Tuesday 25 January 2011

Australia Day 26th January, 2011

Australia Day celebrates the first settlement, in Australia in 1778, when on January 26, 11 ships arrived from Great Britain at Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), led by Captain Arthur Philip, who went onto established the Colony of New South Wales

Australia day was first celebrated in 1818 by the Governor of Australia.
It  is a day of celebrations by Australians of their country and culture, held on 26th January every year.

It is a public holiday in all states and territories.
The Australian of the Year Awards are presented to Australians who have made an outstanding contribution to their country or community.
Citizenship ceremonies are held on Australia Day to welcome immigrants  who have been granted Australian citizenship.

So, to all my Australian mates: “G’day” and “Onya mate”

Flag courteousy  whisty.wordpress.com

Sunday 23 January 2011

Aging ungracefully?

That's my plan. BUT I do believe that people who think that they were somewhat younger than they really were, have the tendency to remain so.

PS - I am only 23 really, but don't tell please
Amplify’d from www.immortalhumans.com
Read more at www.immortalhumans.com
Right State of Mind Can Help  One To Age GracefullyThe ageing process is something that everyone has to deal with at some point in time, however it is not always a pleasant phase for all. This is due to the fact that the ageing process is not viewed as the best phase of one’s life. Nevertheless, latest research has shown that ageing gracefully is merely a state of mind, not the result of chemicals or medications, as the majority of people believe. This recent piece of information has demonstrated that growing old is all a process and putting all our energy in fighting it back might not be more beneficial after all.
This is founded on studies that were carried out over the last decade whereby one hundred test subjects were observed for ten full years of their life. All throughout this period, the varied economical and social issues were considered in addition to the medical issues, comprising of medications consumed etc.
From the research, it was revealed that the persons who thought that they were somewhat younger than they really were, had the tendency to remain so and as they result they aged more gracefully compared to the others over the decade.
On the contrary, the persons who kept on fighting against their growing age with the help of cosmetics, medications and so on, aged in a much less graceful way. By making use of a particular scale, the researched were utilizing a set of numbers to decide how old a particular individual appear based on their real age.
Once the information was tabularized, it was concluded that those that the people who did not give much credibility to the thought of ageing and instead simply lived their lives seem much less aged than the other persons who thought otherwise.
Read more at www.immortalhumans.com
Read more at www.immortalhumans.com

Saturday 22 January 2011

Do You Know Better now

A quote from my friend Isabelle. I like it! It is so true.

image“Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better”
~ Isabelle Aubé

Thursday 20 January 2011

Language

“Language is currency.
Invest it wisely. Use it thoughtfully and above everything else, ENJOY it !”
~ AyPee

image teacherfiles.com

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Creation

I was in conversation with Jo recently and she sent me a copy of her poem.
She said
“It was really strange how the poem came to me.  It was about 15 years ago. I woke up at 4am scribbled it down and went back to sleep.  It won an international poetry competition. “

Jo Dean lives on the Isle of Man and wrote her first novel 'Forty Not Famous' when she moved back to the Island in 2002.
Whilst Jo stresses that all of her characters are fictional, she admits that many people she has known have provided inspiration for her work.
We all know a 'Charlie' or a 'Henrietta' and I am sure we have all met a 'Mr Wrong' or even a 'Mr Wrong Again.'

Jo with family friend Chris De Burgh

 

Creation

I am drawn from other people's images;
the fleeting touches
of those passing
through my existence,
leaving traces of their expressions
etched upon my face.

Some are butterfly wings
gently caressing my dreams,
others knife wounds
leaving scars of truth
which frequently weep
and cannot be grafted
by new experience.

I am painted and masked
with the foundation
of my dreams;
sprinkled with a collage
of dust streaked
with desire;
daubed from
a hardened palette.

The watercolours of my life
are washed over
in layers of moonshine,
starlight and cobalt blue;
until they seep into rainbows
and the canvas of tomorrow
is painted from a million todays.

by Jo Grey

http://www.jodean.com/index.html

Saturday 15 January 2011

Shocking!


