - often known as 'common sense' - will help you avoid unexpected, and sometimes damaging, consequences.
2. How to read
Oddly, by this I do not mean 'literacy' in the traditional sense, but rather, how to look at some text and to understand, in a deep way, what is being asserted (this also applies to audio and video, but grounding yourself in text will transfer relatively easily, if incompletely, to other domains).
The four major types of writing are: description, argument, explanation and definition. I have written about these elsewhere. You should learn to recognize these different types of writing by learning to watch for indicators or keywords.
Then, you should learn how sentences are joined together to form these types of writing. For example, an argument will have two major parts, a premise and a conclusion. The conclusion is the point the author is trying to make, and it should be identified with an indicator (such as the words 'therefore', 'so', or 'consequently', for example).
A lot of writing is fill - wasted words intended to make the author look good, to distract your attention, or to simply fill more space. Being able to cut through the crap and get straight to what is actually being said, without being distracted, is an important skill.
Though your school will never teach you this, find a basic book on informal logic (it will have a title like 'critical thinking' or something like that). Look in the book for argument forms and indicator words (most of these books don't cover the other three types of writing) and practice spotting these words in text and in what the teacher says in class. Every day, focus on a specific indicator word and watch how it is used in practice.
3. How to distinguish truth from fiction
I have written extensively on this elsewhere, nonetheless, this remains an area schools to a large degree ignore. Sometimes I suspect it is because teachers feel their students must absorb knowledge uncritically; if they are questioning everything the teacher says they'll never learn!
The first thing to learn is to actually question what you are told, what you read, and what you see on television. Do not simply accept what you are told. Always ask, how can you know that this is true? What evidence would lead you to believe that it is false?
I have written several things to help you with this, including my Guide to the Logical Fallacies, and my article on How to Evaluate Websites. These principles are more widely applicable. For example, when your boss says something to you, apply the same test. You may be surprised at how much your boss says to you that is simply not true!
Every day, subject at least one piece of information (a newspaper column, a blog post, a classroom lecture) to thorough scrutiny. Analyze each sentence, analyze every word, and ask yourself what you are expected to believe and how you are expected to feel. Then ask whether you have sufficient reason to believe and feel this way, or whether you are being manipulated.
4. How to empathize
Most people live in their own world, and for the most part, that's OK. But it is important to at least recognize that there are other people, and that they live in their own world as well. This will save you from the error of assuming that everyone else is like you. And even more importantly, this will allow other people to become a surprising source of new knowledge and insight.
Part of this process involves seeing things through someone else's eyes. A person may be, quite literally, in a different place. They might not see what you see, and may have seen things you didn't see. Being able to understand how this change in perspective may change what they believe is important.
But even more significantly, you need to be able to imagine how other people feel. This mans that you have to create a mental model of the other person's thoughts and feelings in your own mind, and to place yourself in that model. This is best done by imagining that you are the other person, and then placing yourself into a situation.
Probably the best way to learn how to do this is to study drama (by that I don't mean studying Shakespeare, I mean learning how to act in plays). Sadly, schools don't include this as part of the core curriculum. So instead, you will need to study subjects like religion and psychology. Schools don't really include these either. So make sure you spend at least some time in different role-playing games (RPGs) every day and practice being someone else, with different beliefs and motivations.
When you are empathetic you will begin to seek out and understand ways that help bridge the gap between you and other people. Being polite and considerate, for example, will become more important to you. You will be able to feel someone's hurt if you are rude to them. In the same way, it will become more important to be honest, because you will begin to see how transparent your lies are, and how offensive it feels to be thought of as someone who is that easily fooled.
Empathy isn't some sort of bargain. It isn't the application of the Golden Rule. It is a genuine feeling in yourself that operates in synch with the other person, a way of accessing their inner mental states through the sympathetic operation of your own mental states. You are polite because you feel bad when you are rude; you are honest because you feel offended when you lie.
You need to learn how to have this feeling, but once you have it, you will understand how empty your life was before you had it.
5. How to be creative
Everybody can be creative, and if you look at your own life you will discover that you are already creative in numerous ways. Humans have a natural capacity to be creative - that's how our minds work - and with practice can become very good at it.
The trick is to understand how creativity works. Sometimes people think that creative ideas spring out of nothing (like the proverbial 'blank page' staring back at the writer) but creativity is in fact the result of using and manipulating your knowledge in certain ways.
Genuine creativity is almost always a response to something. This article, for example, was written in response to an article on the same subject that I thought was not well thought out. Creativity also arises in response to a specific problem: how to rescue a cat, how to cross a gap, how to hang laundry. So, in order to be creative, the first thing to do is to learn to look for problems to solve, things that merit a response, needs that need to be filled. This takes practice (try writing it down, or blogging it, every time you see a problem or need).
In addition, creativity involves a transfer of knowledge from one domain to another domain, and sometimes a manipulation of that knowledge. When you see a gap in real life, how did you cross a similar gap in an online game? Or, if you need to clean up battery acid, how did you get rid of excess acid in your stomach?
Creativity, in other words, often operates by metaphor, which means you need to learn how to find things in common between the current situation and other things you know. This is what is typically meant by 'thinking outside the box' - you want to go to outside the domain of the current problem. And the particular skill involved is pattern recognition. This skill is hard to learn, and requires a lot of practice, which is why creativity is hard.
But pattern recognition can be learned - it's what you are doing when you say one song is similar to another, or when you are taking photographs of, say, flowers or fishing boats. The arts very often involve finding patterns in things, which is why, this year, you should devote some time every day to an art - music, photography, video, drawing, painting or poetry.
6. How to communicate clearly
Communicating clearly is most of all a matter of knowing what you want to say, and then employing some simple tools in order to say it. Probably the hardest part of this is knowing what you want to say. But it is better to spend time being sure you understand what you mean than to write a bunch of stuff trying to make it more or less clear.
Knowing what to say is often a matter of structure. Professional writers employ a small set of fairly standard structures. For example, some writers prefer articles (or even whole books!) consisting of a list of points, like this article. Another structure, often called 'pyramid style', is employed by journalists - the entire story is told in the first paragraph, and each paragraph thereafter offers less and less important details.
Inside this overall structure, writers provide arguments, explanations, descriptions or definitions, sometimes in combination. Each of these has a distinctive structure. An argument, for example, will have a conclusion, a point the writer wants you to believe. The conclusion will be supported by a set of premises. Linking the premises and the conclusion will be a set of indicators. The word 'therefore', for example, points to the conclusion.
Learning to write clearly is a matter of learning about the tools, and then practice in their application. Probably the best way to learn how to structure your writing is to learn how to give speeches without notes. This will force you to employ a clear structure (one you can remember!) and to keep it straightforward. I have written more on this, and also, check out Keith Spicer's book, Winging It.
Additionally, master the tools the professionals use. Learn the structure of arguments, explanations, descriptions and definitions. Learn the indicator words used to help readers navigate those structures. Master basic grammar, so your sentences are unambiguous. Information on all of these can be found online.
Then practice your writing every day. A good way to practice is to join a student or volunteer newspaper - writing with a team, for an audience, against a deadline. It will force you to work more quickly, which is useful, because it is faster to write clearly than to write poorly. If no newspaper exists, create one, or start up a news blog.
7. How to Learn
Your brain consists of billions of neural cells that are connected to each other. To learn is essentially to form sets of those connections. Your brain is always learning, whether you are studying mathematics or staring at the sky, because these connections are always forming. The difference in what you learn lies in how you learn.
When you learn, you are trying to create patterns of connectivity in your brain. You are trying to connect neurons together, and to strengthen that connection. This is accomplished by repeating sets of behaviours or experiences. Learning is a matter of practice and repetition.
Thus, when learning anything - from '2+2=4' to the principles of quantuum mechanics - you need to repeat it over and over, in order to grow this neural connection. Sometimes people learn by repeating the words aloud - this form of rote learning was popular not so long ago. Taking notes when someone talks is also good, because you hear it once, and then repeat it when you write it down.
Think about learning how to throw a baseball. Someone can explain everything about it, and you can understand all of that, but you still have to throw the ball several thousand times before you get good at it. You have to grow your neural connections in just the same way you grow your muscles.
Some people think of learning as remembering sets of facts. It can be that, sometimes, but learning is more like recognition than remembering. Because you are trying to build networks of neural cells, it is better to learn a connected whole rather than unconnected parts, where the connected whole you are learning in one domain has the same pattern as a connected whole you already know in another domain. Learning in one domain, then, becomes a matter of recognizing that pattern.
Sometimes the patterns we use are very artificial, as in 'every good boy deserves fudge' (the sentence helps us remember musical notes). In other cases, and more usefully, the pattern is related to the laws of nature, logical or mathematical principles, the flow of history, how something works as a whole, or something like that. Drawing pictures often helps people find patterns (which is why mind-maps and concept maps are popular).
Indeed, you should view the study of mathematics, history, science and mechanics as the study of archetypes, basic patterns that you will recognize over and over. But this means that, when you study these disciplines, you should be asking, "what is the pattern" (and not merely "what are the facts"). And asking this question will actually make these disciplines easier to learn.
