"In my experience, the thing that has the most significant impact on a movie's budget -- but never shows up in a budget -- is morale. If you have low morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about 25 cents of value. If you have high morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about $3 of value. Companies should pay much more attention to morale." -- Brad Bird, Pixar; 'Pixar's Brad Bird on fostering innovation in the workplace' [Via: Kottke]...
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An interesting conversation has been going on these past days on different blogs about fractured blog comments, how bloggers are losing control and how content is becoming more and more of a commodity these days. Here are some selected quotes about this, the first by blogger Steven Hodson in which he worries about the devaluation of his brand: "We are being told that once we have written our posts we no longer have any say over what happens to them. In effect we are having to give up the vary basis of what gives our brand its very worth...So as...
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If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. Tony Robbins...
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The owners of the Paris Orly airport, one of the two big Paris airports, have announced plans to meet a third of its heating needs from geothermal energy. Two 1,700-meter deep shafts are to be drilled deep under the perimeter of the city’s Orly airport, where water heated by the earth’s core will be drawn upwards by natural pressure. When it reaches the surface, the water, at a temperature of 74 degrees Celsius, will be injected into the airports heating system. It will then be pumped back into the ground at a temperature of 45 C. The Orly-Ouest terminal, part...
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This is just unbelievable... A young Saudi Arabian woman was murdered by her father for chatting on the social network site Facebook, it has emerged. The unnamed woman from Riyadh was beaten and shot after she was discovered in the middle of an online conversation with a man, the al-Arabiya website reported. [...] Saudi preacher Ali al-Maliki has emerged as the leading critic of Facebook, claiming the network is corrupting the youth of the nation. "Facebook is a door to lust and young women and men are spending more on their mobile phones and the Internet than they are spending...
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The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has launched a new program called NEWtrees, through which you get to buy a tree for only $5.50, which is then planted in a rainforest in Sebangau National Forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia and you are given the possibility to watch it grow on Google Earth (they send you a Google Earth KML file with the coordinates of your tree). As Google Earth is updated with higher resolution satellite and aerial images, you should be able to keep an eye on your tree as it grows. To see already planted trees and buy one of...
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A really creative and useful idea to help power African schools in a clean way... A young inventor is hoping to tap the unbounded energy of children in a playground to power schools in Africa. Design student Daniel Sheridan has created a simple see-saw which generates enough electricity to light a classroom. The device works by transferring the power, created by a child moving up and down on it, to an electricity storage unit via an underground cable. The Coventry University student has won £5,500 in funding to develop the idea. [Source: BBC News]...
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Fundamentally, the stuff we call "intellectual property" is just knowledge - ideas, words, tunes, blueprints, identifiers, secrets, databases. This stuff is similar to property in some ways: it can be valuable, and sometimes you need to invest a lot of money and labour into its development to realise that value. But it is also dissimilar from property in equally important ways. Most of all, it is not inherently "exclusive". If you trespass on my flat, I can throw you out (exclude you from my home). If you steal my car, I can take it back (exclude you from my...
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The Catholic Church has come out with a list of seven new modern day sins - 1,500 years after announcing the original Seven Deadly Sins. The new sins outlined in the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, include: 1. Genetic modification 2. Human experimentations 3. Polluting the environment 4. Social injustice 5. Causing poverty 6. Financial gluttony 7. Taking drugs According to the Catholic Church, a person who commits a mortal sin risks burning in hell unless it's absolved through confession and penitence. [Source: wbztv.com]...
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However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them? -- Buddha...
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After 13 years on top of the list of the world's richest people, Forbes says that Bill Gates has slipped down in the list. The honor now belongs to Warren Buffett. The list of the top 20 richest people in the world goes as follows now: 1. Warren Buffett 2. Carlos Slim Helu 3. William Gates III 4. Lakshmi Mittal 5. Mukesh Ambani 6. Anil Ambani 7. Ingvar Kamprad 8. KP Singh 9. Oleg Deripaska 10. Karl Albrecht 11. Li Ka-shing 12. Sheldon Adelson 13. Bernard Arnault 14. Lawrence Ellison 15. Roman Abramovich 16. Theo Albrecht 17. Liliane Bettencourt 18....
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The hypocrite's crime is that he bears false witness against himself. What makes it so plausible to assume that hypocrisy is the vice of vices is that integrity can indeed exist under the cover of all other vices except this one. Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core. ~ Hannah Arendt, On Revolution, 1963...
