"I've completely eliminated the need for dryer sheets. I was a firm lover of these until I found that I could take aluminum foil, ball it up, and toss it in the dryer with the wet laundry. It removes static and never has to be changed. I've been using the same aluminum foil ball for over 6 months."
5/7/10
Aluminum Foil as Dryer Sheet
The Science of Success
We are like dogs. We respond better to success than we do failures. Scads of platitudes have been written about learning from failure, and while it is possible to learn great lessons from life's clunkers, neuroscience now shows us that nothing succeeds like success. Have you ever had that golf game, presentation or some other challenge where everything you do with that challenge is golden? Then, the next day, you go at it again and you mess up one time and--bam! You can't seem to get in the groove. There is a brain-based reason for that, and the more aware of it you are, the more you can create success momentum in your business.
Earl Miller of MIT and Mark Histed of Harvard found that our neurons retain memory and become more finely tuned when we succeed, but they don't when success isn't present. There is a difference between the absence of success and the presence of failure. For instance, when a mistake leads to a negative consequence, we have a tendency to learn from it and veer in another direction. We don't necessarily learn what to do, but we learn what not to do. On the other hand, when there is absence of success but no apparent mistakes (you lose money in the stock market but have nothing tangibly to do with it), nothing appears to change in the brain, and relatively little--if any--learning takes place.Here's what goes on that makes success so...well, successful. When you're learning something new and you have a success, even a small one, your brain gets a little reward bump of the pleasure neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is used to thicken the neural pathways needed to learn a new skill. Your brain is drawn to activities that give you those little pleasure bumps. You can actually become addicted to success. But the big news is that the more you succeed, the longer your brain retains the proper information to help you succeed again.
The implications of this seem enormous for you and your business. We now know that what you celebrate (typically success) gets repeated, and the more you celebrate it, the more of that behavior you get. We used to think this was part of the psycho-babble voodoo of niceness in business and that it really wasn't necessary. It is and now it's proven. Look for low-hanging fruit in your company--small successes that everyone can participate in--because it's a good way to get the snowball of success and high morale rolling when things are going badly.
Following are five things you can do to take advantage of this science in your organization and get the snowball effect of success breeding success.
- You're looking to experience success, not to learn from mistakes. It might sound like semantics, but it is a different framing that works to keep you going. When you discuss mistakes, make sure you don't just focus on the what-not-to-do part of it. If you want to head down the path of success, you have to understand what is correct and try the successful behavior until you have a positive outcome.
- Get your head positively in the game. When you make a mistake, don't allow negativity to rule you. As "new-agey" as it sounds, stay positive. Your attitude should be that you get another chance to make it right. Focus on the next turn. Put in neuroscience terms, when you become mired in negativity, the stressor hormone cortisol bathes your brain and blocks access to the part of the brain that breeds success. You become more and more frustrated and will continue to make mistakes. Take a break! When you can come at the challenge with a new and positive perspective, you are primed to try it again.
- Nothing replaces practice. When you achieve success, mimic the very same behavior again relatively quickly after the last success. You'll build thicker neural pathways for the successful behaviors. In essence, practice and practice and practice the art of success. That's why you see golfers hit ball after ball on a driving range. Focus on the attempts you get right; ignore the wrong ones.
- Celebrate. If you're trying to teach someone a new skill, celebrate their successes and ignore their mistakes unless the failure is going to be harmful.
- Positive feedback is like cash in the bank. The old adage is true: "People have a tendency to become what we encourage them to be, not what we nag them to be." As a leader, catch people doing things right and make sure they know you've witnessed it. Give them on-the-spot feedback on it so that they get a big dopamine hit. Don't wait for company meetings or the next time you see them walking down the hall. One of your most important activities as a success chief will be to immediately dole out feedback when someone does something right. Get good and consistent at it.
read @ Entrepreneur.com
Largest hiring burst in years, but jobless rate up
WASHINGTON – The economy got what it needed in April: A burst of hiring that added a net 290,000 jobs, the biggest monthly total in four years.
