zzelp1

oldtime country string band

2011-10-11T22:44:00.001-07:00

Love him or hate him you can't ignore him. Rest in Peace Steve Jobs.

2011-10-06T01:55:00.001-07:00

I can remember the first time I fell in love with the Apple brand. I
was working on a project which was producing a report to be published
on the desktop. They bought the very little known (even now) Apple
LISA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lisa

I was blown away by how I could simply drag and drop a spreadsheet
into a document. With my IBM PC this would be an hour’s work and I
might or might not be successful at the end of it. The machine was
totally integrated and I would later come across the same concept in
the iPhone. Of course they were very expensive, when was a Rolls
Royce ever cheap? But as the company has been more and more
successful, the prices have come down and now more and more millions
of people are benefiting from his basic concepts that the products
should be simple, integrated, functional and beautiful.

Us « AppleFans » hope and prey Apple will not again fall into the
abyss as it did when he was kicked out of his own company in 1985
until he returned to rescue it in 1996.

Steve Jobs was (and even in his death continues to be) the sort of
person who arouses emotion. I have admiration for Steve Jobs, but
many have envy, jealousy and even hatred. Love him or hate him you
can't ignore him. Rest in Peace Steve Jobs.

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Love him or hate him you can't ignore him. Rest in Peace Steve Jobs.

2011-10-06T01:47:00.001-07:00

I can remember the first time I fell in love with the Apple brand. I was working on a project which was producing a report to be published on the desktop. They bought the very little known (even now) Apple LISA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lisa

I was blown away by how I could simply drag and drop a spreadsheet into a document. With my IBM PC this would be an hour’s work and I might or might not be successful at the end of it. The machine was totally integrated and I would later come across the same concept in the iPhone. Of course they were very expensive, when was a Rolls Royce ever cheap? But as the company has been more and more successful, the prices have come down and now more and more millions of people are benefiting from his basic concepts that the products should be simple, integrated, functional and beautiful.

Us « AppleFans » hope and prey Apple will not again fall into the abyss as it did when he was kicked out of his own company in 1985 until he returned to rescue it in 1996.

Steve Jobs was (and even in his death continues to be) the sort of person who arouses emotion. I have admiration for Steve Jobs, but many have envy, jealousy and even hatred. Love him or hate him you can't ignore him. Rest in Peace Steve Jobs.

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Euro - look back to... 13th February 2010

2011-10-06T01:42:00.001-07:00

via dailymail.co.uk

Simply put, dénouement is the unraveling or untying of the complexities of a plot.

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MovNat®: Explore Your True Nature™

2011-01-24T23:56:00.001-08:00

via movnat.com

Love to Move Naturally

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The Top 10 Health & Fitness Trends of 2010 | The Outside Blog

2011-01-24T23:55:00.001-08:00

« 5 Gifts for the Adventure Junkie with Everything | Main | Ry Cuming's Top 3 Surf Spots »

December 21, 2010

The Top 10 Health & Fitness Trends of 2010

By Guest Blogger
Dec 21, 2010

Comments (14)

Photo courtesy of XWRN on Flickr.

People in 1910 would’ve died of embarrassment if they saw some of 2010’s fitness trends. (Try handing a Shake Weight to a centenarian.) Other trends would've made a caveman proud. Presenting the top 10 fitness trends of the year, from the Paleolithic to the futuristic
10. iFitness
A quick search in the Apple store for “work out” returns 157 apps, many of them designed to dictate your workout, keep track of calories burned, and keep you motivated. This is the year of the smartphone as gym buddy. But, as Outside’s Lab Rat asks in a new article, is that really a good thing?
9. Vitamin D
You need extra for bone health! No you don’t! The great vitamin D debate raged this year, with people like Dr. Robert Heaney, a researcher at Nebraska's Creighton University, making lofty claims like: “We won't know the true burden of chronic disease until we eradicate vitamin D deficiency." But a study released in late November proved otherwise. “For most people, taking extra calcium and vitamin D supplements is not indicated,” Dr. Clifford J. Rosen an osteoporosis expert at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, told the New York Times. The debate rages on.

8. Boot Camp
Blame the Biggest Loser, military mystique, and budget consciousness for the steady rise in Boot Camp popularity. At the end of 2009, the American College of Sports Medicine predicted Boot Camp, a group fitness regimen based on military workouts and led by drill-sergeant-like instructors, would be the 16th most popular trend in 2010. Now they predict Boot Camp will be one of the top 10 fitness trends in 2011.

7. The Shake Weight
Perhaps you, like many other Americans, first saw the shake weight while watching television with your extended family, when a harmless show like “Cake Boss” was interrupted by women holding a device that looked like, well, um, er, you couldn’t say—not in front of your conservative in-laws. Thankfully you weren’t the only one whose mind was in the gutter; SNL parodied the arm-toning device in April. But the Shake Weight creators are getting the last laugh: The Shake Weight For Men ad on YouTube has registered almost two million views, and the weight itself raked in $40 million by April, 2010.

6. The Gluten-Free Diet
It seems a lot of people with no prior history of gluten intolerance suddenly came down with celiac disease in 2010. (In all fairness, better screening properly diagnosed thousands of people who didn’t know they had it.) Brought on by a gluten protein found in wheat, the autoimmune disease can wreak havoc on the small intestine, causing diarrhea and fatigue. The answer? Avoid all foods containing gluten. The fad? Less than one percent of Americans have the disease, but sales of gluten-free foods have skyrocketed, leading one gluten-free specialty brand to sell for $22 million in December.
5. Tone-Up Shoes and Clothes
If you don’t have the derriere of your dreams, Reebok, Sketchers, and MBT promise you will—if you just wear their shoes. No squats required. The theory is the shoes have unstable soles, so you have to work harder to stay upright and not fall over, engaging your muscles and toning your legs and bum. However a study funded by the American Council on Exercise found that none of the shoes provide any statistically significant boost in muscle exertion or caloric burn. But that hasn’t stopped companies from taking the tone-while-you-do-almost-nothing fad to the next level: clothes that make your muscles work harder, according to manufacturers, debuted in 2010.
4. & 3. P90X and TRX
Body-weight resistance workouts you can do anywhere were huge in 2010, with P90X and TRX leading the craze. P90X is a 90-day, DVD-based workout program that touts “muscle confusion”—constantly challenging the muscles to do different movements—as the way to a better body. TRX is a simple band that you can hang from almost anywhere to intensify a weight workout. For the ultimate muscle burn, savvy exercisers have combined the two, performing many of the P90X moves on a TRX system. Editor Ryan Krogh, in an effort to get buff for the ladies, gave the P90X system a try. What did he think? Read all about it here.