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Great Pulitzer prize winning comic from 2002... Clay Bennett 10/11/01 / ©2001 Christian Science Monitor [Source: Pulitzer.org]...
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Really cool and edible idea from the designers Mary & Matt: Chocolate Scrabble. I'd definitely always be out of letters... [Buy: Mary & Matt] [Via: AndFarAway, Core77]...
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Swedish car-maker Volvo has come up with a crash-proof family car which should go on sale in the autumn of this year. The car's secret is a laser-guidance system to spot vehicles in front that are too close or stopping suddenly. When it does, the car will automatically stop to avoid a crash. The CitySafety system, as it is called, kicks in at speeds of up to 20mph and is designed for urban driving. Volvo say that the system has the potential to prevent half of all rear-end collisions, that make up 29 per cent of all reported car accidents.....
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An interesting study from New Zealand says it does... Creative genius and crime express themselves early in men but both are turned off almost like a tap if a man gets married and has children, a study says. Satoshi Kanazawa, a psychologist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, compiled a database of the biographies of 280 great scientists, noting their age at the time when they made their greatest work. [...] Within five years of making their nuptial vows, nearly a quarter of married scientists had made their last significant contribution to history's hall of fame. "Scientists rather...
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...And above all things, never think that you're not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you at your own reckoning. -- Isaac Asimov This goes to a friend I had a little chat with today; and to everyone who ever found themselves in a moment they started to doubt themselves in....
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ArabianBusiness.com have just released a list of the world's 50 richest Arabs. Most of them are from the gulf region, mainly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates; with the rest divided among Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iraq and one person from Jordan. No one from the Arab Maghreb is anywhere to be seen on the list. Here are the Top 10 sorted by net worth: 1. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud (Saudi Arabia): US$ 29.5 Billion 2. The Al Rajhi Family (Saudi Arabia): US$ 24 Billion 3. The Hariri Family (Lebanon): US$ 17.8 Billion 4. Nasser Al...
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The results of the Innovate or Die competition, which challenged inventors to evaluate environmental issues and develop ingenious solutions surrounding climate change using pedal based machines, have recently been announced. Team Aquaduct was declared the winner out of 102 entries by utilizing the human ability to pedal to bring an easy and effective solution and lots of hope to people in the developing world who struggle daily to gather, transport, filter, and store clean drinking and cooking water. A peristaltic pump attached to the pedal crank draws water from a large tank, through a carbon filter, to a smaller clean...
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Finally... Saudi Arabia is to lift the ban on women drivers in an attempt to stem a rising suffragette-style movement in the kingdom. Government officials have confirmed the landmark decision and plan to issue a decree by the end of the year. The move is designed to forestall protests for greater freedom by women, which have recently included campaigners driving cars through the kingdom in defiance of a threat of detention and loss of livelihoods. "There has been a decision to move on this by the Royal Court because it is recognised that if girls have been in schools since...
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Another stupid act by some school over a Muslim girl's choice of clothes... ... Juashaunna Kelly, a senior at the District of Columbia's Theodore Roosevelt High School, has the fastest mile and 2-mile times of any girl runner in the city this winter. She was disqualified from Saturday's Montgomery Invitational indoor track and field meet. Kelly was wearing the same uniform she has worn for three seasons while running for Theodore Roosevelt's cross-country and track teams. The custom-made, one-piece blue and orange unitard covers her head, arms, torso and legs. Over the unitard, she wears the same orange and blue...
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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -- Mark Twain...
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In my daily readings I recently came across this entry, that I thought I'd share here, about how you should always try to hire people that are better than you, something I totally agree with, and breaks down the reasons into the following points (I'm resuming in my own words): 1. Trust: You're more likely to trust someone with something if you know they'll be doing it ever better than you could. 2. Quality: You're sure there won't be a drop in quality whether you'r ethere or not. 3. Fresh Perspectives: These people will bring different experiences, skills, viewpoints and...
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Ever wondered about where IKEA gets their product names from? What they mean? What language they're in? Well most of the names are usually either Swedish, Danish, Finnish or Norwegian in origin, and there's a whole naming system that they're using for their product ranges, and it goes as follows: Upholstered furniture, coffee tables, rattan furniture, bookshelves, media storage, doorknobs: Swedish place names Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture: Norwegian place names Dining tables and chairs: Finnish place names Bookcase ranges: Occupations Bathroom articles: Scandinavian lakes, rivers and bays Kitchens: grammatical terms, sometimes also other names Chairs, desks: men's names Materials, curtains:...
