Never say no.

A few days ago I invited friends for a tabletop game day. I learned something about negotiating in the meanwhile.

One friend I invited said he wasn't sure if he will would come. I answered: "That's ok, if you come you will have a amazing day. "

After talking a bit more he said that he could maybe come but only for maximum a hour or so. I answered: "Awesome, if you come we will it make that hour well worth your time. We will make sure you have fun."

He came to the event and after an hour of  having fun he said: "Ah well, I stay one more hour."

A day after the event he send me a message that he enjoyed it very much.

If I had at any moment said:"That's too bad. ", I don't think he would have come.

It seems to me that it was the positive language and the lack of judging or shaming for potentially not showing up did the trick.

Encouraging every small potential can lead to a "yes" I have noticed in this case

It seems that it is best to never close a  negotiation as a lose yourself even when there seems almost no chance of getting the deal.

Police responds ice cold to drivers who ‘break the law’.

I have seen a lot of racism popping up on social media.

Brutal police brutality against people who had done nothing wrong.

What can we do to change this?

Sometimes it just takes small acts of compassion to break the pattern.

One act of kindness.

Make somebody laugh today. Makes somebodies day by doing something small.

These two officers made a wonderful yet small gesture that made people's day.

Yes, there is hope if a few are willing to set an example. 

But a lot more needs to change systematically. 

Don't give up;

Do something small.

Make somebodies day. 

Enjoy. 

A osprey's wonderful first flight.

It's a wonderful and calming thing to see a bird take its first flight, isn't it?

Somebody told me once that every great and meaningful project requires a leap of faith.

Learning something new is just like learning to fly for a bird too.
We all learn fast naturally but often education stunts the process.

"Don't let education get in the way of your learning.", Mark Twain said.

All too often teachers won't allow students to make mistakes.
Mistakes are being stigmatized and the learning process is halted because the teacher intervenes where the student could have learned how to recover, cope, adjust and recalibrate.
This essential step is crucial to learning but micro-managing and having no faith in the student at all will remove almost all those benefits from making mistakes.

You can see in the video that the mother does not come immediately after he takes off but only after he had landed. This does not mean that the mother will not help when he is in need but she doesn't intervene too fast.

The Pygmalion effect states that the expectations you set for people influence those people's performance. This is tested in schools and workplaces. If you have no faith in your students then how do you expect your students to succeed?

Let's make learning fun again. Remove stigma from failure.
Let creativity free so you can come up with many ways to learn from your failure.
Look forward to learning coping and recovery strategies. Look forward to recalibrating your strategies.
This is how people who are good in something become great.
Have faith.

Take flight.

This adorable cat has to hunt for food.

This cat has to "hunt" to get some food. 

We used to hunt for food too, we used to walk for miles and outrun animals to get some meat.

This seems to be the first method of hunting for us humans. 

Walking and running is an essential part of our physical and mental health.

It improves our mood and memory. 

Now most of the physical exercise we use to do is replaced by exercises in a gym. 

Te difference between the gym and the exercise outside the gym is that it is uneven, unregular.

Running happens in the gym on a flat band, outside the terrain is uneven in many places.

You can run on asphalt or a somewhat flat road but it is healthier to run on an uneven terrain. 

Unregularity and randomness keep us sharp and healthy.

Everything that is too regular can make our health more fragile.

Have a great unregular day. 

Too much gratitude can kill you.

Thank God!

The first response you get when something gets fixed that seems very important to you.

We should be grateful it gets fixed and that they are willing to help us.

But sometimes the problem was caused by the people who are now offering the fix....at a cost of course. Nothing is for free.

Oh and you can't have what we originally agreed on but you get something that on the surface seems to offer the same but is, in fact, nothing like it at all.

But hey, be grateful you get what we offer you.

We are going to stab you but be happy we are not going to stab you in the stomach.

We are going to screw you over but trust us we had no choice, just be grateful we didn't take everything you have.

Be grateful we didn't take all your data.

Be grateful we don't control all your money.

Be grateful we don't do it more often.

Be grateful we kept that information from you, you couldn't handle it anyway.

Be grateful we f*cked things up so bad there had to come change that is eventually good.

Well, guess what. The curtains up. The show is over. We aren't gonna take it anymore.

Time's up!

Support the organisations that demand change:

Wikileaks, Someofus, DemocracyNow, Diem25, Freedomhouse, Represent.us, Muckrock

Anonymous (which doesn't seem to be an organisation according to one of them)

To keep to the internet free and for all of us there is:

Webfoundations and EFF

To lend money to people who need it there is Kiva.

