Inception

Sorry for being late :P

As the name told, today we have something more interesting. Inception is the choice of movie-goers in this summer, though the principle behind this film is not to understand easily. Some of my friends have to watch at least 2 times to gain a better understanding.

The main theme of the movie is around the "Dream Sharing" theory. This theory is originated in the Project Somnacin, which doing research regarding to (lucid) dreaming and dream sharing. Somnacin, which is the drug used in this project, have the effect of initiate dream sharing (of people who have this injected).

In the movie, The Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous Device (PASIV) is designed to have a automatic and safe way to deliver Somnacin. (The user manual of PASIV is in here)

Now let's look at the team, Leonardo DiCaprio (as Dom Cobb) is leading a team in the dream world, which consists of:

The Extractor

The Point-man

The Forger

The Architect

The Tourist

The Mark

The Chemist

Like special forces in the real world, everyone has his/her specialism and duty, contribute and achieve the same goal.

According to the conversations between extractor and chemist, sedative Somnacin (to enhance dream stability) make the normal way (of waking up) doesn't work anymore, which is died in dreams. Instead, a kick must be implemented in order to wake sleepers up in each level of dreams. Hence, one of the team members have to stay at certain level while others keep going down, and this is a risky plan actually.

Finally, if you have watched Inception and still not know what's going on, you can refer to here.

Mind map (2)

Today I am going to talk about some usage of mind map, with some of my previous works as an example also.

Mind map is great for learning, which can use in different situation as well as subjects.

Note taking – normally they are pretty rough as you just make it during lessons, A4 size paper, pencil and fluorescent pens are used. Use pencil to draw the core, fluorescent pens added colors or dividing topic levels. Don’t worry even you got an ugly picture, you can improve it soon.

Sample: Bullying (criminal psychology)

Sample: Substance abuse (criminal psychology)

Revisions – Relatively more detailed, organized and readable, in case you will use it to prepare for exams or share it with others. When using computer software to make, you can also add some pictures or flowcharts from either notes from school or Internet.

Sample: English writing techniques

Sample: Information security concept

Projects – Most demanding on readability since all of your teammates need to look at it. Better use common terms in topics and draw the map using software to facilitate sharing. In addition, there are add or remove of ideas or works in different stages of the project, so always use “save as” to make different versions of map is a good practice, don’t forget to make a change log to allow trace of actions.

Sample: Graduation dinner

Finally here are some good software for mind-mapping:

Freemind

Mind Manager

X Mind

Sorry again

I'm so sorry to tell that I have to skip writing for a week again, as I have something to attend to again. And for all HKCEE candidates, no matter what the outcome is, you are the ruler of your life, and support all of you always. =]

Bob