The improving picture caused so many more people to pour into the labor force in search of employment that the jobless rate rose from 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent.
The hiring last month of 66,000 temporary government workers to conduct the census added to overall job creation. But private employers — the backbone of the economy — contributed the most: A surprisingly strong 231,000 jobs, the most since March 2006, the Labor Department said Friday.
The new jobs, generated by sectors across the economy, are the first sign that the recovery is adding significant numbers of new jobs — even if not enough to absorb the influx of jobseekers. That's why the unemployment rate rose.
The encouraging message in Friday's report, though, is that employers are finally hiring again.
"Companies have a newfound confidence in the future of the economic recovery and on the part of their own business prospects," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "The broad-based job gains are an indication that businesses are feeling more comfortable about expanding their work forces," he said.
President Barack Obama called the addition of 290,000 jobs in April "very encouraging news." But he said much remains to be done to get Americans back to work.
read more @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy
The improving picture caused so many more people to pour into the labor force in search of employment that the jobless rate rose from 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent.
The hiring last month of 66,000 temporary government workers to conduct the census added to overall job creation. But private employers — the backbone of the economy — contributed the most: A surprisingly strong 231,000 jobs, the most since March 2006, the Labor Department said Friday.
The new jobs, generated by sectors across the economy, are the first sign that the recovery is adding significant numbers of new jobs — even if not enough to absorb the influx of jobseekers. That's why the unemployment rate rose.
The encouraging message in Friday's report, though, is that employers are finally hiring again.
"Companies have a newfound confidence in the future of the economic recovery and on the part of their own business prospects," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "The broad-based job gains are an indication that businesses are feeling more comfortable about expanding their work forces," he said.
President Barack Obama called the addition of 290,000 jobs in April "very encouraging news." But he said much remains to be done to get Americans back to work.
read more @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy
Lettuce recalled in 23 states, D.C.
The lettuce was sold in Alabama, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
read more @ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/07/lettuce-recalled-23-states-dc/
HTC EVO - good chance its coming out June 6th
read press release scans from The Shack: (shouts androidcentral)
5/6/10
For Sushi at Home, Skip the Fish
The Roll Call
Here are suggested sushi ingredients. Many don’t need soy sauce or wasabi, but it doesn’t hurt. Mixing and matching is fine. Pairs like umeboshi and scallions are particularly good.
Avocado
Cooked chopped spinach, perhaps with a bit of sesame oil
Cucumber, raw or lightly pickled
Daikon and other radishes
Escabeche of eggplant or other vegetables
Fried tofu (sold in Japanese stores)
Olives
Pickled eggplant
Pickled mustard greens
Pickled winter squash
Poached asparagus or other vegetables
Radish sprouts or other sprouts
Raw or seared tofu, cubed
Roasted eggplant
Roasted pepper, with or without anchovy
Sautéed mushrooms
Scallions
Scrambled eggs (or fried or poached quail egg)
Speck or prosciutto
Thinly sliced cooked meat
Umeboshi, pitted and halved
Watercress or arugula
read the full how to @ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/dining/05mini.html
Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D meets Obama
The frontman of N.E.R.D. and super producer Pharrell Williams is really doing big things. The other day, he attened the MET Costume Institute Gala, and partied amongst the biggest stars, including Usher, Diddy, and Oprah Winfrey. Now today, a picture has surfaced of Pharrell with the president of the United States, Barack Obama. Now I know Pharrell's famous himself, but I would have definitely gotten star struck when I saw Barack.
shouts GlobalGrind
5/5/10
Oprah endorses the HTC EVO on Sprint
That’s right. Oprah name dropped and talks about the HTC Evo on Sprint.
Oprah is part of the No Phone Zone campaign, which is sponsored by Sprint, Liberty Mutual, and Chevrolet. The campaign is aimed at making people aware of the dangers of texting or talking while driving. In a recent segment, Oprah showed her viewers how to text to make the ‘pledge’. All while using an HTC Evo 4G. While she doesn’t advertise the device, she does call it by name. That may not be enough to let the Evo get the attention it surely deserves, since it’s not even available, and many people probably have never heard the name before. Nevertheless, the Evo 4G has been outer by The Big O.
