Cold drink when you haven't planned and are impatient

What is the fastest way to get a cold drink?
Adam Savage from Mythbusters has the answer.

That would be about 20-25 minutes in a freezer. If you put it in a bucket of ice, that would halve that time. If you put water in that ice, it'd be cold (+- 5c) enough to drink in about 4-6 minutes, if you put salt in that water, you'd reduce the chill time to just over 2 minutes. Agitating the can in the water, rolling it around, reduces the chill time even more.

The fastest possible way is to grab a CO2 fire extinguisher and unload that sucker on the can.

Whatever you do, do NOT bury the can in sand, pour gasoline on the sand and set the sand on fire. That won't do anything.

This is all empirically gained evidence, not third party.
posted by asavage at 11:07 AM on November 30, 2006 [137 favorites]

For the smart-ass who is asking "why not just pour the drink on the ice in a glass?". The scenario is that it is a carbonated beverage that will lose its carbonation if opened warm.

To the question about why are you drinking a carbonated beverage - I have been told there is no right answer.

Technorati Tags: Food

Hyper-realistic Art

No question on the realism of this art.

Artmolds has some examples like Big Baby, Ghost, Mother and Baby, and Dead Dad.

Some other examples of Ron Mueck's lifelike sculptors like Untitled (Big Man), Boy, and Pregnant Woman are shown here.

The Ron Mueck wikipedia article has some background on the artist and a picture of a (baby) Girl.

I think Big Man and Girl were displayed in the Ottawa art gallery recently.

Technorati Tags: Art

Office Organization

Another example of an office makeover.

Also refer back to the Lifehacker workspace show and tell Flickr group.

Technorati Tags: Environment, Organizing

Oprah Winfrey Career Advice at Stanford Commencement

Oprah has three lessons.

Technorati Tags: Education, Goals, Video

Simple Home Meals

The Simple Dollar blog has some tips on preparing nutritious home meals cheaply and quickly.

Technorati Tags: Economics, Food, Health

The Big Picture

A new blog that has received some acclaim provides news through some beautiful photos.
http://boston.com/bigpicture/

Technorati Tags: Photos

Trading Places with Indian Outsourcers

Check out these videos about a 30 day experience seeing how Indian outsourcers live.

Technorati Tags: attitude, Economics

A Picture/Video Message!

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Send and Receive Pictures and Video through Bell Mobility. For more information go to www.bell.ca/mypictures.
Copyright © 2008 Bell Mobility. All Rights Reserved.

A Picture/Video Message!

A Picture/Video Message!, originally uploaded by Glen Sharp.

You have received a New Message. http://mypictures.bell.ca/share.do?invite=6Eor4IJb5hUsJzM8kLc0

Career Ideas from Tim Ferriss and Marci Alboher

Google hosts some interesting talks at their campus and they share them online.
Watch this video with Tim and Marci promoting their books:
One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success and
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

There are some thought provoking ideas about how to get more out of your career/life and not defer life aspirations until retirement.



Tim also recommends another book:
Stumbling on Happiness

Technorati Tags: attitude, Books, Goals

16 Rules for Success

You may or may not be a fan of Bob Parsons who runs the GoDaddy.com domain and web hosting service but what do you think about his 16 rules for success?

Technorati Tags: attitude, Goals, GTD

Goals and Motivation

Important topics and Leo Babauta at the Zen Habits blog has a bunch of ideas about Goals and Motivation.
Worth reading to see if they make sense to you and more importantly can you make use of them.
Two things that have worked for me are:
1. to visualize the goal being achieved and define what that success would be.
2. just try despite all the naysayers and see what results you get by taking it one step at a time.

Technorati Tags: attitude, Goals, GTD

For the sake of GPS Art

Swedish artist Erik Nordenankar for his final project at Beckman's College of Design in Stockholm wanted to do a really big picture.
So he tracked a GPS in a briefcase sent around the world to draw his picture.
I bet the delivery people got pretty confused at some points if they didn't understand the bigger picture.

Technorati Tags: Goals, Photos

Like to go for a walk?

Take a stroll on el camino del ray.

Alex Bike Trip Launch

The gang wishing Alex well as he launches his cross Canada bike trip.

Checking out just how heavy the bike really is.

Starting the trip and going right through the first stop sign

Technorati Tags: Goals, Photos

Business Manga Career Advice

Garr Reynolds has an excellent blog post on Daniel Pink's new book The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need that has career advice in Manga (comic) format.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Check out the promotional video and slideshare presentation on Garr's PresentationZen blog link above to find out what it is all about.

Also good career advice is to work on your communication skills like making presentations so check out Garr's book PresentationZen too.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Technorati Tags: Books, Education, Goals

Improving Workspaces

Here is an example of a potential before and after picture that could be inspiring.

Before more or less.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

After more and more desirable.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

If you look closely you'll see the monitor images have been arranged so you see what you would see if you could look through them. Cool.

Technorati Tags: Environment, Organizing

Workspace Views

On Flickr there is an Unclutter collection of workspace views:
http://flickr.com/groups/unclutterer/pool/

Also there is a photo group for Macintosh displays:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/macsondisplay/pool/

Leo Babauta has written an article for the Unclutterer blog on creating a minimalistic workspace:
http://unclutterer.com/2008/03/12/creating-a-minimalist-workspace/

Technorati Tags: Environment, Organizing

Wisdom is never too early (or late) to apply

Some things that we wish we were taught or learned. Read the comments as well as there are some good points there too.
http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2008/04/02/16-things-i-wish-they-had-taught-me-in-school/

Question: Is it wisdom if you understand it but don't apply it?
Maybe all the difference is knowing these types of items on a level where you know and believe in them enough to apply them in day to day living.
It doesn't take a genius but it does take a a committed and persistent person.