The other day, my friend, who is a baker by trade, got a nasty shock:

he walked around the corner, trod on a bun and the currant went up his leg!

image logosoftwear.com

Search for the Next “Levi’s Girl” Kicks Off on Facebook


After a successful campaign last summer, Levi’s is once again turning to Facebook to find the next online face and voice of Levi’s womenswear, a.k.a “Levi’s Girl.” This time, the search has been extended to the UK as well as the U.S. Interested individuals are asked to submit a short video detailing why they should be chosen for the role, which involves engaging with Levi’s fan base on Facebook (Facebook) and Twitter (Twitter) on a day-to-day basis. To qualify, videos must be submitted via the retailer’s Facebook Page by February 2.

Thursday 13 January 2011

Is there a genius in all of us?

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Influence takes time | http://klout.com/blog

A blog post from klout.com
 
I was not aware of  sites like Klout, PeerIndex and Twitalyzer until I attended a presentation by Thomas Power of ecademy.com in December - these sites measure your influence on your social media networks.
 
I was then pleased to go to Klout.com and find my score in the high fifties.
Today it stands at 65 and has grown 2 points in the past 3 weeks.
Just being aware helps us understand things much better; so thank you Thomas!
 
This article is from Klout’s web site and it makes a very good point: Influence takes time
 
 

May 28th, 2010 by Joe Fernandez

Capture

One of the most common questions we get here at Klout (besides “can you raise my score?”) is “why isn’t my score updated every day/hour/minute?” Obviously we love that people care so much about their Klout scores. It’s exciting when you are retweeted by an influencer or gain a dozen new followers and it’s natural to want to see how those actions are reflected in your Klout score.

We approach our measurement of influence from a scientific background and rigorously test our scores to ensure that they are accurate predictions of actions like conversations, retweets and link clicks. This process takes time. We are not just adding your follower count and dividing it by the people you’re following. There is significant analytical processing behind every Klout Score. In fact, Klout measures how much you influence or are influenced by every single person in your social graph. We also semantically analyse all the messages and links you share to understand what you are influential about. As the standard for measuring influence, we believe every interaction and message needs to be analysed in depth to generate an accurate measurement.

Most people would agree that social media is rife with people trying to “game the system”. We value consistency over sudden spikes as a means to verify a person’s influence. The Klout Score isn’t meant to be updated on a hourly or daily basis and we believe that this is a good thing. Just like Google doesn’t change your page rank after a single blog post or you would never expect your credit score to change after paying a single bill, we do not believe a single retweet from an influencer should significantly impact your score. Every time we process your score we look back over the last 30 days to generate a holistic view of your activity and overall influence.

Our goal with the Klout Score is to provide end users, companies and everyone within the social web a robust and extremely reliable means of understanding the influence, authority and reputation of individuals. This means performing rigorous analysis that does take time, but also using time as a method to verify how influential a person really is (sustained action is more valuable than a brief spike). While this can be frustrating in the short-term our hope is that everyone will benefit from this approach through the more accurate Klout Scores that it produces.

Monday 10 January 2011

Green side up

An oldie but goodie from guy-sports.com

The building is all completed and awaiting hand over, before that can happen the Alex wants some poor and incomplete work finished as is normal at these times.

A meeting is arranged between Alex, the main contractor and a sub-contractor, site agent, planning supervisor and site safety manager. A tour is planned of the building to look at relevant defects starting on ground floor. Alex points out badly fitting window frames, the site agent makes some notes and the sub-contractor goes to the window and shouts,

'Green side up.'

They move to the first floor and Alex points out badly fitted and missing lights, the site agent makes some notes and the sub-contractor goes to the window and shouts,

'Green side up.'

On the 2nd floor more problems are highlighted, radiator leaking, exposed cables, waste and broken window frame, the site agent makes some notes and the sub-contractor goes to the window and shouts,

'Green side up.'

This is too much. The safety manager has to ask. So he says, 'Every time you are told a defect tell, you write it down, but then the subbie yells out the window

'Green side up.' What on earth does that mean?'

