Fearful Symmetry

Internet Marketing - Don't Get Banned

2011-01-05T08:29:00.001-08:00

One major worry in internet marketing is getting banned. Getting banned from a site means that you are no longer allowed to post on that site. The scariest ban of all means that your site is removed from the Google search results. If this happens, then all of your hard internet marketing work was for nothing.

But just like you don't get a speeding ticket if you never speed, if you follow some simple internet marketing rules, you won't get banned. Here are some of the most common ones.

Forums and Blogs

You don’t want to get banned from the major forums and blogs in your industry as these are good sources for authorities backlinks to your site (an important part of internet marketing) as well as traffic. They also are good for keeping up with the trends of your industry and networking with others.

But this one is easy. First, actually respond on topic. If the entry or thread is on one topic, post about that topic. Second, put your url in the right spot. For blogs, there is a url field when you post a comment. Don’t put it in the comment itself. For forums, set up your signature with your url and some text about you. Never put your url in the body of the post.

Facebook

It is super easy to get banned on Facebook. If you have a profile for your business that’s enough to get you banned (although you should have a profile, just make it your company’s leader’s profile, not directly your business's profile). The key here is moderation. Never request more than 30 people to be your friend in a week and limit the number of messages you send out. If you do get banned, ask them to unban you. Sometimes, they will.

Google

Google is the most important service related to internet marketing these days. You can get banned from Google if they think you are faking your site’s authority. You can do this through various "Black Hat" techniques. For one, never use auto-blogging software on your main site. If Google detects this, you will get banned. Second, if you pay for automated backlinks, make sure these are balanced with real backlinks created by a human. Too many computer generated backlinks and Google will figure it out.

If you do get banned, don’t panic, try contacting the site or service that you are banned from and ask what you can do to correct the situation, many times they will tell you. In general, read the terms of service and follow that and you won't have any problems.

Visit Space Heater Studios to learn more about Internet Marketing

Winchester Commemoratives

2010-08-30T14:27:00.001-07:00

Winchester Commemoratives are very popular to gun collectors as these collector items are rare to find and possess unique features compared to regular firearms. Winchester Commemoratives collector’s craze started when the Winchester Repeating Arms Company started producing very limited number of 'Commemorative' firearms in 1964. The company made these highly valued rifles and carbines to commemorate and give significance to important events and personalities in the United States and Canada. The firearms of Winchester Repeating Arms Company made the firearms more special by engraving images of the event or personality being commemorated, putting embellishments on the rifles, and using rare materials and wood handles.

Winchester Commemorative firearms come enclosed in commemorative boxes with a colorful sleeve. To get the highest value, the guns should still be in the box and unfired, known as NIB or “new in box” in collector’s terminology. Some sellers also keep the shipping documents and factory receipts as proof of origin.

Some of the most popular Winchester commemoratives are as follows:

1988 Statue of Liberty Centennial – This firearm have hand engraving by Giovanelly of Italy, the engravings have gold inlays, French walnut stock, and comes with a 24” wood carving of the Statue of Liberty.

1981 Annie Oakley – 22 Long Rifle. This firearm has shooting scenes, is engraved in matte gold receiver, and has 20” round barrel bands.

1985 Boy Scouts of America – 22 Long Rifle. Engraved with a Boy Scout Salute image, receiver plated in pewter, plus the lever, bands and medallion in stock, with 20” round barrel.

President’s Edition – Three level engraving with selected overlays in gold on a high polished blue, including the lever and barrel bands. Model 94 Big Bore Frame, wood with beautiful medallion in stock, 20” round barrel.

1984 Winchester Colt Matched Set – This set of firearms include the Winchester rifle and Colt Single Action Army revolver, with serial numbers. Both firearms have engravings and a blue high polished overlay covering the body of each gun.

You can find a complete list of these in the book Winchester Commemoratives Vol 1 and 2

Since Winchester Commemoratives were born, these highly valued firearms have been very popular to gun collectors, as Winchester Commemoratives are not only unique and rare, but these guns also give significance to a historical event or personality in the United States and in Canada. And possessing these Winchester Commemoratives is a pride to every collector.

Apple iPhone and Ajax? Is there something more?

2007-06-12T00:18:00.000-07:00

So, I watched the Keynote that Steve Jobs gave at the Developer's Conference and I, as well as many others, was slightly disappointed with Apple's apparent solution to the 3rd party apps problem. Although I was excited to finally get AJAX support on a small device, this announcement isn't very nice to programmers. Programmers well versed in Objective-C would have to learn a whole new system of programming. And we still have the problem of what happens when the phone connection is offline, as it would be on an airplane. What if I wanted to play a game? It is not a good solution.

But.. What if Apple has something up its sleeves that is bigger then all of this? And what if that would require programmers to know about the web 2.0 standards?

