The Franck Sorbier 14 in One Haute Couture gown as part of his Fall Winter 2012/2013 collection is a technicolor wonder. Using the same pure white gown to showcase multiple designs, Sorbier has rigged a lighting device that changes the look of the gown at the flip of a button.
Pentagon’s Brain-Powered Videogames Might Treat PTSD | Wired.com
Soldiers and veterans looking to alleviate the devastating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder might soon have a new way to help themselves. Strangely, it involves using their gray matter to control a videogame.
The process is known as neurofeedback, or NF, and it’s the latest in a long, increasingly out-there list of potential PTSD remedies — from neck injections to memory-zapping drugs — being studied by military researchers. This week, scientists at San Diego’s Naval Medical Center announced plans for a clinical trial on 80 patients, designed to compare neurofeedback with a sham control procedure. The trial, the first of its kind, is meant to determine whether or not NF can avail soldiers of symptoms like nightmares, anxiety attacks and flashbacks.
10 Things I Learned from ‘We Are Anonymous’ | Peter Mehit
I read Parmy Olsen’s ‘We Are Anonymous’ over the weekend. It is the story of the infamous hacker collective that brought down the Church of Scientology, Pay Pal, Master Card, Visa, Sony, the FBI and CIA among their numerous conquests. It’s a fascinating read about a group based on a contradiction: A few very talented, capable, creative people performed truly heinous acts because they thought their lives were pointless. This nihilistic perspective drove them until they were caught.
The participants were young. The oldest was 28, the youngest 16. Uniformly, they were the socially awkward. They were bullied and marginalized for most of their lives. Most left the education system in middle school because they were bored or mistreated. All of them lived with parents or relatives, reeking havoc on some of the largest organizations in the world from their bedrooms.
Anonymous was more of accident than a movement. The book details how the hacker collective transitioned from a chaotic, leaderless group looking for lulz (fun at other people’s expense) to very small team that stole the private information of millions of people only to give it away to secure fame and respect from the hacking community. Without recounting the book, because it’s worth reading to understand hacker culture and the underworld of the internet, I was struck by several points:
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LinkedIn Tips: 7 Things You’re Doing Wrong | Inc.com
Today, LinkedIn is the No. 1 social media platform for professionals. Estimates of professional participation in LinkedIn are as high as 83%.
But when I talked to one of my friends–social media expert Alexandra Gibson from OttoPilot Media–she told me that she sees too many professionals making a lot of mistakes. Here are the seven she sees most often.
Is There a Question?
Public Pensions Are Not The Whole Problem | ZeroHedge
While it’s the latest new thing to vilify public employees and their pensions, this little known and understood threat is doing just as much damage:
In 2002 a little-known but powerful state agency in California and Wall Street titans Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Ambac consummated one of the biggest deals to date involving … an “interest rate swap.” A year later the executive director of the Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Steve Heminger, proudly described these historic deals to a visiting contingent of Atlanta policymakers as a model to be emulated.
Because of the economic collapse, and the decline of interest rates in 2008 to virtually zero, the MTA has been forced to pay the amazing sum of $658 million in net swap payments so far.
Lowering interest rates to zero isn’t Fed policy, it’s Wall Street policy – Ed.
PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW – Bill Ellermeyer | Peter Mehit
One of the first people we met when we began marketing in Orange County was Bill Ellermeyer. I met him at a mixer where I noticed the ever changing number and types of people speaking with him. Some younger, some older, people in hip hop regalia and guys in suits we’re engaged with him in conversation.
When I finally spoke with him I noticed two things. First, I felt like I’d known the man for more than a few moments, and second, he was an incredible listener. How this listening manifested itself was he asked questions that got at what I was thinking, not just saying. Within a ten minute conversation, he had a good grasp of my business and gave me a road map of whom to speak with and where potential partners and clients might be found. All of this information was delivered with wit and enough political savvy that the relationships of the people we discussed became apparent. It was a seminar. Then, as quick as it started it was over, both of us shaking hands and continuing to work the room.
This is what Bill Ellermeyer does. He sees patterns. He makes connections. He then takes that vision and applies it to his clients who are primarily executives exiting the corporate world in search of the next illusive job or in some cases coming to grips with the idea that the next position won’t be there for them at all.
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The Kokaistudios ‘Yu Bar’ is Breathtaking | trendhunter.com
The Kokaistudios ‘Yu Bar’ is a lavish rooftop retreat that overlooks the beautiful city of Shanghai, China. Located near the banks of the Lupu River, this sky-high lounge provides patrons a view that is breathtaking and gorgeous.
I am Woman. . . See Me Grow My $1 Million Business | Entrepreneur.com
The new State of Women-Owned Businesses looked at the past 15 years of business activity to track trends in womens business ownership. It found that American women are starting about 550 new businesses a day, opening more than 200,000 new enterprises in the past year. The rate of startup activity by women leaped 54 percent and far outstripped the overall business creation growth rate of 37 percent.
10 Simple (and Cheap) Green Ideas | Care2.com
Being green can be easy after all! Browse through this list of simple solutions designed to save energy and reduce carbon emissions for the planet, and at the same time save you money.
10 Tips to Save Energy (and Money) in Your Home
A whopping 46 percent of home energy use is, umm, energy loss! In other words, no productive energy use at all! Here are simple ways of reversing this, mostly by changes of habit.
1. Each degree you turn down the heat saves 3 percent of heating costs, while each degree you raise the temperature of your air conditioner saves 3-4 percent of cooling costs. By changing the temperature by 2 degrees all year, you can save about 2,000 pounds of C02 a year.
