Friday, 18 January 2013
Video: Edd's Film within Films (Part 1-2-3)
This is a 3-part video i found on YouTube which in my humble opinion is trully amazing. This talented guy has edited quotes and scenes from over 50 movies and speeches in a flowing philosophical journey about life, full of adventure and love:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
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Description:
The Paradox of our time:
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers
Wider motorways, but narrower viewpoints
We spend more, but have less
We buy more, but enjoy less
We have bigger houses and smaller families
More conveniences, but less time
We have more degrees, but less sense
More knowledge, but less judgement
More experts, yet more problems
More medicine, but less wellness
We drink to much, smoke to much, spend to recklessly, laugh to little, drive to fast, get to angry, stay up to late, get up to tired, read to little, watch TV to much, and pray to seldom
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values
We talk to much, love to little, and hate to often
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life
We've added years to life, not life to years
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor
We conquered outer space, but not inner space
We've done bigger things, but not better things
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul
We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice
We write more, but learn less
We plan more, but accomplish less
We've learned to rush, but not to wait
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion
Big men, and small character
Steep profits, and shallow relationships
These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce
Fancier houses, but broken homes
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom
A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side
Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a thing
Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it
A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again
Give time to love, give time to speak and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away
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I hope you enjoy it as much as i did!!
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Article: Think yourself well
Original Article written for the Economist - Saturday 8, December 2012
Why this happens, though, is only slowly becoming understood. What is needed is an experiment that points out specific and measurable ways in which such emotions alter an individual’s biology. And a study published in Psychological Science, by Barbara Fredrickson and Bethany Kok at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, does precisely that.
Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok concentrated their attentions on the vagus nerve. This nerve (illustrated right, in an early anatomical drawing) starts in the brain and runs, via numerous branches, to several thoracic and abdominal organs including the heart. Among its jobs is to send signals telling that organ to slow down during moments of calm and safety.
How effectively the vagus nerve is working can be tracked by monitoring someone’s heart rate as he breathes in and out. Healthy vagal function is reflected in a subtle increase in heart rate while breathing in and a subtle decrease while breathing out. The difference yields an index of vagal tone, and the value of this index is known to be connected with health. Low values are, for example, linked to inflammation and heart attacks.
What particularly interested Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok was recent work that showed something else about the vagal-tone index: people with high tone are better than those with low at stopping bad feelings getting overblown. They also show more positive emotions in general. This may provide the missing link between emotional well-being and physical health. In particular, the two researchers found, during a preliminary study they carried out in 2010, that the vagal-tone values of those who experience positive emotions over a period of time go up. This left them wondering whether positive emotions and vagal tone drive one another in a virtuous spiral. They therefore conducted an experiment on 65 of the university’s staff, to try to find out.
They measured all of their volunteers’ vagal tones at the beginning of the experiment and at its conclusion nine weeks later. In between, the volunteers were asked to go each evening to a website especially designed for the purpose, and rate their most powerful emotional experiences that day. Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok asked their volunteers to consider nine positive emotions, such as hope, joy and love, and 11 negative ones, including anger, boredom and disgust. They were asked to rate, on a five-point scale,
THE link between mind and body is terrain into which many medical researchers, fearing ridicule, dare not tread. But perhaps more should do so. For centuries, doctors have recognised the placebo effect, in which the illusion of treatment, such as pills without an active ingredient, produces real medical benefits. More recently, respectable research has demonstrated that those who frequently experience positive emotions live longer and healthier lives. They have fewer heart attacks, for example, and fewer colds too.
Why this happens, though, is only slowly becoming understood. What is needed is an experiment that points out specific and measurable ways in which such emotions alter an individual’s biology. And a study published in Psychological Science, by Barbara Fredrickson and Bethany Kok at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, does precisely that.
Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok concentrated their attentions on the vagus nerve. This nerve (illustrated right, in an early anatomical drawing) starts in the brain and runs, via numerous branches, to several thoracic and abdominal organs including the heart. Among its jobs is to send signals telling that organ to slow down during moments of calm and safety.
How effectively the vagus nerve is working can be tracked by monitoring someone’s heart rate as he breathes in and out. Healthy vagal function is reflected in a subtle increase in heart rate while breathing in and a subtle decrease while breathing out. The difference yields an index of vagal tone, and the value of this index is known to be connected with health. Low values are, for example, linked to inflammation and heart attacks.