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I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Hijri Year 1429. Today is the first day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. May it be a blessed, happy and joyful new year for you all bringing you prosperity, success and great health. Most households in Tunisia cook either Mloukhia or Couscous on this day; Mloukhia, because it's green as a way of hoping it will be a green and fruitful new year ahead, or Couscous, Tunisia's national dish using meat that was specially dried and salted for the occasion from the previous Eid Al-Adha (Kaddeedit Ras...
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Work/Life balance is a very important subject and really big challenge for a lot of people nowadays; I just came across an interesting post on Slacker Manager where David Zinger shares his 8 simple rules to solve work/life balance. Here's a quick overview of his ideas in my own words: 1. Make sure you really want to and can change to achieve this balance 2. Put life before work. 3. Create a dynamic balance not a static one. 4. Set your limits; Know when to say no to work and yes to family. 5. Don’t lie to yourself about who...
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I just came across a really interesting study by Saras D. Sarasvathy from University of Washington's School of Business on "What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial?". She examined the reasoning of 30 founders of companies, ranging in size from $200 Million to $6.5 Billion. What Sarasvathy found was that these founders shared a distinct form of rationality that we have all long recognized intuitively as "Entrepreneurial". She termed this type of rationality "Effectual Reasoning". Here is a bit from her study that basically explains this "Effectual Reasoning": "Effectual reasoning […] does not begin with a specific goal. Instead, it begins with a...
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Apparently, the world's first Air Cars, vehicles using the power of compressed air technology (CAT) are currently under production, with the possibility of being on sale in Europe and India later this year. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre, will be built by India's largest automaker, Tata Motors. The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons. It is anticipated that approximately 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India by 2008. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat...
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Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning. -- Mahatma Gandhi...
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I just came across a great article on TechRepublic listing the ten signs that show if you're not cut out to be an IT manager. The list goes as follows, I'll keep the writer's phrasing because it's straight to the point and effective: 1. You have a real desire to be liked 2. You prefer to avoid the spotlight and just be a part of the gang 3. Every time you are called on to comment about the topic being discussed, you experience short-term memory loss 4. Having a tough conversation with an employee causes you a great deal of...
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Just came across this weird bit of news from Malaysia... A church and Christian newspaper in Malaysia are suing the government after it decreed that the word "Allah" can only be used by Muslims. In the Malay language "Allah" is used to mean any god, and Christians say they have used the term for centuries. Opponents of the ban say it is unconstitutional and unreasonable. [Source: BBC News] Fortunately, they've woken up, and reversed the ban now... But, of course it was unconstitutional and unreasonable, also stupid and unthinkable. I can't find one ounce of logic behind a decision or...
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Great news: Cheap and efficient solar energy is becoming a reality... The holy grail of renewable energy came a step closer yesterday as thousands of mass-produced wafer-thin solar cells printed on aluminium film rolled off a production line in California, heralding what British scientists called "a revolution" in generating electricity. The solar panels produced by a Silicon Valley start-up company, Nanosolar, are radically different from the kind that European consumers are increasingly buying to generate power from their own roofs. Printed like a newspaper directly on to aluminium foil, they are flexible, light and, if you believe the company, expected...
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The list of the top seven health-related myths and misconceptions, that even some doctors fall prey to, and that we've been hearing time and again, goes as follows: 1. Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight. 2. Using cell phones in hospitals is dangerous. 3. Fingernails and hair grow after death. 4. We use only 10 percent of our brains. 5. You should drink at least eight glasses of water a day. 6. Shaved hair grows back faster and coarser. 7. Tainted candy from strangers is a Halloween threat. Full article: Top Seven Health Myths (Newsweek)....
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Egypt's MPs are expected to pass a law requiring royalties be paid whenever copies are made of museum pieces or ancient monuments such as the pyramids or the sphinx. Zahi Hawass, who chairs Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the law would apply to full-scale replicas of any object in any museum in Egypt, in all countries, and that the move was necessary to pay for the upkeep of the country's thousands of pharaonic sites. This could be a potential blow to themed resorts all across the world, from Vegas to Tokyo, where large-scale copies of Egyptian artefacts pull in...
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It is perfectly possible to live a very moral life without a belief in God, and I think it's perfectly possible to live a life peppered with ill-doing and believe in God. -- J.K. Rowling Very true... It's not what you believe, it's how you act on what you believe that counts......
