Clipmarks | sam.reckoner's clips

Does science make belief in God obsolete?

Wed, 21 May 2008 14:35:16 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner
clipper's remarks: Good series of essays. Good perspectives.

Does science make belief in God obsolete?

This is the third in a series of conversations among leading scientists and scholars about the "Big Questions."
For the previous two questions, click here.
To request a booklet containing all the essays, click here. For a PDF, here.
To view featured debates among the contributors, click here.

Tags: religion, psychology, science, belief

62 Little Known Uses Of Vinegar

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:30:31 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner
clipper's remarks: The whole list is worth reviewing

Clip Source: odyb.net

62 Little Known Uses Of Vinegar

239,049 views

Published July 12th, 2007 in Discoveries, Food / Cooking.

Clip Source: odyb.net

Clear mineral deposits from a steam iron.

Clean lime deposits and calcium sludge from an automatic drip coffee maker.

Clean the hoses and unclog soap scum from a washing machine.

Clean rust from tools, bolts, and spigots.

Keep a garbage disposal clean and smelling fresh.

Tags: howto, home

A List Of Fallacious Arguments

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:53:12 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: www.don-lindsay-archive.org

A List Of Fallacious Arguments

"The jawbone of an ass is just as dangerous a weapon today as in Sampson's time."
--- Richard Nixon

Tags: psychology, debate, logic

Add Flavor to Your Water with Natural Add-Ins

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:32:15 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: lifehacker.com

Ginger - If you like spices, ginger is a great way to add a "zing" to your water. If it is added to boiling water it is also a great way to clear your throat and sinuses during a cold.
Citrus - My husband's family members often freeze a small citrus fruit called kalamansi in ice cube trays and then put the ice cubes in water for flavor. The same can be done with other citrus fruits and the water produced would be infused with vitamin C.
Herbs - Mint, lemongrass, and parsley are great for adding aroma and a hint of green to your water. If you want to release the flavor you can crush the plants a little bit before putting them into your water.

Tags: diet

How Stereotyping Yourself Contributes to Your Success (or Failure)

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:18:37 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

People's performance on intellectual and athletic tasks is shaped by awareness of stereotypes about the groups to which they belong. New research explains why— and how we can break free from the expectations of others

As it turns out, research shows that such performance failures cannot always be attributed simply to inherent lack of ability or incompetence. Although some have jumped to the highly controversial conclusion that differences in attainment reflect natural differences between groups, the roots of many handicaps actually lie in the stereotypes, or preconceptions, that others hold about the groups to which we belong. For instance, a woman who knows that women as a group are believed to do worse than men in math will, indeed, tend to perform less well on math tests as a result.

Tags: psychology, productivity, performance

how to write strong arguments

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:34:57 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: blog.createdebate.com

Tags: debate, business, writing

PocketMod Paper organizer

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:29:59 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: www.pocketmod.com

The PocketMod is a new way to keep yourself organized. Lets face it, PDAs are too expensive and cumbersome, and organizers are bulky and hard to carry around. Nothing beats a folded up piece of paper. That is until now. With the PocketMod, you can carry around the days notes, keep them organized in any way you wish, then easily transfer the notes to your PDA, spreadsheet, or planner.

The PocketMod is a small book with guides on each page. These guides or templates, combined with a unique folding style, enable a normal piece of paper to become the ultimate note card. It is hard to describe just how incredibly useful the PocketMod is. It's best that you just dive in and create one.

Tags: productivity, organization

12 Keys of Emotional Intelligence

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:27:18 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: zenhabits.net

Awareness. Recognising individual emotions as they occur, understanding why they occur, and understanding the effects (both good and bad) they have on you.

Control

Assessment

Vision

Creativity

Innovation

Ambition

Initiative

Conscientiousness

Adaptability

Independence

Optimism. Understanding we all make mistakes, choosing to persist no matter how many times you’ve failed, and always remaining hopeful that success is just around the corner.

For example, to create a greater sense of awareness you could start meditating, even if it’s for only five minutes a day. For assessment, you could take some time off to be alone with your thoughts, by treating yourself to a solo lunch or spending the afternoon at a local park. Or just drive to work with the radio off.