Learning to learn is the same as learning anything else. It takes practice. You should try to learn something every day - a random word in the dictionary, or a random Wikipedia entry. When learning this item, do not simply learn it in isolation, but look for patterns - does it fit into a pattern you already know? Is it a type of thing you have seen before? Embed this word or concept into your existing knowledge by using it in some way - write a blog post containing it, or draw a picture explaining it.
Think, always, about how you are learning and what you are learning at any given moment. Remember, you are always learning - which means you need to ask, what are you learning when you are watching television, going shopping, driving the car, playing baseball? What sorts of patterns are being created? What sorts of patterns are being reinforced? How can you take control of this process?
8. How to stay healthy
As a matter of practical consideration, the maintenance of your health involves two major components: minimizing exposure to disease or toxins, and maintenance of the physical body.
Minimizing exposure to disease and toxins is mostly a matter of cleanliness and order. Simple things - like keeping the wood alcohol in the garage, and not the kitchen cupboard - minimize the risk of accidental poisoning. Cleaning cooking surfaces and cooking food completely reduces the risk of bacterial contamination. Washing your hands regularly prevents transmission of human borne viruses and diseases.
In a similar manner, some of the hot-button issues in education today are essentially issues about how to warn against exposure to diseases and toxins. In a nutshell: if you have physical intercourse with another person you are facilitating the transmission of disease, so wear protection. Activities such as drinking, eating fatty foods, smoking, and taking drugs are essentially the introduction of toxins into your system, so do it in moderation, and where the toxins are significant, don't do it at all.
Personal maintenance is probably even more important, as the major threats to health are generally those related to physical deterioration. The subjects of proper nutrition and proper exercise should be learned and practiced. Even if you do not become a health freak (and who does?) it is nonetheless useful to know what foods and types of actions are beneficial, and to create a habit of eating good foods and practicing beneficial actions.
Every day, seek to be active in some way - cycle to work or school, walk a mile, play a sport, or exercise. In addition, every day, seek to eat at least one meal that is 'good for you', that consists of protein and minerals (like meat and vegetables, or soy and fruit). If your school is not facilitating proper exercise and nutrition, demand them! You can't learn anything if you're sick and hungry! Otherwise, seek to establish an alternative program of your own, to be employed at noonhours.
Finally, remember: you never have to justify protecting your own life and health. If you do not want to do something because you think it is unsafe, then it is your absolute right to refuse to do it. The consequences - any consequences - are better than giving in on this.
9. How to value yourself
It is perhaps cynical to say that society is a giant conspiracy to get you to feel badly about yourself, but it wouldn't be completely inaccurate either. Advertisers make you feel badly so you'll buy their product, politicians make you feel incapable so you'll depend on their policies and programs, even your friends and acquaintances may seek to make you doubt yourself in order to seek an edge in a competition.
You can have all the knowledge and skills in the world, but they are meaningless if you do not feel personally empowered to use them; it's like owning a Lamborghini and not having a driver's license. It looks shiny in the driveway, but you're not really getting any value out of it unless you take it out for a spin.
Valuing yourself is partially a matter of personal development, and partially a matter of choice. In order to value yourself, you need to feel you are worth valuing. In fact, you are worth valuing, but it often helps to prove it to yourself by attaining some objective, learning some skill, or earning some distinction. And in order to value yourself, you have to say "I am valuable."
This is an important point. How we think about ourselves is as much a matter of learning as anything else. If somebody tells you that you are worthless over and over, and if you do nothing to counteract that, then you will come to believe you are worthless, because that's how your neural connections will form. But if you repeat, and believe, and behave in such a way as to say to yourself over and over, I am valuable, then that's what you will come to believe.
What is it to value yourself? It's actually many things. For example, it's the belief that you are good enough to have an opinion, have a voice, and have a say, that your contributions do matter. It's the belief that you are capable, that you can learn to do new things and to be creative. It is your ability to be independent, and to not rely on some particular person or institution for personal well-being, and autonomous, capable of making your own decisions and living your live in your own way.
All of these things are yours by right. But they will never be given to you. You have to take them, by actually believing in yourself (no matter what anyone says) and by actually being autonomous.
Your school doesn't have a class in this (and may even be actively trying to undermine your autonomy and self-esteem; watch out for this). So you have to take charge of your own sense of self-worth.
Do it every day. Tell yourself that you are smart, you are cool, you are strong, you are good, and whatever else you want to be. Say it out loud, in the morning - hidden in the noise of the shower, if need be, but say it. Then, practice these attributes. Be smart by (say) solving a crossword puzzle. Be cool by making your own fashion statement. Be strong by doing something you said to yourself you were going to do. Be good by doing a good deed. And every time you do it, remind yourself that you have, in fact, done it.
10. How to live meaningfully
This is probably the hardest thing of all to learn, and the least taught.
Living meaningfully is actually a combination of several things. It is, in one sense, your dedication to some purpose or goal. But it is also your sense of appreciation and dedication to the here and now. And finally, it is the realization that your place in the world, your meaningfulness, is something you must create for yourself.
Too many people live for no reason at all. They seek to make more and more money, or they seek to make themselves famous, or to become powerful, and whether or not they attain these objectives, they find their lives empty and meaningless. This is because they have confused means and ends - money, fame and power are things people seek in order to do what is worth doing.
What is worth doing? That is up to you to decide. I have chosen to dedicate my life to helping people obtain an education. Others seek to cure diseases, to explore space, to worship God, to raise a family, to design cars, or to attain enlightenment.
If you don't decide what is worth doing, someone will decide for you, and at some point in your life you will realize that you haven't done what is worth doing at all. So spend some time, today, thinking about what is worth doing. You can change your mind tomorrow. But begin, at least, to guide yourself somewhere.
The second thing is sometimes thought of as 'living in the moment'. It is essentially an understanding that you control your thoughts. Your thoughts have no power over you; the only thing that matters at all is this present moment. If you think about something - some hope, some failure, some fear - that thought cannot hurt you, and you choose how much or how little to trust that thought.
Another aspect of this is the following: what you are doing right now is the thing that you most want to do. Now you may be thinking, "No way! I'd rather be on Malibu Beach!" But if you really wanted to be on Malibu Beach, you'd be there. The reason you are not is because you have chosen other priorities in your life - to your family, to your job, to your country.
When you realize you have the power to choose what you are doing, you realize you have the power to choose the consequences. Which means that consequences - even bad consequences - are for the most part a matter of choice.
That said, this understanding is very liberating. Think about it, as a reader - what it means is that what I most wanted to do with my time right now is to write this article so that you - yes, you - would read it. And even more amazingly, I know, as a writer, that the thing you most want to do right now, even more than you want to be in Malibu, is to read my words. It makes me want to write something meaningful - and it gives me a way to put meaning into my life.
Posted by Downes at 3:55 AM
Guy Kawasaki last week wrote an item describing 'ten things you should learn this school year' in which readers were advised to learn how to write five sentence emails, create powerpoint slides, and survive boring meetings. It was, to my view, advice on how to be a business toady. My view is that people are worth more than that, that pleasing your boss should be the least of your concerns, and that genuine learning means something more than how to succeed in a business environment.
But what should you learn? Your school will try to teach you facts, which you'll need to pass the test but which are otherwise useless. In passing you may learn some useful skills, like literacy, which you should cultivate. But Guy Kawasaki is right in at least this: schools won't teach you the things you really need to learn in order to be successful, either in business (whether or not you choose to live life as a toady) or in life.
Here, then, is my list. This is, in my view, what you need to learn in order to be successful. Moreover, it is something you can start to learn this year, no matter what grade you're in, no matter how old you are. I could obviously write much more on each of these topics. But take this as a starting point, follow the suggestions, and learn the rest for yourself. And to educators, I ask, if you are not teaching these things in your classes, why are you not?
1. How to predict consequences
The most common utterance at the scene of a disaster is, "I never thought..." The fact is, most people are very bad at predicting consequences, and schools never seem to think to teach them how to improve.
The prediction of consequences is part science, part mathematics, and part visualization. It is essentially the ability to create a mental model imaging the sequence of events that would follow, "what would likely happen if...?"
The danger in such situations is focusing on what you want to happen rather than what might happen instead. When preparing to jump across a gap, for example, you may visualize yourself landing on the other side. This is good; it leads to successful jumping. But you need also to visualize not landing on the other side. What would happen then? Have you even contemplated the likely outcome of a 40 meter fall?
This is where the math and science come in. You need to compare the current situation with your past experience and calculate the probabilities of different outcomes. If, for example, you are looking at a 5 meter gap, you should be asking, "How many times have I successfully jumped 5 meters? How many times have I failed?" If you don't know, you should know enough to attempt a test jump over level ground.
People don't think ahead. But while you are in school, you should always be taking the opportunity to ask yourself, "what will happen next?" Watch situations and interactions unfold in the environment around you and try to predict the outcome. Write down or blog your predictions. With practice, you will become expert at predicting consequences.
Even more interestingly, over time, you will begin to observe patterns and generalities, things that make consequences even easier to predict. Things fall, for example. Glass breaks. People get mad when you insult them. Hot things will be dropped. Dogs sometimes bite. The bus (or train) is sometimes late. These sorts of generalizations - often known as 'common sense' - will help you avoid unexpected, and sometimes damaging, consequences.
