五師兄字

The Monkey’s Paw

【Warning：This is a scary story!】

Have you ever wonder what you would wish for if you are granted the three wishes? The clip below is a modern adaptation of the classic story “The Monkey’s Paw” written by W.W. Jacobs back in 1902.

To read the original story, please come here.

This story makes me think of a recent movie “The Box” (by Cameron Diaz) and another short film with similar theme “Black Button“.

The Elephant and its Rider

“Our emotional is an Elephant and our rational side is its Rider. Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader. But the Rider’s control is precarious because the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant. Anytime the six-ton Elephant and the Rider disagree about which direction to go, the Rider is going to lose. He’s completely overmatched.”

“The weakness of the Elephant, our emotional and instinctive side, is clear: It’s lazy and skittish, often looking for the quick payoff (ice cream cone) over the long-term payoff (being thin)… … Changes often fail because the Rider simply can’t keep the Elephant on the road long enough to reach the destination… … Elephant’s hunger for instant gratification is the opposite of the Rider’s strength, which is the ability to think long-term, to plan, to think beyond the moment”

“But… … the Elephant isn’t always the bad guy. Emotion is the Elephant’s turf — love and compassion and sympathy and loyalty… … the elephant is the one who gets things done. To make progress toward a goal… … requires the energy and drive of the Elephant.”

“If you want to change things, you’ve got to appeal to both. The Rider provides the planning and direction and the Elephant provides the energy.”

~ by Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their new book “Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard“, quoting a concept by Jonathan Haidt stated in his book “The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom“

Bill Gates on energy: Innovating to zero!

Bill Gates, practically the single man who holds largest amount of resources personally in the world, gave a talk about how the planet could be saved in the TED2010 conference. Climate changes and green energy are the hot topics in the recent years. And despite the fact that someone pointed out that it could all be just a “Global Warming Hoax” (and even IPCC admitted that there were some wrong doing during the research process), the topics remain a vital theme of our generation because it is too risky to ignore even we are not 100% sure.

And I won’t choose to ignore it also because it is from the mind of Bill Gates. Imagine the resources and influences that he could have on anything that he endorses. The best part is that his influences are not based on his position (as CEO of a company or the President of a nation) but on his personal merit. That’s something quite different.

Two things to note in his speech. For one, he proposed an equation: CO2 = P x S x E x C. He pointed out that we could not control much on the population growth and reduce much on the services that these population consumes (these two factors are the “demand” component of the equation). I believe that this assumption is somewhat realistic and practical, and thus much easier for a developed middle-class driven country like the U.S. to feel comfortable with. However, I guess he could have also make a wish on how we could “reinvent” our daily life and save a lot of CO2 in the “S” part. I know it is much easier to be said than done, but it would still be very influential if it is coming out from the mouth of Bill Gates (as compared to, say, Mr. Al Gore).

The second thing to note in the speech is about the second part of the equation “E” and “C”. The most significant take away from that is his project in investigating how to burn U238 instead of the existing U235 as a nuclear fuel. It is significant because firstly we have abundance of U238 (as in nature and also as a waste by-product of burning U235), and by doing so we could have a tremendous improvement in fuel efficiency. We know that we need a huge technological breakthrough to achieve this, but if Bill Gates is putting his funds into this, the hope is much higher.

It is truly significant also because it demonstrates how the mind of an entrepreneur (with lots of resources) works: he realised that the existing approaches (of cutting consumptions, lobbying amount nations) won’t work in the long run anyway, so he innovates. He proposes a dramatic solution that other people could not achieve by their incremental improvements. Whether he has already got the best (or even correct) idea, we won’t know, at least for now. And it doesn’t matter, as this approach is more dynamic, innovative and meaningful compared to the argument and frustration we have with all the other approaches.

I admire his effort and his vision. At least much better than how he ran his Microsoft empire.

Further Readings:
2010 Annual Letter from Bill Gates
The Gates Notes

Stay

This is the song “Stay” by Lisa Loeb.  I love this song so much.  It strikes a chord with my soul although I don’t think I could have any experience described in the lyrics.  Perhaps it is the tune or her voice.  Or perhaps it is the movie “Reality Bite“.

It makes me think of Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawk, bad coffee, chain smoking, couch pizza and AIDS (but not much about Ben Stiller or the big mouth girl “Vickie” or the other room mate “Sammy” ~ I don’t even know their real name!). This movie is a 90’s classic. And so as the song.

I am glad that Lisa Loeb is still around (with the same old pair of glasses apparently) and doing well (before I searched for her, I thought she was a one-hit-wonder…)

The Value of the Work

The work earns its true value only after it is shipped (or else, after the artist’s death). Anything before that could be a plan, could be a dream, or could be nothing.

So that’s why I am working hard on it now. See ya later.

Photo credit: The final exhibit in Keith Haring Show, Milan (2005), taken by brtsergio via Flickr.com

Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain

“You Don’t Need More Genius.
You Need Less Resistance.”

Aimee Mullins: The opportunity of adversity

A powerful speech by Aimee Mullins, named one of the most beautiful athlete, actress, and fashion model, without any leg.

Quote:

“The human ability to adapt is our greatest asset.”

About how she feel against the term — “overcoming adversity” “Adversity isn’t an obstacle that we need to get around in order to resume living our life. It’s part of our life.”

“The question isn’t whether or not you gonna meet adversity, but how you gonna meet it.”… … “So our responsiblity is not simply shielding those we care for from adversity, but preparing them to meet it well”.

“Perhaps the existing model of only looking at what is broken in you and how do we fix it serves to be more disabling to the individual than the pathology itself.”

Video source: Ted.com
Photo source: David Shankbone via Wiki

Strength

“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.” ~ Stephen Covey

Two Practical Applications for Augmented Reality

USPS Priority Mail Simulator:

Rayban Virtual Mirror Webcam Application:

A Finish To Remember

This amazing come back by Jazz makes me recall the game between Liverpool and AC Milan many many years ago. Of course this one is even more inspiring because it has the essence of the story of David and Goliath.

For the long story (of how Jazz and Sundiata Gaines beat Lebron James), please visit henryporter’s blog.