Why Germans are Great Inventors

Ever wondered why Germany is known for so many scientific and technical innovations? And about its excellent engineering products? (Scroll down to the bottom to get straight at the answer).

• Germans make excellent cars (Benz, BMW, Volkswagen)
• They invented the modern rocket (Verner Von Brown)
• Movable type printing (Gutenberg)
• Geigercounter-for measuring radioactivity (Hans Geiger)
• The first functional program-controlled Computer (Konrad Zuse)
• Uncertainty principle (Werner Heisenberg)
• Theory of Relativity (Albert Einstein)
• X-rays (Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen)

For a more complete list of German innovativeness, click the links at the bottom of this post.
Well, what forced this conclusion was a discussion on German grammar. I had been studying German for the past two months and its hair-splitting logic gave me the notion that the German society is very rule-based. This reflects the absolutely structured nature of their thought process.

For example, they distinguish between the state of repose of objects on the same platform. Suppose we have, on a table, a pen, a book, and a cup. Now in German, one has to specify like this:

The book and the pen lie on the table while the cup stands on the table.

Why do they distinguish like that ? The first two objects are horizontal whereas the cup is vertical. Now, if we were to turn the cup over on its side, so that it lies horizontally, we would have to say :the cup lies on the table.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_inventors_and_discoverers

----------------------------------------------------------

Want to hire me to write for your blog or online publication? You can find my contact details here: About me

Delayed Gratification :The Marshmallow Test

Do you have it in you to delay your pleasures so that you can have a better reward ?
How do kids do on this ?

Here is the video of a study on kids on this topic. It is both funny and thought provoking:

The Truth Seeks Itself

There was this seeker after Truth who wandered all over the land, desperately. He went to Gurus and plied them with questions.

Their answers did not satisfy him. They did not open his eye to the truth, and his quest went on...

Then one day he sought out a less known sage. He was living in a remote area, shunning the public eye.

After the formalities, he, as was his wont, unleashed his question:

"Sir, where is the truth ? How may I see it ?"

The master looked up from the cup of tea he was holding in his hands, and gazed silently into the seeker's eyes. After a long silence, he said:

"It is verily the Truth that is asking this question!"

The answer homed into the seeker's heart like an arrow, and silenced it. His mind opened inward, and he knew:

----------------------------------------------------------
Want to hire me to write for your blog or online publication? You can find my contact details here: About me

Perplexing Printer Puzzle

Recently I was learning to use a new computer printer from a leading manufacturer. It came through a Mail order service, on a web site.

Having been using printers as part of my job, still, I had not gone into the nitty-gritty of it-installation, ink cartridges etc. However, since it was a DIY manual, I decided to face up to the task.

The manual was well structured and the topics were easy to find, in logical sequence. I moved along smoothly through installing the printer software, making the settings, connecting printer and computer, even the totally unfamiliar task of loading the ink cartridges. Ah, now to print! But we needed to load the paper. Where was it? Of course, in the paper tray.

Unsuspectingly, I put the sheet of paper in the protruding tray in the front. No need of the manual for this. I switched on the power, opened a document and gave the print command.

Nada. Nothing.

I checked the manual. A picture was given of the paper tray, how to pull it out, etc. It was a close-up, and unfortunately, it did not have a reference. That is, one could not make out on which part of the printer this tray was located. I tried hard to locate any part that resembled that in the figure. The only protruding part (a paper tray should protrude, right?) was in the front, but it did not have any of the tabs mentioned in the manual and the figure. I pressed and pulled at various other parts in the hope that the tray would spring open.

Mortified that my tech savvy, super fast installation had been botched just at the finishing line by a most plain task, I stalled, perplexed. A good thirty minutes must have gone on it.

I sat before the printer, eyeing it with growing exasperation. My plight reminded me of the proverbial simian with the coconut. More than that, it hurt when one's pride in being tech-savvy was reduced to rubble.

