Blog Archives
[GG] GN’s Gutbuster Thursday. Volume 5.
In light of a recent purchase of mine, my usual YouTube trolling stumbled me into this video. At first, I couldn’t stand the guy. But if you watch it ’til the end, you’ll see why I’m posting it.
This is an even better response video:
Finally, as a tribute to Will Smith’s awesome new movie (saw it last night, worth 7 bucks!!):
God speed, and Best wishes.
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Expand Your Creativity. [volume 1]
Have you ever heard the term: “think outside the box”? Okay, do you know the origin of the phrase? Complete this puzzle:
Draw four straight, continuous lines that connect all 9 dots without lifting the pencil off the page (or in this case your finger off the screen):
Here is the solution: Click Here for Solution
If you couldn’t figure it out, you probably assumed you had to stay inside the box. If that’s the case, you know have the first major step in thinking outside the box. Eliminate your assumptions. The rules presented didn’t say you couldn’t draw outside the lines.
How do assumptions affect our ability to create success? Write down or type out your answer or answers, and think about what you came up with. This whole post can be applied to just about any area of your life, if you apply it properly.
This is a core element of the Blue Ocean Strategy. The Blue Ocean Strategy is geared towards business, and is spoken on and written into application towards business. But even if you’re simply drawing a design in a competition, or even just for fun, this will expand the creative processes your brain goes through. (refer to my past posts on the brain: Brain Train [part 1] and Brain Train [part 2])
Some DOs and DON’Ts are as follows:
Follow sequence in your plan – if you plot out steps, follow them step by step.
Focus on the big picture FIRST, focus on numbers SECOND. – If you have a time constraint, first take a look at what needs to be done, what your mission is, then think about the time, or the money involved, then tweak it.
Get into the field – see what other people are doing, and ask questions but listen when they answer.
Build enough time into the project – If you do have a time constraint, and you feel it’s a tight one, plan for it.
Approach field work as an anthropologist – Ask questions about the things they love and hate in the particular field you’re dealing with. If you’re drawing something for a contest, you may think of this as a no brainer, but ask what they look for, what “strikes their fancy” so to speak.
Do this work in a vacuum – Don’t do this work in an environment where the creativity is vacuumed out. If you’re drawing, like our examples are following, set yourself down in an inspiration environment.
Go too fast – Haste makes waste. Going in line with making a time plan, or some sort of schedule (preferably a time plan like a guideline rather than a strict schedule) so you aren’t rushing and lowering the quality of a specific part of the work.
Skip steps – If a baseball player skipped a step while running to home plate, the consequence to his action will be simple – he’ll trip and miss home plate. You’re going for a home run, run through all the bases without missing a step!
Too locked into current mindsets – Take time to think, without thinking about others in the field. If you’re drawing something, don’t think about other people’s drawings. Don’t think about any drawings. Just think about your own. Create a vision in your mind, visualize your completed drawing, and do it. However, you will eventually need to make some sort of comparison, but only to see what has been done, so you aren’t copying something else.
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This is all part of the Blue Ocean Strategy. I highly, highly recommend you research it, buy a book on it if you can find one, or watch some videos online. If the place or company you work for is having any seminars or speakers on Blue Ocean, GO TO IT. You will reap major benefits. It will not be like any seminar or lecture you have ever been to, and it will be fun – guaranteed!
The book “Blue Ocean Strategy” is published by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne and you can find it at any bookseller.
Another great post I stumbled across is here: http://techiteasy.org/2006/12/05/nintendos-wii-the-blue-ocean-strategy/
Please comment with feedback on your experiences or anything you know about Blue Ocean Strategy as well!
[ Source: The Change Agent Group ( changeagentgroup.com ) ]
God speed, and Best wishes.
