I found a rather interesting article, called the Monty Hall problem on Wikipedia.
A thoroughly honest game-show host has placed a car behind one of three doors. There is a goat behind each of the other doors. You have no prior knowledge that allows you to distinguish among the doors. "First you point toward a door," he says. "Then I'll open one of the other doors to reveal a goat. After I've shown you the goat, you make your final choice whether to stick with your initial choice of doors, or to switch to the remaining door. You win whatever is behind the door."
You begin by pointing to door number 1. The host shows you that door number 3 has a goat.
Now, do your odds of getting the car increase by switching to door number 2?
As it happens, the answer is "yes", since switching gives you a 2 in 3 chance of winning instead of the intuitively assumed 1 in 2 chance.
Wikipedia describes the full details about the paradox and the Mozy Blog provides a nice, interactive demonstration based on playing cards (ace and jokers) instead of car and goats.
Steve Pavlina and his wife Erin have their own take on personal development. Steve's blog and website are useful sources of thought-provoking material.
I enjoyed a recent podcast Placing Your Order With the Universe, where Erin offers a parable that helped her understand the Law of Attraction and the intention-manifestation model of reality.
A brilliant video of George Bush performing U2’s Sunday, Bloody Sunday on Google Video.
While we're at it, here's Bush and Blair declaring their Endless Love.
Check out the hypnotic, spooky music based on harmonic relationships generated by the Whitney Music Box.
Jim Bumgardner has created a musical realization of one of experimental film pioneer John Whitney's ideas on harmonic resonance, as described in his book Digital Harmony. You'll find the technical details on Jim's blog KrazyDad.
I picked this up from The J-Walk Blog and see that it is also featured on digg.
I found a reference to this cool relaxation tool on Lifehacker. The web site Sound Sleeping provides a Flash application which lets you mix a looping soundtrack including drums, rain, thunder, ocean, chimes, songbirds and gulls. Very relaxing, but perhaps a bit boring after a while? They've got a second sleep-aid which replaces the drums with a vibrophone.
I'm a great fan of mind mapping and have used the technique both privately and at work for many years. It's a great way of brainstorming, then organising and documenting random ideas and minutes of meetings. At work, I've also successfully used mind mapping tools such as Mindjet MindManager to assist in documenting detailed requirement specifications for technical systems and process development.
It's nice to hear a piece of good news for a change. Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams has regained his voice (diagnosed permanently lost due to a condition known as Spasmodic Dysphonia) after repeatedly speaking in rhyme!
"The day before yesterday, while helping on a homework assignment, I noticed I could speak perfectly in rhyme. Rhyme was a context I hadn’t considered. A poem isn’t singing and it isn’t regular talking. But for some reason the context is just different enough from normal speech that my brain handled it fine.
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.
Jack jumped over the candlestick.
I repeated it dozens of times, partly because I could. It was effortless, even though it was similar to regular speech. I enjoyed repeating it, hearing the sound of my own voice working almost flawlessly. I longed for that sound, and the memory of normal speech. Perhaps the rhyme took me back to my own childhood too. Or maybe it’s just plain catchy. I enjoyed repeating it more than I should have. Then something happened.
My brain remapped.
My speech returned."
Wonderful news, in more ways than one!
Grandpa Elliott is one of the most talented bluesmen and street musicians in New Orleans. His voice and harmonica playing is extraordinary. You'll see him playing alone or, more often than not, together with other musicians in the French Quarter. Sunday afternoon in front of the Cafe du Monde is the place for a guaranteed great gig, often lasting several hours. Don't forget to tip the musicians generously.
Here's a video clip I found on YouTube, featuring Grandpa jamming with Mother Tongue.