Here are the facts:

Just last week, Jobs mentions that Apple should have a solution to the 3rd party app problem by the end of the year.
Safari now runs on windows. Does Apple really just care about market-share?
The iphone runs Ajax... and at this point not much else. This will force many programmers to begin to learn the web 2.0 programming language (everything from HTML to Ruby on Rails and more).
They mentioned at these AJAX apps will actually be able to interact with the other built in apps on the phone.

My theory:
I think Apple has something grand hidden in the future. This hidden gem is the ability to program web apps that are completely compatible (and work) with Mac OS X Programs, like Mail, iCal, Pages, and all of the other great Cocoa based apps.

Up to now, I have had to make some big decisions relating to Web 2.0 programs. Do I use a web program or a local-based computer program? What if I can use both? What if I can have all of my iCal information presented in the web 2.0 calendar app of my choice without having to go through the trouble of exporting/importing my calendar. What if it synced automatically? What if my address book was accessable by gmail or another webmail app? What if Mail and a non-.mac email account could stay in sync? And this includes gmail with its conversation message grouping. What if my online photo album could connect with iPhoto (without an annoying plug-in or seperate app). What if there were actually versions of these programs online?

See the power? What if Apple is taking the jump into cyberspace, bridging the gap between the desktop and the web? Web apps offline and desktop apps online. All managed through Safari.

It may be a learning curve for programmers though. They might have to know at least some of both desktop programming and web programming. What better way to get developers going but with iPhone apps built to the web 2.0 standard? And if these phone apps can interact with the phone. Why can't regular AJAX apps interact with the computer?

And once programmers get going on web apps, they will announce that the iPhone can run real 3rd party apps. But all that learning you've done? No that wasn't wasted time....

20,000 ft Review: Responsibilities

2007-02-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

A part of the GTD system at the 20,000 ft level is the areas of responsibility review.

I have been trying different ways to get my head around all of the areas of my life. I originally tried just a list on a 4 x 6 index card, but that wasn't visual enough and it didn't really allow me to organise it how I wanted. So I decided that I would try a MindMap. I used Mindjet MindManager to create a mindmap with just "My Life" in the middle. Then I filled in the large areas, such as school, work, and personal. I listed each area of responsibility in its appropriate category and used the Callout bubble to fill in details. Lastly, I used the relationship lines to connect things that were related.

Here is my completed Map:

Now, in order to do my responsibility review:

I fire up my Mindmap
Add any new / edit any old areas of responsibility
Make sure that all of my areas of responsibility are being covered by the projects that I have on my projects list.

How easy is that!

Living on $900 a month

2007-02-06T22:41:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading an article about Surviving (and Thriving) on $12,000 a Year. It was an article about someone who went back to school at the age of 48 and has to be extra-frugal to get by. The article caught my eye because I am currently living in a similar situation. I am a student and my monthly income is $900. The honest truth is that I don't live that frugally.

So how can I do this? Well first let's look at some expenses that I don't have to cover:

Tuition - I am on a nearly full grant and the rest is taken care of by loans and my parents.
Insurance - Health is tied in with school costs. And I don't have rental insurance.
Car - I don't have to pay for my car except for gas. Although, to me this is a slight non-issue because I would be perfectly fine without a car. I just would not have one if I had to pay for it.

So what do I pay?

I pay $530 per month in rent. It is a one bedroom 700 sq-ft apartment that I don't share.
I pay for Internet. This is $25 per month.
I pay for my electricity and gas. This varies per month but it is usually around $45 for both. (Although during November and December, I paid $27 per month for both)
I have a cell phone bill of $40 per month. It is the unlimited data/voice/txt plan for my Treo 700p.

So where does that leave me?
After rent, Internet, phone and utilities, I have $260 left over for a month of food, entertainment and other living expenses. At the end of the month, what money I have left over, I put in saving. I have built up a savings of over $1000 in about a year.

I do pretty good for $900 a month. How do I do it without being ultra-frugal?

I take pride in helping to save the environment by not wasting electricity.

I unplug my appliances when they are not in use. (Sleep mode is a killer). The only appliance plugged in and on at all time is my fridge.
I don't leave lights on in rooms that I am not in.
I don't use central AC. (Window units are easier to control).
I have my modem and wireless router on a surge protector that I switch off when I am not using the Internet. (This one also helps control the web procrastination tendency).

I don't like gas. So I try not to use it as much as possible. I actually have had the gas disconnected from my stove and I have a separate electric burner sitting on top of it.

I don't pig out.

I don't regularly go out to eat at places I have to stay and sit awhile to eat my meal. These places usually charge more. (I think they are charging me rent).
Dollar menus are awesome!! Don't Super size anything.
I try to keep every meal under $3. Most meals are a lot less.
I also try to eat frozen dinners often. There are actually some very good ones that can give you a good meal for around 60 to 80 cents.
For example, I spent about $5.50 on food today and included a breakfast shake, a 6" pizza for lunch and Deli Spirals for dinner. If I keep up that rate, that is $170 for a month of food.
I check the price per unit on items from the grocery. You would be amazed the number of times that I have found that 2 small things of one item is cheaper then buying 1 large one despite them both being the same amount of that item. Most people expect it to be the other way around and not pay close attention.