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Staying “off the grid” [volume.2]
As my intentions were for the second volume of Staying “off the grid”, I would like to present to you part of the inspiration for the interest in this lifestyle: 30 Days by Morgan Spurlock, and in this episode, 2 big time “waste consumers” live in a small off the grid experimental area with other people who are accustomed to living off the grid. Whether or not you agree with the lifestyle, the show itself is very entertaining, and offers things other than how to live an off the grid lifestyle. Please watch:
This was the ONLY place I could find this video, so for the MySpace haters out there (you know who you are 😉 it’s ok.) try to grin and bare it. You don’t need a MySpace account to watch, this is a direct link to the video page. Enjoy!
God speed, and Best Wishes.
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Metal Gear Solid 4//Fighting Zombies to Feel Good, Inc.
This week in lieu of several things, I’ll be delaying Staying off the Grid volume 2 until next week.
To mix things up a bit, this will be the first “multi-post” from me. This format may or may not appear again, but is definitely necessary this week.
First off, today is the LONG awaited and anticipated release of Hideo Kojima’s 21 year old masterpiece, Metal Gear Solid 4. It’s an honor having the release fall on the day I post here, so I felt only obligated to post tribute to it.
For those of you that will be playing it today, congratulations! I’ve been a huge Metal Gear fan since the late ’90s and think it’s one of the best game series out there. Kojima truly satisfies his fans, while appealing to a broader and broader audience with each game he releases. Note that the AC!D series for PSP isn’t strictly done by Kojima, he only oversaw the projects.
In retrospective, I would like to post this video which is probably the single best trailer in video game history. For those of you that aren’t fans, all you need to do is read a review on Metal Gear Solid 2 and it will all make perfect sense, although it is very enjoyable anyway:
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Amazing games aside, time for some inspiration of another kind.
One of my previous blog posts got a comment yesterday asking if they could use a picture from the post for a book they’re writing about blogs. He left an e-mail address and I decided to be all crafty and grab the second part of his e-mail and try it as a website. Well, it’s one of the coolest things I’ve stumbled upon in my entire e-life. You have to check it out:
Have you ever felt like there is just no one that relates to you? Well, granted this site is still growing, I was shocked at the depth and amount of contributions in this multi-colored “dot cloud” like applet that collects everyone’s feelings, thoughts, comments, whatever little snippet they decide to type up, with an optional picture, and generic details about themselves, like age group, weather, country, state, city, and emotion. You can punch in your info and a specific date to see if you felt the way someone else did on that date.
I totally and randomly stumbled across this one, and I love it.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of listening to Feel Good, Inc. by Gorillaz, please do so now:
song: http://search.playlist.com/tracks/feel%20good%20inc
video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=01C4RPEinM4
I tried searching one of the biggest nationwide days for emotional feelings – 9/11 – and the results were astounding. Some people make subtle references to their pain of the attacks, while others may not have even thought about it. As light or dark as it may be, it is a fantastic website that has many goals, and I greatly encourage you to promote it so it can grow.
A much better and complete description can be found here:
http://www.wefeelfine.org/movements.html
And what a cool name for a site too.
[ Sources: Stealth/Action/Video Game creation virtuoso Hideo Kojima ; WeFeelFine.org ]
God speed, and Best wishes. [woobwoob too]
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[GG] GN’s Gutbuster Thursday. Volume 4.
Well, it’s that time of the month ladies and gentlemen. No that’s not what I mean! I mean, it’s time for GN’s Gutbuster Thursday!
To kick things off, I would like to share an oldie but goodie. It’s mild, but it’s a classic:
Wii Injuries 2: Wii Harder:
The Matrix: Deleted Scene:
This shows, truly, why Trix should remain for and only for kids:
And for the nostalgic, Weebl was kind enough to pay tribute to one of the best videos of the 80s:
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/paper/
[ Sources: YouTube ; LegoRobotComics.com ; Weebls-Stuff.com ]
God speed, and Best wishes.
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Staying “off the grid” [volume.1]
We all need a Social Security number, but who said we actually have to use it?
If you’re unsure what living “off the grid” refers to, think of M. Night Shymalan’s The Village. Complete disconnection from the rest of the world, especially corporations and the government. That’s true living off the grid, however, today that’s near, if not impossible for almost everyone, so I’ll bring you monthly tips on how to keep yourself as best off the grid as possible.
