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Time for another edition of Big Pile o’ Links, where I feature some of my favorite links and groups of articles from all over the wonderful world we call “The Internet”:
Ah, Evernote. It’s one of the most useful and versatile programs/cloud storage ever, and yet so few Cooler People use it. It’s not just for tech bloggers and people with lots of crap to write about – it’s also incredibly useful for normal people in their day-to-day lives. I use mine every day, and I can’t tell you how useful it has been at the office, at home, or even running around. Here are some great links from recent times that list a bunch of great, easy ways you can start using Evernote more often in your life:
Job got you down? Feel like you’re headed the wrong way? Here are a handful of great articles (and one AWESOME documentary!) to help you make some changes:
It makes the world go ‘round. Here’s a quick handful of resources to further your knowledge on the subject:
Phew! There you go! Another Big Pile o’ Links for your pleasure. If you have an article or site or tool or whatever that you want featured in the Big Pile o’ Links, send it my way at tom@thepracticalnerd.com (it doesn’t have to be yours either, just something you like!).
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I listen to Bob and Brian On Demand lately (a Milwaukee-based morning radio show – HILARIOUS), and they have featured a segment this year again called “Holiday Horror Stories”, where readers send in their absolutely worst stories stemming from the holiday season. Stories range from grandpa dying and his bowels releasing while his grandson is in his lap to gifts of used underwear and stuff stolen from the local bar, or – my favorite – a guy spending Christmas with his girlfriend visiting her friends and being forced to “distract” them while she steals their presents, and then blames it on him afterwards.
Anyway, while you can’t really control whether or not grandpa is going to kick it while you’re all together, here are some ways you can tolerate – and even enjoy! – the next few days with your family.
This is the easiest to remember. Sure, you went out and found your mother’s favorite book from her childhood that’s been out of print for 20 years and she got you socks. It’s okay. Let it go. I had a grandmother growing up that, for two Christmases in a row, got me the exact same nondescript bright blue hoodless sweatshirt. Not only was it something I would never wear, she clearly didn’t “get it”. But that’s okay. She tried.
More often than not, people are trying. Cut them some slack. While they may be thoughtless once in a while, many times they really do mean well, even if they’re way off base. Be gracious and thankful. Don’t pitch a fit and demand you switch it to “Yankee Swap” just because you gave an iPod and got an oven mitt.
“I bought Ryan an iPod!”
Eggnog is great. So is a good brandy old-fashioned. Even a holiday beer is a good thing. Note these are singular.
If you’re around people you don’t necessarily enjoy being around, drinking is one of the worst ways to cope. After all, you’re more honest when you drink, and you’re just going to be less tactful at hiding the fact you don’t want to be there. Suck it up and deal with it.
Don’t like talking to each other? Great! That’s where your Christmas movies come in handy. From It’s a Wonderful Life to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, there’s something for everybody. Pop in Elf or A Muppet Christmas Carol. Turn on TNT and catch A Christmas Story for the billionth time. If you need a distraction, ditch the drinking and use one of these to keep everybody sane.
Pictured: Your sanity.
I have three older brothers. The oldest is 35 years old. We’ve got a lot of stories. There is nothing greater than sharing funny stories from the past, whether they are Christmas stories or just plain good ones. Laugh hard and think back wistfully to a time when Christmas wasn’t such a source of stress for you.
It’s hard to have a conversation when the kids are running around screaming. But instead of banishing them to the bedroom, let them run around a little bit. Maybe they don’t have to scream so much, but Christmas is a joyous, innocent time for them. They’re playing with family and new toys, and everything’s decorated. Don’t you remember what that’s like?
Heck, even play with them a little bit! Help them put together the latest gadget they got because they’re so anxious to play, or run around with them! Let them enjoy being children before they grow up and have their spirits crushed like you.
Show some joy. Hug your loved ones. This is a time of peace and love. You’d be surprised how many problems can be defused with a smile and a little laughter.
Most importantly, enjoy yourself. It’s Christmas. God bless you and your family over the next couple of days, and I wish you all safe travels and peaceful but fun times with your friends and family.
This month’s issue of Men’s Health magazine featured a list entitled “17 Things That Waste Your Time”. It had a lot of great stuff in it, and as I read it, I thought about a bunch of things in this world that just flat-out need to go. The beauty of this list is that it’s all stuff we have the power to change. So here are things that I believe we all need to kick to the curb and rid our lives of:
1. Your massive ego. Pride is great. Confidence is great. But back those things up with your actions. And if you think you’re awesome, you stop learning and growing. Stay humble and keep on learning. You need it.
