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Realizing Empathy: An Inquiry into the Meaning of Making by Slim. Website: @realizempathy Wow! Wow! WOW! This is incredible! Incredible! We have passed our funding goal with still 3 days left! Just over a month ago, I had no idea this project would be met with such warmth in the public domain. It's time to focus on giving back. For about 10 years, I was a computer scientist / interaction designer at MAYA Design where I last served as the Assistant Director of Engineering.

The video at the top should give you a high-level overview. The book explores how making works (as a creative process), what it means (to make something), and why it matters (to our lives). The central theme is the idea that the act of making is analogous to the act of empathizing. Here is a short video (~6 min), which talks to this idea (you can hit the "CC" button to view subtitles in 한글, 中文, 日本語, Español, Deutsch): No.

Realizingempathy.com is where it's at. Maximize a Hobby and Earn Extra Income. 2012 Meteor Showers. NOTES These are approximate times for the Lower 48 states; actual shower times can vary. Bright moonlight makes it difficult to see all but the brightest meteors. What is a meteor shower? A meteor shower is a spike in the number of meteors or "shooting stars" that streak through the night sky. Most meteor showers are spawned by comets. As a comet orbits the Sun it sheds an icy, dusty debris stream along its orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we will see a meteor shower. Meteor showers are named for the constellation that coincides with this region in the sky, a spot known as the radiant.

What are shooting stars? "Shooting stars" and "falling stars" are both names that describe meteors -- streaks of light across the night sky caused by small bits of interplanetary rock and debris called meteoroids vaporizing high in Earth's upper atmosphere. How can I best view a meteor shower? For example, drive north to view the Leonids. How do I know the sky is dark enough to see meteors? My Travels to Amsterdam: Red Light District | Life Balance Multicultural Magazine. By Amanda Deltuvia — The cold air coated my lungs as I hopped off the shuttle. Instantly, the smell of hot dogs and cider flooded my nostrils as I watched children ice skating in the center of town. It’s holiday season, and I’m exhausted from taking an eight-hour bus ride. The song “Amsterdam” by Guster is on repeat in my head. The night is young in Amsterdam and every night is a party.

We decide to head down the side roads, to the “blue districts” as they call it, and it morphs into a relatively frightening circus show behind the glass, filled with artificial body parts and smirking faces. Every store is a sex shop, and the river in the center of the road is dotted with beautiful swans and tiny rowboats. The next day the snow is even worse, but we journey to see Anne Frank’s home. My next visit is to the Van Gogh museum, which is four floors of the works of Van Gogh and his colleagues. The guy I stayed with said getting lost is easy, and he was right. The 20 Best Travel Websites on the Internet - Golden Book Traveler - StumbleUpon. Update: Visit the 2012 version of The 20 Best Travel Websites on the Internet I hope that everyone who attended my SXSW Core Conversation panel on How to Make Money Traveling Around the World enjoyed the presentation.

As promised, I have a listing of my top 20 favorite travel websites (in no particular order). I’m still working on my eBook “70 Vacations in 7 Months“. The project has consumed most of my time of late. If you attended the presentation with myself and Tynan, shoot me over an email (if you haven’t already) and I’ll make sure you receive a free copy upon completion The Top 20! Couch Surfing Hands down my favorite travel website on the internet. Travellers Point Travellerspoint is a small travel community that features expert travel advice.

Momondo How can a Danish aggregator feature cheaper flights within the U.S, than any American flight aggregator? Escape The City Escape the City is a new website that continues to grow like wildfire. Hostel World Trip-it AirBnB Flyer Talk Seat Guru. Travel guide, blogs, forum, accommodation & maps. Location Independent Career Basics. Wise Bread Picks Would you like to have the ability to work from anywhere you wish? The backyard? The café down the street? Your bedroom? Or even on the road…a tropical island somewhere, perhaps? A location independent career is your ticket to workplace freedom. What is Location Independent? As it sounds, location independent refers to a career that does not require your presence in any one place for your job to be done. The Basics – How it’s Possible Location is enabled by technology.

So although you don’t need to be a technological wizard with an ability to speak three different computer languages, you will need a basic understanding of computers, the Internet, and the various modalities of communicating. Many location independent careers do indeed require a high level of proficiency in all things Internet, but this is not always the case. Advantages of a Location Independent Career You save money, time, and resources since you don’t have to commute to work.It’s more casual. Entrepreneurs. How to Travel Full-Time for $17,000 a Year (or Less!) Wise Bread Picks For the last five years, I've been traveling the world full-time, and for less money than I've ever spent (and I'd wager less money than most people would spend) to live in one place.

My worldly possessions fit into one bag (just larger than carry-on size) and a backpack containing my laptop and computer gear. This small entourage (weighing less than 45 pounds in total) comes with me as I wander around the world, sometimes quickly, but mostly slowly. In 2011 alone, I traversed 13 countries and over 45,360 miles. What if I told you it wasn't? Believe it. How to Keep Your Travel Costs Low Of course, I could travel for way more than $17,000/year.

Here are a few of my secrets. Don't Pay for Accommodations In the entire year of 2011, I paid $173 for accommodation. Work-Trade/Volunteer There are lots of creative opportunities to work in trade for your accommodation (and sometimes food) and enjoy a more immersive travel experience. Hospitality Exchange House/Pet-Sitting Travel Slowly.