I take the bus or walk most places. Even though I don't have to pay for most of my car expenses, I do pay for gas.

Walk is cheaper and much better for the environment.
I only drive if I am in a big hurry to get from one place to another (about 5 miles a week).

Beyond those things, I really don't actively try to save money on things. I usually break down and get sushi for lunch at least once a month. I have learned that saving in certain areas can really add up and let you spend more on other areas and still put some away each month.

When I get out of college, I hope to keep up this same life-style for a while. Adding in the Health Insurance and Car maintenance that I currently don't pay, I should be able to easily live for $1200 per month ($14,400 per year).

Kung Fu, Meditation, and Sexual Intercourse - What's Wrong with My Life.

2007-02-06T22:07:00.000-08:00

I spend too much time blog reading and not enough time on the work that actually gets me closer to completing my actual work. So what is my blog topic of choice? (And what is this here blog about?) - Productivity

But Alas, I procrastinate by reading about ways to be more productive. And then I had Merlin Mann point it out in a recent podcast. This podcast is called "Kung Fu, Meditation, and Sexual Intercourse" and is about how reading about these things is anlagous to reading about Productivity. You can read everything you can about them, but until you actually do them, you don't really know them. Unless you do the stuff on your list, reading about productivity and even making list to stay organised is pointless.

But I love doing this. I love writing this blog and letting other know about my latest productivity and organization schemes. I have been doing this sense I was little! I remember in elementary school wondering how my classmates could let their parents shop for their school supplies. I didn't understand that not all kids set up organization systems for themselves every year.

So even if it sounds odd, I am going to keep on using productivity as a procrastination tool. I will keep updating this blog and share my organization schemes with the world!!

Note:
I am a religion major. I also spend a good bit of time reading about meditation.
Number of hours I have meditated in the past year: 2

What's Worth Doing?

2007-02-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

I have recently discovered David Seah's blog and was really impressed with his Printable CEO. He creates forms the we can print out that help us plan our day and stay organized. I plan to post a post on various aspects of the system soon, but for now I want to touch on just one aspect. The original form in the system is called the Concrete Goal Tracker, which is based around the concept of giving tasks a point value based whether it will more a company forward or whether there is networking value to it. He gives a point system to work from:

When is something worth doing?

10. It's life-sustaining billable work!
10. It's signing new business!

5. It's publishable code! Ship it!
5. It's sharp visual design! Show it!
5. It's concrete planning or accounting!

2. It's new self-promotion!
2. It's a new article for the blog!
2. It's social or business development!

1. It's maintaining an old relationship!
1. It's making a new relationship.

This is a great list for a CEO (who the system was designed for). But it doesn't apply very well to me (a student). Therefore, I decided to write a personalised version of the list to fit my situation. This is based on my responsibilities and what will help move my goals forward.

What is worth doing?

10. It's gradable schoolwork!
I pay this much to go to school, I better work at it!!!

10. It's directly related to Marion's Ledge!
Marion's Ledge is a major project that I am involved with and is probably one of the most important things in my life right now! If I had my choice, this is all I would be doing. But it gets pushed aside way to much because of school work. :-/

5. It's studying for school!
This is the non-gradable stuff that is still important, but I wanted to make it less important than Marion's Ledge. And there is a lot in this category that could be skipped if I got into a pinch.

5. It's concrete planning and organization!
This category is for stuff like GTD reviews and printing out my Hipster PDA!

5. It's billable or extra-curricular work!
I am in a bunch of extra-curricular activities that are just as important to me as a real job would be. So this category contains both!

2. It's furthering swing dance!
This is either personal dancing development (aka. practice) or furthering Swing in Houston such as demoing at a middle school or a mall in order to get more people involved with our swing scene.

2. It's concrete self- development!
This includes such things as personal writing and other types of activities that I do in order to work on something about me personally.

2. It's an entry for a blog!
This one is self-explanatory.

1. It's furthering computer work!
For me this includes both blog reading and going through PHP, Cocoa, and Objective C tutorial books. At some point in the future, this category may rise up the list to become a 2 or a 5, but for right now...

1. It's building a relationship!
Networking and relationships are important and take work!

So there you have it. Those are my categories for what is important to me. When I write more about the Printable CEO system, I will be writing more about how these play into my personal organization system. And I also plan on trying to find alternate wording for one of the times that I use "concrete" and "furthering". Any suggestions?

Project Organization - Part 1 - My House

2007-02-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

I have made it a resolution to get my life under control. Things are just completely out of whack!! My house is a disaster and I have way too much stuff. My schedule is chaotic. I am always forgetting to do really important things!!!

Join me as I begin Project Organization. Starting with my bedroom and kitchen, I am going to gain some peace in my life and chronicling the whole experience online. I will be searching for systems, life-hacks, and ways of organizing that will let me get, and then stay, organized.

