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The mission of Walking on Water also known as W.O.W. is to encourage and motivate the world as well as show them that they are more than a conqueror despite what their circumstance says. Since the age of 5, my passion has been to go out into the world and teach. Now, I am able to go out in the world and teach others by helping them know that are worth more than they know. To help people that are experiencing situations that I have faced and even might be going through at that specific time of us meeting. To encourage people to know that it is okay to stand up and speak out the truth. To make people aware that they have enough power inside of them to do anything that they have always dreamed of doing. To teach them that by having effective communication and agreement they can achieve the most out of life from little or nothing. Through W.O.W. they will learn that it is okay to step out of the boat and walk on water, also known as walking by faith and not by sight.
Areas of Expertise
Bible study
Bible teaching

subset: commoncrawl


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Kooima® Company is continually working to improve customer service with the addition of a 45,000 square foot warehouse and shipping area.
Once finished this addition will be 60' tall and fully automated to expedite storing, inventorying, and shipping our customers replacement agricultural parts better than ever!
Kooima® Company of Rock Valley Iowa is a recognized leader in producing quality replacement agricultural parts, specializing in the Forage Harvester and Mixer Wagon sector.
Kooima® Company sells throughout all of North America and all around the world. With over 25 years of manufacturing experience Kooima® Company has become the trusted name for quality, reasonably priced replacement parts made right here in the USA.
Visit our website at www.kooima.com


text: Union threatens to pull $1b pension investments from RBC As RBC struggles to manage public perceptions around its outsourcing decision, one Canadian union group is threatening to pull investments from the company if it doesn't reverse its decision. The group of seven construction trades and industrial unions, said the union had instructed the administrator of the pension plans to withdraw its business from RBC Investor Services, a subsidiary of RBC, if it didn't reverse plans to move 45 Canadian IT jobs offshore. The bank's plans became public last week, when it was revealed it would bring a group of temporary workers from India for training over the next year. Rubbing salt in the wounds of the departing staff was the fact that some were expected to train their replacements. "A billion dollars is chump change to them, we understand that, but we certainly think that a billion dollars is a substantial amount of money in the B.C. economy and if they are not going to manage our money right, we will find others that will," said Lee Loftus, the business manager for the B.C. Insulators Union and president of the B.C. Construction Trades Council. "This doesn't jeopardize our fiduciary responsibility on returns, this is about finding partners that are willing to do business that's acceptable to us." RBC president and CEO Gord Nixon apologized last week and said the affected staff would be given other roles with the company. A government investigation was underway into whether the bank's decision violated the terms of the temporary foreign worker program, which required companies to show there were no suitable Canadian workers for a role. Latest news: Use psychometrics to improve health and safety Time off for charity work can improve retention Using technology to, like, engage young workers Leave a comment SHARE


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The track is taken from up and coming release'Battle of the Bulge'.
The project is a fully conceptual highly awaited EP,
Entirely written, produced, mixed & mastered by Juga-Naut. It will be released on 12/08/12
Big up Cappo for the Cameo!!
Track Writted by: Juga-Naut & Vandal Savage
Produced by. Juga-Naut
Video Directed & Edited by UrBen Media


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What is Motorola C300 phone unlocking ?
Most Networks Service providers lock their Motorola phones to their network, stopping you from using your phone on any other service providers. Essentially , they want to retain your business as the phone will only work solely on their Network. Motorola Phone unlocking is a way of taking out the Network lock from the Motorola phone. Motorola C300 Unlocking may be accomplished by either buying an unlock code which is calculated from your Motorola C300 unique IMEI number or by downloading unlocking software program to unlock your Motorola phone directly. Note: An un-locked 2G phone will not take a 3G simcard. Nonetheless an un-locked 3G handset will take and work with a 2G handset. 3G phones have backward compatible use which allows them to recognize and function with a 2G simcard Nevertheless, an unlocked 2G phone is unable to recognise the more modern 3G/4G sim card technology.
Is Motorola C300 unlocking illegal?
Throughout the uk unlocking your Motorola C300 phone is entirely legal nonetheless unblocking a Motorola C300 phone that is reported lost or stolen is illegal. In the US according to a ruling on the 28th October 2012 , means that it is illegal to unlock phones purchased 90 days after this date without the carrier's agreement. In other words, customers may unlock phones they already own, and phones purchased before January 29 , 2013 , however phones bought after this point may only be un-locked with the carrier's authorization. For other country regulations check out this site:
How do I find out if my Motorola C300 phone is locked ?
The most painless way to verify if your Motorola C300 phone is locked will be to put in a SIM card from a different carrier and check if the phone will accept it. If your Motorola C300 phone is locked you should often see an error message of some kind. These types of messages are different based on your phone manufacturer. And listed below are a few examples ;
- "Enter restriction code" or "SIM card rejected"
- "Enter special code" or "Enter Subsidy code"
- "Enter Correct SIM"
- "Incorrect SIM"
- "Invalid Network SIM…Enter Code"
- "Invalid SIM"
- "Phone disabled ! NETWORK LOCK"
- "Invalid Network SIM"
Should you not have access to a SIM card from another network then there is a much less scientific technique you could use to check if your Motorola C300 handset is locked. Simply look to see if your network has placed their logo on your Motorola C300 phone somewhere. Take for instance in the UK orange usually lock their handsets additionally they always "badge" their Motorola C300 handsets with their own Orange logo either on the front part or even the back of the Motorola C300 phone.
Motorola C300 PUK Codes
PUK stands for Personalized unblocking Code. You have to enter it should you have entered your personal pin code wrong. This works like a security feature on your Motorola C300 phone. If you do not have your PUK code , you should contact your service provider that can provide the PUK code after several security checks.
How to Unlock your Motorola C300 Phone
There are a number of methods to get your Motorola C300 Phone unlocked;
Motorola C300 Unlocking by Unlock Code using your IMEI number:
Unlock your Motorola C300 by unlock Code is substantially the easiest method to unlock your Motorola C300 phone. You can just simply order your Motorola C300 unlock code from an internet site which will later e-mail your Motorola C300 unlock code to you therefore you just simply insert the Motorola C300 unlock code into your phone. Effortless as that and a good number of web site will send you the code within a day or so and some are speedy. You can even obtain the Motorola C300 unlock code from your service provider.
Motorola C300 Unlocking via Motorola C300 Unlock Software
In the event that you're technically experienced and are feeling adventurous , an increasingly popular option to unlock your Motorola C300 phone making use of Motorola C300 Unlock software. To unlock your Motorola C300 phone via Motorola C300 unlocking software , you will need a Motorola C300 data Cable to connect your Motorola C300 phone to your PC in-order to enable the software to unlock your Motorola C300 . The cable which is supplied with the Motorola C300 phone will work generally but for selected phones , you should have a Motorola C300 unlocking cable
Where can I get my Motorola C300 Phone Unlocked?
Here a number of websites that you can get you Motorola C300 phone unlocked;
Click here to order your unlock code today.
Will unlocking my Motorola C300 void the warranty ?
If the carrier who locked the Motorola C300 phone agrees and also supplies you with the code to unlock your Motorola C300 then is entirely acceptable but will not affect your warranty. If however you unlock the Motorola C300 by any other approach you are going to completely void the warranty and void any future the help of the carrier or manufacture.


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Game Secrets:Sonic the Fighters
From Sonic Retro
Hidden Music
In the Arcade ROM's Sound Test, there is an unused music track--Track 25. Discovered by KojiChao, this music track sounds like it could have been music for another stage--Honey's stage, perhaps?
The infamous Track 25.
Below are picture of the machine settings menu, including the sound test used to discover Track 25:
Hidden Characters
There are several characters which are not accessible through normal gameplay but can be accessed using MAME cheats, or through the use of a hack by Tiberious which allows them to be selected on the character select screen. Note that this hack only enables the use of five of these unused characters.
|Main article: Honey the Cat
Honey is a yellow cat-like character with black hair, based on Candy from Fighting Vipers (Candy's name in Japan was Honey). She was discovered after the release of Sonic Gems Collection. In an interview with Hiroshi Kataoka, he confirmed that since Sonic the Fighters was initially designed around Fighting Vipers by simply placing Sonic characters in it, the character was modeled around her.
Her in-game data is near complete. Her model when squashed by the Piko-Piko hammer reveals she was based on Amy. She has a complete moveset. There is a bug in her eye system, causing one eye to look at the camera but the other to look in the opposite direction, making Honey look strange in some scenes. The cutscene after defeating Metal Sonic does not have this eye problem. She does not have any artwork for the pre-level scenes, so it defaults to Eggman. Unlike other characters, when both characters select Honey, there is an actual alternate costume for her instead of a grayscale version.
The design for the character was used in a short clip intro for the Sega Saturn version of Fighting Vipers. Honey's model was removed completely from all versions of Sonic Gems Collection.
In the XBox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network ports of the game, Honey has been added as a secret selectable character with what little data that was missing for her added in, including a proper vs screen image. She can be selected by moving the cursor over Amy and pressing the start button then selecting her. Doing this also unlocks an achievement.
Metal Sonic
Metal Sonic does not display a grey-scale version on the character select screen when two players select him.
Eggman Mech
Eggman's robot, seen during the intro cutscene, is somewhat playable. He has no grey-scale data present in the game. Even during gameplay, Eggman's Robot rotates it's head every six seconds. Eggman's Robot has the exact same moveset as the final Eggman boss. The only difference is in the triple punch move, where the speed lines are purple instead of white.
Rocket Metal
Rocket Metal is only seen in the intro to the game for short time before transforming. His vs screen actually displays his name rather than defaulting to Eggman.
Other Eggman Forms
Mechless Eggman
Normally, Eggman only appears out of his ships and mech units during the game intro cutscene. He is playable in mechless form through hacking. His moves are similar to the Eggman form fought after defeating Metal Sonic and also shares the same title card. The only real difference is his default punch moves, which are similar to Knuckles'.
Big Eggman
A bigger version of Mechless Eggman is also selectable. Because the developers of Sonic the Fighters based the game so closely off of Fighting Vipers, there is a good chance that Eggman and a Big Eggman were going to be the original bosses due to the two different sizes of the boss in Fighting Vipers. However, Big Eggman's skeletal model when he is idle is broken, but is functional while running or performing a move.
UFO Eggman
The UFO Eggman which produces the grey-scale clone whenever a character fights itself is available through hacking. He has the default character moveset.
Unused form of Eggman
There is a unused boss which has no character model data. However, there are tank treads which were likely feet. The above image is a recreation of how the Eggman mech would look like with the feet.
|Sonic the Fighters
Main page