2. Barefoot Running
Believers in barefoot running claim the practice encourages a more natural gait, and reduces injury by building up the muscles in the foot. The craze picked up speed with the 2009 release of Born to Run. For people who want to experience running the way our ancestors did without getting dirty (or dirty looks), Vibram introduced their FiveFinger shoes, a thin sole meant to mimic barefoot running. Toes around the world have never looked better.

1. Paleo Fitness
Similar to barefoot running and the comeback of bodyweight exercises, fitness regimens that imitate what our ancestors were doing when they developed the first stone tools were hot in 2010. Frenchman Erwan LeCorre led the trend with his “MovNat” or move naturally-branded routines. Climbing trees, running barefoot, picking up logs, throwing rocks—it’s all a part of paleo fitness. And if you feel you’ve lost your natural instincts to do such activities or feel stupid doing them alone, you can pay to have someone tell you and a large group of people what to do. Your Paleolithic ancestors would be proud of your effort. Maybe.
--Erin Beresini

http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2010/12/the-top-10-health-fitness-trends-of...">Email this post | Permalink

via outside-blog.away.com

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YouTube - Stress Response: Savior to Killer

2011-01-24T23:54:00.001-08:00

via youtube.com

Stress! who needs it?

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Measuring Type : Matt Robinson

2011-01-13T09:08:00.001-08:00

Measuring Type

A selection of the most commonly used typefaces were compared for how economical they are with the amount of ink which they use at the same point size. Large scale renditions of the typefaces were drawn out with ballpoint pens, allowing the remaining ink levels to display the ink efficiency of each typeface.

Collaboration with Tom Wrigglesworth.

Prev | Next

© Matt Robinson 2009

© Matt Robinson 2009

© Matt Robinson 2009

© Matt Robinson 2009

© Matt Robinson 2009

via matthewrobinson.co.uk

Save ink - use Garamond!!

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Mocked Meteorologist Gets Last Laugh

2011-01-02T03:04:00.001-08:00

via youtube.com

WHERE DO YOUR TAXES GO?
Remember it is YOUR taxes which pay THE METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE and for "action" against "Global Warming" by your government. "Global Warming Theory" is, at best, misguided. At worst it is an excuse to charge you more for 'carbon tax" etc to pay for Bankers Bonuses.

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Brazil needs help re the forgotten ecosystem of Brazil

2010-08-24T03:55:00.001-07:00

listen to this

re the forgotten ecosystem of Brazil:-

send it on to save the planet

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Sylvia's Super Awesome Mini Maker Show: Rockets

2010-07-31T20:22:00.001-07:00

via youtube.com

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How-To: Duplicate vinyl records by casting

2010-07-31T18:14:00.001-07:00

via blog.makezine.com

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hornswoggled - definition of hornswoggled

2010-07-31T18:11:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at thefreedictionary.com

I BET YOU WERE WONDERING IF YOU READ THE ARTICLE BELOW

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Anchoring Effect « You Are Not So Smart

2010-07-31T18:10:00.001-07:00

The Misconception: You rationally analyze all factors before making a choice or determining value.

The Truth: Your first perception lingers in your mind, affecting later perceptions and decisions.

You walk into a clothing store and see what is probably the most bad ass leather jacket you’ve ever seen.

You try it on, look in the mirror and decide you must have it. While wearing this item, you imagine onlookers will clutch their chests and gasp every time you walk into a room or cross a street. You lift the sleeve to check the price – $1,000.

Well, that’s that, you think. You start to head back to the hanger when a salesperson stops you.

“You like it?”

“I love it, but it’s just too much.”

“No, that jacket is on sale right now for $400.”

It’s expensive, and you don’t need it really, but $600 off the price seems like a great deal for a coat which will increase your cool by a factor of 11.

You put it on the card, unaware you’ve been tricked by the oldest retail con in the business.

One of my first jobs was selling leather coats, and I depended on the anchoring effect to earn commission. Each time, I figured it was obvious to customers the company I worked for marked up the prices to unrealistic extremes. Yet, over and over, when people heard the sale price, they smiled and wrestled with their better judgment.

The prices you expect to pay, where did those expectations originate?

To figure out how those channels were dug, those paths were beaten, answer this:

Source: WorldTravels.com

Is the population of Venezuela greater or fewer than 65 million?

Go ahead and guess.

Ok, another question, how many people do you think live Venezuela?

Come up with a figure and keep it in your head. We’ll come back to this in a few paragraphs.

In 1974, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman conducted a study asking a similar question.

They asked people to estimate how many African countries were part of the United Nations, but first they spun a wheel of fortune.

The wheel was painted with numbers from 0 to 100, but rigged to always land on 10 or 65. When the arrow stopped spinning, they asked the person in the experiment to say if they believed the percentage of countries was higher or lower than the number on the wheel.

They then asked people to estimate what they thought the actual percentage of nations was.

They found people who landed on 10 in the first half of the experiment guessed around 25 percent of Africa was part of the U.N. Those who landed on 65 said around 45 percent.

They had been locked in place by the anchoring effect.

The trick here is no one really knew what the answer was. They had to guess, yet it didn’t feel like a guess. As far as they knew, the wheel was a random number generator, but it produced something concrete to work from.