I challenge anyone who feels the chaos building around them to join me. I will share my story and struggles here at Fearful Symmetry. Feel free to join the conversation and leave comments.

Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Beginnings
I started my journey towards organization by taking everything out of my bedroom.I was going to start by focusing on two areas: my kitchen and my bedroom. Every item that was in my room that wasn't too large, I put into my living room which I am using as a holding area for all my unsorted stuff. Then I took the time to reorganize my bedroom furniture to a layout that was a little more useful and fresh.

Then I tackled my kitchen. With the help of a friend, the kitchen got clean and trash/recycle got sorted. For the first time in months, I now have a perfectly clean kitchen!! I highly recommend getting a friend to help you clean. It is funner and easier to clean with a partner. (And it goes faster!) My cleaning friend and I made a deal to help each other clean our apartments.

So now my room looks bare and my kitchen is usable. Now onto the heftier stuff...

Systems
Before I could start bringing stuff back into my room, I had to set up a couple systems in order to contain my stuff. For this, I turned to David Allen's book Getting Things Done. The first is a reference system. David Allen suggests using a simple alphabetical filing system. He recommended using manila folders without the hanging folders, but since I own a large deep file cabinet made for hanging folders, I decided to just not use manila folders and just use the hanging ones. I bought 50 hanging folders to start. (David suggests starting with 100 in the book). I also bought a new cartridge for my labeler so that I could have very neat folder tabs. I only put tabs on the center of the folders so that they would be neat in my drawer and I would not have to worry about placing a new folder in between two existing ones and messing with the tabs.

Another system that I set up is my tickler file. I use a 4 X 6 index card box for my tickler with Jan-Dec dividers and 1-31 dividers. I set them up so that there is a spot for every day. And the numbers already used for this month, just go after the next month's divider. Here is a picture of how the dividers are suppose to look:

I also bought myself 4X6 index cards that I can make lists on. Each card is a context for Next Actions or a category list (such as Projects and Waiting on). Now I am ready to begin the sorting.

Processing
I started with the drawers to my Elfa cabinet (which I had taken out of the frame and put in the living room), so that I could get the drawers free to hold other stuff. I began by taking out one item from the first drawer. For each item, I would go through the GTD workflow diagram (From How to Save the World) with one modification. I added "Memory Box" to the list of things to do with a non-actionable item. I have a lot of souvenirs that I don't want to get rid of but which are cluttering my life. I don't want to trash them, or do anything about them in the future, or have them cluttering my reference cabinet, so they get a sturdy plastic box to be put in. In the end, this box will be going into my living room closet.

Most of the stuff that I got through today was reference material that didn't need an action and therefore got filed away. But I did find one thing to do in less then two minutes (I did it) and a couple things to put as next actions. My friend that I mentioned earlier sorted through my living room, so now even that looks doable. In the week to come, I will be sorting through more and more and running everything through the workflow diagram. Soon enough my house will be under my control once again. That will be a fine thing indeed. :-)

I'm back

2007-01-20T21:01:00.000-08:00

ok, I think that I have most of the kinks worked out of the blog layout enough to start posting again. :-) I sure have enough to post about. A quick preview of future articles:

- The Sony Vaio UX
- The Cult of Apple (I'm going even deeper)
- Much more.

So check back soon.

Also, from now on this blog will be related only to Apple, Lifehacking, Productivity, and general inspiration. All of the personal entries will now be posted at My Life 2.0. So all of you that don't actually know me don't have to keep reading about me rant about my life.

* Work Zone *

2007-01-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

This blog is about to get a facelift, so if you see some odd things here over the next week or so, those are just un-finished sections. I hope that you like the new design. It is my first real attempt at designing a website that is not done with tables. :-)

Mac Power Supply fails in puff of Smoke.

2007-01-04T08:57:00.000-08:00

I am a proud owner of a Apple iBook PowerPC. Last nght I was sitting in my room working on my new website design when I began to smell smoke. This is always an alarming smells so I got up to see if some part of my house in on fire. I returned to my room when I couldn't find anything, and was distrubed that the smell was still there.

Then I noticed that my laptop was not being charged, dispite being plugged in. I made sure that both ends were securely plugged in (I use an extention) and then checked the part in the middle. It was smoking! I picked it up and it was extremely hot. So hot, in fact, that the smaller cord that goes to the computer was soft and if i had tried, it probably would have pulled right off in a gummy mess.

I unplugged it and let it cool off. Sadly, it now no longer charges. That was my fourth charger over the life of my two iBooks. (5 years). I love Apple, but that's not a very good record.

I found an article about similar things happening to other people.

Fried Power Cord
The only difference? That was one of the new magsafe powercords. Mine is one with the older connection. :-/

New Look

2007-01-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while, I just ignored the internet during finals and then during christmas. But I am back and am now working on a new layout design for this blog. And a new format.

