and what are the rest??? here’s the full list… uh i never knew past Echo

A Alpha
B Bravo
C Charlie
D Delta
E Echo
F Foxtrot
G Golf
H Hotel
I India
J Juliet
K Kilo
L Lima
M Mike
N November
O Oscar
P Papa
Q Quebec
R Romeo
S Sierra
T Tango
U Uniform
V Victor
W Whiskey
X X-ray
Y Yankee
Z Zulu

Book Title:The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror
Author: Bernard Lewis
Year written/published: 2003
Book Source: Amazon
Summary: A history from the beginning of Islam during 600A.D till the present day.  And of course an analysis of several historical situations.
My Comments:This is my first book on Islam and i got to know a lot about it’s rich hostiry and the beliefs. This book definitely made me think a lot about various concepts in politics as well as religion.
Contents page:

1. Defining Islam
2. The House of War
3. From Crusaders to Imperialists
4. Discovering America
5. Satan and the Soviets
6. Double Standard
7. A Failure of Modernity
8. The Marriage of Saudi Power and Wahhabi Teaching
9. The rise of Terrorism

Some extracts:

On Nations and religions…

In the western world, the basic unit of human organisation is the nation, in American but not European usage virtually synonymous with country. This is then subdivided in various ways, one of which is by religion. Muslims, however, tend to see not a nation subdivided into religious groups but a religion subdivided into nations.

Centre of the Islamic world…

The Prophet Muhammad lived and died in Arabia, as did his immediate successors, the caliphs, in the headship of the community. Therefore, expect for a brief interlude in Syria, the center of the Islamic World and the scene of its major achievements was Iraq, and its capital Baghdad, as the seat of the caliphate for half a millennium. For Muslims, no piece of land once added to the realm of Islam can ever be finally renounced, but none compare in significance with Arabia and Iraq.

Major religions..

Islam as a religion is in every aspect far closer to the Judeo-Christian tradition than to any of the greater religions of Asia, such as Hinduism Buddhism, or Confucianism. Judaism and Islam share the belief in a divine law that regulates all aspects of human activity, including even food and drink. … … … compared to the remote religions of the East, all Middle Eastern religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – are closely related and indeed appear as variants of the same religious traditions.

A bit of history…

In 1953, an Ottoman official who also served as a chronicler of current events, Selaniki Mustafa Efendi, recorded the arrival in Istanbul of an English Ambassador. … … …  he was much struck by the English ship … “A ship as strange as this has never entered the port of Istanbul,” he wrote. ‘It has crossed 3700 miles of sea and carried 83 guns besides other weapons… … …  The ruler of the island of England is a woman [Elizabeth 1] who governs her inherited realm… with complete power.’

Discovering America…

For a long time, remarkably little was known about America in the lands of Islam. At first, the voyages of discovery aroused some interest – the only surviving copy of Christopher Columbus’ own map of America is a Turkish translation and adaptation, still preserved in the Topkapi Paplace Museum in Istanbul.

The first recorded mention of America as a political symbol in the Islamic world was in Istanbul on July 14, 1793 when the newly arrived ambassador of the French Republic held a public ceremony culminating in a salute of guns from 3 French ships moored as the Seraglio Point.

Colonialism and imperialism…

The American Revolution, as they frequently remark, was fought not by Native American nationalists but by the British settlers, and far from being history against colonialism, it represented colonialism’s triumph; the English in North America succeeded in colonising the land so thoroughly that they no longer needed the support of the mother country against the original inhabitant.

It is hardly surprising that former colonial subjects in the Middle east would see America as being tainted by the same kind if imperialism as Western Europe. But middle Eastern resentment of imperial powers has not always been consistent.

The people’s resentment…

The people of the Middle East are increasingly aware of the deep and widening gulf between the opportunities of the free world outside their borders and the appalling privation and repression within them. The resulting anger is naturally directed first against their rulers, and then against those whom they see as keeping those rulers in power for selfish reasons. Ir is surely significant that all the terrorists who have been identified in the 911 attacks on New York and Washington cam from Saudi Arabia and Egypt – that is, countries who rulers are deemed friendly to the United States.

The terms…

Most Muslims are not fundamentalists and most fundamentalists are not terrorists, but most present day terrorists are Muslims and proudly identify themselves as such. Understandably, Muslims complain when the media speak of these terrorists movements and actions as ‘Islamic’ and ask why the media do not similarly identify the Irish and Basque terrorists and terrorism as ‘Christian’. The answer is simple and obvious – they do not describe themselves as such.

Freedom and independence….

