Snippet from Down Under- Bill Bryson

Flying into Australia, I realized with a sigh that I had forgotten again who their Prime Minister is. I am forever doing this with the Australian PM - committing the name to memory, forgetting it (generally more or less instantly), then feeling terribly guilty. My thinking is that there ought to be one person outside Australia who knows.

But then Australia is such a difficult country to keep track of. On my first visit, some years ago, I passed the time on the long flight from London reading a history of Australian politics in the twentieth century, wherein I encountered the startling fact that in 1967 the Prime Minister, Harold Holt, was strolling along a beach in Victoria when he plunged into the surf and vanished. No trace of the poor man was ever seen again. This seemed doubly astounding to me - first that Australia could just lose a Prime Minister (I mean, come on) and second that news of this had never reached me.

Willard Wigan

The Obama Family by Willard Wigan, set within the eye of a needle. Wigan uses an eye-lash to point at Barack Obama

Life and work

Willard Wigan is the creator of the world's smallest sculptures, often taking months to complete one, working between heartbeats to avoid hand tremors. "You have to control the whole nervous system, you have to work between the heartbeat - the pulse of your finger can destroy the work." Wigan uses a tiny surgical blade to carve microscopic figures out of gold, and fragments of grains of sand which are then mounted on pinheads. To paint his creations, he uses a hair plucked from a dead fly (the fly has to have died from natural causes, as he refuses to kill them for the sake of his art, preferring to decorate a glass sheet instead). His sculptures have included a Santa Claus and a copy of the FIFA World Cuptrophy, both about 0.005 mm (0.0002in) tall, and a boxing ring with Muhammad Ali figure which fits onto the head of a match. He is learning disabled, and doesn't know how to read or write. He said that his childhood teachers "made [him] feel small, made [him] feel like nothing." He decided to prove that "less is more," and that "nothing could be everything."

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

Wednesday is the most miserable day of the week- Telegraph.co.uk

Professors Christopher Danforth and Peter Dodds, of Vermont University, analysed words used in 2.4 million internet blogs such as Twitter, giving a score out of nine depending on how positive they were.

Words like free, fun, and rainbow all scored above eight, while words such as betray, cruel, hatred and suffocate all scored less than two.

Saturday and Sunday rated predictably well but, perhaps surprisingly, Monday came out as the second happiest day of the week, partly because people were still reminiscing about the weekend. However by Wednesday, these feelings had subsided.

Professor Danforth said: "People's daily experience is being reflected somewhat in what they're saying. And this is more of a story, we think, for Twitter messages, which we've just started to pay attention to, about a year ago.

"They think they are communicating with friends, but since blogs are public we're just looking over their shoulders.

"The weekends tend to be fairly happy and Wednesday turned out to be the saddest day."

He said using the internet in this way enabled them to rate happiness based on higher numbers of people than previous studies.

"What we're attempting to do is measure collective happiness on a much larger scale, similar to measuring the temperature outside," Professor Danforth said.

"The energy of a few molecules bouncing around doesn't give a good indication of heat, you need billions or more."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6075132/Wednesday-is-the-most-miserable-day-of-the-week-claim-researchers.html

Breaking Up

"People are not perfect...and no one will be the only source of your happiness...but they can add to your happiness, bring out the best in you and make you feel so loved and adored for all of who you are! "

"Everytime your heart is being broken, know that it's breaking for a reason. It's breaking to leave that path and get you on the right path for the right person."

http://kandeethemakeupartist.blogspot.com/2009/08/break-ups-and-broken-hearts.html

The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers

From CNN.com- Technology

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/20/annoying.facebook.updaters/index.html

By Brandon Griggs

Facebook, for better or worse, is like being at a big party with all your friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers.

There are lots of fun, interesting people you're happy to talk to when they stroll up. Then there are the other people, the ones who make you cringe when you see them coming. This article is about those people.

Sure, Facebook can be a great tool for keeping up with folks who are important to you. Take the status update, the 160-character message that users post in response to the question, "What's on your mind?" An artful, witty or newsy status update is a pleasure -- a real-time, tiny window into a friend's life.

But far more posts read like navel-gazing diary entries, or worse, spam. A recent study categorized 40 percent of Twitter tweets as "pointless babble," and it wouldn't be surprising if updates on Facebook, still a fast-growing social network, break down in a similar way.

