If you got some time, have a little think and try these fun brain teasers….And no cheating!
Q1. I come once on a ‘Tuesday’, twice in a ‘Week’, and once in a ‘Year’. What am I?
Q2. what occurs once in a ‘minute’, three times in a ‘momment’, and never in a ‘hundred years’?
Q3.What do the following numbers – and only these numbers – have in common?
Answers will be revealed in the next newsletter!
If your not already a subscriber, sign up now for your Newsletter.
Hello. We occasionally get asked for advice about taking an idea forward and getting into the marketplace. We thought it might be of interest to put together some tips.
If you have been struck with a brilliant idea for a new product it’s easy to get enthusiastic. However, it really is worth scrutinising the idea carefully before investing your time and money developing it. It’s also worth thinking through the important steps that will be required to develop an idea into a product that people want to use. What roles do the design and manufacturability play in determining a products success. Here’s some of the things we think are key:-
Examine the market for your product: There’s often no need to reinvent the wheel. Many designers’ efforts fail when they try to offer products based on their assumptions of what people need instead of a thorough research of what people could really use. It sounds like common sense, but you have to be honest with yourself. Seek impartial advice, and listen to feedback.
See the project from an engineer’s point of view: When starting out it’s not necessary to obsess over the fine details of a product. At an early stage just try to cover potential problems related to how the product will be made. Making something easy to manufacture is a real skill. It will often determine how a product ends up looking and functioning and can make the difference between success and failure.
See the project with the eyes of a designer: Ask yourself the critical questions that have to be answered before a new product ever gets to manufacturing. Who will buy it? What value will it add? If you do commercialise your product you will be mobilising potentially hundreds of people to produce, inspect, pack, ship, and sell your products. Is the design as good as it can be? Can you justify their time and efforts?
See the value of the product through the consumers’ eyes: Think of a design that would offer qualities that go beyond than just price for customers. Make sure the design is visually appealing, user-friendly, easy to use and not overly complicated. Can it add value in their daily lives? Simple, thoughtful design can often provoke genuine affection. We all know of products in our lives that work really well. From a new smart phone, to a seemingly indestructible toaster that has provided perfect toast for years, there are products that you probably have a positive emotional reaction to, and those mark the successful development of a good idea.
Stuffed full of sweaty gym kits, and often forgotten for days in lockers or just under the desk, the gym bag is the perfect breeding ground for odour-causing bacteria, especially in this current warm weather. But finally there’s a solution to the gym bag whiff – the Anti-Smell Sports Bag. The Anti-smell sports bag is a unique product designed to help stop nasty niffs from PE kits, shoes and sports equipment that are left hanging around.
The bag works just like a shoe “odour eater” insole, utilising an active carbon filter sewn into the inside of the bag to help neutralise smells. The patented carbon filter, which we’ve called ”pong patch” will last a year, and can be easily cleaned using warm soapy water.
And…
They are incorporated 3M reflective stripes and are currently availablewith in red, yellowand alowkey black version for stricter schools.
Just as our body needs to exercise regularly, the brain does too. Not in the same way, of course, but it does need to practice as much as possible in order to stay fit. Just as the body can lose a little tone as we age, the brain loses some of it’s agility as we get older.
The good news is that it relatively simple to exercise those little grey cells – phew.
Here are some tips:-
Reading – This is the best “mind sport” for cognitive training. If it were in the Olympics it would be the 100m. If it were Tennis it’d be Wimbledon. If it were cheesy TV presenting – it’d be Noel Edmonds! Clearly the levels of difficulty vary significantly, but challenging reading material can extend our vocabulary and help form new neural pathways as we explore new concepts.
Using your creativity: be it a piece of design, a DIY project, a spot of gardening or creating an art piece, exercising your imagination and creativity, and drawing upon your short term “working memory” to work towards an envisaged goal, is shown to physically change the brain. (To be specific, Olesen et al showed it to increase dopamine receptor binding potential. After publishing his findings Dr Olesen went on to put up some shelving and painted a nice picture for Mrs Olesen)
Eating wisely- a diet rich in antioxidants- will help protect your brain cells. Physical activities maintain a good blood flow to the brain, along with oxygen and water molecules.
The social dimension is also important. Throughout our evolution, intelligence has been shown to be linked to the quality and quantity of human interactions. Consequently, relations with other people are helping you to maintain healthy connections among brain cells! – How poetic.
Cheerio.
Here are some simple but efficient how-to-focus recommendations.
What can you do to train your mind?
Sudoku Rules
Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3×3 square.
Sudoku Tips
* Start with number one and pencil in all options around the grid before moving on to number 2. When worked your way up to number nine, simply go back to the beginning and start with number one again
* Concentrate on the 3×3 mini grids, rather than rows and columns. They give up a lot of clues.
* If you’ve completed seven numbers in a row or column, then obviously the two boxes that are left must be one of the two remaining numbers left over. That row or column often passes through a mini-grid where you also have two options. Frequently, you can deduct exactly where the two leftover numbers go.
Whether we are in class or at home, alone or in a group, we often need to pay attention to tasks. If you have difficulties in focusing, we have some suggestions on how to maintain attention.
Athletes keep pushing their limits constantly, especially when loosing focus. When you feel like giving up the task, choose a number, like five, and stimulate yourself to read five more sentences or listen five more minutes and so on, depending on the area you meet your focus obstacle.
Don’t let concerns take over your mind, keep focus on one task at a time. That means prioritize and voluntarily dealing with problems instead of letting exhaustion take over your brain. Write down these pressuring tasks and keeping in mind only the most important at the moment.
If you think it would be easier to start or to continue a task LATER, be aware! It’s just procrastination fooling you to lose focus and once you do that things will actually prove to be harder to complete.
Old-school methods are still working for modern brains. If you feel like really loosing it, simply use your hands to bring attention back. Cup your hands around the eyes to block the sight of distracting surroundings or stimuli.
And sometimes do just the opposite: look at things you usually ignore as if it was for the first time. It’s incredible how the attention concentrates, so try this as a daily exercise: choose something familiar and watch it with new eyes.
The Concentrate Supercase is a pencilcase that can be easily turned into a stationery pot.
• Pencilcase can be easily turned into a stationery pot: unzip the case until the fold and turn over the first part to make a stationery pot
• Washable in the washing machine – NB better handwashed
• Dimensions (approximately): 11cm x 22cm (WxH)
• Material: neoprene (the same material used to make wetsuits)
• Available in: red (outside) and black (inside)
Read more information about the Supercase in the Supercase FAQs.
Answer to the last riddle: ‘What runs but cannot walk?‘: A nose
