Category Archives: advice

A new year’s resolution…for your Mac

Posted on December 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

Come January 1, alot of people will resolve to lose their excess weight and get fit. And what is good for people is also good for …Macs! In this article, Ten ways to turn your Mac into a lean, mean, agile machine…right now (or Jan. 1 :) ), you can learn various ways to slim down your Mac while you wait for Mac OS X v 10.6.

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Posted in advice, IT

Do a good deed: cheer at a marathon

Posted on October 20, 2008 | 1 Comment

If you want to make a lot of people feel better, here’s a very easy way to do it. All you need is a nearby marathon.

Go down to where the race is. Get yourself a coffee or tea. Then as the runners come by, cheer them on.Tell them they’re looking good, they’re doing great, hang in there, tell them about upcoming downhills, cheer, clap, yell woohoo. Whatever works for you. The best runners will appreciate you just being there. The rest will be rejuvenated by your encouagement.

I went down today to the Toronto marathon yesterday and in a short time made a few dozen people smile. Having run a few myself, I know how great it is for people to turn out and do that.

Everyone in a marathon is struggling to do their best in the face of great difficulty. Even the best of runners. Your encouragment is greatly appreciated. You can make a dozen people feel better in the time it takes you to finish your tea.

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Posted in advice, running

Tagged

Bernie’s Rule of Wearing Red

Posted on August 14, 2008 | 6 Comments

With regards to the question: when should one wear red? There are two occasions when one should wear red:

  1. If you feel like wearing red, then go and wear red!
  2. If you really don’t feel like wearing red, then you must wear red.

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Posted in advice, fashion

Great women’s clothes at Anthropologie

Posted on February 15, 2008 | Leave a comment


has great clothes. Anyone who can make a cardigan this well….

… deserves a look! :)

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Posted in advice, cool, fashion

Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks

Posted on February 12, 2008 | Leave a comment


According to the nytimes.com blog, Bits ,

Starbucks announced today it will give most any customer two consecutive hours a day of free Wi-Fi access. Specifically, that offer applies to anyone who uses its prepaid Starbucks Card at least once a month. That represents as many as 60 hours of access for the price of one $2 cup of coffee.

It’s interesting to think of Starbucks as a network service provider. It has the potential to open up lots of other business opportunities for them as well. See Bits for more info.

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Posted in advice, culture, IT

Cloud paintings from Richard Herman

Posted on February 10, 2008 | Leave a comment


I love the cloud paintings of Richard Herman. You can find out more about his work and even purchase it from the fine Toronto art gallery, Art Interiors.

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Posted in advice, art, Toronto

How to be a creative person? follow these rules

Posted on February 6, 2008 | Leave a comment

From the excellent tumblelog, Daily Meh

P.S.
It mirrors some of the ideas from the book, Art and Fear, that I blogged about earlier.

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Posted in advice, ideas

How to make a dark room seem light (and well lit)…

Posted on January 25, 2008 | Leave a comment

…by reading this article, Chasing the Darkness With Sleight of Hand in the New York Times, which presents a nice case study on how to make a dark room light up. It features a room by Jeffrey Bilhuber, a Manhattan interior designer, whose client had a bedroom in their apartment with very little light. The end result is light and very attractive. Lots of good ideas to borrow here.

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Posted in advice, design

Wanting to move up from cheap wine at the LCBO? Look to Matthew Sullivan for advice.

Posted on January 23, 2008 | 1 Comment

Matthew Sullivan has a great idea for a wine blog. His blog, the Short Cellar, is all about:

“….offering some advice about the joy of aging wine as I build my own cellar from the ground up, detailing what is going in, when it comes out, and what happened to it along the way. My emphasis will be on wines that are easily available in Ontario and that only take a year or two before developing into something special. Who has time to wait 10 years? I’m patient, but not a saint. There’s a perception that having a wine cellar implies expertise or money. This is a myth. You’re never too young, dumb, or soaked in debt to want a better bottle of wine. It’s true that a cellar takes some foresight and knowledge, but only enough to guess what you are going to have for dinner three years from now, and the knowledge that you’ll want something extraordinary to wash it down. You can spend any amount that you wish on wine, but the sweet spot is between $15 and $25. At that level, there are some exceptional wines that will mature marvellously, but there’s no guilt in drinking them at any time since, litre for litre, they are still cheaper than a latte.”

