Nspir3d

Monday, November 1, 2010

Champion #Mousebot Solves #Huge #Maze in Five Seconds

#AI is getting smarter, and smarter, one step closer to the #terminator

The micromouse competition is an international event wherein a teeny automated robotic mouse has to survey and then navigate a maze as quickly and adorably as possible. This video shows the fastest micromouse we've ever seen, blowing through the maze in mere seconds.

Of course, the micromouse still has to take a few test runs and survey the landscape before it can perfectly race from start to finish. But it is, after all, the season of cornstalk mazes, which to a human are about the same size as this model maze is to the mouse. Go find your nearest cornstalk maze, take all the survey time you want, and then try to sprint through it in a few seconds. It doesn't have an overhead view or use GPS like certain other robots, either--it just learns each corridor and remembers the layout it sees.

This video was taken at a local micromouse competition in Chubu, where the "EggTorte" team won first prize with this impressive showing.
Read more at www.popsci.com

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Sunday, October 24, 2010

#Gender #Patterns In #Friendshipd

http://thechp.syr.edu/genpat.htm

A great article about the diferences and types of friendships between men, women and cross friendships... enjoy: )

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Friday, October 22, 2010

Patrick Chappatte: The power of cartoons

Just another great talk from Ted ...

Amplify’d from www.ted.com

See more at www.ted.com

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7 ways to be a good #boss

Something that you should take in to consideration ...

Amplify’d from workplacepsychology.net

Seven Ways to Avoid Becoming the Boss from Hell

Treat employees with respect and dignity

Discuss personal and sensitive issues in private rather than publicly.

Get to know your employees as people rather than mere workers.

Involve employees in decisions

Let employees know that their ideas are welcome.

Thank employees for their suggestions and use them.

Empower employees

Delegate whenever possible.

Allow employees to have more of a say in how they do their work.

Clearly communicate assignments

Communicate goals and expectations both individually and in writing.

Ask employees to restate the goals and assignments in their own words.

Listen, listen, listen

Practice active listening techniques such as asking open-ended questions.

Learn how to probe for information, ideas, and feelings when speaking with employees.

Recognize that your job includes solving “people problems”

Be prepared to address employee issues such as ineffective performance, health problems, family crises, substance abuse, and harassment from coworkers.

When necessary, seek counsel and involvement from professionals in the human resource department.

Provide personal recognition

Catch employees in the act of performing well and provide them with recognition immediately, rather than waiting for the next performance review discussion.

Just like the best gifts to receive are those when there is no occasion, periodically thank employees individually for their hard work.

Read more at workplacepsychology.net

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The power of #swearing

Use it wisely ...

Amplify’d from www.spring.org.uk via Google Reader

The Persuasive Power of Swearing

Light swearing at the start or end of a persuasive speech can help influence an audience.

Lack of passion can be fatal to our attempts to persuade others of our point of view. Even if all the right facts are trotted out in an intelligible order, even if the argument is unassailable, when the speaker doesn't appear to believe it themselves, why should anyone else bother?

Show your passion, however, and people have one more emotional reason to come around to your point of view.

But how can we convince others of our conviction?

Up the intensity

One unconventional way is by using a little light swearing. The problem is that we run the risk of losing credibility and appearing unprofessional.

To see whether swearing can help change attitudes, Scherer and Sagarin (2006) divided 88 participants into three groups to watch one of three slightly different speeches. The only difference between the speeches was that one contained a mild swear word at the start:

"…lowering of tuition is not only a great idea, but damn it, also the most reasonable one for all parties involved."

The second speech contained the 'damn it' at the end and the third had neither.

When participants' attitudes were measured, they were most influenced by the speeches with the mild obscenity included, either at the beginning or the end.

It also emerged that the word 'damn' increased the audience's perception of the speaker's intensity, which was what lead to the increased levels of persuasion. On the other hand, swearing did not affect how the audience perceived the speaker's credibility.

So it seems that light swearing can be useful, even in a relatively formal situation like a lecture. When you show some feeling, the audience notices, credits you with sincerity and takes your message to heart.

How far you can go is difficult to know. Certainly things have changed a lot. In the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, after Rhett Butler's famous line "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn", the producer, David Selznick, was fined $5,000 for this 'shocking' outburst.

That was a long time ago but audiences are diverse and will respond in different ways. It's likely that stronger or more persistent swearing would adversely affect credibility. But a little damn and blast is more likely to be seen as a genuine display of emotion, which is refreshing. If nothing else, swearing is persuasive because it's human.
Read more at www.spring.org.uk