Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Great alternative - Very Short List

While this blog continues in hibernation, you who do visit here would be most interested in checking out the Very Short List.

It does so much better than we tried to do. Monday through Friday, great stuff.

Want a sample?

View today's Bruce Lee Nokia video, ping pong with nunchakus!

If you like that, you'll enjoy the others they provide so sign up for email delivery to your inbox here.

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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Garfield ... Minus Garfield



One of the wonderful things about the internet is that people with way too much time on their hands have a way to share their whacky musings with the rest of us.

I cite a site called garfield minus garfield where the basic premis is this:
Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

I'm grateful to Logical Emotions for alerting me to this one! There's something about the allusions to mental illness coupled with the sheer randomness of the results of removing Garfield from the frames that works for me. Maybe that says a lot about my mental state, I dunno...

Here's a taste...













and my favourite:

Saturday, March 01, 2008

goodbye anonymous comments

I have gone back and forth on this issue of anonymity a number of times in my own mind and after reading here, I have decided to remove anonymous comments from the various blogs I control. This change is effective 3/1/08.

This is not turning away conversation.

This is ensuring that the conversation is based in honesty and real identity.

It also helps that Google has enabled additional accounts to be used to comment.

If you have any issues with anonymity, you can email me (as you won't be able to comment) after March 1. Email to shersteve at gmail dot com

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

5min - Life Videopedia

5min is a place to find short video solutions for every practical question and is also a place for people who want to share their knowledge. 5min's vision is simple: any solution can be visually explained in 5 minutes.
Too many videos to link to. So may I caution you not to get lost there. Do come up to breathe once awhile.

Of course, check back in here for a new site to go explore!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Kamangir - Archer

I am an Iranian student, not studying politics, law, or anything related to what I talk about in here. I have been living in Canada, since last year, with my lovely wife, Azadeh, and our zero children.

Kamangir means archer in Persian, and please remember that the name Farsi is the Arabic term for the language I speak as my mother tongue. So, here, I will only use the term Persian. I have chosen Kamangir as my blog’s name because my first name is Arash. In the mythology, Arash is the heroic archer who saves Iran. the full story is mentioned here.

I am an agnostic, raised in an Islamic country. Since childhood, one of my greatest challenges has been to explain to Muslims how obvious they think their ideas are and how ignorantly they force others to live as they do. Obviously, this blog follows the same path. However, when I talk about the words “Islam” and “Muslim”, I mean the mainstream Islam and Muslimism. To my understanding, people have the right to worship whatever they want to however they want to and this is none of anyone’s business. However, when people force children to recite books or take ideology courses, or collapse twin buildings, for that matter, in the name of Allah, I find no reason to remain silent.

There is more to the "long version" of Arash's profile that you can read here.

I had already written What I Learned from People before finding Kamangir. This is one site that helps to bring the other point of view forward. Cruise amongst the media rich site and see for yourself.

A video sample:




Enjoy!

Friday, February 22, 2008

5 for Friday

On this 5 for Friday, we have a variety of course from which you can pick and choose.

1 - Mr Brilliant (37Days readers will recognize this one) has his own blog now. He just celebrated his birthday. That didn't stop him from posting on his birthday:
An early study of attention and perception (or “How Many Items Can it Embrace at Once?”) popped out at me while muscling my way through another year of Nature magazine for 1871. The article was by W. Stanley Jevons ("The Power of Numerical Discrimination," 1871) who contributes an interesting and very early experimental bit on the success of the brain to correctly formulate an accurate memory when in a flash shown a number of items. (That is to say, when shown a certain group of X-number of items instantaneously and then removed, how often will the mind be able to remember the correct number upon recall--and without committing them to memory per se or counting them?) In this fascinating study Jevons records not only right/wrong answers but how "close" the remembered fit is to the original number, and in effect is a pioneering scientific effort towards understanding our abilities and limits in information processing.
Read the remainder of this posting here, or go to the top of his page and start with whatever you find.

2 - Weekend Entrepreneur
Melanie Benson-Strick is our weekend entrepreneur poster child for this week, and we congratulate her for not only making the escape from cubicle nation, but for persisting until she got it right, and then creating a template and system for other motivated would-be entrepreneurs to follow her footsteps…
Click through to read the full interview with Melanie

3 - And from Noel Kingsley we find out about the Alexander Technique

My 'work' with the Alexander Technique is about helping people improve their health and well being and be more successful. They learn to free themselves of unwanted postural habits to improve their balance and co-ordination. By making appropriate choices for themselves they rediscover the natural poise they enjoyed as young children. In principle it's a simple and practical technique that can bring profound benefits including enhancing abilities and performance in sport, business or the arts as well as reducing stress and building self-confidence. And it's usually great fun.

