Its a Bird, Its a Plane, Its a Superphone!
by Jonas Blake on Jul.30, 2010, under Life Upgrade
Maybe we haven’t quite made it to the technology of “Beam me up Scotty,” but we do carry around little computers in our pockets. Little computers with GPS pinpointing, wireless internet connectivity, and a computing capacity that would have filled a small warehouse twenty years ago.
Universal Packing List
by Jonas Blake on Jul.02, 2010, under Life Upgrade
This may come a little late to help my housemate who just moved to Kurdistan, with a trip through Tanzania, but I wish I had found this before she left.
In case you happen to be planning a trip in the future, take a look at this great universal packing list. You enter your destination, and some details about the trip, and it generates a great packing list for you to check off. It even has a map feature, so you can click on the countries you are visiting.
Figure out Complicated Family Relations
by Jonas Blake on Jun.30, 2010, under Social Upgrade
Ever wonder just who your second cousin, twice removed is?
Maybe not, but if you are wondering just how you are related to your Cousin’s Cousin’s Niece’s Grandfather, Wolfram Alpha is your key to success.
Confirmation Bias
by Jonas Blake on Jun.28, 2010, under Mind Upgrade
We all like to think that our every decision is based on careful, rational analysis of all sides of a subject. That we weigh opposing facts and opinions, and carefully decide on the best option we can. Our decisions are our own, and they are good decisions.
Not bloody likely.
Keep Away The Bloodsuckers
by Jonas Blake on Jun.25, 2010, under Life Upgrade
No, I’m afraid I haven’t come up with a new vampire repellent spell.
Unless by “vampire” you mean “blood-sucking insect” and by “spell” you mean “bugspray”.
Move or Reschedule Jury Duty
by Jonas Blake on Jun.23, 2010, under Life Upgrade
I once had jury duty while running my own electrical contracting business, and I actually had to run to a restaurant and do an emergency repair on their electrical panel during my lunch break. Not fun.
If only I had known that I could have been excused from jury duty simply by explaining that I was the sole proprietor of my business.
Superstition May Improve Performance
by Jonas Blake on Jun.21, 2010, under Mind Upgrade
Belief is a powerful thing, and it is amazing how subconscious expectations can affect our performance on so many levels. Simply by believing that a given outcome is going to happen drastically improves the likelihood of that outcome. I have talked about this before, in the context of body language.
This article from Bad Science about an amazing study on the effects of lucky charms.
A Life-Long Slob’s Quest to Get Organized
by Jonas Blake on Jun.18, 2010, under Life Upgrade, Mind Upgrade, Social Upgrade
This is a fascinating article from the Washington Post about hoarding. It is the story of a man (Michael S. Rosenwald) who’s extreme hoarding was beginning to ruin his marriage, so he went on a quest to understand why he feels compelled to hoard.
Boost Your Mood by Changing Your Rutines
by Jonas Blake on Jun.14, 2010, under Life Upgrade, Mind Upgrade
Routines. They are easy to acquire, and hard to change.
Humans are creatures of habit, and there is nothing wrong with that. Habits make doing repetitive things easier, it makes complicated tasks easier to remember, and frees us up to think about other things while we take care of routine tasks.
But habits are only useful when they are good habits.
Settings To Change On Your Wireless Router
by Jonas Blake on Jun.11, 2010, under Life Upgrade
Most people under the age of thirty have an almost instinctive understanding of how to set up technology. We understand the basic rules of how these devices should work, and we think like the people who wrote the manuals. We grew up with this stuff.
On the other hand, this can make us complacent. This is a great article from Lifehacker about settings that you should change on your wireless router.