Help Exchange: free volunteer work exchange abroad Australia New Zealand Canada Europe. :: World Help Link :: PAYAway.co.uk | Jobs Abroad, Gap Years, Seasonal Work, Working Holidays & Travel. WWOOF - World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. WELCOME PAGE - The Caretaker Gazette - #1 Source for Caretaker Opportunities since 1983! _lzkjmnkvsn1qkvbwso1_500.png (PNG Image, 500x500 pixels) The Gender Gap in Travel: Myths and Revelations. Courtesy of Daisann McLaneDaisann McLane at the palace of the Maharaja of Dungarpur in India. Readers often write in to remark that I am a man, a fact of which I am generally aware.

But then they point out something that often slips my mind: my travel experiences are those of a man, as well. Some say they would prefer the column to be written by a woman, a request I parry with reminders that two of the three previous Frugal Travelers were women, and many of Daisann McLane’s and Susan Spano’s columns are still online and just as packed with insight as when first published. But others have a strong argument: they say that the advice I give and the experiences I recount are not always as applicable or accessible to women.

The results were interesting, various and sometimes conflicting. But she quickly turned counterintuitive. Courtesy of Amelia ThomasAmelia Thomas, at the Castle Musa, in Lebanon. Traveling on a budget is clearly more difficult for women. The answer, of course, is complicated. How to Travel through Your Twenties Without Worrying About Money | Twenty-Something Travel. Money makes the world go round and it’s also a big factor in helping you go around the world. Twenty-something Americans probably aren’t in the best place to save up for vacations or round-the-world trips. They usually have entry level jobs, student loans and very little acquaintance with the practicalities of the real world. But they also have some of the best visa options available. Graduating university in 2009 I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next, but I knew it involved travel. I looked into trips to India, volunteering abroad and even going back to school abroad.

Then I found a compromise between the travelers dream and the graduates reality, a work-holiday visa for Australia. This visa allows 18-30-year olds, from quite a few countries to live and work in Australia for a year, however they choose. I wouldn’t have known this visa existed if it weren’t for some serious soul-searching and even more serious searching on the internet. Study abroad (2-4 years) photo credit: stevecadman. - StumbleUpon. Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia | Beautiful Places to Visit - StumbleUpon.

The stunning Plitvice Lakes National Park lies in the Lika region of Croatia. The park is surrounded by the mountains Plješevica, Mala Kapela, and Medveđak, which are part of the Dinaric Alps. The 16 blue-green Plitvice Lakes, which are separated by natural dams of travertine, are situated on the Plitvice plateau. Waterfalls connect the lakes, and the tallest waterfall is Veliki Slap at 70 meters (230 feet) tall. The Plitvice lakes area boasts a large variety of interesting and colorful flora and fauna. Visitors can enjoy walking and hiking the many pathways and trails, or exploring the lakes by boat. The park itself has 3 hotels and a campsite, otherwise visitors can find accommodation at any of the number of villages and cities nearby. Mental_floss Blog & Nature's Stone Giants - StumbleUpon. Stonehenge is impressive, but pales in comparison to the massive stone pillars Mother Nature gave us.

The real stories of how they came to be are as fascinating as the legends that people use to explain unusual rock formations. England: Brimham Rocks The Brimham Rocks near Nidderdale, Yorkshire Dales, England are said to have been carved by druids, but they date back to around 320 million years ago when the Yorkshire area formed from sand and other materials washed down from Norway and Scotland, leaving an area known as the Millstone Grit.

Later glaciers carved the land down, leaving the strangely-shaped stones exposed, in the period from roughly 73,000 BC to 10,000 BC. The rocks now stand at a little less than 30 meters tall. Canada: Flowerpot Island Flowerpot Island, Ontario gets its name from two rock formations on its eastern shore. Madagascar: Tsingy de Bemaraha Tsingy de Bemaraha national park in Madagascar has a forest of limestone pillars. Russia: Man-Pupu-Nyor. Amazing Places To Experience Around The Globe (Part 1) - StumbleUpon. Preachers Rock, Preikestolen, Norway Blue Caves - Zakynthos Island, Greece Skaftafeli - Iceland Plitvice Lakes – Croatia Crystalline Turquoise Lake, Jiuzhaigou National Park, China Four Seasons Hotel - Bora Bora Ice skating on Paterswoldse Meer, a lake just South of the city of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Marble Caves, Chile Chico, Chile The Gardens at Marqueyssac Ice Canyon - Greenland Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver, British Columbia Valley of the Ten Peaks, Moraine Lake, Alberta, Canada Multnomah Falls, Oregon Seljalandsfoss Waterfall on the South Coast of Iceland Petra - Jordan (at night) Verdon, Provence, France Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park, Tasmania, Australia Norway Alesund Birdseye of City Benteng Chittorgarh, India Riomaggiore, Italy Keukenhof Gardens - Netherlands. Sky Lantern Festival - Taiwan. Mount Roraima - Venezuela.

Seychelles East Iceland. Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. New York City. Whale Watching Australia. 15 Amazing Castles from Around the Globe - StumbleUpon. Although designed and built for the prominent purpose of defense, today the castles seem like somewhat unrealistic constructions straight from the fairytale world. From solid strongholds to oriental fortresses and highly decorative palaces, the castles are our connection to the past, where legends mix with history and reality blends with a fairyland. This fairytale castle is the historical seat of the Prussian Kings and German Emperors. Its origin dates back to the Middle Ages - it was built in the 11th century, then completely destroyed in 1423 and reconstructed in 1461. The view from the castle that stands on top of Mount Hohenzollern (855 m) is as stunning as the complex itself. Although it looks like a castle, Howard is actually a stately home - a private residence of the Howard family that has resided in the complex for more than 300 years.

Segovia Castle, located in an ancient town of Segovia in central Spain, started off as an Arab fort in the 12th century. Burg Eltz castle.