Composting

So - for a while now, I have wanted to try my hand at composting. It really comes from a desire to cut down on the amount of waste that my family generates. A friend of mine told me about using worms to compost and I will be trying that shortly, but I also wanted to start an outdoor compost pile next spring. To that end I bought a book by Mike McGrath (host of Public Radio's - 'You Bet Your Garden') called 'Book of Compost' and am learning all about composting. Did you know that the most important ingrediant to outdoor composting is leaves? I guess I started a little too late, since all the leaves are gone. I am going to try and go to a recycling place to find out if I can get some leaves in the spring. Until then - we are going to be composting with Red Worms. I guess that compost is really good for plantings etc. I will let you know how it goes.....

Team Hoyt

Hey Everyone - I keep running across 'Team Hoyt' and wanted to share it with you all. A little inspiration for you.

Check out the other 'Hoyt' videos that come up for more information about these guys.

You CAN!

beat box - nouvelle star

OK - Just thought this one was very cool!!! Enjoy!

Edited - OK - that video is gone - try this link instead.

How NOT To Use Powerpoint By Comedian Don McMillan

I had this sent to me last week and thought it was worth posting. You see, I have a huge issue with most powerpoint presentations and this little video gets right to the heart of it. My biggest issue is that people design their presentations to incorporate all the latest PowerPoint 'actions' (things flying in and out, every imaginable fade, animaions, etc.) therefore the audience leaves saying, man that was a cool presentation, but in reality they have no clue as to what was presented.

Enjoy!

Interesting Video on YouTube

Interesting video... It was number one on YouTube by a long shot today. Let me know what you think...

Craigs List

Not sure if you all have seen this site, but I thought I would pass it along. It is a place (on-line classifieds) where you could sell and buy stuff locally without having to deal with paying for an add. Kind of cool. I just listed something out there, I will let you know if I get any 'bites'. Enjoy!

The iPhone.....

So, I have had a chance to play around with the iPhone and although it is everything everyone says it is, it is still pretty useless to anyone who works in a corporate environment. (if you are used to blackberry functionality). Hopefully that will change soon....

Anyway, I found an interesting article today about the Marketing Machine that Apple has become with the iPhone. Kind of interesting to see a tool turned into an object of desire....

The Tyranny of Email

So a theme I have been hearing lately is how much people are getting bogged down by email. Another theme that has been present lately is 'I sent so and so an email (or two or three...) and they have not responded to me yet. I am fairly certain that this is due to the first theme I mentioned. Email is an incredible tool, but we have gotten to a place where we (at least a lot of us) are getting overwhelmed by the mass quantities that we get. It brought to mind this article by Ole Eichhorn. Originally sent to be by a friend at work, I found it on the ChangeThis website. A few of the points that I like from this manifesto are:

• We have the ability to control email, but we often let email control us. We do this by keeping the notifier on so that we immediately know when an email has arrived. Although this may be viewed as being proactive, it has huge implications on productivity. If you set scheduled time each day to view your email, you will actually be more productive because you will be able to focus on tasks instead of being interrupted by emails.
• Never use Email to deliver a message that needs to be handled in person. For example - never criticize, counsel or get involved in debates via emails. I want to add a little here. If you have a conversation that is going on via email, I would suggest picking up the phone or setting up a brief meeting. I have seen it all too often where debates or conversations done via email polarize the people. Feelings get hurt and tones are misinterpreted. Don't forget that we were designed with a mouth and ears for a reason. Don't forget to use them too.
• Remember that email is a permanent public record. One that can be easily shared and brought back. Even though you think you have deleted it, it is still on the senders pc as well as the servers it went through to get to you. If the material you are sending should never be viewed by the public, don't send it via email.

Anyway - enough of my commentary - check out the article!

China and the American dollar

Thanks to Dennis Bauer and his blog for this one. Just as he thought this was interesting and important, I also feel that this is definitely worth reading. Kind of interesting and eye-opening...

F-18 Videos

Got this emailed to me today and thought it worthy of posting. Make sure you have the sound turned on. Enjoy!

Facebook can spy on me??

OK - not that I really care what data Facebook employees can see of mine, it does bring up some interesting points about privacy. Having been a sys admin in a past life, it comes down to being able to see what everyone is doing vs. actually seeing what everyone is doing. Ethics anyone...

Hello Everyone! Well, it seems I have been running into a few interesting things that I would like to post, so I set up this site to do that. Check back every so often and hopefully you will find new content. Enjoy!