In Steve Martin’s memoir, Born Standing Up, he emphasizes this theme — defining diligence not just in terms of persistence, but also in the ability to ignore unrelated pursuits.
Steve Martin, the banjo player, made the comments around twenty minutes into his 2007 interview with Charlie Rose. They were talking about how Martin learned the banjo.
Continue reading… “The power of diligence in creating a remarkable life”
Inventor kids
You probably think kids are only good at inventing excuses to avoid chores, but think again. These teens and tweens are the minds behind some revolutionary products from household staples, Philo Farnsworth’s electronic television to cool niche novelties magnetic locker wallpaper to an entire method of communicating braille.
Continue reading… “11 amazing whiz kid inventors”
Most were not born into success; they simply did.
There is always a fascination of people who are consistently successful at what they do; especially those who experience repeated success in many areas of their life throughout their lifetime. In entertainment, you may think of Clint Eastwood and Oprah Winfrey. In business, it may be Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett. Everyone has their own examples of super successful people like these who we admire. But how do they become so successful?
Continue reading… “Top 12 things successful people do differently than the rest of us”
A new way to deal with political problems.
Over the past two weeks, staffers from HUGE, the Dumbo-based digital agency, have been at work on a different kind of interactive campaign. Yesterday around noon, a skunkworks team made up of software engineers, interaction designers, information architects, and more finally unleashed their side project on the world: a platform called We the Lobby that “makes the United States political system available to the 99% who can’t afford a lobbying group.”
Continue reading… “Needs your own lobbyist? Kickstarter knock-off funding to Anti-SOPA cause”
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work helps couples strengthen their relationships.
Renowned clinical psychologist and marriage researcher John Gottman, Ph.D, reveals what successful relationships look like and features valuable activities to help couples strengthen their relationships in The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, written with Nan Silver.
Continue reading… “7 principles to make a marriage work”
Nanobot
An effective treatment for Alzheimer’s, a cure for the common cold, gene therapy that destroys cancers, transplant organs grown in the lab. These medical miracles are no longer the dreams of science fiction, but are likely coming in the next decade, say experts.
Continue reading… “7 top medical breakthroughs coming in the next decade”
Futurist Thomas Frey: On December 29th, Verizon announced it would begin charging a $2 “convenience fee” for any customers paying monthly bills with a credit or debit card via the Internet or telephone.
Continue reading… “Power to the People: The Great Consumer Backlash”
Badwater Basin, lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere, at Death Valley National Park.
Nevada, the “Silver State,” is well-known for mining precious metals. But scientists Dennis Bazylinski and colleagues at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) do a different type of mining.
They sluice through every water body they can find, looking for new forms of microbial magnetism.
In a basin named Badwater on the edge of Death Valley National Park, Bazylinski and researcher Christopher Lefèvre hit pay dirt…
Continue reading… “Death Valley microbe may spark novel biotech and nanotech uses”
No drilling here for now.
Ecuador had agreed last year to accept money in exchange for not drilling foroil in Yasuní National Park, an area of the Amazon rainforest that last year set a record for the most mammal, bird, amphibian and plant species in the world.
But a fundraiser was held last night that collected the $116 million necessary to temporarily halt exploitation of the area for oil…
Continue reading… “Crowdfunding temporarily halts oil extraction in Ecuador”
Futurist Thomas Frey: The sixth law of the future states, “The “unknowability” of the future is what gives us our drive and motivation.”
The fact that the future is unknowable is a good thing. Our involvement in the game of life is based on our notion that we as individuals can make a difference. If we somehow remove the mystery of what results our actions will have, we also dismantle our individual drives and motivations for moving forward.
Continue reading… “Year in Review: Top 10 Articles on FuturistSpeaker.com”
“High expectations are the key to everything” – – Sam Walton
Futurist Thomas Frey: On a recent shopping trip, I went to three separate stores and had difficulty finding what I was looking for. On each of these occasions I talked with a staff person and they told me about an option that either wasn’t apparent to most customers, or that I hadn’t considered.
Continue reading… “Flooring the customer: Retail 2.0, the rebirth is coming”
A happy award winning Greenspeed crew.
In mid-November, the members of Greenspeed club headed to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to put their Chevy pickup truck to the test. Stripped of all aesthetics, running on a ’93 Dodge engine and burning an unorthodox fuel, it was there to challenge the land speed record for vegetable oil-powered vehicles: 109 mph. On its first run, it flew past that benchmark at 139 mph. On its second, it set the new bar even higher: 155 mph.
The journey to success was not a quick one. Dave Schenker founded the club at Boise State University with a group of undergraduates, with the intention of building the first super high-performance vehicle to successfully run on vegetable oil. He spent months raising the $125,000 from local sponsors to rebuild the old truck with the parts it would need to set a new record. He and the students spent much of the summer putting it together. They hoped to race in September, but couldn’t get everything together in time…
Continue reading… “Veggie-Fueled Pickup Truck sets new land speed record at 155 MPH”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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