Another Fabulous Tool from Apple and a Book that Wants You to Unlock Your Own Fabulous Works

January 31, 2010

Posted by Don Dunnington at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)

Last week, two possibly world-changing launches took place: On Tuesday Seth Godin introduced his latest book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? The next day Apple introduced the iPad.

Most observers instantly declared both fabulous, though a few found fault with some iPad details. You’d have to be on an extended trip to another planet to miss the news of Apple’s iPad, the long-anticipated tablet computer that may do to book, magazine and newspaper publishing what iTunes did to the music business.

The buzz on Seth’s new book is nearly as intense in the blogging/marketing world he inhabits, but the news may have missed those beyond that world.

Seth Godin is a prolific writer with ten books and one of the longest-running, most-read and most influential blogs of all time. Many are already declaring Linchpin the most important book Godin has written, that it will be life changing for those who read it and world changing for the works that ensue.

This post is not a book review, or a review of Apple’s latest cool technology. It’s an alert. It’s a sign of new possibilities in the midst of all our angst over economies and policies and things that may blow up with little or no warning and we’re standing too close.

This week Steve Jobs and Apple demonstrated once again that we can still invent cool tools that are fun to use, and in the process transform whole industries. And this week Seth Godin introduced us to a Manifesto of Fabulous: a guide, a map and an energizer for how each one of us, individually and collectively can make our own fabulous things.

You can find a hint of what was to come in his new book in this brief post from his blog dated November 8, 2009. It’s titled simply "Fabulous"

This is so cool: because we only look at things we want to look at, only talk about things worth talking about, the amount of fabulous in the world continues to rise exponentially.

Even though we're at the tail end of the great recession, think about all the cool stuff in your life. Not just stuff you can buy, but experiences, works of art, innovations of all kinds... the bar has been raised for what you need to do to be noticed, and the market is responding.

Not only do I notice more fabulous, but it sure seems as though the creators of it are more engaged, dedicated and yes, joyful, than I can remember. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do work that matters, this is it. You can't say, "but I need to make a fortune instead," because that's not happening right now. So you might as well join the people who can say, "I love doing this."

Fabulous Infrastructure and Machines
There's a lot of talk of our transformation from an Industrial Age to a Digital Age. In this post-industrial era, some suppose there's little change or innovation to be found when it comes to engineering water or wastewater projects, or the industrial equipment that's used in building and running those installations.

Yet for those who bother to look there's a wealth of innovation—of fabulous people designing and building fabulous equipment:

• I’ve seen fabulous digital weighing technologies designed specifically for process control. These Smart Force Transducers are developed and manufactured in Niederlenz, Switzerland, and they are just one example of how digital instruments are applied in industrial equipment.
• In an article on how innovation turbo-charges industrial companies I profiled Jim Foley in Pitman, NJ, who headed the team that developed a new material flow aid for gravimetric feeders.
• Fabulous water projects have a long and storied history, the evidence of which can be seen in places like Pont du Gard, France, where a Roman era aqueduct from 19 BC still stands. The city of Rome itself had eleven aqueducts constructed over a period of 500 years.
• Philadelphia's Fairmount Water Works was the site of the world's first high-pressure steam engine. The project got its start in 1790 when Ben Franklin left the city 100,000 pounds to develop an abundant supply of water.In 1805 Philadelphia's Watering Committee began work on a collection of Federal and Greek revival buildings that housed steam engines and later water wheels and turbines powered by the Schuylkill river. The buildings were surrounded by formal gardens, attracting tourists, painters and photographers from around the world. After a visit from England in 1842, Charles Dickens wrote, "In Philadelphia there is a place that is wondrous to behold, and that is the Philadelphia Waterworks."

The point of these examples is that people have been creating every day things filled with fabulous ideas and designs for a very long time. Today there are more people than ever who dare to reach beyond the common to set new standards in their fields. Godin thinks a new wave is coming that will sweep away today's other trend, the one taking us toward the age of the commodity. Those who buy and read Linchpin may find themselves among those riding at the top of this wave. He says that would be fabulous.

Don Dunnington
Blog Moderator

Read this Blog and Boost Your Brain Power

December 08, 2009

Posted by Don Dunnington at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)

Web surfing may be improving your mind in more ways than you expected. UCLA scientists have announced results of a study in which they found, according to the University's Rachel Champeau, "middle-aged and older adults with little Internet experience were able to trigger key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning after just one week of surfing the Web."

The findings were presented at the 2009 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. According to Champeau, "Research has shown that mental stimulation similar to that which occurs in individuals who frequently use the Internet may affect the efficiency of cognitive processing and alter the way the brain encodes new information."

While the study focused on an older population, the researchers hope to address the impact of the Internet on younger individuals in future studies. Their goal is to identify aspects of online searching that generate the greatest levels of brain activation.

In this latest study 24 "neurologically normal volunteers" were selected between the ages of 55 and 78. Prior to the study, half the participants used the Internet daily, while the other half had very little experience. Age, educational level and gender were similar among all participants.

Study participants performed Web searches while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, which recorded subtle brain-circuitry changes experienced while browsing. After the initial brain scan, participants went home and conducted Internet searches one hour a day for a total of seven days over a two-week period.
 
In the first scan, participants with little Internet experience demonstrated brain activity in regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities. A second brain scan of the same participants, after they had accomplished their Internet searches at home, demonstrated activation of these same regions, plus additional areas of the brain important for working memory and decision-making.
 
Researchers concluded that, "after Internet training at home, participants with minimal online experience displayed brain activation patterns very similar to those seen in the group of savvy Internet users — after just a brief period of time."

Prior research by the UCLA group found online search activity resulted in more than a twofold increase in brain activation for those with prior browsing knowledge, compared with those with little Internet experience. If you've been lagging in your own Internet searching, there's still hope: The new UCLA research suggests it may take just a few days for those with minimal experience to match the activity levels of those with years of experience. If you have a co-worker or supervisor who seems to be falling behind in their Internet use, you might do their brains a favor by forwarding this article to them!

Don Dunnington
Blog Moderator