2. Men’s “marriage is a trap” attitude. A real man knows when he finds the woman he wants to be with for the rest of his life. Today’s “man” likes to say that staying married to the same person is like being in a jail cell. The hippies of the world like to say that free love and lots of wild, “free” sex is the way to go. I can’t think of anything more manly than respecting the love of your life and committing yourself to her forever. And in that same vein…
3. Meaningless marriages and constant divorces. Marriage is a contract. It is a public statement that you will be faithful to your spouse until death. When you get divorced, you are telling everyone around you that you are a liar. Plain and simple. Love is a great part of a relationship, but it needs to be balanced out with logic: can you spend the rest of your life with him/her as he/she is, right now, every day, morning-noon-and-night? Realistically answer that question before you pop the other question.
4. Paying bloated prices on anything. Think you can’t get it cheaper? Think again. Television shows, music, movies, weddings, cars, homes, you name it. We live in a world today where you can get anything on a budget that will last a long time with proper care and attention. Instead of just getting the eye candy or the “hip” new thing, figure out what you need and pay for that.
5. A Sloppy appearance. I say time and again that I was born in the wrong decade. There was a time when a man was a man when he was in a suit, and a woman was a woman when she was in a skirt (or a nice pair of slacks – I’m not a sexist or anything). I walk around and I see baggy pants with boxers hanging out, shirts that reveal “tramp stamps”, boobs hanging half out of shirts, and various vulgarities plastered across t-shirts and the butts of sweatpants. Take some pride in your appearance: cut your hair – or at least wash it, trim your facial hair (if you’ve got it), wash your clothes, and for the love of Pete, bathe properly. Brush your teeth. Wear clothes that fit. Limit your tattoos and your piercings. You’re not a kid anymore, start looking like an adult.
6. Rudeness to strangers. I was going to put “lousy customer service” here, but it goes farther than that. When you make eye contact with someone – anyone – shoot them a quick smile, a nod, or even a “Hi”. It makes their day pleasant, and it makes your day a little more pleasant too.
7. Texting language. Too many abbreviations. I’ll tell you right now, I judge your intellect based on your online behavior. You are in front of a full keyboard, and you must have taken some sort of typing class (and spelling classes) in your lifetime. Spell out the words and use proper grammar already.
8. Getting drunk every time you touch a beer (or drink). Some of the best times I’ve had with my best buddy is when we go out to a bar, have two good beers, and then call it a night. What is this fascination with getting ripped every night? You feel like garbage in the morning, you look like garbage in the morning, and you lose a crapload of money that you could have spent on something more important. It’s stupid. Have a little respect for yourself and know when to quit.
9. Escaping reality. From spending hours upon hours playing video games to smoking weed or the aforementioned getting plastered all the time, what are you running from? Live life. Put your money towards reality. If you are just looking for an escape, try looking for a real escape – identify the problems in your life and the steps you can take to change them. It’s in your hands, not anyone else’s.
10. “Reality” TV. The bulk of reality shows on television are heavily edited and acted to manipulate your emotions. Instead of watching the trials and tribulations of somebody else and their personal lives, get your butt off the couch and go have some experiences of your own. You know why executives put these shows on TV? They’re cheap. That’s it. They’re cheap, and they know that a bunch of lazy people will sit around and watch it, crying or getting upset, while they rake in the cash.
“Did you see what happened last night on ‘America’s Fattest Fatties’? A 900-pound woman lost a pound and a half and then cried for 20 minutes!”
11. Whining. Take a strong look at how much of your day you spend complaining. Do you forward a bunch of emails that tend to start with “I can’t believe Bush/Obama/Palin did [insert something horrible here]…” Is it important to remain informed and educated about the goings-on of the world? Absolutely. It’s your duty to. But stop spending so much time telling others about how much it bugs you. Have something else to talk about.
12. The personal lives and political leanings of celebrities. Alec Baldwin and George Clooney are rabid Democrats. I’m a conservative man. And guess what? I still think Baldwin’s hilarious (even though I don’t care for 30 Rock) and I want to see The Men Who Stare At Goats. Their personal lives have no effect on me. I have my own life. Those guys exist to entertain me. That’s their job, regardless of what they think. Remember Jon and Kate Gosselin? I don’t care that they’re divorced. It doesn’t change anything for me. And guess what? It really doesn’t change anything for you either.
13. Your sense of entitlement. I learned something a long, long time ago: I don’t deserve crap. I ran a marketing business for two years, but I don’t deserve more clients or a good position at a marketing firm somewhere. I have a college degree, but that doesn’t give me the right to a job. I’ve put up with a lot of hardships in my life and made a lot of sacrifices, but that doesn’t mean I deserve a good life now. I have to work at it. You only get somewhere in life by the sweat of your brow. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and learn from your experiences. That will make you infinitely more dangerous, and you will ultimately succeed.
