misccubed

The Best Design Tools for Improving Your Home

2012-01-26T17:51:00.000-05:00

from lifehacker.com:

Wandering around Home Depot until inspiration strikes is a terrible idea. If you've got a loose idea for a redesign, re-arrangement, or physical improvement to your house, apartment, or even a dorm room, we recommend these computer planning tools for the job. More »

new layout

2012-01-26T17:46:00.000-05:00

Well, my blog has been kinda broken for a while - it would auto-redirect. I've changed my layout and hopefully it won't redirect anymore. After several years I suppose it really needs to be freshened up.

some recent Social Media and Security/Privacy articles that may be of interest

2012-01-11T10:18:00.005-05:00

4 Facebook Security Tips toStay Safe in 2012 http://www.cio.com/article/print/696212

Facebook's New Timeline: Important Privacy Settings to Adjust Now http://www.cio.com/article/690742/Facebook_s_New_Timeline_Important_Privacy_Settings_to_Adjust_Now?taxonomyId=3119

Facebook May Be Scary, but We Love it Anyway http://www.cio.com/article/696205/Facebook_May_Be_Scary_but_We_Love_it_Anyway?taxonomyId=3119

Social Networking, Ignorance, and Apathy http://www.cio.com/article/696197/Social_Networking_Ignorance_and_Apathy?taxonomyId=3119

Facebook Privacy: How the FTC Settlement Affects You http://www.cio.com/article/695461/Facebook_Privacy_How_the_FTC_Settlement_Affects_You?taxonomyId=3119

Brevard Manatees 2011 Schedule

2011-03-19T12:38:00.003-04:00

The manateesbaseball.com site doesn't have the same print rev of the schedule brochure that is available at checkout counters, so I scanned it in for reference:

I also input all the dates into a Google Calendar [click here]. Note, this season starts in April.

Puerto Rican Statehood debate

2010-04-30T07:51:00.000-04:00

Ok, I only just heard about the debate today, so I'm a bit out of touch. So I googled the topic and found what seems to be a good objective review of the issue:
http://www.essortment.com/all/puertoricansta_rdla.htm

Awsome site for helping kids decide on careers

2010-03-05T11:10:00.000-05:00

from Bridges.com:

Introducing IMPACT: Make a Difference Through Participation

Linking careers to current events can help students see how their career plans can have an impact on the world around them. XAP and Bridges are proud to introduce the IMPACT site -- a dynamic site aimed at linking events in the news with career planning. Our first focus is the earthquake in Haiti. Find out how many careers and volunteer opportunities are involved in the process of rebuilding Haiti.

Visit the site: http://impact.xap.com/

Theme Builder Creates Document Themes for Office 2007

2009-12-12T17:57:00.000-05:00

I think I found this on Lifehacker.com:

Windows only: Standalone application Theme Builder creates themes for Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and even Outlook emails—allowing you to create a consistent look and feel across all your documents.

Downloading the application requires using Microsoft's annoying File Transfer Manager, which usually requires Internet Explorer, and once you get past that hurdle you need to make sure that you've got the .NET Framework 3.0 and Office 2007 Interop installed—but once you've successfully navigated through all of those, the application is relatively easy to use.

You can make a copy of the themes under your Office Install -> Document Themes directory, and then open them up in the Theme Builder application to customize just about any aspect of the theme. Once you've finished, you can save them out to your documents folder and use them from any Office application by choosing the Browse option under the themes panel's drop-down menu. If you want them globally available, you can save them out to the Office installation directory where the rest of the theme files are.

The application is a bit of a pain to get going, but could be a huge timesaver for making sure all your Office documents have a consistent look. Theme Builder is a free download for Windows only.

Make Your Own Chalkboard Paint

2009-11-10T22:16:00.002-05:00

from lifehacker.com:

Chalkboard paint is a childhood-recapturing tool and a great way to repurpose cruddy furniture. Finding it, and finding it in non-black colors, can be a challenge, so two different sites write up recipes for mixing your own.

Photo by Francis Bourgouin.

The Craft at Home blog has a recipe that makes any acrylic paint of your preference chalk-friendly, though darker colors are still more effective as an actual writing surface. That recipe requires powdered tile grout and glazing medium, which you can usually find at your local hardware store.

If the glazing medium is hard to get at, or you just want fewer steps, Martha Stewart's site explains how to make DIY chalkboard paint with just the tile grout. What's more, her site offers some seriously inspiring ideas on how to implement chalkboard paint in all sorts of spots around your home—we're staring somewhat jealously at the calendar-like pattern shown here.

worry-wart

2009-10-25T13:23:00.001-04:00

I worry too much, and officially have "anxiety". I just read today, on ehow.com, about how a person can use strips of paper to manage worries. However, I have had a thought that may build upon this technique. I have created a spreadsheet, with examples. Anyone is welcome to use it.

It uses the filtering (drop-down lists) feature in excel. If you get to a point where you're not seeing things you think you should see, check the data tab, and the filter funnel (or clear). Then, make sure you have only one cell selected and click on the filter funnel again. And besure to unclick "yes" in the "am I done with this worry forever" column.

Directions for inventorying worries:

enter one worry per line
fill out column B for every worry. for the "no"s go to step 3, and for the "yes"s go to step 6.
for all the "no"s in column B, fill out column C. You can find all the "no"s by selecting the drop-down in cell B1, and select "no". Just be sure to go back and "select all on that column when you're done
for all the "no"s in column C, put a "yes" in column E; then filter column E so you can't see "yes" rows - this is the same as throwing that worry away
for all the "yes"s in column C, think about when you might be able to do something about it and put that info into column D (of course if you put "never" in column D, you might as well have put a "no" in column B instead - see step 4)
for all the "yes"s in column B, get to work! This is where you are empowered! Do your thing! If you come back to the list at some later time and your worry was not taken care of, you'll need to see if you're still worried about it. Think about if you can do anything about it today, etc, and you're back at step 2.

Directions for using the worry list as a tickler:

make sure all data is showing except the "yes" entries in column E
click on the drop-down in column D and browse through it, selecting things that you want to focus on; things for which the date or event has passed, for instance
look at the the worry listed in column A and reconsider it, going back to step two in the above list

Find the Hate Groups in Your State

2009-09-29T20:10:00.001-04:00

Find the Hate Groups in Your State

The Southern Poverty Law Center created an interactive map, detailing the whereabouts of the 926 active hate groups in the United States.

Read More >>

An Engineer’s Guide to Cat Yodeling

2009-08-15T12:27:00.003-04:00

They've done it again! Paul and TJ from An Engineer's Guide to Cats have made another video, this time with tips on their cat yodeling technique.

Can't see the video above? Click here to watch it on the site.

Jewelry goes Open-Source Affordable, one-of-a-kind jewelry you design yourself.

2009-07-20T11:06:00.000-04:00

Jewelry goes Open-Source

Affordable, one-of-a-kind jewelry you design yourself.

