We all know about TED talks, right? It is Ideas worth spreading.So Fred is mini TED in Santa Monica. It is run by Steve Glenn, the founder and CEO of LivingHomes. LivingHomes’ mission is “to create homes and communities that inspire people, foster family and community interaction, and make modern life easier, healthier and more comfortable — all in ways that compliment and enhance the municipalities and environments in which we work. We hope our products will set a standard for the positive impact they have on soil, water, energy and health – and we’re using the Leadership in Environmental [...]
May 24, 2013 | by polyachka
Recently I received an invitation by IVHQ to volunteer in Bali. I volunteered with IVHQ in Vietnam three years ago and had a great experience. I taught six female students in a shelter in HCMC how to use OLPC computers and the Internet. Even though Facebook was officially banned in Vietnam at that time, we opened Facebook accounts to keep in touch when I go back to the US. Today they are all on FB, even though they don’t speak English well and I can’t speak Vietnamese at all, I’m glad we are connected. I see their pics and posts [...]
April 30, 2013 | by polyachka
This month Julia Fedotova recognized our site as the “Online tool for depression treatment” in her school research. Julia is taking “Psychological Treatment Research” class at Harvard University this semester and finishing her Master’s degree in Psychology. This class is designed to provide students with a fundamental understanding of basic concepts in psychotherapy research, including the history of psychotherapy, basic methodological issues in studying therapeutic change (group and single-case designs, measuring change, reviewing progress), major approaches to psychotherapy (for example, CBT, psychodynamic, experiential), and psychotherapy with special populations. Prerequisites: introductory psychology and abnormal psychology. (4 credits) PSYC E-2455 Psychological Treatment [...]
March 31, 2013 | by polyachka
Ben Tao from MyTreat interviewed me about Santa Monica New Tech Meetup group: Tell us more about your Meetup group, Santa Monica New Tech. Why did you decide to start it? How is it different from other tech related Meetup groups? When I relocated to LA from the East Coast one year ago I was looking for a group with monthly pitch events similar to Boston New Tech. I didn’t find it, so I started one in Santa Monica. I wanted to be a part of the LA Tech community to network and find a technical co-founder for my startup, [...]
February 28, 2013 | by polyachka
Happy New Year 2013! The Ultimate Answer participated in the Fred Talk on Jan 2, 2013. The topic of the presentation was “Hector and the happiness formula”. “Once upon a time there was a young psychiatrist called Hector who was not very satisfied with himself… Hector works with patients, who don’t necessary suffer from any psychological disorders but are simply dissatisfied with life and are clearly unhappy. He can’t help them and that is beginning to depress him. Hector takes a trip around the world to learn what makes people happy-and sad. As he travels from Paris to China to [...]
January 21, 2013 | by polyachka
So the world didn’t end on Dec 21, 2012 as someone predicted, and the story below is a good reminder on what is important in the rules of living: “There was a man who spent his whole life robbing banks. He was a criminal genius who could easily break through the most sophisticated security systems. When he died an angel greeted him and showed him around. the man thought, “Wow, this is a great place! there is food; there’s a spa. Nice sleeping accommodations. There is everything I could ever need.” But eventually he became bored. He sought out the [...]
December 31, 2012 | by polyachka
I felt compelled to participate in Quora’s discussion “Why are some people more resilient than others?” Please, share your comments either here or at http://qr.ae/8Loot. My answer: I took Psychological Resilience Class PSYC-E-1018 led with Dr. Shelley Carson at Harvard Extension School in Jan 2012. Criteria: a prerequisite for resilience is adversity. A consequence of resilience is positive adaptation or growth. Resilience is a combination of risk and protective factors throughout life. There are many pathways in and out of resilient behavior; you have to have risk factors and protective factors. “From developmental PPath studies protective factors are: Within the [...]
November 29, 2012 | by polyachka
October is a happening month. I went to Paris and visited several museums. Napoleon has a controversial reputation: some think of him as a hero who came from nothing and created the First French Empire, others – devil who was thirsty for power at the expense of other nations. Victor Hugo, on the other hand, has a much better reputation. He was a poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman and human rights campaigner. No wonder he, not Napoleon, was proclaimed a saint in Cao Dai religion in Vietnam. France is full of inspiration for artists of all sorts, and [...]
October 28, 2012 | by polyachka
In September we were on sabbatical. I went to my home town Sochi and didn’t recognize it after 3 years: new condominiums, new supermarkets and new highways. It is so different today. I visited Olympic complexes both in Sochi and Krasnaya Polyana, as Sochi will be hosting Winter Olympic Games in 2014. See my Born to Wonder blog for more pictures and read the article about Sochi. To me happiness is several things: being in good health, working on what I like to do and being with people I love. So visiting my parents in my hometown and spending time [...]
September 30, 2012 | by polyachka
The Olympics was a major highlight of August 2012! It was great to see world athletes together in London and watch them compete in peace with no boycotting countries. Next Olympics will be in my home town Sochi! So stay tuned for more news when I go to visit Sochi in just 2 weeks! The Ultimate Answer was a sponsor of Santa Monica New Tech Meetup in Coloft on Aug 22, 2012. We provided Krispy Kreme donuts, brownies and biscuit cookies. There were 100 new technologists in attendance. Read more about the event and our presentation from the blog article by [...]
August 31, 2012 | by polyachka
