What happens to molecules, when left in the right environment for 4.3 billion years? This.

The epic story of our origin, condensed to around ten minutes. Enjoy!

Carl Sagan On Evolution

#ATalkEveryOnceInAWhile  

Beware the controversial sounding title, this was a very pleasant talk by Dan Dennett (a philosopher, specialising in consciousness).

It's almost 40 minutes but I deem it very much so "watch-worthy".

In short he says, that we should all get together to make the world a better place. It's a very interesting, and to me, insightful talk that I'd say is definitely worth your time.

Daniel C. Dennett on What Should Replace Religions?

#TedTalkA ... #OnceInABlueMoon  

What if there was an actual "programming" language that you could use to hack into people's brains? Apparently it would be called MUSIC++ (or even C#, C what I did there?)

Here's an interesting demonstration involving both brains and music by one of the coolest singers I know, Bobby McFerrin. (He sung "Don't worry, be happy".)

http://www.ted.com/talks/bobby_mcferrin_hacks_your_brain_with_music.html

A referendum like no other, will be held at UTS in 7 days time.
Please vote, watch, and share this! #prettyPlease
Flick My Switch - 100% renewable energy at UTS by 2015

It's coming everyone. A referendum that will shake UTS to it's core, #flickMySwitch 100% renewable energy, isn't such an intangible thing after all...

Let's do this!

http://utsenviro.x10.mx/flick-my-switch/

Random: But the ceiling of the bus I caught today was particularly colourful and the inside walls of it were packed with advertising. /I won't tell you what was being advertised though, I don't work for free

Facebook timelines are totally overrated... check out my Google+ timeline!
http://www.googleplussuomi.com/timelinetest.php?googleid=104360390262590170493&sort=newest

Learn about the worlds #1 criminal.

Watch this. Share this. Talk about this.

#kony2012 #stopKony #invisibleChildren

For more information, hit this link: http://www.kony2012.com/

KONY 2012

#TedTalkAWeek
What's key component that transforms a lone nut, into a leader? The first follower.

See a whole movement in action in this, fast paced 3 minute talk!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement.html

This cartoon explains it all. It's totally awesome. Be an atheist... you have infinitely cooler background music.
Double Standard

So this looks totally awesome. My. Next. Phone.
(probably in a few years time though)

http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android

#TedTalkAWeek

It's that time of the week!... Apparently.
Subject of the week; comedy and it's epic power to change people's minds.
Little known fact: Laughter releases endorphins which counters against one's natural defensiveness of their own ideas/beliefs.

Therefore, laughter might as well be the ultimate means of persuasion.

Enjoy!

http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_bliss_comedy_is_translation.html

So #TedTalkADay is officially dead, in part thanks to O'day but mainly due to impending university... look forward to it's sequel... #TedTalkAWeek

Epic cartoon is totally epic.
http://thethoughtstash.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/colclimatcopenhbighoaxpett.jpg

#TedTalkADay

"Idealists are the real realists." ... I love this quote. Are you cynical? Don't be. People conform to perceptions of themselves and society. If we keep thinking the worst of people, we will incite the worst of them.

A realistic view of humans, isn't so negative.

Enjoy this black and white TED talk that's less than five minutes.

http://www.ted.com/talks/viktor_frankl_youth_in_search_of_meaning.html

Dear Google+,
Why does my stream have all it's content deleted every now and again.
I didn't do anything.
Sincerely,
Sashin.

#TedTalkADay

Okay I'll admit I had second thoughts on posting this one. Namely, because I thought it's highly unlikely anyone would watch it. But I liked it too much to ignore it, so I'll post it with a small warning.

This talk goes for 37 minutes. It isn't exactly the shortest of talks

This was a graduation day speech, to the students of Stanford University, that I found thoroughly intriguing. Have you ever wondered what makes us unique? This talk looks at what does, and compares it to our intuitions of what we think makes us unique. Humans are truly fascinating creatures aren't they?

http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_sapolsky_the_uniqueness_of_humans.html

#TedTalkADay

How much do you make? That's the wrong question to be asking. 'What is it that you make?' is much more meaningful.

