Written by Valene

If you think that iPods are used just for listening to music, you obviously haven’t been keeping up with the latest technology The Apple-developed music player now features all kinds of accessories to help you study better, and now other companies are in a rush to get their designs in sync with the iPod. Pre-teens, college kids and even adults are taking advantage of the educational benefits an iPod affords them. From downloadable podcasts to just-for-iPod study guides and applications, learning on the go has never been easier. To find out about the many different ways you can transform your iPod into a learning device, check out our list below.

Study Guides

Stop trying to keep track of all your Spark Notes and endless study guides. Use these programs to upload study materials onto your iPod.

1. Spark Notes: Long considered a busy high school or college student’s best friend, the online study guide database now offers users an iPod-friendly version. Get summaries and analyses of books like A Tale of Two Cities, Beowulf, Hamlet and more.
2. iPREPpress: This website provides study guides, travel guides and foreign language training, all compatible with iPods.
3. Raybook: This company has turned popular study guides and flash cards like Cliff’s Notes and Netter’s into iPod-compatible study sessions. Programs use video, audio and interactive media to help you learn more effectively.
4. VangoNotes: College students can browse this website for audio downloads in subjects like Sociology, Nursing, Business, Computer Science and other disciplines to access textbook study guides.
5. NotePods: Currently offered for just $1.99 each, these iPod-compatible study guides give summaries on Jane Austen novels, Shakespeare plays, works by Tolstoy and more.
6. WorldNomads Language Guides: Prepare for your next vacation by learning Spanish, Thai, French, Hindi, Arabic, Italian, Japanese, Chinese or any of the other languages offered here.
7. CramSession: Computer and IT students studying for professional exams can find audio study guides here, ready to download.
8. SparkCharts: This designed-for-iPod study charts help students prep for tests in biology, anatomy, chemistry, algebra, calculus, Spanish and other subjects.
9. SAT Vocabulary Builder: Get test taking strategies and access to a flocabulary hip hop audio session that will help you remember tricky SAT vocab words.
10. Cisco Study Guides: Students and professionals studying for Cisco exams can access iPod-compatible study guides here.

Podcasts and More

From podcasts to audio books and other downloadable learning devices, check out these tools that give new meaning to the phrase “continuing education.”

11. GoogleGet: Get your Google News and iPod in sync by installing this software program. You’ll stay current on all the top news stories, making you better prepared for class or work.
12. Smithsonian Global Sound: Listen to and learn about music styles from all over the world by checking out the downloads available at the Smithsonian’s Global Sound site.
13. Soundwalk: This site currently only sells CDs and MP3s, but you can use an MP3-iPod converter to check out unique self-guided audio tours like “The Bronx Graffiti Walk” or “The Paris St. Germain Walk.”
14. ESL Podcasts: Learn English by taking these ESL classes on your iPod.
15. Pod CityGuides: This site has hundreds of city guides that are compatible with iPods, so no one has to know you’re really a tourist.
16. iPod Spanish to Go: Learn Spanish on your iPod with this program that teaches pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and culture.
17. Mogopop: Use this online program to enhance iPod learning by adding notes, video and illustrations to audiobooks and study notes.
18. BiblePLayer for iPod 1.1: Add the King James Bible to your iPod for free with this download.
19. Brain Quest: This popular educational game is available at different levels for grades 1-7.
20. Stedman’s Medical Terminology Flash Cards: This set of iPod-friendly flash cards will help any healthcare, nursing, pre-med or medical student prepare for an exam.
21. Teach Kids Valuable Lessons with Free Sesame Street iPod Videos: Lifehacker writes about the six free Sesame Street videos offered on iTunes, perfect for introducing your child to technology and other educational basics.
22. The Education Podcast Network: Find this podcast at the iTunes store to access information, tutorials and other materials about teaching students at all levels and in a variety of disciplines.
23. NPR Science Friday: Listen to clever, engaging discussions about science from National Public Radio’s popular program.
24. The Philosophy Talk: This is “the program that questions everything…except your intelligence.” Find it on iTunes to save podcasts on your iPod.

Tutorials

These tutorials will help you make the most of your iPod by showing you how to learn new skills and create your own podcasts.

