Enhanced with Minerals for Taste

Barack Obama on Religion and Faith

34:05 - “No matter how religious they may be or may not be, people are tired of seeing faith used as a tool of attack.”

Posted in Design | No Comments »

If only the people who forwarded emails to their entire . . .

If only the people who forwarded emails to their entire address book read Seth’s Blog. The world would be a much better place.

Posted in Link Karma | No Comments »

11 Reasons Why Amazon MP3 is Better than iTunes

Now that the Amazon MP3 Store has music available from all the four major record labels, I can think of no reason I’ll be using the iTunes Music Store ever again.

While I’m always open to listen to a well-researched rebuttal, I think this one is difficult to argue. Even before the Sony BMG announcement, I preferred Amazon’s music service - that announcement was just the nail in the coffin. Without further ado, here are 11 reasons why the Amazon MP3 Store beats the pants off of the iTunes Music Store. Yes, this list goes to eleven.

1. No DRM means that we finally have a way to legally get music from all the major labels without being tied down to a specific music player, platform, software. Music is finally free again - just like it was when we used to make mix tapes from songs we recorded from the radio. Ahh, to be 14 again (really, 14 wasn’t that much fun, but it would be nice to have that kind of time).

2. MP3 Format allows us to play to music in any player and on any device we want. Honestly, I thought .m4a was kind of cute when it first came out - because I have an iPod - it’s not cute. It’s a pain the butt.

3. Price matters. $0.89 < $0.99 ∴ less $ = more ♫

4. Organization and experience seems intuitive with the Amazon store. It seems incredible that Apple, in my view anyway, has been beaten at the game they helped to revolutionize with the iPod . . . an intuitive user interface. Perhaps it’s because folks are so very used to browsing Amazon or maybe it’s simply because Amazon’s commitment to studying how users interact with their site is paying off in spades.

5. It’s Amazon, and it’s familiar to more people. It’s a hard concept for those of us who use computers 8+ hours a day to grasp, but not everybody is comfortable with downloading the 50MB beheamoth that is iTunes. The fact that Amazon is one step closer to the user makes a difference.

6. Search from within the browser (without the need to open another program). It would’ve probably been more accurate if I’d listed this first - this is my number one reason for loving the Amazon MP3 store. I don’t keep iTunes open all the time - my browser on the other hand is, much of the time, the only application running. If I think of or hear a song I want to investigate, I don’t want to open iTunes and search. I want to type the artist, song, or album into my Amazon Quick Search box and get results.

7. Free songs are delivered to my RSS reader every day thanks to a custom feed I created. I can create feeds for any music list that interests me and grab the DRM free goodness at will. It’s probably worth a whole new post just to show all of the things that can be done with xml from the Amazon MP3 store.

8. Earnings from the Mechanical Turk can be used to buy music. HITs from the Mechanical Turk range from $0.01 to many dollars each. If you’re bored and want to take a few minutes, you can earn your music instead of breaking out your credit card. Give it a try!

9. Music recommendations while searching for other products on Amazon are just another way I can find music I might not have discovered otherwise. While I’m not sure everyone likes it, I actually enjoy seeing what Amazon recommends for me - and they’ve gotten quite good at it as the years have gone by. I’m looking forward to having them learn my musical tastes as well.

10. Wishlists allow me to budget my music spending and keep running lists of music I’m considering purchasing. When I come across some music money, I can go to my list for a reminder of what I found interesting a few weeks ago.

11. Jeff Bezos is not a pretentious twit. Listen, I respect Steve Jobs. He’s brilliant. He’s a great leader. His vision is unparalled. I’d like him better, though, if he’d stop acting like a movie star. My blog. My opinion.

Unfortunately, neither store is perfect, and likely neither will be. The biggest downside of both has to be their localization. Folks from Holland, for example, can only download from the Dutch music stores and the folks, like me, in the US have to buy from the US store. That’s a price I’ll pay for freeing the music again though. In all, I’ve not been this excited about my music options since I started dating my wife 10 years ago - and her music collection was about 10-times the size of mine.

Posted in Technology | 1 Comment »

Amazon MP3 Quick Search Plugin (Firefox & IE7)

In late September Amazon.com launched their DRM-Free music download store. DRM-Free music means that customers are able to copy their music to any mp3 player and burn as many copies as they want to CD - all without restrictions. This is a very good thing.

