Archive for the 'General' Category

Top 10 Outdoor Survival Tools

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Wired brings us their picks for the 10 things you must have in your wilderness survival kit. Nothing too out of the ordinary item here, but there a couple that I hadn’t thought of before.

8. Whistle
When you are lost in the woods, signaling for help should be a high priority. Blowing a whistle periodically requires much less energy than yelling and the high pitch sound may travel further.

It makes sense, but I guess I think of the big three: food, water, shelter, when I think survival. Signaling can help you getting rescued faster which makes everything else a little less critical.

Tivo to get YouTube

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

Engadget is running a piece announcing the arrival of a YouTube app on Tivo Series3 and HD boxes. I recently bought an TivoHD and after playing with the online and TivoToGo features, I noticed the absence of YouTube and many other online streaming video sites from the feature set. I can’t wait to start surfing YouTube from my couch.

With this, Tivo continues its long run of outdoing every other DVR manufacturer out there and truly making their box the center of the entertainment universe in the living room. Here’s to hoping they keep it up and add something like Joost.

J

Links of the week - Vacation edition

Saturday, March 1st, 2008

Today, I’m starting a week of vacation. Lisa and I are planning to spend the week doing home improvements and getting in some much needed downtime. Here are some links about relaxation and making your home a more comfortable place.

WikiHow - Meditate

Master Bedroom Makeover

Do Nothing to Become More Productive

WikiHow - Install a Bathroom Fan

Hone Your Rock Band Chops

Ok, so the last one is a bit off topic.. in my defense, I do plan to get in some good Rock Band time during my break. Have a good week!

J

Unscrew America

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

This morning I was doing some stumbling around the intertubes and found a really cool site promoting the use of compact flourescent lighting and LEDs in place of traditional incandescent lighting. While the substance of the site is right on and definitely a message I like seeing promoted what struck me most was the design of the site. It’s done in flash with a playful fun attitude. Be sure to visit the “Hooray Australia” area to hear the Australian national anthem as played by a guy in a kangaroo costume using a keytair… awesome.

Unscrew America via StumbleUpon

PS. Follow my twitter feed for fresh links day in and day out.

Cheers,

J

A New Year, A New Vision

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008

So, here it’s been over 2 full weeks since I made the pledge to keep things moving around here without a single post… My apologies. If you’re like me, and most others, you’ve spent some time in the last couple of days thinking about the past year, what is coming in the new year, and promising that 2008 will be the year that you actually follow through on all of the resolutions you keep repeating year after year. I admit I’ve done the same. This morning, though, I came to another realization. I’ve determined why I think I continually fail to execute my resolutions.

The resolutions that I repeat every year (get in shape, quit smoking, be more organized, etc.) are all not simple actions. They are lifestyle changes. Making changes in your lifestyle largely depends upon changing your priorities and outlook on life. What I’ve realized about my life is that the changes I need to make take place and effect a much longer scale of time that I am typically concerned with. Most of the time, I am focused on the next coming event…. the next project, the next action, the next vacation, the next holiday, the next immediate goal. So focused is my concentration on this next event that I often fail to see how that affects my larger vision. I get the distinct feeling that if I could think in terms of my larger vision all of the time, I could eliminate the tendency toward laziness and convenience that is the downfall of my noble resolutions year after year and put priority on the changes to my life that will make a long term impact and keep me from repeating the same things in 2009.

So with that, I declare the most crucial of resolution statements for 2008. This will be the year that I focus on my vision of the future; this year I will focus on the big picture and lend priority to my long term goals.

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Now playing on iTunes: Madness featuring Sway & Baby Blue - Sorry
via FoxyTunes