November 2008
11 posts
Tumbler blog winding down; Wordpress blog starting...
Moving from here to
http://chroniclesofmark.wordpress.com/
(RSS)
"In the 21st century, why learn by heart rote... →
(Via Assistive Principles) From the “why do we need speed limits” line of thinking, criminology lecturer Ken Smith thinks we should “ignore certain spelling rules altogether”.
I wonder if Smith has ever used spell-check. If you can’t spell correctly, then how do you know that spell-check has corrected the word correctly? That reminds me of the old joke spell-check...
How to Turn Your Car Into an Unstoppable Murder... →
I drive a Ford Focus estate car. It takes tips like these to pimp our car. Fear the Ford!
Outsourcery: personal outsourcing without the... →
In the old days, according to black-and-white movies, businesspeople had secretaries - or access to a pool of secretaries. Good secretaries even handled some personal business (restaurant booking, laundry, …). Secretaries are, increasingly, limited to old movies.
The internet and related technologies have made part-time personal assistants possible. A few hours per month, for example, might...
10 Ways to Create a Work Environment That Drags... →
Let the laughter turn to horror, as you realise how well this describes your desk…
Presentation, Conversation, and Improv →
I sometimes do practice conversation starters, and usually - at least in a business context - have an idea of where I want the conversation to start and end before going in. Good conversation is an acquired skill, and you can’t learn it by yourself.
I also liked the list of improvisation games mentioned.
Ryanair Plans $15 Flights to Europe →
I’m not very fond of travelling with Ryanair, but they get you there. €10 + fees + taxes to the US would easily make up for any short-lived discomfort.
On the back of the US election, the current Swedish government has revealed some suicidal plans for its next campaign. No reelection risk.
Microsoft Word Turns 25 →
Introducing Zoë Westhof and “Essential Prose” →
For the next two weeks, we will be reading the blog of Zoë Westhof, a young American writer living in Thailand! She blogs at Essential Prose.
But before you rush off to read her site,…
Eight Simple Ways to Save After a New Car Purchase... →
Whether you’ve just purchased a brand new or a gently-used car, Trent at The Simple Dollar financial blog has rounded up some tips to help you save. Some of the tips are obvious to a…
October 2008
44 posts
Jedi Mind Trick: How can we make this happen? →
Heart attack risk shifted by daylight saving time →
I’ve been a critic of daylight savings time, twice annual government-enforced jet-lag, for a long time. A new Swedish study shows that the switch to “summer time” also puts people’s health at risk.
Artsy Up Your Pictures with Poladroid [Featured... →
Mac only: Want your candid photos to look a little more retro chic but don’t want to spend a fortune tracking down whats left of the world’s Polaroid film stock and lug the signature boxy,…
Artsy Up Your Pictures with Poladroid [Featured... →
Mac only: Want your candid photos to look a little more retro chic but don’t want to spend a fortune tracking down whats left of the world’s Polaroid film stock and lug the signature boxy,…
Read It Later Integrates with Google Reader,... →
Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Previously featured bookmarking extension Read It Later has added a host of new features in a recent update, including a couple that open up the service to…
Read It Later Integrates with Google Reader,... →
Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Previously featured bookmarking extension Read It Later has added a host of new features in a recent update, including a couple that open up the service to…
Show Your Car's Maintenance Manual at the Repair... →
Consumer Reports’ Tightwad Tod blog espouses the value of holding onto your clunker car rather than trading up—a well-maintained, reliable clunker, that is. The magazine’s auto writers…
Pacing
Used “pacing” to speed up a meeting and get it wrapped up in 20 minutes instead of stretching to the full hour. Twitter / evilmark
The long version (> 140 characters):
Pacing is a neuro-linguistic programming technique where you match and then lead or set the pace of a conversation.
My first “proper” job was in telephone technical support. When callers get through,...
Whatever Happened to Speech Recognition?
In 1982, we could watch Knight Rider on TV, where KITT had both excellent speech recognition (including formidable semantic parsing) and speech synthesis.