Browse categories of borrowers— people looking to grow businesses, go to school, switch to clean energy and more.

Support minorities in need. #Blacklivesmatter.

Be a voice for those suppressed and silenced.

Let use our privilege to help those less privileged.

Support artists that create change. 

What do you stand for? What will you not stand for?

What organisations are important and are missing in the list here. Let us know.

We are not powerless!

Have a great day. 

Why we need to reevaluate how we design our technology before its too late.

Technology has given us so many great inventions that can improve our lives.
Many of these inventions that we use today we take for granted.

Some inventions aid us to get things done and others help us to find answers we need.
Take for instance a calculator. A calculator helps us find mathematical answers but does it make you understand math better?

No. The more we depend on using calculators the more we become dependent on calculators.

I see the same thing when I am copy-pasting words that I have to Google, because English is not my native language. I forget the words more easily.

We program computers to become smarter but most of the time we don't think about making computers that make us smarter. This is te difference between A.I, artificial intelligence and I.A Intelligence amplification.

This reminds me of a question about war that was asked to Neil DeGrasse Tyson:
Is it possible to create super soldiers and what research is there done?
He answered that any time a change needed to be made in order to improve survival chances  in space those changes were made external by engineers instead of biological.

Which means that spacesuits were made and improved, The space stations were improved, the way a space shuttle take off, travels and lands are improved. All external to the body.

Why? Because when something happens the health risks are smaller and easier to repair.

So in some situations externalizing aid is not only optional but essential.

  Nevertheless outside of matters of life and death, many of our external aids make us more dependent and the skills we have to do it ourselves are diminishing.

Maybe it is a better idea to design our technology to enhance our skills and intelligence instead of outsourcing it everytime.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Have a great day.

How to get the best out of Pokemon Go ... if you're NOT playing it.

Hi there people,

You have by now been swallowed by the Pokemon Go hype and have chosen to play or not.
No matter what you have chosen to do you will have seen it on social media and on the streets.

I can imagine it might be somewhat irritating if you have friends or colleagues keep talking about it or when they don't pay attention and are focused on their game instead. 

Some people are getting upset and post on social media how these Pokemon Go players are 

childish and how adult they themselves are. Other people are posting how Pokemon Go players get in trouble sometimes to show how "dumb" they are. 

Other people just don't want other people to have fun. 

You can be upset all the time or you could get the best out of this situation too.

Some shops are using it to attract more clients.

come shop at JCP to get 15% off your purchase if you mention Pokemon :-) pic.twitter.com/OZxc8aV1hM

— hals (@hallie_wolfe) 23 juli 2016

Another successful Pokemon find in Partridges by @buchan_josh 1/2 price tango blast for catching it pic.twitter.com/OwhU5qaVF8

— Partridges (@Partridges_Shop) 22 juli 2016

If you are a creator and sell on Etsy or another site you can make stuff for Pokemon players if you want.

A personal favourite from my @Etsy shop #etsychaching #TeamInstinct #PokemonGO #etsysocial #craftshout #craftbuzz https://t.co/qJsY3uLocK

— Diana Sian Crafts (@74_bilverstone) 23 juli 2016

The San Diego Zoo uses the hype to educate people. 

What would you call this Pokémon? (📷 by Todd Lahman) pic.twitter.com/3tVo1OhqqJ

— San Diego Zoo (@sandiegozoo) 14 juli 2016

The Maryland Zoo is attracting more Pokemon in the game and attracting more people to visit the zoo.

There are #pokemon all over the #Zoo, so we're joining the fun & activating lures between 10-11am Thurs, Fri & Sat. pic.twitter.com/41k3v4vlW4

— Maryland Zoo (@marylandzoo) 12 juli 2016

The Toronto Zoo made a map so players can find the Gyms more easily in the zoo.

Here's a map of Pokegyms and Pokestops at the Zoo with a few you'll need to find for yourself 😉 #PokeTOZoo pic.twitter.com/JtwHSGBXmi

— The Toronto Zoo (@TheTorontoZoo) 16 juli 2016

These people utilised the hype to their benefit maybe you can utilize it too.
Maybe you can use something that you first thought was hindering you to your advantage.

Sometimes it's all about how we look at a situation and how we look at the things that happen in our life. Maybe you will find even more situations in your life that you can utilize.

Have a great day.
Enjoy.