For a while, freedom and independence were used as more or less synonymous and interchangeable terms. The early experience of independence, however, revealed that this was  a sad error. Independence, and freedom are very different, and all too often the attainment of one meant the end of the other and the replacement of foreign overloads by domestic tyrants more adept, more intimate, and less constrained in their tyranny.

The Lucasian Chair of Mathematics is a Professorship for the Cambridge University founded in 1663. As we can see the list of holders here, there are famous names… i know the names in bold…

1. 1664 Isaac Barrow
2. 1669 Sir Isaac Newton
3. 1702 William Whiston
4. 1711 Nicolas Saunderson
5. 1739 John Colson
6. 1760 Edward Waring
7. 1798 Isaac Milner
8. 1820 Robert Woodhouse
9. 1822 Thomas Turton
10. 1826 Sir George Airy
11. 1828 Charles Babbage
12. 1839 Joshua King
13. 1849 Sir George Stokes
14. 1903 Sir Joseph Larmor
15. 1932 Paul Dirac
16. 1969 Sir M. James Lighthill
17. 1980 Stephen Hawking

Book Title: Drop the Pink Elephant: 15 ways to say what you mean – and mean what you say
Author:Bill Mc Farlan
Year written/published: 2003
Book Source: Amazon, Library
Summary: This book is on diplomacy and how to relate and convey messages to people around us effectively
Contents page:

1. Dump the Baggage and create clarity
2. Be Principled in what you say
3. Positively asset yourself
4. Think of the Audience
5. Create a deeper understanding

Some extracts:

so what exactly are Pink Elephants?

Let me quote Richard Nixon, President of the United States, in a televised address to the nation in April 1973: “There can be no whitewash at the White-house.’ Until that point, the American people refused to believe that their president could have had any prior knowledge of the break-in at the Democratic Party HQ at the Watergate Building. That on phrase, linking the White House with whitewash reversed their thinking.

i’m not eating my crayons

there can be no whitewash at the White House

I did not have sexual relation with that woman

I didn’t stand on the radiator

Every picture tells a story

1. Speak in vivid pictures to paint clear descriptions
2. Use analogies to turn abstract concepts and jargon into bright pictures
3. Avoid talking above or below your audience’s level. Instead talk to their level

sorry seems to be the hardest word…

1. saying sorry is the best way to start rebuilding confidence in your relationship after something has gone wrong
2. we respect those who apologise – and lose respect for those who pretend to be infallible
3. regret, reason and remedy offers an apology, explanation and solution. It manages expectation, which must then be met

Thank you and well done…

1. saying ‘thank you’ and well-done demonstrates your appreciation. It raises your self-confidence and that of the person you’re thanking
2. it builds loyalty, while lack of recognition builds indifference

who looks stupid when you criticize in public?

1. destructive criticism of children and adults alike destroys their self confidence and often turns them into critics themselves
2. only offer criticism privately – and ensure you’re able to explain how things can be done better
3. humour’s great!

Flush out the watering words…

1. remove words that dilute your message – words like ‘quite’, ‘relatively’, ‘hopefully’…
2. ‘i’ll do my best’ and ‘i’ll try’ both lack firm commitment

create deeper understanding…

1. listen carefully to the person you are talking with
2. contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way, rather than just waiting to butt in
3. use body language and the tone of your voice to add conviction to your well-chosen words

i dunno why but suddenly this thought occured to me that i would wanna trace down the line up from Prince William, or down from Zeus or even mahabharata and the Roman / Egyptian gods…i found some family trees worth looking at…

1. British Monarchy
2. Japanese Monarchy
3. Greek Gods
4. Mahabharata Kuru Family Tree
5. Egyptian Gods

Book Title: How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci: 7 steps to the Genius Every day
Author:Micahel J. Gelb
Year written/published: 1998
Book Source: Amazon, Library
My Comments:i’m awed by the talent and the brilliance of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Some extracts:

7 intelligences and some genius examples…

1. Logical-mathematical - Stephen Hawking, Newton, Marie Curie
2. verbal-Intelligence - Shakespeare
3. Spatial-Mechanical – Michelangelo, Buckminster Fuller
4. Musical – Mozart, Gershwin
5. Bodily-Kinesthetic – Muhammad Ali
6. Interpersonal-Social – Mandela, Gandhi
7. Intrepersonal – Mother Teresa

7 Da Vincian Principles…

1. Curiosita – An insatiable curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning
2. Dimostrazione – A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn form mistakes
3. Sensazione – The continual refinement of senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience
4. Sfumato – A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty
5. Arte/Scienza – The development of the Balance between science and art, logic and imagination. ‘Whole-brain thinking’
6. Corporalita – The cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise
7. Connessione – A recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. Systems thinking.