Back on topic, what's your opinion on teachers? Here's a short poem, answering the question I mentioned earlier from a teachers point of view. Or let me put it differently.

This is only 3 minutes watch it!

Note: This video doesn't appear to be working for me on Ted.com . So, I'm linking to the Youtube version instead.

"What Teachers Make," by TAYLOR MALI

#TedTalkADay

Why do I post a TED talk every day? It's fun. I don't need a reason.

Why do people devote their free time to do freaking awesome things in public? It's fun. They don't need a reason.

http://www.ted.com/talks/charlie_todd_the_shared_experience_of_absurdity.html

#TedTalkADay

I have a question for you. A simple question. How do you feel... about the consumption of insects?

http://www.ted.com/talks/marcel_dicke_why_not_eat_insects.html

#TedTalkADay

What if I told you, that there was a way to save money, protect the environment, and be happier all at once? The answer's actually more straight forward than you could care to imagine.

Have. Less. Stuff.

Do we need all the things we tend to have in the modern age? Hell no, a lot of it doesn't even make us happy. So we should keep the things that make us really, really happy and discard the rest. If you by something that lasts a long time, do it in such a way that you either need it. Or it'll keep you happy for a really long time.

Oh also, Ted talks now have these cool quote summaries on them that I'll be sure to include... the first of which is:

"We’ve got to cut the extraneous out of our lives, and we’ve got to learn to stem the inflow. We need to think before we buy. Ask ourselves, ‘Is that really going to make me happier? Truly?’” (Graham Hill)

http://www.ted.com/talks/graham_hill_less_stuff_more_happiness.html

#TedTalkADay

This is a talk by Ken Robinson, one of my all time favourite speakers on TED.

Are we as a society educating our children right?
In this talk, an argument is made against this, and that not only are we not educating people properly we are also responsible for the stifling important traits such as creativity.

Should we treat all disciplines equally? Does our current hierarchy of subjects make much sense? (Science and maths, above humanities and the arts)

This talk explores these very questions.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

#TedTalkADay

What kind of moral framework do you use?

Platonist : Ethics isn't merely opinion. There is a true form of ethics, a true justice. Ethics is like maths, and can be solved.

Aristoteian: "We should seek only so much precision in a subject, as that subject allows". Ethics is not like maths, and it's defined by opinion.

Utilitarianism: Ethics is about creating the greatest happiness and the lowest suffering. That's it, maximising pleasure and minimizing pain. This model looks at the consequences of an action.

Kantian: It's not simply about pleasure and pain. Some things are intrinsically wrong, like violating privacy, lying, committing acts of violence. We should use our reason to decide a set of rules, and it is our duty to follow those rules.

This talk, carries a simple but powerful message. We need to think more about ethics, in fact it's essential not to do so if we hope to not abuse the vast power over the world we now possess.

http://www.ted.com/talks/damon_horowitz.html

These are the words I happen to tweet a lot, I wonder if there's much you can tell about me from them...

It's seems Wordle killed my apostrophes somehow...

RESHARE:
Water! A whole album of water! #futureWallpaperIsInhereSomewhere

Reshared text:
One more for the "Liquid" collection.

The way my desktop looks right now. Awesome isn't it?
Well it's just my opinion, but I think it's just about as cool as a desktop can get.

#TedTalkADay

What tool would a leader use? Perhaps a long time ago, it would have been a sword, but what now? A laptop? A pen? Or perhaps something less physical, like his/her confidence?

Well this speaker suggest... a lollypop!

"We've all fundamentally changed someone else's life for the better" Just nice words, or is this guy on to something? I wonder...

Decide for yourselves in this 6 minute Ted Talk... now in HD!

http://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership.html

#TedTalkADay

You are what you eat. No wonder I'm 98% water.

But this talk isn't about what I consume, rather it's about what school children, and many other people both in America and around the world have to consume every single day, thanks to their schools, parents and cultures.

People really need to eat right, otherwise they won't grow up big and strong like me.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ann_cooper_talks_school_lunches.html

#TedTalkADay

Right now, children from all around the world are being poisoned to death by their parents. Sometimes, something as innocent as the food we give people can very much rightly so be called child abuse.