25. iTunes Store – Audiobooks: Find audiobooks on any subject at the iTunes Store, including news, sports, technology, travel, languages, drama and poetry and more.
26. Kaplan SAT Prep: Supplement your SAT prep with this iPod-friendly download from Kaplan.
27. iPod Manuals, User Guides and Tutorials: Troubleshoot any problems you have with your iPod and new educational downloads using this collection of iPod manuals.
28. Video iPod Tutorial: Learn how to add podcasts, videos and more to your iPod by checking out this easy how-to guide.
29. Learning Podcasting: If you want to create your own podcast to share your skills or expertise on a particular subject, read this in-depth introduction to podcasting from Wise-Women.org.
30. Podtender 3.0: This software program will teach you how to make all kinds of tasty cocktails for your next party.
31. PodGourmet 2.0: Teach yourself to become a master chef when you get recipes for traditional and vegan meals with this iPod program.
32. iPod Lesson Plans: Use your iPod in clever new ways to engage students in the classroom. Lesson plan ideas include learning math with music and creating an audio tour.
33. Librivox: Access podcasts and recordings of book chapters from nearly all genres of literature.
34. LearnOutLoud.com: This popular website offers free audio books, lectures and other educational material that can be put on an iPod. Browse categories like technology, religion and spirituality, languages, science, politics and business, among others.

Applications

Check out these applications and software programs that will make learning with your iPod even easier.

35. iPodSync: Sync up your work or school Outlook accounts with your iPod by installing iPodSync. You can get automatic updates and transfers for notes, calendar appointments, e-mail, news feeds and more.
36. MP3 to iPod Converter: Use this software to convert MP3s to iPod-compatible audio books.
37. iGadget: Make your class notes, presentations, study guides and other materials iPod-friendly by using iGadget. You’ll be able to move documents and files back and forth between your iPod and your computer easily and securely.
38. Plato Video to iPod Converter: Use this app to transform all kinds of video formats into MP4 formats so that you can upload video clips and footage onto your iPod.
39. Anapod: If you’re a Windows user but love your iPod, use the Anapod to transfer files back and forth, including class notes, Web clips and more.
40. CopyTrans: If you’ve loaded up your iPod with tons of finals week study guides, formulas and translators, use the CopyTrans to back it all up and get in sync with your computer…just in case.
41. iSquint: Convert DVDs, TiVo, AVI, WMV and other video formats to iPod-friendly videos with iSquint.
42. iPodifier: Sync up your iPod with TiVo, Windows Media Player or SageTV to view video streams of the news, educational programming or other TV shows on your iPod.
43. iWriter: Talking Panda’s iWriter gives you the tools to create your own iPod study tools with this application and quick tutorial.
44. YouTube to iPod Converter 2.6: This free converter lets you watch educational videos, TV clips and more on your iPod so that you can review for tests, contribute to class discussions or add them to a presentation.
45. WiPod v1.0: If you’re looking for a place to study, do some research or prepare for a business meeting, use this application to help you identify the nearest public WiFi hotspot.

More Downloads

Find even more classes and audio books online here. Then, download them to your iPod and keep learning on your way to class, on the plane to your next vacation or anywhere else you have a few minutes to zone out.

46. Telltale Weekly: This audio book store allows students and literature enthusiasts purchase AAC-formatted audio books and stories for just 25 cents each. Browse categories like Drama, Nonfiction, Humor and Popular Authors.
47. Free Classic AudioBooks: Find books like Herman Melville’s Typee, Huckleberry Finn and Swiss Family Robinson in iPod-friendly formats here.
48. Made for Success: This popular personal and professional coaching program is now offered in an audio book format.
49. Sound Book Emporium: Browse categories like Foreign Language Study, Self Help and Business to find a class that meets your personal, professional or academic needs.
50. Talking Books Network: Students can quickly listen to key chapters of books they need to finish for class or hear critiques of literary works to help them contribute to in-class discussions.
51. Project Gutenberg: This large online library of audio books and e-books contains stories and books in languages from English to Greek to Danish to Korean.
52. iJourneys: Take walking tours in cities like Salzburg, Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris and Ancient Rome by downloading iPod-compatible guides from this site.
53. Audio Bibles for iPod: AllBibles.com offers iPod-compatible Bibles for theology and seminary students, or for those who just want a more portable version to take along with them.
54. iLingo: This easy-to-use foreign language program is designed for the iPod and includes tutorials in Italian, German, Portuguese, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Russian and more.
55. PodGuides.net: Create your own podguide to give visitors an insider’s look at your community, or browse through other guides to enhance your next vacation to Melbourne, Brussels, France’s Opal Coast and more.