I tried the Amazon music store on day one and was pleased with the quality search, ease of use, and large catalog (though not yet as large at iTunes). Other than the fact that music is DRM-Free, my favorite feature of the Amazon MP3 Store is that I can search for music to download inside my browser. Because my browser is always open, searches for music are at my fingertips. This alone has made Amazon my first stop for mainstream music.

After a few weeks of use, I decided to make the search even easier and created the Amazon MP3 Quick Search Plugin for Firefox and IE7. With it, I go straight to the MP3 store from my quick search bar, bypassing all other Amazon search results - after all, I don’t want the CD, or the t-shirt, or the poster. I want the MP3. And I want it now.

Just so you know, I did put my affiliate code in the search link. It doesn’t cost you any more to buy a song using my affiliate link. It’s just a way for Amazon to reimburse me for making it easier for you to shop with them. If it bothers you that I get a few pennies from when you buy a song, I’m sorry. That’s the way it is. Feel free to rewrite the plugin yourself and take out my affiliate code. If you decide to use it . . . thank you. The money will help me pay for medical school.

Posted in Projects, Development | 1 Comment »

Announcing Link and Tell

On September 25, 2007 Lifehacker’s Adam Pash wrote about a site called urlSplit.com - a site that allows the user to input up to seven urls and combines them into one, easy-to-use url. To the average web user, such a site seems useless. As it turns out, the very first commenter on the article said, “Good idea, but useless in reality…”

He was not alone.

In fact, Pash himself stated what he’d like to see the site actually do.

The site is built on an interesting idea, but in practice it could use some work—in particular, one would expect to be able to continue following the link chain from each link location (through some sort of proxy hosting). As is you have to continue opening the same link in a new tab until you see that it repeats, which really just causes more ambiguity than it’s worth. If it worked as I suggested, though, URL Split could be a nice tool for sharing simple link tours or step-by-steps.

While I like the functionality of urlSplit, I could also see how useful a site like the one Adam described could be - so I set out to create it. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce LinkandTell.com

Instead of repeating myself, I’ll just copy, directly from the site, what it can do.

Link and Tell makes slideshows out of websites.

You tell us which sites you want to share, and what (if anything) you want to say about them, and we’ll wrap everything up in a tight little package and deliver it to you for sharing with others.

It’s a great way to introduce your grandma to all the different photo sharing sites, tell your pals what sites you like, compare a group of content management systems, or build a bibliography for a recent blog post. Give it a try, we think you’ll love it!

As always, please feel free to post your feedback here. The site has nowhere near the functionality that I want it to have when it’s complete - but it works now, so I wanted to share it with you.

FYI - urlSplit is actually a very useful site (as pointed out by Dan Grossman in the article’s comments).

Posted in PHP, Projects, Programming, Development | 5 Comments »

10 Ways to Make Your Study Sessions More Productive

Establish a routine that utilizes any or all of these things to make your study sessions more productive.

