Archive for the ‘Our thoughts’ Category

HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT

Friday, November 6th, 2009

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington
Chemistry mid term.

The answer by one student was so ‘profound’ that the professor shared it with
colleagues, via the Internet,
which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs
heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law (gas
cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So
we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at
which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul
gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how
many souls are entering Hell, let’s look at the different religions that
exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their
religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these
religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can
project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rate s as they are,
we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we
look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle’s Law states
that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the
volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls
enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until

all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls
in Hell,
then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman
year that, ‘It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,’ and take
into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must
be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen
over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it
follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore,
extinct……leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine
being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting ‘Oh my God.’

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+

Calm Thinking: Winter 09

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

The winter newsletter from Calm is here, find about all about what we’ve been involved in over the last 3 months. Highlights include:

Never a dull day in the North East

With the launch of the revamped events-led website for visitTeesvalley and the bid website for Durham City of Culture, residents from in and around the region have absolutely no excuse to sit at home and twiddle their thumbs… more

Glue: A multi sensory art & design event to inspire, influence and involve
Sunday 8th November | 5pm ’til 1am Uncle Alberts (opposite the Railway Station), Middlesbrough… more

Introducing the new Face of Tees Valley
Over the past two months, visitTeesvalley has searched for two energetic Challengers ready to indulge in all Tees Valley has to offer, become ambassadors for the area and stand a chance of winning £1000 and the accolade of becoming the Face of Tees Valley….more

Advent Calendar Online
Another Calm Christmas is fast approaching, which means exciting times for Calm as Santa’s little helpers prepare to personalise an Advent Calendar Online for a number of clients not just in the UK but as far away as Australia and Dubai…. more

Daniel and Danielle
Although it isn’t mandatory for your name to be a derivative of Daniel to work at Calm, it must certainly help… more

Calm’s quest for SEO perfection
The majority of people think of (SEO) Search Engine Optimisation as an art to improve their search engine rankings, being a time studied profession that without putting a great deal of time and effort into it should be left to the techies. Wrong! more

Final Thoughts
We’d like to say a big thank you for reading our quarterly newsletter – we hope it you’ll be able to make use of some of the information. As always feel free to contact us: www.calmasylum.comwww.calmdigital.com@calm_asylum@adventonline

Calm, constructive conversations.

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Something interesting happened today at Calm. We were able to  practice what we preach about how brands should use social networks to engage with not only their friends, but their critics as well. Social networking via Twitter etc,  is all about engaging in conversations, both positive and negative, that the wider network is having about you and your work. This can’t be a bad thing and it can only improve performance all round.

We posted a link to a 3 year old website of an e-commerce client in the interest of goodwill to help drive traffic to the site. Unbeknown to me, the site owner had recently uploaded some images of new stock, but put a £0.00 amount against them.

The comments that this invited ranged from constructive advice to very harsh criticism of the developer. (One kindly Twitizen mentioned that this was a tad “ungentlemanly” of said critic). Some said it made the site look broken, and others said that we should have validated amount field so it doesn’t allow a £0 against a product. I have put solutions to these issues to the client and will see whether we can take this forward. The comments, although hard to hear,  will (we hope) serve to make the user experience a lot smoother and ultimately increase sales through the site.

If brands are given a chance to explain their position and are humble enough to acknowledge where they can improve, clients will benefit from a better result. Who wants a brand that thinks it already knows everything and there is nothing left to be learned?

Twitter’s Tipping Point.

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Twitter seems to be all over the media like a rash at the moment. So much so that I’ve been forced to revisit my twitter after it had lain dormant for months. And guess what – it’s so addictive that I’ve had to limit my time on it. So what’s happened?

It’s hit the Tipping Point!

In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell explores three personality types that are essential for reaching out to people: Connectors, Mavens and Salespeople.

Connectors: These are folks who naturally build links, networks and connections between individuals and groups – think twitter fiend Jonathan Ross.

Mavens: In the best sense of the term these are people who love to gather practical information and share it with others, think  Stephen Fry, Arch Twitterer.

Salespeople: Folks who love to sell because they are passionate about people and twitter. – Phil Schofield fits this archetype.

Of course there are also those who by their very status can ifluence simply by adopting, like Barack Obama.

These personality types are enjoy people and effectively build community. Prominent personlaties fitting these archetypes can influence individuals and organizations who may adopt Twitter, becoming contributors, followers and ultimately twitters best advocates.

Add to the mix a global networking frenzy in the form Twestival, a live networking and fundraising event in 202 cities in the world, and yo, twitter hits the mainstream in a big media glitz type way.

Keeping Calm in business ‘09

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

A free event: Wednesday 4th February 2009, Crathorne Hall (near Yarm), 9:15 – 12 noon.

Calm Asylum Communications presents a one-off seminar that will give you valuable tips and insight into ways in which you can steer your business calmly through the current financial storm, without any big-spending.

We will give you solid advice that you can really use, and let you in on marketing, business and sales secrets that you can implement yourself so that you can see 2009 through with a stronger profile than ever before.

You will walk away with a raft of ideas that translate into real value for your business. And you could also walk away with some fantastic prizes:

A free Financial health check from Harland and Co.
Valued at £500.00
Calm Media Centre: web syndication for your news etc
Valued at £2,500.00
A New You – Book by Author Nicola Cook
Valued at £10.00 (but the content is Invaluable)!

Calm will be delivering this event in partnership with Harland and Co. Financial Planning and engaging speaker, Nicola Cook of Aurora Training.

Presenters:
Simon Brown – MD, Calm Asylum
Bianca Robinson – Calm Asylum
Philip Murray – Harlands
Nicola Cook – Aurora Training/ Nicola Cook.

There are only 30 places available for this one-off event. Book now and reserve your place visit keepcalm.calmasylum.com or phone  0845 058 0511 .