14. The “I can’t live without my ________” attitude. Yes, you can. Sorry, iPod lovers. There was actually a time when you didn’t have access to all of your music at all times. You had to walk down the street and listen to – *gasp* – nothing! And all you DVR-addicts, you used to have to set a VCR, or even watch it LIVE! Bathroom breaks only during commercials? Oh, the horror! And take care of yourself by eating right and exercising, and you’ll have more energy that you can fit into that “must-have” morning cup of coffee.
15. Accepting your lot in life. You don’t deserve better, but you can certainly have better. But it’s up to you. It ain’t gonna fall in your lap.
16. Constant cursing. Curse words exist for impact. A well-placed one can stop a conversation dead in its tracks. That’s what they’re there for. Censor yourself and use it only when necessary. Not only that, have some respect for the people around you. Not everybody wants to hear your barrage of filth. And hey, since when did “free speech” turn into the right to be a jackass to everybody around you? And yes, I’m aware of what word I just used.
17. Cheap beer. Busch Light, Natty Light, Milwaukee’s Best, and God help me, Pabst Blue Ribbon. Have some respect for yourself and your liver. Put something quality in there. Find some awesome local brews in your area. Yeah, it’ll cost a couple more bucks, but you’ll be drinking with a little more dignity (and besides, remember #8? It’s not like you’ll be drinking 18 of them anyway!).
18. Paper. I’m a strong advocate for paperless offices, and it’s not because it’s better for the environment or anything. It’s because it works better, it’s more secure, and it’s more organized. People complain about the reliability of computers and networks, but that’s because they haven’t taken the proper steps to secure them. Using Evernote in your every day life and combining it with the myriad of services that Google offers, and you have nothing to worry about, whether you are online or offline.
19. The “everybody is right” philosophy. If everybody is right, then nobody is right. There’s a strong movement in this world that you need to believe that everyone’s religious beliefs are right for them. You know what that means? That means that it doesn’t matter, and we’re all screwed. I’m a Christian. It is my fundamental belief that a lot of people’s beliefs are wrong. Guess what? That’s okay. That’s what gives my faith meaning – if I’m right, certain people in this world have to be wrong. That doesn’t mean you are better than them. It just means you are putting stock in something. Along those same lines…
20. Blind faith. A lot of fundamental Christians believe in God because they were raised that way. They don’t have a single intelligent argument for anybody else’s belief systems. They just rely on the “you’re going to hell” argument. If you’ve got faith in something, take time every day to continually educate yourself on that faith and the beliefs of others. Intelligent debate still exists, it’s just that people don’t take the time to do it anymore. Don’t just fall into insults (like many commenters on this post will undoubtedly do).
21. Money as a status symbol. You are not your stuff. You are what you do. You are what you believe. You are what people perceive you to be. Instead of spending all that energy on accumulating more crap, work on how you treat your fellow man/woman. Focus on doing things for your loved ones and show that you appreciate them. Have some pride in whatever work you do. Respect yourself and the world around you. That’s the key to being well-liked and respected. Give and you shall receive.
Those are all the ones I came up with. What stuff in this world do you think needs to go? Share them with us in the comments! Let’s talk!
Tweet Humor: 10 Twitter Users That Crack Us Up [Mashable]
Twitter can be a very educational place, whereby following the right individual or brand, you can learn from their tweets. In fact, we’ve already highlighted usability experts, entrepreneurs, authors (fiction and nonfiction), environmentalists, foodies, and musicians that we think are must follows. But Twitter can also be a medium ripe with humor and capable of making the masses laugh with a single tweet that resonates throughout the Twittersphere. So now it’s time to a take a more comedic turn, and point out 10 LOL-inducing Twitter accounts that break the monotony of our work days, add spice to our weekends, and make Twitter a more entertaining place to be with their colorful characters.
Twitter can be a very educational place, whereby following the right individual or brand, you can learn from their tweets. In fact, we’ve already highlighted usability experts, entrepreneurs, authors (fiction and nonfiction), environmentalists, foodies, and musicians that we think are must follows.
But Twitter can also be a medium ripe with humor and capable of making the masses laugh with a single tweet that resonates throughout the Twittersphere. So now it’s time to a take a more comedic turn, and point out 10 LOL-inducing Twitter accounts that break the monotony of our work days, add spice to our weekends, and make Twitter a more entertaining place to be with their colorful characters.
Do You Make These 5 Common Mistakes When Switching To A More Positive Attitude? [The Positivity Blog]
“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice” Wayne Dyer “For myself I am an optimist – it does not seem to be much use being anything else” Winston Churchill If you are reading this then there is good chance that you agree with me that positivity is pretty awesome. But it is not always easy to adopt a more positive attitude and there are some pitfalls. So today I’d like to share a few mistakes that I have made in this area and that I think are fairly common.