What’s the benefit from staying “off the grid”? Hopefully you’ll find your own personal reason(s) as you read through these posts. I can think of one thing that most of us can enjoy with little to no fear of having a shaded knock at our doors.
First, the basics;
Before I begin, I want to say: stop, using, Google. They index everything you search, and while it may be anonymous, if you have to use it, do it at a library.
- Financial: No checks, no credit cards. Green = good, pay for everything in cash and change only. Don’t get a bank account, get a piggy bank. Also, loans or anything that require your information to truly optional places of financial standing are something you should avoid. Save your money and store it securely.
- Security: Invest in a good ol’ fashioned Louisville Slugger, not an alarm system. Some alarm companies (Brinks, ADT, not necessarily them however) have the capability of monitoring the activity of their systems without any malicious activity having to go on, not to mention that’s another place where some of your most sensitive information goes. Look at the bright side, an alarm system offers no physical defense. Baseball bats, now, that’s another story. Be creative with a homemade alarm system. Get in the green mentality and recycle those noisy soda cans in a unique way.
- Health: This one’s tough. Hospitals are nice, but if you can manage to find the right free clinic and take good care of yourself, you won’t have to give anything more than your name and a place for them to send the bill, which brings me to my next point.
- Mail: Get a post office box, and have ALL of your mail go to that. An average post office box costs a little over $100 a year. Not bad at all for personal security. Not to mention any spam that you catch is diffused by the simple change of your box number, instead of having to move.
While that may be a short list, it takes a good effort to implement into your life. Please comment on this post with your experiences or if you have any suggestions.
[ Source: experience ]
God speed, and Best wishes.
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Brain Train. [part 2]
Briefly, I would just like to apologize for being absent last week. However, due to the events I promise you better information than what was available last week.
Also, I have two shout outs: One for all the Indy fans out there! I hope you all enjoy the movie today (or last night) as much as I’m sure I will this weekend. Secondly, a dedication to a very special someone who has loyally read my articles and grown to become one of the single most important things in my life. You know who you are. : ) Thank you for everything.
On to this week in That’s GN:
Have you ever done something, and later you realize you have no idea why? This is commonly dubbed as an “impulsive action” or usually something you do that you “didn’t think about”. How would you like to be in better control of, not only your impulses, but know how to tap into the impulses of others?
You have three brains, similar to what we discovered last week. What we’ll talk about this week is the survival part of our brain, that controls involuntary actions like breathing and our heart beat.
There are 6 stimuli, or, “attractions” that need to be understood about our “old brain”. It has been dubbed the old brain since every living creature requires it, and in fact has it, to sustain their life. The other 2 brains we as humans possess, many other mammals and creatures do not. Let’s divide these stimuli into points:
1: Self centered – To illustrate, please watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–Fwjtd_KxI
This is an example of the old brain lacking communication with your other brains, thus working on instinct rather than incorporating and reason into the decision. Thus the humor of the commercial, since anyone in their right mind would make a different decision.
2: Contrast – Our old brain easily picks out differences, or contrasts such as night and day, near and far, black and white.
3: Tangible – Things we can touch and feel whether it be physically or something we perceive to be real, despite how unrealistic it is to our minds (in other words by sight), it can appeal to us. Here’s another commercial that will give you an exaggerated idea of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67MuBNnJC60&NR=1
While we know it’s (most likely) impossible to get the strength to push a car over a cliff from an energy bar, the point is well made, that this energy bar will give you a very good dose of energy. Instead of telling the consumer it does, they make the idea tangible by appealing to your tangible senses.
4: Beginnings and Ends – Please read this passage out loud:
“Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.”
How long did it take you to read that? Surely not very long compared to if it was unscrambled. In addition to this point, YOU MAY NOTICE THAT IT’S PROBABLY EASIER TO READ NON-CAPITALIZED SENTENCES SINCE CAPITAL LETTERS ARE NON-FEATURELESS BLOCKS yet sentences with letters having more variety in ascending and descending fashion are easier to differentiate between letters.
