ThinkVein.com - Latest Comments

Re: Favela Paintings – Community driven murals in Rio’s most notorious slum

Al Thompson — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:46:19 -0000

"... we were in the favalas a few years ago ..."
Are there parts which are generally safe enough to walk around, or did you pay for a tour specialising in tours?

Just curious. Sounds interesting.

Re: Lego – Word Puzzle

Al Thompson — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:27:24 -0000

"Teenagers of today expect engagement on a level of magnitude higher than that of what my grandfather would have experienced."
Teenagers of today engage in learning and entertainment using media that present a constant suddenness of significant sensory input field change that previous generations were unacquainted with. People seem unsure as to whether or not this facilitates greater intellectual stimulation, even if it clearly involves much greater intensity of overall cognitive stimulation within given time periods. What seems clear is that kids now find more traditional forms of entertainment unfulfilling compared with the stimulation derived from the high-frequency stimulus changes enabled by said 3D games and touch screen phones - something which would indeed suggest a neuronal rewiring capacity on the part of advanced technology (and, by extension, and to differing levels of magnitude, on the part of every experience and thought we have, as well).

One main reason technology may be able to exert such cognitive changes in young people (and in general) may be due to the ability of frequent, abrupt stimulus changes to hold our attention captive to such a degree. A good analogy might be the oft-lamented TV in a pub, and how people's eyes are constantly drawn towards it. In an evolutionary sense, focusing of attention on a sudden and significant change in one's sensory field is a predictable and sensible response to have ingrained. Think fire. Think bears. Or perhaps just the sound of a fellow tribesman, who might have news on water sources, coming from a nearby patch of trees. With TV, we have a medium that presents sudden and significant changes in visual stimulus, in the form of changing images. We are consciously aware, of course, that a furiously-pronouncing Samuel L. Jackson visually giving way to volleys of gunfire does not pose a potential survival threat (or benefit), yet our brains are still very strongly compelled to divert attention to this abrupt stimulus change.

While advancement of technology has undoubted potential benefits for humanity, I fear that it could (and is) incurring an intellectual distractibility among younger people that may only be remedied with development of our understanding of how technology changes our brains and how it can be best harnessed for educational purposes. This, of course, suggests an according advancement in teaching practices, to develop an approach which blends the use of technological stimulation with that of the 'slower involvement' media I feel will always have a role to play in development of the mind.

Phew! I write too much. Need to gets me a job.

Re: Launching StrategyVein.com

Patrick Walsh — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:06:52 -0000

Nice! Looking forward to reading StrategyVein

Re: Super Sexy CPR – A catchy PR campaign

Ray — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:58:28 -0000

First add that has made me laugh in awhile. Nice find

Re: It’s all about me. Do what you love, and do it often.

Mark Regan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:41:02 -0000

Thanks for the comments Anon - additional comments added to blog post.

Re: It’s all about me. Do what you love, and do it often.

Anon — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:03:37 -0000

So greed is good then? What happened to A.M.D.G.?

For more on acting in our own self interest for the collective better - check out 'Atlas Shrugged' - Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism - a favourite of hedge fund managers and S.Valley CEO's

Re: It’s all about me. Do what you love, and do it often.

Davidburns — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:09:09 -0000

Glad to see your'e back writing the web needs more of this .

Re: Changing Education Paradigms: Sir Ken Robinson

butmunch — Sun, 29 May 2011 10:23:48 -0000

bang on. 'modern' education is anachronistic. the subjects taught and the methods of instruction are grossly out of date. indeed, the whole purpose of education has changed. we need education to enable us to fulfil roles in society, not for general edification. even the uniforms students wear hark back to the pre-1960s when young people dressed like their parents.
although that guy is a serious waffler, i'm 10 minutes in and he hasn't said anything...

Re: My GTD workflow for Gmail

Björn — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:55:21 -0000

It's not working (-label:starred) if you have many email in one conversation. Then you have to set a star on all emails to make it disappear in that inbox

Re: My GTD workflow for Gmail V2

Mark Regan — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:31:34 -0000

It's been indispensable for me. I've simplified the process over time and I suspect everyone will have to find a solution that suits their workflow. But yes - huge asset to managing my day.