5/4/10
HOT97's Summer Jam 2010 or not?
Lineup is here!!
-Drake
-Trey Songs
-Ludacris
-Juelz Santana
-Nicki Minaj
-Reflection Eternal [hi-tek & talib kweli]
-DJ Khaled (& Friends)
-Fabolous
-Gucci Mane [when's he due out??]
-Usher
NY Terrorist: Faisal Shahzad (PHOTO): I Acted Alone
NEW YORK (AP) - A U.S. citizen who had recently returned from a five-month trip to his native Pakistan, where he had a wife, was arrested at a New York airport on charges that he drove a bomb-laden SUV meant to cause a fireball in Times Square, federal authorities said.
Faisal Shahzad was on board a Dubai-bound flight at Kennedy Airport when FBI agents and New York Police Department detectives took him into custody late Monday, law enforcement officials said. One official said he claimed to have acted alone.
U.S. authorities "will not rest until we have brought everyone responsible to justice," Attorney Eric Holder said early Tuesday, suggesting additional suspects are being sought.
Shahzad, 30, is a naturalized U.S. citizen and had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan, where he had a wife, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation into the failed car bombing.
Investigators hadn't established an immediate connection to the Pakistani Taliban – which had claimed responsibility for the botched bombing in three videos – or any foreign terrorist groups, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
"He's claimed to have acted alone, but these are things that have to be investigated," the official said.
Another law enforcement official said Shahzad was not known to the U.S. intelligence community before the failed bombing attempt.
The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan was handling the case and said Shahzad would appear in court Tuesday, but the charges were not made public. FBI agents searched the home at a known address for Shahzad in Bridgeport, Conn., early Tuesday, said agent Kimberly Mertz, who wouldn't answer questions about the search.
Authorities removed filled plastic bags from the house overnight in a mixed-race, working-class neighborhood of multi-family homes in Connecticut's largest city. A bomb squad came and went without entering as local police and FBI agents gathered in the cordoned-off street.
@ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/04/faisal-shahzad-photo-times-square_n_562380.html
One in eight to cut cable and satellite TV in 2010
I found this article very interesting:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Despite rising cable and satellite TV prices and easy access to streaming TV and movies on the Internet, few consumers have cut the cord. But that looks like it's about to change.
One in eight consumers will eliminate or scale back their cable, satellite or other pay-TV service this year, according to a new study released this week by Yankee Group.
The study, which was the result of a survey of pay-TV operators and more than 6,000 U.S. consumers, found that many will choose to drop premium channels or cut their service down to a basic package, while others will choose to cut off their service completely.
A cutting-the-cord trend has been the subject of speculation for some time, as networks have increasingly made television programming available for free on the Internet. But a combination of other factors, including a growing number of battles between cable companies and networks, soaring Internet video viewings and an increase in connected TVs and devices, suggest the trend is finally upon us.
"Admittedly, this is a small phenomenon now, but a number or recent transactions and new items point to a shift in consumer thinking," said Vince Vittore, analyst at Yankee Group and author of the study.
Going without cable or satellite is unthinkable to many Americans -- just over 90% of U.S. households subscribe to some form of pay TV. But just as mobile phones have replaced many customers' land-line service, Vittore said on-demand Internet video will soon whittle that 90% figure down.
Pay TV is getting more expensive
The biggest reason why customers will cut the cord, according to the study, is the growing cost of pay-TV service. Cable and satellite viewers pay an average of $71 per month, and they receive an average annual price hike of 5%, according to research firm Centris.
That annual price jump could be even higher if battles between pay-TV operators and networks continue.