Custom Printed Shower Curtains from Your Digital Photos

2009-06-20T07:24:00.001-04:00

from unplggd:

Ever wanted a shower curtain printed with a unique design or photo? Honestly, no really. But now the possibility is available via PhotoShowerCurtain.com, we're pretty intrigued with the idea of doing an x-ray themed shower curtain or finding a vintage wallpaper design we like and using it fancy up our bathroom shower decor...

Using a dye sublimation printing process, Photoshowercurtain.com can recreate any photo in high and vibrant detail onto waterproof shower curtain fabric in a 2-4 weeks turnaround. This service seems perfect for a partnership with Flickr and/or other image hosting sites, don't you think? Any high resolution image can be used, so no camera phone or pre-megapixel cam photos alongside a policy against "images considered to be obscene, vulgar, hateful, an invasion of privacy, or otherwise objectionable" (invasion of privacy? It's my shower curtain!). Prices range from $149 for a stall size curtain and $199 for a full tub wrap around for those looking to decorate their bathroom with something uniquely their own. [via Trendhunter]

The 10 Best U.S. Cities to Live and Work

2009-05-28T18:24:00.000-04:00

from Lifehacker.com

Personal finance site Kiplinger has released their annual list of the best cities in the United States to live and work. The key this year: It's all about where you can find—and keep—a good job.

(View Best Cities for Jobs in a map)

Here's the quick list:
No. 1: Huntsville, Alabama
No. 2: Albuquerque, New Mexico
No. 3: Washington D.C.
No. 4: Charlottesville, Virginia
No. 5: Athens, Georgia
No. 6: Olympia, Washington
No. 7: Madison, Wisconsin
No. 8: Austin, Texas
No. 9: Flagstaff, Arizona
No. 10: Raleigh, North Carolina

When our numbers guru, Kevin Stolarick, evaluated U.S. cities for their growth potential, he looked not just at the overall number of jobs, but also at the quality of those positions and the ability of cities to hold on to them when the economy softens.

Hit up the Kiplinger link for the full run-down, including stat sheets on each of the cities that made the top 10. If you've spent any time in the cities that made the short list, let's hear more about them—whether or not you think they belong on this list—in the comments. Meanwhile, if this year's list didn't excite you, a quick look at last year's list may provide some solid alternatives.

Best Cities: It's All About Jobs [Kiplinger]

In defense of distraction: Twitter, Adderall, lifehacking, mindful jogging, YouTube, Facebook, endless email, and the subtle benefits of overstimulation...

2009-05-23T08:57:00.000-04:00

something that aldaily.com forwarded me to:

The Internet is basically a Skinner box engineered to tap right into our deepest mechanisms of addiction. As B. F. Skinner's army of lever-pressing rats and pigeons taught us, the most irresistible reward schedule is not, counterintuitively, the one in which we're rewarded constantly but something called "variable ratio schedule," in which the rewards arrive at random. And that randomness is practically the Internet's defining feature: It dispenses its never-ending little shots of positivity—a life-changing e-mail here, a funny YouTube video there—in gloriously unpredictable cycles [more]

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

2009-05-20T06:04:00.000-04:00

forwarded from my Aunt & Uncle:

Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop.
Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink .
For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer .
A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rollingover and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives; then you'll be afraid to cough.
You only need two tools in life - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use the WD -40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.
Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem

Daily Thought:

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES; NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS

Study: time kids spend online not wasted after all

2009-05-15T10:18:00.000-04:00

from lifehacker.com:
A large survey of studies that explore the use of the Internet by children in the second decade of their lives find that, in general, it's acting as just another social tool, while providing them new outlets for learning and creativity.
Read More...

Understanding the outbreak: an influenza biology primer

2009-05-01T11:52:00.000-04:00

from Ars Technica:
Swine flu, bird flu, H1N1—tracking the influenza virus can be a confusing task, not generally made easier by the fact that most people only attempt to do so when addled by flu symptoms or in the midst of worries about a potential pandemic. We recognize that the latter appears to apply to the current situation, but we'll do our part to try to explain a bit of the biology of the virus. Putting together this explanation was made a bit challenging by the fact that anyone we could find who has detailed knowledge of the influenza virus appears to be busy actually working on the current outbreak.

On the surface: the HxNx nomenclature

Like most viruses, the currently spreading swine flu virus has a coat formed of proteins which surround the genetic material that allows the virus to hijack a cell and reproduce. These coat proteins are critical in a variety of ways: they determine which cells the virus can latch onto and infect and, being exposed, they're the things that antibodies recognize when your body generates an immune response to the virus. For the flu virus, the major coat proteins are called hemagglutinin and neuraminidase—the H and N of the commonly used nomenclature for identifying these viruses.
Click here to read the rest of this article

Before iTunes, This is How Computers Could Play Music

2009-04-26T16:20:00.000-04:00

from apartmenttherapy.com/unplugged:
We spotted this YouTube video from user bd594 embedded on Geekologie and instantly fell in love. You see, this guy has far too much time on his hands and has composed Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody using an orchestra of out-of-date technology. Come on inside to hear what an Atari 800XL on keyboards, Texas Instruments TI-99/4a on lead guitar and an HP ScanJet 3C on lead vocals sound like...

The ~~nerd~~ brilliant artist who created this masterpiece has this to say:

This is dedicated to all fans of Queen and hey let's not forget about Mike Myers and Dana Carvey of Wayne's World. No effects or sampling was used. What you see is what you hear (does that even make sense?) Atari 800XL was used for the lead piano/organ sound Texas Instruments TI-99/4a as lead guitar 8 Inch Floppy Disk as Bass 3.5 inch Harddrive [sic] as the gong HP ScanJet 3C was used for all vocals. Please note I had to record the HP scanner 4 seperate [sic] times for each voice. I tried to buy 4 HP scanners but for some reason sellers on E-Bay expect you to pay $80-$100, I got mine for $30. I keep hearing parts of the song are out of tune. Keep in mind the scanner and floppy drive are not musical instruments. These are mechanical devices whose motors tend to drift and can cause some notes to be out of tune.

my dog has OCD

2009-04-05T10:26:00.002-04:00

(as if all dogs don't)

Ever since my sister brought her dog to stay with us while she and hubby travelled around the northeast in preparation for her starting Vet school (about 10 years ago?), and her dog ate the end of my dog's rawhide bone off (her dog's 10-20 lbs bigger than my 10 lb dog), my dog has protected this rawhide bone. She has to bring it to bed with her, and after dinner she has to have it on the couch with her during TV time.

WELL . . . yesterday my husband brought home new rawhide bones. Seems our dog had tried chewing on this petrified rawhide bone and didn't seem to like it. Either it tasted bad (but whenever has that stopped a dog from eating something?!) or she felt bad about chewing on what we've dubbed her "most prized possession". So he was thinking she might like a new bone to chew on.

She is so traumatized.

Now she has TWO bones to protect!! She won't even come out on the porch (which she loves) because she needs to protect these two bones. She actually went back to bed this morning so she could be with the two bones. So I brought the two bones out to the family room and put the new one with her on a chair. I'm thinking about phasing out the old one (but at this point even WE are used to it being around).