Sounds like a great idea. See The Short Cellar for more.

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Posted in advice, wine

Great reasons to start a blog from lifehack.org

Posted on January 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

For
people who wonder, “why blog?”, the people at lifehack.org have listed
a number of strong reasons why you should in their article, How To Use Your Blog To Make 2008 Your Best Year Ever!

The
article is written from a viewpoint of how to use a blog to improve
yourself, and the bonuses they list regarding blogging (e.g. track
progress, get feedback, share knowledge) apply to anyone, either
personally or professionally.

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Posted in advice, blog

Want to get published? nytimes.com has the story

Posted on January 14, 2008 | Leave a comment

The New York Times has a good summary on the various web sites offering publishing services in their article: Got a Manuscript? Publishing Now a Snap – New York Times. There are references to lulu.com, blurb.com and others.

If you have been always dying to see your work bound in hardcover, check out this article and then the sites they mention.

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Posted in advice, culture, nytimes.com

Chicken Schnitzel and other great Hungarian food at Country Style Hungarian Restaurant in Toronto’s Annex

Posted on January 12, 2008 | Leave a comment

blogto does a great job of covering Toronto, including restaurants. And this review of Country Style Hungarian Restaurant is no exception.

There used to be a number of Hungarian restaurants in the Annex, including the Korona, my old favourite. Sadly, most of them are gone. But not Country Style. Head on over to 450 Bloor St West and have one of these…

…and you will be very glad you did! :)

(image link to blogto)

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Posted in advice, food, Toronto

How to pick locks

Posted on January 10, 2008 | 2 Comments

I stumbled across this demo of how to pick a master lock #175. There are alot of these videos! If your lock is in one of them, you should get rid of it.

That said, it is impressive to see some of these videos. It’s hackers for hardware.

YouTube – How to pick a Master Lock #175 with a paper clip…

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Posted in advice, youtube

How to simplify your life with four rules

Posted on January 8, 2008 | Leave a comment

Over at the well done blog, Zen Habits, is a list of The Four Laws of Simplicity, and How to Apply Them to Life

The laws themselves are:

1. Collect everything in one place.
2. Choose the essential.
3. Eliminate the rest.
4. Organize the remaining stuff neatly and nicely.

But see their article for good advice on how to apply them.

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Posted in advice

How to build a very small house

Posted on January 8, 2008 | 5 Comments

There are a number of architects and builders specializing in very small dwellings for people.

Tumbleweed Houses are appropriately named and nicely done. It makes being a nomad seem grand! You should visit the site, just to see what can be packed into such a small space.

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Posted in advice, architecture, cool

Bread lovers – this blog is for you

Posted on January 2, 2008 | Leave a comment

If you love bread, or want to learn how to bake it, the Bread Blog has lots of great recipes and instructions on how to make all kinds of bread, including one of my favourites, Panettone (chocolate chip, no less)

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Posted in advice, food

Get smarter! Go use some creative tools from CreatingMinds.org

Posted on December 31, 2007 | Leave a comment

CreatingMinds.org has these great creative tools that can

help you and your organization become even more creative.

I highly recommend them.

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Posted in advice, tools

What to eat in Toronto in 2008! Or a great new year resolution

Posted on December 20, 2007 | Leave a comment


I think I have the perfect new year resolution for people in Toronto: eat all of this food before 2009! Forget that dieting stuff, this is the year to Eat, Drink and be Daring (as the good folks as Toronto Life recommend).

Go to the article…but not on an empty stomach!

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Posted in advice, food, Toronto

Inexpensive gift ideas at Real Simple

Posted on December 11, 2007 | 2 Comments


The good folks over at RealSimple.com have some great ideas for this Christmas. They have a nice Holiday Gift List Worksheet and a list 50 Gifts Under $50.If you are not close to done or could use some help, go there now.