The sub-contractor shakes his head ruefully and says, 'I have four blokes laying turf around the building.'

Thanks to guy-sports.com and www.vcl.ie

Sunday 9 January 2011

Is Google Trying To Kill Your Hard Drive With The New Chrome OS? « TheBizcoachblog.com

An interesting article and perhaps an unjustified spin. We are already hearing that Tablet devices, such Apple’s iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab will replace the laptop as a preferred method of mobile computing and communication. Then logically why do you need to have a Hard Disc Drive with you when you can use someone else’s server
Is Google trying to kill off your hard drive? Google says you don’t need it anymore. The company is also betting you won’t need that Windows, Macintosh or Linux stuff either. Crazy I know but Google says it wants you to access, operate, and edit all your files on the Internet. Google has developed a lightweight operating system of its own, the first new competition for Windows and Macs in years. It’s called Chrome OS. And it could have a profound effect on the way we work with computers. You won’t be able to put it on your current PC. But Google wants it to power your NEXT computer. And because it’s based almost entirely on the Internet, Chrome is smart and superfast. No more “Where did I save that file?” No more computer slowdowns. No more crashes? “Today’s operating systems were designed in an era where there was no web,” Google spokesman Eitan Bencuya told FoxNews.com. “Google Chrome OS is designed for people who spend most of their time on the web. It’s our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.”
Read on at http://thebizcoachblog.com/1233/is-google-trying-to-kil...

6 Simple Ways to Eliminate Your Excuses - by Dumb Little Man

Thursday 6 January 2011

Driving Forward | Richard Bandler

“You don't drive forward by looking in the rear view mirror so why run your life that way"

~ Richard Bandler


clip_image002[4]
featured in ‘’The Wordsmythe's Quarterly Newsletter’ from Neuro Enhancement Strategies by Jeff Schoener
http://neuro-enhancement.com/

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Facebook used in hunt for Jo Yeates' killer

Amplify’d from www.bbc.co.uk

4 January 2011

Last updated at

16:29

 

Facebook used in hunt for Jo Yeates' killer

Detectives have begun a Facebook campaign in a bid to catch the killer of Jo Yeates.

Jo Yeates

Her body was found on Christmas Day, in Longwood Lane, Failand, eight days after she was reported missing from her home in Clifton, Bristol.

Police said Facebook was more effective than posters and leaflet drops as it has the potential to reach more people.

The body of Jo Yeates was found near Bristol on Christmas Day

Meanwhile, Miss Yeates' mother, Teresa, has spoken of how quiet life is without her daughter's "joy and vibrancy".

Detectives investigating the murder of the 25-year-old landscape architect have said there was no evidence she was sexually assaulted, but they have not ruled out a sexual motive.

Related stories

The force has appealed for sightings of a 4x4 seen near to where her body was found.

'63,000 views'

Her landlord, Chris Jefferies, 65, who was arrested on suspicion of her murder, is free on bail.

Facebook advert

The Facebook campaign involves an advert that will allow people to contact the incident room via the social networking site rather than calling in.

It appears randomly, as with all adverts on the site, but is set to target users across the UK.

People who click on the advert will be taken through to the force website where there is a contact form to provide the police with information.

The force has already received 260 messages through the website

Det Ch Insp Phil Jones, of Avon and Somerset Police, said he hoped it would encourage more people to come forward.

"The majority of people these days are spending time on Facebook and other social networking sites; this has become part of everyday routine for many people," he said.

"This advert allows us to point people to special features on our website with all the latest information, it allows them to contact the incident room direct online rather than calling in.

"I would once again urge anyone who may have not contacted my team and may have information that could help this enquiry to contact us. Let us decide if this information is significant."

He said police had successfully used Facebook in a number of high-profile cases because information could be shared more widely than by poster.

Scott Fulton, head of e-services at the force, said: "On this inquiry alone we have had shares of the story from the force's Facebook page of 24,220.

