Category: Reading (Page 10 of 35)

If You Don’t Want To Keep The Job

March 21, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

It’s a simple four step process:

Step 1: Do some stuff that makes your opponents really mad.

Step 3: Do things that make many of the people who defended you in Step 1 really mad.

Step 4: Figure out a way to piss off the people who will blindly support you no matter what.

That last step is pretty tough to accomplish, but he has a year and a half to find a way to do it. Remember, we elected this guy because of his unbelievable intellectual prowess, so he’ll surely be able to stratergize a plan of action.

Don’t give up Hope.

I’m reading– March 10th through March 16th

March 16, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Digital Will – I could do a whole series of posts on this. Maybe I should. Maybe I will (no pun intended).

Just try to cut off Netflix’s content supply – Can’t wait until the cable companies are skipped entirely and we can buy directly from the producers and/or networks. Win-win-win-lose. The “lose” is for the cable companies. The market will find a way.

Jon Bon Jovi says Steve Jobs for Killed Music – I say Jon Bon Jovi has done more harm to music than Steve Jobs ever could.

Top 20 Obnoxious People At The Gym – I’m #5, @svandyke is #8, and we are both “The Guy Who Sits on the Sofa and Drinks Coffee For 2 Hours and Leaves Without Even Working Out”.

iPad 2 for Distributed Teams – Interesting. Can you RDP with an iPad?

Twitter Drops The Ecosystem Hammer – Then, uh, Twitter…how’s about giving me a UI that’s even half as good as TweetDeck? Are those crickets or birds chirping?

iPad 2 could lead to glut of rival tablets – Oversupplied means under-priced. I’ll wait it out.

Man Trains For Marathon While Eating McDonald’s-Only Diet – HT @DustyOverby I did the same thing with Little Debbie snack cakes and Petro’s chili.

Stricter Limits on Debit Cards Coming? – No worries…they’ll be happy to issue you a credit card to cover larger purchases. Of course, the interest rate on that card will be about 10-20 times the amount of interest they are paying you on the MONEY YOU ALREADY HAVE BUT CAN’T SPEND BECAUSE THEY SET SUCH LOW LIMITS. Better not be late with that payment. Big banks suck.

I’m reading– February 27th through March 10th

March 10, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Mandatory DNA sampling threatens constitutional liberties – Check out my boy BCM in the Washington Examiner.

Spotlight-Chasing Candidates of 2012 – Some of these things are not like the others. Mr. Will focuses on two of the three spotlight-chasers. Thankfully, he doesn't even give the third a passing mention.

Make a Local Backup Of Your Gmail Account – Was just telling someone how awesome the cloud is…and how you need to have every bit of it backed up locally.

Triathlon as a means of birth control – I'm only one case study, but I can't recommend this method. One thing they didn't discuss is what happens to testosterone levels when training is cut back (post "big" race). That may explain a lot in my case.

The changing face of fame – Based on the "stars without makeup" photos I've seen, I credit improvements in makeup and lighting mostly. I have a feeling Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn didn't look too shabby in sweats at the grocery store.

I’m reading– February 22nd through February 25th

February 25, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Some WordPress 3.1 Themes That Take Advantage of Post Formats – Lots of good ideas here.

Make Tumblr Out Of WordPress 3.1 – If you recently upgraded to 3.1 and want to take advantage of the post formats, here's a great tutorial.

Moms Know What Ben Bernanke Doesn’t: Inflation Is Here – Not only is it here, it's more aggressive than is being reported. At least that's what trusted moms are telling me.

WordPress 3.1 Codex – Some really cool stuff in this release. I can't wait to see what kinds of cool things theme developers do with the new Post Formats!

Homebuyer Tax Credit Scheme..err…Alternative – Here's an idea: Let's stop propping up the market artificially and just get through this mess.

Breaking Up Boredom for Homeschoolers – Here are four really smart ways to change gears for a day and still keep the education ball rolling. Administration approved!

January 28th through February 17th

February 21, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

I haven’t had a chance to read as much lately, but here’s some stuff I’ve really liked. Hope to pick up the content consumption rate again soon!

Telecommuting: Transparency and Fluidity – I expect this to become more and more the norm. I’d also be interested in knowing what the typical turnover rate is for telecommuters. My guess is that it is significantly lower than turnover for traditional office workers. Then again, the current economy may not provide the best sample set.

Why Are You People Defending Apple? – Word. All of your applications, the content they contain, and their means of distribution are belong to us.

Chrissie Wellington on Sports Addiction – I’m more of a binger right now. I used to be a daily addict, and I plan on relapsing once again when it fits my schedule.

Why Fiverr Is Great for Online Entrepreneurs – Some good ideas here for saving money. I’m cheap.

Triathlon Is a Stupid Sport – Charlie is not a fan. I LOL’d at most of this article. Parts were funny because they are so ridiculous. Other parts were funny because they are so true.

Nonacademic Success, Attacking Social Networking, and More!

January 25, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Nonacademic Skills Key to Success – Crazy idea…let’s assign two people to each child born in this country to make sure they learn these intangible skills like reliability and work ethic. We can call these people “Parents”. Even if we can only get one good one per child, it will be progress.

