i learnt about this interview that Kerry Miller from the Mid Morning programme on the Minnesota Public Radio did, in which Daniel Pink debunks the carrot and stick approach, from a different interview she also did this week that discussed the brain and biotechnology. i haven’t yet read the book but from the discussion, Daniel Pink offers a thesis that resonates with Maslow’s theory of the Hierarchy of Human Needs. Maslow, an eminent social psychologist of his era, proposed that once our basic needs are satisfied, we crave for higher means of finding fulfilment and, to borrow his term, becoming ‘Self-actualized‘ beings.

i’ve had my share of working experience with different supervisors and mentors and can quite confidently say that it doesn’t require a genius to figure out that there are some people you’d rather have as bosses and others you’d avoid at all costs. but that aside, it is also about how you shape and find your own motivations, too. afterall, life is not just about work, although at times it can feel that way. but a positively conducive social environment can certainly help to make sure that the delicate balance of work and life is maintained. needless to say, beyond the bread and butter and a roof over one’s head, we seek more than just mere survival. we want to feel good about ourselves!

and to this end, we have: Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

since then, we have come to appreciate Cajal’s foresighted inference with better viewing tools. and many other scientists have sought to tag cells and other sub-cellular structures to better understand their form and function. this year’s Nobel prize in Chemistry is shared by three of them who used a green glowing fluorescent protein (GFP) found in a deep ocean octopus! it sounded crazy to me when i first learnt about that in class. but when i saw how fluorescent proteins worked when tagging the peripheral nerve cells i have stained in one of my lab rotations, i felt just as Cajal probably did when he first saw the Golgi stained cells. dumbfounded. the microtubulins and actin filaments and dying cells glowed green, red and blue, respectively, under the microscope. i marveled at how minuscule those red-stained filaments looked and how so vital they are in the many wondrous things every cell in each of us does.

here’s a picture of modern day tagging at its artistic best… brain cells of a lab mouse glowing in multicolour protein tagging

(picture courtesy of NYTIMES © AP Photo/Harvard University, Livett- Weissman-Sanes-Lichtman)

Summary Quote (NB: Academic Pricing)
Subtotal $3,487.00
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* 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 3GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM – 1x2GB, 1x1GB
* 200GB Serial ATA Drive @ 4200 rpm
* SuperDrive 6x (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* MacBook Pro 15-inch Glossy Widescreen Display
* Apple USB Modem
* Magsafe Airline Power Adapter
* Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS – U.S. English
* Final Cut Express preinstalled
* AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro/PowerBook (w/or w/o Display) – Auto-enroll

baaaah… what a lot of craziness… i shall have a peek at the apple-store!!! rah… how very exciting…

STEP 1) </b
You need to know the Time Difference (in 24hr format) between the country you are in and the country/city of interest. It is more common to find this relative to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Universal Central Time (UCT) and it depends on the Time-Zone of each country. A quick way to do this is to check on the time icon of your browser; right click and select ‘Adjust Date/Time‘ and a window pops up with the setting options. there is a tab for changing time-zones.
e.g. Singapore is +8 hours of GMT in Winter-time (+7 hrs GMT in Summer-time)
e.g. Minneapolis/St. Paul is -6 hours of GMT in Winter-time (** – 6 hrs GMT in Summer-time; and -7 hrs GMT for 1 week at the end of March)
so the Time Difference between Singapore and Minneapolis is 14 hours during Winter-time…
but NOTE : Singapore is + 14 hours of Minneapolis and Minneapolis is – 14 hours of Singapore. the underlined city will be referred to as the ‘city of interest’.
the + and – signs of the difference are important for the calculation
Step2)
Using this Time Difference with respect to the country/city of interest (including the sign of the difference), now check the Local Time at Present Country in 24hr format and apply the formula:
Current Time at CountryORCity of interest = Remainder when [Local Time at Present Country + Time Difference with respect to city of interest] is divided completely by 24
For Example:
Current Local Time in Minneapolis == 13hrs
Time Difference between Minneapolis and city of interest London == +6 hrs
Current time in London = MOD(13 + (+6) , 24) = remainder of ((13 + (+6)) / 24) = remainder of (19 / 24) = 19 hrs
Another Example:
Current Local Time in Singapore == 3hrs
Time Difference between Singapore and city of interest Munich == -7 hrs
Current time in Munich= MOD(3 + (-7) , 24) = remainder of (-4 / 24) = remainder of (24 – 4 / 24) = 20 hrs
Another Example:
Current Local Time in Minneapolis == 13hrs
Time Difference between Minneapolis and city of interest Adelaide == +16.5 hrs
Current time in Adelaide= MOD(13 + (+16.5) , 24) = remainder of (29.5 / 24) = 5.5 hrs
more succintly, the formula can be reduced to:
Current Time at CountryORCity of interest = MOD (Local Time at Present Country + Time Difference with respect to city of interest, 24)
MOD is a function or operator that gives a remainder for the division of a number (completely) by a divisor (in this case, 24). NOTE that e.g. MOD(4 , 24) = 4 and not 1/6.
in any case, the answer will give you the time of your city/country of interest in 24hr format.
here is an online website for more direct calculations which you can even personalize… but when you don’t have access to the www, the formula will come in handy… that is if you remember the time-zone differences!

…people working in banking either can’t be bothered with their jobs or are completely ILLITERATE.
this is the 2nd time i’ve requested for an international transfer and they, ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND… have messed it up again… and guess what? i’ll have to call them to tell them that THEY screwed it up AGAIN… and i so hate the time-difference…
pathetic.
*if only there were a DeutscheBank everywhere… they were most professional… even in wee little tuebingen… sigh.
// UPDATE:
it appears that my request addressed to the manager never arrived to his attention… whoever took the authority to process the request is also quite incapable of reading the type of transfer i’ve requested. the additional mis-handlings previously experienced were brought up to his knowledge and i also expressed my dwindling confidence in their services… i expect the undue charges be rectified *of course*… to which i am sure he was surprised… so what if it might just be a student account… we have every right to proper professional conduct from banks. in the end, even waiving all charges will not help to resurrect any good opinion of their banking quality… they will have to prove that such stupidity will not occur again… but of course they couldn’t even guarantee this the previous time.
i truly hate playing the cop…