Currently, I have this one blog that contains both personal and non-personal entries. If I want this blog to be actually useful to people, which I do, I need to take out the personal entries and put them somewhere else, in a new blog. This is exactly what I plan to do. The new site will actually have four seperate site combined into one. One will still be called "Fearful Symmetry" and will be the blog with useful info in it. I will be writing about Apple Computers, Life Hacking, and general inspirational (in a non-religious sense) material. I hope that you keep reading that blog.

My personal blog will be called My Life 2.0 and will be where I discuss personal issues and my own life journey. If you actually know me, you may want to read this one.

Along with the two blogs, I will have a Houston Swing Dance Information site, which is already up in the new theme (although it's still in beta and doesn't yet work on Internet Explorer. I will soon be on a css hack search.)
I will also have an academic site, which will hold my resume and work that I have done. This is where I will be compiling my Leadership Rice Portfolio. This site will only really be of interest to a couple people, but I've been thinking about doing an academic site for a while, so here is my chance.

The site should be up completely by the end of next week (I hope). So check back soon for more info and for the new design.

2006-12-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while a thought crosses my head saying, "what would it be like if I just dropped out?" Sometimes it sticks on, "and run away". Today, the thought didn't have the ending. Now don't worry, I am not going to drop out of school any more than I am going to drive off a cliff when I wonder what it would be like to do that. But these thoughts are there. We all have such thoughts from time to time.

But these thoughts still make me stop and wonder. Is there something wrong with the flow of my life? Is it good to just look at everything that you have to do and sit there like a 6-year-old screaming, "But I don't wanna!!!!" Granted my version is a bit more pg-13 rated today. Can I just blame that on hormones? I'd like to think so.

But there is a serious thought wading in the back of my mind. Not about dropping out, but about living. I spend hours every day on productivity. Searching for that best system. Always trying something new. See what works an what does not. When am I productive and when am I not. Despite that, I still haven't implemented any version of GTD. And the list does nothing but build.

I think there is a lot of anger in me. Granted, again, it may just be hormones. What else could I be mad at? but there are moments when I just break down and snap at people. Or fight the world. I usually regret it. Like that time that I snapped at Hank when Hank wasn't really the person I was mad at, but I couldn't snap at them and they were making me even more angry just by being there. Hank was the next person to interact and I just let him have it. After that I just broke down completely, apologizing profusely.

I had a study abroad appointment yesterday. I went in and asked for the easiest program they had. The lady just stared at me. That isn't the attitude she was looking for, but it is my attitude. I no longer want to push myself in school. I no long want to go to grad school. I may go back. But not right now. I have 4 really easy semesters in front of me. I say easy because I am going to make them easy. All I need is 3 classes a semester, plus one elective. That makes 12 hours, which is what I need to be full time. No longer am I going to be taking 15 hours. No longer am I even going to try to. I just want to do my work and learn my programming and be joyful.

To be honest, Swing is falling lower and lower on my enjoying list. I enjoy helping with the ScSwing dance (I feel needed), and I enjoy doing outreach like Ryan and I did at that middle school. And I hope that I will enjoy teaching intermediate swing next semester, but beyond that, I haven't been enjoying it. Granted, there are always fun moments. Moments when I do things grand and I know it. But for every one of those, there are 2 painful ones; 2 flubs, trips, bad thoughts. And add that with all the crappy social issues the compound on top of all the good social issues and It leaves me feeling drained and upset. I won't me able to take it much longer. Sorry everyone. I won't even be coming to the Monday lessons at taft next semester, sadly, unless of course I am needed to fill in. Although that just has to do with bad scheduling (a class) more then distaste. That is the only place I truly feel comfortable dancing at. That is, as long as none of the students ask me questions.

As I sit here writing this, I have a lot to do, and absolutely no will to do any of it. All I really want to do is curl in a ball and go to sleep.

iWrite 2007

2006-12-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

I found this wonderfully interesting event on Facebook. Since a lot of you don't have facebook accounts, here is the description given:

On January 3rd 2007, I will be arriving to a local 24 hours restaurant. At 5pm I will begin writing, and continue writing for 72 hours with the goal of creating "200" pages of a one-of-a-kind, individual, irreplaceable work, before 5pm of January 6th 2007. This is not just something for writers, but for anyone who has any emotions, ideas, or concerns for themselves, their friends, or their family. It is what ever you can write about, no one will grade it, criticize it, or even look at it if you don't want them to, no matter what you write you can prove to yourself that you have done something unbelievable and have something to show for it. This is an opportunity to push your body, mentally, physically, and find out how far your imagination will run when you let it. Wherever you are, I recommend you, I insist you, I suggest you, I advise you, I urge you, I direct you, I beg you, To be a part of something never before done. Invite as many people as you can, these friends are your muses, the more people, the more ideas floating, the more influence, the more connected the world can be. I will be trying to video tape the entire experience in my area. What will you do? Are you up to it? Do you have what it takes?