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BC: My Back Cover of my Project
1: Texila | Somnath | India's Ancient Cities
3: Is sovereign, socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic. With parliamentary system of government.
5: A vast majority of Indians associate themselves with religion.
7: They work together for goods.
8: Indian Art
10: Indian Writing | Indian Writing
11: India have a lot of many different kind of writing style. | Indian Writing | Some Writing | Indian Writing
12: Some are shows here | Public Work for Indian
14: There are only 4 section of Social Ranking in India.
15: Here are some Pictures | This picture is old village of India
16: City
17: Modern Cities in India
18: Some Picture of famous buildings in India.
19: Some different kind of temples and government.
20: Modern Religoon
22: Modern Art and Architecture in India
23: Here are some Examples of modern houses
25: Modern Indian Type of Writing


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Product Picture De
@productpicturede active 1 year ago
Hire Best Photographers to Avail Benefits of Employing Top-Notch Product Pictures For establishing any business online, it is must that the people consider paying heed to the websites' aesthetics. If it's an e-commerce website it's necessary that you present the products in a way that attracts the customers and lures them into buying it. […] View


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Coming face to face with Pongo, now that was something. He's family, so I knew a bit about him. But we'd never actually met before.
When I saw him for the first time I could see the resemblance straight away. The facial expressions and the way he stands. But we've grown apart, like many modern families, I suppose. In fact it's been fourteen million years since we had a common ancestor. But Pongo Pygmaeus (his formal name) better known to you and I as orangutan, shares 97% of human DNA. And it shows.
The great ape is only found in Sumatra or here in Borneo. But they are seriously endangered. It's estimated just over 40,000 still remain on the island. Huge scale logging (legal and illegal) is destroying their habitat. The conversion of huge tracts of forest to palm oil plantations has also devastated their traditional areas. It's appalling to witness the pace of rainforest destruction.
I did see a few orangutans in the wild but to be honest the best place to watch them is at either Semmengoh or Sepilok rehabilitation centres. Both rescue orphaned orangutans with the aim of releasing them back into the forest. They are both very successful.
After release, some Orangutans turn up at the centres for fruit, which is provided twice a day. The food is deliberately monotonous so as to encourage them to stay away and find it for themselves in the forests.
Borneo teems with amazing wildlife, some of which is found nowhere else on earth, so enough of the words, I hope you enjoy the photos. (Note: Big thanks to Isabel Rybuschka and Simon Staiger for the picture of the very rare and elusive pygmy elephant – I left my camera on charge in the room. Idiot).


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Download 15% Discount Order Form
In this innovative study, Ben Jones argues that scholars too often assume that the state is the most important force behind change in local political communities in Africa. Studies look to the state, and to the impact of government reforms, as ways of understanding processes of development and change. Using the example of Uganda, regarded as one of Africa's few "success stories", Jones chronicles the insignificance of the state and the marginal impact of Western development agencies. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork in a Ugandan village reveals that it is churches, the village court, and organizations based on family and kinships obligations that represent the most significant sites of innovation and social transformation.
Groundbreaking and critical in turn, Beyond the State offers a new anthropological perspective on how to think about processes of social and political change in poorer parts of the world. It should appeal to anyone interested in African development.
Key Features
- Offers a new approach to studying development and change
- Gives a fresh perspective on Christianity in Africa
- Looks at problems of international development assistance
- Provides a rich ethnographic rural study from east Africa
Moving the State from the Centre
In Between "Development"
The Rest of the Book
2. Introducing Oledai
Themes that Cut Across Developments in the Village
Seniority, Prosperity, Propriety
Explaining Change in the Village
3. Teso Society through the Twentieth Century
From Stateless to Sub-Colonial
Teso through the Post-Colonial Period
The Teso Insurgency
4. The Village Court and the Withdrawn State
Away from Decentralisation
The History of the State in Teso Villages
The Actual Work of the Village Council in Oledai
5. The Pentecostal Church
The Nature of Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism in the Teso Region
The Incorporation of Pentecostalism
The Limits to Incorporation
6. The Anglican and Catholic Churches
The Historic Mission Churches in Teso
The Influence of Pentecostalism
7. Burial Societies
The Work of Burial Societies
The Genealogy of Burial Societies
Burial Societies and Local Borrowings
The Past in the Present
8. Conclusion
Churches and the Meaning Of Change
Burials, Ideas and Institutional Change
Uganda in Between
Appendix A: Research Methods
Appendix B: Interviews
Interviews Conducted in the Sub-Parish of Oledai
Interviews: Others
Participants in Group Discussions in Oledai
Participants in Group Discussions in Agolitom (Conducted in Ateso).
About the Author
... a refreshing and original antidote to the myopic habits of conventional scholarship... [an] illuminating, astute, against-the-grain study of real-existing development.'
… an excellent critique of perspectives focusing on the success of a reform-minded Ugandan state. Jones portrays instead the weakness of central government in the countryside and the deleterious effects of 'external' development schemes. His focus is on change generated from within the local community by the coalescences and interchanges among religious and kin-based associations.
An accessible, intelligent and stimulating account, and a very welcome addition to the literature on Uganda.
Beyond the State in Rural Uganda offers a new anthropological perspective on how to think about processes of social and political change in poorer parts of the world, appealing to anyone interested in African development.


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It's been a while since I took a real vacation. To me, that means going someplace special, somewhere I always wanted to go to but just never did. I love getting out in the world to see how people do things in their neck of the woods. And it's usually the most mundane things that get my attention first like, "Hey, look, they have Charmin' here, too!"
I recall that when my daughter was in elementary and later high school, we did most of the big trips. Vacations for my family were not just for fun. They were also meant to be cultural learning experiences. It was a chance to try new foods, hear new music, see new architecture and learn a new language. The one thing about these vacations that triggered the blame game, however, was the purchase of those 'must have' souvenirs. Years later, they're still haunting my closets like old ghosts who refuse to leave.
Let's see now. We can't get rid of the grass skirt with the coconut bra top we lugged back across the Pacific, and then some, because that will erase all of our memories of Hawaii. Ditto for the ukulele that came with it. Here's hoping that the south pacific island look comes into style pretty soon or the promoters of fashion week will be getting a sternly worded letter from me. In the meantime, it stays in the closet.
A friend of mine went to Mexico for a vacation not too long ago and brought me back an assortment of colorful bowls and dishes. Finally, exotic dining comes to my house. Too bad about the label on the backside of the tableware, though: Warning! Do not eat or place food on surface. For decoration only. Ay carrumba. In the closet.
When she was in college, my daughter spent some time studying in Scotland. I guess she really bought the myth of the Loch Ness monster as she grew fond of all things Scottish. 'Nessie' now holds a prominent place in our house, too, along with an assorted collection of stuffed Scottish terriers, dressed in their cute plaid hats. We also have plaid wallets, scarves, purses and socks. There is so much plaid from Edinburgh in my home that at times I feel like I'm having a Brigadoon breakdown.
The list goes on and includes a real Viking helmet from the Norwegian exhibit at Epcot Center in Disney World which was never worn, genuine cowboy hats from Durango, Colorado, also never worn, and piggy banks from Paris and London in the shape of the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. These actually were used. While I admit to purchasing a royal 'tiara' after an inspiring tour of Buckingham Palace, that 'must have' too, is sparkling somewhere in a closet.
But the oddest souvenir I ever saw came from northern Maine. Some creative artist there, who obviously suffered frost bite to the brain, perfected a knick-knack of petrified moose droppings that were shaped like a moose. Treated and hardened, somehow, and glued to a wooden stand with 'Maine' on it, we were told it was, a 'big seller' for its uniqueness.
Gee, how did this one get away from us?
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Introduction to Windows Azure Marketplace DataMarket
Windows Azure DataMarket makes it easy for developers to consume data from a variety of trusted providers. Whether you need location-based services for your next mobile app or demographics data for large-scale data processing, DataMarket makes it easy to build apps with data. Additionally, if you have a valuable dataset or algorithm, DataMarket can help you monetize it with features enabling you to charge money, control access, and gain wide distribution of your work. Learn about how to build or adapt your data for use with DataMarket and see demos of the onboarding process with real datasets. See how Windows Azure and SQL Azure make it easy to build data services that can be exposed through DataMarket.
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Absent - Theatre ☆☆☆☆☆5
Showing from - Saturday, August 20, 2016 through till Thursday, August 25, 2016
Winter Gardens - Blackpool
Sandra Mangan | Sunday, August 21, 2016
I've read all of the enigmatic pre-publicity for Absent at the Winter Gardens Hotel and still I was unsure what I was letting myself into as I stepped into the plush reception area.
My guest and I had a reservation, under the name of Downstage Centre, and we were greeted warmly and ushered over to the bar for a complimentary drink. Beautiful, unforgettable - but let's add disturbing, haunting, moving and truly, utterly, amazingOther guests were scattered around the room, enjoying an aperitif and reading the local newspaper, while staff stood nearby, ready to cater to their every whim.
At our allotted time, we were ushered through. And then? Well, I'm really not at liberty to say much more, sorry! I can only urge you to go and see for yourself and I guarantee you will have never seen the like before.
The website describes the show as "a mystery tour through the maze of a modern hotel development into the bygone splendour of Blackpool's glorious past." and that's certainly true, although it is only scratching the surface of this multi-sensory, mess-with-your-mind, all-encompassing piece of living theatre.
Ebb and Flow
At the heart of it all is Maggie Morgan, a woman who won £1,000 on the Premium Bonds back in the day when that was a shedload of money. Rather than spend, spend, spend, Maggie invested the cash in a long-term stay in one of the Winter Garden Hotel's plushest suites. She's been there ever since, watching the hotel's fortunes ebb and flow in step with the popularity of Blackpool as a seaside resort.
Once, the Winter Gardens Hotel was the epitome of glamour; now tourists want their accommodation to be cheap and cheerful and a new management is planning to gut the place and double the number of rooms (another way of saying rooms will be 50 per cent smaller). Will Maggie be forced to leave, or is she destined haunt the corridors forever?
Created by Tristran Sharps of dreamthinkspeak, adapted from an acclaimed production which ran in Shoreditch, London, Absent looks at the changing world of Blackpool and the wider world beyond from the perspective of one of its most iconic and remarkable buildings: The Winter Gardens.
Back to the website for further insight: "In small groups at a time, you will travel through a warren of rooms and corridors that are inexplicably transforming before your very eyes. Mixing film, architecture and vast model-making installations with a haunting soundtrack, you will enter a kaleidoscopic world that shifts between Blackpool's past, present and future to create a beautiful and unforgettable experience."
Beautiful, unforgettable – both excellent descriptions, but let's add disturbing, haunting, moving and truly, utterly, amazing. Although I'm not prepared to reveal too much and ruin the magic, suffice to say I cannot recommend this show/immersive theatre experience/large-scale art installation enough. PLEASE grab a ticket while you can.
Note: this show runs 20— 25 August, 12— 16 September, 25— 29 September
Produced by: dreamthinkspeak
Commissioned by The Grand Theatre, Blackpool and LeftCoast
Showing: 20— 25 August
12— 16 September
25— 29 September