(Tip from lifehacker.com)

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Posted in advice

Great Gift Ideas for Christmas and any other times

Posted on December 8, 2007 | Leave a comment

Over at ThinkSimpleNow.com is a list of 40 Simple Gift Ideas to Spark a Smile | . If you are stuck for gift ideas, check it out. They have separated out into:

* Unique Gifts
* Gifts that Touch the Soul
* Books that Change Lives
* Alternative Wrapping Ideas

Who wouldn’t like something like this?

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Posted in advice

Stuck for a new idea? Here’s the tool you need! :)

Posted on December 6, 2007 | Leave a comment

Go here!

Right now I am working on a “nutritious neon appliance”…I think my kids will love it.

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Posted in advice, quirky, tools

How to get people to read your email in December?

Posted on December 3, 2007 | Leave a comment

Easy!

Make it very short. Too the point. Like this. :)

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Posted in advice

Geekdad on the Science of Raising Smart Kids

Posted on December 1, 2007 | Leave a comment

I think the geekdad blog at Wired is great. (Hey, lots of geeks eventually have children! :) ) There’s lots of good, practical advice there. (Plus cool gadgets).

The latest article,The Science of Raising Smart Kids has some good advice on getting your kids to be smarter. It’s all about how you praise your kids. Go to the article for more details.

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Posted in advice

Get your Christmas presents here at Art Interiors

Posted on November 30, 2007 | Leave a comment

This Toronto Based Gallery Specializing in Art from Up and Coming Artists has a great annual festival of small works of art on sale for $50 to $250. And the people who run it are great people too.

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Posted in advice, art

You don’t fail until you say you do…or Never, Never, Never, Never give up

Posted on September 17, 2007 | Leave a comment

lifehack.org had a pointer to this great collection of people who failed or were considered failures: They Did Not Give Up

Anyone suffering from one of life’s many setbacks can take comfort from this.

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Posted in advice

Are you paying for ringtones? Don’t. Read why…

Posted on September 16, 2007 | 1 Comment

WiReD’s compiler blog has the story here

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Posted in advice

Go on. Fail. Alot. :)

Posted on September 12, 2007 | Leave a comment

Over at lifehack.org is a good article on how to fail and why it is important. Some of the points are:

  • Fail with grace
  • Have a plan B
  • Forgive and relive
  • Get perspective
  • Stop doing that!
  • Do something

Go see How to Fail at Practically Anything and start failing today!

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Posted in advice

How to clean your home in 19 minutes (roughly)

Posted on September 12, 2007 | Leave a comment

CNN has cribbed some material from Real Simple and the FlyLady to help you get your home cleaned in a flash. I don’t know if you can do it in 19 minutes, but it can be close. :)

How to clean your home in 19 minutes – CNN.com

Also, if you have kids (or a sloppy spouse/roommate who won’t clean up), get some baskets and keep them nearby. Then go around the house, scoop up some stuff and put it in their room. Time = 1-2 minutes.

Hey, smart people don’t spend all day cleaning…they have better things to do! :)

Image: James Worrell at realsimple.com

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Posted in advice

Cook’s: for serious cooks and people who are serious about cooking

Posted on September 11, 2007 | Leave a comment

If you are serious about cooking, or want to know the definitive way to cook something, I highly recommend Cook’s Illustrated.
It’s a great magazine about cooking as opposed to a collection of recipes. You will get recipes, too, but you will discover a whole lot more about the process of transforming food.

Plus they have reviews of cooking tools, premade sauces, menus, and much more.

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Posted in advice, food

More on good, cheap wine under $10 from the LCBO and other places

Posted on September 8, 2007 | Leave a comment

The globeandmail.com has been good enough to set up a searchable database of wine recommendations based on Beppi Crossariol’s wine columns found regularly in their paper. You can search the database in a number of ways, including wines under $10 (you will find around 20 bottles). Some of them are wines I mentioned earlier (like Corten from Moldova) but others are new to me (including some tetra pak ones, no less).

The other nice thing about this is that you can find the wine, and then go to the article. Beppi’s a good writer with good and varied taste: the articles are worth a read, too.