This idea intrigues me. Although, I really don't think that i'd like to do this in a 24-hour cafe (too many distractions), I will be partaking in my own version over the christmas break. I will pick 3 days and write 200 pages within those 3 days. It will be extra hard to stay focused because i will have my mother there to try to get me to do chores (joys of going home of the holidays, right?), but I can do it.

There is some stuff that I have been meaning to write about lately, and this will give me the opportunity to do that.

So, will you join iWrite 2007? Pick 3 days and over those 3 days try to write 200 pages. It doesn't matter what is on those 200 pages. They won't be graded. They won't even be read by others if you don't want them to be. Freewrite to your heart's content. I plan to post some highlights here in my blog.

Low Price Electronics

2006-12-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

This is a cool way to search for things on Amazon that are really Marked Down. The link to search for Electronics that are 85% off is http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?node=172282&pct-off=85-

(via Life Hack)

Finding Your Calling

2006-11-29T17:24:00.000-08:00

A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the "why" for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any "how." - Victor Frankl

I just got out of a presentation about Acton MBA. Acton is an entrepreneurship MBA program in Austin that is very different from other MBA programs. For one thing, it is just a year, which means they work you like crazy for that year. An Acton student works more then 100 hours per week on Acton work. (To compare, I am at Rice and I work about 20 - 25 hours a week on school, 10 in the class and about 10 - 15 on homework and studies.) You are not allowed to miss class, and class starts at 6 AM every day of the week. But they are good at what they do: teaching people to run businesses and find their calling.

An idea from the Acton presentation is that there are three things that you can do in your life:

Get a Job - A job is something that you do to get money in order to go do what you want to do. It is sad that so many people spend their whole lives in jobs always watching the clock for time to go out and actually live their lives. A job is summarize in a song that I love to hate, Get Drunk and Be Somebody by Toby Keith:
Well all week long I'm a real nobody, But I just punched out and its paycheck Friday, Weekends here, good God almighty, I'm going to get drunk and be somebody.
Get a Career - It's a tiny bit better then a job. At least you are working towards something, right? Well, if you are climbing that ladder, working towards that big house and corner office, struggling up and up that Caterpillar pile, will you be happy when you get there? When is there? Jeff mentioned that a lot of the people who get to the top just want to go higher. And the people who almost make it, but can't quite get there usually get fired and have to go back to the bottom again. Now, who wants a career?
Lastly, you can find a calling. And this is the Acton way.

The "Find Your Calling" thing intrigued me. Someone asked the presenter, who was Jeff Sandefer, one of the founders of Acton, about how someone would go about doing this. He gave a easy sounding 3 step process:

Find what you are good at. - Ask everyone you know what they think that you are good at. You will have to probe, because people like to give superficial answers to this question, but if you probe enough people, you will begin to see a trend. And you will be surprised because it will probably be something that you find so easy that you think there must be plenty of other people that are good at it.
Find what you love doing. - For this, he brought up the concept of flow. Think about things that you have done in the past year that you have completely lost track of time while doing. Things that you love doing just for the sake of doing. Doing those activities should bring you so much joy that it is no longer about competing with others or any other outside motivator that matters.
Find a way that you can impact the world. - How can you take what you are good at and love doing and do something with them that impacts the world.

One of the projects that they make Acton students do is go out and interview 9 people, 3 from each age group 20-45, 45-60, beyond 60. He said that students find that people that are older then 60 will look back on their lives and say that only 2 things really matter:

Did I live a good and ethical life?
Did I impact the world in a meaningful way?

I had heard this before, but it really hits home, especially compared with my own personal philosophy about life. I must make a meaningful impact. I, as I always am, will be working towards answering these questions. That is really what life is all about. As the Dalai Lama puts it:

What is the meaning of life? To be happy and useful.

Productivity and a low-tech To-Do List

2006-11-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

The guys over at LifeHack posted a really good article about Granularity for Students which got me thinking about past ways that I have kept a To-Do list. When I was in High school, my task list was kept in a little spiral bound notebook much like this one except fatter: The system was simple. When I got a new task, say, to take LifeHack's example, writing a research paper, I would draw a line under my previous tasks (this was the signal that a new task was being written) and I would write down every little step that I had to complete that task. For our example, I would write:

pre-write on topic
narrow down topic using topic tree
write a preliminary thesis statement from topic (although, I'd prob actually write "prelim thesis")
do library catalog search
go to library and search those book's index for my topic
read what I found
Make a prelim outline with pg #s
gather quotes for each part of outline
write a rough draft of each part of the outline.
Reread each section for clarity.
Combine and work on transitions.
Sleep (I'll explain this one below)
read paper for clarity.
proofread for agreement
proofread for voice
proofread for punctuation errors.
Have friend read paper.
make final corrections

There are some steps that are vague because of lack of information. I can't very well write down that I need to read specific books sections when I don't yet have my topic. When I do get this information, I'd cross off the vague entry with a sort of zigzag line like /\/\/\/\/\ (straight meant completed, zigzag meant moved), go to the bottom of the whole list, draw a line and list out the detailed info.