Re: My GTD workflow for Gmail V2

Cynthia — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:54:52 -0000

Absolutely fascinating. Has this saved time over time (I mean, after it and you got it sorted out) or do you feel more effective (not missing important to-dos) or both? Or neither?

I haven't been dealing with stuff like this (which you know) but am going to study it--see if I can at least eliminate thousands of old emails without losing anything important.

Re: Sal Khan speaking at TED

Patrickmjwalsh — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:27:14 -0000

Major thumbs up!

Re: Sal Khan speaking at TED

Mark Regan — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:33:31 -0000

Watched his 2005 Ted video on open source economics. Interesting. Only 6 years ago and the landscape has changed again fairly radically. I'm reading Macrowikinomics where Don Tapscott attempts to apply similar concepts to government programs etc. Fascinating. I've no doubt such paradigms will touch every facet of business and society.

Re: Sal Khan speaking at TED

Mark Regan — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 04:37:34 -0000

Never. Very keen on reading up about him. A quick Google search has roused my interest even further. Cheers for the heads up!

Re: Sal Khan speaking at TED

Maylon — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:54:58 -0000

Have you ever come across a chap called Yochai Benkler? I think his stuff provides answers as to why the above seem to work.

Re: Sea Changes – Turin Brakes

play killing games online — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:52:01 -0000

This Saturday, however, the Chiefs will find themselves up against West Country rivals Bath, who themselves are in a rich vein of form. Last week's comprehensive home win over Saints meant that Sir Ian McGeechan's side have won seven of their last ...

Re: Sea Changes – Turin Brakes

watch sanctum online — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 07:31:15 -0000

The 30-year-old native of Calgary missed the podium by 5/100ths of a second at the Turin Olympics four years ago, and twice finished fourth at the world championships. With Shelley-Ann Brown of Pickering, Ont., on the brakes on Day 13 of the Winter ...

Re: Design is Blank

Sandro — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:05:16 -0000

i need this them! where can i download this plz?

Re: Sea Changes – Turin Brakes

seo company — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:44:33 -0000

Her comments came as the Army Families Federation (AFF) disclosed that a poll it had conducted of between 1200 and 1500 troops and their families found that

Re: Why do we Photograph?

Mark Regan — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:58:05 -0000

Agree. Great post John. For me it is also a way of seeing things differently - oddly. eg. Macro shots are so unfamiliar at first glance but with context they make sense. Or even ordinary shots capture something that motion cannot convey. Agree in many ways it is about capturing something I think is beautiful. But
it's also a means enabling me to see it.

Re: Changing Education Paradigms: Sir Ken Robinson

Patrick Walsh — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:48:58 -0000

Such a great idea and so well produced. Can't get enough of these videos now - thanks for making me aware of them. The RSA video on 'motivation' is fascinating also

Re: Why do we Photograph?

Paddy Walsh — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:41:12 -0000

Great article John very interesting

Re: Khan Academy

Patrickmjwalsh — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 06:26:43 -0000

Wow that RSA Animate video based on Sir Ken Robinson's video is really great. Online video education at the next level!

Re: Khan Academy

Mark Regan — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 05:02:52 -0000

Great post Paddy. Really interesting. I think the method of teaching he employs is so accessible and personal that it appeals to a wide actchment of the learning community. It reminds me of History class in national school when the teacher would write on acetate whilst projecting against a white board. Although I didn't realise it at the time, this real time writing and teaching resonates deeply with me. And I believe it's connected to the age old adage that one should write notes while studying to facilitate the learning process.

RSA Animate has a wrath of incredible videos that supplement spoken word with animations: http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk...

Re: Minimal WordPress Themes: My Top 3

rodrigogalindez — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 02:20:01 -0000

Thanks for your comments on Modern Clix! I'm considering an update to a paid version that includes support for WordPress 3.0 features. Still thinking about it, and since a couple of folks already believe the same as you, I'm coining this :-)

Please have a look at Modernist, my new free WordPress theme. Would love your thoughts :-)