5060 Readers
May
31
Over a nice breakfast this morning, my kids were quizzing me about pancakes.
I am by no means an expert because pancakes add little value to the outcome of my life. But their questions reminded me of when I was a kid how I learned an important lesson about pancakes - of the chocolate [...]
May
29
Teacher lets Morningside students vote autistic classmate out of class, 5
1. School recommends student be tested for autism. 2. School organizes vote same child out of class before testing complete. What’s wrong with this picture? In tomorrow’s news, same teacher shows class how to kick walkers out from under the elderly…
(tags: school [...]
May
28
Have you ever had a task you were putting off and putting off until you just couldn’t stand it anymore. Then finally, you start and it takes a whole 10 minutes to do?
I’m sure we all can relate to this.
Some tasks are great at creating the illusion of great difficulty.
It’s easy to get faked out by tasks like this. If you let enough time pass, you’ll start to believe what your mind is telling you about the task.
But the best answer for tasks that speak such nonsense is action. Action puts a lie to the task’s devious ways.
Action requires one basic commitment - a commitment to start.
Do something, ANYTHING to get started. Start by cracking open a book, plugging in a cable, unloading one dish from the dishwasher. All you need do is start, then like magic, action takes over.
But first you must start.
So…
Start — > NOW!
May
28
How to Read Popular Magazines on your Desktop for Free
A sneaky way to get some popular magazine content for free using an Apple Safari web browser
(tags: ebooks free hacks reading)
May
27
My wife handed me a Ladies Home Journal this afternoon to point out an interesting article on weight loss.
Basically, the article featured five women who had all lost over 100 pounds each and kept it off for over a year.
Some started at over 300 pounds and had lost an amazing 140+ pounds.
I always love to see success stories like these. I enjoy looking at the before and after pictures. I could do that all day in fact. I find it inspiring seeing the good guys and gals winning for a change.
Photo by Henning Buchholz
What stood out to me in this article was two specific questions all of the women answered. One was “what got you here?” And the other was What was your turning point? (when you started losing weight.) The first question implies that whatever we seek to get rid of such as weight, drinking alcohol, quitting smoking or other bad habits had an origin somewhere.
One woman discussed having an alcoholic father and having to share food with 10 other siblings. Since food wasn’t abundant, she felt like she was starving all the time. When she grew up and could eat more, she ate more.
Whatever your bad habit might be, it has an origin.
What is it? Why are you doing this to yourself? You might ask.
Two women revealed that what turned them around was the death of someone close to them. A father who died due to heart disease warns against overeating like no other warning - ask me I know…
Another participant said she compared her weight to her husband who was 7 inches taller than her and found out she weighed more than him. The embarrassment of walking with him and imagining other people feeling sorry for him for having such a “fat wife” was more than she could take.
I like knowing someone’s turning point because it tells what she is thinking. Being able to see the thought process goes straight to the heart of what we can adopt to fight our own battles.
In other words, if you could adopt either their humiliation or fear when it was helpful to stop a destructive habit wouldn’t it make habit busting easier? We are all motivated in similar ways. Getting someone else’s thought process as they turned the corner is very powerful.
In asking what got you here and what was (or could be) your turning point, you’ll have two important answers.
So if you’d permit me to push your buttons for a few minutes…
Think about what got you in the place you are right now. Whether you want or need to lose 100 lbs or if you want to eliminate your financial debt. There was a certain pattern or habit that got you here. What was it? When did it start?
When you know what got you here, you can think about how you’ve matured since that time. Consider the price you are paying to hang on to that which was from long ago. Are you still willing to pay it? Can you give it to someone else?
And then, seek out your turning point. What tragedy would have to take place before you’d take your goal seriously? Who would have to die? What loss would you have to endure in order for you to put your all into your goal?
Maybe, just maybe you won’t need a tragedy or major humiliation to turn the corner. Perhaps you can do some visualization where you allow yourself to feel what would happen if you don’t turn the corner.
What would happen anyway? If you don’t follow though, who will you let down? How long will you suffer? What price will you ultimately pay?
I think they are all good questions to think about, especially when what we are doing causes us pain.
May
27
We all can use some help saving some bucks at the pump.
The site Drive Smarter Challenge lets you enter your make and model of car and then kicks back a roadmap of strategies you can use to cut your gas bill.
I popped in my 2004 Toyota Solara and got back 6 strategies estimated to save me $430 a year. Most of the tips were basic stuff like filling up your tires and clearing heavy junk (i.e. golf clubs) out of the trunk. But it would be cool if some other people got some specific tips like “Install a sneezledoodle in your carburetor and save $1500 a year.”
via Curbly
May
25
Am I lusting after the right gadget? 
Help me decide if Amazon Kindle
I think I’ve made it plainly known that I love reading e-books.
Since the year 2000 I’ve been reading novels, how-to books and biographies on Pocket PC devices. Pocket PCs are great for reading in short spurts - especially in bed because of their backlit screen. You don’t have to worry about waking the Mrs. while reading.
However, the trade off is the text is small (probably eye straining) unless I up the font size. When I increase the font the type decreases the screen real estate. Thus, I might only be reading 1 paragraph before having to turn the page.
Many of the early reviews of the Kindle say my Pocket PC headaches are solved. And this review makes me want to drop the money today. But I don’t want another gadget just lying around if I can help it. Maybe you can help me decide if it’s right for me
Another major benefit of the Pocket PC and Mobipocket reader (which happens to be the underlying technology of the Kindle) is it’s dictionary option. I purchased an Oxford dictionary which turns any reading session into a learning session. As I read and come across a word I don’t know, I immediately tap and hold and choose look up. Then I get a definition immediately. From there, I copy and paste the word and definition to my Supermemo flash card program.
Although this is cumbersome to an extent, it works well for building my vocabulary.
Also, there’s something to be said to having all your tools in one place. If I can manage my task list, calendar, email and read an e-book from the same device that’s good right?
Since I do not own a Kindle, I can only go on what I’ve read. Here are the advantages that the Kindle seems to boast.
So what do you think? Do you own a Kindle? If so, do you think it’s a good gadget for me? Or will it kill my productivity?