“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice” Wayne Dyer
“For myself I am an optimist – it does not seem to be much use being anything else” Winston Churchill
If you are reading this then there is good chance that you agree with me that positivity is pretty awesome. But it is not always easy to adopt a more positive attitude and there are some pitfalls. So today I’d like to share a few mistakes that I have made in this area and that I think are fairly common.
14 Ways a Notebook In Your Pocket Can Save You Money [The Simple Dollar]
Melinda writes in: “You constantly write about how having a notebook in your pocket all the time helps you in life and saves you money. I get that you can write down your ideas in it all the time, but I’m not a creative type. I don’t see how having a notebook on me at all times can save me money at all.” Aside from the fact that I’m able to use the notebook to write down my ideas – my career’s bread and butter – a pocket notebook constantly comes in handy for many other financial reasons as well. (FYI, I usually just keep a simple small Mead reporter’s notebook in my pocket, along with a good pen that doesn’t run out of ink.) Here are fourteen ways I use that notebook to directly save money.
Melinda writes in:
“You constantly write about how having a notebook in your pocket all the time helps you in life and saves you money. I get that you can write down your ideas in it all the time, but I’m not a creative type. I don’t see how having a notebook on me at all times can save me money at all.”
Aside from the fact that I’m able to use the notebook to write down my ideas – my career’s bread and butter – a pocket notebook constantly comes in handy for many other financial reasons as well. (FYI, I usually just keep a simple small Mead reporter’s notebook in my pocket, along with a good pen that doesn’t run out of ink.) Here are fourteen ways I use that notebook to directly save money.
Glue Suggests Movies, Music, and More [Lifehacker]
Once you sign up for a Glue Account, you can begin flagging things you like to build a profile of tastes. What kind of things? Glue can suggest books, music, movies, video games, wine, artists, and movie stars. You can log in using Facebook or Twitter and Glue will not only suggest items based on your own tastes but on the tastes of your friends.
I heard about Clicker through a different blog (which I wish I remembered) that was discussing the ever-growing library of online content for everybody to enjoy. After all, there are tons of sites out there that are streaming television shows, full movies, music videos, and original web shows. The sheer volume of content is remarkable, and none of us have been able to truly see the scope of it.
Enter Clicker. Clicker pulls in all that content into one place for your viewing pleasure. This takes out all the surfing, all the searching, and all the hassle associated with finding good online content. Here’s how they describe it:
Clicker is the complete guide to Internet Television. Our mission is to make it simple for you to find the right show, right now. As massive amounts of programming move online, consumers entering a world of infinite choices, all on-demand. Great! Finding the show you want to watch? Painful. Thousands of episodes from thousands of shows are housed on thousands of different sites, mixed among billions of random clips and videos. Clicker catalogs all broadcast programming online, along with TV-quality Web originals, from these silos and delivers them in one seamless, organized experience so you can easily discover what’s available to watch (and what isn’t) online, where to watch it, and what’s worth watching.
Clicker is the complete guide to Internet Television. Our mission is to make it simple for you to find the right show, right now.
As massive amounts of programming move online, consumers entering a world of infinite choices, all on-demand. Great! Finding the show you want to watch? Painful. Thousands of episodes from thousands of shows are housed on thousands of different sites, mixed among billions of random clips and videos.
Clicker catalogs all broadcast programming online, along with TV-quality Web originals, from these silos and delivers them in one seamless, organized experience so you can easily discover what’s available to watch (and what isn’t) online, where to watch it, and what’s worth watching.
Pretty cool, huh? I was fortunate enough to get an invite to start using Clicker, and I am very pleasantly surprised. The site is very easy to use, and it has links to everything from the latest TV shows, to classic shows and movies (even organized by decade!), to documentary features.
To the left, you’ll see just one of the places you can search through the content. There’s also a search box, and various ways to break down the shows and movies by category.
The other great thing about Clicker is that it eliminates that conscience factor. Streaming video online sometimes can fall into a pretty grey area when it comes to legality. While sites like Surf The Channel can help you find almost everything, much of it is technically illegal to be on there, and limited in how much time you can spend watching it (not to mention varying in quality). Clicker only aggregates the official streams, from network websites, Hulu, and a host of others. That means that not only are you getting the highest-quality videos that are available, you are also getting 100% legal content.
Clicker is currently invite-only, so you’ll have to sign up with your email address and then wait for them to get back to you.
But WAIT: We’ve got FIVE Clicker invites to give away, FOR FREE! Just click here to IMMEDIATELY sign up and start using Clicker! It’s a slick service, and it’s one more step towards creating a world full of all on-demand content (the way it should be!). There are only five invites available through that link, so if you use that link and sign up, leave a comment letting us know.
If you don’t get there in time, sign up for an invite to be emailed to you anyway. It will be worth it. Clicker is aiming to be the one-stop shop for your streaming video needs, and so far it deserves a giant thumbs-up from me!