Who would have guessed that the paper tray would be covered and be at the back of the printer? Somehow this idea clicked in my brain and I tried pulling a latch at the back of the printer. Lo! There was the paper tray. Having used only Laser jets till now, and their paper trays being opened from the front, I was conditioned to look for the tray in the front.

It was a bit frustrating that the creators of the manual did not try to think from a possible perspective that some users would have. They just cannot assume that all users will know the location of the tray. What is the point in showing a close up of the paper tray, without showing where it is located? All parts are straight lines and look alike to the first time user.

Showing a picture of the printer and referencing each part with a letter can avoid this unsavory situation. It should be easy to distinguish the front, back and the sides-left and right.

That will save time and make for a great user-friendly manual that even Grandmas can use!
----------------------------------------------------------
Want to hire me to write for your blog or online publication? You can find my contact details here: About me
Message Magic: Answering Machine Humor$666.52

Take Charge of Your Life...or We Will !

If you do not rule yourself, you are asking to be ruled, and you will be.
If you do not manage yourself, you will be managed.
If you do not discipline yourself, you will be disciplined.

If you do not manage your time, somebody else will do it.
If you do not set your own goals, somebody else will do it.
If you do not make your choices this moment, somebody else will.

If you do not think for yourself, somebody else will do it, and not in your best interests.

After all,
you alone can eat to sate your hunger, others cannot !
you alone can breath your breaths, every single one of them !
Then why not think for yourself ?
----------------------------------------------------------
Want to hire me to write for your blog or online publication? You can find my contact details here: About me

Aikido as a De-stresser

Today, dealing with day to day situations and yet enjoying a reservoir of inner peace is challenging enough. Life has built up a frenetic pace, especially in the metro cities. Throw in drugs, terrorism, porn, communal and religious politics - we have a Pandora's box open.

Chasing as we are our dream of material super wealth, when mishap strikes, we are like deer caught in headlights: ill equipped to deal with life's exigencies. Forget about the external issues, how do we handle issues within our families and in our relationships ? The age old tit-for-tat rule reigns even now, and well wishers who come in to resolve disputes end up aggravating them.

We need to equip ourselves to have a balanced perspective on life. We need a poise to be able to deal with life's challenges. Why?

We have to eat for ourselves, breath for ourselves, and pretty much everything else. Why not think for ourselves as well ? Nobody else can do that for us. If they did, even if with the best of intentions, it would be from a skewed view of situations. Only you have the true picture of your life.

Let us see how Aikido's(a Japanese martial art) philosophy can help us in our challenging issues.

Aikido's basic philosophy is non-resistance. It is not just non-resistance: neutralization is a more accurate description. While Christ exhorts us to turn the other cheek to an attacker, Aikido advises to turn your cheek before being hit. in other words, it entails us to maintain a constant alertness.

Aikido does not aim at vanquishing and destroying an opponent. It aims at tuning in to the attacker's energy so that we can harmonize and neutralize it. For this reason there are no attacks practised in Aikido, except for training. Also, fending off an attack, an aikidoka does not look at how it turns out- it is just a deflection of energy of the attack- executed smoothly.

This is in contrast to conventional martial arts where participants aim for a decisive win. The word Aikido in Japanese means the way of Universal Harmony. It was founded by a Japanese martial artist, Ueshiba Morihei. He underwent prolonged training in Jujitsu and Judo before he developed his own unique art, Aikido.

Apart from the physical art, the principles of Aikido can be applied to day to day life situations as well. An excellent example is given by Terry Dobson.

It is about an incident that happened to Dobson while he was learning Aikido in Japan. You can see the essence of Aikido in real life. Please see Terry Dobson for the full story.

This incident demonstrates the secret of how Aikido can help us defuse tensions in real life situations: refuse to yield or fight against the anger in the other person. Instead we neutralize the energy by harmonizing.