"Additionally there have been over 63,000 views of the news updates on our website, a further 18,000 on the dedicated Jo page and over 70,000 views of the CCTV clips on our YouTube channel.

'Dangerous chemicals'

"Through the website we have had 260 inbound messages to the incident room."

Speaking about life without her daughter, Mrs Yeates, who lives in Ampfield, Hampshire, said: "It is just so quiet here without her.

"She just had this joy and vibrancy, even though she didn't live here.

"I am sat in the kitchen just wanting her to come through the door."

Crime scene investigators are continuing to examine Miss Yeates' flat in Canynge Road.

There was a sign outside the building saying "Do not enter, dangerous chemicals".

A number of uniformed officers were also seen entering Mr Jefferies' flat.

Miss Yeates was last seen at about 2000 GMT on 17 December after she had been drinking with colleagues in the Bristol Ram pub in Park Street in the city.

She visited three shops on the way home and was filmed on CCTV.

She bought a pizza in one of the stores - the receipt was discovered in her flat but no evidence of the pizza or the packaging has been found.

Read more at www.bbc.co.uk

 

Monday 3 January 2011

33 Best Gandhi Wisdom Quotes by Pramit J Nathan

From 33 Best Quotes Gandhi Wisdom by Pramit J Nathan on 2 October 2009 in Wisdom
Pramit J NathanPramit J. Nathan Marketing, Branding, Social Media and more…. Marketing consultant, author, trainer and a b-school visting faculty.
 
Based out of New Delhi, India. Heads Idea to Impact branding consultancy, offering end-to-end branding solutions Partnered with a full-service advertising agency called Creative Inc. A b-school faculty for the past 11 years - Courses e-business/e-commerce and web technologies & trends. Public Relations (and Perception Management) and Branding. Trained across behavioral and functional competencies and extensively across the Banking & Financial Services Industry. Offers training in Selling, Relationship Management, Interviewing, Positive Thinking and Stress Management.
 

1. Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.
2. Glory lies in the attempt to reach one’s goal and not in reaching it.
3. Hate the sin, love the sinner.
4. No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.
5. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
6. A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
7. An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.
8. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
9. In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place.
10. Poverty is the worst form of violence.
11. You must be the change you want to see in the world.
12. Providence has its appointed hour for everything. We cannot command results, we can only strive.
13. The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
14. A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.
15. An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.
16. God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.
17. I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.
18. In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. 19. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
20. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
21. They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.
22. A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve them is no religion.
23. Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.
24. It is my own firm belief that the strength of the soul grows in proportion as you subdue the flesh.
25. Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.
26. Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.
27. Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
28. It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
29. First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.
30. I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.
31. One’s own religion is after all a matter between oneself and one’s Maker and no one else’s.
32. The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
33. A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

15 of the Most Bizarre Job Interview Questions

Amplify’d from www.newser.com

15 of the Most Bizarre Job Interview Questions

Google wants to know how many basketballs you can fit in the room

By John Johnson,

Newser Staff

Posted Dec 30, 2010 7:01 PM CST

|

Updated Jan 2, 2011 5:50 PM CST



(Newser)



The Huffington Post rounds up some out-there job interview questions from the likes of Google and Goldman Sachs, via Glassdoor.com. Get your thinking caps on:

  • Goldman Sachs, analyst: “If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?”
  • Volkswagen, business analyst: “What would you do if you just inherited a pizzeria from your uncle?"
  • Google, people analyst: “How many basketball[s] can you fit in this room[?]”
  • Bloomberg financial, software developer: “Out of 25 horses, pick the fastest three horses. In each race, only five horses can run at the same time. What is the minimum number of races required?”
  • Facebook, software engineer: “Given the numbers one to 1000, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint 'higher' or 'lower' for each guess you make?”

Click here for the full list.

Read more at www.newser.com

Sunday 2 January 2011

7 Billion, National Geographic Magazine

This year the 7 billionth human is due to be born, according to the UN.
By 2045 global population is projected to reach nine billion.
Can the planet take the strain? asks National Geographic Magazine

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/seven-billion/kunzig-text