Clipmarks | weirdguy's clips

Government Deadline Looming - Go HD Now!

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:24:06 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: I got my free money, did you get yours?

Have you filed for your HDTV Converter Box coupon yet?

No?!…

Well, you should. It’s like getting a brand new television for $20-30!

After I got my coupon card several months ago, I searched around and found a few reviews on CNet for recommended HD Converter boxes. The reviews were older than I liked but there wasn’t much else available at that time. Since then, there are other reviews available on places like Amazon and Happy Iguana’s TV Converter Box Store.

Bottom Line
Apply now, if you have not for the $40 government coupon - you’ll be glad you did!

Tags: television, tech, technology, hdtv, free, government

One Semester of Spanish Love Song

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:20:55 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: This is bust-out-load funny.

Clip Source: weirdblog.wordpress.com

Saw this the other day and had to share. I have to give them an “A” for originality and creativity. So, what does this have to do with WeirdGuy and learning? Well, it certainly fits the creativity bill and, as for learning, the guy should have spent more time learning Spanish if he wanted to woo his Señorita properly.

Watch it for yourself — it’s hilarious!

Tags: fun, humor, video, international, music, relationships, dating

Learning Brains Sleep

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:18:56 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: This explains a lot...

Clip Source: weirdblog.wordpress.com

This explains why I like to sleep so much! Fascinating and fun information, books, DVD’s, online movies and more at Brain Rules.

Oh, and ever wonder why stress is literally killing people? No, I am not talking about “going postal,” although this gives some credence as to why some people fall of the sanity wagon. Find out why prolonged stress is harmful to you and those around you. This could save your life. Check it out today!

Tags: fun, innovation, learning, health, work, creativity

Amy Tan on Creativity

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:17:16 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: Tell me your thoughts.

Clip Source: weirdblog.wordpress.com

Here Amy Tan talks about, “Where does creativity hide?” Tell me your thoughts.

[Video]

Tags: design, creativity, art, innovation, video

The Value of Twitter

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:15:27 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: I am being persuaded, but not convinced.

Clip Source: weirdblog.wordpress.com

I am still not sold on the value of Twitter (See Twitter for the ADD Generation). Yet, Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, sees great worth in using the socila medium for spreading the word and getting feedback about his company.

Here is a brief piece from an interview with Inc. Magazine:

You have 5,681 “followers” signed up to read your Twitter updates — that’s not just employees. Who are they?

We have eight million customers. It’s been great for getting feedback. For example, we have a new website that’s still in beta. As we make improvements, I’ll send out a Twitter message asking people what they think.

See the entire article on Inc.com to find out more.

Tags: twitter, technology, tech, blogging, commuunity, mobile

How To Manage Your Priorities with Excel

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:16:35 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: Are you a fan of GTD? Then this could be for you.

Clip Source: www.wikihow.com

Create a "Home" or "Office" tab.

Rename Sheet2 as "Template" and Sheet3 as "Points"

Create the Importance table.

Define the name "Importance".

Create the Effort Table.

Create the Urgency table.

Enter headings on Home tab. Click on the Home tab and insert headings in row 1:

A - Priority A formula, 1 for the most important task, but can be over 100

B - Task Name of the task.

C - Importance An A, B, C, D, E, or F from the table.

D - Effort A 1-5, from the Effort table.

E - Urgency A formula based on Due date.

Due

G - Ramp Up Days prior to Due date you could start task.

H - Extension Automatic extension of Due date

Days Left

Finished

Comment

Enter your list of tasks.

Enter formulas for Days Left, Urgency and Priority.

I (Days Left) =F2-IF(ISBLANK(J2),TODAY(),J2)

E (Urgency) =IF(I2>G2,5,IF(I2>0,4,IF(I2=0,3,IF(I2+H2>0,2,1))))

Change the format for Cell I2 to Integer

Copy formulas for Priority, Urgency and Days Left to the remaining cells in each column.

Sort the rows

download

[1]

Save your priorities

Tags: howto, to-do, management, priorities, work, gtd

How To Hypermile

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:06:33 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy

Clip Source: www.wikihow.com

Hypermiling refers to a collection of driving techniques aimed at improving your car's fuel efficiency by reducing the demands placed on the engine. Since it's possible to improve fuel economy by 37% just by changing the way you drive^[1] hypermiling is gaining interest in light of high fuel costs. While some hypermiling methods are controversial and potentially dangerous, this article will focus on safer techniques that can still save you gas and money.

