Simple ways to make yourself far cleverer Doing 'brain exercises' such as watching Countdown, playing Sudoku or taking a shower with your eyes closed can make us all up to 40 per cent cleverer within seven days, according to research by a BBC programme this week



Found this on the Observer site a few days ago and it seems like the sort of thing I may want to try - if only because I do a fair smattering of them already so I wont have to make quite as many changes as I otherwiase might.

Have you ever tried to brush your teeth with the 'wrong' hand?   It's an odd experience..


The 'try it yourself list' is here, and (note to self) I'll post links to the program or reviews if I ever find them.


THE GET SMARTER GUIDE

Saturday

Brush your teeth with your 'wrong' hand and take a shower with your eyes closed.

Sunday

Do the crossword or Sudoku puzzle in your Sunday paper and take a brisk walk.

Monday

Have oily fish for dinner, and either cycle, walk or take the bus into work.

Tuesday

Select unfamiliar words from the dictionary and work them into conversations.

Wednesday

Go to yoga, Pilates or a meditation class, and talk to someone you don't know.

Thursday

Take a different route to work; watch Countdown or Brainteaser.

Friday

Avoid caffeine or alcohol; memorise your shopping list.

Love spirograph as a kid?    I did. 

And then, on a random walk across the internet I found this little gem.

And a nod to Anu who wrote it....

As a Brit in Hong Kong, on a US dominated internet I sometimes run into currency conversion issues.  XE.com  is my converter of choice.

But then as a Firefox using Brit, in Hong Kong, on a US dominated internet, I figured (see the US influence at work...) that there had to be an extension available to ease my irritation.

It turns out there are several - but I haven't yet tried them as I was sidetracked into making this post.... 

One that seemed to have good reviews is ViewMyCurrency. The developer  has an idiosyncratic choice of domain name.  But at least it's not all false advertising - he has a real recipe for HamsterSoup as well.

The potential for mischief (and psychological scarring) is huge.  As we don't have a hamster, I may just leave it on the screen at home, and claim I was looking for a birthday treat for the cats...