Check outThe Wine Butler

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Posted in advice, wine

How to be creative and other super ideas at gapingvoid

Posted on September 8, 2007 | Leave a comment

There are lots of great ideas and fantastic drawings over at gapingvoid. I really liked this section: how to be creative

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Posted in advice, culture

Tech 101 from Business Week – this week – what is an RSS feed

Posted on August 24, 2007 | Leave a comment

For some , the notion of an RSS feed may be new. So check out this on businessweek.com:

What’s an RSS Feed?

Once you get used to RSS feeds, you will be glad you did.

P.S. There are lots of other good links there too, including Blogging For Beginners

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Posted in advice

A better life in no time?

Posted on August 13, 2007 | Leave a comment

CNN, in conjunction with

has some advice on how to live A better life in no time

While my first response is to be snide, it is good, if not earth shattering advice. At the very least, look at it and say: yup, got that covered. :)

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Posted in advice

How to stay focused and easily track time while working on your computer

Posted on August 13, 2007 | Leave a comment

The Web site, The Printable CEO™, has a great tool called the Emergent Task Timer. It

  • allows you to easily capture tasks you have to do as they come up
  • easily track the time you spend on them
  • reminds you when to update your info.

Check it out at: Emergent Task Timer Online (Flash Alpha)

Or go to David Seah’s site for more productivity tips:

David Seah

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Posted in advice

Be smart: eat chocolate

Posted on July 4, 2007 | Leave a comment

This study says eating dark chocolate lowers blood pressure. The participants in the German study ate just a small amount of Ritter chocolate. (Ritter is good and easily available in Toronto). The article goes on to say:

Every day for 18 weeks, the volunteers were instructed to eat
one-square portions of a 16-square Ritter Sport bar, or a similar
portion of white chocolate. White chocolate doesn’t contain cocoa.

Systolic blood pressure,
the top number, fell an average of nearly three points and diastolic
dropped almost two points in the dark chocolate group, compared with no
change in blood pressure readings in the white chocolate group.

Tests suggested that steady exposure to dark chocolate prompted
chemical changes that helped dilate blood vessels and regulate blood
pressure, the researchers said.

So there you go: take two blocks of chocolate every day, have a glass of red wine, and don’t forget the apples, and you should live to be 100!

For more details, see Chocolate reduces blood pressure – Yahoo! News

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Posted in advice, food

How to Prioritize Quickly and Easily

Posted on June 26, 2007 | 1 Comment

While this is on a site for software development, it is not a bad approach to anyone of us — developer or not — who has alot of projects and can’t seem to decide which one to do next.

See: How to prioritize quickly and easily

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Posted in advice, productivity

Get running!

Posted on June 15, 2007 | 1 Comment

The Zen habits blog is full of great advice. For those of you who might want to start running, or used to run but haven’t run in awhile, I strongly recommend you look at this: Beginner’s Guide to Running | zen habits

There’s lots of great tips there.

One site they didn’t mention is Hal Higdon‘s web site. It is PACKED with good advice. You can buy lots of magazines and books on running. Or you can save your money for better shoes and use these sites instead.

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Posted in advice, running

Tagged

(Finger)Tips for Father’s Day

Posted on June 12, 2007 | Leave a comment

Father’s Day is coming up, and with ties going the way of the dodo
bird, perhaps the next best thing for a Father — new or old — is all
things BBQ. So if you are going to give your father something BBQish,
perhaps give him a print out of this article:

Grill The Best Steak Ever – Men’s Health

Oh. Some nice steaks would be good too.

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Posted in advice, food

How to (successfully) get the most out of life

Posted on June 12, 2007 | Leave a comment

Time is money. In fact, it is more valuable. And since you want to get the most out of your time, read this article while eating a health snack and doing some isometric exercises. Ok, at least read:
Time is All We Have: 3 Ways to Increase Return on Investment

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Posted in advice, productivity

How to be snarky on the Internet.

Posted on June 6, 2007 | Leave a comment

Over at someecards.com are some REEEAAALLLLYYY snarky e-cards you can send friends people. Some of them are really rude. Which appears to be the point.

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Posted in advice, quirky