Ulule - 1er site de financement participatif européen How to Take Notes Like an Alpha-Geek I take notes like some people take drugs. There is an eight-foot stretch of shelves in my house containing nothing but full notebooks. Some would call this hypergraphia (Dostoevsky was a member of this club), but I trust the weakest pen more than the strongest memory, and note taking is—in my experience—one of the most important skills for converting excessive information into precise action and follow-up. Simple but effective note taking enables me to: -Review book highlights in less than 10 minutes -Connect scattered notes on a single theme in 10 minutes that would otherwise require dozens of hours -Contact and connect mentors with relevant questions and help I can offer -Impose structure on information for increased retention and recall I fashion myself a note-taking geek of the first class. “Someone with an intense curiosity about a specific subject. Indexing AJ Jacobs’ latest book (click to enlarge all thumbnails) A. B. Brainstorming blog post topics and paginating on the right-hand pages
Why We Have Our Best Ideas in the Shower: The Science of Creativity - - The Buffer Blog “I’m not really a creative person”, always struck me as an odd sentence. Could it really be that some of us are born to be more creatively gifted than others? If so, I thought at first, that’s definitely a downer. In school, what was considered “being creative”, like writing or drawing nice pictures was never my strength. It bugged me for a while I have to say. For today, I finally decided to research and read up on the latest studies of creativity and the science behind it. And the following science will hopefully prove it, in case you ever had any doubts about your own creativity. “A creative idea will be defined simply as one that is both novel and useful (or influential) in a particular social setting.” – Alice Flaherty This applies to every field Flaherty explains, including programming, business, mathematics together with the more traditional “creative” fields, such as music or drawing. Our brain on creativity: The example of free-style rap To make it a bit more understandable:
21 Brilliant Productivity Tools Every College Student Must Use If you ask a college student about productivity, he won't have much to say. And you really can't blame him. He leads a dynamic life where academics and fun go hand in hand, with the latter becoming a more important activity most of the times. However, with the advent of internet and web 2.0, a college student now has access to so many amazing tools that he could finish up his work as well as enjoy life to the fullest without the guilt. Research and Taking Notes 1.Questia Questia is an excellent online research tool which features a huge web based library of magazines, books, journals, papers, articles and much more. Although you need to pay about $19.95 per month for its membership, you could save on books and magazines you buy if you subscribe to it. 2.Free Book Notes Free Book Notes, as the name suggests is a collection of free book notes, summaries, study guides and similar material aggregated from the internet. 3.Wikipedia 4.Notely 5.Evernote 6.Google Docs 7. 8.Noodletools Communication
Six Lessons That Might Have Saved Our Business Had We Learned Them Earlier Six Lessons That Might Have Saved Our Business Had We Learned Them Earlier I don’t care what anyone says. Failing sucks - especially when it comes to your startup. It’s like being kicked hard in the shins right after being dumped, all while standing in the pouring rain with no cabs in sight, only to have a huge truck drive by and splash mud all over you. Photo by rawlands It’s only when you’ve hit rock bottom that you can start getting back up though, right? Today we announced that we’re shutting down our startup, Path.To , which you can read all about here . This post, however, isn’t so much about that announcement. Here are the top six things we’ve learned during our time growing Path.To: 1) Don’t wait to solidify your monetization strategy. “A ‘build it and they will come’ mentality has taken over the startup space. We started out with the strong belief that if we could build up a large, impressive user base, that the customers would follow. 2) Technology alone isn’t the solution.
» A Guide to Beating the Fears That Are Holding You Back “Every time we choose safety, we reinforce fear.” - Cheri Huber Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. Fear of something bad happening in the future is one of the things that make us human. Animals might fear an immediate danger, that is happening right now, but only we fear something that might happen, that isn’t happening now, that isn’t even showing its ugly face at the moment. This fear, some might say, is necessary … it stops us from doing something stupid. I recently asked my Twitter friends: “What fear is holding you back?” failureabandonment/rejectionintimacysuccessbeing brokenot being good enough I think the last one — not being good enough — is actually at the root of all the others. Do you have this fear? But here’s the thing: having the fear is natural. I did this, for well over a decade of my adult life. It turned out that my fears were baseless. How can you do this? “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” - Sven Goran Eriksson Also reading:
Student Persistence in Online Courses: Understanding the Key Factors March 27, 2013 By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog Who should be taking online courses? Are online courses equally appropriate for all students? Can any content be taught in an online format or do some kinds of material lend themselves to mastery in an electronic environment? Who should be teaching these courses? Most of these questions are being answered in stages by research inquiries that address smaller issues related to these larger questions. Her review is based on 20 studies published since 1999. Satisfaction with online learning – Not surprising, students who are satisfied with online courses and programs persist. A sense of belonging to a learning community – Students who are comfortable establishing relationships in an online environment tend to persist at higher rates. Peer and family support – Those learning in online environments more often successfully complete courses if they have peer and family support. Reference: Hart, C. (2012). Recent Trackbacks
Imagine a Musical Interface, Mirror it on Your iPad: Max + Mira Start with any creation, and touch it right away from the iPad, with Max (or Max for Live). Photo courtesy Cycling ’74. I heard David Zicarelli once describe Max as a blank sheet of paper – a canvas on which you can imagine any musical creation. Until now, though, there’s been no way to touch those creations directly – other than with a mouse. Mira is a lovely solution to that idea. As users “patch,” visually creating tools in Max, objects that impact user interface interaction (knobs, faders, buttons, musical keyboards and the like) are visible both on your computer screen and on your iPad. The app works with Max for Live, too. For those of us who have spent ages testing patches clumsily with the mouse, the potential is simply lovely. Mira costs US$49.99, so priced at the same rate as Lemur. The iPad serves as a remote control for Max patches, supporting a range of UI objects – including new ones created for touch and motion. The iPad and desktop sync wirelessly. Mira on the App Store
12 Powerful New Ideas For 21st Century Learning How we learn is changing in response to a changing environment, from fluid digital environments to constant access to information, incredible peer networks to learning simulations, 21st century learning is teeming with possible learning pathways. So it seemed appropriate to take a look at a handful of these new approaches–not so much formal learning approaches such as project-based learning or mobile learning, but rather some of the platforms and tools themselves. The immediate benefit is to take inventory in what’s available now. But picture, we can kind of trace a line through these emerging approaches to get an idea of where learning is headed, and what we might expect in the next 3-5 years as the blistering pace of changes continue–and how the “crowd” will be a part of it all. 1. Summary A search engine to help you find the information you’re looking for. What Makes It Special 2. User-generated video content on any topic imaginable. 3. 4. A democratic government (and citizenship?) 5. 7.
Do You Know the Difference Between a Copywriter and a Copyright? Do You Know the Difference Between a Copywriter and a Copyright?What You Don’t Know Could Be Costing You Money All leading companies and brands use professional copywriters to make everything from their pay-per-click ads to their web pages, flyers, newsletters, and brochures. A Copywriter is a sales professional who is skilled at crafting copy that inspires the reader to take action, whether it’s a request for more information or to make a purchase. Smart company’s hire professional copywriters not because the CEO doesn’t have time to write the company blog (which she doesn’t), but because they understand that copywriting is a valuable selling and branding tool, vital to the well-being of their company. A Copyright is what you do once your branded content has been created. Copy Sells 24/7 Most new business owners regard copywriting as a nuisance, something that they have to do themselves until they can hire an assistant to do it for them. Copywriting is both a craft and a science.