16 Yummy Slow Cooker Desserts – Tadow!

Ransoming Someone for an XBox 360? – HT @MichaelSilence If you owe me ~$100 (and you know who you are), hope we don’t have a mutual friend who owns an Atari 2600 with several cartridges.

Social networking under fresh attack – I don’t think it’s the “devil in his self”. Obviously. But, I doubt I’m only person in the world who thinks it’s rude to see a person I’m sitting with IRL grab their phone every time it makes the slightest little noise. The message there is, “I’m not sure who this is or what they want, but it has to be more interesting than this.” It’s not so much the social media and texting I get annoyed with so much as it is the inability for people to sit comfortably without it.

I’m reading– January 18th through January 21st

January 22, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

First two years of college show small gains – Get thee to a community college.

Pick At It! – It’s been a long time since I’ve LOL’d all the way through an article.

Scott: ‘We’re spending too much money’ – The “Scott” in the article is our governor, not me. But this Scott agrees. Here’s what I don’t get about how budgets are crafted–why can’t they just do it the way we do at our house? Start with the amount of money you have, then subtract (by priority) the cost of all the things you have to pay for. As you go down the list of priorities, “needs” transition to “wants”. In good months, we actually make it to some pure “wants”. When the amount of money you have reaches zero, the budget is finished. The budget damn near writes itself! I realize it’s a little more complicated than that for a state legislature, but what if they approached the process by simply prioritizing the spending first?

Worldwide Coffee Production and Consumption – Doing my part on the consumption end. Pretty cool map!

Intro to Heart Rate Training From Mark Allen – If you’re new to heart rate training, this is good. Nice of him to share his personal experience of beginning to use a heart rate monitor.

I’m reading– January 12th through January 17th

January 17, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Portraits of Financial Normalcy – Some financial personality categories from @daveramsey.

Eight Crazy Constitutional Scenarios – HT @kleinheider. This reminds me of those crazy scenarios that can turn up in baseball. In baseball, they seem to actually turn up eventually too.

BMI(wife) < BMI(husband) Means a Happier Marriage – Good news for me. Barring an amputation, no danger of this changing any time soon.

Elected Official Constitutional Knowledge: Disgraceful – HT @russm. Maybe they should not only read the Constitution at the beginning of each legislative session, but also explain it as well.

Record Foreclosures in 2011? – The bright side–these properties (at least the ones I've seen) all need a lot of work. When (if) they make their way back to the market, lots of money is going to be spent to get them habitable again. Even stuff like neglected landscaping that needs to be re-done means jobs for somebody.

Hope Is Not A Strategy (Training) – I like Amanda's approach personally. Stick to the schedule, and don't be a slave to the schedule.

The 5 states where housing will recover first – At least we can be warm in Florida while we wait.

Should I work for free? – Heh

I’m reading– January 11th through January 12th

January 12, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Fight Club: The Musical – I am Jack’s feeling that Tyler Durden would not approve. HT to @raowen!

10 Reasons Why Socrates is Still Relevant Today – I’m glad the title of this article isn’t “10 Reasons Why Socrates is Still Alive and Kicking”. Someone would assuredly be shocked that he’s still walking among us. Saw someone make that mistake regarding Shakespeare. True story.

General Knowledge on Oil and Gas – Found this looking up the term “middle of the barrel”. Pretty interesting. Ok, not really, but I didn’t know the whole process.

339 Puke Synonyms – Because we’ve been overusing all the standard material at our house lately.

Digital Distractions – I like this Seth Godin post. I do–I really like the point of it. What I like best is how many times it’s been Shared and Re-Tweeted. And I just added another. 🙂

Most Productive Home Working Location? – For me, there has to be a desk. Actually, a complete office environment, just like you’d have at the Office-office. Bookshelves, printer, filing cabinet, etc. But, longer reading works better on a couch/futon.

Little Debbie Sushi – We have reached the pinnacle of food. There’s nowhere left to go.

WordPress Theme Anatomy – Great quick reference if you are just getting started with WP or need a quick reminder of how everything is structured.

I’m reading– January 6th through January 10th

January 11, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Katherine Coble on College Debt: – “…the Student Loan is in many ways the new subprime mortgage.” Yeah, except you can bankrupt a sub-prime mortgage. This needs to be hammered home.

The Explosion In Sudden-Loan Debt – “…unlike a mortgage, in which a borrower can refinance or—at worst—face foreclosure and bankruptcy, student loans do not go away.” I wonder what percentage of borrowers are aware of that little gotcha when they are sold student loans as “investments”. Debt == Bad.

A Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up a Treadmill Desk – Thankfully, there’s no article on setting up a spin-desk. That would give me one less excuse.

10 bizarre side effects of exercise – I can think of a few others, but they aren’t topics for polite company.

People Who Drink More Exercise More – Playing rugby with commitment is the most grueling thing I’ve ever done physically. Just saying. Still not sure what excuse all the guys with sketchy practice attendance will use though.

Why Programmers Suck at CSS – I plan on using this, like, A LOT! Hope I don’t gang aft agley.