Classroom Help

Supplement your class discussions with iPod tools like StudyGuideGuru and Portable Notes, which will keep your assignments fresh in your head all day.

56. The Teaching Company: Supplement your class assignments and syllabi with courses and study guides from The Teaching Company. You can search topics like Ancient and Modern History, Religion, Philosophy, Science and Mathematics and more.
57. Portable Notes: Use this guide to help you install Portable Notes on your iPod, making it easy to review class notes and study guides even if you’re away from your computer.
58. Merriam-Webster Reference Dictionary: Download the popular dictionary onto your iPod to look up words and definitions in class, on your way to class or anywhere else.
59. StudyGuideGuru: This collection of literature study guides will help you prep for your next exam, paper or in-class discussion.

iPod Learning Support

New iPod users will appreciate these crash courses in iTunes, podcasting and downloading, while seasoned iPod veterans can find new tricks to maximize their iPod’s portability.

60. Get Tips for Podcasts: The iTunes Store publishes this tutorial with tips for searching for, purchasing and playing podcasts on your iPod.
61. Download and Install iTunes: If you’ve just bought an iPod, check out this quick training guide to get tips on searching for and downloading iTunes.
62. PDA iPod Guide: This website features MP4 converters, iPod converters, software and tutorials that will help you turn your iPod into a learning device with all the bells and whistles.
63. Podcasting Plus: This in-depth guide has everything you need to know about creating your own podcast.
64. Podcasting Legal Guide: Understand the legal issues and limitations that affect podcasting with this guide.
65. iPod in the Classroom: Take a look at Apple’s collection of lesson plans for teachers who want to use their iPod for classroom work.
66. iLounge: Get together with other iPod users to find out about new things you can do with your iPod.
67. Rock Your iPod with an Open-Source Upgrade: Consider turning your iPod into an open-source device, allowing you to access even more videos, tutorials, online classes and more.
68. 5 Tricks You can Teach iTunes: Maximize your iPod’s potential by learning how to work these tricks, including sharing files, reversing sync and setting up smart playlists.

Tools and Sites

Turn to these websites for access to even more audio books and iPod learning devices.

69. AudioBook-Megashop: Categories here include Arts and Drama, Fiction, History and Self Help. There are no monthly subscription fees; just pay once each time you purchase an audio book.
70. ShowFootage: Browse through this site’s library of video clips to make your presentations and projects more attractive.
71. Audible.com: Find a large variety of books, newspapers and magazines ready to download to your iPod on this site. Categories include Romance, Classics, Business, History and more.
72. iPod Tours: Apple’s iPod Tour Guide store lets you search for and download audio tours like Chateau de Versailles, Jewish Museum Berlin and Disney Cruise Line.
73. AudioLearn: This site offers all kinds of test prep guides for the SAT, MCAT, DAT, TOEFL and other exams, all ready to be uploaded onto your iPod.
74. Homeschool eStore: Find SparkNotes in iPod-friendly formats here.
75. English Tutor TeleCampus: Download test preps for your iPod to study for the TOEFL, GRE, GMAT and other tests.
76. Rocketbook Video Study Guides: These unique video study guides can be downloaded as MP3s, but use a converter to make them iPod friendly. Humorous videos include guides for The Great Gatsby, Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey.
77. Books on Board: Search for ebooks and audio books on this site, in categories ranging from Women’s Reading to Textbooks to Classics to Business.
78. iPlay Music: This set of music lessons is designed for a variety of multimedia devices, including the iPod.
79. MyTrainingCenter.com: Access hundreds of video tutorials and how-to guides that provide computer and business training. Downloads are compatible with the iPod.
80. Unerase Tool: Recover lost study guides, class notes and other materials with this handy tool made for iPods.
81. Budget Travel Podcasts: The famed Budget Travel site now offers downloadable podcasts for vacations to Las Vegas, Miami and Quebec City.

iTunes U

These top schools offer classes on iTunes U. Start downloading now to listen to Ivy League professors lecture, brush up on your foreign language skills or just broaden your horizons.

