Clipmarks | coconutshell's Lifestyle collection

The best at what you do.

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 10:28:38 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: It makes you think. And it's a good read.

Clip Source: www.wisebread.com

Joe

was born with Down Syndrome

His condition makes most jobs out of his reach

that didn’t stop him from getting a position at the local grocery store as a bagger

not a particularly glamorous job

pay isn’t exactly wonderful

He wanted to be the best bagger in the store, if not, the city

He went home and, with the help of his father, typed up inspirational sayings and quotes

he cut them out and took them to work

Every time he put groceries in a bag, he would add one of the little inspirational quotes

It made Joe happy to spread a little joy

and the customers loved it

people were lining up to get their groceries bagged by Joe

From a mundane job, Joe created something extraordinary

He did something remarkable and genuine, and everyone around him felt inspired. That is the embodiment of being the best at what you do

What could you do better in your daily routine? It doesn’t need to take a lot of time or money, but just a little thought.

Tags: people, jobs, inspiration, best

Girlie things men would enjoy doing themselves

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:06:45 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: Quite amusing. A few more at the source.

Clip Source: www.socyberty.com

Pull Each Other's Hair in a Fight

Rugby players all over the world would come out of this tight, intimate, muscle-bag meeting with handfuls of man hair.

Wear a Dress to Work

A dress would solve all the snagging problems and would certainly eliminate the need for constant tie and zipper checks.

Have a Handbag

Man bag

Dude purse

Burly purly

Rough sac

Brute case

Wear Their Hair Long and Styled

create extra height for shorter men

appearance of a longer, thinner head for men with chubby faces

Problems solved for the short, fat, bald and ugly variety of the less fairer of the species

Wear a Bra

If all men wore bras, then no one would know which ones really needed them and which ones didn't.

Tags: humour, humor, men, women, society, taboos

TTC Metropass passes $100-mark.

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 08:43:20 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: Sigh...this is why I choose to live right in the middle of the city where everything's a 5-minute walk away.

Clip Source: www.citynews.ca

For the first time the price of a monthly TTC Metropass has exceeded the $100 mark.

And that's not the only way The Better Way is going to be making more money in the weeks to come. As of November 4, bulk tokens and tickets will cost $2.25 apiece. The hikes are part of the TTC's plan to ease its cash crunch.

The TTC Adult Weekly Pass is also going up, to $32.25 starting November 1.

Riders will also start seeing a new kind of ticket as of November 4 - the TTC adds that current tickets can be used until December 2, with the addition of 15 cents for current adult tickets and 10 cents for student/senior tickets. After that date the current tickets won't be accepted anymore, however they can be exchanged for their cash value.

NEW FARES
--------
Adult Fare
----------
Ticket/Token                        5 for $11.25 or
                                           10 for $22.50
Cash                                              $2.75
Metropass (monthly)                      $109.00
Metropass Discount Plan                $100.00
(12 month Metropass)
Weekly Pass                                  $32.25

Tags: toronto, travel, fares, ttc

Video Interviews - a new trend?

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 06:01:19 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: Interesting. More things to worry about rather than just the interviewer.

Clip Source: sympaticomsn.workopolis.com

Video interviewing for a job has become a growing trend, WALLACE IMMEN finds. But there are some issues to consider before you're ready for your close-up

As though job interviews were not enough for a serious case of the nerves, a fast-growing trend is toward video interviewing as an alternative to face-to-face meetings.

In a personal encounter, an interviewer puts a majority of attention on what a person is saying but in video, appearance and presentation become predominant, Mr. Mindszenthy says.

Other common faults are fidgeting or appearing to be daydreaming, which are magnified when the face is the only thing the interviewer can see, Mr. Orlikow adds.

Dress tastefully.

Make a pit stop

Speak with conviction

Use a prop

Be yourself

Watch your body language

Listen before answering. Pause for two seconds, which seems like a long time but it makes you seem thoughtful and introspective.