Curiosita…

• i keep a journal/notebook to record my insights
• i take adequate time for contemplation and reflection
• i am always learning something new
• i am a voracious reader
• i learn from little children
• i know/involved in learning non-native languages
• my friends describe me as open minded and curious

Domostrazione

• i am willing to acknowledge my mistakes
• i learn from mistakes and rarely repeat them
• i can articulate mu most fundamental beliefs and the reasons i hold them
• i persevere in the face of obstacles

Sensazione

• i enjoy describing one sense in terms of another
• i am aware of the role of synthesia in the thinking of great artists and scientists

sfumato…

• i am comfortable with ambiguity
• i am attuned to the rhythms of my intuition
• i thrive with change
• i see humour in everyday life
• i trust my gut
• i can comfortably hold contradictory ideas in my mind
• i appreciate the importance of conflict in inspiring creativity

arte/scienza

• i like details
• i am always on time
• i am skilled at math
• i rely on logic
• i write clearly
• analysis is one of my strengths
• i am organised and disciplined
• i like lists

• i am highly imaginative
• i am good at brainstorming
• i love to doodle
• i rely on intuition
• i prefer to look at the big picture and leave the details to someone else

Corporalita

• i am aerobically fit
• i am getting stronger
• my flexibility is improving
• i am well coordinated

connessione

• i am ecologically aware
• i enjoy similes, analogies and metaphor
• i frequently make connections that people don’t see
• when i travel i’m struck more my similarities of people than their differences
• i have a well-developed sense of proportion
• i somehow experience a sense of connectedness with all creation

Book Title: Discover your Genius: How to Think like History’s 10 most Revolutionary Minds
Author:Michael J. Gelb
Year written/published: 2003
Book Source: Amazon, Library
Summary:Based on 10 most revolutionary historical figures, Gelb tells us the patterns about the way they led their life and thought about their dreams and desires.
My Comments: It’s a brilliant book full of little pondering exercises and examples from these historical men and women.
Contents page:

1. Plato: Deepening your love of Wisdom
2. Brunelleschi: Expanding your perspective
3. Columbus: Going Perpendicular: Strengthening your optimism, Vision and Courage
4. Copernicus: Revolutionising your Worldview
5. Elizabeth 1: Wielding your Power with Balance and Effectiveness
6. Shakespeare: Cultivating your Emotional Intelligence
7. Jefferson: Celebrating your freedom in the pursuit of happiness
8. Darwin: Developing your power of observation and opening your mind
9. Gandhi: Applying the principles of spiritual genius to harmonise spirit, mind and body
10. Einstein: Unleashing your imagination and combinatory Play

Some extracts:

Some thought provoking quotations…

life must be lived as play
~ Plato

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
~T. S. Elit’s The 4 Quartets

History knows of no man who ever did the like
~ Inscription on Columbus’ tomb in Seville Cathedral

Success does not always go along with merit: America is not named after Columbus
~Sigmund Freud

the speculations of a philosopher are far removed form the judgement of the multitude, for his aim is to seek truth in all things
~Copernicus, preface to the Revolution of the heavenly spheres

Video et taceo (I see but i say nothing)
~Elizabeth I1s motto

All the world’s a stage
And all the men and women are merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts…
~Shakespeare, As You Like It

For a bowl of water give a goodly mean;
For a kindly greeting bow thou down with zeal;
For a simple penny pay thou back with gold;
If thy life me rescued, life do not withhold;
Thus the words and actions of the wise regard;
Every little service tenfold they reward;
But the truly noble know all men as one,
And return with gladness good for every evil done.
~ Hindi sacred text

Study and in general the pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives
~ Albert Einstein

Plato self assessment:

• My Happiness is based on my success at work
• My happiness is based on how others see me
• My happiness is based on my financial success and material possessions
• My happiness is based on nurturing my soul
• I have a well-reasoned perspective on goodness and a strong code of ethics and moral behaviour
• I seek the essence of beauty every day
• i ask probing, challenging questions of myself and others
• For which principles would i be willing to sacrifice?