In 1986, our second home computer, an Amstrad 6128, had a very good speech synthesiser. It was an external device that plugged onto the back of the computer, and it worked a treat.
So, twenty six years after KITT, where is my speech...
Wake Up Like Iron Man [Alarms] →
Like the idea of waking up to the current time, date, and weather, á la Tony Stark in Iron Man? Sleep.FM offers a browser-based wake-up you can set for multiple alarms. It requires your…
How You Can Help End the Problem of Blogs With... →
There is a simple way to discover under-appreciated blogs and help them reach the audience they deserve. In fact, with no special effort and in one fell swoop, you can now find these sites and…
Celebrate International Caps Lock Day by Remapping... →
Today, October 22nd, is International Caps Lock Day, so share with us a moment of silence to reflect on screaming emails and ponder the mysteries of the most useless key on your keyboard….
Gmail Adds Canned Responses for Quick Replies... →
Gmail Labs’ offerings now include a serious boon to anyone who ends up writing “Received the document, thanks!” or the like over and over again. Head to the Labs section in Settings and…
Upgrade Your Laptop with External Hard Drive Swap... →
If you’ve got a MacBook past warranty and are looking for more hard drive space, Seattlite Tim Molter offers a detailed step-by-step guide to a do-it-yourself upgrade with photos. His method…
How to Compute Your REAL Hourly Wage →
Shared by Mark
I love maths.
Like many Get Rich Slowly readers, I credit Your Money or Your Life with changing the way I approach my personal finances. This book transformed my…
For Sale: Underground Secret Lair →
Shared by Mark
Must have! (via BBspot, just like everything good on the internet)
In the 1940’s the British Government set about creating eight deep level shelters underneath central London….
Passpack Adds Secure Messaging →
Memorable TV Theme Songs: The 20 Most Awesome... →
Foxmarks v2.5: Sync Your Passwords →
Firefox add-on Foxmarks adds password sync to their bookmarks sync tool. I only use two FF add-ons, Foxmarks and Read it Later.
How to Keep Fruits and Veggies Fresh →
“Content isn’t king. If I sent you to a desert island and gave you the...”
– Cory Doctorow
The Edge
http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/guitars/video/edge/1/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/guitars/video/edge/2/
Thanks, Ruairí!
10 Ways to Make Your Colleagues Hate You →
Self vs Unself: The Ballad Of True Love →
Hi, my name is Stu Andrews. I’ve been a husband for ten years now, and a Dad for seven of those. Four kids so far.
The idea of “Self” is prevalent in our society today, just as it has been…
Surviving Driving: 6 Simple Things to Remember for... →
I have two things for stress-free driving:
Space - keep your distance from the car in front.
Speed - no speeding. Drive at the limit as much as possible. It reduces jackrabbit starting/stopping and uses less petrol. Also, if you have traffic lights along your route, it won’t cost you much (if any) time.
Your Internet-Reality Dictionary →
No breakfast, no lunch. I could murder a sandwich.
Right… let’s get this day started: http://tinyurl.com/4hcl7s
A theme for our times? Banker’s Blues: http://tinyurl.com/48gga3
Ten Ways To Look Fabulous in Photos →
Wagon Mafia Decal →
Paper Case Bookmarklet Makes Auto-Filled CD/DVD... →
The Liquid Mongoose site has a neat bookmarklet tool that creates fold-able cases for audio CDs or movie DVDs from AOL Music or Netflix DVD pages. Simply copy the bookmarklet to your…
Fruux Syncs Contacts and Calendars Across Macs... →
Mac OS X only: Free preference pane application Fruux syncs Address Book, iCal, and tasks between different Macs. To use it, just install the preference pane and create a new account with…
Social Media Fun With Wordle →
Shared by Mark
Good idea for a presentation. At the same time, you can check that your slides say what you meant to say…
Entering your speech notes into Wordle can create a relevant Welcome…
Loss of control may leave us looking for four-leaf... →
(via BBSpot) Counting magpies? Consider that a warning sign, and time to do a life inventory.