Side projects are not just random diversions: they are a critical skill-building and rejuvenating activity everybody should actively participate in.     Programmers are especially keen on little side projects. The act of programming is, quintessentially, creating shortcuts to doing something. Many programmers got their start making little scripts to...

Do you remember band class? Maybe it was just a flute or recorder, or maybe you were forced to study an instrument for a few years in middle school. Maybe you even picked up a thing or two from these classes, but how about now?   For me, music felt...

I’ve received a few requests for this post, so here it is: my approach to focus. It is not an end-all be-all solution for everybody, but rather a look at the key underlying ways you can keep yourself moving towards a task. The tricks here should work well for anybody,...

I’m not here to hawk any self-help products, yet like many book writers I will make the bold claim that I know the formula to success… and it is simple. Surprisingly simple — and widely overlooked or ignored.     I’m not saying that this formula will make you rich....

I enjoy explaining to others just what it is that makes me enjoy learning and speaking Mandarin Chinese so much, as it is a language which is poorly understood. Shrouded in mystery in the west, we’re likely to see it employed as a “mystical” tattoo instead of as a communicative...

Why does it matter why we have brains? It seems like such a self-evident question that we don’t bother asking it… but once we do, it proves much more complex than anticipated.   It is a question which should be asked as we delve into philosophy, psychology or any other...

There is a lot of junk on the internet. Thankfully, there’s also quite a few interesting things.   From new scientific discoveries to cool products, this post is a round-up of things I’ve found lately around the internet that I liked a lot.         Finding Good Sci-Fi...

Blackouts.   Anybody who has ever drank a lot (or been around people who do) knows about this phenomenon. Entire sections of the night can disappear from a person’s memory without a trace. A recent Lifehacker article about drinking and decision-making caught my eye, and one comment in particular claimed...

Nobody wants digital learning techniques (software, games etc.) to succeed more than me. I was formally trained in computer science and video game design, and readers of the blog know that neuroscience, human learning and foreign languages are all amongst my primary interests. I’ve even created a few iPhone apps...

After I learned Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and a little Arabic I did not think that switching between foreign languages was very hard. The three (plus English) were all from distinctly different language families, which made the task relatively painless. Not only did they sound different but the very grammar and...