In simple words, on a physical level: move in the same direction as the offending energy-push when you are pulled, pull when you are pushed.

Aikido practice has meditation as an important part of it. It is through meditation that one can achieve the thought free state, a prerequisite for seeing things as they are. Through meditation and Aikido practice, practitioners achieve such feats as having irresistible power in hands such that they cannot be stopped etc.

As there is no winning and losing in Aikido, it does not have tournaments either. Perhaps you can say a practitioner loses when he becomes angry.

Suppressing anger is not the way to resolve it. When we maintain a non-critical, non-judgmental awareness of the thoughts and emotions arising in us, they automatically quiet down. The peace that you experience forms an aura around you and transfers to others.
Note: This article was posted on Articlesbase.com on Dec 8, 2009. Link: Here
----------------------------------------------------------
Want to hire me to write for your blog or online publication? You can find my contact details here: About me

Clear Thinking Can Solve Personal Problems

Understanding a problem incorrectly can lead us into all sorts of side tracks, wasting enormous amounts of time, effort and money.

I will narrate an experience that illustrates the various errors that can happen in analysing a problem. A proper analysis can present a simple solution that was right there under your nose all the while.

The incident happened around my mini stereo system. It developed a snag. It had two small speakers and one big speaker. The big speaker was fixed in a cabin. One of the small speakers stopped producing any sound. Well. Not totally silent. It would come on and off, with just some hissing noises in between.

For a long time I thought the speaker was gone, and blamed the company for robbing me. I tried to pry open the speaker, naively hoping that the problem was with some wire connection and that I could set it right myself.(I was no electronics engineer and had no experience with repairing gadgets.) The speaker frame was a molded whole and there was no way to open it. I thought I would have to buy a new one. But would a single speaker be available ? Would the company insist on my buying a new set ?

Then I happened to switch the speaker channels, just to test and found that there was nothing wrong with the speaker. It was only one channel that was not responding. If I connected the speaker to the other channel, it did produce sound. That was a relief. Now I did not have to change the small speaker.

But the channel came out of the Main speaker cabin(It housed the amplifier). Now I had to open the cabin. I resolved to make an attempt, before showing it to an expert. In fact, one of my acquaintances, a cd shop owner, had offered to service it. But I hated to lug the big box across the street to his shop.

Opening the cabin was easy. I used a pocket knife, improvised as a screwdriver. Peering inside, I could see a PCB( Printed Circuit Board) with a lot of small devices on it. Capacitors, transistors, ICs…? what the heck was all that ? I have’nt had to deal with them ever, since college. I strained my eyes to find a piece of wire pulling on which, the sound would come back. Nope. Everything was screwed and soldered properly; there were no loose ends in sight.

I guessed I had no option but to take it to my friend for his expert opinion. He should have. All day he sits around DVD players, TVs and Stereo systems.

Then the break came which was a sort of Aha moment for me.(I seriously believe I might have awakened to “The Zen of speaker tweaking.”)

The speaker had been coming to life off and on while I moved the cable which carried the signals from my computer to the speaker system.There! That meant the channels were being seperated in that cable itself. Otherwise it would not have affected a single channel. It would have affected both channels.

Now I knew that the problem lay in this cable. It was broken at some point along its one and a half metre length. All that I had to do was get a new cable.

Moral : Before attempting to repair audio equipment, do check the various connecting cables. Do it safe. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Bigger moral: Often a problem is not as complicated as it seems to be. Just relax and observe. The solution will show itself.

Are you going to finish strong ?

It is amazing how much we can accomplish if we focused on what we have, instead of lamenting about misfortunes. This is what I learnt from the man in this stunning video.

The Plain Miracle

This is about a fact that all of us forget in the rush of life, what no one appreciates until it's too late: It's a great miracle to be alive and to love each other.

We don't need to go through a tragedy to realise this fact. Let us express our love to our near and dear ones while we still can.

