Archives for posts with tag: thought

#15 How to install a brainboard or an ideas greenhouse in your office

August 6, 10 //
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What if your mind could have a billboard? It would be useful to remind yourself of affirmations. Great for mapping thoughts and organizing them into a plan of action. Practical to have them constantly in front of you whilst at you desk. You could empty the contents of your mind upon your “brainboard”. Hmmm, it would be great for problem solving too, but what form would this mental billboard take?

There is such a solution, and it comes in the form of a whiteboard. I’ve found it useful for gestating thoughts and incubating them till they take on a more definite structure. An “ideas greenhouse”, if you will. I have my “brainboard” or “ideas-house” standing in front of me at my desk so it is easily editable as and when needed.

#14 How listening to an iPod habitually can change your habits

August 6, 10 //
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How can you change your habits and thereby change the direction of your life for the better through the use of a device?

Each time you have a thought you may think in images, or ‘speak’ to yourself in words. If these thoughts are not enhancing your life you can change them for something that does.
A useful device for bringing about such change is an iPod. My preference is for the nano version as it is small yet powerful.
This small device can talk to your subconcious repeatedly through affirmations, or carefully chosen music.

After listening repeatedly to positive audio you will hear it even when you are not listening to it from time to time.

Like the slow drip of water cutting through rock, so will be the effect of listening. The effect of listening the first time may be unnoticeable, but the cumulative effect over time will be powerful enough to change ingrained habits.

#10 How your Time Zoo is holding you back, and how to get rid of it

August 3, 10 //
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We all have animals that inhabit our Time Zoo. Some have many animals, some only a few. However all demand upkeep, and all sap away at our limited resource of Time.

Stuff. That’s what clutters up or lives for the most part.

We tend to think that having more items to fulfill functions within our lives will enhance our lives, (more…)

What one thing would you take to escape a fire?

March 9, 10 //
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“There’s a fire burning in your home and you only have time to get out with one thing. What would you take with you?”

Apparently this hypothetical question is about showing what is important to you. It was posed to me a number of years ago, but with a change of situation over the years my answer has remained constant. In fact, I don’t see my answer ever changing from what instantly popped into my mind at the time.

What would you take with you?

I’ve heard a number of answers, ranging from the obvious; “the family”, “the pet”, through the material; “passport”, “files”, “jewellery”, “phone”, to the eclectic such as “Love”. No, I don’t understand that last answer either, but the question is a personal one and as such it has no right or wrong answer.

From the answer I gave to the question I’ve discovered that what is important to me is a fresh approach to problem solving. In fact the answer partly influenced the creation of thoughtlateral.com.

What was my answer? “The fire itself”.

What will the future hold? Think about it.

January 2, 10 //
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Time has three dimensions, the past, the present, and the future.
The first of these, our past, is recorded in videos, photographs, print, inscriptions, and memory.
The second, the present, is a constantly flowing flux that is being played out to, and absorbed by, our senses.
What about the third, the future? What does the future hold? What will the world look like in say five, or ten years time?

If we could take a mental snapshot of humanity, a photo of our minds’ thoughts we’d see what is yet to unfold. For the thoughts of our mind now will become actions of the future.

For the thoughts of our mind now will become actions of the future.

Wide angle lens anyone? Just don’t think about cheese when the ‘photo’ is taken! ;-)

Pixeless Pixel Buttons

June 3, 09 //
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We love Pixies!

We love Pixies!

On an obscure night in 2008 whilst creating a design using pixel buttons (which also go by the names of pixel badges, and antipixel, etc)  I thought “Wouldn’t it be a great idea if no pixels were used? Instead the button (or badge) is composed entirely by Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) code!”

Yeah, fantastic! My web fortune is upon me and I can retire in the lap of luxury!

In the sober light of day however, I find the idea is sooo fantastic it had been thought of  years ago (going back as far as 2002 I discovered). So I kept the day job.

Even so,  I’ve not yet come across CSS badges (pixeless buttons) that mimic the style of their pixel counterparts. This may be because no one has tried it, or more likely because my browser doesn’t  get about much. So I set about constructing a demo of a CSS badge (pixeless pixel button) that would look like a pixel button.

The CSS has ‘scope for refinement’ – which is a kinder way of saying it was a quick kludge.

Pixeless button examples in Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers

/*CSS code */
table.badge {
border-style:solid;
border-width: 1px;
border-color: #666;
font-size: 8px;
font-family: sans-serif;
color: #fff;
line-height: 6px;
background-color: #fff;
}
table.badge tr {
background-color: #888;
text-align: center;
text-transform:uppercase;
margin: 0px;
padding: 0px;
}
table.badge td.main {
background-color:#f60;
}

<!– html code –>
<table cellspacing=1 cellpadding=0 class=”badge” width=”88px” height=”15px”">
<tr><td class=”main”>px</td><td>free</td></tr>
</table>

Some examples I made earlier can be found here.

I refer to these pixeless pixel buttons as “Pixies” because it sounds cute, and is less likely to leave your tongue in a knot when saying it.

Other related sites:

www.pixelbutton.com – the pixel button website where you can create pixel graphics.

ZwahlenDesign, “Web Badges / Buttons” – the site containing CSS web buttons

http://www.antipixel.com/blog/archives/2002/10/22/steal_these_buttons.html – the original antipixel blog post

What size is the litter problem?

November 25, 08 //
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At what size does waste become litter?

At what size does stuff become litter?

Litter, junk, waste, refuse, trash, you know, the stuff that is a waste of your cash? That’s right, I’m talking about litter.

What is the size of the litter problem?

I don’t ask that in a “Save the Earth and free the whales”-kind-of-way (though that can be good too) or in way that means lots of furry Christmas presents because someone forgot to get Tabby neutered.

What I mean is, just what size exactly does a refuse item need to be in order to be classified as litter?

Think about it, if the soggy cardboard that was holding the last leg of greasy chicken is tossed to ground in a carefree manner, few* would argue against the item being classified as litter. (*-Well, few people I’ve met anyhow. Obviously you’re mileage may vary)

After all, it is an unwanted item that has been improperly discarded, i.e. not in a bin – so is called litter.

Hang on though! What if we were to shrink the problem? Let’s shrink that cardboard down…

Now if our post-pub-2:00am-haute-cuisine container shrinks to become a cigarette butt is it still litter?

Yes. Wherever you dump that fag stub, if it’s not in a bin it is litter.

Hmm. Maybe we didn’t shrink it enough. OK, let’s shrink it some more…

Now it becomes a spot of dust on your glad-rags as you are on your way out for the evening. Without hesitation you flick the offending dust off your garment and continue on your way. You litterbug! No? You mean it wasn’t litter? Why? It was “too small” you say? Now you see my point.

Smaller than what? What is the comparative size that says “This is litter”, or “This is not litter”?

All I can say is it’s larger than an eyelash, but smaller than a chewing gum. As far as I can tell, that’s about the size of the litter problem.