(via Adam’s shared items in Google Reader)It’s easy to browse web apps and select and organize your favorites. Just visit www.apple.com/webapps on your iPhone or iPod touch (iPod touch requires a Wi-Fi connection). Browse the library, and when you find one you like, tap the link and try it out. If you like the web app, be sure to bookmark it for quick access later. Browse now!
Filed under: Gear, North America, United States
I was browsing through Forbes.com this morning and found an article titled Multipurpose Outdoor Gear. Needles to say, it caught my eye. What can Forbes possibly say about outdoor gear?
Actually, I learned a lot. Apparently, parkas by Prada are all the rage.
It is not a shocking revelation, I suppose. Just like Jeeps are no longer seen off-road; outdoor wear is not really for the outdoors anymore. The “ruggedly handsome” look is in. Facial hair, casual clothing…you get the idea.
David Makuen, vice president of marketing for Eddie Bauer said to Forbes that “George Clooney, Matthew McConaughey, even Brad Pitt really made an impact on casual clothing, with their rough-around-the-edges looks. The unshaven, disheveled look became mass, and it inevitably had an affect on clothes.”
REI is apparently packed with guys buying outdoor gear that “looks good” yet they have little intention to ever actually take it outdoors. Is it a strange world we live in, or what.
(By the way, the Loro Piana Outdoorsman Vest from the photo is available for $1325 at Bergdorf Goodman. It will look splendid in that $15/night hostel in Uzbekistan, trust me.)
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Reuters Via Yahoo:
The richest one percent of Americans earned a postwar record of 21.2 percent of all income in 2005, up from 19 percent a year earlier, reflecting a widening income disparity among different classes in the nation, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing new Internal Revenue Service data.
The data showed that the fortunes of the bottom 50 percent of Americans are worsening, with that group earning 12.8 percent of all income in 2005, down from 13.4 percent the year before, the paper said. Read more…
The IRS has obviously been infiltrated by dirty f**king hippies. How will the Republican presidential candidates deal with this information? George Will is certain the economy won’t play a role in the ‘08 elections, but as Steve wrote, Americans aren’t buying the GOP happy talk about how great the current economy is for all of us.
(via Adam’s shared items in Google Reader)
Self-improvement site Life Coaches has a very good article on the real reason we need to make those changes we’ve been kind of thinking about doing, but keep putting off:
We all deserve a life that we can look back on with a deep sense of satisfaction; to have people in our lives who nurture us; to do work that we love and which gives us a sense of accomplishment. We deserve love in our lives as well as good friends and family. As we age, we come to the realization that our time is limited. The time for change is now.In other words, carpe diem. What are the changes you’ve been putting off, and why? Let’s hear in the comments.
Getting the Most out of Life [Life Coaches]
Keep a running track of your bills by using index cards. Office productivity blog Web Worker Daily has more:
Create a card for each bill, writing the name of the bill at the top. When you pay the bill, create an entry on the card. This way, you have a running log of all the bills you pay.
Very low tech, but effective. You can also use these nifty finance index card templates to make your index card organization go a little more smoothly.
Sometime in the last month, one of my friends quit his job as an actuary for a large insurance company. He’s single, has a Ph. D. in mathematics, and no debt at all. He quit for one reason and one reason alone. I’ll let him tell it to you:
I got tired of going home every night mentally exhausted and sitting in front of the TV playing Xbox. It’s what I did almost every night, without a weekend. I made a lot of money but I had no life to do anything at all. My job ate all of my energy.
What’s he doing now? He took a night shift at a local factory where he’s driving a forklift. Half of his time, he just sits on the forklift waiting for a new load to pick, and so he’s started reading a lot of the classics. He makes $11 an hour, far, far less than he was making as an actuary, but good enough for him to live on especially considering he banked almost all of his income from his actuarial work.
You know what? I applaud him. I think it was a brilliant move for his life and an excellent response to what I call professional exhaustion.
Here’s why I think it was a good move.
First, before he quit, he became debt free. He paid off his car, all of his student loans, and his townhouse. He funneled almost 60% of his income over his handful of years as an actuary into becoming debt free, so now he owns his residence, his automobile, and his education.
Second, he made an effort to always live far below his income level. The only item I saw him splurge on in the last few years was an XBox 360, which he buys a new game for roughly once a month. With his job switch, he claims he probably won’t buy a new game for a very long while, as now he has the energy and freedom to pursue other things … which leads to the third reason.
Third, his job was killing him. He was constantly stressed out and burnt out on everything. He had some severe stomach issues, looked like death warmed over most of the time, and also looked completely exhausted, too. His job was literally eating him alive - and no matter how much you’re getting paid, no job is worth that.
Finally, he has a lot of energy, intelligence, and value that can be used more productively elsewhere. He has a seemingly unstoppable amount of energy now, and he’s directing it into starting a business that he’s passionate about during the day, using some of his saved money to seed the work. Plus, he’s also looking at running for a few local political offices.
