Improve Your Life: 10 Things You Should Do Every Day Before we commence with the festivities, I wanted to thank everyone for helping my first book become a Wall Street Journal bestseller. To check it out, click here. 1) Get out in nature You probably seriously underestimate how important this is. (Actually, there’s research that says you do.) 2) Exercise We all know how important this is, but few people do it consistently. 3) Spend time with friends and family Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert identified this as one of the biggest sources of happiness in our lives. 4) Express gratitude It will make you happier. It will improve your relationships. It can make you a better person. It can make life better for everyone around you. 5) Meditate Meditation can increase happiness, meaning in life, social support and attention span while reducing anger, anxiety, depression and fatigue. 6) Get enough sleep You can’t cheat yourself on sleep and not have it affect you. Naps are great too. 7) Challenge yourself 8) Laugh 9) Touch someone 10) Be optimistic
Online Desktop Publishing & Design Software Noto Fonts When text is rendered by a computer, sometimes characters are displayed as “tofu”. They are little boxes to indicate your device doesn’t have a font to display the text. Google has been developing a font family called Noto, which aims to support all languages with a harmonious look and feel. Noto is Google’s answer to tofu. The name noto is to convey the idea that Google’s goal is to see “no more tofu”. Noto has multiple styles and weights, and is freely available to all. How to Use Google Search More Effectively [INFOGRAPHIC] Among certain circles (my family, some of my coworkers, etc.) I'm known for my Googling skills. I can find anything, anywhere, in no time flat. Sadly, though web searches have become and integral part of the academic research landscape, the art of the Google search is an increasingly lost one. That search process also included determining when to rely on Google and when to utilize scholarly databases, but on a fundamental level, it appears that many people just don't understand how to best find the information they seek using Google. Thanks to the folks at HackCollege, a number of my "secrets" are out. Infographic via HackCollege Image courtesy of iStockphoto, LICreate
Formative Wonder How To » Fresh Hacks For a Changing World Dr. Jordan B. Peterson’s 10 Step Guide to Clearer Thinking Through Essay Writing What is an essay? An essay is a relatively short piece of writing on a particular topic. However, the word essay also means attempt or try. An essay is, therefore, a short piece written by someone attempting to explore a topic or answer a question. Why bother writing an essay? Most of the time, students write essays only because they are required to do so by a classroom instructor. The primary reason to write an essay is so that the writer can formulate and organize an informed, coherent and sophisticated set of ideas about something important. Why is it important to bother with developing sophisticated ideas, in turn? You can write down more than you can easily remember, so that your capacity to consider a number of ideas at the same time is broadened. Consider your success over the course of a lifetime. If you sharpen your capacity to think and to communicate as a consequence of writing, you are better armed. Don’t ever underestimate the power of words. A note on technology
Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning: A Science-Based How-ToSheryl's BlogSheryl's Blog The post after this one on “black rust” describes why you should heat the pan before applying oil for seasoning. This helps the seasoning to adhere and makes the pan pleasantly black. In a previous post, I illustrated how I cleaned and reseasoned an antique cast iron popover pan. I wanted to understand the chemistry behind seasoning so I’d know how to fix this, but there is nothing that addresses this issue directly. The pictures below are both of the same antique cast iron skillet. Start With the Right Oil (It’s Not What You Think) I’ve read dozens of Web pages on how to season cast iron, and there is no consensus in the advice. They are all wrong. The oil used by artists and woodturners is linseed oil. The seasoning on cast iron is formed by fat polymerization, fat polymerization is maximized with a drying oil, and flaxseed oil is the only drying oil that’s edible. The Recipe for Perfect Cast Iron Seasoning
How I Made The App That Turns YouTube Videos Into Podcasts This is about a universal web application that I just got done with making called Ripcast. Ripcast solves a real problem for people who enjoy listening to YouTube content, and up to now, have had to wrestle with the YouTube app to make it possible. The Problem Late one evening in April 2017, I was reflecting on how frustrating the YouTube experience makes listening to audio-only content. That wasn’t the first time YouTube’s user experience had annoyed me. This is probably because I’m not the average YouTube consumer; my YouTube “Watch later” playlist is filled with content like lectures, talks, interviews, and other radio-type shows that I want to listen to and not watch. Less Than Ideal YouTube App Behaviour The YouTube app will do things that makes passive use almost impossible: They say you should write software that will scratch your own itch. The Solution The premise of Ripcast is simple: it’s a tool for creating and sharing podcasts made from YouTube content. Controversy The Prototype
Cordwood in Sweden @ Pelle Henriksson’s cordwood sauna | Cordwood Construction ™ Pelle Henriksson has added to his portfolio with these new pictures of his backyard sauna in Sweden. He calls his Facebook building site Kubbhusbastu which translates to Cordwood Sauna which Pelle says is “Just for fun.” The foundation (ring beam), framing (post & beam) and cordwood infill are very well done using “best practices” throughout. Pelle’s pictures tell the story very well. The logs for the framework are 100 years old and were found in Pelle’s uncle’s barn. The photo shows the grade beam and part of the drain tile (orange colored pipe). The foundation is a ring beam on a rubble trench with a drain tile sloped to a lower grade. Many of the older cordwood (kubbhus) buildings in Sweden use a clay-based mortar. Note how the windows are placed within a post and beam framework. Pelle used keyways (vertical strips of wood on the posts) to hold his wall sections in place. A beautiful flower motif chainsaw cut into a log end shows off the Swedish love of all things wooden. Like this:
How to Do Centering Prayer: 4 Steps Edit Article Community Q&A Centering Prayer is a method of prayer, which prepares us to receive the gift of God's presence, traditionally called contemplative prayer. It consists of responding to the Spirit of Christ by consenting to God’s presence and action within. Centering Prayer is drawn from ancient prayer practices of the Christian contemplative heritage, notably the Fathers and Mothers of the Desert, Lectio Divina, (praying the scriptures), The Cloud of Unknowing, St. Steps <img alt="Image titled Do Centering Prayer Step 1" src=" width="728" height="485" class="whcdn" onload="WH.performance.clearMarks('image1_rendered'); WH.performance.mark('image1_rendered');">1Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within. Community Q&A Add New Question What is the best way to introduce people to centering prayer? Tips