Note about "Sleep":
I believe that it is a whole lot easier to proofread a paper, if you haven't seen the paper for 24 hours. I call this my sleep on it period.

This system led itself to easy daily use. In the morning (or the night before), I'd decide what I'd get done that day and I'd highlight those things. I'd work through the highlighted items through out the day and I'd cross them off as I completed them. At the end of the day, I'd look at highlighted items that I didn't complete and I'd make one of two decisions:

Do them tomorrow - I'd just leave them highlighted.
Postpone them for a later time (not tomorrow)- I'd zigzag cross them out and move them, unhighlighted, to the end of the list.
Decide not to do them ever - just cross them off.

I'd also review the whole list every couple of days for stragglers that are left on old pages that had almost all tasks completed. I'd either decide not to do them, or move them to the end of the list. The pages that had only completed items got paper clipped together so they would be easy to bypass. The review process was much like the GTD review process.

All in all it was a great system and the only reason that I stopped using it is because I bought my first Mac and decided to try iCal and it's To-do list. But now that I am not taking my computer around so much, I may switch back to that old system. Good ol' Pen and Paper (and highlighter). Plus, there is probably a way to do something like this electronically too. :-D

Kitlers - Cats that look like Hitler

2006-11-29T10:57:00.000-08:00

This added a smile to my face:

Kitlers - Cats the Look like Hitler.

This is a whole website dedicated to cats that look like Hitler. You can post pictures of your Kitler and go through the posted ones and rate them. This cat is named Claude and is rated as the #2 most Hitler-like.

I just had to share this little smile bringer.

What do I actually have to offer?

2006-11-29T10:09:00.000-08:00

So, this weekend I joined del.icio.us, the social bookmarking site (add me if you would like ;-) ). I also posted my link feed in this blog (if you are reading this on my blogspot blog, look to the right --> ). This also got me motivated to get my google reader shared page feed on here as well. Doesn't those two additions make my blog look nice? I feel like a real blogger.

Anywho, this got me thinking about blogging in general. I like having a blog and having people read my blog, but I really don't have that much content to offer readers beyond my close friends. The rest of the world probably doesn't want to hear me rant about my problems. I do post some useful things (click the "useful" tag to the right --> ). But most of those things actually are not that unique in content.

They say post about things you like. Well that would make for a very varied tag list. I like such things as swing dancing, blogging, web design, life hacking, and a wide variety of other stuff. I also like collecting cool quotes and inspirational stuff (like my last note). But I am not an expert at any of that. I am a junior in college majoring in religion and cognitive science, so I could write about some of what I am learning, but who really wants to hear about Disjunctive Syllogisms and other random academic things (if I am wrong, please let me know).

I like non-profits and am working with a non-profit, but I don't really think I'd enjoy posting about things like that all of the time. Plus a lot of that info will be posted in the Marion's Ledge blog anyway.

I'd love to write about lifehacking ideas, but I am not really sure what I can personally offer beyond with 43 folders, LifeHacker, LifeHack, and LifeClever are offering. I'd also love to offer something like Life2.0, but I'd have to improve my writing ability. In the end, that is probably the best example of what I am looking to do.

Truthfully, the best thing that I have to offer is my worldview. I believe in a very optimistic, magical (in the happy sense and not the abracadabra sense), and wonderful world that we are all a connected part of. I believe that we are all on a creative creation of our lives, not stuck in something we can't control. I believe that it is okay to be sad as long as you never let yourself be unhappy. It's all alright.

I can get down and flustered at times, but in the end, as I am learning, it is all going to be okay. If I share my journey in this, maybe I can have something of value to give. As long as people don't mind an occational computer or dance post. Heck, that is part of me. That is part of my worldview.

Let the journey begin...

Learners, Doers, Teachers

2006-11-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

Here is a short an sweet thought provoker that I picked up over at Life2.0:

"Why, for example, should a group of simple, stable compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen struggle for billions of years to organise themselves into a professor of chemistry? What's the motive?"
- originally from a Robert Pirsig article.

As well as one of my favorite poems of all times from the book Illusions by Richard Bach:

Learning is finding out what you already know.
Doing is demonstrating that you know it.
Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you.
You are all learners, doers, teachers.

The Aggies Beat UT. OH DISASTER!! ;-)

2006-11-26T21:50:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: If you are a UT football fan and will be upset if I say bad things about your beloved sport. Please don't read this entry.

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I was in Austin this weekend, which happened to be the same weekend as the UT vs. A&M football game. Just in case you didn't see it, A&M won. UT lost.

I don't watch football, so I didn't actually see this game. But I did watch the news that night. The news in Austin had this football game as their top story. Top of the Hour. Not in the sports time. And what was the air of this broadcast? Disaster!! The news stations and people being interviewed were treating this as if it is the end of the world. Earth to people!!! It's a football game. It is a game!!! A GAME!!!! It is not the end of the world! The earth will keep rotating. There is next year. This is nothing to cry about. (ok, if you are one of the players, then maybe... but the fans?)

