My sister forwarded this picture in an email. We did a study in the lab once about artist sketches and race. This is classic!

FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java. The recent development has hopefully turned it into high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click "fold / unfold" and "follow link" operations.

This is great software because it allows you to create mind maps of research projects and books. Once you get the hang of using it you will really like it.

Life hack

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_hack

The term life hack refers to productivity tricks that programmers devise and employ to cut through information overload and organize their data.

The original definition of the term life hack referred to quick-and-dirty shell scripts and other command line utilities that filtered, munged and processed data streams like email and RSS feeds.^[1][2] Examples of these types of life hacks might include utilities to synchronize files, track tasks, remind yourself of events or filter email.

As the meme spread, the definition of the term expanded. Today, anything that solves an everyday problem in a clever or non-obvious way might be called a life hack. The term became popularized in the blogosphere and is primarily used by geeks who suffer from information overload or those with a playful curiosity in the ways they can accelerate their workflow.

"Life" refers to an individual's productivity, personal organization, work processes or any area the hacker ethic can be applied to solve a problem. The terms hack, hacking, and hacker have a long (and troubled) history in the computing and geek communities, particularly within the open source crowds.

References:

http://zenhabits.net/

The All-Time Most Popular Posts on Zen Habits:

1. 10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It
2. 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
3. Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life
4. The Cheapskate Guide: 50 Tips for Frugal Living
5. A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Home
6. 10 Tasty, Easy and Healthy Breakfast Ideas
7. 50 Ways to Be Romantic on the Cheap
8. 30 Things to Do to Keep From Getting Bored Out of Your Skull at Work
9. Get Off Your Butt: 16 Ways to Get Motivated When You're in a Slump
10. Top 42 Exercise Hacks
11. Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity
12. Simple Living Simplified: 10 Things You Can Do Today to Simplify Your Life
13. Top 20 Motivation Hacks - An Overview

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/01/07/the-power-of-less-leo-babauta-zen-habits/#more-1053

Leo Babauta has been a incredible model for me in the world of blogging.

His blog, Zen Habits, went from 1 reader -- his wife -- to being one of the Technorati top-100 blogs in the world in less than 12 months. Leo, who lives in Guam (how cool is that?), has built his audience by deconstructing his offline behavior as much as his online behavior...

In the last two years, he has:

- Quit smoking (on Nov. 18, 2005).
- Lost 40 pounds.
- Gone from a non-runner to completing several marathons and triathlons.
- Become a vegetarian.
- Tripled his income.
- Written a novel and a non-fiction book.
- Eliminated his debt.

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/

Timothy Ferriss, nominated as one of Fast Company's "Most Innovative Business People of 2007," is author of the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been sold into 33 languages.

He has been featured by more than 100 media outlets, including The New York Times, The Economist, TIME, Forbes, Fortune, CNN, and CBS. He speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a popular guest lecturer at Princeton University since 2003, where he presents entrepreneurship as a tool for ideal lifestyle design and world change.

http://www.lifehackingmovie.com/2008/10/06/manan-kotak-life-hacking-in-action/

Life hacking is about working smarter, not harder. It's about finding tricks to hack your life to be more organized and get things done. It's an answer to the problems working in the 21st century brings.

This movie documents how Manan Kotak used life hacking to turn his life around

Manan Kotak is a 24 year old living in India. He was pulled into his family business of publishing, handling the advertising and revenue part while his brother took care of the rest. However, when his brother passed away due to an unfortunate accident, Manan had to learn and take over the departments his brother ran - circulation, administration, website, technology, stock market investment portfolio, etc.

Sue Barry was born cross eyed. Dispite having corrective surgery at a young age, she was unable to see stereotopically (3-D). On her 50th birthday Sue under went therapy and her 3-D vision came back. This is amazing since people have long thought that there were critical periods where, once passed, the brain couldn't learn certain things...

This is a great audio from NPR

If you are ever in the need for a second opinion you can upload your face (or your friend's) and have it rated on a variety dimensions to see where you stand. I can think of a dozen different uses from a research perspective on how to use this site. Check it out. Thanks go to Dr. Andy Gilpin for sending the link!