2. How to read
Oddly, by this I do not mean 'literacy' in the traditional sense, but rather, how to look at some text and to understand, in a deep way, what is being asserted (this also applies to audio and video, but grounding yourself in text will transfer relatively easily, if incompletely, to other domains).
The four major types of writing are: description, argument, explanation and definition. I have written about these elsewhere. You should learn to recognize these different types of writing by learning to watch for indicators or keywords.
Then, you should learn how sentences are joined together to form these types of writing. For example, an argument will have two major parts, a premise and a conclusion. The conclusion is the point the author is trying to make, and it should be identified with an indicator (such as the words 'therefore', 'so', or 'consequently', for example).
A lot of writing is fill - wasted words intended to make the author look good, to distract your attention, or to simply fill more space. Being able to cut through the crap and get straight to what is actually being said, without being distracted, is an important skill.
Though your school will never teach you this, find a basic book on informal logic (it will have a title like 'critical thinking' or something like that). Look in the book for argument forms and indicator words (most of these books don't cover the other three types of writing) and practice spotting these words in text and in what the teacher says in class. Every day, focus on a specific indicator word and watch how it is used in practice.
3. How to distinguish truth from fiction
I have written extensively on this elsewhere, nonetheless, this remains an area schools to a large degree ignore. Sometimes I suspect it is because teachers feel their students must absorb knowledge uncritically; if they are questioning everything the teacher says they'll never learn!
The first thing to learn is to actually question what you are told, what you read, and what you see on television. Do not simply accept what you are told. Always ask, how can you know that this is true? What evidence would lead you to believe that it is false?
I have written several things to help you with this, including my Guide to the Logical Fallacies, and my article on How to Evaluate Websites. These principles are more widely applicable. For example, when your boss says something to you, apply the same test. You may be surprised at how much your boss says to you that is simply not true!
Every day, subject at least one piece of information (a newspaper column, a blog post, a classroom lecture) to thorough scrutiny. Analyze each sentence, analyze every word, and ask yourself what you are expected to believe and how you are expected to feel. Then ask whether you have sufficient reason to believe and feel this way, or whether you are being manipulated.
4. How to empathize
Most people live in their own world, and for the most part, that's OK. But it is important to at least recognize that there are other people, and that they live in their own world as well. This will save you from the error of assuming that everyone else is like you. And even more importantly, this will allow other people to become a surprising source of new knowledge and insight.
Part of this process involves seeing things through someone else's eyes. A person may be, quite literally, in a different place. They might not see what you see, and may have seen things you didn't see. Being able to understand how this change in perspective may change what they believe is important.
But even more significantly, you need to be able to imagine how other people feel. This mans that you have to create a mental model of the other person's thoughts and feelings in your own mind, and to place yourself in that model. This is best done by imagining that you are the other person, and then placing yourself into a situation.
Probably the best way to learn how to do this is to study drama (by that I don't mean studying Shakespeare, I mean learning how to act in plays). Sadly, schools don't include this as part of the core curriculum. So instead, you will need to study subjects like religion and psychology. Schools don't really include these either. So make sure you spend at least some time in different role-playing games (RPGs) every day and practice being someone else, with different beliefs and motivations.
When you are empathetic you will begin to seek out and understand ways that help bridge the gap between you and other people. Being polite and considerate, for example, will become more important to you. You will be able to feel someone's hurt if you are rude to them. In the same way, it will become more important to be honest, because you will begin to see how transparent your lies are, and how offensive it feels to be thought of as someone who is that easily fooled.
Empathy isn't some sort of bargain. It isn't the application of the Golden Rule. It is a genuine feeling in yourself that operates in synch with the other person, a way of accessing their inner mental states through the sympathetic operation of your own mental states. You are polite because you feel bad when you are rude; you are honest because you feel offended when you lie.
You need to learn how to have this feeling, but once you have it, you will understand how empty your life was before you had it.
5. How to be creative
Everybody can be creative, and if you look at your own life you will discover that you are already creative in numerous ways. Humans have a natural capacity to be creative - that's how our minds work - and with practice can become very good at it.
The trick is to understand how creativity works. Sometimes people think that creative ideas spring out of nothing (like the proverbial 'blank page' staring back at the writer) but creativity is in fact the result of using and manipulating your knowledge in certain ways.
Genuine creativity is almost always a response to something. This article, for example, was written in response to an article on the same subject that I thought was not well thought out. Creativity also arises in response to a specific problem: how to rescue a cat, how to cross a gap, how to hang laundry. So, in order to be creative, the first thing to do is to learn to look for problems to solve, things that merit a response, needs that need to be filled. This takes practice (try writing it down, or blogging it, every time you see a problem or need).
In addition, creativity involves a transfer of knowledge from one domain to another domain, and sometimes a manipulation of that knowledge. When you see a gap in real life, how did you cross a similar gap in an online game? Or, if you need to clean up battery acid, how did you get rid of excess acid in your stomach?
Creativity, in other words, often operates by metaphor, which means you need to learn how to find things in common between the current situation and other things you know. This is what is typically meant by 'thinking outside the box' - you want to go to outside the domain of the current problem. And the particular skill involved is pattern recognition. This skill is hard to learn, and requires a lot of practice, which is why creativity is hard.
But pattern recognition can be learned - it's what you are doing when you say one song is similar to another, or when you are taking photographs of, say, flowers or fishing boats. The arts very often involve finding patterns in things, which is why, this year, you should devote some time every day to an art - music, photography, video, drawing, painting or poetry.
6. How to communicate clearly
Communicating clearly is most of all a matter of knowing what you want to say, and then employing some simple tools in order to say it. Probably the hardest part of this is knowing what you want to say. But it is better to spend time being sure you understand what you mean than to write a bunch of stuff trying to make it more or less clear.
Knowing what to say is often a matter of structure. Professional writers employ a small set of fairly standard structures. For example, some writers prefer articles (or even whole books!) consisting of a list of points, like this article. Another structure, often called 'pyramid style', is employed by journalists - the entire story is told in the first paragraph, and each paragraph thereafter offers less and less important details.
Inside this overall structure, writers provide arguments, explanations, descriptions or definitions, sometimes in combination. Each of these has a distinctive structure. An argument, for example, will have a conclusion, a point the writer wants you to believe. The conclusion will be supported by a set of premises. Linking the premises and the conclusion will be a set of indicators. The word 'therefore', for example, points to the conclusion.
Learning to write clearly is a matter of learning about the tools, and then practice in their application. Probably the best way to learn how to structure your writing is to learn how to give speeches without notes. This will force you to employ a clear structure (one you can remember!) and to keep it straightforward. I have written more on this, and also, check out Keith Spicer's book, Winging It.
Additionally, master the tools the professionals use. Learn the structure of arguments, explanations, descriptions and definitions. Learn the indicator words used to help readers navigate those structures. Master basic grammar, so your sentences are unambiguous. Information on all of these can be found online.
Then practice your writing every day. A good way to practice is to join a student or volunteer newspaper - writing with a team, for an audience, against a deadline. It will force you to work more quickly, which is useful, because it is faster to write clearly than to write poorly. If no newspaper exists, create one, or start up a news blog.
7. How to Learn
Your brain consists of billions of neural cells that are connected to each other. To learn is essentially to form sets of those connections. Your brain is always learning, whether you are studying mathematics or staring at the sky, because these connections are always forming. The difference in what you learn lies in how you learn.
When you learn, you are trying to create patterns of connectivity in your brain. You are trying to connect neurons together, and to strengthen that connection. This is accomplished by repeating sets of behaviours or experiences. Learning is a matter of practice and repetition.
Thus, when learning anything - from '2+2=4' to the principles of quantuum mechanics - you need to repeat it over and over, in order to grow this neural connection. Sometimes people learn by repeating the words aloud - this form of rote learning was popular not so long ago. Taking notes when someone talks is also good, because you hear it once, and then repeat it when you write it down.
Think about learning how to throw a baseball. Someone can explain everything about it, and you can understand all of that, but you still have to throw the ball several thousand times before you get good at it. You have to grow your neural connections in just the same way you grow your muscles.
Some people think of learning as remembering sets of facts. It can be that, sometimes, but learning is more like recognition than remembering. Because you are trying to build networks of neural cells, it is better to learn a connected whole rather than unconnected parts, where the connected whole you are learning in one domain has the same pattern as a connected whole you already know in another domain. Learning in one domain, then, becomes a matter of recognizing that pattern.
Sometimes the patterns we use are very artificial, as in 'every good boy deserves fudge' (the sentence helps us remember musical notes). In other cases, and more usefully, the pattern is related to the laws of nature, logical or mathematical principles, the flow of history, how something works as a whole, or something like that. Drawing pictures often helps people find patterns (which is why mind-maps and concept maps are popular).
Indeed, you should view the study of mathematics, history, science and mechanics as the study of archetypes, basic patterns that you will recognize over and over. But this means that, when you study these disciplines, you should be asking, "what is the pattern" (and not merely "what are the facts"). And asking this question will actually make these disciplines easier to learn.