Broadcasters like ABC, CBS (CBS, Fortune 500), Fox and NBC have traditionally cost cable and satellite providers nothing to retransmit, since they are offered for free over the air anyway. But lately, broadcast television networks have demanded -- and have received -- fees for their programming comparable to what cable networks like TBS, E!, MTV and Comedy Central have been charging.
Recently, Time Warner Cable (TWC) and the Fox Network, Cablevision and Disney (DIS, Fortune 500), and Sunflower Broadband and Hearst-Argyle Television have had high-profile spats, which have all resulted in significantly higher fees.
Ultimately, those fees get passed onto subscribers.
Vittore said that higher costs will ultimately drive more consumers to cut their pay-TV service -- especially for non-sports fans.
Though more live sports are becoming available over the Internet, namely CBS's coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament, ESPN3.com and packages like MLB TV, most sports are still watched on television. And since sports programming makes up as much as 50% of a pay-TV provider's costs, customers who are not sports fans are essentially paying half of their cable or satellite bill on channels in which they have no interest.
Streams of online video are up
Meanwhile, free or cheap alternatives to pay-TV subscriptions are growing wildly popular. More than 180 million U.S. viewers watched 31 billion videos on the Internet last month, according to online data tracker comScore. That's more than double the 15 billion Internet videos that were watched at the same time last year.
Hulu, which is jointly owned by and shows programming from NBC, Disney and Fox, has more than quadrupled its viewership in the past year. U.S. viewers watched more than 1 billion free TV programs or movies on Hulu in March, up from about 250 million a year earlier, comScore said. That's nearly 27 videos per viewer, up from under 15 videos last year.
Get ready to pay for online TV
What's more telling is how much Hulu people watch. Viewers tuned into Hulu for an average of 2.6 hours in March, up a full hour from a year earlier.
Netflix's streaming service is rapidly gaining ground as well. The company said last week that 55% of its users watched at least 15 minutes of streaming video in the first quarter. Netflix (NFLX) has grown its customer base by 35% over the past year, and recently raised its 2010 subscriber forecasts by 1 million customers.
More devices are connected
Until recently, people had been watching Hulu and Netflix almost exclusively on their computers -- not the most desirable replacement for pay-TV service. But more devices are coming pre-installed with Netflix or Internet connections, so people can stream videos right onto their televisions.
Netflix is now available on a handful of TVs, just about any Blu-ray player, and all three major video game devices -- the Nintendo Wii, the Sony (SNE) PlayStation, and the Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) Xbox -- which appear in 43% of U.S. households. A growing number of new HDTVs are also Internet ready, and according to a study released this week by Nielsen, TV purchases are up by their largest amount since 2006.
Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) are also expected to launch streaming video devices this year.
Android phones to get Hulu?
"This is the key part of the equation," said Vittore. "Not just are these devices connected to the Internet, but they're coming prepackaged with the capability to connect to rich video sources. That really becomes a competitor to pay TV service."
Since the easiest devices to connect to the Internet tend to be video game consoles, and they tend to be owned by 18-34 year olds, Yankee Group expects that will be the group to cut their cords first.
"Just like with telephone land lines, it's going to become hard to sell pay TV to anyone under 30," Vittore said.
5 Natural Household Bug Repellents
Summer is coming and you know what that means… BUGS!!!
I found an article that states 5 Natural Household Bug Repellents:
• Essential Oils: Using essential oils such as lemon, orange, clove, peppermint, and mint around the home will deter most bugs as they are turned off by strong odors.
• Garlic and Pepper Powder: Most bugs avoid both garlic and pepper; therefore, sprinkling the powder around the key areas in the home helps keep the bugs at bay.
• Cucumber Slices and Ants: As summer approaches, ants flock to kitchens on the hunt for food crumbs. Ants are appalled by cucumbers; therefore, the cucumber slices work best when placed near cracks or other areas where ants may enter the home.
•Crushed Mint and Flies: Small packets of crushed mint helps to repel flies.
•Lemon Peels and Moths: We love the fresh, citrus smell of lemons and prefer it to using cedar blocks in the closet to keep moths from destroying our clothes.