Ask for clarification

Keep notes

Make your point

Keep it short

Tags: interview, career, employment, media, tips

Blindsided

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 05:16:56 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell

Clip Source: www.thesneeze.com

You're hanging out with your six-year-old in his room while he quietly draws a boat on his MagnaDoodle.

The boy stops drawing for a moment, looks right at you and says: "HERE'S THE IMPORTANT QUESTION: What part of the mommy does the baby come out of?"

I just told him, "If you want to know what part of the mommy it is, don't you think that's a good question for mommy? You should go ask her right now."

For being woken up sick, out of a sound sleep to hear "What part of the mommy does the baby come out of?", she gave an excellent answer. She just coughed up a little phlegm and told him, "The baby grows in a part called the womb and when the baby is ready, he comes out through the birth canal." My son was pleased with that answer, came back in and finished his boat. My wife went back to sleep and everyone was happy.

Now here's the even more important question: How do we keep the mommy from reading this, so as not to restrict DADDY'S access to the birth canal?

Tags: thesneeze, humour, blog, family, funny

The brain behind the "All-Nighter"

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 04:28:00 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell

Clip Source: www.smart-kit.com

Can college students pull an ‘All-Nighter’—staying up the entire night to cram for a test—and have their brains function close to normal the next day? The majority, of course, think so …

But several studies clearly show brain function takes a big hit after an all-nighter. Memory systems and frontal lobe function especially suffer. [References 2-6 below]

Moderate Sleep Deprivation Produces Impairments in Cognitive and Motor Performance Equivalent to Legally Prescribed Levels of Alcohol Intoxication

According to the article, after 19+ hours without sleep, performance on cognitive tests reached levels equivalent to those associated with a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) of 0.1 percent. In the majority of states, a BAC of 0.08 percent is grounds for a DUI—an arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol! This means that if you pull an all-nighter, you don’t have enough brain function to legally drive a car.

As mentioned above, memory systems and frontal lobe function markedly suffer after an all-nighter. The functions of memory systems are obvious, but what do the frontal lobes do? They are brain regions important for:

Verbal fluency (how well you speak, read, write, and understand)

Creativity (how original, imaginative, and resourceful you are)

Executive function (planning skills and problem solving skills

Frontal lobe function is therefore particularly important for:

Exams in math, physics, chemistry, or economics, or in any other test that requires not only recall of information but application of recalled knowledge to new situations and problem solving

Oral presentations, debates

Essay tests in literature, history, social sciences, art

Frontal lobe function is less important in these:

Multiple-choice tests that emphasize rote memorization

Short answer tests that don’t involve much problem solving; that is, plain recall

However, it is worth repeating that after an all-nighter, all types of memory recall will be impaired regardless of the type of test you take.

Tags: science, health, all-nighter, study, memory, brain

Life list of a 7-year old

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 05:12:28 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks:

Someday, my son will look back on this first life list he ever composed and laugh at some of the things he wrote - just as you laugh at some of them now. But he’ll also laugh at the many things he achieved, and realize that it was that rainy day back in late 2006 when these accomplishments and experiences started hurtling towards him - and when his habit of shooting for the moon was born.

Have you written your life list yet?

Clip Source: www.lifehack.org

“Why don’t you write a life list?” I suggested to my son. “OK,” he said. “What’s a life list, Daddy?”

A week ago, while I was tidying up my son’s room, I came across that yellow pad of paper. Since showing him John Goddard’s life list two months earlier, I hadn’t seen or thought about the pad. On the cardboard cover he had scrawled, “Do not tuoch.” Behind the cover were nine pages of goals (55 total) he had written over the course of the last sixty days. Some were written in pencil, some in black ink, some in green ink - and all in the painstakingly careful handwriting of a second grader. As I read his life list, I could see his life unfolding before my eyes (not a life of achieving all of the goals on his life list, but certainly a life of adventurous striving).

Before I share highlights of my son’s life list with you, consider:

1. To what degree do you think a young person increases his chances of a fulfilling life by seizing the freedom to dream big, imagining what he wants to achieve, and writing it down?

