You are here MA&T Programme Fourth Class Challenges Master Level Time for a Break

 You have been working hard so it is time to take a break. Here are some odd bits and pieces of information which may amuse or surprise you.

Can You Read This?

 fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid,too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55% plepoe can.

 i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.  Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!  

How Smart is Your Right Foot?

Try this, it takes 2 seconds. It is from an orthopaedic surgeon............
This will confuse your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't.
It is pre-programmed in your brain since birth!

1. While sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

I told you so! And there's nothing you can do about it!

Use Your Mobile Phone to Unlock Your Parents' Car!

Have you locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy some day.

If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their mobile phone from your mobile phone.

Hold your mobile phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone at their end. Your car will unlock. It saves someone from having to drive your keys to you.

Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, but if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the boot).

What does this tell you about overusing a mobile phone?

Music Experiment

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.  

Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.  

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.  

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.  

The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.  

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.  

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.  

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.  

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? Want to see the video of the experiment on YouTube?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:  

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?