When they adjusted their estimates, they couldn’t avoid the anchor.

The populations of South American countries probably aren’t numbers you have memorized. You need some sort of cue, a point of reference.

You searched your mental assets for something of value concerning Venezuela – the flag, the language, Hugo Chavez – but the population figures aren’t in your head.

What is in your head is the figure I gave you, 65 million, and it’s right there up front influencing how you answer the second question. When you have nothing else to go on, you fixate on the information at hand.

The population of Venezuela is 28 million people. How far away was your answer?

If you are like most people you assumed something much higher.

The numbers generated by the wheel of fortune, the number I gave you and the $1,000 price tag are all anchors, unwanted guests in the mind which change the mood of the party.

Anchors can make big numbers seem small, throw estimates out of whack and lead you into decisions which, in the long view, seem silly.

In many situations, people make estimates by starting from an initial value that is adjusted to yield the final answer. The initial value, or starting point, may be suggested by the formulation of the problem, or it may be the result of partial computation. In either case, adjustments are typically insufficient…that is, different starting points yield different estimates, which are biased toward the initial values.

- “Judgment Under Uncertainty” by Kahneman, Slovic and Tversky

You depend on anchoring every day to predict the outcome of events, to estimate how much time something will take or how much money something will cost.

When you need to choose between options, or estimate a value, you need footing to stand on.

How much should you be paying for cable? How much should your electricity bill be each month? What is a good price for rent in this neighborhood?

You need an anchor from which to compare, and when someone is trying to sell you something they are more than happy to provide one. The problem is, even when you know this, you can’t ignore it.

When shopping for a car, you know it isn’t a completely honest transaction. The real price is probably lower than what they are asking for on the window sticker, yet the anchor price is still going to affect your decision.

As you look over the vehicle, you don’t consider how many factories the company owns, how many employees they pay. You don’t pore over engineering diagrams or profit reports. You don’t consider the price of iron or the expensive investments the manufacturer is making into safety testing.

The price you are willing to pay has little to do with these considerations because they are as far from you at the point of purchase as the population of Venezuela.

Even if you’ve done some research online, you don’t know for sure exactly what the car is worth, or what the dealer paid for it. The focus instead is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, and no matter how unrealistic it is, you can’t help but be tethered to it.

When you haggle over the price, you are pulling away from the anchor, and both you and the dealer know this.

The anchoring effect can also slip in unannounced.

Drazen Prelec and Dan Ariely conducted an experiment at MIT in 2006 where they had students bid on items in a bizarre auction.

The researchers would hold up a bottle of wine, or a textbook, or a cordless trackball and then describe in detail how awesome it was.

Then, each student had to write down the last two digits of their social security number as if it was the price of the item. If the last two digits were 11, then the bottle of wine was priced at $11. If the two numbers were 88, the cordless trackball was $88.

After they wrote down the pretend price, they bid.

Sure enough, the anchoring effect scrambled their ability to judge the value of the items.

People with high social security numbers paid up to 346 percent more than those with low numbers.

People with numbers from 80 to 99 paid on average $26 for the trackball, while those with 00 to 19 paid around $9.

Social security numbers were the anchor in this experiment only because we requested them. We could have just as well asked for the current temperature or the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Any question, in fact, would have created the anchor. Does that seem rational? Of course not.

- Dan Ariely from his book, “Predictably Irrational”

The auction experimenters conducted another study in which they asked people to listen to annoying sounds for money. The researchers initially offered either 90 cents or 10 cents for a blast of awful electronic screaming, and then they asked the subjects how much would be the lowest possible price they would need to be paid to listen to the sound again.

People who were offered 10 cents said it would take about 33 cents to continue. People offered 90 said it would take 73.

They repeated the experiment in other ways, but no matter how they messed with the sounds or the payouts, those who were first offered a low payment consistently agreed to lower amounts than those used to better wages. People who got more money at first were unwilling to accept lower payments later.

If you move up to a nice car or a big house, a nice computer or an expensive smartphone, you become anchored and find it difficult to back move down later, even if you should.

Those who buy expensive purses know they are being hornswoggled, at least at some level, yet the anchoring effect still reaches into their bank account.

Source: sybarites.com

Does a $800 Louis Vuitton purse function better than a $25 handbag from Wal-Mart? No, not even if it was hand made from giraffe leather and stitched by real, magical leprechauns. It’s just a purse.

But the anchor is set. Louis Vuitton bags are expensive, and that in itself has social value. People still buy them and are happy with their purchase.

If Wal-Mart offered a purse at $800 it would live out its life on the shelf. The price would be so far from the anchors already set by the store it would seem like a bad deal.

Like most psychological phenomenon, anchoring can be used to manipulate people to do good. The best example is the door-in-the-face technique.

In a 1975 study by Catalan, Lewis, Vincent and Wheeler, researchers asked a group of students to volunteer as camp counselors two hours per week for two years.

They all said no.

The researchers followed up by asking if they would volunteer to supervise a single two-hour trip.

Half said yes.

Without first asking for the two-year commitment, only 17 percent agreed.

Remember this study if you are ever in a negotiation - make your initial request far too high.

You have to start somewhere, and your initial decision or calculation greatly influences all the choices which follow, cascading out, each tethered to the anchors set before.

Many of the choices you make every day are reruns of past decisions, like channels dug into a dirt road by a wagon train of selections, you follow the path created by your former self.

External anchors, like prices before a sale or ridiculous requests, are obvious enough you can sidestep the actual price, the real appeal. Internal, self-generated anchors, are not so easy to bypass.

You visit the same circuit of websites everyday, eat basically the same few breakfasts.

When it comes time to buy new cat food or take your car in for repairs, you have old favorites.

Come election time, you pretty much already know who will and will not get your vote.

These choices, so predictable, ask yourself what drives them. Are old anchors controlling your current decisions?

When you are parting with your money, know the person on the other side of the deal thinks you are not so smart and is depending on the anchoring effect when they tell you how much you are about to save.