Technorati Tags: attitude, Education

Striving for a better workspace

Some ideas on what to strive for in a workspace.
http://lifedev.net/2008/04/15-features-of-the-perfect-work-space/

Randy Pausch office is simple with inexpensive iKea-like furniture but very functional for doing computer and desk work with a view.
http://img.skitch.com/20080415-rg2w2jjwtnmcgduf79x98wiq8i.jpg

Also check out Randy's web site randypausch.com and his presentation on time management.

I am thinking of collecting other views of computer workspaces that people have since it interesting to me the environments people create to be productive and relaxed.

Al Gores desk is another workspace that is interesting from both the multi-monitor and paperwork perspective.

The costs of working in a digital world.

Technorati Tags: Goals, Organizing

Mac Yoga

The Apple Mac-PC ads are entertaining and have inspired some funny imitations.





There is even some real desktop yoga
http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yogaindex.html

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Health, Video

On this date in history people were listening to ...

Interesting site on what was the Billboard hit on a particular date:
http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm

On my birthday it was "Come Softly to me" by the Fleetwoods.

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Music

Lost and Found

Professor Solomon has some guidelines on how to find lost items. Now you can apply the 12 principles or even download the whole book.
Best to use a systematic approach rather than panicing and rummaging randomly through the house.

Technorati Tags: attitude, Organizing

Stroke Experience

At the TED talks this year Jill Taylor a Harvard neuroanatomist talked about her stroke experience and what she learned from it.

Technorati Tags: Health

Sharp house in the snow

Sharp house in the snow, originally uploaded by Glen Sharp.

After digging out from the latest record snow fall in March 2008.

Winter Wonderland

DSCN1172.JPG, originally uploaded by Glen Sharp.

50 cm more snow or there abouts so we are approaching the all time record.

Nearing Record Snow fall in Ottawa

Ottawa nears all-time snowfall record
City's snow-clearing costs double normal amount at $18.5M
Last Updated: Thursday, March 6, 2008 | 10:28 AM ET
CBC News

With 357 centimetres of snow already this winter and more to come on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Ottawa seems on track to top the record 444.1 centimetres that fell in the winter of 1970-71.

The city has already recorded its second-largest snowfall ever.

For people who still think in the imperial system, that's almost 12 feet of snow.

"This winter, we've had a lot of these events. They seem to be tracking up from the south," said John Manconi, who is in charge of snow clearing for the city.

"We're also monitoring what's coming this weekend. That's in our sights. So we're certainly making another significant jump [in the amount of snowfall]," Manconi said.

Environment Canada is predicting a large snowstorm on Saturday afternoon or evening.

Even before that, there is a 40 per cent chance of flurries Thursday afternoon, and a 40 per cent chance of snow flurries Friday morning, and with a steady snowfall beginning that afternoon.

So far this winter, the city has spent $18.5 million on snow removal, which is about twice as much as it would normally spend during a winter.

Police said that, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, there were 41 accidents in town and 109 accidents on the highways around Ottawa. Most were minor, police said.

It was the fifth "snow day" this winter for schools in the region, meaning the schools were open, but the school buses were cancelled.

Technorati Tags: Environment, Photos

May you never video

Let me know if you like it at all

John Martyn with Kathy Mattea - May You Never
or do you like this version better?

John Martyn - May You Never

Technorati Tags: Music, Video

Commercial Entertainment

Some of the best short entertainment pieces are commercials like these two:
Let this guy contribute to the environment

Beer opening competition

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, humour, Video

Being a Good and Happy Person

Over at the Life Learning today blog there is a post about how to teach children to be good and happy people.

The best way is to be a role model: "Practice what you preach".

Many of these objectives should be obvious but isn't it worthwhile to have the list to remind ourselves sometimes of the legacy we want to leave?

Technorati Tags: attitude, Habits

How to change the world: clean water

Guy Kawasaki was one of the original Mac evangelists for Apple computer and now is a venture capitalist who plays hockey.

On his blog he has a video on a clever idea to use the energy from a children's play structure to provide clean water for a village.
The importance of clean water is explained in many dimensions including allowing young girls to attend school.

Playpumps international sounds like a good charity to support.

Technorati Tags: Environment

The ABCs of Remaining Cool in a Crazy World

Stephen Covey in the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People writes about the gap between stimulus and response where we have free will to chose and take responsibility for our response. This is habit 1 Be Proactive. To quote from the 7 Habits wikipedia article:

1. Be Proactive. Here, Covey emphasizes the original sense of the term "reactive" as coined by Victor Frankl. You can either be proactive or reactive when it comes to how you respond to certain things. When you are reactive, you blame other people and circumstances for obstacles or problems. Being proactive means taking responsibility for everything in your life. Initiative and taking action will then follow. Covey also shows how man is different from other animals in that he has self-consciousness. He has the ability to detach himself and observe his own self; think about his thoughts. He goes on to say how this attribute enables him: It gives him the power not to be affected by his circumstances. Covey talks about stimulus and response. Between stimulus and response, we have the power of free will to choose our response.

Albert Foong (www.urbanmonk.net) in a guest post on zen habits describes this as the ABC's and D's of responding to the crazy world we live in.

Here is what he says about how to stay cool.

