Interesting Quote on Talent

"To do easily what is difficult for others is the mark of talent. To do what is impossible for talent is the mark of genius."                                                                               - Henri-Frédéric Amiel                   
This quote suggests our talents lie in what is hard work for most and merely play for us. It goes into that sense of automated flow where your mind does complex thinking with serious accuracy - and yet feels no strain in the vast curiosity to continue.

Perhaps it even explains the phenomenon behind those who practice rare and extremely difficult tasks to eventually find them easier as they adapt.

People are certainly born with talents, but what spurs the extraordinary motivation to develop talents we aren't born with? Maybe these concepts are one of the same - and it's the high curiosity towards certain things that almost coerces us to develop these talents.

Then to go beyond talent - perhaps by surprise - can definitely leave the world with a genius new piece of information. Something that breaks the conventional pattern of talent.

Often the history behind genius ideas reveals them occurring in spontaneous eureka moments when everything falls into place. A bit of mental flow beyond the conventional train of thought when you least suspect it.

Interesting Quote on Goals

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals."
                        - Henry David Thoreau
                
This quote sounds simple, but is too easily forgotten.  There are certainly gains of materials in life, but we have to remember the long-term achievement is in the self.  Who we become in the months and years that pass.

Does this relate to exercise as well? It sure does and it also says a balance between mental and physical gains are needed to truly feel accomplished in our life.

Interesting Quote on Planning

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”
                                                                                                      -John Lennon

 
Life really does occur consistently, plans or not.  This quote suggests our personal narratives in life - our history - is not driven through planning or achievement alone.  But the unpredictable spontaneity defines even more of who we truly are outside of the plans.

So between our desired plans and empirical outcomes of the planning - it's the experience that matters most.  Perhaps the sheer planning and execution of the plans is the most lively experience of all.  Especially in the last moments of achieving or surpassing a plan's goal.

College Finals & Bruce Lee Quotes

bruceleedivinewind.com

Having 7 finals this semester (the hardest one yet) is no easy task - but I'm making progress and keeping calm.  Especially with the luck I've been having - getting 2 of them complete ahead of schedule.

Relaxing into solutions is often a key strategy to use your time wisely and constantly keep an eye on the study strategies.

Some of my favorite sources of inspiration are Bruce Lee quotes.  Here are some to share for everyone else facing tense deadlines before the holidays. 

      "It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential."                          

                                                                                                                          

        “Don't fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”                                                                                                                                                  - Bruce Lee 

                                                                                                                                                               

Tech Quote: Software holds back Hardware

"It's hardware that makes a machine fast. 
It's software that makes a fast machine slow. "
- Craig Bruce

Whether your watching YouTube videos or browsing Facebook, your computer's performance is constantly held back by the amount of data it constantly has to manage. Performance is especially important these days with a media-centered internet.

In most cases, your favorite websites load most smoothly on the most simple and maintained machines. Always think carefully about whether you really need something stored on your immediate computer or on an external drive. Install only what is essential and only keep everything else as long as you need it.

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson

Besides using virus protection and defragging cluttered hard drives, the mere practice of keeping most of your data on drives separate from the Operating System can seriously improve performance. Better yet, having the data on external drives that are only used when you actually need the data can improve things further.

It seems like no matter how powerful your system is, the more data and drives you have - the less performance you'll get. Operating systems are especially notorious for getting slow with both the age and quantity of software on them.

Even with speedy Solid-State drives, the data itself can accumulate new burdens on the system overtime.
 Then there's data corruption that can cause the most unpredictable bizarre behavior, unlike faulty hardware that usually just shuts off entirely.

The speed of storage is progressing slower than all the other parts because it is the most complex to deal with. There's all kinds of tweaks and tools to cash in on this issue, but the most simple and powerful matter is - and still remains - having as little data connected to your system as possible.

Tech Quote: Twitter Seismograph - Predict the Future?

Brian Solis Wiki

“Twitter represents a collective collaboration that manifests our ability to unconsciously connect kindred voices through the experiences that move us. As such, Twitter is a human seismograph.”

                                                     
                       – Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks

A seismograph is an instrument for revealing & capturing various types of activity in the earth's ground (especially to forecast earthquakes).  Solis sees Twitter is the instrument used to reveal and capture the world's social activity and opinion.

The WebBot Project analysis of social trends

Some computer science projects - such as the WebBot Probject- even believe this level of specific information can forecast future events.  Just like the seismograph can forecast earthly events such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, etc.  Can we measure social opinion to find patterns that predict the future?