Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Friday, December 4, 2015

When Insults Had Class... (Credit Keri Shields)

> These glorious insults are from an era before the English language got boiled down to four-letter words.
>   
> A member of Parliament to Disraeli:  "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
>
> "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli,"whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."
>
> "He had delusions of adequacy."
> -Walter Kerr
>
> "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
> - Winston Churchill
>
> "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."
> -Clarence Darrow
>   
> "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."
> -William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
>  
> "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book;
> I'll waste no time reading it."
> -Moses Hadas
>
> "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
> -Mark Twain
>
> "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."
> -Oscar Wilde
>   
> "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play;
> bring a friend, if you have one."
> -George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
>  
> "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second...
> if there is one."
> -Winston Churchill, in response
>  
> "I feel so miserable without you;
> it's almost like having you here."
> -Stephen Bishop
>
> "He is a self-made man and worships his creator."
> -John Bright
>
> "I've just learned about his illness.
> Let's hope it's nothing trivial."
> -Irvin S. Cobb
>
> "He is not only dull himself;
> he is the cause of dullness in others."
> -Samuel Johnson
>
> "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up."
> - Paul Keating
>
> "In order to avoid being called a flirt,
> she always yielded easily."
> -Charles, Count Talleyrand
>  
> "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him."
> -Forrest Tucker
>   
> "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope
> without any address on it?"
> -Mark Twain
>  
> "His mother should have thrown him away
> and kept the stork."
> -Mae West
>  
> "Some cause happiness wherever they go;
> others, whenever they go."
> -Oscar Wilde
>  
> "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination."
> -Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
>  
> "He has Van Gogh's ear for music."
> -Billy Wilder
>   
> "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening.  
> But I'm afraid this wasn't it."
> -Groucho Marx

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Daniel Pink - The surprising truth about what motivates us

https://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc

Motivation is literally the desire to do things. It's the difference between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all day. It's the crucial element in setting and attaining goals—and research shows you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control. So figure out what you want, power through the pain period, and start being who you want to be.

Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward.

Cognitive researcher Nancy Etcoff looks at happiness -- the ways we try to achieve and increase it, the way it's untethered to our real circumstances, and its surprising effect on our bodies.

When are humans most happy? To gather data on this question, Matt Killingsworth built an app, Track Your Happiness, that let people report their feelings in real time. Among the surprising results: We're often happiest when we're lost in the moment. And the flip side: The more our mind wanders, the less happy we can be. (Filmed at TEDxCambridge.)

Does Money Really Affect Motivation? This article reviews the research.

This article is titled The Top 9 Things That Ultimately Motivate Employees to Achieve.

This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink's talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Sunday, September 6, 2015

What Happens to Your Brain When You Don't Sleep?

Are you a morning person or a night person? Are you already buzzing at 6:00 a.m., or do you hit your energy peak later in the day or even well after midnight?

A new finding shows the reason for this may go far beyond personal preference, and in fact, may be linked to genetics.

Researchers from the department of genetics at the University of Leicester published a study earlier this month in Frontiers in Neurology that found different fruit flies emerged from their pupal case, or "woke up," at different times of the day. The study authors then found they could replicate the behavior of the late risers through selective breeding, IFLScience reported, indicating a link between sleep behaviors and genetics.

Because fruit flies have often been used in genetics as a proxy for human beings, sharing 75% of disease-causing genes with humans, the study's authors argue the findings indicate human sleep patterns, whether one is an "early bird" or a "night owl," go beyond preferences and are governed by genetics factors.

"The impact of this preference on health and behavior is well documented, but the molecular basis is largely unknown," Eran Tauber, one of the study's coauthors, told IFLScience.


In other words, while some questions remain, it seems it's not entirely your fault if you can't get up early in the morning, but it might be your parents'.

Why it matters. Sleep deprivation can cause a host of horrifying consequences, including a higher risk of motor accidents, increased risk of fatal ailments, like stroke and heart attack, loss of sex drive and premature aging.

Thursday, August 27, 2015