What to do, what to do . . .

Convert PowerPoint Presentations to Video at authorStream [Sharing]

2009-04-02T11:38:00.001-04:00

from lifehacker.com

Want to share a presentation with friends, co-workers, or the web at large without worrying about who does or doesn't have PowerPoint installed? authorStream, a free presentation sharing site, offers the same kind of embed-anywhere utility as previously-posted SlideShare, but also provides options to download presentations as MP4 video files, putting slideshows with or without audio one step away from YouTube, iPods, DVDs, or whatever format comes in handy. To work as video, presentations must have either recorded narration or rehearsed timings added in PowerPoint, which the Digital Inspiration blog explains in detail at the via link below.
AuthorStream [via Digital Inspiration]

Hands on: Zoomii breathes life into Amazon's bookshelves

2009-03-28T20:00:00.001-04:00

from arstechnica.com

Miss the comfy chairs and endless aisles of knowledge your local bookstore offers? Zoomii knows the feeling, and it brings the wandering back to shopping Amazon's shelves.

Fw: DO SPORTS DRINKS REALLY WORK ????

2009-03-28T19:44:00.002-04:00

Fizy Finds and Plays MP3s on the Web Quickly

2009-03-25T06:19:00.002-04:00

from livehacker.com

Free music search engine and player Fizy doesn't do playlists, offer downloads, or fancy looks. What it does have is more than 75 billion MP3s in its index (supposedly), and a really fast search function.

For those moments when you're just looking to dig up a certain song and play it for friends or your nagging memory, Fizy is just about perfect. If there's a video to be found on YouTube or other sites, you can pop it open to play alongside the song, or close it down without skipping a beat. It's small, simple, fast, and it covers a lot of MP3s floating around on the web. For a more robust interface to queue up and play the web's MP3s, try Adam's own Mixtape.me. Fizy is free to use, no sign-up required.fizy.com

National Anthem

2009-03-24T06:13:00.003-04:00

wow.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Tom Cobble
Do not let your heart be troubled, There is hope for the future........ Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Blankenship

This was at a Texas Tech basketball game on February 9th. The National Anthem is sung by five young girls (ages 6-8). The two young ladies on the right are six years old. The two in the middle are seven and the one on the left is eight. LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD IT BEFORE!!! An entire arena remains completely silent throughout the song. You could hear a pin drop. Take a moment to listen to this. You will enjoy it...

The Designer Cardboard Office: Not Just a Concept Anymore

2009-03-11T19:14:00.003-04:00

I like the idea of being able to write on my walls with no repercussions . . .

Offices that look like cubicles are terrible. I know, I've worked in plenty. They always feel very cramped and getting a window is not always a blessing. If there are no drapes or shutters, you get a lot of sun. I love how new offices are coming up with new ideas for their workspaces. The cardboard office isn't something new. We've already featured one in the past. However, this is one that's actually being used right now in Amsterdam, making it really interesting. Corrugated cardboard can be made fireproof and waterproof, so health and safety aren't an issue.

Nothing is a commercial creative agency from Amsterdam that was formed by Michael Jansen and Bas Korsten. They used the idea from the company name to come up with something to furnish their office. Taking nothing and turning it into something. This included creating walls, signage, beams, tables, shelving and a small set of stairs that are all made exclusively out of cardboard. The actual design was done by Joost van Bleiswijk and Alrik Koudenburg. The walls will also double as blank canvas. Visitors are encouraged to leave their mark on the surfaces. Illustrator Fiodor Sumkin was the first to liven up Nothing's brown color scheme with some nice penmanship. Once they get bored, the studio can replace individual sections of the workspace cheaply, basically for nothing at all. Makes a lot of sense. Even though you'd think that a cardboard office would look temporary and disposable, it actually looks quite homely. Maybe it's the brown, but I've also noticed some great additions to the whole design, like a conference room and a cafeteria, which are all made out of cardboard. [via core77, photos by Joachim Baan] MORE CARDBOARD The Incredible Cardboard Office

Create a Color Palette from a Single Image

2009-02-19T06:18:00.001-05:00

[Design]

Colors Palette Generator turns a picture with a pleasing look into a palette of equally pleasing colors for your web site or design project.

Similar, although more sophisticated, than previously reviewed Colr, you can turn a selected image into a color scheme for your projects. You can upload any PNG, GIF or JPEG that is less than 1MB in size and Colors Palette Generator will extract colors from it. The application creates three basic palettes of the light, medium, and dark colors, as well as a grid of 49 shades from the image if you're not satisfied with the palettes it has created. Once you've got the look you like, you can export it as either a Photoshop swatches file or as a CSS stylesheet. Free to use, no sign-up required. Colors Palette Generator [via Download Squad]

Three Plants that Give You Better Indoor Air

2009-02-10T11:56:00.003-05:00

from Lifehacker.com

Kamal Meattle used three just three indoor plant species to increase oxygen, filter air, and boost general health at a a New Delhi business park. You can use them, too, in any indoor environment.

Meattle's presentation at the TED 2009 conference details a large-scale success, using thousands of plants for hundreds of workers. In any living or working space, though, the three plants—Areca palm, Mother-in-law's Tongue, and a "Money Plant"—can be used to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, remove organic compounds, and generally filter and freshen the ambient air. A single person looks to need a minimum of 11 total plants, and certain climates with less sunlight could require a bit of hydroponic growing, but Meattle swears by the health, productivity, and atmosphere benefits. Check out the detailed slides from his TED talk:

How to Grow Your Own Fresh Air - TED 2009 Talk

How to Grow Your Own Fresh Air - TED 2009 via Hacks Blog

Global Power Barometer

2009-01-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

from the Washington Post:

In the 21st Century connected world, those with the greatest material power (e.g., powerful militaries, nuclear weapons or strong economies) aren't always the most powerful or successful at moving events in the way they desire. Players with less material power have learned to compensate for the imbalance in part by using smart strategies, making maximum use of the newly connected Internet world and/or forming unique alliances.

The Global Power Barometer

Ron Arad and Moroso: Pixels Make Beautiful Furniture

2008-12-22T10:10:00.002-05:00

from apartmenttherapy:

It seems that Moroso has a thing for pixels. First it was the fabric choice for this sofa and now it is this Ron Arad creation being exhibited in the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

There isn't really much to say about this piece. Practical in a residential setting? Not really. Would we be drawn to it and love to stretch out on it if we ever came upon it in person? But of course. Add this wallpaper and these lights and you've got one 8 bit room.

