14 things you can learn from the Google story

Found this post on Digital Samurai. Top stuff. Especially: “Have a healthy disregard for the impossible. If someone hasn’t done it yet, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.” 
 

• Connections - human, computer, biology - are everything. Life = networks.
• Never compromise your ideals because someone said it’s impossible, stupid, or a waste of time.
• Do focus on changing the world, don’t focus on the money. If you provide value, the money will come.
• Have a healthy disregard for the impossible. If someone hasn’t done it yet, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
• Money is a problem, not a solution. Money cannot solve your problems, but your solutions can solve the money problem.
• Value creativity, not money. View creativity as your company’s true bottom-line, or your company will stop growing and die.
• Go against the grain. Don’t believe in other people’s visions for you, believe in your own.
• Speed is more important than looking good. A shiny, beautiful car isn’t impressive when it gets overtaken by an old jalopy; the same applies to software.
• Organic growth is best. Only grow as fast as you need to, don’t waste money on advertising a product you won’t want your mom to use.
• Focus on users above all else, e.g. don’t do something that might annoy your users just to make more money, they won’t forget.
• Never betray users’ trust, or anyone else’s.
• Spend 20% of your time on blue-sky ideas without worrying about how they will make a profit. If it might change the world for the better, it needs to be done, even if it can’t make money.
• Don’t make enemies of your competitors to stay driven. Be driven by your own values and mission.
• Beat your own path through the wilderness.

Publishing the Sutras

Tetsugen, a devotee of Zen in Japan, decided to publish the sutras, which at that time were available only in Chinese. The books were to be printed with wood blocks in an edition of seven thousand copies, a tremendous undertaking.

Tetsugen began by traveling and collecting donations for this purpose. A few sympathizers would give him a hundred pieces of gold, but most of the time he received only small coins. He thanked each donor with equal
gratitude. After ten years Tetsugen had enough money to begin his task.

It happened that at that time the Uji Rive overflowed. Famine followed.  Tetsugen took the funds he had collected for the books and spent them to save others from starvation. Then he began again his work of collecting.

Several years afterwards an epidemic spread over the country. Tetsugen again gave away what he had collected, to help his people. For a third time he started his work, and after twenty years his wish was fulfilled. The printing blocks which produced the first edition of sutras can be seen today in the Obaku monastery in Kyoto.

The Japanese tell their children that Tetsugen made three sets of sutras, and that the first two invisible sets surpass even the last.

I was just thinking about you

For the full story go here 

NORWICH (Reuters) - Many people have experienced the phenomenon of receiving a telephone call from someone shortly after thinking about them — now a scientist says he has proof of what he calls telephone telepathy.

Rupert Sheldrake, whose research is funded by the respected Trinity College, Cambridge, said on Tuesday he had conducted experiments that proved that such precognition existed for telephone calls and even e-mails.

Each person in the trials was asked to give researchers names and phone numbers of four relatives or friends. These were then called at random and told to ring the subject who had to identify the caller before answering the phone.
“The hit rate was 45 percent……………. read more at the website