I had to write this post after I chanced upon this site by Andreas Ramos. As I read the letters, I could not stop the tear drops.

Andreas is a well known author. His first hand account of the fall of the Berlin Wall has been published in many books like The Berlin Wall and The Cold War: Chronicles of America's Wars.

Experiences with The Secret

Here is a gift :

Click on the title of this post and you can read through the real experiences of people who have used The Secret.

The Secret does not say anything new. But it expresses the Law of Attraction and other principles of Abundant Living in a most effective manner, so that it is indelibly printed in our minds.

I had read the Science of Getting Rich(from which Rhonda Byrne gathered the inspiration for The Secret) years ago, but it did not click in my mind. Now
when I watch the Secret, it all appears so easy and possible.

What goes into our ear can influence our actions

A study by scientists on teenagers has proved that teen kids who habitually hear degrading lyrics are more likely to indulge in under age sex. This is a case for the principle that our behaviour can be influenced by what we habitually hear. If that is true, then this principle also holds good: If we constantly hear about what we desire to be, i.e. a better and transformed image of ourselves, that also will materialise ! In other words, habitually listening to self help cds, self talk cds, hypnosis cds and wholesome songs will grant us the desired result. Which means self talk that we give ourselves will also give concrete results.

Here is the link to the report.

Overcoming the recession and changing it into an upturn

The recession has been in for quite a while now. It has become a reality to people who have lost their jobs. Let's see if a change of perspective can do any good in overcoming it. If it does on an individual scale, it definitely can help in overcoming on an international level also. It's not possible to wish it away. Yet, it does seem to be man-made for a large part. I remember a real incident narrated by Norman Vincent Peale in one of his books.

It was the Great depression of the 1930s. In a remote American village an old man ran a hotel. His business was good, he had a plentiful clientele, for he was a cheerful person, always happy to serve. His cafe was always bustling with people.It was a meeting point for the villagers to catch up on the latest developments in town.

His son was educated, and worked in an office in one of the big cities.When the recession struck, his firm was one of the first to close. He came home.

Things were not as he had expected to be at the village. He did not see glum faces, he did not hear grim discussions of tumbling markets and closing businesses. On the contrary, everyone was having a good time, and his father's hotel was always full with merry villagers.

This cannot be, he thought. Perhaps they had not heard of the recession, and he felt he should inform them.

So he told his father about it and how it was playing havoc in the country. We had better be careful, it can pounce on us anytime.

The father listened. His son was college educated and must be having better sense. He thought it would be prudent to go by what he said. In time the customers too heard and came to believe the tale of the recession.

Gone were the days of cheer and merry business. Everyone started preparing for the recession. Few people now came to the hotel.

It wore a desolate look. In no time, it closed down.

The recession had finally arrived at the village (!)

Note : Although you may argue this point, a recent incident in the Indian stock market supports this theory. It is about the Reliance group which is owned by the Ambanis, one of the richest families in the world. Before they split, the Reliance group stocks were booming. Then the brothers Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani parted ways to establish their own empires. Immediately the Reliance stocks came tumbling down. It had nothing to do with reality. It was the news that caused the panic, as in the above story. So a little faith can work wonders, and boost up your personal success. Many individual successes can revive the economy of a nation!

The Ultimate Technique for Success

The most effective and reliable personal development tool : Yourself. Your body, your thoughts, your words. Do it by yourself : through Self-talk, Free writing(stream of consciousness writing), Self-suggestions, Exercise, Meditation,....

External aids like books, CDs and seminars are only props or route maps. They require conditions-electric power, visibility, money etc. But when you internalise their content and start DOING it, you are transforming yourself.

I realised this after reading The Secret. It held a mirror to me and showed where the correction was to be done: my thoughts. I have to overhaul my thoughts- be aware of my thoughts, state of mind...And that is a 24 hour job.
----------------------------------------------------------
Want to hire me to write for your blog or online publication? You can find my contact details here: About me