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Friday 24 May 2013

Newsletter Issue 235, May 2013



Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 235, May 2013
Hi guys,
Are 'the youth of today' any different than 'the youth of yesterday'? Check out Standing on the Shoulders of Giants below.
Apparently there is an agreed time to spend doing things that make us happy. Read what Happiness is.... 
Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Les Pickett, the CE of the Pacific Rim Consulting Group, posted on a LinkedIn group I participate in recently, an interesting response to a question. The question asked the group for opinions as to whether Gen Y were talented or felt they were 'entitled'. Les posted four quick quotes, as follows:
  • "Millennials are a generation mostly of teens and 20 somethings known for constantly holding up cameras, taking pictures of themselves and posting them online. They are narcissistic, overconfident, entitled and lazy. Their self-centredness could bring about the end of civilization as we know it …. Or they’re the new greatest generation". Joel Stein, Time Magazine, 20 May 2013
  • “This is the Y generation, the most self absorbed, opinionated, pampered, cocksure group ever let loose on God’s earth”. Melbourne Herald, Sunday 24 February 2013
  • "The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient on all restraint. They talk as if they know everything and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behaviour and dress". From a sermon by Peter The Hermit 1274AD
  • "What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?" Plato, 429-347BC
  • "Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up the dainties at the table and terrorize their teachers". Attributed to Socrates, 469-399BC
  • "I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words.
    When I was young we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint    ". Hesiod, circa 750-650BC
What a lovely collection of views!  While I am sure that many of you will have seen the Socrates and Peter quotes before via email, we should take note. The difference between youth & age is sometimes not wisdom, but merely the perspective of seeing patterns repeat, and a lack of attention to history.
With each generation we think we are discovering the 'truth', yet - unless we deliberately study history - we are destined to parrot the same ideas, again and again. The trick is to give ourselves a new narrative, and remember that as "we stand on the shoulders of giants" (John of Salisbury, citing Bernard of Chartres, 1159 - and made famous first by Newton and secondly by Google Scholar), so each successive generation should see further than the one before. I believe that strange and mythical beast goes by the name of 'progress'. 
I lecture young people, and I think they are as much seekers of purpose as I was at the same age. Trying their best, making their way, looking for some method to contribute and be worthy. Yes, they are a bit more self-absorbed than older people: it is pretty much where we were at the same age. But they also will collectively accomplish great things, and they will stand on the shoulders of giants. If they study the patterns of history, they, as their perspective lengthens, won't be hoisted by their own petard in making generalisations about youth.
Hopefully each time we read bumpf in the media about how narcissistic young people are, we will all remember these age-old statements and read media 'drama' for what it is - sensationalism. Then ignore it, and enjoy the wonders yet to come.
 
Pickett, Les (29 May 2013) LinkedIn Collaborative Conversations Group: Gen Y: entitled or talented? What's your opinion? Retrieved 29 May 2013 from http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=3017817&type=member&item=244513338&commentID=140524814&report.success=8ULbKyXO6NDvmoK7o030UNOYGZKrvdhBhypZ_w8EpQrrQI-BBjkmxwkEOwBjLE28YyDIxcyEO7_TA_giuRN#commentID_140524814 

Happiness is...

How to be happier: spend less time driving to and from work, AND less time working, AND more time in 'intimate relations'.
Christian Kroll (Jacobs University, Germany) and Sebastian Pokutta (Georgia Tech, USA) analysed a swag of surveys, and while allowing that certain activities appeal only because of their rarity, they found that a day organised for maximum happiness would include the following: 
  • 106 minutes of intimate relations
  • 82 minutes of socializing
  • 78 minutes of relaxing
  • 75 minutes of eating
  • 73 minutes of praying or meditating
  • 68 minutes of exercising
  • 57 minutes of phone conversations
  • 56 minutes of shopping
  • 55 minutes of watching TV
  • 50 minutes of preparing food
  • 48 minutes of computer use
  • 47 minutes of housework
  • 46 minutes of napping
  • 46 minutes of child-care
  • 36 minutes of work
  • 33 minutes of commuting.
  • Totalling 16 hours (presumably we spend the other 8 hours sleeping)
References:
  • Kroll, Christian & Pokutta, Sebastian (2013). Just a perfect day? Developing a happiness optimised day schedule. Journal of Economic Psychology, February 2013, Volume 34 (pp.  210-217).
  • Harvard (1 April 2013). The Daily Stat: For Greater Happiness, Spend Less Time Working and Commuting. USA: Author [Personal Email]. Online at http://web.hbr.org/email/archive/dailystat.php?date=040113 

Top Tips for Using MS Office 

PC Magazine has a great list of 'have to have' tips at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387115,00.asp, which detail lots of top tip lists for beginners through to power users in Office in general, or in Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Access.
A very useful list to mine!
 
Reference: 

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) for you:
  • STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics. Fields of study with perceived skill shortages or inadequate educational standards amongst graduates, commonplace in education discussions.

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys
In this newsletter, we look at all you can do with Shift and Enter:
  • Access "Add a control to a section, or save changes to the current record, or Add a control to a section (Report & Form Design only)" Shift & Enter 
  • Excel "Complete a cell entry and move up in the selection or move to the first field in the previous record or move from bottom to top within the selection (up), or move opposite to the direction that is selected on the Edit tab" Shift & Enter 
  • Excel "Enter a formula as an array formula" Ctrl & Shift & Enter 
  • Excel "Extend the selection to the last cell in the current row. This keystroke is unavailable if you selected the Transition navigation keys check box on the Transition tab (Tools menu, Options command) (with End mode on)" End & Shift & Enter 
  • Frontpage "Insert a line break" Shift & Enter Outlook "Move to the previous field without leaving the active card" Shift & Enter 
  • Publisher "End one column of text and begin a new column" Ctrl & Shift & Enter 
  • Publisher "End one line and begin another without starting a new paragraph or insert an object (Once the menu bar is highlighted)" Shift & Enter 
  • Windows "Switch view from current application window to next open application window, including minimized windows on the taskbar in the reverse direction; press ESC more than once to switch through successive windows" Alt & Shift & Enter 
  • Word "Insert a column break" Ctrl & Shift & Enter 
  • Word "Insert a line break into a document at this position" Shift & Enter

Hot Linx
If you haven't explored the work of Lester Hall, a follower of Dick Frizzell, it might be time to check out his artwork. Provocative, detailed and creatively iconic, view his offerings at http://www.lesterhall.com/index.htm 
See what Gismodo have come up with as their top 9 transport designs from cars to signage at http://gizmodo.com/5992573/the-9-best-transport-designs-of-2013?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
What you wear to work does matter – not only to other’s perceptions, but to your own. Read what Dr Christian Jarrett has to say at http://99u.com/articles/14510/the-smart-creatives-guide-to-dressing-for-work
TechRepublic’s Susan Harkins has posted a timesheet Excel “how to” which covers just about everything you would ever need to factor in at http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/build-a-simple-timesheet-in-excel/7629?tag=nl.e064&s_cid=e064&ttag=e064
                                Catch you again soon!! E-mail your suggestions to me here

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