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

2008-12-09T11:30:00.001-05:00

Review From Powells.com

Do You Hear What I Hear?
A review by Doug Brown

Music is ubiquitous in our society. Films and television shows always have musical soundtracks, music plays in stores and shopping centers, and when you go out to eat or drink music will almost surely be playing. Parades and football games have marching bands, and most indoor sporting events have music playing over loudspeakers. If not, the crowd will provide their own, as with songs sung by UK football fans, or the omnipresent stomp stomp CLAP of Queen's "We Will Rock You." We even accompany our wars with music, both as a way of rousing our troops and demoralizing everyone else's. But what is music? Why does it move us so? What does it have to do with memory or emotion or language? Was music a precursor or antecedent of language? Are we wired for it, or is it completely socially acquired? Those subjects and more are the focus of This Is Your Brain on Music. . . .

Read the review online at: Powells.com

Remove Tourists from Photos with Tourist Remover [Image Editing] from Lifehacker

2008-12-07T12:50:00.000-05:00

from Lifehacker:

Online photo management application Snapmania's Tourist Remover gets rid of unwanted gawkers and traffic from your photos by compositing two or more pictures of the same scene. All you have to do is make sure to take more than one of the same picture of a scene, assuming the people or cars you want to get rid of are moving. Once you've taken enough pictures so that every piece of the scenery is visible, just upload them to Snapmania and let the Tourist Remover do the work. Keep in mind that the more steady your hand when taking multiple shots, the better results you'll see, so ideally you'll be using a tripod or at least a wall to steady yourself. Alternatively, if you've got some GIMP or Photoshop chops, you can do the same thing yourself.
Tourist Remover [Snapmania via Photojojo]

MuppetWiki

2008-12-04T12:42:00.003-05:00

Muppet Wiki is a collaborative encyclopedia for everything related to Jim Henson and the Muppets. The wiki format allows anyone to create or edit any article, so we can all work together to create a comprehensive database for Muppet fans.

steampunk

2008-11-04T17:33:00.001-05:00

a new interest - I love gears, hw, etc

History of History

2008-10-11T13:00:00.000-04:00

from Arts & Letters Daily:

History - the rational and methodical study of the human past - was invented by a single man, Herodotus... more

social wallpapering

2008-09-11T12:01:00.001-04:00

Dress Up Your Desktop at Social Wallpapering [Wallpaper]

There are a few great desktop wallpaper sites out there, and many crappy ones—but a new one (to us) called Social Wallpapering goes into the good pile. Browse through thousands of eye-catching images for standard monitors, widescreens, and dual monitors. The minimum resolution at SocWall is 1280x960, and all images are categorized and rated by users, so the "Most Popular" list is a good bet. (Get to it under the Browse menu, Everything.) For more desktop eye candy, see our top 10 sources for free wallpaper, fonts and icons.
Social Wallpapering

Idealist.org

2008-09-03T11:18:00.003-04:00

Gain valuable experience and learn something -- by volunteering! Idealist, a project of Action without Borders, is a global clearing house of nonprofit and volunteering resources offering a comprehensive directory of volunteer opportunities. It provides information and links to 20,000 nonprofit and community organizations in 140 countries.

Visit the site
http://www.idealist.org

CAREER PRO NEWS Weekly
Connecting career professionals to today's opportunities

July 4, 2008

Career Pro News is published by Bridges Transitions Inc. on the web
every week at: http://careerpronews.bridges.com/

Plan a Room Redesign in 3D with Mydeco

2008-08-21T12:39:00.002-04:00

from lifehacker.com, Plan a Room Redesign in 3D with Mydeco:

Feel like giving a room in your house a new and improved look, but find yourself aimlessly wandering the aisles of your home improvement store, hunting for inspiration? The Mydeco website offers a free tool that lets you visualize almost every aspect of a room—either built in Sims-style 3D or recreated from an uploaded photo—from floors to furniture to wallpaper, down to what you'll put on your coffee table. Once your room is set up, you can view it from any angle, check out other users' rooms and (of course) see purchase recommendations. For a free online tool that requires no CAD-like skills, Mydeco is a pretty helpful style solution.

Mydeco [via MakeUseOf.com]

Scan the Day's Headlines with Wordle

2008-07-24T18:49:00.002-04:00

from utne.com

Scan the Day's Headlines with Wordle

Visual learners can thank Wordle, a site that creates a word cloud from text or RSS inputs, for making the printed word a little more palatable.

my site looks like this:

Faces in Places

2008-07-15T19:50:00.001-04:00

Faces in Places

George Orwell's "1984" forever popularized the phrase, "Big Brother is watching you." This blog believes others are watching you, too, but these commonplace siblings are less judgmental. (At least, we like to think so.) The collaborative collection highlights faces in such unexpected places as a roof, your front door, a hot iron, or even that muffin you had for breakfast. From screaming faces to friendly ones, angry features to those more fowl, visages with crazy eyes or beady peepers, or the vast array of purse faces—there's a mug here for everyone. Still having trouble picking facial features out of the ordinary? A tour through the gallery may illuminate new ways to see food, buildings, transportation, garden tools, everyday gadgets, and familiar things around the house. Even the red jacket zipper fish is much more fun than Big Brother.

Juiciest Religious Factoids

2008-07-09T18:00:00.001-04:00

from the Steven Waldman blog:

For someone who is both a religion junkie and a numbers junkie, the fabulous new Pew Religious Landscape survey has left me a bit giddy. Every page tells an amazing story. Eventually, we'll parse this more thematically but for now...[read the rest of the story]

I like Georgia O'Keeffe

2008-06-01T11:16:00.004-04:00

I really like Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings, and especially the red canna. I have copied her paintings twice, once in watercolor and once in pastels. This is my copy of her painting in pastels.

TripIt

2008-05-19T16:00:00.001-04:00

from Lifehacker.com:

TripIt takes all the work out of storing your travel plans in one place. Instead of making you enter all the details like places and times by hand, just forward reservation confirmation emails to TripIt so it can do all that heavy lifting for you. Register for a free account at TripIt and start forwarding travel plan confirmation email messages from "virtually any" online travel site to plans@tripit.com, and the web service will parse out dates, times and locations and generate your itinerary with lots of additional information, like a calendar, photos, weather, maps, online check-in links and even collaboration with fellow travelers. Check out a sample TripIt itinerary that came together by fwd'ing a few emails from online bookings. Now, this is a travel organizer I might actually use (versus just saving all my trip-related messages in my email software.)

UC Berkeley lectures on YouTube

2008-02-16T02:37:00.001-05:00

from Ars Technica:

Ever felt like learning about physics from a professor at UC Berkeley? You may have been able to listen to those lectures before, but now you can watch them through the university's new public channel on YouTube.

Proppian Fairy Tale Generator

2008-01-26T08:42:00.001-05:00

from Yahoo!Picks

Trickery! Villainy! Violation! Pursuit! In the 1930s, a Russian scholar named Vladimir Propp studied the "basic plot components" of his country's folk tales and came up with a list of the mythic stories' "series of actions"—or "functions." Though the Eastern European thinker surely didn't imagine the rise of the Internet, an imaginative class at Brown University has brought Web and academic together with the Proppian Fairy Tale Generator. This ingenious online game presents the basic structures of the fables Propp dissected. You, the reader, select which functions you like. Click as many as you want: Mediation? Branding? Reconnaissance? Hit "generate" and a fairy tale based on your choices will appear before your very eyes. Note: Disney these ain't. Even the "preset" versions of Cinderella, Snow White, and Hansel and Gretel read like nothing you've heard (or seen) before. The legends woven by this raconteur of a generator are imaginative, richly detailed, and undomesticated. The Grimms would approve. So, we like to think, would Vladimir Propp.