Technorati Tags: attitude, Habits

Global Warming Risk Management

Check out this Youtube video on whether it is a good idea to do something about global warming.

Arnold Schwarzenegger also has an environmental message that managing the risk doesn't have to be all about sacrifice and not living an attractive lifestyle.

Technorati Tags: Environment

A Wii bit of fun

Here is a wishlist of Wii interactive games from Brain academy, Dance Dance revolution, Guitar Hero, on up to Boogie.

Description Purchase Price
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party Bundle (Nintendo Wii) Buy Online $79.99
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Nintendo Wii) Buy Online $49.99
Cranium Kabooki (Nintendo Wii) Buy Online $39.99
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party (Nintendo Wii) Buy Online $59.99
Guitar Hero III Bundle (Nintendo Wii) Buy Online $99.99
Boogie (Nintendo Wii) Buy Online $64.99

Nintendo Fit and more Nintendo Fit with the new step pad and the options it makes possible could be good whenever it becomes available.

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Health

Todo List Mania

This article from lifehacker provides an overview of why so many people are keen about using lists to achieve their goals and different ways it can be approached.
Breaking goals down into small tasks and focussing on the next action can be really effective in tracking progress (love those little checkmarks) and getting things done (GTD).

The best system in my opinion needs to strike a balance on planning and prioritizing goals before getting too efficient at clicking off the chain of tasks.

Technorati Tags: attitude, Goals, GTD

Goal Tracking with Joesgoals

I am still using Googledocs for some of my goal tracking but I found joesgoals has a lot of the features I was looking for.
I particularly like the capability of tracking both things you want to reduce and things you want to increase.
Ben Franklin's virtues of tracking goals for not doing things can be balanced by other habits where you can get bonus points for doing good things.
Need to experience rate the scoring though, as not all the items tracked have the same importance. [Update: you can set different points for each item]
The reporting seems pretty good so far to summarize results since trends are more important than actual score. Its free and very easy to use so why not give it a try?

It has become conventional wisdom that resolutions are not worth making because they are broken so soon but I like to think that it is still worthwhile to strive for improvement.
My theory is that the error is not in setting goals for improvement but how and what goals are set.

Maybe the trick is to set specific incremental, measurable, and a limited number of goals at one time rather than too many dramatic quick fix large and vague goals. Break it down into a prioritized set of small items that allows us to move towards the bigger goals without getting discouraged. Try to avoid perfectionism and instead approach the process with a growth mindset. Hope should spring eternal with a willingness to make fresh starts rather than giving up entirely.

Stephen Covey uses the plane analogy in relating that through a journey a plane may never be on course but with course corrections can still arrive at its ultimate destination eventually. This is achieved by the flight plan and the instruments measuring deviances from the course. Its been said before that many things are managed rather than being conquered. There is no shame in not achieving all your goals completely as I think you are better off having tried than you would have been leading an aimless life.

There is something to be said for having the courage in calling your shots as in pool and having the satisfaction of achieving success or even just getting closer and doing better next time. It is better to try purposefully no matter what the outcome. That is why I like the quote by Theodore Roosevelt, the Man in the Arena.

Technorati Tags: attitude, Goals

Virtues of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was a wise man as I have blogged about before.

Benjamin Franklin's autobiography is online and it provides a very instructive guide to his character development and experiences he had through his varied career.

At this time of new year resolutions, here is Ben's life long (20 years of age to 84) list in order of priority for a virtuous life:

These names of virtues, with their precepts, were

1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

11. TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12. CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Ben advised not to try applying all of these at once but to start at the top and work down as they are mastered.

Apparently he had a good system for tracking his progress too.

Here are some templates in OpenOffice and PDF format to do some manual tracking.

I am working on a googledocs spreadsheet to track these types of habits and compare results each month.

Technorati Tags: attitude, Education

Winter Wonderland

Ottawa Snow 4, originally uploaded by Gavin Sharp.

Photo taken by Gavin of the snow piling up outside our house.
It certainly was a white Christmas although not so much in Calgary.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Good Books

A couple of Ken Follett books set in the middle ages which I have particularly enjoyed:

Pillars of the Earth

I read this a few years ago and now it is an Oprah book club selection.

Wikipedia has an article about Pillars of the Earth but don't look at it before reading the book since it summarizes the plot.

World without End

His latest which I just recently read is equally as good.

Hornet Flight looks worth investigating for those with aeronautical history interests.

Technorati Tags: Books

14 Stress-Free Ways to Kick Weight Loss in the Butt | Zen Habits

Some helpful suggestions from the zenhabits blog on how to achieve weight loss and stabilization.

14 Stress-Free Ways to Kick Weight Loss in the Butt | Zen Habits:
14 Stress-Free Ways to Kick Weight Loss in the Butt

Technorati Tags: Food, Health

Economics can be interesting and useful

For a lot of people economics can be a dry and uninteresting subject but it can be fascinating and practical for building models that can make a difference in living a better life.

Lifehack.org has a reference to a series of articles on economics by Arnold Kling topics "Fifty Essential Topics in Economics" that could be considered a course in economic concepts.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/fifty-essential-topics-on-economics.html

I particularly liked the article on calculations to determine if investing in a time share makes sense - not that I have ever been tempted to do so.

Freakonomics was a good book and the blog has a series of interesting articles too.

