Dealing with Criticism

A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband. Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.

"Careful," he said, "CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh no! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh no! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful. CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"

The wife stared at him. "What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?" The husband calmly replied, "I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving."

You know what this is. It's Criticism. We've all experienced it. Nobody wants to be criticized yet it is so easy for us to criticize others.

Sometimes criticism is justified, sometimes it is not. But none of us like it. No one enjoys being told they are doing something wrong.

It is always an unpleasant experience. Yet criticism is necessary.

Guy Woods has written, "Inasmuch as criticism is inevitable, we must, in order to be happy, acquire an ability to rise above it. He who is overly sensitive to the opinions of others is at the mercy of every gossiper of his acquaintance. Some folks purr like a kitten when stroked by praise; but when criticized, they become resentful, discouraged, and quit. It is highly essential that everyone discover a technique for dealing with the adverse opinions of others, and use it regularly and effectively."

Albert Einstein wasn't always acclaimed for his scientific breakthroughs, notes physicist Stephen Hawking in his book A Brief History of Time (Bantam Books). "His theories came under attack; an anti-Einstein organization was even set up." But Einstein remained unconcerned about these critics, Hawking writes. "When a book was published entitled 100 Authors Against Einstein, he retorted, 'If I were wrong, then one would have been enough!"

How do you deal with criticism?”

Here are a couple of ideas that may help you when you are criticized.

1. Your number of critics is directly proportional to the quality of your performance.

The world is full of critics and so expect criticism. The more productive you are the more criticism you will receive. If you want to play it safe, then say nothing, do nothing, accomplish nothing, dream nothing and you will be a successful nothing. Then there is nothing to criticize. But then your critics will say “You are a nothing.” Then that turns out to be another criticism. Who are the people who are receiving the blunt of criticism? They are the ones out there with their sleeves rolled up busy producing. And the beautiful thing about this is that the productive people are happy despite what their critics say.

2. Let the legitimate criticisms teach and transform you.

Some criticisms serve a useful purpose. Learn from it. Do not be too onion skinned. You will smell. Recognize that some criticisms are certainly deserved. Even when critics are unkind always remember this. They may be right!

Even when they exaggerate your failures, there may still be some truth in what they say. So look at the situation honestly and ask these questions: Is it true? If so, how can I overcome the condition that caused it? How can I avoid future criticism of the same kind?

If I made a mistake then it should serve as a learning mistake. But if I failed to learn from it then I will be committing a stupid mistake. This will confirm what the critics say. Scripture says: “The ear that hears the reproof of life will abide among the wise. He who disdains instructions despises his own soul, but he who heeds reproof gets understanding.”

3. Eat ice cream. Chill. Move on and forget it.

And when the criticisms are unfair and unjust, just chill and prove your critics wrong by your consistency in doing things right and doing the right things. This may not shut up their mouths but it sure can diminish their credibility. The more you attempt to answer criticism, the worse the criticism becomes. For one who is not interested in the truth, the more you explain the more material your critics can use against you.

4. Be a good critic yourself.

And if you need to criticize someone, remember “THE FOUR-TO-ONE RULE:” FOR EVERY criticism you make of someone's job performance, make sure you give the person four compliments.

Do not belittle people. To belittle is to be little.

Somebody says: “Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes. Then when you do criticize that person, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes.” Just kidding, but you know what I mean.

Source: Francis Kong

More thanks to Mr. Francis Kong for giving me permission to post his writings in my blog. Godbless Sir!!!

The Ants and the BIble

The Ants

Do you know that, according to the Bible, the ants have a superior intelligence, which is almost second to man’s? Proverbs 30:24-28 says--

“There are four things which are little upon the earth but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.”

While Proverbs 6:6-8 says--

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise; Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”

We have to remember that it is the Bible itself that considers the ants as wise. And in their being wise, they no longer need any ruler, or leader, for them to enjoy a sophisticated way of life.