What particularly interested Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok was recent work that showed something else about the vagal-tone index: people with high tone are better than those with low at stopping bad feelings getting overblown. They also show more positive emotions in general. This may provide the missing link between emotional well-being and physical health. In particular, the two researchers found, during a preliminary study they carried out in 2010, that the vagal-tone values of those who experience positive emotions over a period of time go up. This left them wondering whether positive emotions and vagal tone drive one another in a virtuous spiral. They therefore conducted an experiment on 65 of the university’s staff, to try to find out.
They measured all of their volunteers’ vagal tones at the beginning of the experiment and at its conclusion nine weeks later. In between, the volunteers were asked to go each evening to a website especially designed for the purpose, and rate their most powerful emotional experiences that day. Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok asked their volunteers to consider nine positive emotions, such as hope, joy and love, and 11 negative ones, including anger, boredom and disgust. They were asked to rate, on a five-point scale,
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Video: Interview with Aaron Swartz for SpunOut.ie
An amazing interview with charismatic Aaron Swartz, three years before his death.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Article: Aaron Swartz, Coder and Activist, Dead at 26
Original Article written by Kevin Poulsen for WIRED - Saturday 12, January 2013
We often say, upon the passing of a friend or loved one, that the world is a poorer place for the loss. But with the untimely death of programmer and activist Aaron Swartz, this isn’t just a sentiment; it’s literally true. Worthy, important causes will surface without a champion equal to their measure. Technological problems will go unsolved, or be solved a little less brilliantly than they might have been. And that’s just what we know. The world is robbed of a half-century of all the things we can’t even imagine Aaron would have accomplished with the remainder of his life.
Aaron Swartz committed suicide Friday in New York. He was 26 years old.
When he was 14 years old, Aaron helped develop the RSS standard; he went on to found Infogami, which became part of Reddit. But more than anything Aaron was a coder with a conscience: a tireless and talented hacker who poured his energy into issues like network neutrality, copyright reform and information freedom. Among countless causes, he worked with Larry Lessig at the launch of the Creative Commons, architected the Internet Archive’s free public catalog of books, OpenLibrary.org, and in 2010 founded Demand Progress, a non-profit group that helped drive successful grassroots opposition to SOPA last year.
“Aaron was steadfast in his dedication to building a better and open world,” writes Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle. “He is among the best spirits of the Internet generation. I
We often say, upon the passing of a friend or loved one, that the world is a poorer place for the loss. But with the untimely death of programmer and activist Aaron Swartz, this isn’t just a sentiment; it’s literally true. Worthy, important causes will surface without a champion equal to their measure. Technological problems will go unsolved, or be solved a little less brilliantly than they might have been. And that’s just what we know. The world is robbed of a half-century of all the things we can’t even imagine Aaron would have accomplished with the remainder of his life.
Aaron Swartz committed suicide Friday in New York. He was 26 years old.
When he was 14 years old, Aaron helped develop the RSS standard; he went on to found Infogami, which became part of Reddit. But more than anything Aaron was a coder with a conscience: a tireless and talented hacker who poured his energy into issues like network neutrality, copyright reform and information freedom. Among countless causes, he worked with Larry Lessig at the launch of the Creative Commons, architected the Internet Archive’s free public catalog of books, OpenLibrary.org, and in 2010 founded Demand Progress, a non-profit group that helped drive successful grassroots opposition to SOPA last year.
“Aaron was steadfast in his dedication to building a better and open world,” writes Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle. “He is among the best spirits of the Internet generation. I
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Video: Alan Watts - Music and Life
A meeting of minds: Audio excerpts of Alan Watts lectures put to animations by the producers of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Video: Cosmic Quandaries with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. It was announced on August 5, 2011, that Tyson will be hosting a new sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage television series.
An out of this world event, Cosmic Quandaries, held at The Palladium in St. Petersburg at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26th drew in an audience of nearly 800! With a one in a million chance of meeting one of only 6,000 astrophysicists in the world, audience members were lined up in order to have the opportunity to ask Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson a question on any and all galactic wonders they may have.
An amazing one and a half hour conversation that will make you think, laugh and enjoy the way the universe is illustrated.
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
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