5: Visual – Aristotle said the mind needs an image to think. This is fundamentally entirely true. You can first think of when we hear a loud crash, you might think someone is breaking into your house. You naturally visualize on impulse someone breaking into your house, so you think of that. When we see an image, a split second process occurs.
To explain, there are actually two reactions that occur, and each follow a separate path through your brain. Both paths start at the thalamus where they split. The faster reaction path goes to the amygdala which specializes in reacting and triggering what you would consider the emotional fear. The second path travels to the cortex first, where the information received is analyzed using information from the other parts of the brain, then to the amygdala. The first, faster path produces an immediate “instinct” like reaction 250 times faster than the second path, which determines whether or not the reaction is actually needed. In this example, the loud crash could be a harmless cat, instead of a robber as our immediate reaction might tell us.
Even though the reaction differences are so fast, 250 times is still much faster. Coupled with that reaction speed, once an emotion is turned on, it’s difficult for the cortex and your reasoning to turn it off, so fishing for this sense makes your “hook” difficult to unhook.
6: Emotion – Do you remember where you were and what you were doing on 9/11? For the more experienced audience, what about Apollo 13 or Kennedy’s assassination? I remember where I was and what my family said exactly during the morning of 9/11. Our old brain makes associations with emotion. Very few of us weren’t heavily impacted by 9/11, and most of us probably remember exactly what was happening when we actually heard the news, not necessarily when it actually happened.
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Whether your talking to someone, giving a sales pitch, or even picking someone up, keeping in mind these 6 stimuli will give your message more attraction to that instinctual part of your brain. Why is that such a big deal? When something appeals to your involuntary senses, it makes more sense to your voluntary senses to move forward or progress in that direction; it makes it more reasonable to come to an acceptance of it.
[ Sources: http://www.neuromarketing.com ; Entrepreneur.com – Is there a buy button? Inside the brain. ; Serendip.BrynMawr.edu – The Role of the Amygdala (paragraph 4) ]
God speed, and Best wishes.
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[GG] GN’s Gutbuster Thursday. Volume 3.
Well ladies and gentlemen, it’s the first of May. GTA IV has hit the shelves, spring is screwed up and it’s time for GN’s Gutbuster Thursday!
I would like to set a pseudo-theme for this edition. Classic memes. Yes, you’ve seen them, you’ve pooped your precious trolling pants, and it’s time to revisit it. There are millions, if not billions and trillions of memes out there, and every single one is considered to be ranked at the top, so, I give you a collection of those revered by myself, and those around me. Let’s start with some classic pictures.
Watch out!:
No, there will be no Rolling of Ricks in this post. However:
This next one is a shout out to a special someone; I totally remember them being THIS cool:
The longest joke in the world – read it all, DON’T skip ahead!
http://longestjokeintheworld.com/
How about YTMND! (make sure you open in Internet Explorer and refresh if no sound)
http://vadercoaster.ytmnd.com/
Finally, I give you a classic meme in internet history. Watch out for an R Kelly reference at 1:28!
http://www.omgvids.com/indian.php
God speed, and Best wishes.
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Listening to the rain while falling asleep.
Good evening everyone. Well, it’s the third Thursday of the month which is the day I set aside for RFID, however I’ve been drifting from the life articles I came to write, so for now RFID Thursdays is on hold.
For this week in Life with GN, I wanted to really get deeply back into gear, try something somewhat fresh. But most importantly, and what this research was aimed at doing, was show each of you the things you can truly appreciate in your life.
I’m not exactly sure where the inspiration has come from, although there are a few sources I can be sure of contributing…however, the last couple of days have been very reconstructive for who I am, and compared to the last 2 or so years, I feel like I have myself back, and it truly is the best I’ve felt my entire life. Of course, it might be tied with one or two other things. ; – ) I really want to pass some of that on to you. We live in a busy, stressful world, and taking the little things that are good in our life for granted is second nature to us.
