Do you think you can attribute the relaxation more to the breathing or stretching component?
I've been doing casual meditation (mostly just mindful breathing) and I wonder if I'd further benefit my mind from Yoga. I already do intense cardio and resistance exercises from other activities.
The stretching to be honest. I used to meditate, but these days I only really do it I can't fall asleep, or need to fast forward my brain getting over some bad experience I've had. For a productivity boost, I'd definitely go with yoga for more 'bang for your buck' per say; I'm probably on the mat for roughly 5-10 mins, a couple of times a day or more (depending on frustration levels!)
Intense exercise is also good, but it gives a different result than Yoga, seeing as you are pushing yourself to the limit. Yoga is more about calming your body, centering yourself, getting the immune system moving and so on.
Indeed; that's him! Edwin Catmull [1], along with Raphael Rom [2], created the Catmull-Rom spline.
It was perfect for the Galaga-like level in my game. I only need to define a few control points to create a robust flight path for the enemy drones. The cool thing about the Catmull-Rom algorithm is that the spline passes through the control points.
Thanks for asking... I used Apple's SpriteKit framework [1][2]. It's essentially a 2D graphics rendering framework that primarily acts as an abstraction layer for OpenGL ES. In addition, it also offers several other "nice-to-have" features with regard to 2D game development (e.g., collision detection, particles, physics, etc.)
Of course, you could do all of the above without SpriteKit. For example, for all of the rendering, you would simply write everything directly in OpenGL ES.
There are also cross-platform options, like Cocos2d-x [3] and Marmalade [4].
Finally, if you've read this far, you might be interested in reading my general thoughts and feelings from when I finished the game [5].
The keto (short for ketogenic) diet is a popular name for this. You only eat proteins and fats as your macronutrients (with room for 20g or less of net carbs per day). You have to consciously choose to avoid carbohydrates, which can be difficult. But the energy/mood stability and quick weight loss are undeniable positive results.
I keep hearing its adherents claim various benefits of "keto":
is there any credible sources (i.e. research) that back these claims up?
For instance, what about glucose for mental performance?
No offence, but my current (admittedly limited) understanding of the subject leads me to mentally file it under "dubious", along with "no-fap" and such.
Doesn't the industrial/building automation industry already have solid solutions for your fridge example?
Many buildings already have sensors wired in to PLCs and it's easy to network with the PLC to record and display the signals (for which there are many existing "dashboards" - HMI packages of varying cost and ability).
I don't think it would matter much who owns or maintains the server if you're using a PLC to aggregate your signals onto the network. Many companies are paranoid and would want an in-house server. But it wouldn't be much different to use a cloud based instance.
It's true that existing automation hardware and software are obscenely expensive compared to consumer tech, to the point where renting/subscription might make sense for certain use cases. The systems sufficiently complicated, though, that independent professionals usually manage the setup and maintenance.
That's kind of the dirty little secret here, right? This technology has been around forever, it only became attractive and fashionable lately because the smartphone revolution has dropped the price of radio hardware to the point where it can be dropped into everything/anything.
So now we face the challenge of groups that want Stuttgart-Siemens-PLC functionality for Shenzen-ESP-IoT pricing. Oh yeah, and let's skip all that service contract nonsense. I mean why am I paying $20/month in service for a chip that costs $1.50?
It's a test that university graduates in the traditional engineering disciplines (civil, mechanical, etc.) usually take in the USA. After 5 years of work experience, you take another test, then your state's licensing board gives you a stamp and the credential "Professional Engineer" (P.E.). You can then take on liability for project documents that you stamp, so you charge clients/employers more money.
It's mainly useful if you work for a consulting company.
I think you're very wrong about educational funding. There's a high correlation between a schools relative wealth and its relative academic success in each state (mainly tied to property taxes). Yes, I'm sure there are exceptions, and yes there's lots of room for systematic improvement. But more money could absolutely make a difference at the underperforming schools.
Your hunch is correct. Wealthy areas have a demographic that supports education. When kids have stable homes, with parents who care about them and their education, schools do well.
When kids move three or four times a year, never know if they are going to eat dinner that night, get beaten or ignored at home, have parents on drugs or in and out of jail, it doesn't matter how much money you pour into the schools.
"The book features relatively new advances in the computing/scientific community, such as artificial life, emergence (and by extension, complexity), genetic algorithms, and agent-based computing."
Not remotely pioneering though. Being 5-20 years (or more) behind the curve might be insightful to the average reader, but is in no way pioneering.
That'd be like saying Dolly the Sheep was pioneering in ideas about cloning humans. The ideas/ethics/concerns were around for decades. That average people willfully ignored them doesn't make the ideas new.
For what it's worth, when I was a kid, I loved Prey and it was my first experience with nano-technology. You only have to be pioneering to the right audience. ;)
My experiences are limited but consistent. If you can provide even more evidence pointing consistently the opposite direction, I'd not only be convinced, but I'd be thankful. However, I don't think that's easy to do.
Sampling bias tends to be consistent. It is likely to be the case that, given a similar starting point, those who tend to make better decisions will tend to do better. Given that it is also likely the case that your friends and family started in a somewhat similar place, this can seem to be the effect that dominates. That is not incompatible with the notion that the bulk of poor people are not there because of a persistent habit of making bad decisions.
All the evidence points the opposite direction... in the United States, you are unlikely to escape the economic circumstances that you are born into, especially if you are born into the top or bottom quintile: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/04/us/comparing-e...
The difference is in the culture you learn. So of course if you grow up poor, you're more likely to be poor. For example, you would think payday loans are normal if that's how you grew up.
The problem with the "evidence" you're using is that it can be interpreted many ways. It's merely a correlation.
In circumstances closer to controlled experiments where I actually gave someone money, they usually wound up worse off in a couple months, not better, unless I made sure the money went towards fixing a real problem.
Of course culture plays a role, as does education level of one's parents, access to opportunity such as good health care and higher education, the role of the criminal justice system in your community, the stress of dealing with basic material needs, etc, etc. Point being the cards are stacked against you if you are born into poverty, and those who escape it are basically the exceptions that prove the rule. So if we were sane, we'd focus our attention on leveling the playing field so as to lower the barrier to entry into the middle class, and not focus attention on blaming poor people for having poor values.
I'm with you on trying to improve the odds for poor people. My argument is merely that throwing money at them won't fix their situation. I'm not just trying to blame the poor but to explain why throwing money at them won't work.
I've been doing casual meditation (mostly just mindful breathing) and I wonder if I'd further benefit my mind from Yoga. I already do intense cardio and resistance exercises from other activities.