Yes, he may have watched his salary get reduced by (at least) 70% and he may have also lost some benefits, but his life is much happier now and that, my friends, is the key to life.
So what can you do if you find yourself professionally exhausted?
First, start living seriously frugal. Driving a Lexus to the steak house and drowning your sorrows in a fistful of $20 drinks isn’t going to cut it if you want to be free. Start making your own food and stop spending money frivolously. Minimize every bill you have.
Next, pay off all of your debts. Once you get in the routine of living frugally, it will be much easier to pay off your debts as you’ll have a surfeit of money. Channel all of it into debt elimination.
Then, build up an emergency fund. After all your debts are gone, save up a few months’ worth of living expenses in a savings account so that when you quit, it’s not disastrous.
While you’re saving, figure out what you actually want to be doing. What drives your passion? I have a friend who works as an auto mechanic, for example. He also happens to be one of the most intelligent and driven people I’ve ever met, and he’s on the verge of opening up his own shop. He spends almost all of his time at the shop, but he’s crackling with energy and happiness each time I see him. Why? He’s found what he loves. Spend some time finding what you love, then go for it. Even if it means starting off as an auto mechanic at a local car repair shop.
Remember, your life is not your job. Your job is just a way to pay for your life.
To hell with paper—save the trees! Sony has already got us thinking along the right path, and now Centon Electronics is releasing Webster’s New World College dictionary, with 160 000 entries, on a USB flash drive. The perk here is the dictionary will be available on either a 2GB or 4GB flash drive at $42.99 and $64.99, respectively. As only 140MB is used to store all those sexy words, the extra space is yours to use and abuse. The asking prices may be a tad steep, but that’s the price you pay to look cool and have a dictionary on your USB stick. Save the trees, man. [Product Page via Oh Gizmo via Uberreview]
Better Homes and Garden magazine is holding a giveaway with the prize of an eco-friendly Prius. The deadline for entries is October 31, so you just have two weeks. Technically, you don’t have to buy anything to enter the giveaway but they offer you a subscription to the Better Homes and Garden Magazine. The winner will be announced November 14 and the car will be delivered December 17, just before Christmas. The winner of the giveaway is responsible for taxes and insurance for the Prius, but it’s a $25,000 car so who cares? If you make it through the legal minefield of free trial subscriptions and happen to win, tell us about it. We would love to know if one of our readers got the prize. Good luck.
[Source: Better Homes and Garden via Hybrid SUV via Hugg]
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.
Mmmm…nothing like eating food with food. And until Hershey’s begins manufacture of ChocoWare, the potato-sourced SpudWare eating utensils look like the next best thing. Constructed from 80% potato starch and 20% soy oil, the SpudWare is just as strong and resistant to heat as its plastic counterpart. That means it’s only partially disposable.
SpudWare biodegrades in just 180 days, or around 6 months (we rock the division), but since it’s completely washable, you can actually get quite a few meals in before your fork becomes…mashed…so to speak. 150 pieces (1/3 spoons, forks and knives) will run you $20. And while that may be more than you pay for disposable cutlery at Walmart, plastic is pretty much done as a conversation piece. Like, since the 60s. [product via inhabitat]
Filed under: Learning, Business, Stories
Here they are:
SoFa in San Jose, California. The sunny 300 days a year here attracted me. Cloudy days are the bane of Columbus living. According to the writers, San Jose also has a noteworthy art scene.
Back Bay, Boston, Massachussets. My closest college friend would probably second this. She lived here for one year and LOVED it. Unfortunately, the year she was living here, I didn’t have the money to visit her. The Back Bay was her dream come true, until her next dream came true which is the life she’s living now. The reason she only stayed a year? Just like the article said, it’s expensive.
Belltown in Seattle, Washington. I don’t know about Belltown, but I do know that Seattle is wonderful. I visited friends in two neighborhoods not far from downtown this summer, and living in either of them would be terrific. If I lived in Seattle, I’d head to Chinatown often.
LoDo, Denver, Colorado. Denver is another honey of a city if you don’t pay attention much to the brown cloud from the air pollution. I was just talking about how glorious the botanical garden is in Denver.
Midtown, Nashville, Tennessee is a terrific place for its music scene. The description of this area sounds a bit like the Short North.
Arts District Dallas, Texas. When I saw this choice, I was surprised. I went to Dallas years ago for a cousin’s wedding. I do remember going to the Blue Goose restaurant (I think that was the name) and liked it a lot. I vaguely remember someone talking about an art scene.
Mass Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana. Indianapolis is a bit like Columbus. The article mentions it being a little bit sleepy. I agree there. The Children’s Museum is anything but sleepy. It’s phenomenal.
Copper Square, Phoenix, Arizona. The things you can do here are the same ones offered in downtown, Columbus. The difference is, it’s sunny. With the sun in this part of the U.S. comes the heat. That’s a downside.
Riverside/Avondale, Jacksonville, Florida. Interesting architecture, the arts, the river and the weather are just a few of what puts this neighborhood on the list.
You can see the next 20 by going to this link.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments“Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
- Abraham Lincoln
