Posts about Perseverance

Flotsam: When life is in a shambles.

TED Talk. Monica Lewinsky: The price of shame

23.02.2015

In her early twenties, she made the mistake of falling in love with her boss almost three decades her senior. When the public got wind of the affair, Monica Lewinsky was hurtled through the epicentre of a merciless international media maelstrom exerted by print, radio and TV and furthermore became one of the first victims of online public shaming. „In 1998, I was Patient Zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale almost instantaneously… Public humiliation was excruciating, life became unbearable.“

In her talk, Monica speaks about our „culture of humiliation“. That cyber-bullying leads to cruelty to others, and that online it is amplified and remains accessible forever. „They anonymously stab you with their words. The more shame, the more clicks. The more clicks, the more advertising dollars.“ Other victims have been humiliated to death.

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A black-and-white drawing. T.E. Gordon's "Hunting with Golden Eagles". A creative commons picture.

Eagle Hunting in Western China

8.02.2015

China’s Kazakh minority preserving culture

Chinese Kazakh eagle hunters ride with their eagles during a local competition in January, 2015 in the mountains of Qinghe County, Xinjiang, northwestern China. The festival, organised by the local hunting community, is part of an effort to promote and grow traditional hunting practices for new generations in the mountainous region of western China that borders Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. The training and handling of the large birds of prey follows a strict set of ancient rules that Kazakh eagle hunters are preserving for future generations. (Photos by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images, introduction: Qinghe, Xinjiang/China)

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Two gargoyles symbolising, that avoiding unnecessary meetings can be such a relief.

TED Talk: David Grady on how to save the world from bad meetings

8.01.2015

The world over, businesses are being plagued by inefficient, tedious, overcrowded and often utterly superfluous meetings. The epidemic, that catapults myriads of workers into durable misery and plays havoc with their precious time, has sparked David Grady’s urge to help curb this rampant disease. Here are some of his ideas on how to become the master of your calendar again. His motto being: MAS – or no MAS?

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Toastmasters: Learning to speak in public.

Confident public speaking: Toastmasters International

20.11.2014

Heartbeat accelerating. Knees wobbly. Palms sweaty. Hands shaky. You are standing in front of your audience ready to deliver your talk. Ready? Of course you’re not ready! You are panic-stricken! You know that your trembling voice will give you away. You are afraid of failure and of exposing yourself to ridicule. You are dead-tired after a merciless night of restless tossing and turning resulting in your worst-ever bad-hair day. Your urge to escape is virtually untamable.

The fears of speaking in public (Glossophobia) are manifold. Fact is, that they won’t go away by allowing them to thrive. Yet, there’s remedy for the brave: Building up one’s confidence by adopting the proper techniques and by honing one’s communication, speaking and presentation skills, does work wonders! Good to know that even the best of speakers were once terrified novices who eventually succeeded in pacifying their jittery nervous system.

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Close-up of a colourful motor bike: The Ig Nobel Prize is awarded to the world's weirdest inventions.

TED Talk. Ig – a science award that makes you laugh

16.11.2014

Marc Abrahams talking about truly weird brainchildren

Revolutionary or at least useful inventions have been made in the course of history – starting with the kindling of fire and the more or less smoothly turning wheel around the 4th century B.C. Electricity, the automobile, the rotating toothbrush and innumerable objects of questionable relevance have been creeping out of busy brains relentlessly. Some contraptions could make it into our daily lives, others most likely won’t. Luxuries like the duck-billed muzzle for dogs, the mobile fishbowl with handles, the crocheted sweater for apples, the space-saving square melon or the mask protecting hair and clothes during absent-minded noodle-slurpings, for instance.

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