5/3/10
Weekend Recap
pic 1 - Beyonce gets a tat and guess what it says?
pic 2 - Floyd Mayweather beats Shane Mosley
Scores: 119-109 (twice), 118-110
Records: Mayweather Jr., 41-0, 25 KOs; Mosley, 46-6, 39 KOs
Rafael's remark: Simply put, Mayweather painted a masterpiece against Mosley in the biggest fight of the year barring Mayweather facing Manny Pacquiao in the fall. The first round could have gone either way. Mosley nearly knocked Mayweather out in the second round. Then "Money" regrouped like a champ and shut Mosley down. Easily. It was maybe the most telling moment of Mayweather's career, to see him face down adversity in a major way and come back so strong. Overall, it may be the most impressive performance in an illustrious career in which Mayweather has beaten many good opponents en route to championships in five divisions. read more @ http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=5155791
pic 3 - Pakistani Taliban claims NYC bomb
The so-called Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square - a claim city officials have denied. A statement posted on the internet on Sunday said the attempted attack the previous day was to avenge the killing of two "Muslim martyrs", leaders of al-Qaeda linked groups in Iraq. "The Pakistani Taliban announced its responsibility for the New York attack in revenge for the two leaders al-Baghdadi and al-Mahajer and Muslim martyrs," the statement read. It referred to Abu Ayub al-Masri, also known as al-Mahajer, the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the purported head of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), an al-Qaeda affiliate. The two were reportedly killed in a joint raid by US and Iraqi soldiers on April 18. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the claim by a group which is largely responsible for domestic attacks targeting Pakistani military or government officials. But Raymond Kelly, New York City's police commissioner, said there was no evidence to suggest the Pakistani Taliban was behind the incident. more @ http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/05/201052172630201226.html
Damon Dash Resurrects Roc-A-Fella To Start A 'Positive Movement'
When Damon Dash pulled a Roc-A-Fella chain out of his vault several months ago and presented it to Curren$y, it was just a celebration of their friendship. Now, the chain means much more. Dash is resurrecting Roc-A-Fella Records and plans to make Curren$y's Pilot Talk the label's first new release on June 15.
"I think we just having fun, really," said Dash, sitting in his office at DD172 next to Curren$y. "[Curren$y] inspired me to dust off the chains. We brought 'em out for kicks, just 'cause we could. Then we was like, 'F--- it, let's put it out through Roc-A-Fella.' It was really more something he wanted to do. Basically, 'cause we havin' such a good time, and the opportunity's there, we was like, 'Why not?' "
"What that means, what that shows me, is that dude thinks as highly of me as I do him," Curren$y said about releasing an LP on the label Dash co-founded with Jay-Z and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in the mid-1990s. "I know what's behind that. We all know and the fans know what that represented at the height of it. The aesthetic of it."
Dash said he hadn't been having "fun" in music since he, Jay and Biggs dissolved their partnership several years ago. But meeting and working with artists such as Curren$y and Jay Electronica who come through his DD172 facility brought the old feelings back.
"The funny thing is, people don't know that Roc-A-Fella wasn't meant to sell records," Dame said. "It was meant to show the respect and the honor amongst each other as friends. It was a friendship thing. That's what people liked. It's what made Roc-A-Fella appealing. It's odd, because I f--- with [Curren$y]. I kinda like him. When I met him, I wasn't as familiar with his music. My nephews and Sean O'Connell put me up on him. I liked him as a friend. Then I start seeing he's super nice with the rhymes, then I started seeing his influence. It's similar to the way we felt back in those days. It's working out."
The last album to come out on Roc-A-Fella was Jadakiss' The Last Kiss in April 2009. The label had been under Jay-Z's sole custody since the breakup of Hov, Biggs and Dash.
"Def Jam or Universal bought the brand. I think the 'beef' [with us and Jay-Z] was that Jay made it clear he didn't want me or Biggs to be a part of it. That's really where it was at. Now that he doesn't work for Def Jam anymore, he doesn't have the right to use the name. So there's no reason for us not to use it. It's there, and it's a brand that's not being used. So I was like, 'I'll take it.' It always meant something to me."