Drive as if you don't have brakes.

Be gentle with the accelerator.

Avoid idling.

Minimize the engine load.

Park for easy departure.

Check tire pressure regularly.

Reduce the junk in the trunk.

These driving techniques won't work if you don't properly maintain your car, which is recommended for fuel economy whether you're hypermiling or not:

Use of high performance Iridium tipped spark plugs

Align and balance the wheels.

Use the lowest viscosity oil that is recommended by the manufacturer.

Tags: savings, fuel, cars, gasoline, money, driving, howto

ROCK BAND Drum Covers...Well, They Rock!

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:18:16 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: OK, so you have had fun driving your parents, siblings, room mates, and/or neighbors crazy. Now, it is no longer fun. In fact it is getting rather annoying. There is an answer.

Clip Source: gizmodo.com

Stitched drum covers for Rock Band from "Premium Rock Band Drum Covers", which give you five-different levels of padding for sound dampening. They come in four-color style, all-black, and four-color with a white sidewall for the Wii.

The Price: $34 + $10 Shipping

The Verdict: QUIET! They're form-fitting around the drum heads and are tied in place with a shoe-lace like string. You can put up to four "pads" under each cover, and at three (which we tested with) it muffled drums quite nicely. This muffling will make your neighbors and family members very thankful when they're trying to read or watch TV in the other room.

If you're an expert at the drums and already memorized which color is which, you can opt for the all-black version, which looks a bit nicer and doesn't draw as much attention to itself.

Then there's the Wii version below.

Tags: fun, creativity, music, games, gaming, wii, xbox

Ironman Case Mod - Awesome! [PICS]

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:28:49 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: How's this for creative computing?

Clip Source: www.microcenter.com

Body armor for the case?
I wanted this case to incorporate aspects of several types of Iron Man armor, starting with his original dull gray steel. Although rivets were not always in evidence, these would add to the effect of heavy plate on the panels. Starting with the case itself, I anchored short lengths of aluminum angle (L brackets) to the top and front edges of the chassis. These were used as anchor points to attach two curved steel panels at the bottom front and top rear of the case. To strengthen the sheet metal, I riveted ribs of aluminum bar stock to the outer edges using two rows of heavy nickel wire for the pins.

To create a layered articulated armor on the top, sections of PVC plastic were cut and then anchored to the aluminum angle with sheet metal screws. A final PVC panel was attached to the front and a piece of foam rubber trimmed to fill the gap between the sections. The foam was trimmed to a smooth shape with a razor blade, and then covered with a layer of epoxy

Tags: design, creativity, mod, comics, art, technology, fun, ironman

How To Make A Desk Chair From A Car Seat

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:24:33 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: You'll need a good friend with a welding torch.

Clip Source: www.wikihow.com

Good, comfortable desk chairs can sometimes be absurdly expensive, and even many of the most expensive ones concern themselves more with aesthetics rather than hour-on-hour comfort. If you're on a budget, making a desk chair from a car seat and a surplus swiveling desk chair is straightforward, fun, and results in something extraordinarily comfortable. Since the strength and accuracy requirements are not all that great, it also makes an excellent first welding project for metalworking beginners.

Tags: howto, how-to, innovation, creativity, design, furniture

How To Make Bananas Foster

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:31:42 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: This is one of my favorite desserts and is always fun to make for dinner parties! It often "wows" the guests if you light the mixture table-side. Enjoy!

Clip Source: www.wikihow.com

Bananas Foster is a dessert that originated in New Orleans, Louisiana (US). It's fairly easy to make and very impressive to watch, not to mention delicious. The burst of dancing flames will dazzle the audience, caramelize the bananas and tantalize your guests, while pleasing the eyes and "astonishing" the taste buds all in one shot!

Two bananas
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 stick of butter
1/8 of a cup of spiced rum: one shot
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract/essence
Vanilla ice cream

Peel and cut bananas lengthwise and in half, then set aside.

Remove the ice cream from the freezer and allow it to soften.