82. Stanford on iTunes: Take a class from Stanford by downloading one onto your iPod. Or, you can find interviews with faculty and lectures to help you better understand the course material at your own school.
83. University of California — Berkeley: Classes from this well-respected school are available in chemistry, the social sciences, journalism and much more.
84. Duke University: Listen to the Duke Featured Speakers Podcast or check out notes from the Theatre department or listen to the lecture series sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies.
85. New York Law School: New York Law School has lectures on iTunes on environmental law, family law, adoption policy, legal education and other hot topics.
86. MIT: This elite school shares lecture notes, project discussions and more on subjects ranging from engineering to philosophy to urban studies.
87. Michigan Tech”: Classes like Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering are all available in podcast form at iTunesU.
88. Yale Books and Authors: Check out this collection of podcasts from Yale authors and faculty, on topics like education, slavery and more.
89. Harvard Extension School: Take classes from Harvard from the comfort of wherever you bring your iPod. This program features podcasts of a variety of lectures and courses from the Ivy school.
90. Wellesley on iTunesU: Wellesley College courses and lectures like “Not Such a Small World: The Challenges of Globalization” and “Academic Frauds, Fictions and Fantasies” on iTunes.
91. Texas A & M: Find all kinds of workshop materials, lectures and other podcasts from this well-known school on iTunes.
92. Lehigh University: Listen to and watch lectures, news, videos and entire courses from Lehigh University.
93. Northeastern University: NU is another top school with classes, interviews and other educational materials on iTunes.
94. Queen’s University: Canada’s famous Queen’s University provides lectures, sports events, news and more to people all over the world wanting to advance their education.

Miscellaneous

Read below for fun tutorials and podcasts that will enhance your educational experience no matter where you are.

95. iPod in Education: Visit this site for advice, tutorials and downloads for using the iPod in educational settings.
96. Research at Chicago: The University of Chicago sponsors this podcast, full of interviews and reports fro the latest research projects in psychology, physics, law and more.
97. Business English: Learn how to communicate better and improve your professional English skills by tuning into the podcast on your iPod.
98. History According to Bob: Professor Bob takes his listeners through history, from Ancient Greece to World War I to the Aztecs.
99. Education Podcast with John Merrow: This PBS-sponsored podcast features correspondent John Merrow and his interviews and reports on the social, political, economic and cultural issues that affect our world.
100. Openculture: Free Educational Podcasts: Check out this extensive list of free podcasts from colleges and universities like Columbia, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Stanford Law and the London School of Economics.

Written by consumerist (Photo: Getty)

Future Shop is a Canadian consumer electronics retail chain. Charlie used to work there, and has now passed along the 7 most common lies he heard salesmen use on unsuspecting customers. Whether you have a Future Shop in your area or not, you’ll find these lies familiar. (We ran into a lot of them back when The Wiz was still in NYC, in fact.)

1) “The Service Plan covers everything” In fact, it doesn’t cover most things. Don’t believe any salesman who says it covers physical damage, spills, cosmetic damage, etc. Also, after you have you machine replaced (after 3 repairs), the Service Plan stops working. The salesman will act like the replacement is a benefit, really it’s so FS can wash their hands of your buggy hardware.

2) “I’m going to give you a discount”
More often than not my co-workers would lie about high priced items, claiming to take off hundreds of dollars on cables or warranties to trick uninformed shoppers. Always shop around and find out how much things are worth, and watch what the items scan in at instead of taking his word.

3) “This model is a Future Shop exclusive”
Danger Will Robinson. “Exclusives” are always a repackaged retail product, usually with a slight cosmetic change, but bumped up several hundred dollars. As my manager put it: “They move the speakers from the bottom to the sides, repaint it and we mark it up”. Salesmen make about triple commission on these models, so there’s strong incentive to push them.

4) “Setup will avoid hours of work”
This only applies to computers, but it’s good to know. Most salesmen try to push this on technophobes, saying that it’s a complicated procedure involving special tools. Really, they click through the Vista install, run regedit to stop some software and burn a backup disk. Oh, and it’s automated. Unless your time is worth about 30 dollars an hour do it yourself.