In this talk Jamie Oliver makes a wish, to change the diets of school children across the world.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

“Neither your opinion of what users should think, nor my opinion of what users should think, matters as much as what users actually do think. Be a scientist, not a priest.”
-- Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu and SABDFL
(Self appointed benelovent dictatory for life)

#randomQuestion

This video has disturbed me to some extent. It's made me question the simplest of decision making abilities of people, particularly little children.

Jamie Oliver - Nugget experiment epic failure

At first I thought, that it was obvious "they're little kids, of course they're idiots" and that the solution was simply to not allow little humans make decisions on what to eat by themselves.

However, then I remembered things from behavioural economics, and how adults too make many mistakes in decision making which generally favour short term pleasure over long term well being.

What I'm wondering is if education would help. What would happen if we taught kids in schools things like 'health' or 'lifestyle' with the same magnitude as science, english or maths? Would they shrug it off (like how a lot of kids dislike maths) ? Or would it make a positive difference to their future decision making?

#TedTalkADay

Tell me about what's right and what's wrong. Sometimes a philosophical dilemma can occur in the least suspecting of places. Or as quoted in the following talk.

"Although the body is confined, the mind is free"

This one is really short, so please watch!

http://www.ted.com/talks/damon_horowitz_philosophy_in_prison.html

#TedTalkADay

Empathy. It's the name of the instant messaging client I use.

It's also why human civilisation has come so far. No, not because of the client

Here's a talk about empathy, how it works with the mirror neurons in our heads, and the impact it's had on human civilisation as well as it's potential impact and utmost importance in the future.

This one isn't a traditional talk/powerpoint, rather you get to see some flashy animations.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jeremy_rifkin_on_the_empathic_civilization.html

RESHARE:
That feeling when something you've believed for a long time, just might not be true after all. #HighSchoolPhysics

Reshared text:
Fun fact: The speed of light in a vacuum is not constant.

You likely have heard that the speed of light (in a vacuum) is always the same, regardless of your frame of reference (essentially your vantage point). But this is only true if there aren't any large masses around like the sun. It turns out the gravitational field of the sun affects the speed of light near it, therefore light passing near the sun actually slows down a little bit. That means light from a planet on the other side of the solar system from earth reaches us a tiny bit later than we would otherwise expect.

The first measurement of this time delay was in the late 1960s, when radio signals were bounced off Venus from Earth when the two planets were almost on opposite sides of the sun. The measured delay of the signals' round trip was about 200 microseconds, just as predicted by general relativity.

#TedTalkADay

I loved this talk.

In short it says that the "ills" of the world aren't because people are bad, but rather that systems make it difficult for people to do good. Apathy and cynicism arise simply 'cause people are stuck and don't know how to contribute positive change.

Or rather we have placed some rather arbitrary barriers toward input.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_meslin_the_antidote_to_apathy.html

#TedTalkADay

This one is only 3 minutes!...

Although it's not really a talk per se... more of a magical demonstration.

and and it's by Bobby Ferrin! (the man responsible for "Don't Worry, Be Happy")

Enjoy.
http://www.ted.com/talks/bobby_mcferrin_hacks_your_brain_with_music.html

#TedTalkADay

This talk is about the mistakes we make in decision making, and why we make them. As it turns out, there's a simple equation we can attribute to all our decisions to act in the best possible way at any time... and that equation goes something like this:

'Odds of gain' x 'value of gain' = 'Expected value of decision'

Only problem here is that even without a layer of subjectivity it's difficult to reliably determine the two variables in most situations.

But in short what I think it says is: "Humans are short sighted losers that don't know a thing about decision making... so let's all be less human!"

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness.html

#ATedTalkADay

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... or is it?
A talk on the reasons we almost universally find certain things visually appealing (like water, and trees) from a Darwinian perspective.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty.html

#TedTalkADay

I'm not sure if there's a better way to start the day than a pleasure filled talk. Of course, I mean this literally. How exactly do pleasure and pain work? This talk doesn't quite explain that, but does have something interesting to say about them.