Give Thanks with an Appreciative Note

2008-01-13T07:25:00.002-05:00

from lifehacker.com:

Good manners start with good intentions. Etiquette experts postulate that writing thank you notes increases the frequency and quality of gifts you receive. But what if you're stuck and don't know what to write? The Thank You Note Samples site covers nearly every imaginable topic to give thanks for, from acknowledging the receipt of charity donations to expressing appreciation for hospitality arrangements to thanking your potential employer for an interview. Multiple letter formats are available to add variety (especially if you're spending the night writing the same monotonous notes due to a recent wedding). Additionally, the suggestions go a step beyond just the written word. Why not give thanks, for example, with a gift basket? If you want to express your gratitude and feel like you are not inspired, the Thank You Note Samples site will definitely get you back on your toes and you'll be filled with ideas for expressing appreciation.

music

2007-11-09T03:27:00.001-05:00

dome

2007-11-09T03:17:00.001-05:00

nice neighborhoods

2007-11-04T08:44:00.001-05:00

When we were shopping for houses in our new town, we were pretty concerned that there weren't very walkable neighborhoods with houses we liked. The neighborhood we came from was close to all kinds of things. It was great.

So, anyway, it would have been nice to have this tool available when shopping around: http://www.walkscore.com/

I just found that our old neighborhood had a walkability rating of 75%! Our current neighborhood has a walkability rating of 3%. :-(

decorating - color schemes

2007-10-27T10:59:00.001-04:00

I just found this site: http://www.colr.org/

It seems like a more automated way to do some of the color scheming that I've been doing manually. I'd take a digital picture of something I wanted to coordinate, then pick out colors and make rectangle samples of them. In the above site, if you keep clicking to create color scheme from the picture, you eventually get a representation of the colors that you imagined.

Here's an online discussion of the site: lifehacker.com

I am not a tourist

2007-10-26T23:30:00.000-04:00

I went to a conference this week in a town which is a popular tourist destination. Mostly, I think, because it has great weather and landscape and some intriguing history.

At the end of the conference, I had some time on my hands. I was not very interested in touristing, but, after talking with my husband on the phone, relented and went out and about a little.

One thing that is popular for a tourist is to go shopping. I would have to suspect that this is popular for people who like to go shopping in the first place. That is not me.

Another thing people like to do is "sight seeing". Looking around for the sake of looking around. I get bored with that as well.

So, for my afternoon out, I did go to a couple of cute places. But I only started enjoying myself when I tried to do "home things" there. I found a library to go to. I read some magazines and got ideas for decorating the family room (we just moved into a house and want to paint it now, instead of right before we're trying to sell it; lesson learned from the relocation).

My laptop battery had died, so I looked at some email, sitting alongside gobs of teenagers. The library had a pretty "tree garden" park around it, so I took a hand-drawn map they'd done of the garden and walked around looking at the trees and learning what their names were.

At a corner there was a sign for where all the different types of churches surrounding the park were. I sought mine out, drove to it, looked at and saw that it was good, and parked there while I went over to another cute shopping area.

In the shopping area one of the first storefronts was an intriguing bookstore. I lost myself in the books, deciding to purchase one called Lost History. My knowledge of Sunnis vs Shiites has increased exponentially. I took the book to the restaurant next door and read it while having a happy hour.

===================

So, as described, this was not touristing. Probably some of the nicest "not touristing" I've done in a long time. ;-)

flying sandhill crane

2007-10-19T10:23:00.001-04:00

I posted about the prevalence of sandhill cranes in my neighborhood recently. Today I was driving down our street, on my way to work, and I saw some of them flying. No big deal, but then I got a great view of what they look like underneath when they fly. It was very funny, because their legs just kinda flap around the sides of their tail. So, they look clumsy when they're walking and they look clumsy when they're flying. They're great!

space coast

2007-10-18T12:20:00.000-04:00

I just read an article about how fun images on the Space Coast website are going to change because of the following concerns. In order to form my opinion of the images before reading about the concerns, I went to the site. I found the images fun, and that they imply that you can not only enjoy the space center, but the other attractions in Central Florida as well.

Concerns include:

"when you see the spacemen walking down the beach, it's hard to picture yourself as one of those"
"the issue is for groups like the Brevard Cultural Alliance is that groups who receive cultural marketing dollars, they must use The Zimmerman Agency, and they have to put the little spaceman on ads and brochures. It's difficult for the groups that have wonderful designers. Because the TDC gives the money to Zimmerman, all advertising has to go through the agency. Everything has to the spaceman, and if we contest it, Zimmerman says, 'The spaceman is the brand.' "

Well, I put a comment on the Florida Today Forums that it seems just fine to have astronauts on the page. It's called Space Coast, after all.

What do you think of the spacemen? If you have any strong feelings, you might even want to comment on the forum. Oh, and make sure you say you're from somewhere else.

Sleep vs IQ

2007-10-17T06:19:00.000-04:00

from Arts & Letters Daily:

Overstimulated, overscheduled kids are getting at least an hour’s less sleep than they need. It’s lowering their IQs... more»

Can an MRI See God?

2007-10-16T06:29:00.000-04:00

from Utne Web Watch:

Neuroscience and the mystery of religious experience

By Brendan Mackie, Utne.com
Research in neuroscience has focused on the biological nature of consciousness. But does science explain away religious experience, or is there a deeper mystery at work?

The entire story may be viewed at http://www.utne.com/webwatch/2007_320/news/12803-1.html

Shoe Lacing Methods

2007-10-11T06:36:00.000-04:00

Who woulda known?!

There's a site that is all about tying shoes. It has good diagrams of ways a person might like to lace his/her shoes:
http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/lacingmethods.htm

The author also has some other interesteing sites.

Reading is hard work for the brain, as this book proves.

2007-10-10T19:05:00.000-04:00

from the Washington Post:

Anyone who reads is bound to wonder, at least occasionally, about how those funny squiggles on a page magically turn into "Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang" or "After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain." Where did this unlikely skill called reading come from? What happens in our brain when our eyes scan a line of type? Why do some of us, or some of our children, find it difficult to process the visual information held in words? [the article]

haystacks

2007-09-28T12:44:00.000-04:00

I just love Monet's haystack paintings.

Well, for years I've wanted to see some art, a painting, photo, etc, of today's version of haystacks. I just found some. This artist makes lots of abstract scenery paintings. It's cool!

I love this furniture

2007-09-23T09:47:00.001-04:00

http://www.jakecress.com/picture_gallery.htm

I clipped out an article about this guy in 1991 and just found it while emptying boxes into the new bookshelf (it's done - yay!). I think my favorite is the one entitled "oops"

I'm a Kinda Dorky High Nerd

2007-09-19T06:21:00.000-04:00

try this test, it's fun ;-)

I saw it on Barb's blog.