2. Which habit would you wish for your child more than that of creating exciting mental pictures of the future with a spirit of expectancy?

#2: Run a marathon. #3 Visit the castles in Scotland. #7: Climb Mt. Washington (in New Hampshire). #9: Read a 200+ page book. #10: Live to be 105+ years old. #14: Set a record. #15: Be a dad. #17: Go water skiing. #19: Make something that goes in public. #21: Be able to speak more than two different languages. #23: Invent something. #24: Never get an ear infection until I’m ten. #27: Visit the pyramids in Egypt. #30: Go to another continent. #35: Be in 125-degree weather. #36: Play 18 holes of golf in par or under par. #39: Be in the newspaper twice. #40: Never wear long sleeves to school on the first day. #43: Eat a wild food. #47: Visit a place on the equator. #48: Be in the hall of fame for any sport. #50: Rescue somebody on a real mission. #51: Win a championship game. #55: Visit any hall of fame for any sport.

Tags: lifestyle, parenting, family, goals, society

What a teacher makes.

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 06:44:20 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell

Clip Source: www.thatsfit.com

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.

One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness, replied, "You want to know what I make?

(She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an iPod, Game Cube or movie rental...

You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them criticize.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

I make my students stand to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, because we live in the United States of America.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

"Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant...

You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make?"

Tags: career, people, society, life, lesson

Shopping Tricks that stores hate

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 04:50:40 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: There are more at the source....

Clip Source: consumerist.com

Buying Loss Leaders and Leaving: Loss leaders are products that a company sells below or at cost to lure customers into the store.

Why They Hate It: They do not want you to waltz in, buy up all the loss leaders and leave. Often there are limits to how many of each you can buy, if you see something in the ad that says "limit 3 per customer" you may have found yourself a loss leader. Buy it and get the hell out.

Activating Your Own Phone With A Cell Phone Company: You can buy a used phone, or an unlocked phone, for full price and avoid signing a contract.

Why They Hate It: Cell phone companies want you to sign a contract. They need you to sign a contract. They burn with desire for you to be under contract with them. Cell phone stores sell 2 year contracts. That's what they sell. Not phones. So get a phone, then call the cell phone company and activate it. No contract needed. They hate that so much.

Opening A Store Credit Card To Get A Discount, Then Cutting It Up: This is one from our dear Mommy. Mommy buys a bunch of stuff at once, opens the store credit card for the 20% discount, pays it off and cuts up the card. She did this every year when buying our school clothes. We're sure they hate her with the force of a 200 mega-ton bomb, but she still saved 20%.

Why They Hate It: Credit card companies make money from interest and fees. No activity on the card, no interest and fees.

Shopping in the Store But Buying Online: Stores are just places where you can look at things you will later purchase for cheaper online. Look at your new laptop. Try it out. Ask questions. Buy online.

Why They Hate It: They've paid for a store, the electric bill for the store, the employees to answer your questions, and those nice little plastic bags that they want to put your purchase in. Whoops.

Tags: shopping, consumerism, consumer, consumerist, tips, retail, interesting

Happiness: Good for Creativity, Bad for Single-Minded Focus

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 06:11:11 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: I thought thinking happy thoughts made you fly. But this is close enough.

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Happiness: Good for Creativity, Bad for Single-Minded Focus

Happy people are open to all sorts of ideas, some of which can be distracting

by JR Minkel


	Image: © EMELY/ZEFA/CORBIS
	A HAPPY THOUGHT: People in a happy mood perform better than others on a task that requires them to be creative, but do worse when asked to cut through distractions and focus on one thing.

Despite those who romanticize depression as the wellspring of artistic genius, studies find that people are most creative when they are in a good mood, and now researchers may have explained why: For better or worse, happy people have a harder time focusing.

University of Toronto psychologists induced a happy, sad or neutral state in each of 24 participants by playing them specially chosen musical selections. To instill happiness, for example, they played a jazzy version of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. After each musical interlude, the researchers gave subjects two tests to assess their creativity and concentration.