Links:

The African nation study

African nations in the U.N.

Door in Face Study

Social Security numbers study

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Breaking the Code
Perceptions Vs. Reality
Homosexual exhibitionism will create a vicious backlash

via youarenotsosmart.com

THINK ABOUT THIS EVERYTIME BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING

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Whats the newest-new-thing?

2010-06-11T22:21:00.001-07:00

Whats the newest-new-thing?

maybe updating old industry with new industry to create a sustainable planet.

listen to the interview of Kevin Surace with Peter Day; or go straight to the article about replacing the windows on The Empire State Building.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sf8r9

http://www.seriouswindows.com/empire-state-building/home.html

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Untitled

2010-05-08T03:26:00.001-07:00

201005080955 Hung Parliament
The last Hung Parliament was 1974. George Brown states that this is the first Hung Parlai ment this generation has known. What does he mean by that? He was born the same year as me and must surely remember 1974 - or was he asleep? To give him the benifit of the doubt, perhaps he meant the people below him who are presumably younger, but lets say you were born 1964, 10yrs old in 1974, now 46, you could remember if you were a bit precouscious. Let us say it is new for all the under 40’s; so that is the definition of ‘’this generation’’. Well is seems both Gordon Brown and myself are ‘’has beens’’, oh well, off to my chair in front of the TV with my pipe and slippers!

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A DAY IN CWMBRAN MAGISTRATES COURT FOR COUNCIL TAX

2010-02-17T02:13:00.001-08:00

via tpuc.org

HOW THE AUTHORITIES FLAP WHEN THIER AUTHORITY IS CHALLENGED

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EURO DOOM

2010-02-15T16:28:00.001-08:00

The European single currency is facing an 'inevitable break-up' a leading French bank claimed yesterday. - http://bit.ly/daily_mail_on_euro

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Facebook | Nick Dean: FREE ROBERT GREEN AND ARREST PAEDOPHILE BRITISH POLITICIANS !

2010-02-15T15:52:00.001-08:00

Check out this website I found at facebook.com

this ring of paedophiles can be traced back to those dreadful shootings of school children at Dunblane in Scotland almost 30 years ago

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BBC E-mail: Can people unlearn their naked shame?

2009-03-02T08:48:00.001-08:00

Eric Brighton saw this story on the BBC News website and thought you
should see it.

** Can people unlearn their naked shame? **
Once we were all happy to walk around naked, now we're not. But can an experiment in nudity help us understand why we are so embarrassed by being seen in the buff and help shed our inhibitions?

< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/magazine/7915369.stm >

** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all
in one daily e-mail
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/email >

** Disclaimer **
The BBC is not responsible for the content of this e-mail, and anything written in this e-mail does not necessarily reflect the BBC's views or opinions. Please note that neither the e-mail address nor name of the sender have been verified.

If you do not wish to receive such e-mails in the future or want to know more about the BBC's Email a Friend service, please read our frequently asked questions. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/4162471.stm

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Touch Typing III. Blog 200902111151

2009-02-15T08:05:00.001-08:00

Blog 200902111151

Touch Typing III. Blog 200902111151

Wednesday 11^th February 2009, Grenoble, France.

Touch Typing III

just sat down in a café you, reader, cannot see the speed of my typing – luckily. But at last I had the time to continue with my learning touch typing.

Of course nothing is ever that simple. The waiter sees me sitting down and hurries over. "those tables are for lunch only". I consider the situation. I have chosen this table on a score of interesting. It scores high on the interesting score because it has a view of the entrance door and is on a slight podium. "OK I'll take lunch"... ... "This table is reserved; you will have to sit here." He said, gesturing to the next table.

So here I am. I suppose that I could move to another table, but why? It is unlikely that another table will have the same 'interesting' score and this table is only slightly removed from the ideal. Perhaps I'll meet the person for whom that table is reserved.

This is our first day in Grenoble this year and Daisy is in bed while I go out to move the car. Then I had a wander to get a book and ended up in Place Grenette. Found this place by chance because it looked the most normal (whatever that might be). Now I will have tartiflette and une verre de vin rouge.

Eric

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2009-01-29T01:16:00.001-08:00

Blog 200901290651

Touch Typing II. Blog 200901290651

Thursday 29th January 2009, Brighton, England.

Touch Typing II

;a

you, reader, cannot see the speed of my typing luckily. Although I could
do a macro, but you wouldn't want to watch it. Apart from the slowness,
there are the interminable mistakes, followed by backspacing and correction.
I so want to be able to type fluently, but it comes so slowly.

Anyway this preamble is meant to explain that I am learning to touch type.
I have determined that I will only write my blog using touch typing. This is
one of the reasons why there has been a long gap between postings. The other
was being laid low by food poisoning from ice cream.

qwertyuiop

qwertyuiop]]

asdfghjiiop

asdfghjkl;

asdfghjkl;

zxcvbnm,./

zxcvbnm,./

qwertyuuuuuuuuuuuuiop

asdfghjkl;;lkjhgfdsapoiuytrewq

qwertyuuiop

let uw

let us see how much time it will take to type anything#;?

Of course it will be difficult at first. There will be pain.... ...

Eric

Touch typing II Blog 200901290651

2009-01-29T00:55:00.001-08:00

Blog 200901290651

Touch typing II Blog 200901290651

Thursday 29^th January 2009, Brighton, England.

Touch typing II

you, reader, cannot see the speed of my typing – luckily. Although I could do a macro, but you wouldn't want to watch it. Apart from the slowness, there are the interminable mistakes, followed by backspacing and correction. I so want to be able to type fluently, but it comes so slowly.

Anyway this preamble is meant to explain that I am learning to touch type. I have determined that I will only write my blog using touch typing. This is one of the reasons why there has been a long gap between postings. The other was being laid low by food poisoning from ice cream.

qwertyuiop

qwertyuiop]]

asdfghjiiop

asdfghjkl;

zxcvbnm,./

qwertyuuuuuuuuuuuuiop

asdfghjkl;;lkjhgfdsapoiuytrewq

qwertyuuiop

let uw

let us see how much time it will take to type anything#;?