Religious Fundamentalism

2007-09-18T08:47:00.000-04:00

In today's Forward Movement wise words were used to describe problems of Religious Fundamentalism. They express my sentiments as well:

The rise of religious and political fundamentalism in recent years alarms me. In general, the trend takes the form of substituting its goal (total control over the lives of everyone it can dominate) for the goal of all true religion-that God should be honored by the human creation's living out his image within us. That image, as defined by Judaism,Christianity, and Islam, is of a God merciful and compassionate, who longs for the salvation of the world from the false gods who encourage cruelty, greed, and arrogance.

Yet these are the very qualities most evident in terrorist groups created in the guise of religion, or the un-Christian hate groups declaring whom God hates. Such are certainly rooted in fundamentals of a kind-the traits of human nature which we know as "original sin." The certainties of the purity police have nothing in common with the "foolishness" of a God who puts himself at the mercy of our sin in order to persuade us of his love for us, nor their violence with the apparent weakness of that strategy.

The foolishness of God is referenced in Forward Movement's quote of 1 Corinthians 1:20-31. God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

Sand Hill Crane

2007-09-16T07:37:00.000-04:00

some people have deer in their backyard . . .

Hack Attack: Turn Your Windows PC into a Media Center Powerhouse On the Cheap from Lifehacker

2007-09-12T12:55:00.001-04:00

from Lifehacker:

If you've purchased a new Windows computer in the past few years that's running Windows Media Center Edition or Vista Home Premium or Ultimate and you aren't taking advantage of its baked-in DVR Media Center software, it's time we change that. Why? Because after installing a $70 capture card in your computer and a bit of freeware third-party software, you've got all the tools you need to record television shows on your PC's built-in Media Center, extend that Media Center to your Xbox 360, schedule recordings and stream TV over the internet.

Install a Capture Card
In order to record television on your media center PC, you need to be able to plug your coax cable into your computer. For this purpose, God invented tuner cards—hardware you plug into your computer that handles all the heavy lifting of recording video. If you don't already have a capture card of some sort installed in your PC, this is the only monetary obstacle you'll need to overcome.

It's not really much of a hurdle, though, once you realize that capture cards are pretty cheap (especially least compared with the cost of a TiVo) and installing a PCI card inside your PC is an extremely simple process. There are a lot of cards on the market, but I've always had good luck with the Hauppauge cards, and you can score the Hauppauge PVR-150 for just $70.

---------for more info on this article, go to [the rest of the story] . . .

My Golden Compass Daemon

2007-09-06T03:20:00.000-04:00

This is from a movie that's coming out 12/7. I looked at the preview, and it seems like it is Lord of the Rings meets Harry Potter meets The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Seems like it will be good on the big screen.

How To: Teach a child to program

2007-09-01T10:19:00.000-04:00

from LifeHacker

Wired magazine's How To Wiki has an interesting article on how to teach your kid to program. Since I have a budding twelve year old hackerino, I was intrigued by this information.

Among the answers given were Logo, a kid-specific programming language (who knew?), Lego Mindstorms (robots!), and GameMaker, a free programming interface. If you are teaching your child to program, please share in the comments how you're going about it.

Teach a Kid to Program [Wired How To's]

Ethical Traveler

2007-08-18T06:52:00.000-04:00

from Yahoo!Picks:

Ethical Traveler
It is not down in any map; true places never are. - Herman Melville

Too often, travel consists of running around with your head in a guide book. But focusing on the list of things to see keeps us from getting to know the people and culture of the places where we spend our precious few vacation days—and the richest experiences in other lands often begin with a surprisingly simple gesture. This site aims to bring together informed travelers as "freelance ambassadors" to serve the world community. Stops on the itinerary:

Learn about the places you visit and your impact on the society and environment.
Get involved and help address time-sensitive issues.
Step beyond the map and immerse yourself in a culture by following the guidelines for ethical travel.

Global voyagers acting together can make the world a better place. It's a small world, after all.

(in Travel)

Tiny Animals on Fingers

2007-08-07T10:22:00.000-04:00

from Yahoo!Picks:

Tiny Animals on Fingers

Page through the hundreds of photos in this remarkableFlickr pool, and you start to get the feeling that many of the Earth's smallest beasties just want to get a good look at their human neighbors. Image after image reveals insect, mammal, reptile, and bird in an inquisitive position, griping some person's index finger and gazing intently at the enormous creature that has hoisted it upwards. Big-eyed hamsters, bigger-eyed moths, and five (count 'em, five) red eyed tree frogs all appear to say, "Just let me take you in!" In some cases, though, the wee ones are too new or too busy to peek at their many-fingered photographer. And, of course, not everyone likes being handled in such a manner. We wouldn't want to meet this guy in a dark alley. Many of the insect portraits are worth special notice for their amazing Technicolor dream coats. These moths, ladybugs, and worms come dressed to the nines.

The Bathroom Diaries

2007-08-02T09:29:00.000-04:00

from Yahoo!Picks:

The Bathroom
Diaries A pox on eco-tourism. Death to luxury travel. The only frontier left for truly experienced travellers (like us) is a tour of the world's most inspiring toilet facilities. Thankfully, this was a tour guide we didn't have to write. The Bathroom Diaries—touted as "the world's largest database of restroom locations"—took care of that business for us. When you gotta go, you gotta go, and it's so much better to know which way the toilet flows. If you have to tinkle in Tehran or doodie in downtown Detroit The Bathroom Diaries will have every journey covered. And if you find yourself out on the go, and want to relieve yourself in the richest environs, check your wireless or your GPS device for one of the award-winning commodes. Sometimes a weary traveller just needs to be pampered. (in Travel)

new Roman Empire?

2007-07-27T07:10:00.000-04:00

from Arts & Letters Daily:

Is America the new Roman Empire? Sure. It dominates the planet with its armies, economy, language, and culture as much as Rome ever did... more

Church Shopping

2007-07-22T10:14:00.000-04:00

	Cocoa	Melbourne
Episcopal	St. Mark’s 19 min Main Sunday service: 10am	Holy Trinity 30 min Main Sunday service: 9am
Unitarian	Unitarian Congregation 23 min Main Sunday service: 11am	Unitarian Universalist Church of Brevard 24 min Main Sunday service: 11am
Unity	Unity Center for Spiritual Living 35 min Main Sunday service: 10am	Unity of Melbourne 23 min Main Sunday service: 11am

