Six Degrees of Separation Fact or Fiction

Six Degrees of Separation

Six Degrees of Separation Fact or Fiction

Well, according to researchers Jure Leskovec and Eric Horvitz is is FACT.

In a study commissioned by Microsoft, they examined records of 30 billion messages among 180 million people across the world. They looked at how many links it would take to connect 180 billion different pairs of users of Microsoft Messenger. They found that the average was 6.6 links and that 78% of the pairs could be connected in 7 steps or less,

Tax Office In Tray for 11 years!

Australian Taxation Office

Tax Office In Tray for 11 years!

I was surprised to receive an email from the Australian Taxation Office last week.

Well I wasn’t surprised to get a letter from them as we have become regular correspondents over the years, but more correctly about the subject of the email… a company that was deregistered in March 2003.

The email asked if any details had changed and said I should update the company's GST registration…

So I rang the number on the email and after a relatively short 55 minute wait, got through to a young guy who was extremely helpful. I asked what had triggered this email and he said, “It has probably been sitting in someone’s in tray for a while and now they want to finalise the matter.”

Now I couldn’t see his face but I am sure he said it with a straight face… the last activity was in March 2003 and the company it referred to had been deregistered in March 2003. so, it had been waiting to be finalised for 11 years!!!

I wonder if that is a world record??

Google’s 8 innovation principles.

Peter Diamandis
Author: ABUNDANCE

Peter Diamandis writes a daily email and this mornings is headed Google’s 8 innovation principles.

He suggests we print out the list on place them on a wall within easy reach and test each new idea against them.

You can find the ideas at:

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/8-pillars-of-innovation.html

or see a video of Peter talking about them here:

http://www.exponentialtimes.net/videos/peters-abundance-espresso-shot-21-googles-8-innovation-principles

Personal Legend… what is yours??

The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho

Personal Legend… what is yours??

Many years ago I read a book which talked about having your own “Personal Legend.” Maybe you have read that same book?

Wikipedia says:

The book is an international bestseller. According to AFP, it has sold more than 65 million copies in 56 different languages, becoming one of the best-selling books in history and setting the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. [figures are from 2007 and The Alchemist is still in the New York Times best seller list]

So there is a fair chance you have read the book or have hear of it. What is the book?

Written by Paulo Coelho, The ALCHEMIST is said to have inspired more people than any other modern book to look for and seek their personal legend.

Looking for some inspiration to shine light on the future?? Pick up a copy of The Alchemist and read about Santiago’s quest for the treasure which he must travel to the Pyramids in Egypt to find… let me know how you go.

About Wayne Mansfield:

Want EFFECTIVE Social Media? Contact Wayne Mansfield at wayne.mansfield@gmail.com Recognised globally as a leader in Social Media with a KLOUT score of 82 placing him in top 0.1% of influencers in World Social Media Network of influence touches 50 million world wide... invited by leading innovators and global though leaders to share Social Media Influence... shouldn't you be using the BEST too? Available for keynote speeches worldwide. Talk soon. +61 (0) 429 823 325

My writing place

My writing place

Journal for today

Tools are important as a writer but I think having a dedicated pace to write is MORE important. Over the last few days I have been writing in an area that the rest of the family use… and it didn’t feel right… so I made a decision. SET UP A WRITING DESK away from my WORK desk in my office area of my house. It is already a large area with three work areas and maybe a dozen screens when youncount PCs, iPads, tablets and laptops. So space isn’t an issue, rather distractions are the problem.

I just wrote in my journal:

“Shifted my stuff to the second desk so I don’t get in the way of Joanne. Also it is a WRITING and THINKING place as distinct from a WORK PLACE. So need to fix light - shift over the lamp and also get a new mouse mat. It already feels RIGHT.

Do you have a special place where you KNOW you are in the right place to Write… let me know

So you want to go to space

Clay Anderson at ISS

Your dreams can come true…

Clay Anderson announced to the world on his 10th birthday, after watching Apollo 8, America’s first manned flight in 1968 that he was going to be an astronaut. It took him until June 8th, 2007 to realise his dream… 39 years!! Now that is persistence.

In his book The Ordinary Spaceman, due for publication on June 1st, 2015, Anderson talks about having applied to NASA fifteen times over fifteen years to become an astronaut before his ultimate selection.

Having held true to his dream for 40 years, Anderson offers a unique perspective on his life as a veteran space flier, one characterized by humility and perseverance.

What’s it like to travel at more than 1300 KPH, riding in a supersonic T-38 twin turbojet engine airplane? What happens when the space station toilet breaks? How do astronauts “take out the trash” on a spacewalk, tightly encapsulated in a space suit with just a few layers of fabric and Kevlar between them and the unforgiving vacuum of outer space?

The Ordinary Spaceman puts you in the flight suit of U.S. astronaut Clayton C. Anderson and takes you on the journey of this small-town boy from Nebraska who spent 167 days living and working on the International Space Station, including more than forty hours of space walks.

From the application process to launch aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, from serving as a family escort for the ill-fated Columbia crew in 2003 to his own daily struggles—family separation, competitive battles to win coveted flight assignments, the stress of a highly visible job, and the ever-present risk of having to make the ultimate sacrifice—Anderson shares the full range of his experiences. With a mix of levity and gravitas, Anderson gives an authentic view of the highs and the lows, the triumphs and the tragedies of life as a NASA astronaut.

The overall message is that you can achieve whatever you want, regardless of where you start in life, when you combine perseverance, diligence, the right skills and the will to achieve.

Bigger Goals Are Easier To Achieve

Burgers are Better at Burger King

Have you ever heard of the N-Effect? It says that when we think we have lots of competitors our overall performance decreases. Another way of saying that is where lots of people are competing for the same thing, everyone does less well.

I presume that’s why fast food is so ordinary and that everyone is universally bad… is a Big Mac significantly different than a Burger King Whopper or are they, after decades of rivalry, equally inedible?

The N-Effect says that it is easier to get a 10X improvement than a 10% increase in performance.

So, when setting goals, go for the outrageous. Firstly if you do this with an optimistic mind set it will inspire you and  secondly, there will be very little competition for the scarce resources required to achieve your goal.

So, my challenge to you is this… is your goal big enough to excite you and encourage others to help you? 

And on a personal note, being the first is such an exhilarating feeling Author: Wayne Mansfield Want EFFECTIVE Social Media? Contact Wayne at wayne.mansfield@gmail.com Recognised globally as a leader in Social Media with a KLOUT score of 82 placing him in top 0.1% of influencers in World Social Media Network of influence touches 50 million world wide... invited by leading innovators and global though leaders to share Social Media Influence... shouldn't you be using the BEST too? Available for keynote speeches worldwide. Talk soon. +61 (0) 429 823 325

Luck is a system

How To Fail at Almost Everything

Have you ever read a Dilbert comic?? The chances are that you have. Well I recommend that you read Dilbert’s creator Scott Adams book “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big”

Adams talks about affirmations and luck interceding. And I think he makes some very good observations. Let’s investigate some of those.

Initially Adams says that you need to be an optimist to take AFFIRMATIONS seriously. If you are not an optimist, he argues, why would you bother making positive statements about future outcomes.

So let’s have a quick look at why optimistic people seem to be luckier than pessimistic people.

Firstly, optimists tend to notice opportunities that pessimists miss. And in the act of noticing more opportunities, the outcomes could be considered to be luck when things go right.

This tendency to notice opportunities has the effect of creating a more energetic life as Optimists imagine their future success and, as a consequence tend to take more risks, or in simple terms, give more things a go.The consequence of an optimist taking more risks is that they become a target for luck to find them…

So, are you feeling lucky today??