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Our wholesale teak shower benches, teak chairs, and bath furiniture can be great sales and profit accelerators for your company. We are looking to partner with both brick and mortar, and internet retailers of symbiotic items, and designers and architects. Our teak bathroom products will complement your sales of other luxury designer bath products such as:
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We will sell our teak products wholesale if you have a valid re-seller certificate in your state via our certified re-seller program. Re-sellers of our teak furniture are subject to our approval. We are currently seeking wholesale teak partnerships in the following categories:
Designers & Architects:
DecoTeak® enjoys the opportunity to supply leading interior designers and architects with teak furniture. As a design professional you will enjoy exclusive interior design trade discounts on our teak shower and bath line. Whether you are designing for a single residence, a single bathroom, or working on an entire hotel or hospitality project we are happy to collaborate with you. We also have the ability to work with you to customize our current teak bathroom products to your needs. We can also produce custom designed teak, rattan, or synthetic fiber furniture for your projects. We have a large network of manufacturing partners located in both Indonesia, as well as other parts of Asia. Although our speciality is currently teak, our manufacturers have broad capabilities in all materials for indoors as well as outdoors.
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There are no products listed under this category.


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When the corporate world decided to eat up all the small businesses where his restaurant has been for over a decade, he decided it was an opportunity. Bourn took a sharp turn on the highway of life to follow his passion--Music!
Not only is he the lead singer for the great band, Locomotive Breath, he is opening a concert and rehearsal venue so he can be immersed in his passion while serving the incredible music and art community of Santa Cruz.
His new venue is called TREASURES!
This space is incredible! Bourn, Rhan Wilson, and Rick Zeek are hard at work renovating the space. The estimated unveiling of Treasures is sometime in August 2013.


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In order to do that they have created a blog where they explain their goals and activities, and regularly post all the news and challenges they are overcoming.
Don't miss their wonderful trailer and their podcast, a cross-over with another e-project by some of their peers, Open Voices, which we wrote about some weeks ago.
You are all welcome to join and collaborate with both, Arts & Music Around The World, and Open Voices.


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Beethovenplein 10
1077 WM Amsterdam
The Netherlands
P.O. Box 75640
1070 AP Amsterdam
Car park address
(Please use Google Maps for navigation)
Christian Neefestraat 2
1077 WW Amsterdam
Central Plaza
Loksumstraat 25 Rue de Loxum
1000 Brussels
Public transportation to Stibbe
6, rue Jean Monnet
2180 Luxembourg
Dubai International Financial Centre
Gate Village 10 Level 3 Unit 12
P.O. Box 506912, Dubai
United Arab Emirates
53 New Broad Street
London EC2M 1JJ
United Kingdom
575 Lexington Avenue, Floor 23
New York, NY 10022
United States of America
Our website uses cookies: third party analytics cookies to best adapt our website to your needs & cookies to enable social media functionalities. For more information on the use of cookies, please check our Privacy and Cookie Policy. Please note that you can change your cookie opt-ins at any time via your browser settings.


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11 QUESTIONS WITH THE MISSING LETTERS 1. What is your favorite letter? Which letter would we be most screwed if it went missing?
JAKE: X, the Xylophone community would be up in arms.
SHANNON: K….It has smething to do with Japanese Hippos... and unless you are my sister it might be hard to comprehend… But trust me it is so very important!
COLE: T. the most common non-vowel in Wheel of Fortune. Would really change up the metagame if it left us.
2. How/when did you form your band?
JAKE: October of 2012. Shannon threw a post up on a local rock Facebook group looking for musicians and I hit him up. After a few months we started adding more people to the band.
SHANNON: It's not all that interesting of a story...but I can tell you that Mark Zuckerberg played a role in the whole sordid tale.
COLE: I was late to the party so to speak.
3. Living in Minneapolis, so rich in music history, do you feel the pull to either coast? what would make you leave the Midwest?
JAKE: I love the authenticity of the Seattle scene, so that's something I would love to explore further someday. On the other end, New York ALWAYS has something cool kicking, and it's fun to watch what jumps from their melting pot of a music scene. I don't think there's anything specific that would cause me to ditch the Midwest though. When I feel it's time to move along, I'll move along. The Midwest sound will always be my focus.
SHANNON: More toward the West Coast, primarily because of our influences.
COLE: Do you feel the pull to the Minneapolis? Cuz it's there.
(interviewer's note: Oh yes, Prince & Low pull me there)
4. If you could have written one song that exists today in the world, what would it be and why?
JAKE: Your Time is Gonna Come - Led Zepp. Such a simple tune, but so much power. It's awesome.
SHANNON: Positively 4th Street by Bob Dylan, I lived through a similar situation that is described in those lyrics.
COLE: What is Love? Baby, Don't Hurt me.
5. What sound do you wish to achieve?
JAKE: My goal when writing and playing has always been about honesty in the music. I want each song to sound like I mean what I'm playing and that my hearts in it, and I want it to sound like four people sitting in a room playing instruments.
For me, some of the most authentic music was the alternative scene in the nineties. All the way from Meat Puppets and Stone Temple Pilots to Third Eye Blind and Eve 6 and so on, there was just such a cool vibe in music rom that time. I tend to try and package that vibe up with a kick of Minneapolis soul and let it ride.
I usually don't write for a specific style generally, but that's the feel I strive for with every song.
SHANNON: Pure rock and roll. Finding the essence that made Led Zeppelin, the Foo Fighters and MC 5 different from the others
COLE: The kind that goes BRRRRNNNNGHH. If that makes any sense.
6. Your favorite thing about touring is...?
JAKE: The openness of the ride, and the feeling of freedom that comes with knowing you're out grinding with the band to do what you love.
SHANNON: Being in a smelly van with your brothers and embracing everything from everyone
COLE: Van smell.
7. What's the weirdest thing that ever happened to you with a fan?
JAKE: No Answer
SHANNON: No weirdness… I really enjoy meeting people. Especially people that like our music. People thought I was weird my whole life…I suppose that's perspective.
All sorts of people come to our shows, and I think that's one of the cool things about what we do… I like to think of a show with The Missing Letters as a coming together place… Where it doesnt matter what your scene is. We (meaning us and our fans) make up our own scene. So if someone wants to come to one of our shows dressed in a green guerilla outfit, thats cool. Not weird. Ya know?
COLE: I had a really cute girl come up to me once. I got nervous and walked away.
8. Your band is strongly involved in important social issues esp. missing kids, how would you like your fan base to help?
JAKE: In any case or situation, just look for your own way to help. With missing children or anything else really, there's always awareness to be raised, and a number to call. Just do what you can personally to be a solution.
SHANNON: No one tends to think about touchy subjects because they're uncomfortable. We dont think that each of us is a possible victim until it happens to us. That goes for crime, natural disaster or anything really.
The reality is we all need to be more aware about what is happening in our communities, our country, and our world. The more in touch we are, the closer we are to a solution. Its not hard. Just be aware. Open your eyes and your mind. When I was young I had a classmate of mine named Alexis Patterson go missing. As far as I know, she was never found. It really affected me, as she was there, and my friend one day playing with us at recess, and then the next day... gone. There was lots of TV crews at the school the first few days when everything first happened. Then everyone went away, the reporters were gone, and it was like nothing ever happened… but Alexis never came back.
COLE: The success of a campaign like Amber alert requires a broad awareness from the public. All I can ask of anybody is to take a few minutes and look over some pictures from their local area It's very much a hivemind effort.
9. You have one superhero power, name it.
JAKE: Burritos out of thin air.
SHANNON: To be like the human torch, because who wouldn't want to be able to snap their fingers and make a flame?!?
COLE: The power... to move you.
(*interviewer note: did you just quote Tenacious D to me??!)
10. How do you see yourselves in five years? Where would you like to be?
JAKE: Part of the fun of music is that I really have no idea where it could take me in any period of time, but I dig that. The unknown is my greatest motivation.
SHANNON: I want to be successful and happy doing the thing I love the most, and that's playing rock and roll.
COLE: Shooting off flares and sexing up the ladies; you know? Like men do.
11. The question we really wished you had asked us is:_____
JAKE: Whats for dinner?
SHANNON: What was your first interaction with rock n roll?
COLE: Nah, You did fine.
watch The Missing Letters in action here:


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Someone once told me people sleep most deeply at around 3 o'clock in the morning. In the past few weeks, however, it has no longer been true to me. Recently, I've found that it is most difficult to sleep around that time. One eighty turn, I'd say.
By the way, here're two pictures of a butternut squash dish I made today ;). I learned the recipe from Ricky last Christmas.