Learning to learn is the same as learning anything else. It takes practice. You should try to learn something every day - a random word in the dictionary, or a random Wikipedia entry. When learning this item, do not simply learn it in isolation, but look for patterns - does it fit into a pattern you already know? Is it a type of thing you have seen before? Embed this word or concept into your existing knowledge by using it in some way - write a blog post containing it, or draw a picture explaining it.
Think, always, about how you are learning and what you are learning at any given moment. Remember, you are always learning - which means you need to ask, what are you learning when you are watching television, going shopping, driving the car, playing baseball? What sorts of patterns are being created? What sorts of patterns are being reinforced? How can you take control of this process?
8. How to stay healthy
As a matter of practical consideration, the maintenance of your health involves two major components: minimizing exposure to disease or toxins, and maintenance of the physical body.
Minimizing exposure to disease and toxins is mostly a matter of cleanliness and order. Simple things - like keeping the wood alcohol in the garage, and not the kitchen cupboard - minimize the risk of accidental poisoning. Cleaning cooking surfaces and cooking food completely reduces the risk of bacterial contamination. Washing your hands regularly prevents transmission of human borne viruses and diseases.
In a similar manner, some of the hot-button issues in education today are essentially issues about how to warn against exposure to diseases and toxins. In a nutshell: if you have physical intercourse with another person you are facilitating the transmission of disease, so wear protection. Activities such as drinking, eating fatty foods, smoking, and taking drugs are essentially the introduction of toxins into your system, so do it in moderation, and where the toxins are significant, don't do it at all.
Personal maintenance is probably even more important, as the major threats to health are generally those related to physical deterioration. The subjects of proper nutrition and proper exercise should be learned and practiced. Even if you do not become a health freak (and who does?) it is nonetheless useful to know what foods and types of actions are beneficial, and to create a habit of eating good foods and practicing beneficial actions.
Every day, seek to be active in some way - cycle to work or school, walk a mile, play a sport, or exercise. In addition, every day, seek to eat at least one meal that is 'good for you', that consists of protein and minerals (like meat and vegetables, or soy and fruit). If your school is not facilitating proper exercise and nutrition, demand them! You can't learn anything if you're sick and hungry! Otherwise, seek to establish an alternative program of your own, to be employed at noonhours.
Finally, remember: you never have to justify protecting your own life and health. If you do not want to do something because you think it is unsafe, then it is your absolute right to refuse to do it. The consequences - any consequences - are better than giving in on this.
9. How to value yourself
It is perhaps cynical to say that society is a giant conspiracy to get you to feel badly about yourself, but it wouldn't be completely inaccurate either. Advertisers make you feel badly so you'll buy their product, politicians make you feel incapable so you'll depend on their policies and programs, even your friends and acquaintances may seek to make you doubt yourself in order to seek an edge in a competition.
You can have all the knowledge and skills in the world, but they are meaningless if you do not feel personally empowered to use them; it's like owning a Lamborghini and not having a driver's license. It looks shiny in the driveway, but you're not really getting any value out of it unless you take it out for a spin.
Valuing yourself is partially a matter of personal development, and partially a matter of choice. In order to value yourself, you need to feel you are worth valuing. In fact, you are worth valuing, but it often helps to prove it to yourself by attaining some objective, learning some skill, or earning some distinction. And in order to value yourself, you have to say "I am valuable."
This is an important point. How we think about ourselves is as much a matter of learning as anything else. If somebody tells you that you are worthless over and over, and if you do nothing to counteract that, then you will come to believe you are worthless, because that's how your neural connections will form. But if you repeat, and believe, and behave in such a way as to say to yourself over and over, I am valuable, then that's what you will come to believe.
What is it to value yourself? It's actually many things. For example, it's the belief that you are good enough to have an opinion, have a voice, and have a say, that your contributions do matter. It's the belief that you are capable, that you can learn to do new things and to be creative. It is your ability to be independent, and to not rely on some particular person or institution for personal well-being, and autonomous, capable of making your own decisions and living your live in your own way.
All of these things are yours by right. But they will never be given to you. You have to take them, by actually believing in yourself (no matter what anyone says) and by actually being autonomous.
Your school doesn't have a class in this (and may even be actively trying to undermine your autonomy and self-esteem; watch out for this). So you have to take charge of your own sense of self-worth.
Do it every day. Tell yourself that you are smart, you are cool, you are strong, you are good, and whatever else you want to be. Say it out loud, in the morning - hidden in the noise of the shower, if need be, but say it. Then, practice these attributes. Be smart by (say) solving a crossword puzzle. Be cool by making your own fashion statement. Be strong by doing something you said to yourself you were going to do. Be good by doing a good deed. And every time you do it, remind yourself that you have, in fact, done it.
10. How to live meaningfully
This is probably the hardest thing of all to learn, and the least taught.
Living meaningfully is actually a combination of several things. It is, in one sense, your dedication to some purpose or goal. But it is also your sense of appreciation and dedication to the here and now. And finally, it is the realization that your place in the world, your meaningfulness, is something you must create for yourself.
Too many people live for no reason at all. They seek to make more and more money, or they seek to make themselves famous, or to become powerful, and whether or not they attain these objectives, they find their lives empty and meaningless. This is because they have confused means and ends - money, fame and power are things people seek in order to do what is worth doing.
What is worth doing? That is up to you to decide. I have chosen to dedicate my life to helping people obtain an education. Others seek to cure diseases, to explore space, to worship God, to raise a family, to design cars, or to attain enlightenment.
If you don't decide what is worth doing, someone will decide for you, and at some point in your life you will realize that you haven't done what is worth doing at all. So spend some time, today, thinking about what is worth doing. You can change your mind tomorrow. But begin, at least, to guide yourself somewhere.
The second thing is sometimes thought of as 'living in the moment'. It is essentially an understanding that you control your thoughts. Your thoughts have no power over you; the only thing that matters at all is this present moment. If you think about something - some hope, some failure, some fear - that thought cannot hurt you, and you choose how much or how little to trust that thought.
Another aspect of this is the following: what you are doing right now is the thing that you most want to do. Now you may be thinking, "No way! I'd rather be on Malibu Beach!" But if you really wanted to be on Malibu Beach, you'd be there. The reason you are not is because you have chosen other priorities in your life - to your family, to your job, to your country.
When you realize you have the power to choose what you are doing, you realize you have the power to choose the consequences. Which means that consequences - even bad consequences - are for the most part a matter of choice.
That said, this understanding is very liberating. Think about it, as a reader - what it means is that what I most wanted to do with my time right now is to write this article so that you - yes, you - would read it. And even more amazingly, I know, as a writer, that the thing you most want to do right now, even more than you want to be in Malibu, is to read my words. It makes me want to write something meaningful - and it gives me a way to put meaning into my life.
Posted by Downes at 3:55 AM
100 Things I’ve Learned About Photography zz from digital-photography-school.com
100 Things I’ve Learned About Photography
Since I found photography two and a half years ago I have learned different things which I would like to share with you today. These lessons have made me richer and I hope that you will find them refreshing and inspiring on your journey with the camera, too.
1. Never do photography to become a rock-star.
2. Enjoy what you are shooting.
3. Prepare well for your shooting, realizing that your battery isn’t charge when you’re setting up for that sunrise shoot is too late!
4. Always take one warm garment more than you actually need with you
5. Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions while you are shooting
6. Set goals you can achieve
7. Write tips about photography, because writing is also learning
8. Never go shooting without a tripod
9. Be pleased with the little prosperities
10. Build relationships with potential photo buddies
11. Watch the place you want to shoot first with your heart then with the camera
12. Always stay calm
13. Know that you tend to overestimate yourself
14. Perspective is the killer
15. Dedicate yourself to photography, but never browbeat yourself too much
16. Take part in a photography community
17. Keep your camera clean
18. Never compare yourself to others in a better or worse context
19. Find your own style of photography
20. Try to compose more and to hit the shutter less
21. Seek out and learn to accept critique on your images
22. Do something different to recover creativity
23. Get inspiration from the work of other photographers
24. Criticize honestly but respectfully
25. Get feedback from your lady
26. Don’t copy other photographer’s style
27. Be bold
28. Take care of the golden ratio
29. 10mm rocks!
30. Take selfportraits
31. Read books about photography
32. To give a landscapephotograph the extra boost, integrate a person (maybe yourself)
33. Every shooting situation is different than you expect
34. Pay attention to s-curves and lines
35. Always shoot in RAW
36. Keep your sensor clean, so you can save some work cleaning your image in post production
37. Discover the things you think are beautiful
38. It takes time to become a good photographer39. The best equipment is that what you have now
40. You can’t take photographs of everything
41. Break the rules of photography knowingly, but not your camera ;)
42. Pay attention to the different way that light falls on different parts of your scene
43. The eye moves to the point of contrast
44. Clouds increase the atmosphere of a landscape
45. Start a photoblog
46. Accept praise and say “thank you”
47. ‘Nice Shot’ is not a very useful comment to write
48. ‘Amazing!’ isn’t useful either. Try to describe specifically what you like or don’t like about an image.