It's wonderful having so many different and interesting clients to see every day. But although they are all very different, the one thing that they have in common is the wish to help themselves. The Alexander Technique gives them a basis to do just that. I've been using the Alexander Technique for over thirty-three years and I can honestly say it's helped me make the most of myself in so many different ways and it underpins my view on life in general.

4 - And from Cellobella in Perth, Australia we find out about the Pillow Wall

A number of people I know are pregnant at the moment and they’ve reached that happy stage of the third trimester where everything is oh so slightly uncomfortable, including sleep.

Slowly over the months they have been collecting pillows one by one. Arranging one behind their back, one between their thighs, one under the belly - now full and heavy - until it takes at least ten minutes to settle in the right spot - cocooned on what was once Passion Central and is now divided by… The Pillow Wall.

Click through to observe the set up (yes, it is safe)

5 - And finally we hear from McBilly:

Hi, my name is McBilly Wilford Sy. Yes. McBilly is my real name. Weird? Theres a story behind it.

You see, the word Mc actually means son of and Billy is another word for William. So now you know my dad’s name. Cool isn’t it?! :)

I’m 18 years old and currently a working student taking up Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. What can I say, I just love the internet and I want to make a difference.

Other than being a student, I’m a freelance web designer, flash artist and internet entrepreneur. I’m not an expert, but I’ve earned enough from the web that I can honestly say that there is money in the internet.

Have fun cruising amongst these sites. One or more of these you just might find you need to add to your RSS Reader of choice.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

GoodyBlog

Powered by Parents Magazine, the GoodyBlog has quite a crew behind the scenes. The tagline says you can find "Must See, Must Have, Must Do, Right Now."

Although my kids are grown, I recall those days of needing to do something quick while they were quiet or napping.

If you are in the Parents profile, maybe you have already found this site. If you have not, cruise around and check it out.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Simple Dollar

The Simple Dollar is for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds - we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money. Read more about The Simple Dollar, peruse some of the best articles, or become a subscriber via a feed reader or by email.

This site is hosted by Dreamhost, a great host if you're just starting out. Read about my experiences with them.

The Simple Dollar doesn't fit the normal guideline of finding a site with very low ranking and sharing it. With 26,000 plus users, it doesn't need the Hitchhiker Team's help.

You, however, may be able to use this site to help yourself financially.

Go explore!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Chuck's Blog - Chuck Hollis

Chuck writes in his profile:
Chuck Hollis has been with EMC for 12 years, and is Vice President of Technology Alliances at EMC. He frequently speaks to customer audiences about a variety of technology topics, and can usually be counted on for an interesting point of view. He lives in Holliston, MA with his wife, three kids and two dogs when he's not traveling. Chuck enjoys piano, mountain biking and skiing -- in that order.

I liked the FeedJit widget that he uses so much that I set it up on one of my own blogs. If it works well as it seems to, I may expand its use elsewhere.

Spend some time on Chuck's site. If you are into marketing and technology, the six degrees of separation here may put you one step closer to where you want to be.

Monday, February 18, 2008

!Marty Finestones' Activity Book

Activity Book is an apt name for this site. Last week Marty shared the alert about Adobe's PDF files, shared a tip on how to furnish your studio apt with just one box, shared where to obtain some cool smiley spoons, and for those whom Valentine's Day may have left some unfulfilled expectations, he shares a cool video from a New Zealand comedy duo:





I think you may find some more items of interest in the Activity Book. Go explore!

LeadershipNow

From the About page:
At LeadershipNow, we want to change the way you think about leadership. It is not about position. Leadership is everybody’s business. It is for men, women and children. It is for families, business and communities. It is for you. In today’s world we need leadership now. We need people of all ages from all backgrounds to take advantage of the myriad of opportunities that exist to make a difference. The path to leadership begins in the mind. Leaders think differently. They see the world differently. We all possess the capacity for leadership, but only those who cultivate it will ever become truly effective leaders. By providing articles, features, books, multimedia and other resources, we would like to encourage you to develop the leader in you — to become an active participant in shaping your future and the future of others.

Recent Posts
This is a good site to consider adding to your RSS reader of choice.