Hard work (practice) makes the difference

Op-Ed Columnist - Genius - The Modern View - NYTimes.com:

"The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft."

and later:

"The mind wants to turn deliberate, newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. But the mind is sloppy and will settle for good enough. By practicing slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, the strenuous student forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance."

thanks to Lura_Forcum

Follow Joe D's 2,000-mile bike trek for charity - Pro Football Hall of Fame

TRAVEL LOG - Follow Joe D's 2,000-mile bike trek for charity - Pro Football Hall of Fame:

"Pro Football Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure was a passionate player during his career with the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns from 1973-1985. He was...voted to six Pro Bowls, named All-Pro and All-AFC six straight seasons and is a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1970s. In 2003, he earned the highest honor in football when he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

So, it comes as little surprise that Joe would ride a bicycle 2,000 miles to raise money for an orphanage. That’s exactly what DeLamielleure and two former Michigan State teammates John Shinsky and Eljay Bowron, are doing from April 25 through May 12.

SUPPORT JOE AND WIN - Joe is offering prizes to those who support his cause. Anyone who donates $100 or more will automatically be entered into a drawing. Thanks to the genorosity of the Buffalo Bills, the first and second place prizes are both a pair of Super Bowl tickets. Third place is Joe D! He'll come and barbeque at your house. "

Among the swine flu mysteries: Why only deaths in Mexico? - CNN.com

Among the swine flu mysteries: Why only deaths in Mexico? - CNN.com:

"'Do we really know all of the cases that existed in Mexico or is this just the tip of the iceberg?' asked Louis Sullivan, a physician and former head of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush.

McKenna said it's possible 'there is much more flu in Mexico than we know because it hasn't been counted. That would mean that there are mild cases there as well, but that you have to get to a certain number of cases before, statistically, you start to see the very serious ones, and the U.S. hasn't had that many cases yet.'"

Teams Are Not Innovative When Under Constant Time Pressure

Teams Are Not Innovative When Under Constant Time Pressure:

"At first, Putkonen explains, mental workload, time pressure, and deadlines can have a positive effect on productivity. This is the conventional wisdom encapsulated in the phrase: 'I work best under pressure' often uttered by creative individuals and members of terms working in design and related areas where timing is often critical to success. However, this benefit usually only has a positive impact in the short term, Putkonen's study shows.

There are, he has demonstrated potentially negative effects in the long term because time pressure eventually leads to delayed mental fatigue, which affects quality and productivity detrimentally in the long term. Moreover, he says, mental fatigue decreases work engagement, which in turn reduces the innovativeness of a design group."

Long Tails

Good ten minute video of Long Tails. Definitely recommended!

20th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Protests - Yahoo! News Photos

20th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Protests - Yahoo! News Photos:

"Police pass the People's Heroes Monument in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Stricter monitoring measures are being introduced in all Chinese jails after at least 15 people died in unusual circumstances this year alone, state media has reported."

Google News Timeline: A Glorious, Intriguing Time Sink - PC World

Google News Timeline: A Glorious, Intriguing Time Sink - PC World:

"This new Google Labs feature, which organizes news stories and other information by date, looks to be the biggest, funnest time waster since we all spent hours exploring the globe with Google Earth....News Timeline is mostly a new way to look at the same material that you can find through Google News Search. The Google engineer who built it, Andy Hertzfeld, says he was inspired by Google Maps, but instead of letting people navigate through space, he wanted to let them navigate through time"