All posts by Arjen Lentz
Why the modern world is bad for your brain | Guardian UK
Multitasking is an essential skill in the era of email, text messages, Facebook and Twitter. But, argues neuroscientist Daniel J Levitin, it’s actually making us less efficient.
Rat Park drug experiment cartoon – Stuart McMillen comics
http://www.stuartmcmillen.com/comics_en/rat-park/
Comic about a classic experiment into drug addiction science: Rat Park.
Would rats choose to take drugs if given a stimulating environment and company?
Read and learn.
Stuart McMillen is an awesome Australian based young artist.
Is depression a kind of allergic reaction? | The Guardian
“A growing number of scientists are suggesting that depression is a result of inflammation caused by the body’s immune system”
An interesting idea, worth further research I think. The article content is clear that the scientists don’t regard it as a possible single cause, which is sensible as physical and psychological factors as well as environmental ones are likely to play a role.
BlueHackers at LCA 2015 (Auckland NZ)
BlueHackers will have a presence at Linux.conf.au (this year in Auckland NZ, 12-16 Jan 2015), the awesome John Dalton is organising the BoF (Birds-of-a-Feather) session one evening, and he’ll also have a stash the little BlueHackers stickers that you can put on your laptop to show your support and understanding for mental health. Some stickers may also be available at the LCA registration desk.
Have an awesome time there – unfortunately I can’t make it this year.
Depression Doesn’t Make You Sad All the Time | Meloukhia.net
One of the most popular, enduring, and irritating myths about depression is that it means depressed people are sad all the time — and that by extension, people who are happy can’t be experiencing depression, even if they say they are. Read S.E.Smith’s full article: http://meloukhia.net/2014/12/depression_doesnt_make_you_sad_all_the_time
Gender Acceptance
A very nice example of gender acceptance by parents.
Public acknowledgement in this way is awesome – well done to them!
And I figure the “tidy your room” is pretty much a “all is fine and normal, getting on with it” statement. Awesome.Source: Courier Mail (Brisbane AU, December 2014)
BlueHackers @ Open Source Developers’ Conference 2014
This year, OSDC’s first afternoon plenary will be a specific BlueHackers related topic: Stress and Anxiety, presented by Neville Starick – an experienced Brisbane based counsellor.
We’ll also have our traditional BlueHackers “BoF” (birds-of-a-feather) session in the evening, usually featuring some general information, as well as the opportunity for safe lightning talks. Some people talk, some people don’t. That’s all fine.
The Open Source Developers’ Conference 2014 is being held at the beautiful Griffith University Gold Coast Campus, 4-7 November. It features a fine program, and if you use this magic link you get a special ticket price, but the regular registration is only around $300 anyhow, $180 for students! This includes all lunches and the conference dinner. Fabulous value.
7 Things You Shouldn
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/17/things-not-to-say-to-some_n_4781182.html
If you’ve ever suffered from severe anxiety, you’re probably overly familiar with the control it can have over your life. And you’re not alone — it affects a sizeable percentage of the population.
Learning more about anxiety and stress can be really helpful.
About your breakfast
We know that eating well (good nutritional balance) and at the right times is good for your mental as well as your physical health.
There’s some new research out on breakfast. The article I spotted (Breakfast no longer ‘most important meal of the day’ | SBS) goes a bit popular and funny on it, so I’ll phrase it independently in an attempt to get the real information out.
One of the researchers makes the point that skipping breakfast is not the same as deferring. So consider the reason, are you going to eat properly a bit later, or are you not eating at all?
When you do have breakfast, note that really most cereals contain an atrocious amount of sugar (and other carbs) that you can’t realistically burn off even with a hard day’s work. And from my own personal observation, there’s often way too much salt in there also. Check out Kellogg’s Cornflakes for a neat example of way-too-much-salt.
Basically, the research comes back to the fact that just eating is not the point, it’s what you eat that actually really does matter.
What do you have for breakfast, and at what point/time in your day?