Theme Builder Creates Document Themes for Office 2007

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.

Office 2007 Theme Builder [Microsoft via Life Rocks 2.0]

Make Your Own Chalkboard Paint

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.

other interesting links:

Make Custom Color Chalkboard Paint [MarthaStewart.com]
How To Make Your Own Chalkboard Paint [Crafts At Home via Lifehacker AU]

worry-wart

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:

1. enter one worry per line
2. fill out column B for every worry. for the "no"s go to step 3, and for the "yes"s go to step 6.
   
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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)
6. 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

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

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.

Jewelry goes Open-Source

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

Read More >>

Custom Printed Shower Curtains from Your Digital Photos

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

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...

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

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