Brunelleschi…

• When i begin a project i start with visualisation of its successful completion
• I keep my priorities when i’m under stress
• I have faith in my own ideas
• I can think out of the box and then apply creative solutions to real-life problems
• I have faith in my own ideas

Columbus…

• I have a dream or vision that sets the course for my life
• I can persuade others to share my dream or vision
• i can communicate my ideas clearly to others
• i am an optimist
• i take the word ‘impossible’ as a challenge
• i have the courage to pursue new ideas
• i believe that my dreams will become a reality

Copernicus…

• My mind is open to new ideas
• i am willing to question my assumptions and beliefs
• i am sensitive to others when presenting them with my ideas
• i seek truth in all things
• i use my reason and logic to solve problems
• i cultivate my memory power

Elizabeth I:

• I am self-reliant and can keep important information to myself
• I can wait patiently for the right moment
• I am tolerant of other’s views
• I am calm in crisis
• I am no easily intimidated
• i study something new everyday
• i have a strong sense of purpose

Shakespeare…

• I am aware of the different roles i play
• I can laugh at myself at any time
• I take delight in the richness of languages
• I make my time to give my imagination free rein

Jefferson…

• I understand and embrace the responsibilities that come with freedom
• I actively protect the rights and freedoms of other people
• I cherish and support intellectual freedom
• I regard religious freedom as a fundamental human right

Darwin…

• i accentuate the positives in my life
• i do not cling to old familiar ideas when they are proved wrong
• i am patient and persistent
• i do not let illness, childhood issues, or other people’s criticism intimidate me, dampen my spirits or affect my self confidence
• my love for truth is greater than my need to be right

Gandhi…

• I can forgive those who upset, offend, or oppose me
• I regularly experience service to others as a source of joy
• i’m vigilant in monitoring my own integrity
• i believe in and practise nonviolence in dealings with others

Einstein…

• I like to daydream
• i can take serious challenges and play with in my mind
• i balance logic with my gut feeling in making decisions
• i seek solace and inspiration in nature
• i maintain my sense of humour in the face of serious problems
• i maintain my sense of humility in the face of great success
• i nurture the rational and imaginative sides of myself
• i create a brain nourishing environment at work and home
• i can take an open, childlike approach to problems
• i notice things that others wouldn’t think were important and wonder about them

1927 5th Solvay Conference is one of the most famous conferences where the world’s most notable scientists gathered together to discuss on Quantum Mechanics. 17 out of the 29 attendees became or were Nobel Laureates.

This picture shows the meeting of the famous scientists… [full resolution]

Seating Plan:
Back Row: A. Piccard, E. Henriot, P. Ehrenfest, Ed. Herzen, Th. De Donder, E. Schrödinger, E. Verschaffelt, W. Pauli, W. Heisenberg, R.H. Fowler, L. Brillouin,
Middlw Row: P. Debye, M. Knudsen, W.L. Bragg, H.A. Kramers, P.A.M. Dirac, A.H. Compton, L. de Broglie, M. Born, N. Bohr,
Front Row: I. Langmuir, M. Planck, M. Curie, H.A. Lorentz, A. Einstein, P. Langevin, Ch. E. Guye, C.T.R. Wilson, O.W. Richardson

What is railway signalling?? It is a system of controlling the trains on the tracks safely so as to avoid any colliding or jamming. here are some links to read more…

1. Wikipedia

2. Wikipedia Categories

Railway signalling first started in Europe and in the 1900s drivers just used to drive on sight to prevent any collision with other trains on tracks. Pretty soon, with the rising number of trains, speed and the frequency between each train departure or arrival, the driving on sight proved to be too dangerous. The distance was simply not enough to brake and stop safely before a serious dangerous collision. Clearly, a more efficient set of techniques and algorithm needed to be developed for a safe and seamless railway journey And some links on the rich history of railway signalling dating more than a 100 years …

1. UK rail history

2. history

In present times, railway signalling algorithms and technology became more advanced to tackle the need for total automation and sometimes even driver-less! Some technology dealing with automated railway signalling…

• Automatic Train Control

• Automatic Train Protection

• Automatic Train Supervision

• Interlocking

Some rail project examples would include:

• line 14 of Paris Metro – fully automated line
• North-east Line and Circle Line of Singapore – world’s first fully automated driver-less and underground heavy rail system
• List of world projects on railways

some companies dealing with rail industry and technology…

1. SIEMENS Transport
2. GE Transport
3. Alstorm

Book Title: Gift Wrapping – Creative Ideas from Japan
Author: Kunio Ekiguchi
Year written/published: 1985
Book Source: Amazon, Library
Summary: This book has great illustrations on how to wrap boxes, gifts, bottles and cards in a really creative manner following the Japanses crafts method.
My Comments: I’m a complete sucker for art and crafts books… this one’s simply simple and brilliant at the same time

Some extracts:

the art of gift wrapping – tsutsumi…

Tsutsumi encompasses many areas not included in the Western concept of wrapping… … … The wrapping style illustrated by these examples is not a tight, hermetic seal, but a loose, flexible covering or shading.

papers used…

1. Light weight paper: cellophane, crepe paper, tissue paper, some washi, any thin almost transparent paper

2. Medium weight paper: most wrappeing paper, typing paper, stationery, pages from magazines, newspapers

3. heavyweight paper: thicker paper, including some wrapping paper, paper used ofr art posters, momi-gami

4. cardboard: includes any heavy card stock such as that used for shoe boxes and other commercial packing.

