Logos

I recently became aware of the "Logos Quiz Game" for Apple devices. After a little research I found out that I am not the only one that finds the whole idea of the game kind of strange. For any of you that do not know, the basic idea of the game is to try to correctly identify as many different brands logos as you can. The thing that surprises most, is how fun this simple activity can be. It is very interesting and almost addicting to see how many different logos you are able to remember.

As Anthony Wing Kosner of Forbes writes in an article, linked here, in this day and age people are surrounded by advertisements nearly everywhere they go. He also goes on to mention the potential that this App could have for helping businesses improve their advertising. If peoples results could be saved and analyzed, then companies might be able use them in order to improve their logo in order to make it more recognizable.
One other interesting things that I learned about the App was that the creator, Javier Perez Estarriaga, originally was creating the app for self enjoyment and a challenge. It pushes you to try to recognize the smallest letter or fragment. But we see these logos so frequently that they are almost burned into our brain, so now most people can recognize most logos almost subconsciously.

America's Obsession with Teeth

I recently read a BBC News Magazine article (Linked Here), that both made me laugh, and really take a minute to think about American values. Ricky Gervais (creator of The Office) was interviewed by an American journalist a few years ago about his role as a dentist in a movie. The journalist then complimented Gervais for wearing bad fake teeth for the role. Gervais then said "He was horrified that I could have such horrible real teeth. It's like the biggest difference between the Brits and the Americans, they are obsessed with perfect teeth." 
I had never really considered the idea of years of orthodontic work to be strange at all. It is true that straight, clean, healthy teeth are actually beneficial to your health, Gervais though, is more surprised with the extreme measure that people in Hollywood take. Jimmy Steele. a, professor at the School of Dental Science at Newcastle University, has come to the conclusion that British people are more worried about teeth being functional and to some extent natural, while Americans would like their teeth to be functional, but also incredibly aesthetically pleasing. Hence all the obsession with whitening, I did not really now that teeth naturally tend to be more of a cream color than white. It is only by using a variety of chemicals that you can get a tooth to actually look white. 
The article also mentions that very much in contrast to Americans, most of the British public ridicules people for having drastic work done to their teeth. Living in America, I would be very happy to have a perfectly white and straight set of teeth, but it is always interesting to learn that everybody may not share our beliefs about somethings.

Fuel Efficiency: Is it Actually Improving?

While doing research for a paper about oil I came across some interesting facts about cars and their fuel mileage. In recent years due to the drastic increases in gas prices many people have been switching to FlexFuel cars. These cars run on a fuel called E-85 which is a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% petroleum (Here is a link to an article about FlexFuel cars). 

People tend to think that FlexFuel is a recent technology but I was surprised to learn that that is not exactly true. The first FlexFuel car was actually a version of the Model T Ford made in 1908. In addition to that, I was equally surprised to learn that the original Model T actually achieved better fuel mileage than a 2008 Ford pick up truck. Henry Ford predicted the transition to alternate fuel sources a while ago. He said in an interview with the New York Times "The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit... There is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented." The idea of using corn and other produce as a means to fuel cars with clean burning alcohol is not a new one, but for some reason it has not become a popular way to power cars. Ethanol burns very clean and in doing so lessens the harmful emissions that are being released into the atmosphere.

Even though the Model T and a Ford pick up are not really comparable interns of size and weight I would have expected that with a hundred years of technological advances we could have made our cars a little bit more efficient. 

For more information see link

http://eco-chick.com/2008/10/1467/1908-ford-model-t-vs-2008-ford-pick-up/

Hybrids

Hybrids have become a big deal in the past few years as people have been working towards living more "green" lives. People have different motives for buying hybrid vehicles, but most wish to save the environment, gas money or both. Unfortunately for consumers, hybrids are not always as appealing as they seem.


Nick Bunkley of the New York Times recently wrote an article on hybrid cars and the pros and cons about them (Article link here). He wrote "Gas would have to approach $8 a gallon before many of the cars could be expected to pay off in the six years an average person owns a car."Most hybrids contain so much technology that the cost to make it, both a cost is money and to the environment, takes so long to prove beneficial that by that time most people would already have gotten a new car. The hybrids that do pay for themselves in an acceptable amount of time are the Toyota Prius and the Lincoln MKZ. 

Another aspect of new auto technology that people often do not think of relates to electric cars. Electric cars are powered by battery packs. While this does provide a very clean source of energy, it makes the cars much more expensive in addition to leaving them with a very limited range they can travel. Electric cars may be a big part of the future, but as of right now people are worried that they might not change that much at all. Electric cars are charged by simply plugging them in. What people are concerned about, is hoe this electricity is often coming from coal or oil burning power plants. Until America is able to change its sources of energy, having an electric car may not really have the results you would want.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/04/08/3156923/hybrid-electric-car-owners-must.html#storylink=cpy

Procrastination, Good Thing?

To my luck, there are now people who say procrastination may be advantageous. Procrastinating on tasks may cause us to "experience a manageable amount of anxiety and stress, our brains produce dopamine that stimulates both innovation and higher performance on assigned tasks," this was said by Claire McLaughlin in her article, Procrastination Nation. Anxiety and stress may not be feelings I wish to experience, but it is nice to know that some of my finest work could come out of late night attempts to meet a deadline or complete an assignment.

Procrastination is a problem that I face very often. It is normal for me to spend a Sunday night working on assignments that I have known about for days or even weeks. No matter how hard I try to push myself to get ahead, somehow I always seem to slip behind.

Recently NASA did some very complex research, and Dr. Ellen Weber who founded the Mita Brain Center simplified it to "while frustration or fear can flood the brain with cortisol, if anxiety is managed properly, anticipation can produce that feel-good dopamine that primes the pump of progress, or innovation." The general consensus among scientists seems to be that procrastinating, to some degree, can cause you to work harder and more efficiently. They also all agree that putting something off too long will only be detrimental. If you are forced into deprivation of sleep or last minute anxious scrambling then your work will be poor and your health may also be at risk.

Learning this has made me less judgmental of my late nights and last minute work, but if possible I still think working ahead would be the best course of action. I have felt the stress and anxiety caused by procrastinating all too often. Even with the benefits of high quality last minute work, being on top of all my assignments would be preferable.