Technorati Tags: Economics

Brain Decluttering

Zen habits blog regularly has articles on decluttering, GTD, and simplifying life.
The following article on Brain decluttering has some excellent points on how get into the flow by eliminating distractions.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/zenhabits/~3/200032932/

Technorati Tags: Organizing

Howtoons

Cool web site that explains building projects using cartoons.
http://www.howtoons.com/blog/

Technorati Tags: Education

Healthy snack food

Does anybody know if it tastes good too?
http://www.43folders.com/2007/11/21/food-thought
Here is another recipe with edame in it.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/230922
Photo of edamame beans

Technorati Tags: Health, Food

Left and Right Brain Thinking test

Are you primarily a left brain or right brain thinker?

The left brain is associated with step by step logical thinking while the right brain traits are associated with overall impressions of images.

For more on this check out the wikipedia article on brain lateralness.

The following test purports to show your preferences or overall tendency for left or right brain thinking by which way you see the figure rotating.

If the figure appears to rotate clockwise you are showing right brain tendencies.

If the figure appears to rotate counterclockwise this shows left brain tendencies.

By looking at the figure differently (try blinking) can you see it rotating in the other direction?

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5687820,00.gif

Technorati Tags: Education

Reading Socially

These reading social sites were recently mentioned on O'Reilly radar.

http://www.goodreads.com/
http://www.librarything.com/

Goodreads seems like a good place to try the concept and Librarything lets you start with 200 books before money is involved.
Goodreads asks for access to your addressbook on Googlemail for example. This is similar to Facebook which makes this request in order to find friends who are members.
You can decide if you trust them not to use your addressbook information to sell to spammers.
You can check out their privacy policy here.

A books social networking site could tie in well with the idea of a book exchange when visiting with people.
You can do some web research beforehand to see what books would be best to exchange.
Also could be a good excuse for a conversation ;)

I also highly recommend a free book cataloging program called Books to those of you who are fortunate enough to have a Mac.

I haven't tested import/export between Books and Goodreads yet but it looks like this can be done with tab delimited text.

For those with Windows or Ubuntu (Linux) here are some options for you.
(I haven't tested these)

Windows: Bookie
Ubuntu: Alexandria

Technorati Tags: Books, Entertainment

Geek TV

I don't have time to watch these since I am debugging a Ruby script but maybe you will.

http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/10/geeks_on_tv_1.html
also the Wired article on same.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/news/2007/09/geektv_reviews

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Video

Cook with your Mac

Tidbits has a thorough review of Mac recipe programs and happened to choose as their top pick the one I have been evaluating MacGourmet.
http://db.tidbits.com/article/9198
Check it out if you want to organize your cooking information.

Healthy eating information that should be easy to apply

There is lots of information on living healthy but the following article seems particularly practical to apply.

Healthy diet tips Highly recommend checking out this blog entry and printing it out.

Here are the topics but check out the web site because there is a lot of valuable information in the description:
1. Timing.

2. Portions.

3. Eat slowly.

4. Snacks.

5. Long Life Cocktail.
The recipe is 7 ounces water, 1 ounce pure cranberry juice, and 1 Tablespoon of ground flax seed. Have this once or twice a day for increasing your fiber, digestive regularity, and all the benefits which come from flax seeds.

6. Dairy and Wheat products.

7. Sugar.

8. Fiber.
Try to get 25-30 grams of fiber per day. Fiber fills you up. It blocks the absorption of sugar and fat helping with weight loss and weight management. Having enough fiber in your diet will keep constipation away and will help lower your chances of cancer, such as colon cancer.

9. “100% Whole Grains.”

10. Vegetables.
Learn to love them! Find a great book on how to cook vegetables that taste delicious. (Suggestion: “Vegetable Love” by Barbara Kafka) Have salad often. Be sure to measure out your salad dressing to keep from adding too many calories.

11. Chicken or Vegetable Broth and Soup.
Use a cup of soup or broth as a snack. Have a cup before meals to feel full. And you can use broth to sautee vegetables instead of oil.

12. Oil.

13. Cheese.

14. Hunger.

15. Eliminate Toxins.

16. Chewing Gum.
This could be a distraction between meals but it is the only tip I am not that keen about.

17. Calories.
This totally free diet website has everything you need to know about how many calories you should eat, metabolic calculators, diet calculators,weight loss guides and more!

18. Eating Out.

19. Cheats.

20. Read labels.

21. Green Tea.

22. Get Enough Sleep.

Life Advice - Go to the light

Steve Jobs commencement speech.

How to find the job you can love.


3 exercises to find your ideal career


Its not all about finding your passion.
Its also about doing something useful to solve problems for people. Problems really are opportunities.

The questioning approach.


Destress and enjoy life; How to live a life of contentment



Make yourself indispensable


Living a life that matters


Making friends

Technorati Tags: attitude

Eeyore Don't be

Its something Yoda could have said "Eeyore Don't Be"
There is the power of positive thinking and also the power of not thinking negatively.
The lifehack.org blog gives the low down on how to avoid the Eeyore syndrome.

Some other ideas to consider are:
- not to worry about potential problems unless you have some evidence that they have some probability of occurring
(emphasize moving towards the good life instead of becoming preoccupied with real or imagined fears)
- watch out for the language of negativity
- focus on the circle of influence rather than the circle of concern (as Covey would express it).
- live in the moment to enjoy your blessings
- Pay attention to the difference your decisions are making; measure results
- Experiment and learn new things
- Expect and look for the best in yourself and other people
- Deal with reality and recognize the need for frequent course corrections to manage issues

Technorati Tags: attitude

Start the day right by creating energy

Pick the Brain has a simple recipe for starting the day right to gain energy for the whole day.