So, I conducted a research survey among several people I know, some who aren’t very close to me, more of acquaintances, some that are really great friends and love dearly, and one that I’ve gotten really close to. The results were incredible. I wrote up and asked a series of 5 questions, which through feedback I learned were quite more challenging than I had expected. Nonetheless, everyone enjoyed answering them (to the best of my knowledge) and I hope they take what they shared as a deep refreshment to heart.
These were the 5 questions:
1. what are your top 3 best moments in life while in the comfort of your own privacy?
2. what are your top 3 best moments in life while in the company of your friends
3. what are your top 3 best moments in life work or school related?
4. what are your top 3 best memories in life?
5. <ask what their main hobby is> what are your top 3 favorite moments in life related to <main hobby here>?
The answers I received were all across the board. Some specific, some general. I’ll give you a few different responses for each question.
1. “When I’m walking around downtown in on of the city parks and listening to music in my room while reading.”
“Playing a series of notes on guitar accidentally, that I didn’t know I could.”
“Sitting on the roof, sometimes at night watching the stars behind the city lights.”
2. “Sitting on the roof on the Fourth of July during a torrental downpour with close friends, singing koombaya.”
“Riding home on the school bus with all of my friends.”
“Going on vacation, sky diving, surfing, etc.”
3. “Getting accepted into college, while being in high school.”
“Going to the opera with my Creative Writing class.”
“Receiving a scholarship for high school.”
4. “Ah it’s horrible, but funny! When at a ski resort, I was tobbogan racing with my sister. I was getting ahead of her when I noticed she flipped up and out of her sled! The first aid guy helped her out, and she was crying and laughing at the same time!”
“Finding the final pieces of who I am, after them having been scattered for almost 2 years.”
“When I found out I was going to England.”
5. “Three Weeks before a costume convention, our group got in costume and took pictures on my front lawn. People were walking and driving past staring at us, but it didn’t matter.”
“When I finished a manga series. It’s such a sad, beautiful piece and I was sad for it to be over, but glad too.”
“Building my first computer for myself, and it not exploding, and loading up correctly when I first turned it on.”
Finally, one of the best and most heart warming experiences I’ve heard to this day:
“I had spine surgery for scoliosis when I was younger. After I woke up, my dad stayed with me for the whole week. I remember the first time they made me walk, I was bawling, but my dad managed to keep his cool and cradled me in his arms to calm me down and lifted me off the stretcher, and helped me walk for the first time. I’ll never forget his gentleness.”
Feel free to answer these questions yourself as well. I then challenge you, send them to a close friend, or post them in a community you can trust, one that will provide constructive feedback, or keep them with you on paper or on your PDA and take them out when you need your spirit lifted. Share these questions with your friends, take them to work, school (you may be able to get some extra credit or kudos, perhaps use them for an assignment or two) get creative! Spread the joy.
[ Source: Inspiration from the wonderful people I know! ]
God speed, and Best wishes.
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First Sale Doctrine == $null? && RIAA == /diffused?
Hey faithful Underground readers. Normally I would post a life post, unfortunately it’s going to have to be delayed one week.
Currently, I am undergoing a project which collects the landmark events of digital history relating to piracy, laws on the electronic frontier, and the serious lack of competence and open minds in authority and political figures in today’s world.
I stumbled across this post yesterday, and felt it was my duty to link it and spread the news as much as possible. It’s yet again, a prime example of the ludicrous behaviors we see from the very people we entrust our sustenance and security to.
Essentially, Universal Media Group is [quoted] “saying that merely by putting some fine print on a CD, it can effectively ‘own’ that CD forever.”
I’ll let you read the article and decide for yourself.
Another few day old piece of news, is posted here by the magnificent crew over at Ars Technica, about some interesting RIAA developments. This adds a great outlook on the recent Andersen vs. RIAA case from a few weeks ago:
[ Sources: Article stumbled upon @ Silicon Valley.com ; LARGE PDF file of court case – EFF.org RIAA working diffusal – ArsTechnica.com ]
God speed, and Best wishes.
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Welcome to the Underground. 