1. Eliminate human distractions. Pick a study location where you can work uninterrupted. If it’s your room, post a “do not disturb” sign on your door. If you’re interrupted anyway, be sure the guilty party knows that these interruptions are not acceptable. You should play hard. But when the time comes to study, you should study hard too - your friends should be able to accept that. Oh yeah, turn off your phone(s) too.
2. Clear your mind. Now more than ever, our brains are inundated with information. Gone are the days when college students had to manage a handful of things - class, social life, and well, social life. Today’s college students are bombarded with cell phone calls, rss feeds, facebook updates, internship concerns, and email in addition to social life and class work. Before you crack your books, take a few minutes to clear your mind. Close your eyes, breath deeply, and relax. I highly recommend the 10-Minute Supercharger from Learning Strategies Corporation for this purpose. It’s ten minutes well spent to prepare your mind for maximum learning before you ever begin. You’ll be relaxed yet energetic and ready to start learning.
3. Begin with the end in mind. Now that your mind is clear, take a moment to set some goals for what you will learn. If you’re studying from a textbook, use the objectives printed at the beginning of the chapter as a starting point. If that’s not an option, use your course syllabus to set you on the right track. As the old saying goes, “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” The road to learning specific information is, itself, very specific. Chart your path in advance and you’re in for a very productive session.
4. Use earplugs. I’m a big fan of wearing earplugs when I study. They block out ambient noise, such as doors closing in the distance, chatter in the hallway, and sirens from outside the building. As an added benefit, I’ve found that using earplugs actually allows me to “hear myself think.” Because the ambient noise is no longer there, I am able to hear the conversations I’m having in my head thereby enabling me to build networks of information (versus memorizing alone). Call me crazy, but it works.
5. Recognize the power of smell. Smell is said to be the sense with the greatest attachment to memory. Some think it’s proximity to memory centers in the brain is responsible for this connection. Experiment with the effects of smell on your memory while you study. If it’s safe (and permitted), burn a scented candle or incense during your study sessions. Then when you’re stumped on a test or quiz, close your eyes and recall the smell of the candle or incense. It might just jumpstart your memory.
6. Develop a standard notetaking method. Different students like different note taking methods. Whether you prefer mind mapping, Cornell notes, outline format, sentence format, or another method, find one that works for you and stick to it. Over time, you’ll develop your own version of note taking and will be able to use this method for the rest of your life.
7. Take regular breaks. Your brain can only take so much in one sitting. When your mind starts to wander, or you find yourself daydreaming or reading the same paragraph over and over again, it’s time to take a break. Spend 10 minutes away from the books, but don’t enter another activity that requires concentration or would result in distraction. In other words, don’t check facebook, don’t visit with friends, don’t read email or rss feeds. Instead, take the opportunity to go to the bathroom, drink a bit of water (500mL is good), and stretch your back, neck, arms and legs. Streching promotes blood flow in the body and will serve to wake your brain up allowing you to get back into 100% concentration much faster. When you’re ready to get back to it, don’t forget to clear your mind and begin with the end in mind again.
8. Hydrate. Drink water while you study. If you’re brain is getting a workout, it needs water to function efficiently - just as your muscles do. Take advantage of internal interruptions like daydreaming or “oh-yeah, I’ve gotta do that” moments by taking a drink of water, writing down the interruption, and then get back to learning. The goal is to sustain a 100% concentration level. Water will help to make this happen. As an added benefit, drinking water will also force you to take regular breaks as your kidneys do their job.
9. Snack on brain food. Just as your brain needs water to operate in a highly productive state, it also needs food. Snacking lightly while studying prevents you from getting hungry (another internal distraction). Light snacking also prevents you from having to eat large meals that result in the post meal coma that we’re all so familiar with. Remember, healthy snacks are important.
10. Tweak your routine. After you’ve established a routine, don’t be afraid to tweak it to perfection. Over time you’ll find that you prsefer one candle over another, like the purple earplugs more than the orange ones, and learn more in the library than you do in the coffee shop. Constant improvement is what makes you a bona fide lifelong learner.

Highly productive study sessions result in shorter study times and the ability to learn more complex information faster. Establishing a routine that incorporates these methods will allow you to integrate the information you and build networks of knowledge that will act as a foundation for lifelong learning.

Posted in Study Skills, Personal Development, Education, Lifehacks | 10 Comments »

13 Foods That Will Make You Smarter

Not that eating any or all of these foods alone will make you smarter, but, combined with regular study habits, these foods have been shown to increase focus, concentration, reaction time, and retention by keeping neural pathways in the brain healthy and high-functioning.

Fats include foods that supply fatty acids essential to the neurochemical process. Specifically, foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids are considered “brain food.”

• Seeds, like flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds are loaded with fiber and omega 3 fatty acids.
• Nuts, such as walnuts and almonds, are also high in essential fatty acids and fiber. Fresh coconut is also a winner.
• Avocados not only taste great, they’re versatile and filling (because of their fat content).
• Extra virgin olive oil, or EVOO if you’re a Rachael Ray fan, should be your primary cooking oil. However, cold pressed oils of some nuts and seeds are high in omega 3’s as well.
• Cold water fish like salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, and sardines are great substitutes for high protein yet high saturated fat red meat.

Proteins not only help you build strong muscles, they supply the amino acids that are essential to brain health.

