I really want to read this book - Kluge by Gary Marcus

Los Angeles Times: Does your brain have a mind of its own?:

"Consider, for example, the difficulty that most people having in sticking to abstract goals like 'I intend to lose weight' or 'I plan to finish this article before the deadline.' Nice thoughts, but not formulated in terms that your ancestral, reflexive brain might understand. The work-around? Translate those abstract goals into a form your ancestral systems -- which traffic largely in dumb reflexes -- can understand: if-then. If you find yourself in a particular situation, then take a specific action: 'If I see French fries, then I will avoid them.' As Peter Gollwitzer, my colleague in New York University's department of psychology, has shown, even simple changes like these can markedly increase the chances of success."

Amazon.com: Subscribe & Save

This seems really cool. You just pick out items you order regularly but not weekly, like coffee or shampoo, and they send them to you automatically. I'm off to sign up...

Improve your typing.

My best score was 86 wpm. Could it possibly be true that someone types 511 wpm?

TypeRacer

Alan Watts and the South Park guys explain it all

Life & Music

Thanks to A brood comb for the link.

Something to make you cry

http://www.stservicemovie.com/

Minimal Achievement

This paper, "Strive for Minimal Achievement" by Barry Moltz, talks about something I'm learning more and more as I get older:

Stop planning, stop analyzing, stop asking questions, and to see what comes next. Go out and get it done. Only experience builds true confidence. So in our business strategy, we need to outlaw premeditated business. Stop waiting for the perfect moment, enough capital, the right team, the right market conditions, reliable customers, or desperate competitors. Forget about the “only if” game. It is delusional.

Eight-minute lessons are key to grades - JournalLive

Heard about this on The Productivity Show (see below). I thought it was faskinatin'.

Eight-minute lessons are key to grades - JournalLive:

"So youngsters at his North Tyneside school are receiving lessons lasting just eight minutes.

Then they have a 10-minute break.

Then the eight-minute lesson is repeated."