5) “You’re saving on x”
With some products there are legitimate discounts available for bundling, and managers have the authority to offer real discounts on unbundled product. However, avoid bundles like “Pay 350 dollars for setup and get free Office and Antivirus”. You end up saving about 20 dollars on Office and Antivirus, but you’re paying 80 dollars for useless setup still. If you’re going for a discount refuse to tack on anything you don’t want, and try to push the salesman. It’ll hurt his numbers to help you, but he won’t want to lose a big sale.

6) “You need Monster Cables/Setup/x to make this work well”
Anyone who reads Consumerist knows Monster Cables are a scam, so avoid them like the plague. They make the salesman about 25 dollars per cable, and leave you with very expensive copper. Similarly, some salesmen say computers won’t work well without setup, which less technically-inclined customers tend to believe.

7) “You have to buy x”
Legally, the store is obligated to sell you any available (nondisplay) product at the advertised price. Many stores “pre-setup” their laptops to avoid making customers wait for setup. Salesmen see this as an excuse to force the setup on you. Legally (at least in my store), if the customer didn’t want setup we had to give them the laptop at the sticker price, with setup. If the salesman is too pushy ask for a manager, who will know the rules a lot better.

Written by deputydog

obviously, construction technologies are advancing extremely quickly. couple that with multi-billionnaires / deep-pocketed companies trying to outdo each other in the quest for the next standout design and you have a near-future filled with mile-high skyscrapers and buildings that no longer look like buildings.

below are 9 strange and unique structures which have either been approved or are in the final stages of approval. some have already been partially constructed.

welcome to the future landscape.

1. aqua, usa (website)

from a distance this skyscraper, to be completed in 2009 in chicago, will seem quite traditional. it’ll only be when you get close and look up that you can appreciate the ripple/jelly effect created by variously sized balconies from top to bottom.

2. chicago spire, usa (website)

the phenomenal chicago spire, when completed in 2010, will be the world’s tallest residential building and the tallest building of any kind in the western world. seemingly modelled on the image of a giant drill poking through the ground, the 609m structure will dominate the chicago skyline.

3. cctv headquarters, china (website)

at a modest 234m the cctv building isn’t going to stand out from a distance. however the design and shape is a crowdstopper to say the least and will be another incredible addition to beijing’s skyline in time for the 2008 olympics. the shape, described as a ‘z criss-cross’ results in a very high, seemingly unsupported corner at the front. let’s hope there’s a glass floor up there.

4. regatta hotel, jakarta (website)

taking on a nautical theme, the developers say the 10 smaller towers represent sailing boats whilst the larger building is ‘the lighthouse’. it’s the lighthouse that steals the show for me, possibly the most incredible looking structure i’ve seen for a long time. if it ends up looking anything close to these pictures i’ll be impressed.

5. residence antilia, india (architects’ website)

construction has begun on residence antilia despite opposition from those who see it as an ‘excessive’ design in a city where more than 65% of the population live in slums. politics aside and after you recover from the initial shock of seeing a skyscraper that resembles an ikea cd rack, the building actually looks like it may succeed as a stunning, unique, green piece of architecture.

6. russia tower, russia (architects’ website)

topped with an observation deck over the city of moscow, russia tower will become the tallest building in europe when completed in 2012 and twice the height of the eiffel tower. construction has already started on this angular beast which was designed by foster & partners, also responsible for the gherkin and spaceport america, currently in development.

7. penang global city centre, malaysia (website)

following months of speculation and sturdy opposition, this humungous project is in the final stages of approval and apparently construction will start very soon. even so, due to the size of the plan it will take at least 15 years to complete. resembling a sci-fi city, the area will be crowned by 2 x 200m towers and completely transform the small island of penang.

8. gazprom headquarters, russia (architects’ website)

this gigantic, 300m tall glass flame of a building will house the gazprom headquarters in st. petersburg, dwarfing all structures in its vicinity. it will apparently change colour up to 10 times per day depending on the position of the sun. the building has already been nicknamed ‘corn on the cob’ by unhappy locals.