• Nuts, Seeds, and whole grains also provide a great source of protein and hence, the amino acids needed in neurotransmitter production.
• Eggs contain a healthy dose of protein and are chock-full of the B-vitamin choline - an important precursor to brain neurotransmitters.
• Dried beans like lentils and
• Green leafy vegetables like spinach are rich in protein and free-radical fighting antioxidants.

Carbohydrates have gotten a bad rep over the last several years, but your brain needs them in order to stay alert and energetic. Knowing what carbohydrates your brain needs will put you right in the middle of your learning sweet spot.

• Starchy vegetables like corn, squash, potatoes, and carrots
• Whole grains found in breads, crackers, or cereals

NOTE: The danger with carbohydrates is the spike that occurs in your blood sugar after you eat them. Eating small portions 5-7 times per day can help combat the surge and crash in blood sugar that we all know well. Another way to combat this increase in blood sugar is by eating a protein along side one of the high quality carbohydrates mentioned above. Non-starchy vegetables also help to mitigate the well-known spike in blood sugar. Your mom always told you to eat your broccoli, didn’t she?

Vitamins and Minerals act as antioxidants in the body by scavenging free radicals. In addition, they act to keep the enzymatic reactions of the body in order.

• Fruits in small portions (around 1/2 cup) are a great source of natural vitamins and minerals. Ten servings a day is said to keep cancer at bay.
• Raw or stir-fried vegetables also provide a essential vitamins and minerals. Have fun with the color - you don’t have to stick to green and leafy to get all the nutrients you need.

Learning to eat well is fun on its own accord, but doing so is a great way to sharpen your brain even when your not actively studying. If you’re looking for fun ways to combine many of the ingredients above into great tasting and nutritious meals, I highly recommend Viva la Veggie for recipes, tips, and reviews of great vegetarian dishes.

How about you - have any great “brain food” tips or recipes? Share them in the comments.

Image courtesy of flickr.

Posted in Lifehacks | 5 Comments »

Ad Flipping and Water Buffalo

When I decided to flip a 300×250 ad on JohnChow.com almost three weeks ago, I had no idea what a craze it would cause.

I had no idea what kind of traffic it would generate, what kind of money it would generate (for others), or, especially, what kind of creativity it would inspire. The last few weeks have been really fun to watch.

Thankfully, John has [mostly] put an end to the ad flipping. Before he did, though, I managed to be a part of the final cry - I won a 125×125 spot for one day from eMonetized.com.

I was trying to think of a clever way to monetize the spot; a way to earn a little extra traffic for one of the sites in my network. When I woke up this morning it hit me . . . If you don’t need it, give it away.

So, in the spirit of my recent post about making giving a habit, I’d like to appeal to JohnChow.com readers to support one of the finest charities on the planet - Heifer International - by buying a water buffalo.

I’d encourage you to read a bit more about Heifer International but I’ll give you the short version here. Heifer uses the funds they collect to buy animals for people in poverty-stricken areas. The people use the animals for various purposes, breed the animals, and then give a portion of the offspring to other families in need. It’s the classic model of “pay it forward.”

Here are a few ways that Heifer animals help families in need. . .

• Ducks & Chickens provide eggs for food and income
• Sheep provide wool for income and clothing
• Goats provide milk for food and income
• Water Buffalo provide a means for farmers to work their fields and support their families

So we’re gonna band together and buy a water buffalo. They only cost $250, but can provide many years of health and prosperity for a deserving family.

Here’s how it works…

• Go to Fundable.org and make a pledge.
• After 7 days, if at least $250 are raised, I’ll use the funds to buy a water buffalo from Heifer.org and post the receipt here.
• If you make a pledge of $10 or more, I will post a 2-3 sentence review of your site on this page. All you have to do is send me the html formatted text (and you get to choose your own link text)
• If you donate $25 or more, I will feature your site through November at the top of this site (above the pages section).

All money above $250 will also go to Heifer.org.

If you have any questions, please post them in the comments. I’ll respond as quickly as I’m able.

Posted in Non-Profit | 2 Comments »

The John Chow Banner Saga Continues (sorta)

To go along with what is, in my opinion, one of the best designed blogs on the internet, Tim Schroeder of eMonetized is giving four people the chance to have their own 125 x 125 banner ad shown on John Chow for free.