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A Demonstration of the Outrageous
Hypocrisy Of The UK Media in Abandoning its Citizens in Despair
Channel 4 News anchorman, the immature and sycophantic Jon Snow is hard to stomach most of the time. But, this was a blatant insult to injury by the British Media. They turn their backs on and betray the despairing victims of Cameron's Cull. They protect David Cameron by their silence, not only on the fate of Hunger Striker, George Rolph, but by refusing to cover the shocking sex scandal within the Government that could bring down David Cameron. In addition, most disturbingly, they refuse to even acknowledge the disappearance of undercover journalist, Ben Fellows, who it seems exposed a prominent member of the cabinet involved in shocking sex claims.
Apparently, David Cameron called a crisis meeting of the cabinet this past week. All this, and not a word from the mainstream media?????
Courtesy of Planet Infowars
Ben Fellows reporter and former child actor goes missing after Paedophile Unit recordingBen Fellows reporter and former child actor goes missing after
Recently posted Ben Fellows Police Statement Re Kenneth Clarke MP on the Internet
In an article of the 22nd of October, Ben alleges that he was touched inappropriately by none other than arch-Bilderberger and present "Minister Without Portfolio", Kenneth Clarke. Ben alleges that this incident took place while he was working for the Cook Report, and that he was introduced to Clarke as a 15 year old. In fact he was 18 or so at the time. (Ben Fellows)
Following publication of Ben's story it was picked up in part by the Daily Express.
What followed was a barrage of emails to the article publisher from Ken Clarke's "special adviser" Kathryn Laing, who works in the Cabinet Office, vehemently denying that Ken Clarke ever met Ben Fellows, and requiring the removal of Ken Clarke's name from the articles, and make other changes to the articles.
On Thursday 25th October, UK Column Live spoke with Ben Fellows about his allegations, the people he met and what he witnessed growing up as a child actor.
The shadow opposition party's only exist to give the false illusion that the people have a democracy and that they have a vote, eg. "Divide & Conquer" prevents revolution. I'm working on a lengthy article that will explain it more. Ed Milliband was under instruction to stay quiet in opposition. This is the `real' reason why his brother left UK politics, as he knows whats coming. David Milliband was offered a job in the U.S. I wouldn't be surprised if that came from the U.S. Illuminati branch, the CFR (Council Of Foreign Relations), and that Tony Blair was involved. Part of the Illuminati network, the ultra secret "Bilderberg Group" are at this very moment holding their annual summit in Watford at the Grove Hotel. The mainstream media never cover it, yet it is the "Bilderberg Group" that determines global events each year. Ed Balls has been an attendee. Peter Mandelson and George Osborne attended last year in Switzerland. Kenneth Clarke is a member and regular attendee of this illegal occult cabal. They are there until Friday. If you live nearby, please join the protestors and alternative media at the Grove Hotel.


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The SOP or Statement of Purpose is an imperative part of our application when one looking for getting admission for higher studies in abroad.SOP along with Essay, is considered to be the most vital component of your application.
Make your statement of purpose unique
Its significant to be focused, there is no need of getting bored. To eminent your essay from others add unique and relevant information. One of the best ways to do this is to discuss briefly, an idea in your field that turns you on. It lets you write about somewhat besides yourself for a bit.
Flashback the idea you choose to talk about because it can tell an admissions committee a lot about you. And it exihibits your interest in your field rather than just describing it.
Points to Consider
- SOP must be more noticeable among others because your application is one of hundreds.
- SOP should concentrate on your academic record and future.Private issues should not be included in the SOP.
- SOP is one of few chances to articulate who you are and your academic goals. Take benefit of this opportunity and put full effort into it.
- Annotate any irregularity in your academic record, for example, low marks in asubject or semester.
- Express your personality and academic abilities in your SOP through observant and inventive writing.
- Be sure that your ideas flow smoothly from one paragraph to another.
- Do not surpass two single-spaced pages for the SOP.
- Line up one or two people to analytically read your SOP before it is finalized.
- Abstain the "what I did with my life" approach.
- Abstain the "I've always wanted to be a " approach.
- Avoid a litany of achievements.


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ALPINA at Frankfurt IAA 2007
for more details).
B5 & B6 get more power in their new 'S' versions
We were pleased to join ALPINA on the first press day of the IAA 2007 motor show.
ALPINA are positioned in Hall 5 opposite Rolls Royce and between Honda and Porsche. The stand is large, housing 5 ALPINAs plus a sizeable seating area, for the now legendary ALPINA hospitality (excellent wine and delicious canapes).
Present on the stand were the whole Bovensiepen family: Burkard, Andy and Florian. Andy presented the Press Conference in German unveiling two new models the B6 S and B3 Bi-turbo Cabrio.
Note: Although the press launch was for 2 cars there were actually 3 new cars on the ALPINA stand at Frankfurt IAA 2007.
First to be unvieled was the:
ALPINA B6S Coupe
to see the rest of the pics of the new BMW ALPINA B6s
The new B6 will be known as the B6 S to differentiate it from the first generation B6. Power is increased to 530ps / 523 bhp and torque is also increased to 534lb ft / 724Nm. For the record the power increases by 30bhp (from 493bhp) and torque increases by 18lb ft (from 516bhp). The power increases were made possible by completely reworking the cam and intake overlap algorithms. The result of this was a considerable drop in exhaust gases. Having achieve this reduction ALPINA were then able to increase the power knowing that the engine would be able to handle it (and not revert to fail safes (which would have happened if they had not reengineered things)). The power curve for the car remains the same shape as that of the B6.
As a result 0-62mph is achieved in 4.5seconds making 0-60mph achievable in just 4.3 seconds ! Top speed increases too, up from 193mph to 198mph (318kmh). (Top speed in the Cabrio is up to 195mph.)
The biggest change from the B6 is that the S model gets a bespoke glass fibre / carbon fibre vented bonnet*. This is designed to primarily to increase engine cooling, with the vents positioned in the area to give greatest effect. The outer layer is a composite of glass fibre and carbon fibre (to ensure a smooth surface, to make sure the painted bonnet matches the rest of the car. The inner surface of the bonnet is pure carbon fibre. Although not the main driver the bonnet has a 10% weight saving.
Next Andy presented the
ALPINA B3 Cabrio
to see the rest of the pics of the new BMW ALPINA B3 Bi-Turbo Cabriolet
This is the third body style to be debuted by ALPINA, the B3 Bi-turbo saloon being debuted at Geneva earlier this year and the B3 Bi-turbo Coupe debuting at Goodwood Festival of Speed. The B3 Cabrio will be the last of the initial models to be put into production as of September this year. . With only the touring remaining, anyone wanting one of these will need to wait until September 2008 for production to start.
The show car was in ALPINA Blue and numbered 002.
The B5 S
to see the rest of the pics of the new BMW ALPINA B5s
Whilst the B5 was not officially launched (unveiled) it was present on the stand - the car an ALPINA Blue Saloon is visually no different than the B5 and the changes made to the engine are the same as those made to the B6 above. The B5 S touring will have the option of a roof mounted spoiler (likely to be standard on UK cars).
Power and Torque are the same as those quoted above for the B6 S. That means 523 bhp and 534 lb ft. 0-62 is improved to 4.6 seconds (making 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds) and top speed is increased to 197mph for the Saloon and 195mph for the touring.
Another note worthy change to both the B5 S and the B6 S is that ZF and ALPINA have worked on the switchtronic in order to improve change times down to just 100ms. (* this is the same as SMG, without the shortcomings !)
Other cars on display were:
ALPINA Green B3 Bi-turbo Coupe (No. 003)
to see the rest of the pics of the new BMW ALPINA B3 Bi-Turbo Coupe
with a beautiful two-toned leather (green and Champagne), Although this looks like the car we
at the end of July it is in fact a different car.
ALPINA Blue D3 Touring (No. 218)
to see the rest of the pics of the new BMW ALPINA D3 Touring
sporting Classics and Dynamics dependant on which side of the car you looked at.
Other news:
ALPINA has changed the design of the plaques, they now have a raised ALPINA emblem in the middle:
Alpina B6 S (e63 (09/07 - ))
Alpina B3 Bi-Turbo (e93 (09/07 - ))
Alpina B3 Bi-Turbo (e92 (07 - ))
Alpina D3 - (e91 (06 - ))