There is a correlation between an objects history, and the pleasure that can stem from it. #informationAboutHumanIrrationality

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_bloom_the_origins_of_pleasure.html

#TedTalkADay

A light-hearted talk about racism and frozen yoghurt... that stuff's a great deal more hardcore than any drug I've heard of.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/maz_jobrani_make_jokes_not_bombs.html

A philosopher's explanation on a magic trick.

"
'So, how does he saw the woman in half like that?'
'He doesn't, he only makes you think that saws the woman in half.'
'Yeah, and how does he do that?'
'Sorry, that's not my department. ' - walks away -
" --Dan Dennett

#TedTalkADay

I'm probably a narrow minded person. I'm not very open to very different beliefs and ways of thinking, and perhaps even go to the extent of judging people based on their beliefs...

However I believe this is the way we should think, to an extent. We shouldn't be too tolerant and accepting of different of other beliefs... well particularly when such beliefs pose a profound threat to the well being of others.

Sometimes I think we should reject opinions and beliefs as wrong, or invalid and not be infinitely "open-minded", tolerant and accepting to beliefs that are a clear detriment to human (and animal) well being.
(please don't reject this opinion/belief or mark it as invalid)

Instead of dwelling on thoughts such as "perhaps genocide, (or something of the equivalent) is right from a certain point of view", we should work on what isn't so ambiguous "but even so it was definitely wrong from a great deal more points of view".

Rant-like introduction aside, this is a talk on...
an objective morality on a scientific foundation. (read, not a religious one)

http://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_science_can_show_what_s_right.html

That is, without religion and only with scientific reasoning, we can say "this is right and this is wrong, and it's not just my opinion". Which may seem radical, but I feel is very well justified.

Of course, I think things such as right and wrong, and good and bad can only exist in the context of a goal and the assumed goal based on observations of the way our mirror neurons work, is "a higher well being of all conscious creatures".

(I think that a goal in of itself can't properly be argued as rational unless in the context of another goal, but if that assumed goal isn't a good thing I don't know what is... )

Silly humans are very much so silly.

"Real magic, refers to the magic that's not real, while the magic that is real and can actually be done is not real magic " --Lee Siegel

#TedTalkADay

Lies! Lies! Lies! Apparently they're everywhere... it turns out that they are common enough that it's more effective to look for the truth than to look for them...

I wonder if this was a lie.

This is a talk about deception, its various reasons and how it can be spotted... I wonder if this talk can be trusted...

http://www.ted.com/talks/pamela_meyer_how_to_spot_a_liar.html

Repetition really does help us remember things.

"Every time you read it or say it, you make another copy in your brain...
Every time you read it or say it, you make another copy in your brain...
Every time you read it or say it, you make another copy in your brain..."
--Dan Dennet

#TedTalkADay

Ah, the power of advertising.

"There is no correlation between the quality of wine and it's enjoyment... except when you tell people how expensive it was". --Rory Sutherland

This one is about the power of marketing, and gives plenty of examples. One of which may be a familiar story about potatoes... if you used to follow me on Twitter that is.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man.html

Screw "Mac vs PC", some battles are infinitely cooler... and yet infinitely less original at the same time...

Standard Economics vs Behavioural Economics

What is Behavioral Economics?

#TedTalkADay
Do you believe? if you're anything like a normal person, you definitely do.
#believingIsTheDefaultState #notBelievingTakesMoreEffort

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/michael_shermer_the_pattern_behind_self_deception.html

"Turns out anyone can talk to the dead, it's getting them to talk back that's the hard part"
-- Michael Shermer

#TedTalkADay

How do you like spaghetti sauce? I like it chunky.

I think +Ruben Schade, esq. would like this one.

#randomQuestion What kind of coffee do you like?

A talk on spaghetti sauce, consumer preferences and the futility in searching for the 'perfect kind of product'.

http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

#TedTalkADay

Want something made from plastic? Don't buy it, print it.
The ability to download physical objects from the web! A talk on 3D printers, and how they are entering the public market.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_harouni_a_primer_on_3d_printing.html

#TedTalkADay

Who likes fish?