Of course it will be difficult at first. There will be pain.... … ...

Eric

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Digg Story: 6 reason why women love orgasms

2009-01-20T10:09:00.001-08:00

Thought you might want to check this out.

digg user zzelp would like to share this story with you:
http://digg.com/health/6_reason_why_women_love_orgasms?OTC-em-st1
---
"6 reason why women love orgasms"
The ladies over at BitchBuzz have compiled a lovely list of why we love the big O. Besides the obvious (they are awesome) they actually have some added health benefits! They help with cramps, give you some moments of utter relaxation, you can go at it alone or with friend(s)... the list goes on. What would you add?
+2 people dugg this story

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Touch typing. Blog 200901180753

2009-01-18T02:11:00.001-08:00

Blog 200901180753

Touch typing. Blog 200901180753

Sunday 18^th January 2009, Brighton, England.

Touch typing

If you are a touch typist, you may have forgotten how liberating learning that was for you. If you have never considered learning to touch type you may wonder what the fuss is all about. You may say, I can type pretty fast one [or two or more] fingers. I have wanted to learn to touch typing since seeing my mother learning. However I have always put it off because of reason three above. Now I have actually made a start, I can highly recommend it.

I wanted to learn to touch type. But it is such a laborious process that I have put it off. Then I got the tip, off the internet, to use blue tac on the keys; this makes the impossible, possible. So this blog has been totally produced by touch typing.

The main thing it is giving me is immediate feedback. I don't look up to see that I have typed a whole row of capital letters which have to be retyped.

All this liberation, if rewarding, is very tiring so I'm going off for breakfast.

Have a good day … … ...

Eric

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Wet loft problems continue. Blog 200901162113

2009-01-16T13:16:00.001-08:00

Blog 200901162113

Wet loft problems continue. ^ Blog 200901162113

Friday 16^th January 2009, Brighton, England.

Wet loft problems continue (see previous post)

Perhaps you have been wondering where I went. Well, I have been humping stuff out of the wet loft and putting it in storage. This has been a wet, cold and smelly task.

Landlords action? NIL. - well no surprise there then!

As a result of all this activity I have been knackered and so no log. But as I have now saved the most important items out of the loft I am gong to bed. Sorry there is no more at present, I will do a post tomorrow.

Good Night and Happy Tomorrow everybody.

Eric.

Posted via email from zzelp's posterous

2009-01-13T18:55:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/p/kMCWt - This is just testing a posting site called ping.fm
try it!!
eric

2009-01-13T18:09:00.001-08:00

ping test 3 http://ping.fm/lIi4f

Interesting Facts. Blog 200901131943

2009-01-13T11:44:00.001-08:00

Blog 200901131943

Interesting facts. Blog 200901131943

Tuesday 13^th January 2009, Brighton, England.

Pawn shops thrive as credit tightens

There's been an increase in the number of people going to the pawnbrokers and Darrell Robson who owns a pawn shop in Stafford reckons it's because of the downturn in the economy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2008/07/12/pawn_shop_credit_crunch_feature.shtml

There is an old saying, I have heard it like this:-

"Its an ill wind that blows nobody any good"

This represents the idea that somebody always prospers from every situation - even war. It turns out that the origins of this saying go back to 1546 and were coined by a man called John Heywood.

Dramatist and epigrammatist; born probably c. 1497; died about 1580. A member of the court of King Henry the Eighth. His wit and his musical gifts seem to have led to his promotion and general prosperity. He was receiving an annuity of ten marks as king's servant in 1521.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07319a.htm

His actual words seem to have been:-

"Its an ill wind that bloweth no man to good." (1546)

in referring to sailing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Heywood

So that's not bad really, certainly the same sense and almost the same words after 453 years. Well done world people for transmitting those words through the oral tradition for 453 years.

By the way, do you prefer hyperlinks to be in full as above, or as links with in the text (like this) or as shortened URL's like this: http://bit.ly/F8jM

Please leave answer on comments.

Til next time,

Good Night and Happy Tomorrow everybody.

Eric.

Posted via email from zzelp's posterous

Neighbours. Blog 200901122121

2009-01-12T14:22:00.003-08:00

Blog 200901122121

Neighbours. Blog 200901122121

Monday 12^th January 2009, Brighton, England.

Opposite where my office is, there are a row of maisonettes. The people there often don't draw their curtains or close there blinds – I guess people in offices don't have eyes! But where my desk lies I look out of the window directly into these. I have to say actually seeing someone else's life is more interesting than only hearing about on twitter. In a way its like celebrity squares but instead of seeing various people face on behind a desk, I see their whole room. It reminds me of this when I see a house after an explosion or hurricane with the walls of the rooms gone.

And it is amazing, I get to see a section of all their lives. For example, there is James and Julie (I've given them all imaginary names, I don't really know them at all). They are the most visible of my neighbours. Mostly because they leave their curtains open all the time – or perhaps they haven't got curtains. Anyway, James must be retired because he is in all times of the day. Julie comes and goes. I guess they are naturalists because most of the time they don't have clothes on. Anyway they must have been away over Christmas as there were no lights on. They came back after New Year with loads of bags and since then James has been on his computer nearly every day, all day. Yesterday I think he had a dispute with Julia because I could see them facing each other, waggling fingers and, although I can hear nothing, they looked like they were yelling at each other. I'd love to know what they're saying.

We went to Churchill Square Shopping Centre again, apparently we didn't get enough clothes last time. I had more coffee, at Coffee Republic this time. This just wastes time I could be on the internet. As a result this blog is late again.

Til next time,

Good Night and Happy Tomorrow everybody.

Eric.

Posted via email from zzelp's posterous

Neighbours. Blog 200901122121

2009-01-12T14:22:00.001-08:00

Blog 200901122121

Neighbours. Blog 200901122121

Monday 12^th January 2009, Brighton, England.

