Google's Larry Page Inspirational Commencement Speech at Univ of Michigan

"You know what it’s like to wake up in the middle of the night with a vivid dream? And you know how, if you don’t have a pencil and pad by the bed to write it down, it will be completely gone the next morning?

Well, I had one of those dreams when I was 23. When I suddenly woke up, I was thinking: what if we could download the whole web, and just keep the links and… I grabbed a pen and started writing! Sometimes it is important to wake up and stop dreaming. I spent the middle of that night scribbling out the details and convincing myself it would work. Soon after, I told my advisor, Terry Winograd, it would take a couple of weeks to download the web — he nodded knowingly, fully aware it would take much longer but wise enough to not tell me. The optimism of youth is often underrated! Amazingly, I had no thought of building a search engine. The idea wasn’t even on the radar. But, much later we happened upon a better way of ranking webpages to make a really great search engine, and Google was born. When a really great dream shows up, grab it!"

Flow = Happiness

Flow (psychology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia via kwout

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity, fulfillment and flow

Right vs. Left Brain Hemispheres

Play the video to test yourself.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcuts can be 4x fastser than mouse

Online shortcuts databases:

http://www.shortcutguide.com/google/

http://www.keyxl.com/

See my favorite shortcuts for my favorite programs here

My Reading System: Checklist & Symbols

For most the last time they thought about their processes of reading was when they were 12 years old. I challenge you to metacognitively think about the way you read and how you can improve it. Here is mine, share your tricks.

Checklist

Prep
[] Eliminate Distractions: establish schedule & space
[] Get Equip: utensils, note cards, sticky notes, book stand
[] Music, water, tea
[] Plan: Time goal, break, #of pgs.

Focus
[] Enter relax state of consciousnesses: close eyes deep breath, 1-10
[] Meditate on the intent of reading this book: establish the purpose
[] Affirmation:
"I read for the message, not to obsess on the words. It's not only what I read, rather it is my habit of reading that keeps my mind sharp, fresh, and open."

Preview
[] In 10 minutes read:
1) Table of contents, glossary, and index (pick up on tags)
2) Anything in bold, titles, and subtitles
3) First line of every paragraph
[] Notice: keywords, pics, figs, structure, organization
[] Generate ?'s (put in front of book)

Read
[] Don't sub vocalize, see groups of words not letters
[] Use finger or guide
[] Interact with my Reading Symbols
[] Turn titles into ?'s and look for answers

Apply
[] Write an abstract, 1 sentence summary (in front cover)
[] Mind map it, review it, blog it, journal it
[] Create a System for Implementation! Use it or loose it!

Symbols
* = Key Point

[] = Action

/\ = Technique/Strategy to Apply

" " = Quote

(?) = Discussion Question/Teach

? = Question/Disagree

! = Agree

Circled = Keywords/Concepts

Underlined = Important

Dog Ear = Worth rereading

Sticky Note = Bookmark

Common Code Notes
2G = To Google it
2Blogit = To Blog it
2RD = To Research & Develop
2RR = To Read & Review

Inside Front Cover
Write the purpose for reading (i.e.knowledge vs. growth)
List questions generated
After reading write abstract, key message

Inside Back Cover
List keywords, vocab, tags
Index lists of notes during
Application Action [] To Do lists

Warren Buffett's 10 Ways To Get Rich

Warren Buffett's 10 Ways To Get Rich

Google 411

1-800-GOOG-411: Find and connect with local businesses for free from your phone.:

About GOOG-411
Google's new 411 service is free, fast and easy to use. Give it a try now and see how simple it is to find and connect with local businesses for free."

Know Your Neighborhood

Family Watch Dog-free service to locate registered sex offenders in your area. Just enter an address and we'll show a map. You can click on the squares that appear and see photos (where available) addresses, convictions and other information about the offender.

Felony Spy free service to locate felons in your neighborhood.

Password Ideas

Think of a short motto or phrase. If you are going to repeat a couple of key strokes over and over each day, you might as well work on your affirmations while you do it.

Economics In Plain English Videos

With a whiteboard and simple diagrams The Khan Academy has an economist explain major concepts in plain English like what happen to the Housing Market the pass couple years, what really happened with the mortgage crisis and how the bail out works.