Technorati Tags: Health

The Simple Pleasures in Life

Its been said that one of the secrets of happiness is appreciating the simple things in life and a way of doing that is to list your favorite things and people.
The zen habits blog has listed some simple pleasures to get the list started. Not a bad idea to include some every day especially the ones that don't have side effects.

Technorati Tags: attitude

Motivation

Self motivation is valuable both at work and in your personal life.
It is not something that should be seen as a passive activity that just happens to you but as something you can work at to increase your chances of being inspired.
One way to do this is to analyse what you can do to emphasize and seek out what is motivational and avoid things that demotivate or distract you.
Pick the Brain has some good analysis on how to keep motivated.

Fundamental techniques are:
1. A belief that you can make a difference
2. Set an objective that you can be excited about
3. Break the objective into small activities which you can see the change you have made (manage your plan to create positive feedback to encourage further effort).
4. Pay attention to the feedback and try making changes if the results aren't moving you forward. Perhaps you need to set smaller objectives or try a different approach.

Technorati Tags: attitude

Unclutter to get organized

43folders has declared war on clutter in four consecutive articles.

Heck the Unclutterer is a whole blog on the subject.

Interesting extreme case of hoarding by the Collyer brothers.

I also have bought the book Its all too much (Amazon.com site for reviews and comments). And here is the Canadian Amazon site for the book.

It is a common problem for stuff to take over until is not creating enjoyment but getting in the way mentally and physically.

Another interesting site is the Psychology of Clutter

The Zen habits blog also is featuring some points on simplifying life with a couple of book references.

Let's not wait for a flood or a move to start uncluttering and simplifying!

Technorati Tags: Organizing

Time Travel Movies

On my flight from Calgary to Ottawa I watched 1.5 movies both involving time travel.

Meet the Robinsons was really enjoyable with a geeky inventor building confidence, eccentric characters, and themes that I like. "Keep moving forward".

Coincidentally I later started to watch the The Time Machine which is based on HG Wells book of that name.

I will have to rent the DVD as I didn't yet find out if travelling to the future helps the inventor save his fiance by learning if you can change the past. Keep moving forward?

I think I read the HG Wells book long long ago but I don't remember how it ends so I will have to resist looking it up and watch the movie.

Technorati Tags: Entertainment

Instantly Improve Your Life?

Another article on attitude and how it can instantly improve our lives. Now who doesn't want to do that?
This is from the LifeHack blog which is one of my favorites for tips on how people can improve life.
10 virtually instant ways to improve your life

Many of our problems come from within our own minds. They aren’t caused by events, bad luck, or other people. We cause them through our own poor mental habits. Here are 10 habits you should set aside right away to free yourself from the many problems each one will be causing you.

• Stop jumping to conclusions. There are two common ways this habit increases people’s difficulties. First, they assume that they know what is going to happen, so they stop paying attention and act on their assumption instead. Human beings are lousy fortune-tellers. Most of what they assume is wrong. That makes the action wrong too. The second aspect of this habit is playing the mind-reader and assuming you know why people do what they do or what they’re thinking. Wrong again, big time. More relationships are destroyed by this particular kind of stupidity than by any other.

Media examples of a fixed mindset

Carol Dweck's book riffs on the importance of having a growth mindset and seeing challenges as opportunities for growth no matter what the outcome.

With the imminent launch of the Apple iPhone there are a plethora of articles in the media that exhibit the fixed mindset. It is dramatic to say Apple is betting the company on the iPhone but it is a bit preposterous to say the previous success of Apple's recent products is just setting themselves up for a fall since their newest product can't possibly meet expectations. This is a good problem to have.

Seth Godin writes that in his opinion Steve Jobs is misunderstood since he is a rifter (Rifting is the process of fixing problems, of leaping from one broken market to another - which is an example of a growth mindset) not someone who is concerned or motivated by his legacy which is a fixed mindset perspective that some media are ascribing to him. With Steve's Pixar-Disney connection it is interesting that the Walt Disney comparison is made. Walt Disney's story involves a lot of setbacks but to me represents the triumph of imagination and persistence to pursue a vision.

Other topics related to mindset and Apple include iWoz the other Steve's book about growing up preparing to be an engineer and the fake Steve Jobs blog

Technorati Tags: attitude

Solutions for 10 Thinking Sins

The zen habits blog has some direct advice about how negative thinking can be caught and corrected before it causes negative results.
You could call it the power of positive thinking - and acting!

Technorati Tags: attitude

The Pale Blue Dot

The Pale Blue Dot: The picture of Earth from 4 billion miles away. As told by Carl Sagan through some favorite films set to the music of Mogwai.
(If you don't already have the divx video plugin for you browser you can download it for free from www.divx.com)

Technorati Tags: Nature, Video

Quirks and Quarks Questions and Answers via MP3

An example of the types of questions that are answered online from the Quirks and Quarks science show (also on radio) is this one about why electrical plugs are polarized.
Quirks_&_Quarks_electrical_plug_q&a

Technorati Tags: Education

Talking Turkey

I was really surprised the other day when a wild turkey flew into our backyard briefly.
It looked similar to the one shown below


Apparently the eastern wild turkey can be found in the semi-wild Ottawa area.
Contrary to rumors they actually can fly over a fence or two.

Technorati Tags: Nature

How to save the world: become more resilient

Dave Pollard, a fellow Canadian, writes on many topics about making the world a better place.
To move forward with ambitious plans it is important to anchor them to a healthy lifestyle that increases resiliency:
How to become more resilient

The important thing is to start and build a foundation.