Dash said he and Curren$y are pushing a positive message about friendship and evolution.
"It's a way more positive movement," he added about the label's new incarnation. "It's what I wanted Roc-A-Fella, what I thought it should be 10 years after I started it."
Dash said he secured the new deal through L.A. Reid and Def Jam, which will serve as a distributor for his records.
After Curren$y's album, the next project coming off Roc-A-Fella will be Ski Beatz's 24 Hour Karate School mixtape.
Reps for Jay-Z were not reached for comment by press time. @ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1638284/20100503/dame_dash.jhtml
Diddy visits Weezy in Jail
Lil Wayne may be doing some time in prison, but that doesn't mean he can't make big things happen. He's allowed to have visitors while in jail, and it looks like one of the biggest names in music and entertainment took some time out to visit him. According to the New York Daily News, Bad Boy Records CEO and Sean John founder, Diddy, took to Riker's to visit the Young Money general. Puff apparently got in the public bus like everyone else to go visit Weezy, and the two chopped it up for an hour. With the rumors of Nicki Minaj being managed by Diddy, I'm sure Diddy told Weezy he was holding Nicki down. Hopefully when Weezy gets out, him and Puff will have some big things planned. @ http://globalgrind.com/channel/culture/content/1555174/Diddy-Drops-In-To-See-Lil-Wayne/
Two held in shooting of N. Phila. infant
The intersection of Diamond and North Randolph Streets was crowded Saturday night with people listening to music and enjoying the warm breeze.
Cecilia Colon and her neighbors were sitting on their front steps, admiring Colon's great-granddaughter, six-month-old Sandra McCoy, who was cuddled in the arms of her mother, Naisha Jesus.
Around 8 p.m. Jesus, still holding the baby, began walking across the street toward her home. Suddenly, two young men opened fire at each other, police said.
The baby was caught in the cross fire and was hit in the right armpit. She was listed in critical but stable condition at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children Sunday night.
One of the men fled on a bicycle but was later arrested. The other was hit by a bullet and staggered a few yards down Diamond Street before falling in front of a vacant lot, where police later found a shell casing.
The wounded man was apprehended and taken by ambulance to Temple University Hospital, police said. The names of the two men have not yet been released.
"Bullies don't got no names," neighbor Hilda Gonzalez said Sunday, sitting on Colon's front steps and comforting the woman, who was shaded from the midday sun by a black umbrella.
Gonzalez said her son Kahili Martinez was killed in a drug-related shooting in December a few blocks away.
"He was a target. Sandra McCoy was an innocent victim," Gonzalez said.
Another neighbor, Karen Williams, dropped by to offer her support to the baby's family. "Why are kids able to buy guns? Why are they getting killed?" she asked. @ http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20100503_Two_held_in_shooting_of_N__Phila__infant.html
Google City Tours
Almost like Hopstop.com; Google City Tours provides perfect walking directions.
more @ http://citytours.googlelabs.com/
Google Provides Directions via SMS
When you're lost and out of mobile internet territory, that's when directions are probably a really helpful thing. If you can still eke out an SMS message, you can text GOOGLE with a message formatted as "Directions A to B," substituting a town, ZIP code, or street address for A and B. Google will hit you back with the same directions it would provide via Maps, and your friends will say that you've saved this road trip. (thx Lifehacker)
Two-Way Gmail Syncing Goes Live on BlackBerry Services
RIM is finally updating BIS so that Gmail will accurately sync read and unread status of your mail. It's about time.
The update will also add support for Windows Media Audio attachments as well as OpenOffice documents. BIS 3.0 will also include the decidedly less exciting updates of a reconfigured, more secure E-mail setup application and more accurate error messages that will direct users to their specific carrier.
more @ http://crackberry.com/blackberry-internet-service-3-0-details-leaked-again
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