Here are 12 of the most annoying types of Facebook users:

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. "I'm waking up." "I had Wheaties for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic." You're kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're waiting for the bus.

The Self-Promoter. OK, so we've probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies -- you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway -- might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 "friends?" Unless you're George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That's just showing off.

The Town Crier. "Michael Jackson is dead!!!" You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The TMIer. "Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids." Boundaries of privacy and decorum don't seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Bad Grammarian. "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter. "Barbara is feeling sad today." "Man, am I glad that's over." "Jim could really use some good news about now." Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks -- baited with vague tales of woe -- in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you'll be talking to them and they'll mention something you posted, so you know they're on your page, hiding in the shadows. It's just a little creepy.

The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn't complain about. "Carl isn't really that impressed with idiots who don't realize how idiotic they are." [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone's posted a photo of you from last weekend's party -- a photo you didn't authorize and haven't even seen? You'd really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Maddening Obscurist. "If not now then when?" "You'll see..." "Grist for the mill." "John is, small world." "Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not." [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you're not being mysterious -- just nonsensical.

The Chronic Inviter. "Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which 'Star Trek' character are you? Here are the 'Top 5 cars I have personally owned.' Here are '25 Things About Me.' Here's a drink. What drink are you? We're related! I took the 'What President Are You?' quiz and found out I'm Millard Fillmore! What president are you?"

The 5 Stages of Grief

The five stages of grief are:

1-Denial-"This can't be happening to me". No crying. Not accepting or even acknowledging the loss.

2-Anger-"Why

me?", feelings of wanting to fight back or blame.

3-Bargaining-attempting to make deals with God to stop or change the loss. Begging, wishing, praying.

4-Depression-overwhelming feelings of hopelessness, frustration, bitterness, self pity, mourning loss of the hopes, dreams and plans for the future. Feeling lack of control, feeling numb or suicidal.

5-Acceptance-there is a difference between resignation and acceptan

ce. You have to accept the loss, not just try to bear it quietly

. Realization. Finding the good that can come out of the pain, finding comfort and healing. Our goals turn toward personal growth. Stay with fond memories.

Snippet from Wired Mag, UK (Aug 2009)

You probably know your hourly rate at work, but what about the rest of your time, the time spent not doing work: shopping, queueing, waiting on the phone, eating lunch, watching TV, drinking in the pub? Paul McCrudden decided his every minute was worth money, and set out to reclaim it from every company he spent time with over a six-week period this summer.

Between June 15 and July 31, McCrudden used Daytum to record how he spent his time. Then he wrote letters and invoices to all the brands he’d encountered, arguing that they should pay him because his patronage is valuable to them:

“My time on this planet is valuable to me. But more importantly, my time is valuable to you. In our attention economy, my presence in your café helps your company in a number of ways. For example, it attracts other customers to you because they see that your brand is popular – especially so with an ABC1 male (or however you’d define me these days.) And it means I’m not spending time with your competitors. My attention and time in your café ultimately helps your bottom line and market position.”

McCrudden charged his time at a rate of £102 per hour, but offered companies a 75 per cent discount on that rate (“as I appreciate that my time is not spent in the same way as it is with my employer”). He invoiced 50 companies, asking Transport for London for £531.25, Sainsbury’s for £97.95 and the Killers for £178.50, for his attendance at their Hyde Park Concert.

Amazingly, Pret A Manger responded by not only paying his invoice, but also adding £22 to cover the price of his lunches, a nominal amount to cover interest, and even an extra £1 to cover the inconvenience of having to walk to the post box. Other companies to respond include Boots, whose customer care department said they thought their Advantage Card points were enough of a reward for their customers’ time, and Cranberry, whose managing director sent McCrudden an invoice of his own to cover the time spent reading his letter and website.

- Sarah Dobbs-

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2009-08/19/how-much-is-your-time-worth.aspx

'Busted'!

At Duke University, two students had received A's in chemistry all semester. But on the night before the final exam, they were partying in another state and didn't get back to Duke until it was over. Their excuse to the professor was that they had a flat tire, and they asked if they could take a make-up test. The professor agreed, wrote out a test, and sent the two to separate rooms to take it. The first question was worth five points. Then they flipped the paper over and found the second question, worth 95 points:"which tire was it?"

- quoted from Leonard Mlodinow, The Drunkard's Walk

Snippet from Wired Magazine, September 2009

*Click to enlarge