Strange Maps

2007-06-03T07:01:00.001-04:00

Strange Maps

It all began with a charting of Pennsylvania's lunatic asylum districts. That might be an inauspicious start elsewhere, but not here. Welcome to the world of strange maps. Since that initial posting in September of last year, the blogger-collector behind this site has rolled out post after post of eccentric and imaginative maps—"the kind you won't find in a regular atlas." From ancient history to alternate history, from the world according to some two-term presidents to the U.S. according to its politics, the maps displayed here are historic, fake, funny, and marvelous. And sometimes all of the above. We paused over the image of Flash Gordon's native Mongo, ate up the charting of North America's "totem food" regions (oh, to live in Corn Bread and BBQ Nation!), and then located ourselves on both the atlas of the country of Houyhnhnms (where Yahoos, those "deformed, debased humans" reside) and the record of the online communities map. Brrr! (in Science & Geography)

whiffle ball

2007-05-15T12:45:00.000-04:00

Why don't more people invent new sports? ... [more]

Moyers vs media

2007-05-04T06:14:00.001-04:00

from Yahoo! Picks

Bill Moyers is on the air again, kicking butt and taking names in his own inimitable fashion. If you haven't seen the new weekly series yet, this PBS companion site will serve as a great introduction. You can watch his recent two-hour documentary on the media's culpability in "buying the war" and perpetuating the myths of Iraqi weapons and a Saddam-al Qaida link. Also catch interviews with "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart and journalist/blogger Josh Marshall. A complete show archive, a blog, a...[the story]

evolution vs politics

2007-04-30T16:31:00.001-04:00

From Arts & Letters Daily

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution can be linked, some say, to such diverse evils as communism, fascism, and terrorism...

Teaching life lessons in dollars and sense

2007-04-20T08:58:00.001-04:00

from CNN.com:

Although college entrance exams like the SAT and ACT test a student's ability to understand algebraic equations, they don't test what many consider the practical side of math: comparing prices, computing interest and balancing checkbooks. [the story]

is it biology, chemisty, physics, or philosophy?

2007-04-11T07:25:00.000-04:00

from Arts & Letters Daily:

Can biology be reduced to chemistry and physics? And whose problem is it? Does it belong to philosophy or biology?... more

why war? no, why peace?

2007-04-03T11:49:00.000-04:00

from SciTech daily:

Instead of asking, "Why is there war?", Steven Pinker asks "Why is there peace?" ... [more]

how'd they do that?

2007-03-28T16:09:00.000-04:00

from SciTech Daily:

Birds in Chernobyl choose to nest in sites with lower levels of background radioactivity, but how they can tell? ... [more]

alternative for video gaming

2007-03-23T09:34:00.000-04:00

more thoughts on my video gaming addicted son:

from SciTech Daily:
Why not channel all the time and energy people spend on computer games into useful work to solve large-scale computational problems and thus make computers more intelligent? ... [more]

save your pennies

2007-03-17T12:18:00.000-04:00

this is amazing. it's on the pictures of pennies site:

Mac PC Spoofs

2007-03-16T08:21:00.001-04:00

This is great :-)

Mac PC Spoofs

We love Apple's "Get a Mac" campaign, which pairs older guy-PC with younger guy-Mac and shows off how much hipper and cuter and cooler Mac is. But now, we're roaring just as loudly over these four spoofs of the ad series from writer and director Laurie McGuinness. Before the same white background, portly PC and adorably disheveled Mac meet, talk, and occasionally disagree. But in these scenarios, PC wears sharply tailored suits and has a hot blonde girl friend. Mac shows up late, looking groggy from working all night on a web site for his cat. PC wants to hear what Mac is listening to; Mac doesn't want to share. PC allows that he deals with all the boring spread sheets and businessy stuff: Mac suddenly realizes that he can't make the rent. Sure, sure, we're propagating the most horrific of computer stereotypes. But, hey, it's funny. Besides, some of our best friends are PCs and Macs. (in Yahoo!Picks, Marketing & Advertising)

Vigil for Peace

2007-03-15T22:08:00.000-04:00

Episcopal Peace Fellowship joins Christian Peace Witness for big event on 3/16/07

Episcopal Church started planning such an event after coming up with "General Convention Decision 20"

my Imagini

2007-03-15T17:39:00.000-04:00

I just saw this on Barbara's blog. Kinda cool:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

nice chain mail

2007-03-13T14:41:00.000-04:00

This is a nice and inspiring chain email from a friend. It's nice:

This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror where one could
read it every day. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.

4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.

6. You mean the world to someone.

7. You are special and unique.

8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.

9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.

10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.

11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

And always remember....when life hands you Lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!

mind-reading not a hoax?

2007-03-07T12:21:00.000-05:00

This article was so cool to read. Visions of Johnny Carson in a turban came to mind as I switched over to the article's URL (SciTech daily pointed to it). Turns out there's some MRI research that's been done to see where in the brain simple decisions are made, and they've gotten results. They seem to be able to tell what choice has been made in a decision.

DailyOM: Echoes Of Happiness

2007-02-27T19:41:00.000-05:00

from DailyOM.com

February 6, 2007
Echoes Of Happiness
Belly Laughs

As children, we laugh hundreds of times each day, delighted by the newness of living. When we reach adulthood, however, we tend to not allow ourselves to let go in a good belly laugh. Inviting laughter back into our lives is simply a matter of making the conscious decision to laugh. Though most of us are incited to laugh only when exposed to humor or the unexpected, each of us is capable of laughing at will. A laugh that comes from the belly carries with it the same positive effects whether prompted by a funny joke or consciously willed into existence. When our laughter comes from the core of our being, it permeates every cell in our physical selves, beginning in the center and radiating outward, until we are not merely belly laughing but rather body laughing.

Laughter has been a part of the human mode of expression since before evolution granted us the art of speech. Through it, we connected with allies while demonstrating our connection with people we didn't know. In the present, laughter allows us to enjoy positive shared experiences with strangers and loved ones alike. Yet solitary laughter carries with it its own slew of benefits. An energetic and enthusiastic bout of whole-body laughter exercises the muscles, the lungs, and the mind in equal measure, leaving us feeling relaxed and content. When we laugh heartily at life's ridiculousness instead of responding irritably, our focus shifts. Anger, stress, guilt, and sadness no longer wield any influence over us, and we are empowered to make light of what we originally feared. Laughter also opens our hearts, letting love and light in, changing our perspective, and enabling us to fix our attention on what is positive in our lives.

It is easy to laugh when we feel good, but it is when the world appears dim that we most need laughter in our lives. Our laughter then resonates through our hearts, filling the empty spaces with pure, unadulterated joy. We regain our footing in the moment and remember that no sorrow is powerful enough to rob us of our inborn happiness. When we understand that uninhibited laughter is the food of the soul, nourishing us from within, we know instinctively that life is worthwhile.

'Infomania' worse than marijuana

2007-02-25T19:47:00.000-05:00

Many workers are always on standby to react to incoming messages. Workers distracted by email and phone calls suffer a fall in IQ more than twice that found in marijuana smokers, new research has claimed.
[read the article]

video game junkie

2007-02-23T06:46:00.000-05:00

My son is a video game junkie. Maybe I should start a group called MADVG (Mothers Against Driven Video Gamers - I wanted the MAD of MADD to stay in there, but don't know if it makes for a lame acronym).

