troubalex' log

First attempt at gardening. Ever.

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:58:21 +0200

First attempt at gardening. Ever.

Heia Norge!

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:14:51 +0200

Heia Norge!

Innevær.

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:24:35 +0200

Innevær.

HT goes to Maciej this time. Hilariously true.

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:47:48 +0200

HT goes to Maciej this time. Hilariously true.

HT to Marius for sending me this. I wish I had compile breaks...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:48:50 +0200

HT to Marius for sending me this. I wish I had compile breaks too…

"For years I’ve kept my secrets close to the vest. But no longer: today I will share with you my..."

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:43:32 +0200

“For years I’ve kept my secrets close to the vest. But no longer: today I will share with you my Ten-Step Plan for Working With Engineers. Or more to the point: how to make engineers do what you tell them to do.”

- How to work with software engineers - by Ken Norton

Beautiful summary. I am considering printing the article and framing it for the office wall.

Clearly, today is a Foo Fighters day. \m/

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:46:21 +0100

Clearly, today is a Foo Fighters day. \m/

"Brad Harrington, executive director of the Boston College Center for Work & Family, who has..."

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:10:23 +0100

“Brad Harrington, executive director of the Boston College Center for Work & Family, who has researched fatherhood and companies, says that when women have children the expectation is their commitment to their career will decrease. On the other hand, that of fathers will either remain unchanged or they will redouble their efforts at work. Mr Harrington calls it “the daddy premium versus the mummy penalty”.”

- Men must lean in to the family - FT.com

Great article by Emma Jacobs on FT.com. Go ahead and read it now, the sign up is worth it.

"FOLK NEUROSCIENCE Popular misconceptions ■ The “left-brain” is rational, the “right-brain” is..."

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 23:35:47 +0100

“

FOLK NEUROSCIENCE Popular misconceptions

■ The “left-brain” is rational, the “right-brain” is creative
The hemispheres have different specialisations (the left usually has key language areas, for example) but there is no clear rational-creative split and you need both hemispheres to be successful at either. You can no more do right-brain thinking than you can do rear-brain thinking.

■ Dopamine is a pleasure chemical
Dopamine has many functions in the brain, from supporting concentration to regulating the production of breast milk. Even in its most closely associated functioning it is usually considered to be involved in motivation (wanting) rather than the feeling of pleasure itself.

■ Low serotonin causes depression
A concept almost entirely promoted by pharmaceutical companies in the 1980s and 90s to sell serotonin-enhancing drugs like Prozac. No consistent evidence for it.

■ Video games, TV violence, porn or any other social spectre of the moment “rewires the brain”
Everything “rewires the brain” as the brain works by making and remaking connections. This is often used in a contradictory fashion to suggest that the brain is both particularly susceptible to change but once changed, can’t change back.

■ We have no control over our brain but we can control our mind
The mind and the brain are the same thing described in different ways and they make us who we are. Trying to suggest one causes the other is like saying wetness causes water.

”

- Vaughan Bell debunks the myths of “folk neuroscience.” Also see how neuroscience became popular culture. (via explore-blog)

I still haven’t quite figured out why Miss Piggy is...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:51:27 +0100

I still haven’t quite figured out why Miss Piggy is wearing this Egyptian outfit…

I might feel like I’m on vacation for quite a while…

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:26:19 +0100

I might feel like I’m on vacation for quite a while…

"Marissa Mayer has chosen to take on the momentous task of saving one of the largest technology..."

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 10:01:07 +0100

“Marissa Mayer has chosen to take on the momentous task of saving one of the largest technology companies in the world from irrelevance. If she can turn Yahoo around—making decisions as not only as a woman, but as a CEO navigating the business world as it exists today—that will be quite enough.”

- http://www.fastcompany.com/3006469/innovation-agents/let-marissa-mayer-do-her-job

This Tiny House By Richard Neutra Is A Masterpiece By Kyle...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:37:34 +0100

This Tiny House By Richard Neutra Is A Masterpiece
By Kyle VanHemert, fastcodesign.com

See how the modernist master worked his magic on a 1,000-square-foot home.
It’d be nice to live in a house built by a great architect, and you’d think the bigger the dwelling, the better. But as evidenced by this compact California home,…

Honey, we bought the wrong house…

… because it grooooooooves!

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:33:16 +0100

… because it grooooooooves!

Depressingly beautiful song which I am happy I backed on...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:35:43 +0100

Depressingly beautiful song which I am happy I backed on Kickstarter. Go, Amanda!

Giving Girls a Startup Chance in Silicon Valley Lauren Wilson,...

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 22:23:31 +0100

Giving Girls a Startup Chance in Silicon Valley
Lauren Wilson, allthingsd.com

Sixteen tables line the sides of the showcase at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Grinning merchants man each one, enticing customers with their wares. For these startups, it’s their chance to make that major sale and…

Quite a nice idea, and a VERY Silicon Valley one.

Me, this week. Secret weapon: determination. Adversary: a big...

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:22:00 +0100

Me, this week.

Secret weapon: determination. Adversary: a big hairy ball of web content.

Today is a Feist-day. Which is a good thing.

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:13:12 +0100

Today is a Feist-day. Which is a good thing.

"1. Linguistic Intelligence: the capacity to use language to express what’s on your mind and to..."

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:04:29 +0100

“

1. Linguistic Intelligence: the capacity to use language to express what’s on your mind and to understand other people. Any kind of writer, orator, speaker, lawyer, or other person for whom language is an important stock in trade has great linguistic intelligence.

2. Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: the capacity to understand the underlying principles of some kind of causal system, the way a scientist or a logician does; or to manipulate numbers, quantities, and operations, the way a mathematician does.

3. Musical Rhythmic Intelligence: the capacity to think in music; to be able to hear patterns, recognize them, and perhaps manipulate them. People who have strong musical intelligence don’t just remember music easily, they can’t get it out of their minds, it’s so omnipresent.

4. Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: the capacity to use your whole body or parts of your body (your hands, your fingers, your arms) to solve a problem, make something, or put on some kind of production. The most evident examples are people in athletics or the performing arts, particularly dancing or acting.

5. Spatial Intelligence: the ability to represent the spatial world internally in your mind — the way a sailor or airplane pilot navigates the large spatial world, or the way a chess player or sculptor represents a more circumscribed spatial world. Spatial intelligence can be used in the arts or in the sciences.

6. Naturalist Intelligence: the ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) and sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef.

7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: having an understanding of yourself; knowing who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avoid, and which things to gravitate toward. We are drawn to people who have a good understanding of themselves. They tend to know what they can and can’t do, and to know where to go if they need help.

8. Interpersonal Intelligence: the ability to understand other people. It’s an ability we all need, but is especially important for teachers, clinicians, salespersons, or politicians — anybody who deals with other people.

9. Existential Intelligence: the ability and proclivity to pose (and ponder) questions about life, death, and ultimate realities.

”

- Howard Gardner’s seminal Theory of Multiple Intelligences, originally published in 1983, which revolutionized psychology and education by offering a more dimensional conception of intelligence than the narrow measures traditional standardized tests had long applied. (via explore-blog)

Pau Giner: Design talks at FOSDEM 2013

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:44:30 +0100

Pau Giner: Design talks at FOSDEM 2013:

pauginer:

Last weekend I attended FOSDEM 2013 in Brussels. This year there were more people and more talks than last edition (about 7000 estimated visitors and 486 lectures). The weather was also nicer, but that was not difficult to improve considering the -14°C of last year.

At the…

I was pleasantly surprised as well. Nice write-up, Pau! :)