Random Thoughts

A conversation with a burglar reveals some good places to hide your money. Interesting.

Link: The Best Place To Hide Money: Conversation With A Burglar

Thursday, February 08, 2007

25 things to see at the Googleplex before you die

Well, I have never visited the Googleplex. But if I do, I will refer to this ...

Link: GOOGLE: 25 things to see at the Googleplex ...

11 Most Important Philosophical Quotations.

Feeling philosophical? Try this....

Link: 11 Most Important Philosophical Quotations.

Fake Holograms a 3-D Crime Wave

If you thought that

A hologram is a sign of a genuine product
Holograms could not be duplicated

Think again ....

Link: Wired News: Fake Holograms a 3-D Crime Wave

Monday, February 05, 2007

The Pompous Ass Words Home Page

Snippet from the site:

This is the Pompous Ass Words site, a place dedicated to identifying words that shouldn't be used on the grounds that doing so makes you sound like a pompous ass.

Link: The Pompous Ass Words Home Page

How to Make Google Go Crazy

Go try it ...

Link: Make Google Go Crazy

Sunday, February 04, 2007

10 tips for time management in a multitasking world

Link : 10 tips for time management in a multitasking world

Actual article (copied from the site above):

10 tips for time management in a multitasking world

Time
management is one of those skills no one teaches you in school but you
have to learn. It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you can’t
organize information well enough to take it in. And it doesn’t matter
how skilled you are if procrastination keeps you from getting your work
done.

Younger workers understand this, and time management is becoming a
topic of hipsters. One of the most popular blogs in the world is Lifehacker, edited by productivity guru Gina Trapani, and her forthcoming book by the same name is a bestseller on Amazon based so far on pre-orders.

In today’s workplace, you can differentiate yourself by your ability
to handle information and manage your time. “Careers are made or broken
by the soft skills that make you able to hand a very large workload,”
says Merlin Mann, editor of the productivity blog 43 Folders.

So here are 10 tips to make you better at managing your work:

1. Don’t leave email sitting in your in box.

“The ability to quickly process and synthesize information and turn it
into actions is one of the most emergent skills of the professional
world today,” says Mann. Organize email in file folders. If the message
needs more thought, move it to your to-do list. If it’s for reference,
print it out. If it’s a meeting, move it to your calendar.

“One thing young people are really good at is only touching things
once. You don’t see young people scrolling up and down their email
pretending to work,” says Mann. Take action on an email as soon as you
read it.

2. Admit multitasking is bad.

For people who didn’t grow up watching TV, typing out instant messages and doing homework all at the same time, multitasking is deadly. But it decreases everyone’s productivity,
no matter who they are. “A 20-year-old is less likely to feel
overwhelmed by demands to multitask, but young people still have a loss
of productivity from multitasking,” says Trapani.

So try to limit it. Kathy Sierra at Creating Passionate Users suggests practicing mindfulness as a way to break the multitasking habit.

3. Do the most important thing first.

Trapani calls this “running a morning dash”. When she sits
down to work in the morning, before she checks any email, she spends an
hour on the most important thing on her to-do list. This is a great
idea because even if you can’t get the whole thing done in an hour,
you’ll be much more likely to go back to it once you’ve gotten it
started. She points out that this dash works best if you organize the
night before so when you sit down to work you already know what your
most important task of the day is.

4. Check your email on a schedule.

“It’s not effective to read and answer every email as it arrives. Just
because someone can contact you immediately does not mean that you have
to respond to them immediately,” says Dan Markovitz, president of the productivity consulting firm TimeBack Management,
“People want a predictable response, not an immediate response.” So as
long as people know how long to expect an answer to take, and they know
how to reach you in an emergency, you can answer most types of email
just a few times a day.

5. Keep web site addresses organized.

Use book marking services like del.icio.us
to keep track of web sites. Instead of having random notes about places
you want to check out, places you want to keep as a reference, etc.,
you can save them all in one place, and you can search and share your
list easily.

6. Know when you work best.

Industrial designer Jeff Beene
does consulting work, so he can do it any time of day. But, he says, “I
try to schedule things so that I work in the morning, when I am the
most productive.” Each person has a best time. You can discover yours
by monitoring your productivity over a period of time. Then you need to
manage your schedule to keep your best time free for your most
important work.