Set burner to medium to high heat

Place the butter into the saucepan, stirring continuously to prevent burning.

Add 1 cup of brown sugar to the melted butter and stir constantly, this should be allowed to cook and caramelize for about 3-5 minutes. Once the brown sugar and butter mixture is the consistency of warm maple syrup, turn the burners to low.

Add the banana slices.

add the vanilla extract

Tags: food, fun, desserts, fruit, general, entertainment

Could New Movie Be Too Much Star Wars?

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:23:22 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: Not according to George Lucas. What will the fans think?

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Set in the years between episodes II and III -- "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith" -- of the big-screen "Star Wars" chronicle, the movie and series present fresh adventures of Jedi warrior Anakin Skywalker, his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and other colleagues.

The movie introduces a female Jedi, Ahsoki, who is Anakin's young apprentice.

"It's like 'Band of Brothers' in space, with Jedi," Lucas, 63, said. "You can tell lots of stories. They come up all the time."

He also is moving forward with a live-action "Star Wars" TV show focusing largely on new characters removed from the Skywalker family. That show will be set in the decades between "Revenge of the Sith" and the period when the original film, 1977's "Star Wars," takes place.

So can fans ever get enough of "Star Wars"?

"I don't know," Lucas said. "I'm thankful every year that it keeps going."

Tags: movies, tech, technology, media, star wars, creativity, family, business

Managing Your Online Reputation

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:23:28 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: Nice lists and links.

Clip Source: lifehacker.com

One of the easiest tools for tracking what Google knows about a topic is Google Alerts. Subscribe to a Google Alert and receive an email as soon as your search phrase (like your name or company) enters Google's index.

You can subscribe to Technorati searches for your name or product in your feed reader. If you're looking to monitor blog comments, check out previously mentioned co.mments which keeps you informed of the ongoing discussion.

MonitorThis aggregates data from 22 different sources

Your own blog is the most effective method for getting your message seen and heard.

Social media sites offer countless ways to participate in online community, and most of these profiles offer the added bonus of search engine visibility. Flickr, YouTube, Digg, Wikipedia, Facebook, and Twitter are six mainstream social media sites that feature results when you perform a web search.

One of the most important things you can do to control the message is to go to the source and communicate directly

Tags: google, linkedin, digg, twitter, blog, blogging, general, facts

Feel The Love

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:11:28 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: Writing about learning, innovation, and fun, I had to include the new game being developed by Eskil Steenberg. This is a game that learns while the players and developers do too.

Clip Source: www.boingboing.net

Eskil Steenberg is a solo game-developer who's bent on creating an entire massively multiplayer online world single-handedly, using procedural generation techniques that cause the game to build itself by starting with clever rules and exploring them outwards. Based on the reports at Rock, Paper, Shotgun, it sounds like Steenberg's really got something, and the screenshots are drop-dead knockout gorgeous.

The game itself, dubbed Love (as in For The Love Of Game Development), is an exploration-based moderately-multiplayer FPS with astounding impressionistic visuals and a procedurally generated universe. Since Steenberg is a one man show, he’s relying on clever maths to build the world for him and then clever gamers to come in and help him figure out where to take it, and what to do with it.

Tags: games, gaming, creativity, web, mmog, art, general, learning, innovation

Do We Need To Justify Innovation?

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:45:10 GMT

clipped by: weirdguy
clipper's remarks: As strange as it may seem, many businesses want or even need innovation, but are not willing to pony-up for the project or initiative. Why?

Clip Source: innovateonpurpose.blogspot.com

We were asked recently to consider speaking on the topic of justifying innovation. That's a difficult topic but one that needs to be addressed, since many individuals are being asked to start an innovation initiative, but also justify the investment in resources and dollars, and the opportunity costs.

First question we ask when someone wants to "justify" innovation is: Innovation project or innovation program?

Next question - why do we need to justify innovation at all? No one would ever question the relative value of a purchasing team and process and software, or a sales team.

If the one key competitive advantage you have left is in creating new products and services faster and more effectively than your competition, do you need to justify the infrastructure to do that?

Next, what's the value of one good idea? Do you think that Proctor&Gamble has recouped all of its innovation investments from the Swiffer alone?

Tags: innovation, fun, creativity, learning, business, management, leadership