Til next time,

Good Night and Happy Tomorrow everybody.

Eric.

Posted via email from Eric Brighton

Dishwasher Blog Part 2. Blog 200901112130

2009-01-11T13:06:00.001-08:00

Blog 200901112130

Dishwasher Blog Part 2. Blog 200901112130

Sunday 11^th January 2009, Brighton, England.

Last time I said <Rosie had a new kitchen put in by the housing association in the summer and because she knew we were getting rid of our dishwasher, got the fitters to leave her a space for it. When we get there I have to fit it, that'll be great fun!!>

Yes, when we got there there was a space, but no hole cut for the tubes and no water tap set up. Oh dear, Rosie should have checked when the plumber was there. She didn't. She was upset today when she found out and had a tantrum, shouting at the boys and generally performing.

Its good from my point of view as I didn't have to fit it.@£$!

On the way there and with a heavy dishwasher in the back, I decided to take it easy.

I decided to be an ideal citizen and obey all the road laws. No speeding, no hogging the fast lane, no sudden acceleration or braking. Quite an interesting experience – not many people doing the same. It was low stress and according to the car computer, more fuel efficient. Perhaps I'll do it more often!!

By the way, if you were wondering, - and even if you weren't - yesterday was so cold I didn't go out. I spent a lot of time trying to sort out the posterous forwards and tidy up various blogs. To my amazement I found a comment on one! Whoooh!

Good Night and Happy Tomorrow everybody.

Eric.

Posted via email from zzelp's posterous

D is Dishwasher. Blog 200901092015

2009-01-11T11:44:00.001-08:00

Blog 200901092015

D is Dishwasher. Blog 200901092015

Friday 9^th January 2009, Brighton, England.

Busy. Busy. Busy.

Today we went to our storage to find our dishwasher to give to Daisy's daughter, Rosie. Fortunately there was a helpful giant of a guy who helped us to move some heavy boxes of books to get to it. So it is in the back of the car until Sunday when we go up to London to delivery it.

Rosie had a new kitchen put in by the housing association in the summer and because she knew we were getting rid of our dishwasher, got the fitters to leave her a space for it. When we get there I have to fit it, that'll be great fun!!

Before that, we went to yoga. We simply have to move more – too much couch potato behaviour recently. Its actually called fusion yoga, mixed with pilates. We do pilates on Tuesday as well. Usually we have a sauna afterwards – that's the bit I like most! Then a swim and go. Today, after that, we had a healthy salad lunch and I went to my physical therapist. He then spent twenty minutes putting my back back, after lifting the dishwasher.

Yesterday, Thursday, we went to the Churchill shopping centre for an overcoat for Daisy. This was after I went to the docs. We found an overcoat in the sales, not many left – so much for the recession! I spent a lot of time in Starbucks while Daisy was looking round until I was called for the joint final decision. Long enough to read the Grauniad, and polish off two hazelnut lattes. I hate clothes shopping but have to be the taxi and help with the short-list. We had a half healthy lunch of pizza and salad.

In the evening I started reading Moab is My Washpot by Stephen Fry. - Sorry Stephen, I didn't pay full price, I got it for £3 in HMV. It is very well written however, I'm enjoying reading it. So now I'll go and finish off a bit more... … …

Good Night and Happy Tomorrow everybody.

Eric.

Posted via email from zzelp's posterous

D is for Damp Loft. Blog 200901072255

2009-01-11T11:43:00.003-08:00

Blog 200901072255

D is for Damp Loft. Blog 200901072255

Wednesday 7^th January 2009, Brighton, England.

This blog is turning out to be resistant to being written. I guess I might find out why, one day. I am trying to learn to touch type with blutac on the keys to teach the fingers which keys to hit. Its not easy but I feel that if there is to be any future in this blogging thing I wll have to learn. Perhaps I should leave the mistakes?

Lets notl gr=et to deep into that. This is the snow at greenport.

Yesterday we went to the gym I hate to think how long it has been.

Pilates is a realatively stress free exercice, but somhow managed to grt stressed.

Mind you perhaps I wasn't well. Any away I went to bed early [that is, in the afternoon]. Today I moved some boxes for Daisy then went to my physical therapist. I have back, shoulder, hip, knee and elbow problems. Really his job is cut out to do anything for me. But, ignoring the enormity of the task, he gainly battles on, against all odds. Today he was trying to resolve why I have gastric reflux at night. After much prodding, poking, massaging, needing, and pulling and pushing, he determined it was the bottom valve of the stomach which was at fault. At least due in part to my having had my spleen out. And also my gall bladder – so I have problems with fats. Any way to cut a long story short, I need to do a clense. 24 hrs of grapes, 24 hours of grapes and other soft fruit, thenSoups, and gradually onto solids again!!! … … … and no more pizzas like today.

I showed it to Daisy, she said there was no food in it, and to tell him next time I see him. [She sees him too, so it was a tease.] So then I watched TV and, as usual, left the blog until the last moment. So after this its off to bed. … … … having read this paragraph again – 2/10 for using so, so many times. … … … or should that be an attempt for the Guinness book of records?

No one seemed to moan about the double posting from posting in google as a cc. When I put it in as a bcc, no echo. There's a lot going on with the internet that I don't understand.

Had to move my journals out of the loft. Who's ever heard of a damp roof? And trust me to find one. This is a couple of boxes of handwritten journals – irreplaceable. I had to rescue them, while leaving expensive cases etc behind! They are now frying on the radiators.

This is almost easier than keeping journals – just need to learn to touchtype. Becase I sure as hell don't aant to keep looking down. But the cloud is less risk of beinglost as long as you back uup in different parts of the cloud. For instance, apart from anything, I cross post to other blogs so if a blog goes down I don't loose everything. When I say lost I also mean destroyed [by damp etc]. I want the Eric Brighton Blog to last forever, even if no-one reads it. At least it will prove the resilience of the internet --- it is really difficult to eradicate all traces of oneself on the internet. Let me know if you have any interesting results when you google your name.