Tags: psychology, productivity, intelligence

Maximizing Human Performance

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:17:02 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: www.asktog.com

Maximizing Human Performance

Performance can be divided into two considerations: Machine performance and user performance.

The one central strategy for reducing subjective time:

Keep the User Engaged

When inevitable pauses occur in the workflow because you must make a server round-trip before the user can proceed, for example, make sure that the user is engaged and entertained. The ideal engagement is engagement with the task being performed. Before leaving for the server, give the user something to read that will set them up for the next task.

Tags: productivity, design, performance, psychology

Commonly Overused Words

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:20:12 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: www.phschool.com

When you write, use the most precise word for your meaning, not the word that comes to mind first. Consult this thesaurus to find alternatives for some commonly overused words. Consult a full-length thesaurus to find alternatives to words that do not appear here. Keep in mind that the choices offered in a thesaurus do not all mean exactly the same thing. Review all the options, and choose the one that best expresses your meaning.

Tags: writing

The Ten Habits of Emotionally Intelligent People

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:19:05 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: webhome.idirect.com

The Ten Habits of Emotionally Intelligent People

1. Label their feelings, rather than labeling people or situations.

2. Distinguish between thoughts and feelings.

3. Take responsibility for their feelings.

4. Use their feelings to help them make decisions.

5. Show respect for other people's feelings.

6. Feel energized, not angry.

7. Validate other people's feelings.

8. Practice getting a positive value from their negative emotions.

9. Don't advise, command, control, criticize, judge or lecture to others.

10. Avoid people who invalidate them, or don't respect their feelings.

Tags: optional. separate by commas., psychology, productivity

Support No Mortgage Bailout

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:20:12 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: www.nobailout.org

Contact Your Elected Officials in Washington
Tell your elected officials how you feel about a mortgage bailout! By entering your zip code below, we'll help you find your representative.

Tags: housing, real estate, finance, government, gov, economy

Cell Phone Wiretapping made easy

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:42:25 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Silently tapping into a private cell phone conversation is no longer a high-tech trick reserved for spies and the FBI. Thanks to the work of two young cyber-security researchers, cellular snooping may be soon be affordable enough for your next-door neighbor.

In a presentation Wednesday at the Black Hat security conference in Washington, D.C., David Hulton and Steve Muller demonstrated a new technique for cracking the encryption used to prevent eavesdropping on GSM cellular signals, the type of radio frequency coding used by major cellular service providers including AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ), Cingular and T-Mobile. Combined with a radio receiver, the pair say their technique allows an eavesdropper to record a conversation on these networks from miles away and decode it in about half an hour with just $1,000 in computer storage and processing equipment.

Tags: technology, cell phone, privacy, security

The 401k Debit Card: Probably One of the Worst Ideas Ever

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:47:43 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: genxfinance.com

The 401k Debit Card: Probably One of the Worst Ideas Ever

I think it is clear that this idea is a very bad idea given the state of our social retirement program and the lack of savings by most people. To see real examples, all we have to do is look at the real estate market. With people treating their homes like bank accounts it has helped fuel the housing problems we currently see, and many people are now finding out that they currently can’t get the money back that they borrowed from their equity. To argue that people will make better decisions than this with their retirement funds with access to that money at their fingertips is just foolish in my opinion.

Tags: finance, economy, credit, debt

Dinosaur Eating Frog Found!

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:04:01 GMT

clipped by: sam.reckoner

Clip Source: www.efluxmedia.com

Scientists Uncover Cretaceous Frog, A Dinosaur Hatchling Predator

It appears that Beelzebufo lived in a semi-arid environment, perfectly blending in, which explains its eating habits too. It did not have an aquatic life style, and scientists assume it hunted down from lizards and small mammals, to dinosaur hatchlings. Considering the age of the fossils, it is very plausible that the species went extinct simultaneously with the dinosaurs.

The first discovery of fragments belonging to this particular type of frog have been uncovered in 1993, but it wasn’t until recently that paleontologists managed to put the fragments together and get an ensemble picture of how the 70 million years Devil Toad looked like. Apparently an adult specimen could have reached up to 40 cm, which is approximately twice the size of today’s frogs.

Tags: science, nature, dinosaurs, evolution