49. You are not your camera
50. Ask a question at the end of your comment on a photo to get a ping-pong conversation with the photographer
51. Do a review of your archives on a regular basis, the longer you photograph - the more diamonds are hidden there
52. Always clarify what the eyecatcher (focal point) will be in your image
53. No image is better than a bad one
54. Everyone has to start little
55. Your opinion about photography is important!
56. Leave a funny but thoughtful comment
57. Speak about your experiences with your photo buddies
58. Limit your photograph to the substance
59. Participate in Photocontests
60. Post processing = Optimizing your image to the best result
61. Shoot exposure latitudes as often as possible
62. Use photomatix as seldom as possible, HDR’s always have a synthetic flavor63. Always remember what brought you to photography
64. Never shoot a person who doensn’t want to be photographed
65. Always turn arround, sometimes the better image is behind you
66. It’s who’s behind the camera, not the camera
67. Mistakes are allowed! The more mistakes you make, the more you learn!
68. If you have an idea and immediately you think : No, this is not going to work - Do it anyway. When in doubt - always shoot.
69. Understand and look to your histogramm while shooting. It delivers very important information about your image
70. Know your camera, because searching the menu button in the night is time you don’t want to waste
71. Shoot as often as possible
72. Believe in yourself
73. Don’t be afraid of getting dirty
74. Pay attention to qualitiy in your image
75. Your photographs are a personal map of your psyche
76. Re-check your ISO-Settings. It’s aweful to detect the wrong settings on your screen.
77. Be thankful for long and thoughtful comments on your images
78. Never trust your LCD. Normally it is brighter and sharper as the original image.
79. Provide for enough disc space, because it’s cheap and you will need it.
80. Learn to enjoy beautful moments when you don’t have a camera with you.81. Always arrive at least half an hour earlier before sunrise / sundown, composing in a hurry is a bad thing.
82. Try to amplify your mental and physical limits. Takes some extra shots when you think “it’s enough”
83. Pay attention to structures in the sky and wait until they fit into structures in the foreground
84. Visit the same place as often as possible. Light never shows the same mountain.
85. Print your images in big size. You will love it.
86. Calibrate your monitor. Working with a monitor that is not accurate is like being together with someone you can’t trust. It always ends badly.
87. Don’t think about what others may say about your image. If you like it, it’s worth publishing.
88. Never address reproaches to yourself. Learn from your mistakes and look forward, not backward.
89. Fight your laziness ! Creativitiy comes after discipline.
90. Ask yourself : What do you want to express in your images ?
91. Always try to think outside the box, collect new ideas about photographs you could do and ask yourself : Why not?
92. Search for a mentor.
93. Photography is never a waste of time.
94. Every community has it’s downsides. Don’t leave it out of an emotional response.95. There will always be people who will not like what you are doing.
96. Henri Cartier-Bresson was right when he said that “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
97. A better camera doesn’t guarantee better images.
98. Always have printing in mind when you postprocess your images.
99. Photography is fair : You gain publicity with the quality of your images. Unless the images are stolen, there is no way of cheating yourself higher.
100. Write a 100 things list
Do you have learned something that I didn’t mention ? I would be glad if you let me know it as a comment, so I can learn from you !
bash shortcut key / 快捷键
浏览命令行的组合键
Ctrl + F :向前移动一个字符。
Ctrl + B :向后移动一个字符
Alt + F : 向前移动一个单词。
Alt + B : 向后移动一个单词。
Ctrl + A : 光标移到行首。
Ctrl + E : 光标移到行尾。
Ctrl + L : 清屏。
编辑命令行的组合键
Backspace :删除当前字符
Ctrl + H : 同 backspace 键相同。
Ctrl + T : 交换当前字符和前一个字符的位置。
Alt + T : 交换当前单词和前一个单词的位置。
Alt + U :将当前单词变为大写。
Alt + L :将当前单词变为小写。
Alt + C :将当前单词的首字母变为大写。
在命令行上剪切和粘贴文本的组合键
Ctrl + K :剪切文本到本行行尾。
Ctrl + U :剪切文本到本行行头。
Ctrl + W : 移除光标前的一个单词。
Alt + D :剪切光标后的一个单词
Ctrl + Y :粘贴最近剪切的文本。
Alt + Y :回到先前剪切的文本，粘贴它。
Ctrl + F :向前移动一个字符。
Ctrl + B :向后移动一个字符
Alt + F : 向前移动一个单词。
Alt + B : 向后移动一个单词。
Ctrl + A : 光标移到行首。
Ctrl + E : 光标移到行尾。
Ctrl + L : 清屏。
编辑命令行的组合键
Backspace :删除当前字符
Ctrl + H : 同 backspace 键相同。
Ctrl + T : 交换当前字符和前一个字符的位置。
Alt + T : 交换当前单词和前一个单词的位置。
Alt + U :将当前单词变为大写。
Alt + L :将当前单词变为小写。
Alt + C :将当前单词的首字母变为大写。
在命令行上剪切和粘贴文本的组合键
Ctrl + K :剪切文本到本行行尾。
Ctrl + U :剪切文本到本行行头。
Ctrl + W : 移除光标前的一个单词。
Alt + D :剪切光标后的一个单词
Ctrl + Y :粘贴最近剪切的文本。
Alt + Y :回到先前剪切的文本，粘贴它。
the feynmann lecuture from MIT schedule, i wish i were there
The Feynman Films
Markos Hankin
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: None
This series of films by Richard Feynman is open to the MIT community.
Contact: Markos Hankin, 6c-207, 253-4844, mhankin@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
The Law of Gravitation
Markos Hankin
Mon Jan 7, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Best Mind Since Einstein
Markos Hankin
Wed Jan 9, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Relation of Mathematics to Physics
Markos Hankin
Thu Jan 10, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Great Conservation Principles
Markos Hankin
Tue Jan 15, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Symmetry in Physical Law
Markos Hankin
Wed Jan 16, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Last Journey of a Genius
Markos Hankin
Thu Jan 17, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Take the World from Another Point of View
Markos Hankin
Tue Jan 22, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Distinction of Past and Future
Markos Hankin
Wed Jan 23, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Probability and Uncertainty
Markos Hankin
Thu Jan 24, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Seeking New Laws
Markos Hankin
Mon Jan 28, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Latest update: 06-Nov-2007 I
Markos Hankin
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: None
This series of films by Richard Feynman is open to the MIT community.
Contact: Markos Hankin, 6c-207, 253-4844, mhankin@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
The Law of Gravitation
Markos Hankin
Mon Jan 7, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Best Mind Since Einstein
Markos Hankin
Wed Jan 9, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Relation of Mathematics to Physics
Markos Hankin
Thu Jan 10, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Great Conservation Principles
Markos Hankin
Tue Jan 15, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Symmetry in Physical Law
Markos Hankin
Wed Jan 16, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Last Journey of a Genius
Markos Hankin
Thu Jan 17, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Take the World from Another Point of View
Markos Hankin
Tue Jan 22, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
The Distinction of Past and Future
Markos Hankin
Wed Jan 23, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Probability and Uncertainty
Markos Hankin
Thu Jan 24, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Seeking New Laws
Markos Hankin
Mon Jan 28, 12-01:00pm, 6-120
Latest update: 06-Nov-2007 I
Crash course in learning theory ZZ http://headrush.typepad.com
Crash course in learning theory
One formula (of many) for a successful blog is to create a "learning blog". A blog that shares what you know, to help others. Even--or especially--if that means giving away your "secrets". Teaching people to do what you do is one of the best ways we know to grow an audience--an audience of users you want to help.
It's what I try to do here because--let's face it--you're just not that into me ; ) But I assume (since you're reading this blog) that you ARE into helping your users kick ass. So to make content that's worth your time and attention, I try to make this a learning blog. I reckon y'all could not care less what I had for dinner, who I ate with, or what I think about the latest headlines.
So, as promised in an earlier post, here's a crash course on some of our favorite learning techniques gleaned from cognitive science, learning theory, neuroscience, psychology, and entertainment (including game design). Much of it is based around courses I designed and taught at UCLA Extension's New Media/Entertainment Studies department. This is the long version, and my next post will be just the bullet points with the pictures--as a kind of quick visual summary.
This is not a comprehensive look at the state of learning theory today, but it does include almost everything we think about in creating our books. And although it's geared toward blogs/writing virtually everything in here applies regardless of how you deliver the learning--you can easily adapt it to prentations, user documentation, or classroom learning. And remember, this is a BLOG, so don't expect academic rigor ; ) but I do have references, so leave a comment if there's something in particular you want.
Crash Course in Learning Theory
The long version...
• Talk to the brain first, mind second.
Even if a learner is personally motivated to learn a topic, if the learning content itself isn't motivating, the learner's brain will do everything possible to look for something more interesting. This applies to both getting and keeping attention, as well as memory. Remember, you can't do anything until you get past the brain's crap filter! And to the brain, a dry, dull, academic explanation is definitely CRAP (regardless of how much your mind cares about the topic).
Learning is not a one-way "push" model.
Learners are not "empty vessels" waiting to be filled with content pushed into it by an expert, blogger, author, etc. Learning is something that happens between the learner's ears--it's a form of co-creation between the learner and the learning experience. You can't create new pathways in someone's head... your job is to create an environment where the chances of the learner "getting it" in the way that you intend are as high as possible.
• Provide a meaningful benefit for each topic, in the form of "why you should care about this" scenario.