Technorati Tags: Health

The growth mindset and effort effect

Something to think about regarding the attitude or mindset associated with success.

How to avoid a potential misconception about talent and effort to achieve the effort effect.

I hope that this year's Ottawa Senators though less talented than last year have learned some of these lessons through the adversity they have faced.

Most eventual Stanley Cup winners had to learn some humility before winning and also got introduced to it the year after by being knocked off their pedestal.

Technorati Tags: attitude, Education

Top 5 Things to learn anywhere

From Brian Kim's blog here is a top five list of what should be taught in school. If you believe in lifetime learning it is never too late and there is no reason to only learn these things in school:

Top 5 Things That Should Be Taught In Every School
I can’t speak for schools outside the United States, but for those readers who went to school in America, I think you’ll agree that the American education system is in sore need of an upgrade. The world is changing at such a rapid pace and it’s my strong opinion that there should be more classes dedicated to helping students prepare and cope with the real world once they graduate.

If you look at this generation of students, you’ll find that most are “shell shocked” once they graduate because they had little or no preparation for what was to come.

High school mostly teaches you to memorize information and to regurgitate it back to your teacher, only to completely erase the information from your mind the moment you walk out after taking the test.

When you go on to college, you do a bit of the same things, but you also learn to think analytically, critically, and to broaden your mind so to speak, but even people who graduate from college will learn lessons from the real world the hard way as well. The sad part is all of this could’ve been prevented with some proper education beforehand.

Below are five things that I firmly believe should be taught in every school in America so that students don’t get railroaded when they enter the real world. If you’re still in school and reading this, consider it your lucky day as mastering these five skills will give you a great head start and help separate you from the rest of the pack as well.

#1. Personal Finance

Every week or so, there always seems to be a new article in CNN, USA Today, or Yahoo about young adults struggling with debt, whether it be from credit cards or loans in general. High interest rates, hidden fees, not consolidating debt – these terms and concepts are mostly unknown to young adults and because of that ignorance, they tend to make big errors in judgment. A prime example is thinking that they just have to pay the minimum on their balance and not realizing that by doing so, they pay 2-3 times as much in the long run.

Alongside that, most young adults don’t have a clue on how to invest their money. They don’t know what a Roth IRA account is, or a 401k, or the magic of compound interest, the tax benefits associated with investing in these types of vehicles, etc. There’s a lot of specialized knowledge out there that young adults are not aware of on when it comes to how they can invest their money and as a result, they frivolously spend it away.

Credit score is another big thing. A lot of young adults don’t bother to check up on it to make sure there are no errors with it. Your credit score is your report card in the real world and it comes into play when you’re buying a car, renting your first apartment, and even when you’re getting a job (most employers are now checking credit scores to determine how responsible the candidate is). Protect that at all costs. Learn what drives your credit score down. Learn what drives your credit score up. Check up on it every now and then to ensure nothing is wrong with it.

Even something as basic as creating a simple budget is beyond the grasp of some young adults and it simply amazes me that a lot of people don’t do this and some don’t even know how (you’d be surprised). Figure out your income after taxes, pay yourself FIRST (this is a big one – most people pay the bills and frivolously spend the leftovers until next payday), see what you can cut out if things are tight, look to see where you can bring in more income if you need to do so, etc.

Another important subset regarding personal finance are those “intangible” things, such as learning to differentiate between need and want, delaying the gratification, and having an inner sense of value. These concepts can’t be taught in the classroom but only taught through oneself via self discipline.

We live in a materialistic society where unfortunately, many young people grow up with the “have” then “be” mentality.

If I have _______, then I’ll be ____________.

Blame it on the media, advertising, or the impressionable minds of young people, but you’ll frequently see that a lot of people get stuck in this mentality and as a result, needlessly pile themselves in a mountain of debt.

One thing that I want to point out to students is that you’ll find as you get older, that a lot of people “fake” success. Not all, but a pretty big chunk. The neighbor or co-worker you see with the fancy car and nice clothes are most likely knee deep in debt while you’ll find the people with the average car and clothes have little or no debt and a nice big cushion of savings to that as well.

And the ironic and sad part is that most people don’t really care about other people because they’re so busy with themselves, so all that effort to impress others is really all in vain. The inherent danger in trying to accumulate expensive things to feel good about yourself is that you’re telling yourself that you need something outside of yourself to validate you, when everything you need to validate yourself is already within you. Stop looking for anything outside of you because there will always be something new and better to purchase. It’s like a dog chasing its tail. You’ll never catch it. Learn to simplify your life and to be content and grateful for the things you have. Don’t get caught up in the materialistic chase because once you do, it’s hard to get out.

#2. Communicating Effectively

By this, I’m not necessarily talking about giving speeches and presentations, although that certainly falls in this category. I ‘m mainly talking about being able to clearly take what’s in your head and to put it into words so the other person clearly understands what you’re saying the first time.

I know that sounds simple, but I’m sure you’ve met people in the workplace who don’t take the time to prepare when they speak with you and as a result, waste your time talking in circles when all you want to say to them is: “Can you take some time to think through what you want to say and come back to me later with that?”

Communicating effectively is one of the most underrated, yet most powerful skills you can develop.

The biggest part in communicating effectively is preparing what you want to say beforehand. Keep it simple. What’s my point? Why? Prepare a good example.

Your best friend in communicating effectively are these two words: “For example”. Whenever you see a confused look on people’s faces, your best response is leading with those two words: For example. When you do that AND follow up with a relevant example, it allows the other person to “frame” what you’re talking about to get a better idea of what it is.

