Praise for Effort::James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive

Andy Bowen, project manager and principal developer of the Nereus, an ROV that explored Challenger Deep in 2009, said a manned mission also has the potential to inspire public imagination in a way a robot can’t.
“It’s difficult to anthropomorphize machines in a way that engages everyone’s imagination—not in the same way that having boots on the ground, so to speak, can do,” said Bowen, who’s not an expedition member.
Biological oceanographer Lisa Levin, also at Scripps, said that the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE program’s potential for generating public interest in deep-ocean science is as important as any new species Cameron might have discovered.
“I consider Cameron to be doing for the trenches what Jacques Cousteau did for the ocean many decades ago,” said Levin, who’s part of the team but did not participate in the seagoing expedition.
At a time of fast-shrinking funds for undersea research, “what scientists need is the public support to be able to continue exploration and research of the deep ocean,” Levin said.
(Video: Cameron Dive First Attempt in Over 50 Years.)
Perhaps referring to his friend’s most recent movie, expedition physician MacInnis called Cameron a real-world “avatar.”
“He’s down there on behalf of everybody else on this planet,” he said. “There are seven billion people who can’t go, and he can. And he’s aware of that.”
For his part, Cameron seems sure that the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER will be exploring the depths for a long time to come. In fact, he’s so confident in his star vehicle, he started mulling sequels even before today’s trench dive.
Phase two might include adding a thin fiber-optic tether to the ship, which “would allow science observers at the surface to see the images in real time,” said Cameron, a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence.
via James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive.

rePost::No green light for Carlos Celdran’s last performative tour in Art Dubai « mARTching thoughts

It was without a doubt, a drama worth telling. Carlos Celdran was questioned of his performative tour and was distanced to the Art Dubai hallway in order to finish his on-going tour. With everyone’s amazement, the content of his tour was scrutinized. He was ordered to do his act in front of five men in a close door room where they justify if Carlos somehow talks of Arab nations. As he was released he was told to alter any religious and political content of his tour.
I remember in one of his stop, Carlos talked about the Tripoli Peace Agreement between former Libya leader Ghaddafi and Mrs. Imelda Marcos. In that particular context Carlos told his audience that Mrs. Marcos held a Koran with her as she spoke these words to Ghadafi “Islam is all about peace, but if you are funding a war in my country you are turning Filipino to fight against Filipino, you are also turning Muslim to fight against Muslim. If you are doing this, how then are you following Mohammed?”
via No green light for Carlos Celdran’s last performative tour in Art Dubai « mARTching thoughts.

rePost::How Companies Learn Your Secrets – NYTimes.com

Once I figured out all the parts of the loop, it seemed fairly easy to change my habit. But the psychologists and neuroscientists warned me that, for my new behavior to stick, I needed to abide by the same principle that guided Procter & Gamble in selling Febreze: To shift the routine — to socialize, rather than eat a cookie — I needed to piggyback on an existing habit. So now, every day around 3:30, I stand up, look around the newsroom for someone to talk to, spend 10 minutes gossiping, then go back to my desk. The cue and reward have stayed the same. Only the routine has shifted. It doesn’t feel like a decision, any more than the M.I.T. rats made a decision to run through the maze. It’s now a habit. I’ve lost 21 pounds since then (12 of them from changing my cookie ritual).
via How Companies Learn Your Secrets – NYTimes.com.

rePost::10 Lessons from Einstein — Paulo Coelho's Blog

10 Lessons from Einstein
by PAULO COELHO on MARCH 16, 2012
1. Follow Your Curiosity “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
2. Perseverance is Priceless “It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
3. Focus on the Present “Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”
4. The Imagination is Powerful “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
5. Make Mistakes “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
6. Live in the Moment “I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.”
7. Create Value “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”
8. Don’t be repetitive “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
9. Knowledge Comes From Experience “Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience.”
10. Learn the Rules and Then Play Better “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”
via 10 Lessons from Einstein — Paulo Coelho’s Blog.

rePost::Genius

Genius
There is usually an inverse relationship between quality and quantity. Start speeding up that production line, and Lucy can’t keep up with the chocolates on the conveyor. Stuff starts to go sideways.
Telling your top thinkers to think harder, isn’t going to get you better thoughts, it’s just going to piss them off and probably get the opposite result.
On the other hand, if you know that you can turn the dial up at most sausage factories, and get well, more sausage.
Advice to those people who manage geniuses: Careful about fiddling with the knobs.
via.

rePost::How to change the world!::This column will change your life: small victories | Oliver Burkeman | Life and style | The Guardian

Almost 30 years ago, the organisational theorist Karl Weick made an observation that campaigners on everything from global warming to homelessness have been ignoring ever since. Sometimes, he pointed out, convincing the world that you’re fighting a Very Serious Problem actually makes it harder to solve. In a paper entitled Small Wins: Redefining The Scale Of Social Problems, Weick argued that perceiving challenges as huge made people seize up – disabling “the very resources of thought and action needed to change them”. The history of gay rights, feminism and environmentalism, he claimed, showed that pursuing little victories was the better plan. They delivered quick motivation boosts, triggering a snowball effect. Want to change the world? First, stop trying to change the world.
via This column will change your life: small victories | Oliver Burkeman | Life and style | The Guardian.