For four (?) years, he has played Runescape during nearly every bit of his free time at home, and who knows how much time he gets on it when he's at a friend's house. The RuneHQ site has lots of info about Runescape. He may even have access in the library when he stays after school (hey, maybe I could get the librarians to ban access . . .).

When I'm home (which isn't often these days, since I work full time 1000 miles away :-( and get home on weekends), I try to force him off after an hour or two straight, to go read, do a chore, hang out with me, run around outside, play his instrument, do scouts homework, etc (note, his physique hasn't suffered from this addiction, since he is also a soccer monster - at least we have that).

So, as I read this article, I am, yet again, seeking ways to have him get less interested. I don't know if we'll fix it while he and Husband are still in Rochester, NY. There's only one boy his age in our "neighborhood" (term used loosely because we live on a direct-line road into the city from a major highway, and most of the residents on our block are young professional renters). I have hopes that, when they join me in Melbourne, FL, the neighborhood we've chosen will provide him with lots of choices of kids to hang out with.

excerpt from the article:
The research found that games can provide opportunities for achievement, freedom, and even a connection to other players. Those benefits trumped a shallow sense of fun, which doesn't keep players as interested.

How Do We Stop Genocide When We Begin To Lose Interest After The First Victim?

2007-02-22T12:42:00.000-05:00

I got this link from my subscription to the e-newsletter SciTech Daily. The article is in Science Daily. Troubling, but I can see their point :-(

abstract: Follow your intuition and act? When it comes to genocide, forget it. It doesn't work, says a University of Oregon psychologist. The large numbers of reported deaths represent dry statistics that fail to spark emotion and feeling and thus fail to motivate actions. Even going from one to two victims, feeling and meaning begin to fade, he said.
[read the article]

The Stairs of Light

2007-02-11T10:15:00.000-05:00

Alex Brown
February 1, 2007

The stairs of light are optional

If you choose to be optimistic
You ascend the stairs of light

If you choose to be miserable
You descend the dark stairs

Those stairs lead nowhere

At times, the stairs of light may be hard
But in the end is the right choice

For at the end of them is

A feeling of peacefullness
Inside of you

Dad

2007-02-10T11:57:00.000-05:00

So, my Dad is gone. During our visits with my parents we've visited a lot without words. I love you, Dad, and wonder where you are now. If you're "up there" I hope you will still come to visit without words.

persuasion, negotiation, rhetoric

2007-01-30T13:22:00.000-05:00

While reading one of my many email newsletters (SciTech Daily), I fell upon a book review called "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die". This had me go to my favorite book store, Amazon.com, where I ordered the audio CD for it. It's basically about making someone remember an idea and convincing them of something.

Later, when reading a Christian Books & Culture e-newsletter (ahhh, guided websurfing!), they were talking about a book called "How Faith Happens." I don't know what the book's about, but they described the author as also being a student of rhetoric.

I wasn't sure of what rhetoric is, so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Guess what? It's a form of working to convince someone of something. On the brain, maybe?

---------------
1/31/07: additional link on the Made to Stick book, from Business Week.

hide the catbox

2007-01-28T20:12:00.000-05:00

With the possibility of moving to a more expensive area, we're figuring the square footage in a new house will be significantly decreased.

So one thing we're likely to have to camouflage is the litter box (yuck!).

One day I found loads of links for ways to hide the litter box. Here they are:

bye, bye, Grace

2007-01-25T22:24:00.000-05:00

we'll miss you

Gracie Grace, 1991-2007

history of doubt

2007-01-21T09:05:00.000-05:00

Since I'm on a plane every weekend, I listen to podcasts, music, books on tape, etc, a lot. One radio show I like is Speaking of Faith. I thought the episode entitled "A History of Doubt" was both intriguing and educational. The author is not religious. She describes famous doubters such as Aristotle, etc. One thing that I thought was interesting was her discussion on cynics, epherists (sp?), skeptics, and the such. I was not aware, before, for instance, that the source of the word cynic comes from dog-like.

house hunting

2007-01-21T08:35:00.000-05:00

So, you know the area in which you want to buy. Now you want to find a house, right? Well, the sites like realtor.com don't really help you out if you're searching by area, because they make you put all this search criteria and give you listings that are in who knows what neighborhood.

I went searching and searching for a site that would show all MLS listed houses on a map. It took me several hours, but I found one! I'd been hoping there would be one for Google Earth, but it seems that the only ones that run on that software are not free.

And the results are:

	real estate mapping site - Trulia.com
	realtor.com - where to go with the listing number once you're done, just to check and see if you're getting all the info that the real estate company provided - go to the bottom of the form and put in the mls number that you got from trulia.com

world's stinkiest flower

2007-01-14T15:38:00.000-05:00

this is so strange. looking kinda like a fungus, it smells like rotting flesh (yuck!), and it's also considered world's largest flower

as my sister would say, "eww, weird!"

more pictures of this flower
Wikipedia article

it's ok to miss the bed on the first jump

2007-01-11T07:39:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a stab at watching Good Morning America online, so as not to interrupt the beauty sleep of my sister, who's visiting me in my hotel of residence, but didn't get in until 12:30 last night (and of course we had to visit before going to bed!).

So, anyway, I just watched a GMA clip on this book, "It's OK to Miss the Bed on the First Jump". The author is one of today's recognized funny TV guys, and the book seems like it's real sweet. Hint: it's about dogs.

how cluttered are you?

2007-01-08T12:34:00.000-05:00

Ran into this when reading the newspaper. This time of year the media talks and gives advice about decluttering. With interest in resolutions, decluttering becomes a popular focus. At our house we tend to tackle something regarding clutter that's been annoying us for some time. Last year we reorganized our home office.

Well, along with articles and thoughts on decluttering, we tend to get reminded of the uncle who stacked years and years of newspapers through his house. Or some other packrat story.

Here is a link to an actual rating for clutteredness. It seems to apply to general household slovenliness, and categorizes household filth in with clutter. Makes sense to me. I felt good that we don't get past "1", but could think of places that hit "2", unfortunately. But it had never occurred to me before that there could be ratings on such things. Learn something new every day.

Florida is for visitors

2007-01-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

I'm getting my first visitor! And I don't have a residence yet! Isn't that cool?

I'm still living in a hotel. My sister's going to Orlando for a conference and will be visiting me for a day before. Here are the things we're considering doing:

kayaking at the zoo
watching a big surfing competition

I grew up in Maryland. As a child I knew the nicknames for Maryland (Maryland is for Crabs) and Virginia (Virginia is for Lovers). Is New York (where I'm relocating from) "I Love New York"? Or is it the Empire State. I know South Carolina (where I went to college) is the Palmetto State. But I don't know if those nicknames are in the same class of nicknames as those I listed for MD and VA.

I know that Florida has several nicknames. Lightning Capital of the World. The name Florida stands for "flowers" (so the state name is a nickname in itself!). I think the official nickname is the Sunshine State.

Regardless, I think the nickname I've given it is the best one.