Tim says he’s been debating how to generate some buzz from this ad since the day he bought it, and while he came up with a few good ideas, this one is downright great. In fact, it’s one I wish I’d had when I decided to buy the large 300×250 ad from John Chow earlier this month. I’m sure Tim has already seen a spike in traffic that I saw after and during my ad flip (the second spike above came after a guest post I wrote for Shoemoney about taking risks and making money). The main difference is that while my traffic increase was great, I’m sure Tim will receive many more backlinks from his promotion than I did - a VERY valuable asset to blog growth.

I invite you to follow the eMonetized.com John Chow Banner Ad Contest Here. I know it’ll be fun to watch.

UPDATE: I Won! In a strange turn of events, I won the eMonetized.com 125×125 ad contest. Now I’ve just gotta decide on something clever to do with the ad for the day that it’s mine.

Posted in Link Karma | 2 Comments »

5 Steps to Forming a Giving Habit

Charitable giving is a learned behavior. Many people who consider themselves charitable people may never deliberately give significantly to a charity or group of charities. Like other matters of personal finance, the act of charitable giving has the greatest benefit when it is well-planned, consistent, and habitual. Here are five steps to making a habit out of charitable giving.

1. Pick a handful. Most people who struggle with charitable giving (i.e. they don’t give away as much as they think), do so as a result of haphazard giving. They give $5 here for a chocolate bar for the Little League team or $15 there to support the local rescue squad. While these gifts are important, they act as interruptions to your financial regimen and therefore carry psycological value that is greater than their actual dollar value. Pick a handful of charitable organizations that you’d like to support and support them only. If you’re having trouble choosing specific charities, I’d recommend reading Charity: Why You Should Give Your Money Away at The Simple Dollar.

   After you’ve made your list, number each charity according to its importance to you.

2. Budget it. Nearly every budget has room for charity - even if it’s just $5 or $10. No amount is too small, especially when it comes to monthly giving. A great way to set a goal for charitable giving is to think about how much you’d like to give away as a percentage of your annual income. If it’s important to you to give away %10 of your $48,000 income, then you need to plan on giving away $400 per month.

   Important: If you’re just getting started, please concern yourself with the act of giving rather than the gift amount.

3. Do the math. Now that you have money in the budget and your list of charities (in order of importance), take the top charity and assign it a monthly donation. It’s best not to go below $5 or $10 per charity, per month. Because gifts cost money to process, each gift has a net value to the organization. If your budgeted amount is lower than $5 per month, simply give every other month or every quarter until you can increase your budget for giving.



4. Automate. Giving, like saving, is easiest when it’s automated. Luckily, most banks have automatic bill pay built directly into their online banking systems. After you’ve done the math to determine how much you’ll give to each charity each month, take time to set up an automated payment system to give each month. Doing this will give you all of the pleasure of charitable giving without the pain of writing a check every month. As an added bonus, automated payments reduce the processing overhead for the charity thereby adding even more value to your gift.
5. Just say no. Now that you’re automatically giving to a standard group of charities each month, say “no” to other requests for financial assistance throughout the year. A good way to handle unplanned solicitations is to say, “I’m sorry, we plan our charitable giving a year in advance and give significantly to a handful of organizations each year. Thanks for requesting our support. We’ll add you to our list of causes to consider next year.” Because your charitable giving plan is based on your values, saying no is much easier.

   As an alternative, if you’re confident in your giving discipline, make one of the charities on your list a discretionary fund and set aside money each month for gifts of this nature. I’m not a big fan of this method simply because I lack the discipline to set aside that money each month and plan to spend it all by year’s end. Besides, I’d much rather give a big chunk of money to two or three groups as opposed to $5 to 20 or 30 different charities.

6. Bonus: Document. Charitable giving provides significant tax benefits and documenting your giving makes taking advantage of those benefits much easier.

Not only do charitable donations help worthy causes, they also keep the donor connected the community, create networking opportunities for like-minded donors, and provide a sense of self worth and impact for those who give. Getting started with charitable giving, however isn’t like taking off a bandage. It’s best done slowly, deliberately, and frequently.

Posted in Personal Development | 1 Comment »