Football fans... How exactly does this impact you? Did you bet a huge sum of money on the game? No? Well then, stop crying. Period. It is just a game.

Thoughts on the break

2006-11-20T14:22:00.000-08:00

So I just realized that I have 3 weeks until this semester is over. That is not that far away. This got me thinking about this break and some of the things that I want to do over the break. So I decided that I was going to create a list of a whole bunch of stuff that i want to get done.

Clean my apartment. And by this, I mean totally clean. It is so messy right now I don't really like it that much. I need to get rid of a whole bunch of stuff. I also need to set up a system so that it does not get messy again. This system needs to include a cloths rack and a papers bin. I have been toying with the idea of getting a bunk bed, which will clear up some room and will make my bed harder to get to.
Finish my new website design. I am really loving this idea that I have and I can't wait to share it with you. But this will take some time and effort to do.
Write my new years resolutions. I normally hate these, but I am going to do it a tad bit differently this year.
Write letters to a bunch of people. I have a bunch of these to write (see earlier post).
Get my computer organized. Actually, this should not take too much trouble, my system from summer is still pretty strong. But I do need to organize my mail and update my address book.
Work on Marion's Ledge stuff. This one is a given, but there is a bunch that I have been wanting to do but have been putting off because of school.

Ok, there is my list for now. I am sure that I will be adding some things to it.

School Work Slump

2006-11-20T08:49:00.000-08:00

I am at that point in the semester that i just want to cut my losses and slack. I have complete and uder faith in my ability to pass tests. That is something I am pretty good at. But I do need to study, and I really don't want to. But i am almost done.

I am getting over being sick. And that means that I still don't feel very well. I am thinking about just not going to school this week at all. ok, I am going to go today to a meeting and then to a tutorial. And I really need to force myself to go to Accounting tomorrow, but beyond that. I don't want to.

I have a test that i must do at some point soon. I have an extention on it, but don't quite understand the info. :-/ That is what this tutorial is about today. I really must make that.

But the end is near:

Ling
I have 2 more problem sets and then a final exam.
Logic
2 more tests. One of which is to be done ASAP, the other done like 2 weeks after thanksgiving.
Accounting
The Final Test and the paper. As well as a bunch of problem sets (7).
Leadership Rice
Finish the Coffeehouse project and maybe put a powerpoint together for our presentations.
Reli
I have two more books to read. I better get reading. Plus a paper.

In conclusion:
Problem Sets: 9 official ones plus some ungraded logic ones.
Papers: 2
Exams: 4
Projects: 1

Actually, that doesn't sound that bad. I should try to do as much as I can over the break. Although I don't really want to do anything over the break.

I have an idea for a really cool website that is just making me go crazy wanting to work on it. My goal is to have it done and up by christmas. It is gonna be cool. :-)

I really need to get feeling better and start wanting to work again. This is crazy. Although I am really enjoying the taking it easy part. :-D

Facing myself

2006-11-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

I sometime don't like talking to people. No, not in the normal nice social sense, but in the "I have something hard to ask you or tell you" sense. I have never been very good at it. I have an idea as to why I am this way, but I wish I weren't this way. I can't say anything hard to anyone. I have managed it a couple times this year, but only to one person and after they pinned me down and let me cry for an hour until I finally spit it out. These things are really bothering me and I will feel better if I talk about them, but I am afraid to. What if things don't go as well as I would hope? What if the conversation changes things between us? So I just hold it all in.

I recently had an idea that may help with this. I am going to write a letter to everyone in my life that I have something hard to say to. There will be a bunch of letters. Ironically, the longest letters will be to the people in my life that I am closest to. I probably won't get around to this till around christmas, but if you are close to me, be on the lookout for a letter of complete honesty. And if these letters change things, well, I can only hope for the better.

And I may write some completely positive ones too.

Zune and Header

2006-11-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

So, Have you heard of the newest laughing matter that just proves that Microsoft is an idiot? Yeah, that thing is Zune, their version of the ipod. The greatest thing that I have heard about it from a non-microsoft source is that is has potential.

Some of the Top reasons why Zune is funny:

You can't play any music on it bought from iTunes or any other legal digital music store. You can only play music from the Zune music store and music ripped off of CDs. So if you are a big digital music buyer, you will have to start your collection over.
It has the capability to play movies... but they are not selling movies to play on it. And you can't watch iTunes movies on it.
It's quite big. Although I guess so were the original iPods.
You can share music... but only for 3 plays or 3 days. Then you have to buy the song from the zune store.
And the funniest reason of all: It is incompatable with Vista, Microsofts newest operating system... um, they are working on that. (Tee HEE)

Anywho, We shall see what happens, but they have a long way to go in order to compete with iPod.

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In other news, I created this in Photoshop:

Cool isn't it?