How to write a thank-you note Question: I have a crushing inability to write proper thank-you notes. Can you offer me some guidelines? —Helen Answer: I was wondering when you were going to ask that question, and frankly, I’m a little disappointed it took you so long. Somewhere in between your mom making you sit down with your Peanuts® stationery and you shooting off an email, you completely lost touch with the concept of simple thank-you notes. Grandma might not say anything to you, but trust me: She and her friends are probably at this very moment sighing over how young people today just don’t have manners. As extra motivation, I will also grudgingly tell you the hidden secret of thank-you notes: They improve the frequency and quality of the gifts you receive. I assure you, writing thank-yous is easier than you remember. If you want to know when you get a genuine pass on writing a note, the litmus test is simple: Do I live under the same roof as the giver? 1. Dear Aunt Sally, 2. Thank you so much for the slippers. 3.
Media Studies: Experimental Geography Reading List This is the first installment of a monthly column by Rhizome's Contributing Editor Marisa Olson. "Media Studies" will explore timely issues within the broader field of technology. Each post will pay specific attention to the relationship between these subjects and artistic practice. For this column, Marisa provides a reading list on the topic of "Experimental Geography". In recent years, access to geographical tools and data collection has expanded rapidly, allowing many artists to rethink their relationship to the earth and geographical study. Please join us tomorrow for a panel, organized by Marisa, on "Experimental Geography". The following is an initial list of readings that might be of interest to anyone researching experimental geography. This is only a starting point. Janet Abrams and Peter Hall (eds), Else/Where: Mapping -- New Cartographies of Networks and Territories, Univ Minnesota Design Institute, 2006 Saul Albert, "Locative Literacy," Mute, July 12, 2004 William J.
How to step out of your comfort zone Edit Edited by Shobaday, Brigitta M., Sondra C, Flickety and 14 others There's no room for adventure and excitement in your comfort zone; in fact, over time you might feel overwhelmed and trapped by boredom and fear. Edit Steps 1 Make a fool of yourself. Edit Tips Find or date someone crazy. Edit Warnings Don't confuse stepping out of your comfort zone with being reckless and stupid. Edit Related wikiHows Featured Article Categories: Featured Articles | Creativity & Intelligence Recent edits by: VampireFairy, Teresa, Elyne
The Darien Statements on the Library and Librarians On March 26th, Darien Library hosted an event called “In the Foothills: A Not-Quite-Summit on the Future of Libraries” at which participants were instructed to “come prepared to help sketch out the role librarians should play in defining the future of libraries”. The two speakers, John Berry and Kathryn Greenhill, provoked a conversation among me, Kathryn and Cindi Trainor that began in my office the next day and spilled out across the ensuing week. In companion posts, Kathryn and Cindi have beautifully captured the spirit in which this was written. Be sure to read them. Below is the resulting document (CC License). It’s meant to be grand, optimistic, obvious, and thankful to and for our users, communities, and the tireless librarians who work the front lines every day, upholding the purpose of the Library. The Darien Statements on the Library and Librarians Written and endorsed by John Blyberg, Kathryn Greenhill, and Cindi Trainor The Purpose of the Library The Role of the Library
How to carry out random acts of kindness every day The time has come when we cannot just rely on others to make the world a better place – each one of us has to do our bit. It is therefore time for people to be more and more aware about their Personal Social Responsibility (PSR). PSR is all about doing to others what you would like others do to you. It is about recognizing how your behaviour affects others, and holding yourself accountable for your actions. For example, contrast someone being well mannered and kind, with someone being rude. And this brings me nicely to the theme of this post – being kind to others. Kindness is contagious – and as part of Personal Socially Responsibility you might want to consider carrying out random acts of kindness on a daily basis. It is truly a win/win/win situation. Never underestimate the impact of a single act of kindness. Also, it is important to carry out your acts of kindness without expecting anything back. To get you started, I have listed 29 ideas below.
The Oil Drum: Campfire | Food-backed Local Money Rethinking Food Security Most institutions, such as food aid NGOs or the US Department of Agriculture, express concern about food security in terms of the ability for low income people to purchase adequate food. This is a valid way to think of food security. If food prices are high relative to income, or if other compelling expenses such as housing, health care and transportation also require a large portion of income, then securing adequate food on an individual or family level will be problematic. Programs that disperse food to the needy, redistribute income through tax policies, assist with the high costs of non-food expenses, guarantee a living wage, etc. all address distribution inequity and are laudable. But the question I want to ask is whether they are now sufficient? The first assumption is that enough food can actually be grown and delivered to wherever it needs to go. Food-Backed Local Currency Image 2. Image 3. Mendo Credits are backed by a tangible asset. Image 4. Image 5.
Scuttle - Create Your Own Del.icio.us Site | MakeUseOf.com Far and away, the most popular website, when it comes to storing ‘in the cloud’ bookmarks, is Delicious. It became so popular so quickly, that Yahoo picked them up in December of 2005 for somewhere between $15 million and $30 million. For those of you who don’t know what Delicious is, it is simply a one stop shop, for storing your bookmarks in one quick and easy location. Of course with success comes competition, with sites such as Diigy or Simpy and you could possibly even consider Digg or Reddit as well. Scuttle is simply defined as a “Web-based social bookmarking system. Similar to Delicious, the Scuttle system offers tagging with keyword relations, a tag cloud and advanced searching for your own bookmarks, or the entire site. Just like Delicious, you also have advanced security for protection on your bookmarks. Being open source, Scuttle’s options are endless. What are your thoughts?
Inventor's 2020 vision: to help 1bn of the world's poorest see better | Society It was a chance conversation on March 23 1985 ("in the afternoon, as I recall") that first started Josh Silver on his quest to make the world's poor see. A professor of physics at Oxford University, Silver was idly discussing optical lenses with a colleague, wondering whether they might be adjusted without the need for expensive specialist equipment, when the lightbulb of inspiration first flickered above his head. What if it were possible, he thought, to make a pair of glasses which, instead of requiring an optician, could be "tuned" by the wearer to correct his or her own vision? Might it be possible to bring affordable spectacles to millions who would never otherwise have them? More than two decades after posing that question, Silver now feels he has the answer. Some 30,000 pairs of his spectacles have already been distributed in 15 countries, but to Silver that is very small beer. The target, within a few years, is 100 million pairs annually. Life-changing inventions Wind-up radio