Daisy and I are going to live in France soon, did I tell you? So all; this agro over damp lofts is not needed!! I've finished a bottle of wine so now I'm on the port. Had brandy earlier. Try to just have a shot of each, well 3 shots of wine! I'm going to have a final smoke in a miute. Of course my physical therapist wants me to give up both! - will one day. I once gave up drinking for 4 years so I believe I can do it, when the time is right.

I really am off now.

Good Night and Happy Day everybody.

Eric.

Posted via email from zzelp's posterous

How extensive is the web of information about you on the internet? Blog 200812282200

2008-12-28T19:06:00.001-08:00

Blog 200812282200

How extensive is the web of information about you on the internet? Blog 200812282200

Sunday 28^th December 2008, Greenport, Long Island, New York.

Have you googled your name lately? You might find it interesting to do so. I entered "Eric Brighton" [the inverted commas to force the search to look only for only the whole name and not the first name and last name separately]. I was quite surprised about some of the entries, in particular I was interested to find that I am a "top conservative". This determination comes about from aggregation technology which has determined due to my followers and those I am following that I am a conservative. There is obviously some work yet to be done with this technology - my political interests are in fact amorphous,.

For more information see:

http://www.topconservativesontwitter.org/index.php/component/userdetail/?twitter_id=zzelp

[Aggregation technology & site implementation by Kithbridge, provider of fine new media services:

Strategy
Tracking & Monitoring
Custom Blog & Twitter Feeds]

It is worth bearing in mind what your internet tracks leave behind and how these tracks are interpreted by others. You may also find your intentions are misinterpreted.

It will be interesting to find out if I am still on the list after this blog although it is my experience that once I am subject to an internet search, the footprint remains for some time, kept, no doubt, on various mirror sites etc.

Happy Day everybody.

Eric.

Posted via email from zzelp's posterous

Does twitter matter? Saturday Blog 200812271840

2008-12-27T20:57:00.001-08:00

Blog 200812271840

Saturday 27th December 2008, Harborfront Inn at Greenport, Long Island, New York.

How many twitterers are there? Does anyone know – I guess the guys at twitter know but they are not letting on. TwitterTroll has figures for the number of tweets per day and per hour and this seems to be the basis of many estimates. The speculation will be around for a long time I expect, unless twitter goes under or can find a way of monetization.

In any case twitter does seem to have caused a blossoming of associated activity, judging by the numbers of twitter connected websites and applications. If it goes down (like if GM did) there would be a radiating collapse of these associated apps.

Would you care? Is twitter an important part of on-line life or just an addiction? What do you think? Please let me know by comment.

I just realised that I didn't name the hotel we were staying in in Manhattan, no particular reason for this – other than I is generally a bad idea to bad mouth something when you are dependant on it. On a previous visit to Manhattan I stayed a the Algonquin hotel. I liked the old world feel, the cuteness and the friendly staff. Unfortunately we made our reservation on the Saturday before arriving on the 23rd December and the Algonquin only makes reservations Monday to Friday. I therefore make a reservation with the Sofitel New York which is two hotels up along the same street. I didn't want to risk arriving at Christmas time without a reservation.

Because I have stayed at the Sofitel Washington DC, and was happy with my visit, I didn't have any hesitation in staying at another Sofitel. Regrettably the New York version did not have the charm of Washington and was rather impersonal as a result. Of course most businesses are in it to make a profit but sometimes they become mercenary in the process. This was the impression I was left with at this hotel. I understand that to some people money is no object but for me I do have a budget and so I try to get value for money from what ever I spend. At the Sofitel New York I felt fleeced. Some examples: internet connection direct on line is $5.99 via T-Mobile but buy a prepaid card at reception and it will cost you $9.99. When asked to explain this there was no reply from management. When asked if they had any aspirin, for a fever I was suffering from, their reply? … “We can get you some for $15”. When checking in I asked the cost of valet parking ($50) but was charged $100 on checkout and was not guided towards a facility directly opposite offering parking for $35 with a hotel stamp. In the hotel the price of a meal would feed an African child for a year. I refused to eat in the hotel, as did many other guests to be found in the Red Flame Grill nearby. Pleeease, you are already charging top dollar for the room there are some things you should throw in with this price.

Today we decided to explore Long Island prior to retuning to the UK on January 1st. So yesterday I did a lot of internet research to find a hotel which is good value for money. This in itself is a labor of love. There are so many ways to find reviews, Tripadvisor, Frommers, Lonely Planet, hotel.com, expedia.com, lastmiute.com, booking.com, travelocity etc etc etc. I rely a lot on tripadvisor having been using it since 2005 and find it fairly reliable, although reviews can vary wildly for the same hotel, from absolute trash to the best thing since sliced bread.

I made a short-list of 4 hotels on the east of Long Island. Best Western featured, as it usually does, as one likely to be good value for money. It did result in a good price when we visited and it was a very serious contender but lost out on location score. A hotel in Hampton Bays was eliminated on the basis of being too cold and not having internet. Another was too remote and that left this one which is in a town, has internet and a decent location. A bit more expensive but... … … [we think] good value.

Happy Day everybody.

Eric.

Posted via web from zzelp's posterous

Twitter Adding 10,000 Users Per Day

2008-12-27T19:07:00.001-08:00

Newly released "State of the Twittersphere" report with data and trends on the growth and population of Twitter, including the pace of new users, the average number of followers and more.

read more | digg story

Does twitter matter? Saturday Blog 200812271840 [ORIGINAL POSTING DATE]

2008-12-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

Posted via web from zzelp's posterous

Boxing Day Blog 200812250845

2008-12-26T07:17:00.001-08:00

Blog 200812260930

BOXING DAY 2008

I went out at six to get some milk, Duane Reade was closed so I had to get some from Starbucks. I think it was about $2.45 but that was better than getting some from room service which has a per order charge of $3.50 + cost if item + tax +gratuity... … …

I have to have my early morning cuppa! To recover from sleep, rehydrate and generally make me feel more human.