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Apple unveils stunning new iMac
Apple has done it again, and after so many generations of the iMac, here we are with the slimmest version to date. The all-new iMac sports one of the most stunning industrial designs ever, where it will be accompanied by a brilliant display alongside reduced reflection, not to mention faster processors that make up part of Intel's third generation quad-core Ivy Bridge processors, powerful NVIDIA graphics as well as an innovative new storage option known as Fusion Drive. The new iMac sports high-performance technology into an aluminum and glass enclosure, sporting up to 40% less volume compared to its predecessor, an edge which measures all of just 5mm thin.
Not only that, the completely reengineered display is said to have reduced reflection by up to 75% without sacrificing on the kind of brilliant color and contrast that one has come to know and love. The new design sees the cover glass come in a fully laminated manner, where its anti-reflective coating is applied via a high-precision plasma deposition process. All iMacs that ship have been individually color calibrated thanks to an advanced spectroradiometer.
Underneath the hood, there lies a 3rd generation quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, and if you feel the need for more speed, you can opt to upgrade it to Core i7. It carries a minimum of 8GB RAM and a 1TB hard drive, although if your budget permits, you are able to pick up your iMac with up to 32GB RAM as well as a spanking new 3TB hard drive. Alternatively, you can opt for up to 768GB of flash storage if ultimate performance is one of your needs. Other connectivity options include a couple of Thunderbolt and a quartet of USB 3.0 ports.
As for Fusion Drive, this innovative new storage option offers customers the performance of flash storage without compromising on the capacity that one gets with a hard drive. This means 128GB of flash memory has been merged with a standard 1TB or 3TB hard drive, resulting in a single storage volume. I would say this is Apple's fancy name for a hybrid drive, nothing new or groundbreaking in the market as hard drive manufacturers have come up with that in the past years.
The 21.5" and 27" iMac will retail from $1,299 and $1,799 onward.


text:
Cracking the Fire Codeby Robert W. Fitzgerald, Prof.; Center for Fire Safety Studies, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA,
Jonathan R. Barnett, Prof.; Worcester Polytechnic Institute,
Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1989, Vol. 59, Issue 5, Pg. 60-62
Document Type: Feature article
Local building codes specify fire resistance for members in buildings and other structures, and structural engineers select materials and assemblies that have passed a standard fire resistance test. There is a more rational way to approach design. Engineers should not assume that structural fire requirements have the same rigor as codes for steel, concrete, and timber. Fire risk is indeterminate because the requirements are prescriptive. We can provide standards by calculation rather than by test, and an even better approach is to provide a rational method for designing structures to resist the applied gravity loads encountered in a fire. We need to define the fire environment, the heat transfer from the fire to the structural members and the response of the structural load-bearing member to high temperatures. There are still gaps in the knowledge about this approach, but research has been published in Europe and is underway here.
Subject Headings: Fire resistance | Cracking | Fires | Standards and codes | Building codes | Load and resistance factor design | Load tests | Gravity loads | Europe
Services: Buy this book/Buy this article
Return to search


text:
List price: $17.00Publisher: Crown/ArchetypePublication date: 8/13/2013Binding: PaperbackPages: 352Size: 5.25" wide x 8.00" long x 0.75" tall Weight: 0.594Language: English
Bryan Mealerwas the Associated Press staff correspondent in Kinshasa, Congo, and has reported from places across the African continent, including Nairobi, S omalia, and Togo. His writing has appeared inHarper'sandEsquire, among other magazines. He was born in Odessa, Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Brooklyn.
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Penetration testing is a unique approach to solving network security problems. Research on computer network security shows that the organizations who spend the most on security are the ones who have already sustained breaches at a critical level. This reactionary approach taken by most businesses, especially SMBs, can prove to be a costly and timely mistake. Disgruntled employees, irritated customers and competing organizations can all do irreparable damage to your business critical systems.
Organizations that are interested in a proactive approach to security should consider offensive measures for simulating attacker methodologies and techniques. The number of vulnerabilities and testing techniques increase every day, presenting many entry points into the infrastructure. Our group members stay on the leading edge of delivering world class penetration testing services with ongoing research, development, and training. Our hands-on experience and top quality deliverable exceed client expectations.
Penetration testing services include both manual and automated approaches to meet your project goals and requirements. Defining the goal for penetration testing can be a challenge for some organizations as many projects are initiated as a result of third party regulatory compliance requirements. When speaking with our team, you will be assured that the scope of your project will be well defined.
We offers both internal and external testing against all types of targets and all sizes in scope.


text: Hey all, Whenever i tab out of RF2 it crashes and wont let me return, i have to kill the Rfactor2 proces in taskmanager. It appears as a small rectangular black screen in my top left screen. I am trying to record some replays with obs but i cant get it to work because of this. I already checked integrity and that was fine. Not sure what to do now maybe anyone on here knows what the problem could be ?


