NationMaster.com - Where Stats Come Alive!

Here's a wonderful site to bookmark. NationMaster provides a quick way to explore those 'I wonder ...' questions when you're reading the newspaper or researching a topic.

NationMaster combines a massive statistical data base with some great tools to compare nations. Interested in murder rates? The per cent of people who will die before turning 60? Tax rates across the world? You'll find it all here.

NationMaster.com - Where Stats Come Alive!

They've just, in April, introduced a companion site with state statistics. The range here is still sparse, but these folks have proven they have what it takes to build a useful, interesting site.

By the way, if you'd like something interesting to do, they are looking for volunteer editors for both sites.

The secret to reaching a live customer rep

gethuman - advocacy for high quality customer service for consumers

How long did it take you to snake your way through a series of telephone menus the last time you called customer service? Well, here's something you can do about it. Get Human is a simple, wonderful site run by volunteers and 'powered' by you and me - if we will just take a minute to give them some feedback.

You can rate the companies you call; feed their data base with company name, number called, minutes on hold, and your rating of their service quality. They plan to publish the best and the worst.

And, amazingly they have a page you'll have to bookmark -- a directory of the phone numbers and/or shortcuts for reaching a human customer rep at a wide range of companies. Check there before making your next customer service call.

Thanks, Gethuman!

LiveScience.com: The Most Popular Myths in Science

LiveScience.com: The Most Popular Myths in Science: "
Chickens can live without a head

True, and not just for a few minutes. A chicken can stagger around without its
noggin because the brain stem, often left partially intact after a beheading,
controls most of its reflexes. One robust fellow lived a full eighteen months.
Likely he was a real birdbrain, however.

While I was noodling around on the Live Science site, I found this interesting fact. Well, it may not be important in your business, but it made me chuckle.

If you've got a few minutes check out the most popular science myths. Pretty interesting.

Happiness in Old Age Depends on Attitude

LiveScience.com - Happiness in Old Age Depends on Attitude: "'In fact, optimism and effective coping styles were found to be more important to successfully aging than traditional measures of health and wellness,' Jeste said. 'These findings suggest that physical health is not the best indicator of successful aging--attitude is.'"

Ain't that the truth! This report confirms my life experience. When my attitude deteriorates into self-pity or when I let the blues take control, life spins downward. Fortunately that doesn't happen too often.

AOL Offers Goodmail Service Free to Nonprofits

DMNews.com test News Article

"There will be no requirement, ever, for not-for-profits who deliver e-mail
to AOL members to pay for e-mail certification and delivery," AOL postmaster
Charles Stiles said.

Good news for my non-profit clients. We've all been nervous about what the cost of AOL's e-mail delivery system would do to budgets and fundraising plans. The new arrangement is slated to go into effect within 90 days. I'll keep you posted.

"On Friday, AOL said qualifying not-for-profit organizations and
not-for-profit advocacy groups would "receive the full functionality of AOL's
e-mail system, including having images and Web links enabled in mail, and
delivery to the e-mail inboxes of AOL members, at no charge to either the sender
or the recipient."

The Dilbert Blog: Wisdom for Grads

This is the cynical view of life in big organzations - but there's always a grain of truth.

Doug Adams has been compiling this advice for new grads. Lots of folks have added their comments.

The Dilbert Blog: Wisdom for Grads: "There's no such thing as good ideas and bad ideas. There are only your own ideas and other people's. If you want someone to like your idea, tell him he said it last week and you just remembered.

Teamwork is what you call it when you trick other people into ignoring their priorities in favor of yours.

Leadership is a form of evil. No one needs to lead you to do something that is obviously good for you.

You can estimate the time for any project by multiplying the number of idiots involved by one week and adding the number of capable co-workers times four weeks. (The competent ones are busier.)"

Pew Research Center: Are We Happy Yet?

Pew Research Center: Are We Happy Yet?: "Several of them [correlations] stand out: Married people are happier than unmarrieds. People who worship frequently are happier than those who don't. Republicans are happier than Democrats. Rich people are happier than poor people. Whites and Hispanics are happier than blacks. Sunbelt residents are happier than those who live in the rest of the country."

Whew! I didn't know I was so unhappy -- an unmarried, non-church-going, middle class, northeastern Democrat. Well, if this is misery so be it. I'm pretty content.

It's an interesting study, even if it isn't personally relevant.

OSHA Ergonomic Solutions: Computer Workstations eTool - Index for Computer Workstations

OSHA Ergonomic Solutions: Computer Workstations eTool - Index for Computer Workstations

When you spend as much time as I do sitting in front of a computer screen writing and researching, comfort is critical. There's nothing worse than neck pain when a deadline hovers.

This OSHA site provides some interesting information on equipment, position, and environment. It's prompted me to move my monitor -- closer and lower. I'll let you know whether I find it an improvement.

Thanks, OSHA.

Stanford iTunes

Stanford iTunes
I've been downloading the audio from Charlie Rose and NPR's This American Life and recorded books from audible.com for a monthly fee and from the local library system for free. I've spent hundreds of dollars over the years buying tapes and CD's from the Learning Company.

