March 2008

Thought I’d jot out a few notes on new products, before they slipped my mind:

IWantSandy is a niftyneato virtual reminder/personal assistant application.

Why mention Yet another Web2.0 reminder/task list program? ’cause this one is *different*. Instead of an application, you’re working with “Sandy”, your virtual assistant. And Sandy speaks your language, understanding your natural conversational tone. Send her an email asking her to “remind me to pick up the dry cleaning on Thursday” or “remember that the boss is allergic to perfumes”, and Sandy will she’ll sort the info into the right category, add it to a to-do list, set appointments, confirm it, and send you (and your contacts) a reminder according to your preferences.

This might be the organizational web-app I wind up actually using. Visit Sandy Now

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Coming Soon:

Mind Tweakingly Cool Stuff.

You may have noticed the new blog header (if not, look UP). There will be more gradual improvements ’round here as time goes on. I’m not planning a complete redesign right now, just a few fix-r-up projects.

You can also look forward to a new Mindtweaks Flash toy (silly fun), more info on the online courses I have in development, and the end (I promise) of the Enlightenment-Neurogenesis/Eckhart-Oprah series.

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inpowr:
Personal development goal setter, tracker, planner.

Most goal trackers are very concrete, left brained sorts of things that suit linear/business goals. But Inpowr centers around how you feel. It starts off with questions to help you evaluate your satisfaction in several areas of life, then helps you set, follow and track goals. It’s still in pretty early beta, but it looks interesting. Check it out at inpowr.com

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Brain Rules:
Applied brain-science, made readable.

My copy of the book/DVD arrived this weekend, and I’m even more impressed than I’d expected.

This is the book I’d have written if I had the science chops, more insight and a better sense of humor. Lots more info is coming soon, but soon, I’m too busy reading it to write about it just now. While I’m finishing that, go check out the videos available at the Brain Rules website.

So there you have it.
Random Tweaky Goodness.

Read Part 1

So. Where were we in the discussion of my personal computerized neuro-enlightenment madness? Oh yes, we were about to speculate on contributing factors: exactly how a new computer and online interaction may have brought on a burst of neural re-organization akin to enlightenment.

Here goes:

Sudden Exposure To New and Different Perspectives

I’d already had a pretty interesting mental reorganization as I learned basic DOS structure, and some early Visual Basic programming.

But accessing the Internet itself did more to broaden my perspectives, exposing me directly to people, ideas and cultures I’d otherwise never have encountered. I wasn’t just reading about them; I was interacting with people whose backgrounds spanned spanned generations, geography, income and educational levels. Mixed in was exposure to spiritual systems ranging from psychotic cults like Heaven’s Gate to traditional Buddhism.

Instead of looking on as a spectator, I was trying to put myself in these peoples shoes, to understand their perspectives and what made them tick. All that learning no doubt created a new neural pathway or two (thousand).

Removing Familiar Aspects Of Communication:

[click to continue...]

What’s that you say? The Weekly Tweaks are supposed to be a MONDAY feature, and this is Wednesday night?? Oh dear. Um. Right. Would you believe me if I told you that in some isolated cultures, Monday falls on random weekdays?

Never mind all that, we have neurons to workout. For your brain-boosting pleasure, we proudly point you towards:

Questionaut!
(popup blockers off, please)

Produced for the BBC by the talented folks at Amanita Designs, Questionaut is a gorgeous point-and-click Flash game that is definitely time well spent. The quiz is aimed the Tweener age group, but unless you’ve recently been through refresher courses on fifth grade writing, math, and science, you may find yourself having to think about some of the answers.

(I actually missed one…. erm… Ok, I missed five. But I was busy admiring the animation and interactivity, dang it. I wasn’t paying attention… It doesn’t count! I demand a do-over!)

(Ahem. Ok, I’m better now)

But it’s not the quiz itself that I wanted to draw attention to - more important to note is how the game designers cleverly engage several learning styles, as well as different parts of the brain.

The story line, music, visuals, and motion each bring different areas of the brain into play. The point-and-click puzzle aspects bring action into the process. And the “quiz” (which includes language, math, and science questions) is only part of the brain workout. To get to each mini-quiz, you have to solve interactive puzzles, with no guidance or help — and many of them require (and teach) practical knowledge of applied science. And there is no obvious, familiar or simple means of navigation - you have to work it out on your own, with no hints or instructions.

It’s a serious step forward for educational games.

Links?

For more beautiful games & graphics: Amanita Designs
To launch the game from the BBC web site: BBC Questionaut
For more educational games from the BBC: BiteSize Games

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MindTweak: Originality: It does a brain good.

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Here at MindTweaks, readers have come to expect an odd combination of humor, science and general advice about how to make your brain work better. A twisted few among you have even despaired that there is not more of this sort of mind-tweakish thing available on the web.

Despair no more, Brain Rules is here to save the day!

Seriously. (Or maybe not)

It’s a book. It’s a DVD. It slices, it dices, it amuses, and it informs.

“Brain Rules” is the brain-child of John Medina, a molecular biologist with a wicked sense of humor, and an interest in all things brain-ish. I think I have a new bloggy crush going on here.

But back to the product: through a combination of written and video materials, Medina presents his “12 principles for thriving at work, home and school.”

I’ll let you know more after my copy gets here, but for now, there’s a wealth of information and excerpts at the Brain Rules website. (I highly recommend the video on Rule #1: Exercise. I laughed outloud. Seriously.)

Or you can just trust your favorite brain-blogger’s instincts, and pick up your copy of this multimedia extravaganza at Amazon now. We’ll make it our own little book-club pick. Like Oprah, but with much cheaper shoes.

Order your copy here:
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD)

Or Preview Audio/Video Excerpts At The Brain Rules Website

For Easter weekend, the weather decided it would celebrate spring, too. The sky was blue, the sun was out, the temperature called for short sleeves and putting the top down on the convertible.

It called us to take a drive in said convertible (which just happens to be an appropriate sunshine yellow)

It called to our elderly neighbors to get out of the house for a walk.

When you’re driving a sunshine-yellow convertible with the top down, any elderly neighbors who might happen to be out for a walk find you more approachable. Friendly, even.

They tend to wander over as you pull out of the drive, and strike up conversations. We don’t mind as long as we’re not in a hurry, and we weren’t, this time.

But one of our neighbors looked troubled as he talked, telling us about the headaches that had recently sent him to the VA for an MRI. “The say my brain is shrinking,” he said. “Sort of like early Alzheimer’s, I guess. They told me to stay active… “

His voice sort of trailed off.

For once, I was in the position to do something other than make sympathetic noises.

I could actually *help*! I quickly asked if he had access to a computer, then told him I’d bring over a paper on some science-backed software and training programs designed for exactly this sort of thing.

His face brightened, and it felt like I’d offered more than help. I’d offered hope.

That was a very, very good feeling.

So one of my tasks today is to put together a large print, easy to read handout on the best of the brain training options, for my friendly veteran neighbor, Ellis.

I’ll be sure to include a bright yellow graphic or two - the color of sunshine, the color of the friendly convertible, the color of hope.

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MindTweak: Ellis offered me hope, too - Hope and encouragement that this slowly developing MindTweaks project could become a very, very good thing. Thanks Ellis!

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