9. burj dubai, dubai (website)

this is the big one. when completed next year it will be the tallest man-made structure in the world and the tallest building by a long shot with a predicted height of 818m. note: currently the tallest building on earth, excluding an antenna, is taipei 101 in taiwan which stands at 509m. the photo below is the building’s current state: the skyscrapers below the burj dubai used to look tall.

sources: 1, 2, 3

Written by makeuseof

Web 2.0 is a phenomenon and YouTube is the perfect symbol of Web 2.0 applications. It has become wildly popular – one of the most popular, most-visited sites on the internet. No matter how often you visit it, you always come back. Below, we present to you the best applications for dealing with Youtube.

iDesktop.tv – iDesktop.tv is basically a Youtube but with a way more interactive interface plus an option to download and save any video to your PC. It also allows user to choose and download video in desired format, including AVI (Windows), 3GP (Mobile), MP4 (iPod), and MOV (Quicktime).

OrbitDownloader (Windows) – Powerful all-in-one media downloader for your desktop. OrbitDownloader removes the download barriers from almost all popular social media websites, i.e. Youtube, Dailymotion, Pandora, Rapidshare and many others. Once installed, you’ll be able to speedy download from almost any video or music streaming website.

Highlights include:

• Download from social music and video websites.
• Download acceleration. Outperforms most of the traditional Youtube downloaders.
• Option to pasue and resume download at any time.
• Check out full feature list here.

Videoembed (Greasemonkey script) – This one is really cool. Youtube videos are linked from everywhere these days. And this addon lets you watch the video right on the page it’s linked from. It automatically adds embedded video after each link to pages like Metacafe, Youtube, Myspace? and many others so you can view the video without going to the website. Check it out in action on the Digg’s video section.

Before:

After:

VideoFocus – Want to watch online videos without any distractions like ads, chats, comments, etc? This Greasemonkey script strips everything (ads, comments, related video?) but video and a plain background. Works with 30+ video sharing sites.

(By) Contributed by Sumesh and edited by Aibek. Sumesh is a blogger and freelance writer. You can check out his blog at Techzilo.com.

Written by Vertus Fluid Mask

Sometimes they can be funny, sometimes thought provoking, other times they just mess with your mind. They’ll always take your breath away though and make you wonder at the skills of the people that created them. The following images are our favourite Photoshopped images. If you’ve seen better we’d love to hear from you.

Written by neatorama

Edison with his phonograph (1877). To “hear” Edison bit into his phonograph so the sound vibration traveled through his teeth to his inner ear.

You only have to look around you to see things that Thomas Alva Edison invented or made better. The prolific inventor (in his 84 years, Edison had 1,093 patents to his name) contributed to the incandescent light bulb, phonograph, electrical systems, motion picture camera, telegraph, telephone, X-ray and so on.

Most people think of the light bulb when they think of Edison, but did you know that the “Wizard of Menlo Park” actually didn?t invent the thing? Did you know about his idea of using cement to build homes, furniture, refrigerators and even pianos? Or, how about his role in the execution of a rogue elephant by electrocution?

In honor of his birthday (he was born in February 11, 1847), Neatorama has cobbled up 10 fascinating facts about Thomas Edison, the world?s most famous and prolific inventor:

1. Teacher Thought Edison was “Addled”

Edison was an inquisitive child but a poor student as his mind often wandered. The youngest of 7 siblings, “Al” as he was called in his youth, was deemed “addled” by his school teacher.

When she found out, Edison?s mother was angry and pulled him out of school after only three months of formal education. She home schooled him instead. Edison later recounted “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had some one to live for, some one I must not disappoint.“

2. Edison Built His First Lab at the Age of 10

When Edison turned 9, his mother gave him an elementary science book on how to do chemistry experiments at home. Edison was hooked: he did every experiments in the book and soon spent all his spare money buying chemicals.

At the tender age of 10, Edison built his first science laboratory in the basement of his family?s home. His father tried to bribe him with a penny if only Edison would get out of the basement and go read a book. This he did, but he also used the penny to buy more chemicals for experiments. And to make sure no one took his prized chemicals, he labeled all his bottles “poison.”

