Do you ever find yourself in the middle of a muddle wondering how exactly you got there? Do you sometimes forget to look around at the world as you pass through it? I do, too. That’s why, as I’ve mentioned before, I carry my copy of Curious George with me. It is a reminder that we need to pursue curiosity in order to achieve goals. But that’s not all curiosity does. It maintains your sense of wonderment, as well. When was the last time you looked up at the sky, or even just off into the distance? Not a glance, mind you – a real perusal of the horizon. If it has been more than a day, then get up right now and walk outside for a few minutes and take a look around. Go on. I’ll be here when you get back. ...

(via Open Culture) The YouTube video is called “Tsunami Surfing”, but it’s really Mike Parsons catching an absolutely monstrous wave (66 feet!) at Cortez Bank, California. Check it out.

The other day, I [tweeted](http://twitter.com/Ian W. Parker/statuses/870689024) a quote by Henry David Thoreau from Walden. It reads I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.With that in mind, I started to think about the challenges we encounter in our lives and the goals that we set for ourselves. For many people, much time is spent addressing the obstacles placed in their way. While doing so, they fail to recognize that they may be missing out on attaining their dreams and aspirations. [caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“458.0”] Walden Pond[/caption] ...

Last week, I wrote about Google’s newest online product, Knol. Since it is a Google property, the world took notice and immediately began examining it. It seems that Aaron Wall has uncovered not so much a flaw as a bias in the way Google handles Knol articles. In his testing, he found that even though his original content was on a Google PageRank 5 page hosted on an authoritative site (Business.com) that has been around for years, the Knol article with the same content ranks first on a search. ...

Unnecessary Knowledge (via Big Contrarian) Forty percent of Americans iron their clothes while wearing their underwear or being completely naked. Wow. I would think there would be a lot of accidents related to ironing. Amount of unnecessary knowledge in the database: 101. Not a lot of knowledge just yet, but you can always upload some unnecessary knowledge.

No, that is not a typographical error in the article title. A knol is defined by Google as “a unit of knowledge”. At least, that’s the subtitle of their newest released product, Knol. Knol appears to be a Wikipedia clone, but with some distinct differences. The biggest difference is that the author of an article becomes the owner and is tasked with determining whether or not subsequent edits will be included, all or in part, in the entry. Of course, the system is a bit more complex than that, allowing for various types of collaboration. Additionally, it appears as though there are some members who are flagged with a cute, little, green, graphical, “Verified” tag. I would think that this lends a little more weight to the author’s knols as opposed to random folks who write about buttermilk pancakes. Not that buttermilk pancakes aren’t delicious. Quite the contrary. My point is that there is a “gold rush” on knols, so if you’ve got lots of spare units of knowledge floating around between your ears, you might want to pop over and add them to the new Wikipedia killer… erm… Google project. There are many topics related to medicine, and it looks like many of the verified authors are from medical institutions or universities that specialize in medicine. ...

What started as a simple reply to Matthew Dryden’s comment on the July 18th tech5 podcast here at Indigo Spot turned into a long-winded response. Matt asked, Speaking of rocky web ad business…I keep hearing that Twitter will eventually die out due to lack of ad revenue. Do you know the story on that? Show Me The Money! I don’t know that Twitter will die out, but there is a fun discussion that surfaces every few months about how Twitter is going to monetize their service. I am not sure that they aren’t already. ...

I can’t recall exactly how I first came across Jo Beaufoix’s blog, but ever since I landed on it, it has been on my site list here. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she is a writer, or perhaps it is her ability to portray life through her writing, but Jo has a knack for making her audience laugh. Bounce Rates Jo Beaufoix’s blog is the most popular outbound link here at Indigo Spot. That may be purely because of the curiosity factor. I mean, after all, it is a unique name that sticks out in a line-up, but when competing with links to sites such as 43 Folders, Daring Fireball, Upstart Blogger, and Zen Habits, it is impressive that even my meager traffic hits that link the most. And by the most, I mean four times as much as the second most popular link, which is Put Things Off (an awesome site in its own right, written by Nick Cernis). ...

The military has long adopted technology and pushed the limits of technology through research and development. The use of these technologies, whether newly developed or existing, is not always the intended use. From a cultural standpoint, it would be desirable to think that the military always uses technology in an ethical and good manner, but what is good for some is not for others, and what is good during the stress of battle and confrontation is the preservation of self. Many soldiers are presented with this problem, but may only have a few seconds to react to a situation, and so the military must provide them with the tools necessary to survive and to kill the enemy. ...

It is astonishing to think that there are pharmaceuticals that can not only extend our lives, but that can eradicate diseases that were once plagues, and even still are in some areas of the world. The technology of drugs and medicine has reached a fever pitch, and with greater understanding of the human genome, we are developing cures by the dozen on a yearly basis, each one more effective than the next. However, not all drugs are created equal, nor have they all been show to have a guaranteed efficacy. Add to that fatal side effects and pharmaceutical technology does not appear quite as good as it initially might have. ...