Learning is much more effective if the learner's brain knows why what you're about to talk about matters. The benefit and/or reason why you should learn something needs to come before the actual content. Otherwise, the learner's brain gets to the end of what you're telling them and says, "Oh, NOW you tell me. If you'd said that earlier, I would have paid more attention..." This process of not-paying-attention is not completely within the learner's conscious control so, like I said, even if the person is motivated to learn this thing, their brain can still tune out during specific parts that don't start with a compelling benefit.
To find a "meaningful benefit", play the "Why? Who Cares? So What?" game with someone else. Describe the thing you're trying to explain, to which the other person asks, "Why?" Provide an answer, to which the person then asks, "Who cares?". Provide an answer, to which the person asks, "So?" At this point, when you're nearly ready to kill them for not getting it, you probably have the thing you should have said instead of whatever you said first (and second). The most compelling and motivating reason/benefit is almost always the thing you say only after you've answered at least three "Yeah, but WHY do I care?" questions.
• Use visuals! 
We are all visual creatures, and the brian can process visual information far more efficiently than words. These pictures can come in many forms:
* Info graphic or diagram
* Visual metaphor
* Picture of the thing being described, with annotations
* Picture of the end state
* Picture designed to create attention and recall
• Use redundancy to increase understanding and retention.
Redundancy doesn't mean repetition--it means "say the same thing again, but differently." And "differently" can mean:
* From a different perspective.
* Using a different information channel (channels include things like Graphics, Examples, Prose explanations, step-by-step instruction/tutorial, case studies, exercises, summaries, bullet points, commentary, devil's advocate, Q & A, personal POV, etc.)
Also, the more senses you engage, the greater the potential for retention and recall. Even having a bowl of just-popped popcorn or the smell of freshly-baked cookies while learning, can make a difference. Bummer about web-delivered content, though...
Being terse is good for a reference document, but deadly in learning content. The best learning experience considers the way you'd learn that particular thing in real life -- but offers it in a safe, simulated, compressed form. Real-life learning is never terse; it's choas and confusion punctuated with moments of insight ("Ah-ha!") and clarity. It's a wave, not a straight line. A learning blog, book, or classroom shouldn't try to straighten it out!
• Maintain interest with variety and surprise.
• Use conversational language. 
The brain pays more attention when it thinks it's in a conversation and must "hold up its end." And there's evidence that suggests your brain behaves this way even if the "conversation" is between a human (you) and a book or computer screen (or lecture).
• Use mistakes, failures, and counter-intuitive WTF?
People usually learn much more from failures than from being shown everything working correctly or as expected.
The most memorable learning experiences are usually those where things are going along fine, making sense, etc. when you suddenly slam into something that goes terribly wrong. Describing the things that do NOT work is often more effective than showing how things DO work. (We call this the "WTF learning principle").
But showing is even better than describing. And even better than showing is letting the learner experience. Take the learner down a garden path where everything makes perfect sense until it explodes. They are far more likely to remember than if you simply say, "Oh, and be sure you do it such and such a way."
It's tempting to want to protect the learners from the bumps and scrapes experienced in the real world, but in many cases (with many topics) you aren't doing the learner any favors.
• Use the filmaker (and novelist) principle of SHOW-don't-TELL.
Rather than lecture about the details of how something works, let them experience how it works by walking them through a story or scenario, where they can feel the bumps along the way.
• Use "chunking" to reduce cognitive overhead.
Remember, we have very little short-term memory (RAM) in our heads. The standard rule is that we can hold roughly 7 things before we must either commit some of it to long-term storage or toss it out to take in something new. And the things you hold in short-term memory vanish as soon as there is an interruption. You look up a phone number, and as long as you repeat it to yourself and nobody asks you a question, you can remember it--usually just long enough to dial the number. By the time you finish talking to the person on the other end of the line, the number is long gone.
Chunking takes fine-grained data/facts/knowledge and puts them into meaningful or at least memorable chunks to help reduce the number of things you have to hold in short-term memory, and increase the chance of retention and recall. For example, imagine you were asked to take 30 seconds to memorize the following "code symbols" for the numbers 1-10:
you'd be lucky to get 60% correct in a follow-up quiz given immediately after those 30 seconds. There are simply too many symbols to memorize in such a short time, and there's no instantly obvious way to relate them to one another.
But... with one simple change to the way in which the symbols are presented--and without changing the symbols:
30 seconds gets most people to 100% accuracy in the follow-up quiz. In other words, by grouping the symbols into a meaningful, memorable pattern, we reduce the number of individual (and potentially arbitrary) things you have to memorize, and increase the chances.
• Since stress/anxiety can reduce focus and memory, do everything possible to make the learner feel relaxed and confident.
That does not mean dumbing-down the material, but rather letting the learner know that -- "This IS confusing -- so don't worry if it's still a little fuzzy at this point. It will start to come together once you've worked through the rest of the examples." In other words, let them know that they aren't stupid for not getting it at this point. For especially difficult and complex topics, let the learner know where they should be at each stage, and help them decide whether they need to go back and repeat something. Make sure they know that this repetition is part of the normal learning process, not something they must do because they failed.
If you're worried about being patronizing, then don't patronize. Just be honest about what it takes for people to learn that content. But you can't do that unless you know how hard it is for a beginner to learn it. As experts, we have a tough time remembering what it was like NOT TO KNOW, so if you're not sure, do the research. One of the best ways to find out what newcomers struggle with is to visit online discussion forums for beginners in your topic. This is also a great way to come up with a table-of-contents or topic list, because what you THINK should be a no-brainer might be the one thing everyone gets stuck on, and what you think would be confusing could turn out to be easy for most people.
The point is, YOU are not necessarily the best judge of how your audience will learn the topic. And empathy rarely helps -- you cannot truly put yourself in someone else's shoes unless their brain and background are a very close match for yours. You have to find out what your learners are struggling with, and suspend any judgement about "This should be a no-brainer."
Those who have taught a topic have a big advantage writing about it--they've fielded the questions and watched people struggle. They know how things should be "weighted" according to how difficult they are. But you can learn almost as much simply by lurking on beginner discussion forums (or attending user group sessions for newbies).
• Use seduction, charm, mystery to build curiosity.
We're hard-wired to pay attention and pursue things we're attracted to. This isn't about selling them on an idea--it's about helping them stay engaged and learning. Knowing what--and when--to withold is one of the most powerful tools you have. If you're writing reference material (like this post), witholding will just piss people off. But in a learning experience, you want a page-turner. And don't even think about suggesting that "page-turner" doesn't apply to, say, technical material. If the purpose is learning, the learner has to stay engaged. It's up to you to craft an experience that keeps them hooked. This engagement might be within a single post, or you might offer little cliffhangers or teasers to keep them engaged across multiple posts, if that's what it takes to cover a topic.
• Use a spiral model to keep users engaged.
Game developers know the importance of "The Next Level", and learning experiences must do the same. Each iteration through the spiral should start with a meaningful, motivating goal, followed by the interaction/activity/reading that moves you toward that goal, followed by a meaningful payoff. Ideally, the "meaningful payoff" leads right into the next motivating goal.
For example, in a game the payoff for completing a level might be "You Get A New Weapon". But now that you have that new weapon, here's the cool new thing you can do that you couldn't do before. Learning doesn't need to be any different. "Imagine you want to do X on your website..." is the goal that starts the topic, but when the topic is complete, the learning content can say, "Now that you have THAT new [superpower capability], wouldn't it be cool if you could do Y?" And off they go into the next round of learning.
• Don't rob the learner of the opportunity to think!
Rather than simply spelling everything out step by step, ask questions, pose multiple and potentially conflicting viewpoints, show the topic from different perspectives, and set up scenarios (and possibly exercises) that allow the learner to use deeper brain processing. Things that encourage deeper thinking are those that cause the learner to categorize, organize, apply, infer, evaluate, etc. Don't be afraid to pose questions that you don't answer right away.
Think back to those teachers you had who would ask a question then immediately answer it, as opposed to those who would answer a question then just sit there... waiting...
• Use the 80/20 principle to reduce cognitive overload. 
It's far more important that they nail the key things than be exposed to everything. Be brutal, be brave, be relentless in what you leave out. Knowing what NOT to include is more important in learning design than knowing what TO include.
• Context matters.
Try to place facts, concepts, procedures, examples in a bigger context. Even if you've already discussed the context, don't be afraid to repeat that context again. For example, instead of always showing code snippets, show the code within the larger context of where it usually appears. Highlight the code you're focused on by bolding it, putting it in a box, etc., so that the learner is not overwhelmed by the amount of code, and can focus on just the part you're talking about, but still be able to see how that new code relates to the rest of the code. Our rule of thumb in our books is to show the same code context two or three times before switching to just the snippets (although this rule varies greatly with the type of code).
• Emotion matters! 
People learn and remember that which they FEEL. Look back at what you've written and if it's dry and lifeless, try to inject some energy. Dry, academic, formal, lecture-style writing is usually the WORST form of learning content.
One of the many ways to help tap into emotions (and increase attention and memory) is to use the brain's reaction to faces. Almost any kind of face with a strong expression evokes a part of the brain reserved just for processing faces. The ability to accurately recognize faces and read facial expressions is a key element of survival for the brain...