In one test, participants in a happy mood were better able to come up with a word that unified three other seemingly disparate words, such as "mower," "atomic" and "foreign." Solving the puzzle required participants to think creatively, moving beyond the normal word associations--"lawn," "bomb" and "currency"--to come up with the more remote answer: "power."

Interestingly, induced happiness made the subjects worse at the second task, which required them to ignore distractions and focus on a single piece of information. Participants had to identify a letter flashed on a computer screen flanked by either the same letter, as in the string "N N N N N," or a different letter, as in "H H N H H." When the surrounding letters didn't match, the happy participants were slower to recognize the target letter in the middle, indicating that the ringers distracted them.

Tags: science, research, psychology, people, society

Fake eye - prosthetics from 4,800 years ago.

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 05:48:25 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks:

Harris said the primary reason for the artificial eyeball would not have been medical.

"She could have worn a patch, but perhaps her family wanted her to look her best for public appearances," he explained.

Damn the wealthy!! I'm sure all the other girls back then would have wanted the fake eye too.

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

Dec. 18, 2006 — Around the time that the great pyramids were built in Egypt and Stonehenge was erected in England, a young woman living in what is now Iran lost an eye and was fitted with a prosthetic device.

The 4,800-year-old artificial eye was recently found by archaeologists working at the Burnt City historical site in southeastern Iran, according to a report published by the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies, a London-based research and educational program.

The find supports speculation that such prosthetics were available to a fortunate few in the ancient world. An early Hebrew text, for example, references a woman who wore an artificial eye made of gold.

The newly found eye isn't gold, but it probably looked more like the real thing.

"At first glance, it seems natural tar mixed with animal fat has been used in making [the eye]," said archaeologist Mansur Sayyed-Sajadi, who is directing the excavation. Further testing will be needed to determine its exact composition.

Sayyed-Sajadi added that whoever made the eye likely used a fine golden wire, thinner than half a millimeter, to draw "even the most delicate eye capillaries."

Parallel lines were also drawn around the pupil to form a diamond shape.

Two holes at the sides helped hold it in place in the woman's eye socket. Sayyed-Sajadi said remaining eyelid tissues are still evident on the eyeball, as are markings that suggest the woman developed an abscess in her eyelid due to frequent contact with the object.

The eyeball was found with the skeletal remains of its wearer in an early cemetery. The researchers believe the woman was between 25 and 30 years old when she died.

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

Clay vessels, ornamental beads, a leather sack and a bronze mirror were also found in her grave.

Michael Harris, a senior lecturer in optometry at the University of California at Berkeley, said the objects, as well as the effort it must have taken to prepare and fit the woman for the artificial eye, suggest she was a member of the elite.

Tags: interesting, science, health, society, lifestlye, history, prosthetics

Baking soda + cream of tartare = Baking powder (and more)

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 08:54:58 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: I like to cook and I often find that I'm missing an ingredient or two at times....these substitutions are great to know.

Clip Source: lifestyle.sympatico.msn.ca

• 1 cup (250 mL) self-rising flour (flour already containing leavening, commonly found in British and Australian cookbooks) = 1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour plus 1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder and 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt. (Self-rising flour is now available in many Canadian supermarkets.)

• 1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder = 1/4 tsp (1 mL) bakingsoda plus 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cream of tartar.

• Chocolate chips: equal amount of chopped chocolate. (However, you cannot always substitute chocolate chips for chocolate.)

• Old-fashioned large-flake rolled oats: equal amount of quick-cooking rolled oats. Do not substitute instant oats.

• Corn syrup: equal amount of molasses or maplesyrup.

• Currants: equal amount of raisins, dried cherriesor dried cranberries.

• 1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk or sour cream = 1 cup (250 mL) plain yogurt (in recipes such as muffins, loaves and pancakes; some adjustment may be necessary).

• 1 tsp (5 mL) lemon juice = 1/2 tsp (2 mL) vinegar.

• 1 cup (250 mL) cream cheese = 1 cup (250 mL) cottage cheese puréed until very smooth plus 1/4 cup (50 mL) butter or margarine. This kind of substitution works satisfactorily for a simple cheesecake provided you purée the cottage cheese beforehand to smooth out the curds.