Furoshiki…

Furoshiki is a unique piece of material used to wrap and carry objects of all shapes and sizes. Its corners are drawn up and knotted into a makeshift handle.

Book Title:A Brief History ofTime
Author: Stephen Hawking
Year written/published: 1988
Book Source: Amazon, Library
My Comments:I have read this book before… before i started my undergrad studies. And reading it now once more gave me an even greater pleasure because i could understand the concepts much better. Hawkings is definitely a great writer – especially in the way he can mix God, Physics and the unknown. A best seller book of all times, it’s definitely a must read to get a perspective to our existence and our place in this universe. One of my favourite books of all times
Contents page:

1. Our Picture of the Universe
2. Space and Time
3. The Expanding Universe
4. The uncertainty Principle
5. Elementary Particle and the Forces of Nature
6. Black Holes
7. Black holes ain’t so black
8. The origin and fate of the universe
9. The Arrow of Time
10. Wormholes and Time Travel
11. The unification of Physics
12. Conclusion

Some extracts:

an infitie static universe?

The difficulty is that in an infinite static universe nearly every line of sight would end on the surface of a star. Thus one would expect that the whole sky ould be as bright as the sun, even at night. Olbers’ counter-argument was that he light from distant stars would be dimmed by absorption by intervening matter. However, if that happened the intervening matter would eventually eat up until it glowed as brightly as the stars. The only way of avoiding the onclusion that the whole of the night sky should be as bright as the surface of the sun would be to assume that the stars had not been shining forever but had turned on at some finite time in the past.

what is a good theory…

A theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements. It must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations.

goal of our civilisation…

The discovery of a complete unified theory, therefore, may not aid the survival of our species. It may not even affect our lifestyle. But ever since the dawn of civilization, people have not been content to see events as unconnected and inexplicable. They have craved an understanding of the underlying order in the world. Today we still yearn to know why we are here and where we came from. Humanity’s deepest desire for knowledge is justification enough for our continuing quest. And our goal is nothing less than a complete description of the universe we live in.

a black hole…

Using the way light cones behave in general relativity, together with the fact that gravity is always attractive, he [Penrose] showed that a star collapsing under its own gravity is trapped in a region whose surface eventually shrinks to zero size. And, since the surface of the region shrinks to zero, so too must its volume. All the matter in the star will be compressed into a region of zero volume, so the density of matter and the curvature of space-time become infinite. In other words, one has a singularity contained within a region of space-time known as a black hole.

Galileo and Stephen Hawkins…

The Catholic Church had made a bad mistake with Galileo when it tried to lay down the law on a question of science, declaring that the sun went round the earth. Now, centuries later, it had decided to invite a number of experts to advise it on cosmology. At the end of the conference the participants were granted an audience with the Pope. He told us that it was all right to study the evolution of the universe after the big bang, but we should not inquire into the big bang itself because that was the moment of Creation and therefore the work of God. I was glad then that he did not know the subject of the talk I had just given at the conference – the possibility that space-time was finite but had no boundary, which means that it had no beginning, no moment of Creation. I had no desire to share the fate of Galileo, with whom I feel a strong sense of identity, partly because of the coincidence of having been born exactly 300 years after his death!

is this whole universe creation for our existence?

Yet the strong anthropic principle would claim that this whole vast construction exists simply for our sake. This is very hard to believe. Our Solar System is certainly a prerequisite for our existence, hand one might extend this to the whole of our galaxy to allow for an earlier generation of stars that created the heavier elements. But there does not seem to be any need for all those other galaxies, nor for the universe to be so uniform and similar in every direction on the large scale.

what is the place for our creator?

With the success of scientific theories in describing events, most people have come to believe that God allows the universe to evolve according to a set of laws and does not intervene in the universe to break these laws. However, the laws do not tell us what the universe should have looked like when it started – it would still be up to God to wind up the clockwork and choose how to start it off. So long as the universe had a beginning, we could suppose it had a creator. But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither beginning nor end: it would simply be. What place, then, for a creator?

the uncertainty principle and God…

With the advent of quantum mechanics, we have come to recognize that events cannot be predicted with complete accuracy but that there is always a degree of uncertainty. If one likes, one could ascribe this randomness to the intervention of God, but it would be a very strange kind of intervention: there is no evidence that it is directed toward any purpose. Indeed, if it were, it would by definition not be random. In modern times, we have effectively removed the third possibility above by redefining the goal of science: our aim is to formulate a set of laws that enables us to predict events only up to the limit set by the uncertainty principle.

concluding paragraphs…

Einstein once asked the question: “How much choice did God have in constructing the universe?” If the no boundary proposal is correct, he had no freedom at all to choose initial conditions. He would, of course, still have had the freedom to choose the laws that the universe obeyed. This, however, may not really have been all that much of a choice; there may well be only one, or a small number, of complete unified theories, such as the heterotic string theory, that are self-consistent and allow the existence of structures as complicated as human beings who can investigate the laws of the universe and ask about the nature of God.

Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing? Is the unified theory so compelling that it brings about its own existence? Or does it need a creator, and, if so, does he have any other effect on the universe? And who created him?

Up to now, most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why. On the other hand, the people whose business it is to ask why, the philosophers, have not been able to keep up with the advance of scientific theories. In the eighteenth century, philosophers considered the whole of human knowledge, including science, to be their field and discussed questions such as: did the universe have a beginning? However, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, science became too technical and mathematical for the philosophers, or anyone else except a few specialists.

Philosophers reduced the scope of their inquiries so much that Wittgenstein, the most famous philosopher of this century, said, “The sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language.” What a comedown from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant! However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we would know the mind of God.

this is funny… Murphy’s Laws…

1. If anything can go wrong, it will.
2. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
3. If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
4. If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
5. Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
6. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
7. Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
8. Whatever has happened wrong, is bound to happen again …. maybe even worse.

Book Title:What do you care what other people think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character
Author: Richard P. Feynman
Year published: 1988
Book Source: Amazon, Library
Summary:it’s sort of an autobiography where Feynman himself wrote stories about his childhood, the Manhattan project, his love and about the time when he was in the Commission for investigating the Challenger Shuttle disaster.
Contents page:

1. A curious character
2. the making of a scientist
3. what do you care what other people think?
4. It’s simple as one, two, three
5. getting ahead
6. hotel city
7. who the hell is Herman
8. Feynman Sexist Pig
9. it just shook his hand, can you believe it?
10. Letters
11. Photos and Drawings
12. Feynman goes to Washington: Investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
13. Preliminaries
14. Committing Suicide
15. The Cold Facts
16. Check Six!
17. Gumshoes
18. Fantastic Figures
19. An Inflamed Appendix
20. The 10th Recommendation
21. Meet the Press
22. Afterthoughts

 Some extracts:

Santa Claus and miracles in religion…

Santa Claus was a particularcustom we celebrated in our family, and it wasn’t very serious. But the miracles I was hearing about were connected with real things: there as the temple, where people would go every week; there was the Sunday school, where rabbis taught the children about miracles; it was much more of a dramatic thing. Santa Claus didn’t involve big institutions like the temple, which I knew was real.

About English…

I was terrible in English. I couldn’t stand the subject. It seemed to me ridiculous to worry about whether you spelled something wrong or not, because English spelling is just a human invention – it has nothing to do with anything real, anything from the nature. Any word can be spelled just as well a different way. I was impatient with all this English stuff.

about dieing and the human spirit…

It’s hard to explain. If a Martian (who we’ll imagine never dies expect by accident) came to earth and saw this peculiar race of creatures – these humans who live about 70 or 80 years, knowing that death is going to come – it would look to him a terrible problem of psychology to live under those circumstances, knowing that life is only temporary. Well, we humans somehow figure out how to live despite this problem: we laugh, we joke, we live.

about seeing the real part of a city…

The driver started right off to go up and see some palace saying, “I’ll show you all the fancy places.”

I said, “No thank you; That’s similar in every city. I want to see the bottom part of the city where the poor people live….”

about public enquiry when he was involved in the Challenger space shuttle disaster…

The main thing learned at that meeting was how inefficient a public inquiry is: most of the time, other people are asking questions you already know the answer to – or are not interested in 0 you get so fogged out that your’re hardly listening  when important points are being passed over.

on bureaucratic and safety challenges faced during the public commission for the Challenger…

The foreman, Mr. Fichtel, said he wrote a memo with this suggestion to his superiors 2 years ago, but nothing had happened yet. When he asked why, he was told the suggestion was too expensive.

“Too expensive to just 4 little lines?” I said in disbelief.