Do you know that the ants’ dwelling place is even air-conditioned? They are storing food for the entire duration of the rainy season. They have their own knowledge in agriculture. They collect organic matters, which serve as their food during the lengthy rainy season.

Do you know that the ants that we see everyday are mostly female? They live in a colony that is made up of more than one million members, workers, and soldiers that are all females. The male ants die after the queen ant fertilizes. The queen ant’s only duty is to lay about 50,000 to 100,000 eggs a day.

According to studies conducted by zoologists, there about 12 million to 14 million kinds of ants in our planet. And like humans, they are found in almost all habitable places, except in mountains that are covered with ice, and in the polar region. Based on studies, the ants have unusual physical features. Their head is made of a special sensor that easily identifies chemical and visual signs. In addition, they have about half a million nerve cells in their brain. They have a keen vision and a sensitive hair that responds to anything attached to it. Their teeth are as sharp as a carving tool. They have strong muscles that allow their six legs to move. When needed, they are able to secrete liquid from their special glands that warn their companions in case of an impeding danger. Out of their poison glands, they are able to discharge formic acid and other poisons, which they use against their enemies. Their antenna functions as their nose and fingers.

Within 24 hours, they are able to build their houses. And this lasts for more than a month, and this is where their queen lay eggs. There is another colony of ants, which is called “army ants,” that build their houses neither on the ground nor on trees. Their bodies linked together serve as a shelter for their queen. About 200,000 to 750,000 ants link their bodies together in order to cover the queen and her young. But when morning comes, the separate. Other ants, however, live underground.

According to reports, the ants are able to dig about 40 tons of soil in order to build their gigantic home. A colony of ants can maintain 150 houses, and they are able to patrol 1,600 square metes. The territory of ants is one of the biggest in the world of insects. The soldier ants stay only on the sides of their house in order to guard it from attacks of enemies. Should enemies come, they send a signal that could be smelled by their comrades so that they could be given reinforcement. They surround their enemies and spit on them formic acid. And when they are killed, they bring them to their camp to be eaten.

Do you know that ants are able to communicate and send messages to their colleagues by means of a liquid called “pheromone”? This is the reason why when an ant discovers food deposits, it could easily call on its companions who would gather them.

Another remarkable trait of ants is their industry. One can never see a sleeping ant. Have you seen one? That is why an ant is being used as a paragon of industry. As written in Proverbs 6:6-10--

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise; Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth, her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When will thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.”

Let us not be lazy; let us not be sluggards. It is not good to be one.

LED light bulb

Did you know that LED Light Bulbs can actually replace incandescent and compact fluorescent lamps? They can shine just as bright but consume much less electricity and we all know that saving on electricity is not just saving money but also saving our planet.

The downside is that they’re still a bit expensive (about $20 for a descent bulb) but that can easily be covered by the savings you make in your money electric bills because LED bulbs can consume as low as 1 watt and still produce an enormous amount of light. You can save as much as 90% on lighting costs if you use LED instead of other bulbs.

I’d say that if incandescent bulbs are a thing of the past and fluorescent lights are the thing of the present, then LED is the future and will soon be the norm.

Let us just wait and see what the future may bring....

World`s Fastest Computer

What is the world's fastest computer?

To put things in perspective, let's start with the computer sitting on your desk -- the computer you use on a day-to-day basis to browse the Internet, handle spreadsheets, create documents, etc. Most people have something like a Pentium computer running Windows, or a Macintosh. A computer like this can execute approximately 100 million instructions per second. Your particular machine might be twice that fast or half that fast, but that's the ballpark.

The fastest computer in the world is much faster than that, and it is sitting right on top of your shoulders! The human brain is an amazing computing device and the fastest processor available right now. Let me give you an example:

Your desktop computer is just starting to get to the point where it can "understand" speech and take dictation, translating spoken words into written words. It can only understand one speaker, and that speaker has to train it for about 20 minutes, and the dictation software will still make a lot of mistakes. So 100 million instructions per second can barely handle dictation.