• Butter: equal amount of firm margarine. Do not substitute soft margarine in baking.

• 2 tbsp (25 mL) soy sauce = 1 tbsp (15 mL) Worcester shire sauce plus 2 tsp (10 mL) water plus pinch salt.

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) Worcestershire sauce = 1 tbsp (15 mL) soy sauce plus dash each hot pepper sauce and lemon juice plus pinch granulated sugar.

• 1 clove garlic, minced = 1/4 tsp (1 mL) garlic powder.

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh herbs = 1 tsp (5 mL) dried herbs. This is a general rule; it will not apply for very large amounts of chopped fresh herbs, such as those exceeding 1/4 cup (50 mL) or for more assertive herbs, in which case the amount will be slightly less or specified in parentheses in the recipe.

• Curry powder: equal amount of curry paste.

Tags: cooking, food, interesting, good-to-know, tips

Fly me to the Moon...

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 13:09:23 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: Awwwww......

Clip Source: www.woostercollective.com

Fly Me To The Moon... A Visual Love Poem For Nico

Yesterday, Nico woke up in his flat in Split Croatia. On his closet door was a map created by his girlfriend, Andrea. The map showed different places for Nico to look as his took his usual route from his apartment to the academy where he studies.

What Nico found was an elaborate love poem done on the streets of Split by Andrea. She had put up stencils, paint, aerosol, collage wheat pastes etc. with last piece reading.... "i love you".

You can see all of the images here.

Clip Source: www.umas.hr

Tags: graffiti, art, music

Many women do not recognise bulimia symptoms

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 07:45:44 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell

Clip Source: today.reuters.com

In a study of 158 women with bulimia-type eating disorders, Australian researchers found that nearly half did not acknowledge a problem with their eating. This was particularly true of those who did not vomit to control their weight.

But there are also non-purging forms of bulimia, where tactics like excessive exercise or strict dieting are used to counter binge-eating episodes.

Still other people have certain symptoms of bulimia but fall short of all the criteria used to diagnose the disorder; they may fall into the category of "eating disorder not otherwise specified," or EDNOS.

The new study, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, focused on women with "bulimic-type" eating disorders. This included those with purging or non-purging bulimia, as well as women with EDNOS. Some women in the latter group were diagnosed with binge-eating disorder, which involves excessive eating but no purging to compensate]

Women who used self-induced vomiting were nearly six times more likely than other women to recognize that they had a problem, the study found. Continued...

Clip Source: today.reuters.com

This is partly due to media portrayals of eating disorders, which typically highlight anorexia and purging-type bulimia, Mond told Reuters Health.

But there's also a general perception that excessive exercise and strict calorie-cutting are acceptable, or even "desirable," behaviors, he added.

And that awareness needs to spread not only in the general public, Mond noted, but among doctors and other health professionals.

In some cases where a woman with one of these eating disorders does seek treatment, he explained, the doctor may treat what's seen as the "true" problem -- such as depression or anxiety -- leaving the eating disorder inadequately addressed.

Tags: health, disorder, bulimia, women, society, people

Best Geek Gifts

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:57:00 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: Numbers 3-5 please....I know number 4's a little evil and borderline sadistic but I'm sure many would agree.

Clip Source: www.bbspot.com

Best Geek Gifts

11.

One year of "no computer questions" from everyone in your family

10.

Private show by the remaining cast of Monty Python

Simultaneous devolution of all intelligent design proponents into chimpanzees

The Sword of a Thousand Truths

A "Nuke the RIAA from orbit" button (The type you press, not the type you wear)

Charles Babbage's brain in a jar of formaldehyde.

Life-sized, fully-functional Bender

Star Wars Holiday Special where Jar-Jar gets trampled to death by Santa's eight tiny Wookiees

Ten terabyte video iPod nano with expandable screen

Guided tour of Area 51

Customized Google logo on your birthday

Tags: humour, humor, geek, gift, technology, internet