Communicating effectively is one of THE MOST underrated and MOST valuable skills a person can have. And let me tell you on a personal level, there’s nothing more refreshing than dealing with people who take the time to prepare what they have to say and back it up with clear examples. It’s a very rare skill nowadays.

#3. Social Skills

Closely related to communicating effectively are social skills in general. After you graduate, you’re not going to be dealing with your high school or frat buddies anymore.

You’ll be dealing with many people from different backgrounds, countries, and more importantly different age groups, so it would be wise to learn how to socialize outside your own group.

Cut the slang. Learn to respect customs from other countries. Learn how to listen – few people do. Learn when to speak and when NOT to (hint – you have two ears and one mouth. There’s a reason for that).

Build rapport. Learn the art of networking – that’s key. Networking is a big skill that’s not taught enough in schools. Learn to compliment. Mingle. Make small talk.

Learn to approach people – that’s another big skill. Most people don’t have the guts to take the first initiative and introduce themselves. Be the big man. Take the first step. Learn to make the other person feel good and important. Dale Carnegie is your best friend in this area (Google his name if you don’t know what I’m talking about)

#4. Sales

Obviously I’m not advocating people becoming a salesman after school, but learning the art of selling is what I’m advocating. If you think about it, we all sell everyday. We sell ideas to our boss. We sell to our friends when we pitch ideas on what to do this weekend. We sell ourselves in job interviews.

You could say that sales is a great combination of social skills and communicating effectively, but with some other components you should pick up that will be useful.

Listen. Really listen.
Actively listen.
Learn how to be convincing.
Be persuasive.
Think of objections and counter them ahead of time.
Stress benefits instead of features.
Listen to the other person. (yes I know it’s a repeat, but it’s for emphasis)
Develop empathy.
Think in terms of how you can help serve the other person.

Selling is one of the few skills that can be utilized in any job or career. It’s one of the most important cross marketable skills you will ever develop.

#5: Time Management

Speaking of other skills that can be utilized in any job and career is time management. The majority of students never really learn to value their time and mange it while in school. Procrastination is all too rampant (studying right before class, doing homework and essays the day it’s due, partying the night before the exam). This lack of time management often carries over into adulthood, which becomes a major liability.

Learn to make a to do list. Learn to prioritize. Learn to break things down into 30 minute blocks of time. Learn about actionable items. David Allen’s GTD system is your best friend here along with Dan Kennedy’s No B.S Time Management. Again if you’re unfamiliar with these people, Google is your best friend, but I’m sure the majority of readers will know what I’m talking about.

+1. Health

It’s not enough to make students run a mile and play sports. Education is needed now more than ever. Education on the dangers of consuming too much fast food. Education on what diets in high sugar and fat can do to the body. Education on proper nutrition. Education on the importance of exercising regularly as well.

I think if schools start teaching these kinds of things, we could nip so many problems in the bud because most teenagers will not research this material on their own. The few that do have a head start in life but if we can’t teach them, schools should at the very least raise some sort of awareness and have an introductory class that talks about them – Real World 101.

If you have any friends or family who are still in school, please forward them this article. Think of it as a cheat sheet for the real world. You’ll be doing them a great service and they will most definitely thank you after they graduate. I guarantee it.

Technorati Tags: Education

Stimulating Creativity with a new kind of education

An entertaining and thought provoking talk on education by Sir Ken Robinson at the 2006 Technology Entertainment Design (TED) conference.

Out of our minds, learning to be creative

Technorati Tags: Education

Pictures worth a thousand and one words

Highest rated pictures at a_thousand_and_one web site.

Equal time for Flickr interestingness.

Learn more about zoomr

smugmug popular photos

google image search

There are many more but let's not waste your time with the also rans.

Technorati Tags: Photos

Its the real thing

One of the wonderful things about being alive in this time and place is the abundance of information available for living better and healthier.

Check out this article about what happens to your body when drinking a coke or other softdrink. Something to consider the next time you are thirsty.

http://healthbolt.net/2006/12/08/what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-drink-a-coke-right-now/
Read the comments too - it seems there is a lot of contradictory information that needs to be weighed to get to the truth.

Equal time for the Coca-Cola company information on the topic of dehydration.

The Snopes site is interesting regarding debunking myths like the one that you need to drink 8-10 glasses of water to be healthy. After all the debate the conclusion is you should drink when you are thirsty (duh!) even though this may not be recognized as well as it should.

Drinking water is good for you and it doesn't have to be the fancy bottled water which has been shown to come from mundane sources in many cases.

Technorati Tags: Health

New Numa

and the original numa

Quote of the Day: Starting Out

Another quote regarding the learning curve. To get into something new you have to start as a neophyte and work your way up.

Quote of the Day:

From Stradivari's Genius, as Tony Faber describes Johann Salomon giving violin lessons to King George III.


When the king asked his teacher how he was doing, Salomon is said to have replied: "There are three levels of skill in violin playing: an inability to play, the ability to play badly, and the ability to play well. Your Majesty, I am pleased to say, has already reached the second level."


I'm pleased to say that I've probably reached George's level, too.

And, I think the sentiment probably applies to many skills. And that's what makes learning difficult things fun...

Ecto test

Testing post capability

Technorati Tags: attitude

Lots of Good Advice from Benjamin Franklin

I love quotes because they can be like good jokes - they can make you look at things from a different perspective and maybe even laugh.