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I just came across this really interesting list of the 25 things you should never include in your resume. I agree with most of the list, but the top ten ones for me, in no particular order, are the following: 1. What You Hated About Your Last Job 2. What You Hated About Your Last Boss or Co-Workers 3. Irrelevant Job Experience 4. Lies About Job Experience 5. Lies About Educational Background 6. Negative Thoughts, Words or Ideas 7. Prejudices 8. Information About Your Family Members 9. Every Job You've Had Since You Were 16 10. Low GPAs Read the...
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Giving the people what they want is fundamentally and disastrously wrong. The people don't know what they want... [Give] them something better. -- Samuel "Roxy" Rothapfel [Source: Blue Ocean Strategy]...
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What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy? -- Mahatma Gandhi...
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Indian billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani, 50, became the world's richest man yesterday, overtaking Microsoft's Bill Gates and Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu, as the value of his stake in refinery-to-textiles giant Reliance Industries and two other group companies swelled, a direct result of the strong performance witnessed in the Indian stock markets recently. Only last month, he overtook steel czar Lakshmi Mittal to become the richest Indian in the world. The list of the five richest people in the world and their net worths is as follows now: 1. Mukesh Ambani ($63.2 billion) 2. Carlos Slim Helu ($62.2993 billion) 3....
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Over the past months more and more micro-lending solutions have been popping up online, displaying the internet's potential as a charitable medium, enabling people to lend small amounts of money, which provide loans to those in developing countries empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. Among these online tools we find Kiva, Prosper, Zopa, GlobeFunder and eBay's newly launched MicroPlace. Kiva is one of the most successful stories among these up to now; In just 2 years, the site has funded nearly 17,000 loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries, recently reaching a total amount of loans of over $11...
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"For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice to a hungry person..." A word is displayed... Underneath it are four choices of words... You click on the one you think best defines the first word... If you get it right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word... For each word you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice to a hungry person through an international aid agency... Finally, you get smarter and enhance your vocabulary while doing a noble thing helping poor and hungry people get food... A very interesting...
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More and more extravagant and innovative buildings and towers are sprouting in the Middle Eastern skyline, especially in places like the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The latest proposed tower project is the state-of-the-art Burj Al-Taqa ("Energy Tower"). Designed by German architect Eckhard Gerber and cutting a 322 meter high silhouette, this commercial high rise envisioned for builds in Riyadh, Dubai and Bahrain, will produce zero emissions and use sun, wind and water to create all of its own energy. The 68-story structure will use natural air conditioning based on ancient Persian architectural feature consisting of wind towers that...
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"Why of course people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor England, nor for that matter Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a...
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Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise? If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Left brain functions: uses logic, detail oriented, facts rule, words and language, present and past, math and science, can comprehend, knowing, acknowledges, order/pattern perception, knows object name, reality based, forms strategies, practical, safe. Right brain functions: uses feeling, “big picture” oriented, imagination rules, symbols and images, present and future, philosophy & religion, can “get it” (i.e. meaning), believes, appreciates, spatial perception, knows object function, fantasy based, presents possibilities, impetuous, risk taking. Personally, I see her...
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Today is Blog Action Day, and I thought I'd use this day to post 10 simple rules that we can all apply in our everyday lives to help our environment. Of course there are more than 10 things we can all do, and we should do, but well we can start with these really easy ten, and then move on step by step. So here goes the list: 1. Take showers rather than baths: This way you’ll conserve water, as well as the electricity needed to heat up the water. 2. Walk to places instead of driving whenever you can:...
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I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. Helen Keller...
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We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. -- Buddha...
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I just found this interesting post on Pick the Brain that lists 10 writing tips from some of the masters of the art. Their tips for better writing go as follows: 1. Cut the boring parts 2. Eliminate unnecessary words 3. Write with passion 4. Paint a picture 5. Keep it simple 6. Do it for love 7. Learn to thrive on criticism 8. Write all the time 9. Write what you know … or what you want to know 10. Be unique and unpredictable Read the full post: The Art of Writing: 10 Tips from the Masters....
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Want to making your writing style more and more effective? Who better to give you tips than one of the masters of the art himself: George Orwell. Here are the 5 tips he gives for effective writing style: 1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. 5. Never use a foreign phrase,...
