Memory Recall and Doodling

According to a recent study published in "Applied Cognitive Psychology," "doodling" actually assists in helping remember details while listening. Dreaing meaningless mazes, boxes -- created a 29% improved recall. It appears that the doodling removes the daydreaming without affecting performance on the main task.

Brain Fitness Guide

SharpBrains has just released an excellent book, the SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness. SharpBrains has quickly become the leader in monitoring the wide range of research, news, and products in this fast developing area.

The Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, to Keep Your Brain Sharp

Retrain the Brain

According to a report in "Workforce Management" in January, 2008, the popular "brain training" software, from games like "Brain Age" and "Flash Focus" to higher level "brain fitness" software from firms like Posit Science are heading toward the workplace.

Not suprising if you check out some of the postings already on this site. We'll be posting more on this topic, but check out www.sharpbrains.com for some great information.

UC Track: UC Monitor Updated

Four years ago, I researched the incidence of the words "unintended consequences" in a variety of publications, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and others. Here's the original post from 2004:

In the Washington Post, from 1877 to 1986, a span of 109 years, there were 64 citations for "unintended consequences."

From 1987 to 2004, a span of just 17 years, there were 740 "unintended consequences" citations.

I just updated the research -- and the explosion continues:

From 1987, still a span of just 21 years, there are now 2150 "unintended consequences" citations.

Possible I-Wheel(s): Internet Names Beyond .com

According to USA today, 6/27/2008, it's time to get ready for ".nyc," .ebay," and ".books.amazon" as web addresses. Starting early in 2009, almost any word will be able to replace ".com" in a web page address. The article points out some of the obvious "first-order" implications -- in fact better than many articles. It points out to the potential problem of companies having to register "thousands" of domain names to protect a brand. It points out that there will be restrictions, for example, names cannot conflict with a brand, i.e., .cocacola or a country, i.e., .korea.

But the question for so many organizations where their web presence is critcal remains -- for each of them: "What are the possible implications of...?"

Brain Track: "My Word Coach"

MY WORD - for Nintendo DS/Wii

This is another favorite—may be indicative of a preference I have for word games. My Word has some great vocabulary builders and “tests”—all timed so you’re encouraged to think quickly.
There’s a “missing letter” game requiring quick recognition of a word—without a definition. There’s the “left-right” game that presents a definition and then offers two alternatives. And after some success, a new game appears that’s appropriately labeled “pasta” because it jumbles the letters of word—with a definition—into a bowl of soup. Fun and again requiring quick thinking to score well. This is another solid B+ maybe even an A-

Brain Track: "Crosswords" for DS Lite

In the continuing explosion of "brain games" for electronic gaming, "Crosswords" has been released for Nintendo DS Lite. It's an excellent game, based in part of my criteria, which includes learning, "practice," and quick playing time. The complexity builds, but starts with small crossword puzzles that can be completed in a few minutes. Like many of the "brain" games, it keeps track of your scores and progress.

UC Track: Community Lending

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is an almost 30 year old law that has been touted as positive mandate for banks to invest in low and moderate income neighborhoods.

But according to an article in the Fordham Urban Law Journal (2002), "by the late 1990's, the unimaginable had happened. Predatory mortgages -- exploitative high-cost loans to gullible borrowers -- were ravaging inner cities and newspaper headlines across the country were carrying accounts of foreclosures against low-income people of color and the elderly."

Comment

The book, "It's Not What We Meant to Do," included numerous examples of federal laws, with great intentions, that produced scores of "unintended consequences."

Now, here's another. But what's interesting is that, again, the experts describe this as the "unimaginable happening." Why is the "unimaginable" It appears to me that this is clearly a possibility that could have been anticipated.