3. Edison Was Deaf and He Liked It That Way!

At around the age of 12, Edison started to lose his hearing. One legend has it that a train conductor smacked him in the ears after he started a fire in a boxcar by doing experiments. Edison himself said that he was injured when the conductor picked him up by the ears onto a moving train. Others had said that it caused by a bout of scarlet fever during childhood. In all likelihood it was a genetic condition as both Edison?s father and one of his brothers also suffered from hearing loss.

But one thing?s for sure: Edison actually liked being deaf (technically, he was hard of hearing, not completely deaf). He said that it made it easier for him to concentrate on his experiments.

Oh, one more thing: Edison actually did have a laboratory in a boxcar that caught on fire! Then 12-year-old Edison took a job selling newspaper and candies on the Grand Trunk Railroad from Port Huron to Detroit. He set up a lab for chemistry experiments and a printing press in the baggage car, where he published the Grand Trunk Herald, the first newspaper published on a train.

4. Edison Saved a Boy From a Runaway Train

At the Grand Trunk Railroad, 14-year-old Edison saved 3-year-old Jimmie MacKenzie from a runaway boxcar. Jimmie?s father, station agent J.U. MacKenzie was so grateful that he taught Edison how to operate the telegraph machine.

Later, Edison became a telegraph operator for Western Union. He requested the night shift so he could have more time for his experiments. One day he accidentally spilled sulphuric acid while experimenting on a battery. The acid ran between the floorboards and onto his boss? desk below. Needless to say, Edison was fired the next morning.

5. Edison?s First Patented Invention was a Flop

In 1869, when Edison was just 22 years old, he got his first patent for a telegraphic vote-recording machine for the legislature. Each legislator would move a switch on Edison?s machine that would record his vote on a particular bill.

When a business partner brought the invention to Washington D.C., this is what Congress had to say about it:

The chairman of the committee, unimpressed with the speed with which the instrument could record votes, told him that “if there is any invention on earth that we don?t want down here, that is it.” The slow pace of roll call voting in Congress and other legislatures enabled members to filibuster legislation or convince others to change their votes. Edison?s vote recorder was never used. (Source: The Edison Papers)

From then on, Edison decided that he would only invent something if there was a market for it.

6. Edison Proposed Marriage ? by Morse Code!

On Christmas Day in 1871, at the age of 24, Edison married his 16-year old employee Mary Stilwell, after meeting her just two months earlier. By February, Edison was exasperated at his wife?s inability to invent that he wrote in his diary “Mrs Mary Edison My wife Dearly Beloved Cannot invent worth a Damn!!” and “My Wife Popsy Wopsy Can?t Invent.” Mary gave birth to three children, the first two Edison nicknamed “Dot” and “Dash.”

Two years after Mary died, Edison met and married 20-year-old Mina Miller. The story of how the two met is quite interesting: After Mary?s death, Edison regularly went to Boston and stayed with his friends Mr. and Mrs. Gilliard. The Gilliards made sure that some eligible young lady was “visiting” at the same time. Edison, who was half-deaf, bug-eyed, plagued with halitosis and bad dandruff, would stick his face very close to the girl?s in order to hear her words. This naturally creeped them all out!

One day, the Gilliards introduced Edison to Mina Miller, to whom Edison was immediately smitten:

Edison found his own version of paradise in Fort Myers, then a small village, and apparently decided that he must do three things: build a winter home in Florida, marry Mina, and bring her to his tropical Eden. Once back in New York, Edison?normally a workaholic?was obsessed with his new love. He wrote in his diary at this time: “Saw a lady who looked like Mina. Got thinking about Mina and came near being run over by a streetcar. If Mina interferes much more will have to take out an accident policy.” (Source: Anatomy of Some Celebrated Marriages by D. Wallechinsky and I. Wallace, The People?s Almanac)

Edison taught Mina Morse code so they could communicate in secret by tapping into each other?s hands when her family was around. One day, Edison asked .? ? ..- .-.. -.. -.? ? ..- ? .- .-. .-. -.? ? . and Mina replied -.? . ?

7. Edison Has a Mysterious Tattoo on His Arm

According to a 1911 policy with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, Edison had five dots tattooed on his left forearm. No one knew what the dots meant.