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The United Arab Emirates has just contracted with a Swiss firm, CSEM to purchase a floating solar island. The island, which will basically float an a ring-shaped raft, was conceptualized a while ago by CSEM, but until now they haven't found any buyers. The prototype being commissioned by the UAE will first be tested in a nearby desert before the concept is moved onto the ocean. It's one tenth the size of the concept pictured below, only costing $5M and about 100 meters wide with a peak power generation of roughly 1 megawatt. The plant will produce energy by concentrating...
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...There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. -- From The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini...
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One of the problems a lot of people face, especially those who freelance, work from home and have their own businesses, is that the line between their professional and personal lives becomes so blurred, and almost non-existent. This affects both their lives, how much they're able to enjoy them and even how much they're able to give in them. An interesting post that I found on Web Worker Daily gives a list of 10 ways to achieve a better work-life balance, that I think applies to everyone. 1. Don't always be connected. 2. Limit work; Set working hours. 3. Make...
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Great health news from India... Dr Indrani Sarkar has has every reason to be excited. Her PhD thesis, which started in 2002 at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany, has thrown open the doors for developing enzymes that can destroy the dreaded Human Immuno-deficiency Virus or HIV within infected cells permanently. Indrani and a team of scientists have developed an enzyme called Tre. Tre is a custom enzyme capable of detecting, recognising and destroying HIV, much like a pair of molecular scissors. [Source: IBN] This is really great news... It's a shame though that it might take from 5...
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Making money isn't hard in itself, what's hard is to earn it doing something worth devoting your life to. -- From the book The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón...
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Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm, has announced that it will offer $10M to start-ups offering the best ideas for advancing "sustainable transportation." The company has issued a request for proposals (RFP) from entrepreneurs and for-profit companies for ideas to support the technologies, products and services needed to accelerate plug-in hybrid electric vehicle commercialization while promoting societal and environmental change. "The severity of global warming requires solutions from NGOs, governments, individuals and (very importantly) the private sector," the company said in a statement. "While $10 million is a fraction of the total investment needed to transform our transportation sector, we hope this...
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I am forever walking upon these shores, Betwixt the sand and the foam, The high tide will erase my foot-prints, And the wind will blow away the foam. But the sea and the shore will remain Forever. From "Sand And Foam"; the book of aphorisms, poems, and parables; by Khalil Gibran [Amazon: Sand And Foam (Kahlil Gibran)]...
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You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new. -- Steve Jobs...
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For the fun of it, I thought I'd compile a list of 10 things that a person could do to lose their job. At some point or another in my career I've met people who have done one or more of these things; some of them eventually lost their jobs, others didn't. Anyway, personally, I think these ten reasons should be a sure way out for anyone. 1. Go to work late; put your stuff on your desk and directly go out for a long coffee break; daily. Bonus points if you go out for long lunches too, have another...
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The first World Map of Happiness has been published by scholars from the University of Leicester. The map is a global projection of subjective well-being (SWB), taken from a variety of recent sources, and compared with related data from UNESCO, the UN and even the CIA. [Via: Technovelgy]...
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A twist on the famous list of the 7 habits of highly effective people, gives us the 7 habits every person should avoid in order to remain effective. The list of no-no's goes as follows: 1. Not showing up. 2. Procrastinating half the day. 3. When actually doing something, doing something that isn’t the most important thing right now. 4. Thinking too much. 5. Seeing the negative and downsides in just about anything. 6. Clinging to your own thoughts and being closed to outside influences. 7. Constantly on information overload. Read the full post here: 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective...
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The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. -- St. Augustine...
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Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly. -- Richard Bach...
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I just came across a really good list of 10 tips to keep the peace in your everyday life relationships with people, put together by Tom Roderick, Executive Director of Educators for Social Responsibility Metro. The list goes as follows: 1. Slow down the action 2. Listen well 3. Give the other person the benefit of the doubt 4. Acknowledge the other person's feelings 5. Be strong without being mean 6. Try to see a conflict as a problem to be solved 7. Set your sights on a "win-win" solution 8. If you don't seem to be getting anywhere in...
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So, you know all that brainstorming we've all been doing to come up with "good" ideas? It turns out we could've come up with more and better ideas if we did it alone individually rather than in groups... Brainstorming [is] used in nearly all of the world's largeset companies, nonprofits, and government organizations. And the reasons seem obvious... "The average person can think of twice as many ideas when working with a group than when working alone."... But is it true? In 1958... psychologists let groups of four people brainstorm about the practical benefits or difficulties that would arise if...
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I’m proud to announce that Subzero Blue will be participating in Blog Action Day. On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. The aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future. Sign your blog up here to get involved....