• Never underestimate the power of FUN to keep people engaged.
The act of having fun is also an emotion, so anything associated with fun has a greater chance of being remembered.
• Use stories.
Humans have been learning from stories for, well, a really really really long time. Millenia longer than we've been learning from lectures on just the data and information. When we say "stories", we don't necessarily mean actual fictional "John's network went down just as he was plugging in the...", although those do work. But a "story" can simply mean that you're asking the learner to imagine herself wanting to do a particular thing, and then offering an experience of what that would be like if she were actually trying to accomplish it, with all the ups, downs, false leads, etc. (but again, with less of the actual pain she might experience in real life). A flight simulator, for example, is a kind of story.You aren't just up there learning the controls; you're actually flying in a particular storyline.
If you're a software developer, another way to think about story-driven learning is to map use-cases to learning stories. Base your learning content around individual use-cases, and put the learner in the center of the use-case. One easy trick for designing story-driven learning is to start each topic with something like, "Imagine you want to do..." and then walk though that experience. It makes the learning organic and real, and helps make sure you get rid of the stuff that doesn't need to be there. If it doesn't show up in a use-case/story, are you so sure you should be teaching it?
• Use pacing and vary the parts of the brain you're exercising.
Learning--and especially memorization--doesn't happen at an even pace. Brains--or especially parts of brains--get tired and lose focus. By varying the pace--and type--of learning content, you give a user's brain the chance to let one part rest while the other part takes over. For example, follow a heavy left-brain technical procedure with a big-picture example/story that covers the same topic. This helps the learner's memory in two different ways--the redundancy means two different chances to save the information, and the fact that you gave one part of the brain a break while shifting to a different part keeps their brain working longer without fatigue.
Think about it--if you hopped up and down on your right foot repeatedly, that right leg would give up after fewer repetitions than if you kept switching from right to left. Pacing--by frequently switching which parts of your body (or in this case, brain) you're using--lets you stay fresher for a longer period.
Also, recording something to long-term memory is rarely instant (although the stronger the associated emotion, the faster (and more likely) your brain is to record it). Memory is a physical/chemical process that happens after you've been exposed to something, and if anything interrupts the process, the memory is not stored. That's why people with serious head injuries often cannot remember what took place just prior to the injury--the process of recording those things to long-term memory was stopped.
If you want someone to remember something, you must give them a chance to process that memory. Relentlessly presenting new, tough information (like tons of code and complex concepts) without also including chances to reflect, process, think, apply, review, etc. virtually guarantees that much of the learning will be forgotten.
• Remember, it's never about you. It's about how the learner feels about himself as a result of the learning experience. 
Don't use learning content as a chance to show off your knowledge--that virtually guarantees your content won't be user-friendly. Use it as a chance to help someone's life a little.
A successful learning blog is about helping the readers learn and grown and kick ass! Make that happen, and your stats will take care of themselves. In contrast, the best way to ensure a low readership is to assume that readers are into you. Offering users nothing but your opinions, however well-reasoned, might not be enough to make it worth their scarce time and attention.
"If you teach it, they will come."
top 10 ways to clean up your pc - zz from lifehacker
top 10 ways to clean up your pc:
clean your desktop
uninstall unneeded programs
clean up your startup, registry, cookies and more...
organize "my documents"
automatically delete temp files
visualize and reduce disk usage
detect and delete duplicate files
white out disk free space
evacuate the dust bunnies
reinstall the OS
clean your desktop
uninstall unneeded programs
clean up your startup, registry, cookies and more...
organize "my documents"
automatically delete temp files
visualize and reduce disk usage
detect and delete duplicate files
white out disk free space
evacuate the dust bunnies
reinstall the OS
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
EVERYONE CAN START A BUSINESS! zz from 5xue.com
国内，很多年轻人的理想是“我要创业”，“我要当老板”。我鼓励这”创业精神”，但不过分鼓励“赤手空拳”去等待机会创业当老板。所谓“时势造英雄，英雄造时势”。前者是“掌握机会”，后者是“创造机会”，必有一项才能成功。
我的看法是“每一个人都有机会成为创业家”, 这是我个人的一些看法及选择：
- 写下你的人生目标，包含创业想法，学习如何掌握机会：写得越详细越好，将这目标收存好，也放在心里头。定期或不定期拿出来检视一遍机会是否成熟？随时学会做个“掌握时势”的人。
- 然后做个“创造机会的人”： 跨出学校，走入社会，进入职场，不要等待，不要到处找“创业机会”，那是“可遇不可求”的。先做好“能创造机会的人”，以后自然有好机会找你。
至于如何做个“创造机会的人”呢？
- 先做自己的老板：开复说“做最好的自己”，我觉得很对。我在此要说“做自己的老板”，
- 以老板的心态来做好每一件事：这是我的事，我负责，主动设目标，主动和同事合作，积极，热心，忘我，忘时，忘回报，只是因这是我的事，我要把它做到最好。
- 为自己定订目标，多走一里路，超越它。超越你个人的目标，超越你组织内老板的期望。不为名，不为利，也不为年终考绩，不为经理的赞赏，只为了给自己一个挑战。
- 我是小老板：企业内部创业。
- 当你有好点子和企业经营内容相关时，主动提出来和老板，同事分享。
- 主动分享，学习企业对这些点子的评估方式及流程，积极参与并争取主导此项目的机会。
- 将分享，积极参与变成你的个人习惯，不断的做。有一天你会遇到伯乐给你机会一展长才。这机会一生只要一次就够了，但我们要有这把钥匙：创意分享，积极主动及团队合作的精神。
- 当你能力受肯定及时机成熟，你会有机会在企业内独当一面：可能是你提出的项目，可能是你擅长的项目，也有可能是公司新启动的新项目。
- 这是一个很好创业的”试金石”:用公司的资源，用你的专长来创业，而不必担心一些你不擅长的事，如生产，品牌，营销，财务……等等。这是最轻省，没风险的 创业。我们也叫“专业经理人”。 在“好的公司”，财富的回报并不比自己创业差。（好公司的定义是：分享财富，分享知讯，分享权力）
- 这些机会在中大型企业非常普遍，不要轻易忽视。
- 我是大老板：自行创业。
- 这是一个选择，至于是否是最好的选择，却因人而异。
- 当你决定走上这条路时，你必需要有明确的梦想，热情，目标，方向， 有人才团队，心里要有坚强意志力，不怕苦，不听太多的闲话，要有执行到底的决心。
- 团队：最好由“兴趣小组”的朋友出来。而不是雇工，才会相同的理念，热情及梦想，才承受得起苦难，路才走得远，有打死不退的勇气及能力。前2年团队的合作是关键。
- 资金：可能要由你自己，合伙人或亲友的资金来度过前2年，除非能得到地方政府的特殊补助，如上海就有创业基金，但能拿到的企业还是少数。我再说一次：前2年要靠自己。
- 其它的创业方法： 当然你可以下了班，用自己的时间到淘宝网开店，你可以做投资者而不经营，这都是好模式。
一个好创业家的特色是他能对市场有“高敏感度”，能将那“感觉”转变成自己或企业的机会，他有热情，能看到这机会实现后的景象。他愿负责，愿付 代价去实现它，他深知“时间的机会”是创业成功的关键，他能分辩他是“掌握机会的英雄”还是“创造机会的英雄“。不管是在企业的内部还是外部，不管在哪个 工作岗位，他都是成功的“创业家”。
Top 10 Advances In Materials Science Over Last 50 Years, copy from sciencedaily.com
The top ten includes advances that have altered all our daily lives. Some have completely changed the research arena, and others have opened up new possibilities and capabilities. They are:
1. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors
2. Scanning probe microscopes
3. Giant magnetoresistive effect
4. Semiconductor lasers and light-emitting diodes
5. National Nanotechnology Initiative
6. Carbon fiber reinforced plastics
7. Materials for Li ion batteries
8. Carbon nanotubes
9. Soft lithography
10. Metamaterials
Surprisingly, top of the list is not a research discovery, but a way of organizing research priorities and planning R&D. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) drives the incredible progress of the microelectronics industry by setting out goals for innovation and technology needs. A mixture of science, technology, and economics, it is hard to see how the ITRS could do better in driving forward advances in this area.
"I believe it is an appropriate first choice in our list," says Jonathan Wood, editor of Materials Today. "Not only is electronics critical to our modern world, progress in semiconductor processing and advances in materials science have gone hand-in-hand for the last 50 years."
Materials science studies what makes up our world -- the metals, semiconductors, plastics we use to make all our devices, products, and technologies. It can be how to make smaller, faster transistors to give more powerful computers; understanding the electrical properties of polymers to produce cheap displays for cell phones; or analyzing how tissues in the body bond to medical implants.
"I want this list to be a celebration of the achievements of materials science," says Wood. "Too often, this diverse, dynamic field gets squeezed out by the big boys of chemistry and physics. Yet it is crucial to so much of today's world."
1. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors
2. Scanning probe microscopes
3. Giant magnetoresistive effect
4. Semiconductor lasers and light-emitting diodes
5. National Nanotechnology Initiative
6. Carbon fiber reinforced plastics
7. Materials for Li ion batteries
8. Carbon nanotubes
9. Soft lithography
10. Metamaterials
Surprisingly, top of the list is not a research discovery, but a way of organizing research priorities and planning R&D. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) drives the incredible progress of the microelectronics industry by setting out goals for innovation and technology needs. A mixture of science, technology, and economics, it is hard to see how the ITRS could do better in driving forward advances in this area.
"I believe it is an appropriate first choice in our list," says Jonathan Wood, editor of Materials Today. "Not only is electronics critical to our modern world, progress in semiconductor processing and advances in materials science have gone hand-in-hand for the last 50 years."
Materials science studies what makes up our world -- the metals, semiconductors, plastics we use to make all our devices, products, and technologies. It can be how to make smaller, faster transistors to give more powerful computers; understanding the electrical properties of polymers to produce cheap displays for cell phones; or analyzing how tissues in the body bond to medical implants.
"I want this list to be a celebration of the achievements of materials science," says Wood. "Too often, this diverse, dynamic field gets squeezed out by the big boys of chemistry and physics. Yet it is crucial to so much of today's world."
留学生的职业生存 zz from 5xue.com
留学生的职业生存
摘要:许多海龟回国找工作仍有些困难，本文从口语，求职信，一些原则禁忌，和六个关键词为未来海龟们提出了一下的建议，相信对各位想进入外企工作的同学也有帮助。
今年似乎出国的人很多，我认识的人里面大体就都没有什么具体清晰的规划，只是觉得出国好就是。但作为接触了不少学生的老师，我觉得还是有必要给未来的海龟们提出建议，以免将来悔恨不已。
首先是英语的能力一定要好。
对于海龟和土鳖来说，似乎最大的区别就是镀过金喝过洋墨水，所以我强烈建议以下几点:
1、口语起码要流畅
不求标准和美丽，但是口语起码可以进行正常速度的交流和正常模式的文化交流。如果回国之后去外企应聘，发现自己的口语依然结巴，依然有很重的口音，依然无法表达自己，那你就要反思一下，是否在唐人街待得太过于久了。
另外，对于那些总是炫耀自己的旅游经历的学生，我觉得这不是资本，只是花别人的钱。各位学子记住，不要羡慕会花钱的，要羡慕会赚钱的。那么请记住，你如果去旅游，你的英语要尽量使人可以理解，尽量多学一些文化的原则和禁忌，不要只是在中国人堆里打滚。
2、求职信起码要流畅
标准真的不高，只是流畅。因为我见过很多到新东方求职的所谓英语专业或者海龟的英文求职信，写的简直就是“惊世骇俗”，３５０字的东西可以错４０处。流畅还有一个意思就是资料的真实，不要随意写一些自己没干过的事情，不要去炫耀自己不是很好的学校和专业。而且最好你的求职信要称呼阅者的姓氏而非“尊敬的领导”，这样的信才会有人看。
除了英语之外，还有以下的几方面。
1、不要总是说，国外如何如何，怎么中国就如何如何；或者说，我在国外的时候……
这两句话都是禁忌，第一句话说明你不满目前的地方，那么领导听见，随时请你卷铺盖走人，同事听见，觉得这孩子脑子暂时停顿了。其实只要你是中国人，就有 义务去改善我们的国家的任何一个小的不足，而不是去批评，说话做事，基本原则就是要有建设性，这样损人不利己的笨事情千万别做。
其次是不要形成口头语，我在国外的时候如何如何，作为单位里(尤其是基层政府或国企)学历和经历比较多的人，难免会成为众矢之的，那么为人低调就很重要。你不开口就很多人准备讨厌你了，何况你还很拽。
2、学会选择企业和朋友
不要一定去外企，外企目前也有很多类型，比如很多人希望去四大，宝洁，IBM， 乃至其他的如北电，恒生银行，摩根大通，高盛，还有去驻华机构，如美领，英领等各领事馆。这些机构和公司的企业文化不尽相同，去之前不妨了解一下，找找适 合自己的地方很重要。比如你不喜欢努力工作之后只得到一根棒棒糖的奖励，恐怕就不要去美领，实际他们没有利润驱动，难得给努力的员工实际的报酬，但是如果 你愿意休假多点，美领的优势就很明显。
朋友之间的选择也是一样，肯定会有圈子，但是最好自己不要卷入什么争斗，那样就真的不好玩了，安心做好工作，其他的还是让领导们去争。
最后，我提出6个关键词。
大家选择的时候可以充分考虑这个职业的特性，这6个词，如果有3个就可以留下发展，有5个值得长久的留下。不要随便跳槽，选了行业之后跳槽一定不要转行，因为跳槽意味着你的经验被清零，除非自己出来创业，否则重新被培训的滋味很不好受。而如果转行，就意味着你完全不懂。做任何一个行业，没有5年以上的体会，你不会知道这个行业还有什么潜规则，你也不会清楚自己的职位可以通过什么方式去获得其他的回报和利润。下面是这6个词：
peers
也就是同伴的意思。被面试的时候你也在选择企业，如果面试你的人和你的节拍并不合拍，你还不是那么需要收入来安抚自己饥饿的肠胃，那么不妨多试几家。如 果面试者的感觉给你很好的印象，不妨多努力一些，尽量进取来获得录取。其实很多时候求职者不要把自己放的太低，尤其作为我们的海龟同学们，你们毕竟是留学 生。
其次是通过其他的途径了解这个企业的人，了解里面员工 的生存状态和企业文化，以及自己这样的人会如何。所以也是对照了解自己的过程。我们在社会上的层次和职业，基本上可以从我们日常交往最密切的５个人身上看 出来，我们的层次是他们的平均值，我们从事的行业大致也是他们的行业，不会差的很远。相差很远的行业的peers我们称为朋友，因为朋友是没什么利益冲突，和我们交集不大的一部分人。
income
收入很重要，但是切忌在面试的时候提出来，对方和你谈报酬的时候，已经比较有意思要你，但是你不要自己提，因为刚出来你不一定知道自己的实际价值有多 少，你自己提出来要么太多要么太少，很少刚刚符合面试者的期待值：太多则吓坏人家，也觉得你野心太大，太少自己吃亏。所以起码你觉得这个收入可以养活自 己，但是在这个企业还可以有发展可以有进步的时候，可以不那么计较收入。但是上了班再回去找爸妈拿钱就说不过去啦。我很多雅思学生们对于第一个月的工资都 提的很高的期待，很多小屁孩动不动就要月薪２万人民币，这样的童鞋一辈子都很难找到合适的工作。广州为例，目前硕士回来再外企的平均是５ｋ左右，如果是政 府则还要低些，但是福利好些。LLM的童鞋就还要低，如果你没有通过司法考试，你就永远都是一个律助，律助最多不会超过３ｋ，而读完LLM的成本起码４０万。我们用脊椎思考一下都知道，这种生意极其不划算。
pleasure
有人说，难道有快乐但是没钱的工作么？有！义工。呵呵，所以我们选有钱的工作，就越发要考虑工作的快乐，工作快乐与否很简单，我们去面试，可以从很多袭击判断。
首先是办公室是否干净和安静；第二是员工的表情是专注还是ＱＱ式的聊天笑容；第三是员工见到领导是否挂着面具式的笑容；第四是面试你的人是否和颜悦色还 是抓住机会耀武扬威发泄自己。企业文化很重要，其实工作要是不喜欢的话，有较好的前景也还可以，没有收入没有前景但是很痛苦就别做了。
growth
如果你只是打算找份工练练自己，那么很多老板很喜欢你这样的只要经验不计报酬的童鞋。不过我觉得，这个也是你进入薪酬不错但是竞争激烈的行业之后，自己 首选的一个关键词。成长有很多种，比如追随一些值得追随的老板，和他（她）们做事是一种快乐，对于这样能够赏识你的上司，其实也是我们认识自己的最好方 式。选择老板最重要的一点就是品质和为人。其他的都可以是次要的。而看一个人心地如何，最简单的就是看他（她）是否孝顺父母。孝敬父母的人，再坏坏不到哪 去；不孝的人，再好好不到哪去。这是我自己的深刻体会，各位海龟，不妨稍微借鉴。
prospect
工作的前景来自于两方面，一个是行业是朝阳行业，其次是领导的个人能力。这个问题也是一样，要学会隐忍和等待，自己可以看到的将来会是比较理想的状态就可以。也就是快乐，收入，和同事这些方面，都可以有较好的发展。
influencing others
这就是职业选择的最重要的一项，影响力，有了影响他人的能力，你可以做很多，你可以获得很多，你可以学习和进步很多，古人曰：为士者，立德，立功，立 言，这个说的就是影响力，首先是立德，影响周围的人，其次是立功，影响更大范围的人，最后是立言，成一家之学说，以流芳百世，我们作为现代人，也很容易发 现，２１世纪不缺人才，缺的是平台，因为要站在一个高度上去影响他人太不容易了，要有一个方式去影响自己和别人太不容易了。不管你做什么行业，我们要努力 去进入，用你的工作和努力去影响他人，逐渐的你就会发现，你影响的范围越来越大，视野也在拓宽。增加自己的影响力，是每个求职者和在职者的必修课。
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