They all laughed. “It’s not the paint; it’s the paperwork,” Mr. Fitchel said. “They would have to revise all the manuals”.

world’s most densest cities have the most rigorous railway system to commute thousands of passengers daily. Here are a few of the cities…

London’s Tube since 1863 [full picture]

Paris’ Metro since 1900 [full picture]

Tokyo’s rail  [full picture]

Singapore MRT since 1987 [full picture]

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Book Title:Making Powerful Presentations using Neuro-Linguistic Programming
Authors: Gary Yardley & Jan Kelly
Year written/published: 1994
Book Source: Library
Contents page:

1. Studying Excellent presenters
2. Powerful Presentations
3. Understanding the Senses
4. The Visual System
5. The Auditory System
6. The Kinesthetic System
7. Demonstrations
8. Preferences and Prejudices
9. Feed-forwarding Information
10. Questions and Answers

Some extracts:

some assumptions

• you are always presenting information
• your style has weaknesses and strengths
• skills are learned and therefore can be taught
• skills have only been learned if they are demonstrated or observable
• presentations are only effective if the skills taught are outside the training room
• audience is more important than you. Leave any personal matters outside the training room
• creating an atmosphere is the responsibility of the presenter

 how we process information

1. Sight – Visual System
2. Hearing – Auditory System
3. Touch – Kinesthetic System
4. Smell – Olfactory System
5. Taste – Gustatory System

on dressing…

people are more likely to be influenced by 2 piece suit and even more by 3 piece suit!

 attitudes that make an impact with an audience usually include…

• passion and enthusiasm for what you are teaching
• curiosity towards the audience
• energy focused in the room
• consideration for the effects you have on others
• open-minded for views different to your own
• tenacity in times of difficulty
• being thorough, yet not too serious

anchoring…

Excellent presenters orchestrate their movements in such a way that participants can pick up associates at an unconscious level. Each movement has its own meaning and you can use these gestures or movements to elicit a particular response form the groups.

Information is given back at the whiteboard while questions are answered when you move closer to the audience. Giving anecdotal experiences and stories to reinforce your work has also been designated a specific area. If you follow this plan consistently, moving to the front of the stage signals to the group that it’s time to ask questions.

tools for environment..

• color
• lighting
• pictures
• mirrors

preferences and prejudices…

as a guide only, general rule is that:
preferences are on the person’s right
prejudices are on the person’s left

present in such a way that the audience walk away with…

• a sense of direction
• a sense of purpose
• a sense of order
• a sense of commitement
• a sense of achievement
• a sense of relief
• a sense of occasion

I really don’t know anything about this since i have not started work, but i thought that this article shows a really good grasp on how to deal with office politics…

1. Figure Out Why (and If) You Want to Play
2. Create Strong Relationships
3. Observe and Listen
4. Promote Yourself, Tactfully
5. Help Your Colleagues

Book Title: Think like a Billionaire – Everything you need to know about success, real estate and life
Author: Donald Trump
Year written/published: 2004
Book Source: Amazon, Library
My Comments: I totally loved this book… it has really short and candid chapters. It didn’t bore me at all Trump is full of sparkling practical ideas and it really gave me a glimpse into the life of a billionaire!!
Contents page:

1. Real Estate
2. Money
3. The Business of Life
4. Slices of the Billioanire’s Life
5. Inside the Apprentice

Some extracts:

10 ways to think like a billionaire…

1. Don’t take vacations. What’s the point? If you’re not enjoying your work, you’re in the wrong job.
2. Have short attention span. Most successful people have very short attention spans. It has a lot to do with imagination.
3. Don’t sleep anymore than you have to. I usually sleep about 4 hours per night. I’m in bed by 1am and get up to read newspapers at 5am
4. Don’t depend on technology. A lot of it is unnecessary and expensive. I don’t have a computer on my desk. I don’t use an intercom. When i want someone in my office, i yell
5. Think of yourself as a one-man army. You’re not only the commander in chief. Your’re the soldier as well. You must plan and execute your plan alone.
6. It’s often to your advantage to be underestimated. You never want people to think you’re a loser or a schlep, but it’s no the good idea if they think you’re the smartest guy in the room.
7. Success breeds success. The best way to impress people is through results. It’s easier for me to do deals now because i have had so many triumphs… … … If you’re young and you haven’t had any success yet, then you have to create the impression of success.
8. Friends are good, but family is better. It’s better to trust your family than your friends.
9. Treat each decision like a lover. … … … Sometimes people are surprised by how quickly i make big decisions, but i’ve learned to trust my instincts and not to over-think things.
10. Be curious. A successful person is always going to be curious. I don’t know why this is true, but it’s definitely the case. You have to be alive to your surroundings and hungry to understand your immediate world. Otherwise, you’ll lack the perspective to see beyond yourself.