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Tim Ferriss, writer of the book "The 4-Hour Workweek", has published a list of the 9 habits you have to stop now to become more productive. I totally agree with his list, and have more or less been applying this in my everyday life for a while now. The list goes as follows (with my comments): 1. Do not answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers: I rarely ever answer a phone call by a number I don't recognize, some people think it's wrong of me to do so, but personally I think that if that someone is a person I...
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There are very few people who don't become more interesting when they stop talking. -- Mary Lowry...
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Ajaaj - "Legends of the past, protecting the future". That's the tagline for the new comic book by Watani featuring the first UAE superhero called Ajaaj. The comic book series is set in the year 2020; the UAE is leading the way in world trade, industry and tourism. However, the media is filled with reports of a natural disaster, a sand storm which has hit towns and shores leaving substantial damage in its aftermath. These reports are interrupted by kids who refute them, declaring the force behind the storm is Ajaaj. They say he can morph into a well-built young...
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Some good health news from Canada... A unique gene that can stop cancerous cells from multiplying into tumours has been discovered by a team of scientists at the B.C. Cancer Agency in Vancouver. The team, led by Dr. Poul Sorensen, says the gene has the power to suppress the growth of human tumours in multiple cancers, including breast, lung and liver. The gene, HACE 1, helps cells fight off stress that, left unchecked, opens the door to formation of multiple tumours. [Source: Globe And Mail] In a world where everything seems to cause cancer now because of the big mess...
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The Georgia Guidestones are a huge granite monument located on a hilltop in Elbert County, Georgia, USA. A message comprised of ten guides is inscribed on the monument in eight modern languages, and a shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient scripts: Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Egyptian Hieroglyphs. The monument was meant to "offer direction to humanity" The message in English reads: 1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature. 2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity. 3. Unite humanity with a living new language. 4. Rule passion -...
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Hmmm, it seems there's more to Green Tea than meets the "tongue"... Concentrated chemicals derived from green tea dramatically boosted production of a group of key detoxification enzymes in people with low levels of these beneficial proteins, according to researchers at Arizona Cancer Center. These findings, published in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, suggest that a green tea concentrate might help some people strengthen their metabolic defense against toxins capable of causing cancer. [Source: Biosingularity] I'm not much of a tea person, although my wife loves the...
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The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather what he does not say. -- Khalil Gibran...
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Interbrand have released their report on the best global brands for the year 2007. The brands are valued using sales and a consideration of how important the brand is in the sector. The top 10 brands for 2007 according to this study are: 1. Coca-Cola 2. Microsoft 3. IBM 4. GE 5. Nokia 6. Toyota 7. Intel 8. McDonald's 9. Disney 10. Mercedes-Benz Even though Google doesn't make it into the Top 10, it is the brand that has gained the most in value over the past year; its brand value rising 44% in the past 12 months to $17.8bn,...
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This gives the term "Extreme Programming" a whole new meaning... Title: Web Developer Job Type: 6-12 month contract (could go shorter) Salary: $200K plus DOE Taxes: No Federal taxes taken out for the contractors that accept a 12 month. (6 month contractors will have taxes taken out) Location: Iraq Start date: ASAP with 2 weeks training (one in Washington DC and another in Ft. Bening GA) # of Openings: 1 So if you enjoy programming and have no problem doing it while being shot at, this is the job offer for you. [Via: Houblog, Ajaxian] [Source: CareerBuilder]...
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Last night, we finished watching the first season, and maybe only season, of ABC's TV series "Traveler". The show is pretty much along the same style as FOX's "Prison Break". It has a really interesting and catchy storyline, and is very well done that it keeps you sucked in throughout the whole season. The series is about two graduate students, Jay Burchell and Tyler Fog, who are framed by their long time friend Will Traveler to make them look like they are terrortists responsible for bombing a museum in New York. When they tell the FBI about Traveler they are...
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One of the things I find most amusing and interesting to check in a site's statistics are the keywords people typed into search engines to find it; sometimes you'll find some really funny and unexpected stuff in there. Here are some of the top keywords people type and the pages they end up on for Subzero Blue: - Arab Porn / Arabic Porn: Arab Porn Singers - Madonna dancers: Hung Up On Madonna - Nicole kidman sex: Sex with Nicole Kidman - Last day at work: Last Day At Work - What is happiness: What Is Happiness? - Describe me...
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Superhero drama "Heroes" has been nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 59th annual Primetime E