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Tech Companies that Bolster (or Harm) Feelings of Social Connectedness
No comments yetPosted in Brains & TechnologySep 30, 2018
As my new book The Science Of Sin essentially argues that increasing a person's sense of social connection improves their health (compared to social isolation), it occurred to me that we should start to label tech companies according to whether their overall impact on the depth of people's sense of being socially embedded in a supportive community is improved or harmed by regular engagement. I've invented some hashtags in the vain hope that people might start playing the game of thinking about the impact of the technologies they use on their own sense of social connectedness and use #socialXplus to denote an opinion that it is a force for increasing the sense of being meaningfully connected with others (e.g. Twitter #socialXplus) and #socialXminus to tag those social media companies that despite seeming to promote social connections actually have the opposite effect (e.g. Facebook #socialXminus). That said, I won't be holding my breath waiting for it to go viral! Anyway, let's consider the cases of Hotels, Hostels and AirBnB.
Hotels DO NOT foster a sense of community
In a hotel you are, by definition, crammed in with all the other guests, many of whom you wouldn't want to get stuck talking to for very long, if you could possibly avoid it. For these reasons, and others, the average guest is likely to hurry by in any given corridor, do their best to avert their gaze while stuck in a lift with you and carry on with their business with as little actual direct communication as possible. Sure, there's the occasional exchange of pleasantries, but rarely do these result in what might be described as a meaningful social interaction.
Hostels DO foster a sense of community
Backpacker hostels across Africa, Asia and South America are a completely different offering. With everyone brought together by relative poverty compared to other visitors to the country who can actually afford to stay for an extended period in a hotel, the banter tends to be lively and all-inclusive. (That their relative poverty is positively lavish by the standards of most local people's annual income is another matter for another day.) The point is: the usual sharp invisible borders wordlessly drawn between people from different levels of socioeconomic status in the developed world become blurred when you're all bunk-bedded up in a 16-man & -woman dorm at the mercy of other people's common decency regarding night-time emanations of light, sound and odour, breaking down many of the usual social barriers as a direct result.
I've done a lot of traveling in my time, doing my best to stray from Lonely Planet recommendations wherever possible, in an effort to maximise my interactions with locals and the more intrepid adventurers. When I've been lucky enough to be put up in nice hotels by my bigger clients I try to wear the comfort of the facilities and the obsequiousness of the staff lightly. Don't get used to it, I tell myself, focusing instead on directing my attention to how my fellow guests interact with those they encounter.
I very much subscribe to the idea that you can glean much more about what a person's really like from observing their interactions with others, rather than relying just on how they comport themselves with you. I've noticed that those who take the time to be polite and friendly to all, even those employed to serve them, are not as common as they once were.
Comparing the incidence of positive social connection experiences in backpackers' hostels to a wide variety of hotels, from one star holes right up to the full five star luxuriance, the backpacker hostels win hands down in the pro-social stakes. So I would say that, in my humble opinion, if I had to choose which of the two is a force building a sense of social connectedness (#socialXplus) and which ultimately reduces a person's sense of social connectedness (#socialXminus), the categories would have to be:
BackpackerHostels #socialXplus
Hotels #socialXminus
Then along came AirBnB, dutifully disrupting (as all good tech firms are wont to do) the whole traditional approach to finding a place to lay your weary head. And it is much more #socialXplus than any of its recent predecessors. Not only does the traveler get to meet a local who is incentivised by the ratings system to be helpful and friendly and do their best to provide the basics, but you become physically embedded in the local community. You see things that a relatively isolated hotel or hostel dweller would never see. As you'll more often than not just be given the keys and told to leave your keys on the side on your way out, you usually have no choice but to ask local people for help and advice. Which is a good thing, by the way. Let me give you an example…
I'm in Copenhagen as I type, staying in an AirBnB, tapping this into my laptop with the rare September sun streaming through the window and a swirling wind violently whipping the leaves of the plants on the balcony in time with the drum 'n' bass beats streaming from my laptop (Goldie, Strictly Jungle, 1995 – in case you're curious). Earlier today, I had to ask three people where the nearest cash machine was until I finally tracked it down. And I also ended up asking a woman in the supermarket whether the carton I had in my hand was milk (because late last night, starving hungry, I ended up having a very sickly bowl of cereal because I'd accidentally bought a carton that looked very much like milk, but was in fact full cream!). My point is, as much as I wasn't relishing the prospect of having to rely on the kindness of others to get what I needed doing done, it was ultimately great to have had some interactions with local people. I felt buoyed each time and it made me feel more at home as a stranger in a foreign country.
These are minor moments of #socialXplus but ones that are worth mentioning all the same. The main boost this trip is giving for my sense of social connectedness (#socialX) is that I'm here to give a lecture as an excuse to spend time with two neuroscience buddies from my PhD days who are based here in Denmark. AirBnB quite literally made the trip financially viable, whereas if I'd had to stay in hotels I'd have flown in and out with one overnight stay, as the hotels in Copenhagen are outrageously expensive!
There are also important #socialXplus opportunities on the other side of the equation. My host this time is staying at her boyfriend's place so her interaction with me has been minimal. But the last time I stayed the night in an AirBnB it was on the outskirts of Bristol and the circumstances of my host were very different. We were in her spare room and it quickly became apparent that she often forged friendships with guests that she "clicked" with. She was a bouncy, vivacious, 45-year-old, full of West Country hospitality, enthusiasm and charm. She immediately invited us to have a cup of tea and join her on the sofa to watch the tennis (Wimbledon was on). Later that night my girlfriend came back to our AirBnB at midnight (while I continued on at the party hosted by another bunch of old university friends) and they ended up having an hour-long chat over a glass of wine. In the morning we tiptoed down to the kitchen / lounge to find the patio doors had been pulled back to reveal a beautifully-kept, wide, lush garden complete with pond, rock garden and seating area. She was up a ladder trimming the hedge in glorious sunshine, but immediately beckoned us to sit down and have some lemonade. She made us feel very welcome and all parties benefited from the social intimacy that the arrangement evoked.
It is for these reasons that I offer AirBnB as a technology company that is a clear and unequivocal source of #socialXplus … helping humans to form social connections, helping them feel embedded in a community. And by bolstering their sense of being socially connected, albeit briefly, it should reduce their feelings of social isolation which might otherwise have increased their chances of getting cancer, cardiovascular disease, psychosis and depression according to a series of peer-reviewed scientific articles that have been accumulating in the literature since 1988.
In addition to these monthly blogs, I tweet interesting brain articles (@drjacklewis), do a regular science podcast with the divine Lliana Bird (Geek Chic's Weird Science) and am on the verge of launching a brand new YouTube channel where I take people in Virtual Reality adventures….
Online Gaming Bilingual Boost
No comments yetPosted in Brains & TechnologyJun 22, 2018
You've probably heard by now that learning a foreign language is good for the brain. This is true in the sense that using a second language on a regular basis seems to help build up cognitive reserve. This results from bolstering certain connections in the prefrontal cortex (the part behind your forehead) involved in the process of switching from one language system to another. The linguistic "gear-shift" mechanism of the brain actually involves a vast network of interconnected neurons spanning every lobe of the brain. They constantly re-organise themselves on a trial and error basis (but only if you regularly use both languages) in order to help the person get better and better at using all their brain resources with slightly greater flexibility than people who only speak one language from one week to the next.
The cognitive demands involved in learning a new language are vast. Once the endless list of words have been memorised, the grammatical quirks of each language finally mastered, our brains will have physically changed themselves, having updated the brain's wiring to have neural networks capable of communicating using either of the learned languages. The ability to switch between two languages turns out to be great cognitive exercise which results in the development of cognitive reserve that can come in to play in later life to compensate for problems caused when bran cells die off in large numbers due to neurodegenerative conditions.
Cognitive reserve is something that we would all be well advised to put time and effort into developing. And beyond that many people find the motivation to put themselves through the extensive process of learning a language because they know that when traveling overseas, communicating with the locals in their own language improves the quality of your experiences exponentially. Because most people don't bother, it really does differentiate a English native-speaker if they actually do try to speak a foreign language. It opens so many doors, helping you gain access to experiences that simply wouldn't be on offer when the communication barrier gets in the way all the time. Surprisingly, it turns out that, the technology may already be at hand to help people clock up enough hours of interaction in a new language to make relatively fluent communication easier to achieve, for keen computer gamers at least.
The study I stumbled upon during my latest exploration of the science journals looked at the impact of playing Massively Multi-Player Online Role Play Games (MMORPGs) on language acquisition. It had been postulated that, for example, when MMORPG gamers sit in front of their computers – each in a different country, wearing headphones / mics so they can coordinate their battles with dragons, dwarves and elves – they may end up improving their command of a non-native language. Under such circumstances, English is usually the language that everyone has in common and people end up getting hundreds of hours per month experience of listening to and speaking in this non-native tongue, due to the need to stay in constant contact with each other to coordinate everyone's efforts to win the game. So seeing as people are already doing this, all the researchers had to do was track these people down and compare them to people who don't play those kinds of games. This hypothesis is perfectly cogent in terms of how neuroplasticity works. This is because the brain only invests resources in reinforcing and bolstering neuronal pathways that are used regularly, intensively and over long periods of time. Given that some people on the Steam Wall of Shame – a list of how many hours individual gamers have clocked up playing online games – do it for more hours each year than can be accumulated during a 52 week year of working 9-5, these pre-requisites all seem adequately covered.
As you may have guessed, several studies HAVE shown a benefit in people who regularly play MMORPGs in terms of improving their grasp of a foreign language and several others have tried to unpick the processes by which this effect is realised:
- Kongmee, I., Strachan, R., Pickard, A., and Montgomery, C. (2012). A case study of using online communities and virtual environment in massively multiplayer role playing games (MMORPGs) as a learning and teaching tool for second language learners. Int. J. Virtual Pers. Learn. Environ. 3, 1–15. doi: 10.4018/jvple. 2012100101
- Peterson, M. (2010). Massively multiplayer online role-playing games as arenas for second language learning. Comput. Assist. Lang. Learn. 23, 429–439. doi: 10.1080/09588221.2010.520673
- Peterson, M. (2011). Digital gaming and second language development: Japanese learners interactions in a MMORPG. Digit. Cult. Educ. 38, 289–299.
- Peterson, M. (2012). Learner interaction in a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG): a sociocultural discourse analysis. ReCALL 24, 361–380. doi: 10.1017/S0958344012000195
- Zheng, D., Bischoff, M., and Gilliland, B. (2015). Vocabulary learning in massively multiplayer online games: context and action before words. Educ. Technol. Res. Dev. 63, 771–790. doi: 10.1007/s11423-015-9387-4
- Zheng, D., Newgarden, K., and Young, M. F. (2012). Multimodal analysis of language learning in World of Warcraft play: languaging as values-realizing. ReCALL 24, 339–360. doi: 10.1017/S0958344012000183
- Zheng, D., Young, M. F., Wagner, M., and Brewer, B. (2009). Negotiation for action: english language learning in game-based virtual worlds. Mod. Lang. J. 93, 489–511. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00927.x
What does this mean to you? Well if you fancy learning Mandarin and can't get over to China to immerse yourself in the language in person – you could download an app to learn the basic vocabulary, pronunciation of and word order for common phrases – and then sign up to a Chinese-speaking MMORPG. If you can find time to play for an hour or so every day then, before long, you'll soon find yourself able to understand certain phrases that are commonly-uttered in the context of such games and who knows, you might even summon the courage to say something yourself. One thing is for sure, if you get yourself hooked on the game, then you'll rack up the hours of immersion in that foreign language much faster than one or two hour long lessons per week…
In addition to these monthly brain blogs, I tweet about brain-related research that hits the press on a daily basis (@drjacklewis) and do a fortnightly podcast about recent quirky science stories called Geek Chic's Weird Science. I have a new book – The Science of Sin – coming out next month in the UK (pre-order here) and in September in the USA (pre-order here). It now has its very own website where you'll soon be able to find some video footage of a speech I gave from a soapbox at Speaker's Corner and a fun quiz to help people work out which of the Seven Deadly Sins is the temptation they struggle with the most (www.sciofsin.com).
Virtual Reality Arcade coming soon…
No comments yetPosted in Brains & TechnologyApr 9, 2017
Please forgive the brevity of my recent brain posts.
I'm working non-stop on my new book – due with the publishers at the end of the month.
When I'm not writing, I'm finishing filming / voiceover for the new series of Secrets of the Brain.
Haven't had a day off for weeks!!
I expect no sympathy, only patience: normal service will resume later in the summer…
In the meantime, I just wanted to share this small update:
Four years ago I asked Mel Slater, Professor of Virtual Reality Environments and all-round legend, if he thought there was any chance that recent advances in VR technology might lead to the return of the video arcade …
As it turns out, London's First Virtual Reality Arcade opens this summer…
Adverts Encouraging Use of Tech to Subdue Kids Could End In Tears
No comments yetPosted in Brains & TechnologyAug 31, 2015
A new Vodaphone advert hit our screens recently and I hate it with a passion. My gym seems to have it on a loop at the moment and every time I see it I progress through a variety of emotions ranging from mild disappointment to abject rage. It starts innocently enough, depicting a bus weaving it's way across a patchwork quilt of luscious fields. England's green and pleasant lands, we might assume. The driver is keeping a kindly eye on his customers through the rear view mirror, a young woman is dozing on her man's shoulder, a suited middle-aged businessman is reading his newspaper and a teenage girl is listening to music on her headphones. One row in front of our lovers a mum finds herself unable to pacify her crying toddler. We've all been there. It's not a pleasant experience when the calm and tranquility is pierced by the ululations of an irate infant child. One-by-one the cast make faces betraying their discontent over the bawling nipper. In such situations – what can you do? Other than grin and bear it?
On this particular bus, in this particular locale, a hero is at hand. In a bid to bravely defend his belle from her rude awakening, that self same man (one row behind the squalling squib) unsheathes his smartphone. And using the "Power of 4G" summons a cartoon to his screen with which to mesmerise and thus pacify the aforementioned disconsolate child. Miraculously the tears dry up immediately, the sobbing quickly replaced by smiles and giggles of joy. Peace reigns over the bus once more and glances of appreciation ensue.
The boyfriend/man/husband presumably earns himself a family-sized haul of brownie points from girlfriend having demonstrating not just a strong capacity for empathy but a clear aptitude for child wrangling (what a great dad he could be!). Mum is palpably relieved that the blight to everyone's day has been appropriately dealt with by this marvellous stroke of genius (so embarrassing when he plays up like that!). Even the stressed out businessman seems to have gone a few shades of purple lighter. The teenage girl goes as far as taking off her headphones, momentarily, to revel in the delicious, unexpected peace and quiet before breaking into a private smile. In the estimation of these fine bus passengers, the holder of the phone is clearly nothing less than an absolute legend.
Dora the Explorer is the chosen cartoon and it's a good choice (a much better choice than Teletubbies, for example). Inexplicably, the language she utters in this British version of the ad is Spanish. I may be showing my ignorance here. Perhaps Dora the Explorer is always aired in it's original tongue. But it occurred to me that just maybe the ad was cheekily alluding to possibility that the kid might even start to pick up a new language as a fortuitous side effect of this timely intervention. Such is the "Power of 4G". It's just a shame that the evidence from several studies indicates that too much screen time spent goggling at idle entertainment displaces valuable time doing other things in the real world that really facilitate a child's neurodevelopment. Surely encouraging the habit of endlessly distracting kids with smartphones, tablets and laptops throughout their entire childhood is only going to perpetuate this problem, not to mention fueling a boom in short-sightedness.
It's not just Vodaphone who are at it. Nissan have also released a TV ad recently for the Pulsar. Excitingly it has automatic braking. For those unfortunate circumstances where the driver's brain is distracted away from the road at precisely the moment the vehicle in front decides to slam on the brakes without warning. The vital milliseconds saved by circumventing the pesky human can make the critical difference between a dangerous fender bender and safely completed journey.
The key message throughout is that the car is carefully built around the driver and therefore every conceivable problem has been anticipated and addressed. In the closing scene two children appear in the back seat fidgeting, shouting and generally being… well… children. In the blink of an eye technology has magically teleported into their midst – the rowdy boys instantly transformed into well-behaved, docile and, most importantly, silent little angels: one absorbed by a tablet, the other gazing out of the window listening to something on a pair of expensive looking headphones (let's hope it's my podcast). That's right kids. Do not interact with each other. That would just cause a disturbance to your father, or whoever he is. Communication must be discouraged when in ear shot of your elders and betters. And remember: silence is golden!