Your brain, on the other hand, can understand any number of speakers. It needs no training and will make zero mistakes. It may even be able to understand multiple languages! And the speech processing portion of your brain is just one small part of the whole package -- your brain can also process complex visual images, control your entire body, understand conceptual problems and create new ideas. Your brain is made up of about one trillion cells with 100 trillion connections between those cells. We might take a rough estimate and say it is handling 10 quadrillion instructions per second, but it really is hard to say.

In the 2006 TOP500 list, which ranks supercomputers by speed, the top three supercomputers are as follows:

1. IBM's BlueGene/L - 360 teraflops
2. IBM's BGW - 115 teraflops
3. IBM's ASC Purple - 93 teraflops

Another supercomputer called MDGrape-3, built by the Japanese company RIKEN, has a theoretical maximum speed of 1 petaflop (1 guadrillion operations per second), which is three times faster than the BlueGene/L. But MDGrape-3 can't run the official ranking software of the TOP500 list, so BlueGene/L remains at the top of the list at 360 trillion operations per second, which is pretty fast...but it's still not as fast as your brain.
The world's fastest supercomputer will probably never be known as the world's fastest supercomputer. RIKEN's MDGrape-3 is the first machine to break the petaflop barrier -- that's 1 quadrillion calculations (floating-point operations, to be specific) per second -- and it's three times faster than the currently ranked fastest computer in the world, IBM's BlueGene/L. But MDGrape-3 is so specialized that it can't run the software used to officially rank computing speed. What it can do is determine the effect of any chemical compound on one of the most intricate systems in the human body in a couple of seconds.

What's the world's fastest supercomputer used for?

MDGrape-3 is designed for pharmaceutical research, specifically molecular dynamics simulation. In developing drugs, pharmaceutical companies have to analyze thousands on thousands of chemical compounds to find out how they'll affect the protein-bonding structures in the human body. Protein structures called enzymes are the building blocks that do all of the work within a cell, and the way these proteins bond with any drug compound introduced into the human body determines the body's response to that drug. MDGrape-3 produces simulations of these molecular interactions. What takes most computers hours or days to analyze takes MDGrape-3 a few seconds. This functionality is invaluable in drug research, and it could drastically cut the research time involved in the development of new cures. A subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Merck has already booked time on the machine.

Structurally speaking, MDGrape-3 is a parallel computing system consisting of two main sections: a primary server unit and a specialized-engines unit. The latter component is a cluster of 201 engines running proprietary chips developed by Riken specifically for MDGrape-3. It's this huge set of engines, running 24 MDGrape-3 chips each, that does the heavy protein-analysis lifting. Each chip has a maximum processing speed of 230 gigaflops (one billion operations per second). The primary server unit manages the engine cluster. This parallel server setup runs two different types of processors: 65 servers run dual-core Intel 5000-series Xeon processors, 256 per server; and 37 servers run 3.3-GHz Intel Xeon processors, each with 2 MB of level 1 cache, at 74 processors per server. This hardware structure enables the 1-petaflop speed, which is the machine's theoretical maximum for certain processes.

MDGrape-3 took $9 million and about four years to build. And it's actually very efficient -- a total cost of $9 million breaks down to about $15 per gigaflop. The slower BlueGene/L cost about $140 per gigaflop to build.

BlueGene/L, which tops out at a theoretical 360 teraflops (trillion calculations per second), is also a biotechnology-specific machine. The advances in speed marked by these two supercomputers is indicative of a general trend in technology toward biologically-slanted systems. Some say the trend really started with the successful mapping of the human genome in 2000. Regardless of what spurred the current biotechnology race, most experts agree that the logical end of the surge is a state of DNA-based medicine. In several decades, we could make an appointment with our doctor for a quick DNA analysis to find out what diseases we're at risk for and pop a single, gene-targeting pill that eliminates all of those foreseeable risks.