I don't like love stories, but this is the exception.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dan_barber_how_i_fell_in_love_with_a_fish.html

#TedTalkADay

I feel evil, very evil. So evil... that I'm no longer evil at all!

Here's a talk about devouring things... well growing things to devour, and the impact it can have. It's fairly recent compared to the others I've posted.

http://www.ted.com/talks/roger_doiron_my_subversive_garden_plot.html

"This is not a feeling ... I'm a lawyer I don't believe in feelings.
This is not a philosophy ... I'm an American, I don't believe in philosophy.
This is a fact."

-Dan Pink on how getting paid more doesn't motivate us to do better.

#TedTalkADay

Incentives, incentives, incentives.

A talk by the man that wrote Al Gore's speeches, about what drives us and how it affects the way we do business (and why it's inefficient).

More behavioural science in action!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

#TedTalkADay

This is one by one of my favourite speakers, a behavioural economist Dan Ariely. In this he questions our ability to make decisions based on our free will, as they are often heavily influenced by direct social factors. (that is, we want what we're told to want, in a way).

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions.html

So from now on I've decided to try and post a ted talk a day. Chosen from a selection of the ones I've particularly liked. Be sure to include it in your information diet!

First up: A talk on why things are broken!

Enjoy.
#TedTalkADay

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/seth_godin_this_is_broken_1.html

Why, why , why? One of my favourite TED talks. #pleaseWatch #unlessYouHaveExamsOrSomething

If tl;dw , long story short, here are a few pointers to attaining happiness
(from video):

1. Accrue wealth, power and prestige... then lose it.
2. Spend as much of your life in prison as you possibly can (preferably being wrongly accused of something)
3. Make someone else really, really rich
4. Never ever join the Beatles

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html

Another day another final episode of Gintama~ #keepsOnTrolling

Next series to watch: Gintama'

Another awesome day of freedom and water. #thereAreNoSuchThingsAsExams #butIfThereWereSuchThingAsThem... #goodLuck

Too much Twitter isn't very healthy. #overdose #twitter^4

SCARE TACTICS REGARDING EXAMS
We know all the tricks.

Google+ glitch! A mysterious string of characters appears... I wonder if this is Google's take on Missingno...

The morning of an exam lacks the tension that it used to have. #itWasFunAndExciting #nowItIsJustAnotherMorning #programmingDiesToday

We all need to be more tolerant of difference
Arj Barker on Tolerance

Why I'm able to win the internetz... everyday.

RESHARE:
Internetz have been won, in a few months I'll be able to to have Ice cream sandwich on my phone. As will anyone in possession of an android phone or tablet. #moreOrLess

Reshared text:
Google releases Ice Cream Sandwich source code. Developers can download now. http://j.mp/sIv8Gf

This is... irritating. There used to be trees here.

Plastics are on the road to becoming fully recyclable! This is awesome.
http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_biddle.html

Say hello to my shiny new desktop!

Ubuntu 11.10 is finally out!
http://thenewubuntu.com/

Serious technology is serious: http://www.collegehumor.com/embed/6626032/meatball-sub-4s

Finished both Economics and Accounting MYOB Assignments!!!
I totally win the internetz.

I want an ice cream sandwich. http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20117451-251/ice-cream-sandwich-leaks-indicate-a-real-treat/

If anyone has figured out how to defeat the evil procrastination monster please tell me, even by posting this I feel like I'm letting it win somehow...

Anyone interested in more happiness?
http://www.ted.com/talks/graham_hill_less_stuff_more_happiness.html

Evil economics assignment is evil... but still less evil than evil accounting MYOB assignment.

A little over a week until it hits! It seems like the count down is a bit off but it looks really cool! (click on the link)
http://www.thisisthecountdown.com/

The One Piece anime has finally ended! I can tell 'cause instead of the conventional "To Be Continued" at the end of every episode... this happened!

http://i54.tinypic.com/2reioo0.png

The Truth... in less than five minutes!
Search for meaning

Midsemester exams... Defeated!

3 Assignments to go: Programming, Accounting & Economics.