My issue with these ads is not Susan Greenfield-esque. I don't believe that technology is good or bad. But I do think that to unquestioningly consume limitless hours of screen entertainment at the expense of all other activities would have negative consequences for brain development across childhood. My objection to these ads revolves around that fact that they are normalising, if not positively encouraging, child-rearing behaviours that are likely to be deleterious to the best interests of the next generation.
Study after study has demonstrated that what kids really need if their brains are to develop optimally throughout childhood is lots of interaction with other people. Ideally in the context of unstructured play. Keeping them perpetually spell-bound by computer games, films or cartoons is very much against their best interests.
Infants plonked in front of Teletubbies for hours on end are measurably retarded in their language development and verbal expression in comparison to those rarely exposed to screens in their first 2 years of life. This is ironic given that, allegedly, a large team of child psychologists were assembled by the BBC to consult on what elements should be included in order to optimise neurodevelopment.
Admittedly endless hours of interacting with young kids are shattering. And undoubtedly the most effective method of conjuring some much needed peace and quiet from the endless barrage of questions, perpetual motion, mess, mood swings and tears are screen-based innovations designed specifically to captivate young minds. But the easiest route is rarely the best path and whilst this approach may well be very convenient for frazzled parents it is demonstrably not best for the child.
Advertisers will jump on any scenario that their intended market might be able to relate to so the theme of pacifying noisy kids with tech is not surprising. Yet it supports the proliferation of lazy, unhelpful parenting tricks that ultimately work against the best interests of a whole generation of humans. Whether or not this amounts to a whole hill of beans in the long run is yet to be seen. Yet from what is known with any certainty so far, there are clear indications that screen time should be monitored and possibly limited, or else it will displace the human face-to-face interactions that so beautifully sculpt young brains in preparation for a long life of interacting with other humans.
If you want a child's neurodevelopment to proceed optimally you should, in my humble opinion, forego the lure of using technological paraphernalia to distract them – unless you are carefully restricting its use at other times – and instead encourage them to engage in some form of play in the real world. And whilst we're at it you should ensure that as much as possible you give them your full attention. Having your eyes on your smartphone whilst talking to your child is a terrible example to set. So much of communication happens via eye contact and active (as opposed to partially distracted) listening, so if you rob your children of valuable experience with this mode of interaction then their communication skills and social dexterity will suffer.
I'm not saying people should consign their tablets to the rubbish, nor permanently ban children from using all tech. I'm merely encouraging parents to avoid using these tactics habitually. Save it for when you really need it and you will help your kid to develop the full range of skills, both hard and soft, to give them the best possible start in life.
And if you think I'm a luddite after this rant you'd be wrong. If you explore my blog further you'll find plenty of articles relating to the brain benefits of various computer games. Everything in moderation I say (unless we're talking about working memory training using the Dual N-Back task or reading books in which case I see no harm in overdoing it so long as combined with a healthy social life :-))
As well as these monthly blogs I do a weekly podcast – Geek Chic's Weird Science – and daily tweets about breakthroughs in neuroscience and beyond – @drjacklewis.
New Hope for Paralysis Recovery by Dr Jack Lewis
No comments yetPosted in Brains & TechnologyNov 30, 2014
As 2014 draws to a close my thoughts have recently turned to pondering the greatest neuroscience discoveries of the year. For me I've been struck by several developments in an area of biomedical science that during most of my lifetime has been considered beyond the powers of medical therapy to provide a decent remedy.
Ever since Christopher Reeve (the actor who played Superman in the much loved films of the late 70's and 80's) became paralysed from the neck down during an equestrian accident in 1995, the plight of people who suffer traumatic spinal damage has seemed utterly futile; despite the huge amounts of money various benefactors have ploughed into research. However this year we have seen huge leaps in scientific advancement enabling previously wheelchair-bound people to stand up and take some small but important steps forward under their own volition.
A paralysed person kicked off the 2014 World Cup in Brazil during the opening ceremony using an EEG-controlled robotic exoskeleton. But given that the person in question had to be carried onto the pitch on a golf buggy, as opposed to rising up out of their wheelchair as promised, that feat should only really be considered a drop in the ocean compared to the much more remarkable progress in paralysis rehabilitation we've seen over the course of 2014.
At the beginning of the year I was invited to make an appearance on "Newsround" – the Children's BBC channel's daily news show – to explain a totally unexpected and extraordinary breakthrough in rehabilitation research with paralysed army veterans in the USA. A chip was surgically inserted into their spinal cord, below the sites of damage, to apply weak currents of electricity in an effort to reinvigorate the involuntary spinal reflexes that enable us to maintain our balance whilst standing (no input from the brain necessary).
This unexpected development occurred when, after a few weeks of further intensive rehabilitation exercises, several people regained voluntary movement of their legs for the first time in 2-4 years. Can you imagine how good that must have felt for the people in question? As someone who personally spent three weeks of 2014 with an almost completely paralysed arm after complication during routine surgery, it brings tears to my eyes to think how amazing it must have been to have control over legs that had previously seemed utterly useless for so many long months. It seems that the current injected by the chip had unexpectedly boosted signal strength across the area of damaged spinal cord sufficiently for the electrical messages (action potentials) to get all the way down to the leg muscles.
In 2004 whilst I was doing my PhD at University College London, I attended a talk by Prof Geoff Raisman, now chair of Neural Regeneration at the Institute of Neurology in Queen Square. He presented brand new data that he was clearly extremely excited about in which he showed data that clearly depicted new neuronal growth across the site of a spinal lesion. I cannot remember whether the experiment involved rodents or non-human primates but he made it clear that it would be many years before this pioneering research could ever be used to help paralysed humans. Today, in 2014, this dream is a reality.
Darek Fidyka was paralysed from the chest down for several years after a knife attack that severed his spinal cord. The 8mm gap that prevented messages sent from his brain to reach the muscles of his leg, penis and bladder were bridged using stem cells extracted from his brain. Mr Fidyka first underwent surgery to remove one of his two olfactory bulbs – the antennae like structures that extend forwards from the brain's limbic system, running above each nasal cavity and extending smell receptors across the skull and into the nasal epithelium. Because the olfactory receptors come into contact with so many volatile compounds (just think of how potent the gases are that get into your nostrils when you're downwind of a bonfire) a fair amount of damage happens to these brain cells and so they must be constantly replenished. This means that the olfactory bulbs / neurons of the nasal epithelium are a great source of stem cells.
Once sufficient numbers of Olfactory Ensheathing Cells (OECs) had been cultured and several million of them injected into the gap in his spinal cord a period of intensive rehabilitation exercises got underway. 6 hours per day 5 days per week. A few no-doubt-frustrating weeks later he graduated from walking with the assistance of parallel bars in the rehabilitation gym, to walking with a frame outside the hospital in Wroclaw, Poland where the surgery took place. Perhaps as important he regained some bladder control and sexual function. An incredible achievement for Mr Fidyka, but an absolutely triumph for Prof Raisman and the hundreds of people that have contributed to the groundwork that led to this unbelievable feat of brilliance.
This story was covered in episode 10 of the podcast Geek Chic's Weird Science – co-presented by yours truly and the gorgeous Lliana Bird – which you can subscribe to on iTunes, absolutely free of charge, by clicking here.
For daily news on the latest advances in neuroscience research you can follow me on Twitter by clicking here.
Game Over for Reality? by Dr Jack Lewis
No comments yetPosted in Brains & TechnologyJun 24, 2014
Immersive virtual reality gaming is good, frighteningly good. So good that it makes me worry that people will increasingly choose the excitement of virtual worlds over the relative mundanity of the real one. Recently I was walking through the British Film Institute (under Waterloo Bridge in London) on my way to the library when I stumbled upon something rather marvellous. The experience I had was so wonderful (it genuinely filled me with wonder) that I quickly reached a chilling conclusion: immersive virtual reality (VR) gaming is now so good that it seems clear that in the not too distant future it will be a miracle if parents ever manage to get their kids to leave their bedroom and venture out into the real world.
Last year I interviewed Prof Mel Slater, a widely respected guru of VR technology formerly of UCL and now at the University of Barcelona, in which he stated in no uncertain terms that immersive virtual reality gaming is now affordable enough to be accessible to everyone.
Chancing upon a computer gaming conference at the BFI gave me the opportunity to get into the demonstration suite ahead of the delegates, which meant I had the computer game programmers all to myself and discovered first hand exactly how good these games have become already. The experience of actually being inside the computer game is incredibly compelling.
I made a beeline to a game called "Sandman" that made use of a Head Mounted Display (HMD). An HMD creates a truly immersive 3D VR experience via two key features that trick the brain into feeling as if you have been physically transported into the game. Firstly, a different image is presented to the left and right eye, slightly offset in terms of perspective (in a manner identical to real life circumstances) from which the brain can create 3D vision. Secondly, and this is critical to the illusion of being physically immersed in the 3D world, the HMD also tracks the movements of your head so that the image presented to the eyes changes as it would do in the real world. If you look up, you see the sky. As you move your head to the right the images presented to the eyes scrolls across to give a view of whatever is to your right in the 3D environment. Twist all the way round and you can see what is directly behind you. Look down and you can see your own computer-generated body. This creates an extremely compelling illusion that you really are "inside" the game.
"Sandman" involves paddling a canoe along waterways within an enchanted forest. It was absolutely magical. Meditative even. I immediately felt calmer having been transported into this alternate gaming universe. The images provided at the top of this post simply don't do it justice (even when you click on it to reveal the full high def image). It looks so much better when you are wearing the HMD. The colours of the forest canopy were so vivid. The sounds of the water lapping at the boat and from the oar as it pushes against the water each time you paddle is very realistic.
Using a normal Sony Playstation controller you can paddle on the left or right side of the boat and even paddle in reverse to guide the canoe just as you would a real one in the normal world. Of course the controller doesn't give you the usual haptic feedback – but just wait – it soon will. If you can't wait that long read READY PLAYER ONE by Nathan Cline – it's a fantastic science fiction account of how good this kind of technology is likely to get in the not-too-distant future. Patrolling the perimeter of a lake I eventually stumbled across a narrow stream and slotted my virtual boat between the rocks on either side I navigated the chicane they created and came across a small boy on the bank to my right. Behind him an old man was calling him back from the waters edge. As I turned to look at them the sound of their voices in the headphones shifted from just the right ear to both ears equally, demonstrating that not only was the visual world updated according to my head movements but so too were the acoustics.
As I shot down the white water rapids encountered a short while later I giggled and whooped like a boy half my age. I was really enjoying myself and have never been one to hide my emotions. After about 20 mins I took off the HMD and headphones only to find, to my slight embarassement, that the room was now packed full of delegates (having been completely empty when I started the gaming experience). And there was a queue of about a dozen people behind me waiting to play!
In addition to these monthly blogs I also tweet every day so if you would like to follow me on Twitter please click here. If you wish to leave a comment please email me rather than leaving a comment below because I've been outpaced by the spambots!
How Virtual Environments Shape Your Brain by Dr Jack Lewis
No comments yetPosted in Brains & TechnologySep 24, 2013
Any environment in which we immerse ourselves on a daily basis will eventually induce changes in the very fabric of our brains. This observation is based on brain scanning experiments investigating the brains of taxi drivers and professional musicians before and after they have acquired their expertise. Intensive training over many months and years physically changes the size of the hippocampus and motor hand area of these individuals, respectively. This occurs as a direct result of repeatedly challenging the brain to perform specific tasks, navigating around London in the first instance and manipulating an instrument to emit the desired sounds in the second, so that the connectivity between areas involved in executing that task is improved. This occurs at the flick of a few genetic switches that increases the number of synapses across which one neuronal brain wire influences the next in line in pathways that are used often and intensively. It seems reasonable to assume that any cognitive capacity that we regularly use over long periods of time will have a similar impact via the same mechanism.
In the past I've written about our incredible aptitude for using tools to manipulate our environment. One of the best examples of recent human ingenuity in this regard are the virtual environments we have created – video games, internet, online social networking and the like. Millions of people are immersed in such virtual environments intensively, regularly and consistently over extended periods of time, exactly the pre-requisites for interaction that drives brain changes; occurring whether the environment in question is real or virtual. I've written previously about the potential impact of this on the adolescent brain but, of course, adult brains also adapt to the demands of any virtual environments they may be regularly immersed in too, albeit at a reduced rate.
These brain changes occur for better or for worse. Adults who engage in intensive action video gaming for endless hours slowly but surely begin to accumulate cognitive improvements, namely enhancements in certain aspects of vision, memory and rapid decision-making. On the other hand, those who automatically respond to any bleep, buzz or vibration from their laptop or smartphone appear to be training themselves into a state of constant distraction. A recent study has suggested that so-called heavy media multi-taskers are gradually losing their capacity to block out distractions, an unintended consequence of "dual screening" behaviours like surfing the internet and responding to electronic messages whilst watching television.
My message is simple. Technology is neither good or bad, it's all about how you choose to use it. Stopping to contemplate your habits when it comes to using technology and considering whether the likely changes to your brain will serve you well or badly, might be advisable. Evidence is currently quite sparse, but rapidly accumulating. Just bear in mind the rule of thumb that anything you do intensively, daily, for months on end has the potential to re-wire your brain to perform that task more efficiently. Some behaviours honed in this way do not always serve your best interests when operating in the real world.
A report hit the press this week describing as yet unpublished brain data from Cambridge University demonstrating that people addicted to internet pornography show a heightened sensitivity in the reward pathways (specifically in the ventral striatum) when exposed to sexually explicit images. Results were not dissimilar to that observed in the brains of alcoholics and illicit drug addicts when viewing images of the target of their addiction. How might this hypersensitivity to pornography have developed? I'm sure you can guess what's coming next… by viewing pornographic images with great scrutiny, regularly and over periods of months if not years – pleasurable sexual responses have become honed to whatever stimuli have been encountered in the virtual environments with which they are regularly immersed.
My concern is the impact that such outcomes of neuroplasticity might have on people's real life behaviours. Could it be ruining people's real life sex lives? The anecdotal evidence presented in Norman Doidge's excellent book: "The Brain That Changes Itself" certainly backs up this notion. From the perspective of basic neuroscience it also seems likely. Once a brain is trained to respond in a manner that results in feelings of pleasure when viewing hyper-sexual body shapes performing wild and gratuitous sex acts, it is likely that less powerful sexual images – a real life sexual partner, for instance – no longer hit the spot. Given how much of a boost a healthy active sex life gives to real romantic relationships it seems a real shame (if not a blight to wellbeing in society as a whole) that sexual relationships might be harmed by unconstrained consumption of pornography.
I'm not an advocate of censorship. It doesn't work anyway. I believe in freedom of informed choice. I am an advocate of encouraging people to think carefully about what their habitual behaviours might be doing to their brains from the perspective of neuroplasticity. This I hope will enable them to make choices that benefit them in the long run as well as in the short term. Carving out periods of the day when emails are ignored and phones switched to silent will preserve the ability to sustain attention, engage in deep thought and enable people to remain the master rather than slave of technology. And actively avoiding indulging in online pornography on a daily basis might help people to evade brain adaptations that set the bar of satisfaction ever higher so that the real thing can maintain its lustre. "Everything in moderation" will steer us all clear of unwanted brain adaptations.
In addition to these monthly blogs I also tweet daily about interesting brain-related articles that hit the press. If that sounds good to you then please consider following me by clicking here.
Brain Implant Enabling Paralysed Woman to Operate Robot Arm
No comments yetPosted in Brains & TechnologyMay 21, 2012
The first time I came across this kind of technology was at the Society for Neuroscience annual conference in 2003. But back then it was a monkey who was controlling the robotic arm, to reach out for a piece of fruit and bring it close enough to eat, using the power of thought alone.
Now in 2012, the first peer-reviewed study has been published in the scientific journal Nature, demonstrating that a 96 electrode implant can enable paralysed human beings to manipulate objects via a robotic arm just by "willing it" as an able-bodied person would do: click here for full story