The following quotes from Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) US statesman, diplomat, inventor, and printer make me want to read a good biography on his life.

• He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner.

• He that lives upon hope will die fasting.

• Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.

• There is a difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting him.

• Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.

• If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

• Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.

• To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.

• If you would be loved, love and be lovable

• Fear not death, for the sooner we die the longer we shall be immortal.

• A man is not completely born until he is dead.

• A penny saved is a penny earned

• I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody.

• Joy is not in things! It is in us!

• Anger warms the Invention, but overheats the oven.

• They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety.

• While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us. (Sounds like the first Covey principle)

• Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.

• God heals and the Doctor takes the fee.

• Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.

• Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?

• Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, enemy to none

• Remember that time is money.

• Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!

• I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody.

• Nothing in life is certain except death and taxes

Technorati Tags: puppy

You have got to try

You have got to try as its the first step towards failing and ultimately succeeding.

Zap Electric Car

Electric cars are becoming trendy and more practical especially for the daily commute.

http://www.cnettv.com/9710-1_53-23157.html?id=23157&tag=nbbc_mrss
Interesting statistics in the video about the typical use of second vehicles and how this can be met with electric cars.

Paul Brandt & Samaritan's Purse

Paul Brandt was in Ottawa yesterday as part of the Operation Christmas Child tour generating some more good publicity for Samaritan's purse.
They had a segment on the CTV news showing him loading a truck with shoebox gifts on parliament hill from people like PM Stephen Harper's wife Laureen. Similar to his stop in Edmonton , he talked about his trip to Cambodia where he gave out shoebox gifts directly and saw how excited kids are when they receive them.

Listen to A Gift and Christmas Convoy theme songs associated with this work.

Disclosure: My mother work's at Samaritan's Purse and I am proud of the work she does there. It is a good cause.

Test of Blogger with Ecto

This is just a quick test to see if the interface is operational again.

Test of Blogger with Ecto

This is just a quick test to see if the interface is operational again.

Car of the Future

Wired magazine had a feature on hydrogen fuel cells for cars a while back but this video provides a much better idea about what the car of the future will be like. Not difficult to imagine the possibilities for rent a car agencies and swap shops to put different bodies on the main car "skateboard". Need to go back and refresh on what the Hydrogen gas station would be like.

• What is the pump like? Hydrogen made from Zinc and steam
• What's the mpg? target of 80 mpg
• How much will it cost? too soon to tell but then with regular gas prices going up anything might seem cheap

Problems:

• Because fuel cells are wet inside, they tend to freeze and stop working in cold weather.
• Because they are delicate, they aren't suited for bumpy roads.
• Because they require rare metals such as platinum to coat their membranes, they are expensive.

Interesting that some Canadian companies are at the forefront:

• Ballard Power Systems hydrogen fuel cells from Vancouver
• fuel cells made by Hydrogenics of Toronto

Better practice your video games so you will know how to drive.

GM Hydrogen car

Orleans_Fox

Orleans_Fox, originally uploaded by Glen Sharp.

Our back yard is a real nature sanctuary for us and well ... nature. We have had rabbits, marmots, preying mantis, squirrels and now this red fox. Too bad I couldn't get closer for a clearer shot.

Technorati Tags: Nature

With Great Power ...

"With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility"
--Uncle Ben to Peter Parker in Spider-Man

Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility." This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I'm Spider-man.

This does not just apply to power - it could also be said of talent, potential, opportunity, or other gifts that can be applied to make the world a better place.

Interesting thought is that when you are (constructively) criticized it is actually a compliment since it means the person has expectations that you can do better and provide a solution. You haven't been written off - you matter. The more (potential) impact you have the more criticism you can expect to receive.

This is similar to the business truism that you should appreciate even negative customer feedback since the alternative is that the customer is so dissatisfied that they just go elsewhere and don't even give you the opportunity to make it right.

To whom much is given, much is expected
-Luke 12:48

We expect those endowed with a gift - be it artistic, intellectual or circumstantial - to cultivate that gift and use it as a vehicle for excellence in life.

Man in the Arena

It is better to try.
This is one of my favorite quotes:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt
"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

That's life

Yesterday I learned from Guy Kawasaki's blog that an annual conference called TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) was now making its presentations public as videos on the Internet. For an event whose intent is to get the best and brightest together to share ideas about doing good it seems only fitting that they spread the word instead of keeping it within an exclusive club.

It is recommended that you watch three related videos to get different perspectives on a given topic like religion and spiritual beliefs:

Rick Warren is a Pastor who wrote a bestselling book called The Purpose-Driven Life. He makes a compelling case for finding your purpose. "What is in your hand?"
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=r_warren

Dan Dennett talks about living the purpose driven life while having all the facts about the world's religions
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=d_dennett

Julia Sweeney takes a lighter approach on her experiences reaching the age of reason in relating to God
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_sweeney

Bonus

Majora Carter is passionate about Sustainable South Bronx urban renewal
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=majora_carter

Al Gore, who I really admire, is spreading the word regarding global warning and his documentary An Inconvenient Truth
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=al_gore

New videos are being released each week so you may want to subscribe to the distribution list for new videos if you liked these.

Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal

On Wednesday July 19 I went to Montreal to check out the Just for Laughs comedy festival and I was really impressed.

Lots of fun stuff happening all around and we really enjoyed the show Bubbling with Laughter at Club Soda.

Flooding in Orleans

Several feet of water on the street during a flash flood in Orleans July 3 2006.

It was interesting to see cars trying to go through the water even after seeing other cars stalled ahead of them.