I thought of writing out the chapter headings of Part III – The Business Life, to give you a glimpse as to what this book covers… really interesting slices of a billionaire’s life! And trust me each of these chapters were not more than 2 pages long…

• how to love your job
• how to promote yourself
• how to behave in a meeting
• how to organise your office
• how to dress and groom for work
• how to balance work and pleasure
• how to balance work and romance
• how to impress anyone in business
• how to balance money and marriage
• how to be married
• how to make good friends
• how to know whether someone is loyal
• stuff
• places
• how to travel in style even if you don’t have your jet set
• how to be treated like a royalty in hotel
• how to get the best service at the restaurant
• how to improve your golf game
• how to find great vacation resorts
• etiquette

how to impress anyone in business…

1. Be on time
2. Do your homework
3. Make a mental dossier on people
4. Remember people’s names and small details about them
5. Be honest
6. let other people talk
7. Be self-deprecating and disarming

now for the real slice of the Trump life …

• best car – Mercedes
• best suit – Brioni
• best cuff links – TRUMP five-star cuff links that joe clique of the 5 star diamond awards gave me
• best shirt – brioni
• best ties- brioni and hermes
• best shoes – high end shoes
• best jewelry – graff, harry winston, asprey, fred leighton
• best furniture – Mies van der Rohe
• best antiques
• best credit card – Visa, American Express
• best shampoo – Head and Shoulders
• best book – The art of the deal and How to get rich by me
• best movie – Citizen Kane
• best album – Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Elton John
• best broadway show – Evita, Phantom of the Opera
• best painting – by my daughter Tiffany
• best ice cream – Cherry Vanilla, Haagen Dazs
• best hamburger – McDonald’s and DT Burger at the Trump Grill in Trump Tower

points worth repeating if you are intent on big success

1. think big
2. stay focused
3. be paranoid
4. be passionate
5. don’t ever give up
6. love what you are doing

Book Title:Imageing for Women- Colour, Style and Make-Up
Author:Sharlyn Stafford
About the Author: She has her own consulting firm in Singapore – Stafford and Chan
Year written/published: 2003
Book Source: Library 
My Comments: I really liked this book… loads of pictures and graphics for easy explanation and whole nature is really candid and short
Contents Pages:

1. You and your image
2. Image Perception
3. Dressing to Influence
4. Dress for your Audience
5. Colour Imaging
6. Style Imaging
7. Accessories
8. Hair Styles
9. Make-Up
10. Skincare
11. Wardrobe Inventory
12. Your Image of Success

Some extracts:

Common mistakes women make in business dressing…

1. dressing glamorously
2. dressing poorly or too casually
3. dressing sexily
4. dressing to look like men

 Some wardrobe and colour attitudes…

1. We wear only 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time
2. Some colours appear to be more common in our wardrobes
3. We keep each of our outfits in a matching set and always wear it in the same combination
4. Our wardrobes comprises mostly of our favorite colours
5. We rarely organise our wardrobe in order of colour
6. There are some colours which we totally ignore or avoid

The Colour chart.. i loved this bit!

SPRING:
Famous Springs:  Claudia Schiffer, Meryl Streep
Colours:Green, Yellow, Purple, Blue, Grey, Red, Pink, Apricot, Ivory, Brown

SUMMER:
Famous Summers: Cindy Crawford, Elizabeth Hurley
Colours:Green, Yellow, Purple, White, Grey, Blue, Pink, Dusty Rose, Red, Brown

AUTUMN:
Famous Autumns:Nicole Kidman, Sarah Fergusan
Colours: Green, Purple, Blue, Red, Ivory, Apricot, Yellow, Orange, Brown

WINTER:
Famous Winters:Joan Chen, Naomi Campell,
Colours:Green, Brown, White, Ice, Red, Orange, Yellow, Purple, Blue, Pink, Grey

and i seriously didn’t know this… the order of make-up…

1. Concealer
2. Foundation
3. Powder
4. Contour
5. Blush
6. Eyes – Brows, Base colours, Crease Colour, Lid, Liner, Mascara
7. Lip liner
8. Lipstick

And about Basic Skin Care applying treatment…

1. Cleansing
2. Toning
3. Moisturising
4. Lubricating
5. Conditioning
6. Exfoliating
7. Protecting
8. Treating
9. Masks

For centuries the dispute between the algorithmic and the abacist system went on and then finally in the 18th century, the abacist system was totally disappeared!

some links on the history of maths…

• oriental mathematics
• medieval competition
• algorist and abacist

This picture depicts that dispute.

This woodcut from the Margarita Philosophica of Gregorius Reisch, published in Freiburg 1503, shows “Arithmetica” watching a competition between an “abacist” and an “algorist”. Judging from the clothes of the two competitors, the abacist is a monk and the algorist a worldly scholar. Arithmetica appears to favour the algorist; her own clothes are covered in Indian numerals, and she looks approvingly at the algorist’s progress