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Senator DeFrancisco Young Artist Program
Senator John A. DeFrancisco Young Artist Program
The purpose of the program is to support young people in grades 7-12 in their artistic development by giving some financial assistance in Advanced or Ongoing Study or Summer Intensive Programs. Funding is to be used to further the education of young, gifted students who are already in training, and to benefit beginning students by increasing their exposure.
Students must demonstrate a definite talent in the area of arts and culture. There are two areas through which aspiring artists and their parents may apply, described in more detail below: Advanced or Ongoing Study and Summer Intensives. Students must be nominated by an arts teacher, guidance counselor, or the program that has accepted the student. Students must be currently enrolled in school in grades 7-12 (or will be in grade 7-12 when school resumes in the fall). Students must have a permanent residence within the 50th New York State Senate District. Students outside of the 50th District, unfortunately are NOT eligible.
Application Deadline
Round 1: Deadline passed on March 15, 2018.
Round 2: Deadline passed on June 15, 2018.
Round 3: Dealine September 15, 2018 by 4:00 PM
Should funds be available, we may offer a second round of funding, please check back for updates and information on this grant and any additional rounds that may become available for applying.
All applications and registrations must be submitted online through SUBMITTABLE.
Eligibility: District Validation Tool
How to Register your Scholarship via Submittable
How to Use Submittable Guide
How to Submit a Confidential Sponsor Letter on Submittable
Application Printout - DO NOT SUBMIT
Invoice Template (.xlsx file download) - for institutions/studios/schools
For questions or concerns, please contact Liz Lane at firstname.lastname@example.com
To learn more about Senator DeFrancisco, please visit his website: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/john-defrancisco