7. Think about keystrokes.

If you’re on a computer all day, keystrokes matter because
efficiency matters. “On any given day, an information worker will do a
dozen Google searchers,” says Trapani. “How many keystrokes does it
take? Can you reduce it to three? You might save 10 seconds, but over
time, that builds up.”

8. Make it easy to get started.

We don’t have problems finishing projects, we have problems
starting them,” says Mann. He recommends you “make a shallow on-ramp.”
Beene knows the key creating this on ramp: “I try to break own my
projects into chunks, so I am not overwhelmed by them.”

9. Organize your to-do list every day.

If you don’t know what you should be doing, how can you manage your
time to do it? Some people like writing this list out by hand because
it shows commitment to each item if you are willing to rewrite it each
day until it gets done. Other people like software that can slice and
dice their to-do list into manageable, relevant chunks. For example,
Beene uses tasktoy
because when he goes to a client site tasktoy shows him only his to do
items for that client, and not all his other projects. (Get tasktoy here.)

10. Dare to be slow.

Remember that a good time manager actually responds to some things more
slowly than a bad time manager would. For example, someone who is doing
the highest priority task is probably not answering incoming email
while they’re doing it. As Markovitz writes: “Obviously there are more
important tasks than processing email. Intuitively, we all know this.
What we need to do now is recognize that processing one’s work
(evaluating what’s come in and how to handle it) and planning one’s
work are also mission-critical tasks.”

No Big Bang? Endless Universe Made Possible by New Model

A new theory has come up that challenges the "Big Bang" theory for the Universe's creation ...

Link: No Big Bang? Endless Universe Made Possible by New Model

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Found this puzzle on the net. I do have the solution and will post it soon ...

PUZZLE:

---------

"I believe you are unfamiliar with the penal system in our country," said the warden, as he led the new prisoner to his cell. "We find that it improves prison morale for each prisoner to have a chance to end his sentence at any time. In your case, we have set up a combination lock on your cell door.

There are ten dials, on which you can set up any ten-digit number. If you set
up the right one, the cell door will unlock and you will be free to leave."

"I see," said the prisoner. "Then if I try every possible number, I'm sure to hit the right one."

"True," said the warden, "but even if
you were able to change the numbers at the rate of one per second without rest, it would still take you a hundred years to hit the right combination.
However, you could try numbers at random and have a chance of choosing the right one. Or, you could search for the clue which we always provide."

"What sort of clue?"

"Well, it might be almost anything. For example, one of our prisoners was put in an escape-proof cell and told that he would be pardoned if he could break out. He was also given permission to keep any plants he wished in his cell."

"What became of him?"

The warden chuckled. "After more than two years, he suddenly realized that some words may have more than one meaning. He requested a poison ivy plant. Soon after receiving it, he broke out – in a rash. Naturally, he received his pardon."

The warden unlocked the cell and ushered the prisoner in. "Your cell contains a desk calculator and writing implements. Good luck."

The prisoner was left alone. He tried a few combinations on the lock without success. What could the clue be? A thought struck him. It seemed worth a try. He made a few calculations, and then set up a number on the lock. The cell door opened and the prisoner strolled out, after serving less than an hour of his sentence.

What number did he
try?

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

INSANE Japanese obstacle course

This obstacle course is absolutely INSANE. And the guy actually completed it !!

Link: Sasuke Obstacle Course - YouTube

Top 10 Foods for a Good Night's Sleep

Taken from Top 10 Foods ... Yahoo! Food

What is the secret to getting a
solid 7 to 8 hours of sleep? Head for the kitchen and enjoy one or two
of these 10 foods. They relax tense muscles, quiet buzzing minds,
and/or get calming, sleep-inducing hormones - serotonin and melatonin
- Yawning They're
practically a sleeping pill in a peel. In addition to a bit of soothing
melatonin and serotonin, bananas contain magnesium, a muscle relaxant.

Chamomile tea.
The reason chamomile is such a staple of bedtime tea blends is its mild
sedating effect - it's the perfect natural antidote for restless
minds/bodies.

Warm milk. It's not a myth. Milk
has some tryptophan - an amino acid that has a sedative - like effect -
and calcium, which helps the brain use tryptophan. Plus there's the
psychological throw-back to infancy, when a warm bottle meant "relax,
everything's fine."

Honey. Drizzle a little in
your warm milk or herb tea. Lots of sugar is stimulating, but a little
glucose tells your brain to turn off orexin, a recently discovered
neurotransmitter that's linked to alertness.