Yesterday we went to the Rockefeller Centre on 6th Avenue. What crowds. The sidewalks were packed, at some stages we walked in the road to avoid the scrum. We took photos of “the Tree” - a famous Christmas tree at the centre. There was a melee around it of people taking their photos next to the tree. As usual at Christmas there were people skating on the rink at the centre. We went to the “Top of the Rock” for our 360 degree view. See the videos and pics at my other sites, facebook, twitter, 12 seconds, myspace etc. the tickets were $20, with an evening view for $10. we paid our $30 and went up. After our visit and a quick festive Starbucks we went back to the hotel for an hour for a rest, then it was off again for the evening, sunset visit. We left the hotel an hour before sunset and only just made it in time! Its amazing how long it takes:-

・    Down the elevator at the hotel from 14th floor.
・    Up sixth avenue [fighting our way through the tourists].
・    Queueing at the Rockefeller centre.
・    Up an elevator to get to the departure floor for the top.
・    Through security [bags coats scanned.
・    Up the top elevator 67 floors then through the crowds to the 69th floor.
・    We got there with 5 minutes to spare.

Very cold all day here, and especially at the Top of the Rock.

Happy Boxing Day everybody.

Eric

Posted via web from zzelp's posterous

Christmas Day Blog 200812250845

2008-12-25T06:05:00.001-08:00

Blog 200812250845

CHRISTMAS DAY 2008

I have been twittering since 5am – good way to spend Christmas morning. I started writing this blog with ustream.tv in the background [cali lewis] and found myself looking up on the web the references she made, then following those... … … usual story I don't get back to the blog for some time then I have lost my thread. Sound familiar? This seems to be the characteristic of surfing the web. I remember when I started using the internet having to decode the content before I could see it, this was such a bore, I didn't spend much time doing it. then came the browsers, I used Netscape first and suddenly all was there to see instantly without having to decode, that was the beginning for me of surfing. In those days I hadn't learned to use the bookmarks [or were they even available then?]. I would completely forget items I had seen, or where I had come from in the first instance. Now since beginning to use twitter, I have found a new phenomenon, following other peoples web surfing. This has taken the surfing experience to another level – sort of three dimensional. I can add to my web browser [now firefox] other peoples bookmarks and paths. I have joined so many different websites I have lost my way in a morass of clubs, blogs, live streams, and general chatter.

It seems that there is the possibility for a site /service to untangle this, to prioritise the feeds/emails/blogs and all the other connections so that I can usefully spend my time on the web in a more structured way – perhaps the service already exists and it has passed me by. I did think tweetdeck could do it, but it has a long way to go before it supplies what I need.

We are here in New York for Christmas and today are having a lazy day, my other half is still in bed, I guess we will have room service latter so we can have breakfast in bed. Til then I will go to get my self organised in real life!

Happy Christmas everybody.

Eric

Posted via web from zzelp's posterous

The end of a Fried Week blog 200812222230

2008-12-21T19:38:00.001-08:00

I'm just coming to the end of a frenzied week of activity on the Internet, or as it seems more appropriate to describe it, the Web. I have indeed uncovered a web of locations which I have visited and partially participated in. I started with twitter and this has lead to several handfuls of other sites, some I have joined to explore or play with but many I have only glanced at. Frankly to have gone into depth with every connection I have seen would have taken more than the week I have spent in this hotel room nursing my girlfriend after surgery.

We now go on to New York for Christmas where I imaging I will spend some more time on-line but where, given the price of hotel rooms, I will have to at least spend some time being a tourist. What does one do with 4 days in NYNY? What are the priorities? I wonder if I will get any suggestions from the web of connections this blog will be available on.

When I get back to the the UK, I hope to spend some more time working out whether there might even be a living to be made from the internet – I know many people are doing just that – I will have to be like Stephen Fry however and walk everyday to at least get some exercise away from the keyboard.

Posted via web from zzelp's posterous

Rationing time on the internet

2008-12-19T07:09:00.001-08:00

I wonder how other people ration the time they spend on the internet, it seems to me since stating twitter and posterous there is an infinite amount of connections and follow through's one can make. Fortunately for me at the moment, because I am nursing my girlfriend after she had cosmetic surgery, I have a lot of time on my hands as I sit in our hotel room playing on the internet. But I cant keep up this 24/7 internet lifestyle when we leave here so perhaps I will be able to lean from other people's experience, any thoughts on this gratefully received at zzelp on twitter, facebook, livejournal, flickr and zzelp1 on blogspot. Please connect with me and share your thoughts. Eric Brighton.

Posted via web from zzelp's posterous

Fully Fried

2008-12-18T14:05:00.001-08:00

So... where did the Stephen Fried effect lead? It is almost incredible that just by seeing the posting of Stephen Fry I have followed him on Twitter and that lead to posterous, blogger, facebook, flickr and livejournal. Twitter itself lead to dabr, blip, tweetbeep, tweetgrid, twitstamp, twitter grader, qik, greasemonkey, twitthat, notify.me, twirl, tweetdeck, and twitpic. I know this is just a small selection of the blogosphere but it has shown me the cascading effect of getting involved with putting ones life on the internet. The next challenge is to continue it and to keep it interesting. Wish me luck.

Posted via web from zzelp's posterous

Fully

2008-12-18T12:55:00.001-08:00

Posted via web from zzelp's posterous

2008-12-16T07:47:00.001-08:00

now blogger!

2008-12-16T07:46:00.000-08:00

Like others, I blame stephen fry for getting me into twitter - something that I had resisted quite well until now. I also have a Vaio with Vista and similarly have had problems connecting to wifi networks. So the news on iGizmo led me to his post and the following comments. This led to posterous and god knows where next. All of this is ok in as far as it goes, but where does it go? The problem I have is that there are just not enough hours in the day to spend the time I would like on the internet – I do have a life offline as well!