Innovations

Innovation isn't a goal as we all think; its everything that gets you there! It inculcates a whole lot of ideas loaded up with belly-up failures. Innovations never have an end because what we want and what we need keeps changing. The failure of the past might be a success of the present but the success of the present can be a failure of the future. (The incandescent light was a 19th-century failure and a 20th- century success. Now it’s a failure again, edged out by new technologies, like LEDs, that were, themselves, failures for many years.). Without changes there is no innovation, creativity or improvement. Though failures and mysteries might make innovations look messy, the real success of these innovations do make us feel top of the world. It is an awesome experience ! 

Google's self-driving cars

The mysterious Google X labs are working on an unimaginable technology - the Self-driving cars. Google's self-driving cars are programmed to move at speeds specified in their mapped data and maintain distance from other vehicles through sensors. They can sense their surroundings, pedestrians and even stoplights but the most stunning feature is that of a 360 degree visibility around (unlike human). They follow rules perfectly and change lanes with extreme caution. With the google cars already on the US roads for test drive, lets hope that it hits the market at the earliest!

CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud computing has begun its journey and has started to float in to our virtual world, today cloud is here to stay. Cloud storage services allows customer access to applications without installation and to access their files from any computer with internet. Although there are many cloud storage services available, no single choice stands the best. Each has its own advantages and hence it is the choice of the users to explore the service that suits them the best. Just cloud, Otixo, Dropbox, Amazon Cloud drive, my PCbackup, Zip cloud, Microsoft skydrive, Google drive, Mozy, iCloud, Box, SOS, iCylan app, crash plan are some of the cloud services worth mentioning.The most important question about cloud is that is it secured? Well, the question is here to stay and all giants are working on it...

watch out for iWatch

Big companies like Microsoft and Sony had unsuccessful attempts at the smart watch market. It's Apple's turn now. Investors and fans are latching on to hopes that the tech giant's next big thing will be iWatch. The Apple iWatch could take “hands free” to a new level of convenience.  The iWatch is assumed to be linked to an iPhone or an iPad with Bluetooth technology, enabling a user to be alerted to incoming calls, texts, emails and information in a nonchalant, unobtrusive manner.   A user could be alerted to important communication through vibration and casually check the screen, for example.    Additional alerts could include caller ID, calendar, weather, stock prices, and vital signs.  Presumably, users could customize the iWatch to display or alert on a limited number of items they care most about, because the iPhone or iPad would be close by with the full offering. According to reports, we may see an iWatch this year.

Grow your dendrites for long-term memory

How many of us know that learning is closely connected to the dendrites in our brain? Let us see what these dendrites are. Like any other cells in our body, we have cells in our brain too. These brain cells are called neurons. Dendrites are projections of neurons which grow when we learn, listen, write, and practice something.

We grow dendrites for the things we practice. For example, if we watch something we grow dendrites for watching. If we write then we grow dendrites for writing and so on. All are born naturally skilled - it is only we who have to help these dendrites grow to master a particular skill. Dendrites grow naturally and nobody can grow them for you. Hence you have to develop the habit of learning something – writing, dancing, reading to grow dendrites.

In order to have a kid start where they are, ask them to think about it, or say what they know. This activates the dendrites in the area of the brain related to that topic. It gears up the neurons and makes the dendrites ready to grow. Mistakes are also welcomed because we give an opportunity for these dendrites to understand what is wrong and help them to grow the right way avoiding these errors again.

The more you practice, the better your neurons are primed, the more dendrites you have, the more skill you acquire.

Slow learners

Last week I happened to see a friend of mine who was in great distress. I struck a conversation with her only to know that she was worried about her kid. It is that her kid was a slow learner and the class teacher had recommended a counselling for him. I had a casual talk with the kid and the repartee way he talked made him sound smart. That stunned me.But then why was this kind of counselling suggested for him? Of course,such kids might be slow learners but definitely  they do not possess learning deficiency. They simply might not do well in school or in a particular subject, but might have capabilities to do well outside a classroom. So the bottom line is that they too are perspicacious students and should not be ignored. A  teacher might really have great challenge training these kids but a different approach would definitely bring in a great change.I fumbled to find out if there are ways to overwhelm this and discovered that complimenting such kids with incentives works out. I don't know how many of you will agree with me upon this kind of gratification but it do makes wonders in many cases. May be, another way to look out might be to adopt a different learning method that suits them the best. Every child is naturally born smart and it is the interest that we impart within that makes them what they are.

Mind maps

Here is something that is interesting that I would like to share - the mind maps.

Mind maps are methods of storing and organizing information using key words, which trigger associated ideas and encourage new thoughts. Mind maps are brain storming techniques and helps to summarize information from different complex research sources. It boosts up the thinking levels  and present a structured information of your subject. 

Now to make it simple 

1.Just write down a central idea.

2.Think related ideas which would radiate from the center - what, why, where and so on.

3. Keep the words as simple as possible.

4. Make more branches from your main topic and extend the branches further. 

5. Draw connections between ideas created.

6.Personalize your maps with different lines or colors which help you to recall better.

So what are u waiting for? Create your own mind maps - be it personal or professional!