Google / YouTube deal and the future of Google
October 14, 2006
Motley Fool has some discussion on the Google deal to buy YouTube, and the future of Google. One sentence in there really jumped out: "It is a great time to be an entrepreneur, because people are playing on a bigger playing field than ever before with the Internet." Very true, considering YouTube only began not much more than a year ago, and just sold for $1.65 billion.
Dealing with an irate person
October 13, 2006
Open Loops has a good tip in how to deal with irate people: "Pace and Lead". The "Pace" part is initially matching the emotional intensity of the person, then gradually toning your comments to a more normal level. If the person with the problem sees the listener reacting in the same way as they are, they feel better heard and understood, whereas if the listener was calm all the way through, they would have given the impression that they were not understood, which only increases the frustration and anger.
Ig Nobel awards for 2006
October 12, 2006
The 2006 Ig Nobel Prize winners have been announced in a ceremony at Harvard University: Nic Sevenson and Piers Barnes of the CSIRO for research into the number of photographs you must take to ensure that nobody in a group photo will have their eyes closed.
They beat others to the award ("no cash, but much cachet"), who had researched topics such as:
- Why woodpeckers don’t get headaches.
- Dung beetles are picky eaters.
- An electromechanical teenager repellent: a device that makes the most annoying noise audible to teenagers but not to adults (that project later diversified to developing ringtones audible to teenagers but not to their teachers).
- Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: problems with using long words needlessly.
- Why, when you bend dry spaghetti, it often breaks into more than two pieces.
The Ig Nobels are designed to inspire and educate about science (while making people laugh!).
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