Now, I've discovered that Stanford University has a new service, originally targeted to alumni, to download faculty lectures, interviews, music and sports. All free.

I can hardly wait to explore it!

Miami in summer?!?

Family business offered me another opportunity to test out my skills at 'working on the road.' I want my business to be portable, but that takes practice, foresight, and creativity.

I was surprised at the number of unsecured wireless networks my laptop identified in the area where we stayed. Do you know who's accessing your network?

On this trip I found I worked best in the local café that offered a free wifi hotspot. The folks at Solero on S. Miami at 10th Street were gracious and welcoming. The café con leche was great, the sandwiches excellent, the atmosphere comfortable. I felt a part of the Miami scene and still got a good deal accomplished.

I printed the few materials I had to have in hard copy by emailing them to local family and picking them up at lunch or dinner. It took a bit more planning, but it worked.

Not everyone would find working in such a public spot energizing. I did and that was a blessing. The change of scenery refreshed my psyche. All that Spanish made me feel I had traveled to another country. New ideas flowed.

I think I'll keep practicing. Working on the road is great fun. Even in Miami in summer.

Gen X & Gen Y Profiles

Whether or not you're interested in marketing, you may find this article profiling Gen X [27-39]and Gen Y [14-26] folks intriquing. Jane Buckingham, author of "The Modern Girl's Guide to Life," and a Gen Xer, paints an interesting picture.

Of their noted slacker image, Buckingham explained that Gen Xers "went through their midlife crises 25 years too early."

Now that they are emerging from those midlife crises, they are remarkably susceptible to marketing that "helps them figure out what is happiness..."

Take a look at the article. Does this fit your experience with Gen X & Y?

Take a Breather

I finished the last grant in the current queue - finally no deadline hanging over my head. I love the work, but the pressure of drop-dead deadlines takes a toll when you roll from one to the next. It's nice to take a breather.

And, my in-box brought great news. The NY Center received the award for the YABC and Learning-to-Work Center for Staten Island. It's a joint project with the Department of Education. They worked hard on the proposal (and I wrote the application) -- it's a contract worth $1.8M, so they're very pleased.

This break gave me a day to work on my own site. Finally. Take a look.

WordToys - making life easier

About a month ago I installed WordToys.

If you're like me, your life is entwined with WORD. It's as essential as a pen and pad. But sometimes very frustrating.

WordToys offers a raft of enhancements --some I've been dreaming about (makes a copy to another disk at the same time it saves to file), but some I never even imagined. Like, saving all my open documents to one work space and reopening them all exactly as they were.

If you want an easier life, try it out. I'm still discovering the benefits.

DMNews.com | News | Article

DMNews.com | News | Article

So age doesn't matter. Time does. And Americans work more - and have less free time - than folks in every country but South Korea.

This marketing analysis from Visa USA offers an interesting perspective on what's important to their market.

Wood Stove Ghost Photo

Wood Stove Ghost Photo

Our friend Donald sent us this 'ghost stove' picture and the story behind it. Take a look. It's pretty interesting.

Antique Wood Stoves - WOW!

I worked on the antique wood stove page this weekend. Boy, these old stoves are beauties. Cast iron stoves that look like Victorian wedding cakes and Gothic churches. Ceramic tile towers in use for centuries. I looked at sites from all over the world.

Even if you aren't interested in wood stoves, you might want to take a look.

Image Change

I promised myself I'd do something on my own website this weekend - enough of this under construction. Make something happen. It's far easier to work on someone else's material than my own. Ditto for marketing.

Well, let me know what you think. It feels a bit calmer.

The Skinny on Wood Stoves

No progress on my own web site, but I've been writing the copy for several others. Take a look at one. Here's Glenn's site on wood stoves- www.the-skinny-on-wood-stoves.com

He's building an informational site about wood stoves. We've been doing a lot of research on them for our own use but found the information was scattered hither and yon. They say find a vacuum and fill it - so we did.

Great Surfing

This month I learned about Robert Fenton, a 19th century photographer, listened to some Gerry Mulligan jazz, and contrasted that with some 17th century lute compositions and the art of Gerard ter Borch. Phew, I love this culture stuff! And then, all that science!

You might enjoy visiting the sites listed on the ed.gov listserv, too. It comes about once a month with an assortment of links to online resources sponsored by various government agencies and institutions. The Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, National Geological Survey, and the National Gallery to name a few. Arts, sciences, and social studies (want to know about the history of voting machines or listen to a lecture by Stephen Ambrose?). It’s great that the magic of the Internet now makes all those Washington resources available to us all.

Their instructions to subscribe:
To subscribe to EDInfo, address an email message to: listserv@listserv.ed.gov Then write SUBSCRIBE EDINFO YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME in the message, (if you have a signature block, please turn it off) Then send it!

(The link in the title takes you to their archives.)

Re: [HVWBOA] Made my day, my week...it's great

Ruth-

Thank you for the tool. I just downloaded it and did a search on my pc. This tool works wonders and I see how it can save time.

Jolie Sealy
Empire Business Solutions