Mindconnection eNL, 2015-10-04

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Item 1. Graphene makes the news again. This time, cheaper solar cells. Read the full story here:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/green-tech/solar/graphene-and-perovskite-lead-to-inexpensive-and-highly-efficient-solar-cells

Item 2. An artificial leaf is 10X better at generating hydrogen from sunlight. Read the full story here:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/renewables/artificial-leaf-is-ten-times-better-at-generating-hydrogen-from-sunlight/

Item 3. New breakthroughs in brain science may enable Joe Biden to double his IQ to 4.

Item 4. A California company may have figured out how to make artificial spider silk, a material that is stronger than steel. Read the whole story, here:

http://www.technologyreview.com/photoessay/541361/spinning-synthetic-spider-silk

Item 5. Neat tech trick could double the capacity of wireless networks. Read the whole story, here:

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/541856/trick-that-doubles-wireless-data-capacity-stands-up-in-cell-network-tests

We are selling it on Amazon. We don't have a way of linking to it so that you see only our offer, so here's the deal.

Click the picture, and get yours today.

You know you want it. Buy from us and save!
 

• LCD display to show percentage of power and output voltage
• Capacity to charge car battery, cell phone, PSP, MP3/MP4/MP5, tablet pc (iPad), PDA, notebook.
• High Power capacity polymer cells for fast and long lasting charge.
• 12V Emergency vehicle jump start with flash light function.
• Starting current for jump starter: 200A / Peak current for jump starter: 400A.

Staying organized both preserves and enhances brainpower. Consider these facts:

• People who keep lists or use a Day Planner or other calendar tool (e.g., Outlook Calendar) seem to never forget things. But in reality, they don't have to remember. That mental overhead is offloaded to the list or calendar tool.

• If everything has its place and everything is in its place, you don't have to waste time looking for things. This frees up time for thinking.

• A methodical approach to work is an efficient approach to work (if you keep the method streamlined).

• Deciding on an objective and developing a plan to achieve it takes less brainpower than figuring things out as you stumble through them.

• If you organize the facts you collect on a given topic, you can more easily and accurately analyze them to reach an accurate conclusion. Hint: Look for patterns as you group things; therein may lie great insights.

To really optimize this, factor in the routing.

Let's take an example. You're going to the library, so you decide while you are out to stop at the grocery store for eggs. Both places are to the north of you, but one is to the west and the other to the east. You still save time and money versus two separate trips.

But what if you account for the routing? The hardware store you were going to to to this weekend is just down the road from the library. The clothing store you were going to visit tomorrow is just down the street from your grocery store.

So you change your agenda such that you visit the library and hardware store on today's trip but the grocery store and the clothing store on tomorrow's trip. You've eliminated two east-west transits.

You can go nuts trying to get this perfect. To prevent that, just keep a running list of the places you need to visit in the next few days. When you are down to really needing to go to one of them, pick from your list all the other places that can reasonably go on the same route.

There are limitations. For example, if you are:

• Taking a pet to the veterinarian it should probably be a special trip unless your pet is really acclimated to comfortably traveling in a pet carrier. Similar thing if getting live plants from the garden shop.
• Taking someone to a special event, you don't stop for gas while enroute. It's a special event so it's a special trip.
• Going to places with different dress codes, you should consider separate trips.

If we take such a sign at its face value, interpreting it into English, we find that the people who posted it are either clueless or deceitful.

I once encountered such a sign entering a library. Aside from the fact this would bar me personally from entering (I used to comply with police regulations mandating anyone with a black belt to register, presumably because my hands and feet are considered lethal weapons), a library itself is full of objects that can be used as weapons.

Consider a hardbound book. Its heft and the rigidity of its cover make it a serious weapon if you know how to use it (e.g., strike the throat with any sharp corner of it). How many weapons can you spot among the objects in a library? There are quite a few.

I once saw this sign on the door of a hair salon. Aside from the fact that the dullards who posted this seemed unaware that even a dull pair of scissors can easily be used to kill a person, what about combs? Anyone familiar with Chinese fan techniques can do serious damage with a common hair comb. I wonder how they managed to groom hair without scissors or combs?

My point in all of this is if you're caught in a situation (e.g., confronted by an attacker) the odds are good you don't have to defend yourself with empty-hand techniques. You probably have a weapon nearby. You just have to see it as a weapon, pick it up, and boldly strike (or slash) with it.

Try to be aware of potential weapons that are in your surroundings. Maybe not all the time, but deliberately from time to time. For example:

• At the grocery store. What an arsenal! Cans of food, raw cabbages, cans of coffee, and glass bottles of hot sauce are all things you can throw at an assailant. The number of things you can slash with and strike with is almost infinite. Maybe this is why you don't see very many grocery store robberies, despite all the cash registers and wallets in the place.
   
• At the bank. OK, these do get robbed. Look around the lobby and you'll find things that can easily work as striking weapons you can hold. A hard smash across the kneecap, and the robber is through. But you must move decisively and quickly.
   
• In your home. You've got knives in a drawer and probably knicknacks on a shelf or two. More importantly, you are an armed citizen--right? If not, correct that security hole today.
   
• In a public park. Branches, twigs, stones. If you like to hike, be sure to carry a hiking stick. And never hike or jog alone. If a mugger knocks one of you down, the other can take out the mugger instantly. No need to call 911 and wait half an hour for protection; carry it with you!
   

These are just some ideas. I'm not suggesting you be paranoid and always looking for weapons. I am suggesting that you make a point of identifying things you can use as weapons (and imagine how to use them) so that you don't have to be afraid if something bad goes down. Being defenseless is never a good idea.

At right is a photo from my Age 55 Photoshoot. People who've seen various photos from it have asked me questions such as:

• Is that photoshopped?
  A: No.

• How much time do you spend at the gym?
  A: I work out at home. Workouts vary in length, but are typically 30 minutes. It's the intensity that counts.

• Do you starve yourself to get that lean?
  A: Take a look at the muscles. I did not get those from starving. Ditto, the outstanding vascularity. I eat six meals a day, plus protein shakes and amino mixes.

• How much cardio do you do?
  A: Zero. I don't do cardio, because I need the energy to make my workouts truly count.

• Are you on a special diet?
  A: No. But most people are on a special diet. It's the wheat and processed food diet. I choose to eat real food, instead.

• How much does your personal trainer charge you?
  A: I don't have one.

• Do you lift a lot of light weights to get that cut?
  A: No, I don't do light weights. And I don't to high volume. It's not about burning calories during the workout, but doing a workout that causes your body to burn calories for days afterwards. Even while you're sleeping.

• The best workouts are short and intense.
• A good diet contains far more flavors and satisfaction than the typical American diet.

If aware people had been more assertive in getting the word out during the fake election of 2008, Obamageddon might not have happened. Nipping an emerging disaster in the bud is always easier than dealing with it once it's bloomed.