Potatoes.
A small baked spud won't overwhelm your GI tract, and it clears away
acids that can interfere with yawn-inducing tryptophan. To up the
soothing effects, mash it with warm milk.

Oatmeal.
Oats are a rich source of sleep - inviting melatonin, and a small bowl
of warm cereal with a splash of maple syrup is cozy - plus if you've
got the munchies, it's filling too.

Almonds. A
handful of these heart-healthy nuts can be snooze-inducing, as they
contain both tryptophan and a nice dose of muscle-relaxing magnesium.

Flaxseeds.
When life goes awry and feeling down is keeping you up, try sprinkling
2 tablespoons of these healthy little seeds on your bedtime oatmeal.
They're rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a natural mood lifter.

Whole-wheat bread.
A slice of toast with your tea and honey will release insulin, which
helps tryptophan get to your brain, where it's converted to serotonin
and quietly murmurs "time to sleep."

Turkey.
It's the most famous source of tryptophan, credited with all those
Thanksgiving naps. But that's actually modern folklore. Tryptophan
works when your stomach's basically empty, not overstuffed, and when
there are some carbs around, not tons of protein. But put a lean slice
or two on some whole-wheat bread mid-evening, and you've got one of the
best sleep inducers in your kitchen.

What if none of these
foods help get your Check out your sleep habits with this
quick RealAge test to find out what?s keeping you up at night. http://www.realage.com/health_guides/RLS/intro.aspx

For an extra treat, here's the ultimate sleep-inducing snack...

Lullaby Muffins

Makes 12 low-fat muffins

Between the bananas, the whole wheat, and the honeyed touch of sweetness, these muffins are practically an edible lullaby.

· 2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 1 tablespoon baking powder

· 2 large, very ripe bananas

· 1/3 cup applesauce

· 1/4 cup honey

· 1/2 cup milk or soymilk

Preheat
oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine the flour (make sure it's
whole-wheat pastry flour or you'll produce golf balls, not muffins),
salt, and baking powder. In a blender, puree the bananas; add the
applesauce, honey, and milk. Blend well. Pour the banana mixture into
the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Line muffin tins
with paper muffin cups, pour in batter, and bake 30 minutes or until
tops are lightly brown and slightly springy.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving: 119 calories; 1g fat; 2.5g protein; 27g carbohydrates; 10g sugars; 133mg sodium; 3g fiber; 35mg magnesium

One of my favorites - attributed to Mother Teresa generally, but some sites say that it was written by Kent Keith in 1968. Irrespective of who wrote it, it is beautiful ...

Anyway

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Monday, January 22, 2007

You call that a boat?

It's an alien ship!! No, its a new boat - the "Proteus".

Go look see ...

Link: MercuryNews.com | 01/19/2007 | You call that a boat?

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Top 100 endangered species

A list of the top 100 species that have reached a critical stage in terms of their existence on this planet. We should act before it is too late...

Link: EDGE :: EDGE Top 100

Monday, January 15, 2007

Deep Space Images

DEEP SPACE.

One of the neat things about this (besides the killer images) is you only load the part of the picture you are looking at. Click a couple of times on the image to enlarge then you can pull the image to see areas that are off screen. When you get to an area that hasn't been loaded yet it will look blurry until the image loads. Too cool.

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/mediaimages/zooms/index.shtml

Random Thoughts

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Some nice snaps

Monday, February 12, 2007

Bizarre divorce: Far apart under one roof

Saturday, February 10, 2007

The Best Place To Hide Money

Thursday, February 08, 2007

25 things to see at the Googleplex before you die

11 Most Important Philosophical Quotations.

Fake Holograms a 3-D Crime Wave

Monday, February 05, 2007

The Pompous Ass Words Home Page

How to Make Google Go Crazy

Sunday, February 04, 2007

10 tips for time management in a multitasking world

10 tips for time management in a multitasking world

No Big Bang? Endless Universe Made Possible by New Model

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

INSANE Japanese obstacle course

Top 10 Foods for a Good Night's Sleep

Monday, January 22, 2007

You call that a boat?

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Top 100 endangered species

Monday, January 15, 2007

Deep Space Images

Need a Good Painter? (This Guy Should Qualify)

The distribution of world income

Space Shuttle Discovery Launch

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