I’m reading– January 5th through January 6th

January 6, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

How to get Fat as Fast as Possible (losing weight humor) | 3 Boys And A Dog – How to get Fat as Fast as Possible: Woot! I'm batting 1.000 so far this year!

The most reliable (and unreliable) blogging services on the Web – These rank almost exactly as I would have expected. I kinda sorta don't get Tumblr. Is is like the midpoint between a blog and Twitter?

RunKeeper With Heart Rate Monitoring! – This almost makes me glad I need a new HRM. I hate having to buy a new one, but it's very cool that I can get one to work with RunKeeper!

How Bad Movies Get Seen By So Many People – I get accused of being a movie snob sometimes. Whatever. I don't have a lot of time to spend watching movies, and even if I did, it's not what I want to do with a lot of my time. So I'm not that interested in wasting my movie time on a recycled story or bad writing/acting.

Early Infant “Reading“ With Larry Sanger – Web’s – They really do have fun too. Learning doesn't "suck" until it's made to suck.

Global Food-Price Index Hits Record – Of course, there is no inflation. None. In fact, we need to continue to worry about deflation and "stimulate" the economy by printing more money. Got it?

Changing Huckleberry Finn – A Travesty – Anyone who thinks this is a good idea needs to read the book (again). If they still think it's a good idea, their literacy is questionable.

That First Job

January 4, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Do yourself a favor and invest some time reading Mark T. Mitchell’s memories of working on a Montana ranch. As a country, we need a whole lot more of this and a whole lot less of anything that isn’t this.

I didn’t have a job anything like Mr. Mitchell did at 14, but I did a lot of farm work before I ever held a steady job, starting with pulling suckers off tobacco plants at 12. I had the same anxious feeling the first time my uncle told me to drive the tractor back to the barn while he drove the truck. Luckily it worked pretty much like a riding mower, so I didn’t mess up too badly.

All the things my brother and I had to do around the house seemed like slave labor at the time since we didn’t really have a choice in the matter, But we were lucky that when opportunities came to do some work for folding money, work wasn’t a foreign concept. It just made chores around our house seem more like slave labor. 🙂

Every one of those jobs “helping somebody out” for a day or two did infinitely more good for me in the long term than it did for the people I was working for in the short term.

I’m reading– December 29th through January 4th

January 4, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

China Up, America Down – If them folks cain't swim, they bound to drizown. Hard to argue with these points, until China starts trying to bully other countries. In 5, 4, 3…

RunKeeper Pro– Free Through January – Normally $10 for the pro version, get it free!

Delicious In Purgatory – I would be SO gone already (I already have a contingency plan in place) if all of my Delicious bookmarks weren't being used to generate permanent blog posts for me. And my notes in Delicious (like this one) work better as comments in a blog than they do in Twitter, or my problem would be solved already.

And just like that, the plugin I use to generate posts from Delicious adds support for Pinboard. Outta here Delicious!

I’m reading– December 22nd through December 29th

December 29, 2010 / Scott / 0 Comments

10 Things We Learned in 2010 – Thanks to Mr. Dave Ramsey, I learned these things in the early 1990s. Almost 20 years ahead of the curve! Matters not…most people will forget this stuff in 5 or 6 years.

Track flight prices and check for airline refunds – Who was I talking to about doing something like this a while back? Oh yeah…emailing this to him immediately.

Will 2011 See App Makers Thinking Android-First? – Now I don't feel like as much of an idiot sitting here at Android 2.1 waiting for a Honeycomb phone to surface.

When the Diagnosis Is ‘Dead Butt Syndrome’ – Wait…so the contrapositive of this argument is that if I don't run I don't have to cross-train either, right? FTW!

How New Entrepreneurs Are Taking Advantage of the Great Reset – In front of and behind the firewall I might add.

Payday Lending Booms as Credit Cards Become Less Available – Two not-so-bold predictions. (1) Politicians will "do something" about this, probably at the state level. (2) As a result, payday lenders will be hurt, and lone-sharking at the street level will become a booming industry.

People always have and always will borrow money with outrageous terms. It's just a matter of whether they are going to lose their car title or the use of their thumbs when they don't pay.

If the market exists…

I’m reading– December 17th through December 21st

December 22, 2010 / Scott / 0 Comments

I’m Dreaming of a Tight Christmas – “I’m dreaming of disappointing the analysts and economists and politicians who are crossing their fingers in hopes that spending will be up. I would not have us die of consumption. I would have us live, each in his place, each knowing it well and loving it too.”

I’m down like four flat tires.

How To Write Brief Emails Without Being A Jerk – Twitter is good training for being succinct and clear.

On Princesses – I’d like to see more “Part II” type movies, where we see not how to become a princess, but how to act like one. Less focus on the “saved by a Prince” story, and more on “being kind to others.

Mind-Blowing Translation App – Even a 13 year old I know is impressed. That’s impressive.

Nine Writers Carrying the Torch for Men’s Fiction – As much as I read, it’s hard for me to say that I should read more. But I should read more books, and I should read more fiction.

Gettin’ After It!