Interestingly, Edison was credited for inventing the basic tattoo machine. In 1876, he patented the Stencil-Pens, an engraving device that many years later was modified by Samuel O?Reilly to make the world?s first tattoo machine.

Though it would?ve been a neat thing, there was simply no evidence that Edison used his invention to give himself a tattoo.

8. The Edison Invention That Killed

After Wilhelm Conrad R?ntgen discovered X-rays in 1895, Edison directed his employee, a glassblower named Clarence Dally to develop a fluoroscope (then called the Edison X-ray focus tube). The device was a commercial success and ultimately became the basis of modern fluoroscopy used in hospitals today.

At the time, X-rays were not believed to be dangerous and Clarence had a habit of testing X-ray tubes on his hands. In 1900, he had developed lesion on his wrist that wouldn?t heal after several skin grafts and was so tenacious that his hand had to be amputated. Edison kept Dally on his payroll, even when he was so sick that he couldn?t work any more. Clarence?s condition worsened and even after the amputations of both of his arms, he died of cancer.

Shaken, Edison stopped all work on fluoroscopes as revealed in a New York World interview in 1903:

“Don?t talk to me about X-rays,” he said. “I am afraid of them. I stopped experimenting with them two years ago, when I came near to losing my eyesight and Dally, my assistant practically lost the use of both of his arms. I am afraid of radium and polonium too, and I don?t want to monkey with them.” (Source: New York World)

9. Edison?s Quirky Invention: the Concrete House

In 1887, Edison embarked on a project that would later prove to be a huge fiasco. He proposed an idea of extracting iron from low-grade ore and was immediately ridiculed by an editorial who called the idea “Edison?s Folly.” The stubborn Edison immediately invested his own money and built a huge plant and a town around it, only to find years later that it would be far cheaper to mine iron ores!

So, left with all of the heavy machineries from the failed ore project, Edison decided to get into the cement business. He noticed that one could mold concrete into a wide variety of shapes and thought that he could build a house by pouring concrete into a single, giant mold! And not only the house: “everything from bathtubs, windowsills, staircases, and picture frames to electrical conduits and reinforcing rods would be molded right in.” (Source: American Heritage)

Edison and a model of his concrete house.
Photo: Edison National Historic Site – US National Park Service

Edison, who grew up poor, thought that he could solve New York?s housing problem and clear out the slums by mass producing affordable working man?s houses. But first, he needed a model: Edison hired a high-profile architecture firm to create a two-story, two-family house “in the style of Francis I.” At Edison?s request (he didn?t want to be known as “the father of ugly houses”), the model came with a large front porch and intricate exterior moldings.

This, of course, turned out to be impractical – so Edison downscaled his plan and casted his first concrete house on Hixon Street in South Orange, New Jersey, in 1911 (it was later demolished to make way for a supermarket and a parking lot).

Edison?s cement houses. Photo: Edison National Historic Site – US National Park Service

In 1917, with Edison?s blessing, pocket-watch magnate (apparently there was such a person) Charles Ingersoll constructed 11 concrete houses and offered them at $1,200 each – roughly one third of the usual price – but not a single house was sold!

Some historians and Edison biographers blame the publicity and Edison?s grandiose predictions for the demise of his most altruistic endeavor. No one wanted to live in a house that had been described as ?the salvation of the slum dweller.? People were too proud to be stigmatized as having been ?rescued from squalor and poverty.?

But there may have been a more important reason for the Edison monoliths? failure to catch on. The architect Ernest Flagg, writing in Collier?s Weekly seven years later, noted that ?Mr. Edison was not an architect? it was not cheapness that wanted so much as relief from ugliness, and Mr. Edison?s early models entirely did not achieve that relief.? From looking at them, it is hard to disagree.

Wait, what about those concrete furniture and piano we talked about? Well, in 1911 Edison boasted that concrete furniture could be made just as attractive as wood but cheaper and more durable. He went on to use air-impregnated “foam” concrete to make a piano, bathtub, and cabinets for his phonographs. Like his concrete houses, however, the Edison concrete furniture just never caught on. (If you have a picture of Edison?s concrete piano, please let me know!)

Edison?s concrete phonograph cabinets.
Photo: Edison National Historic Site – US National Park Service

10. Electrocuting an Elephant

In the late 1880s, Edison was embroiled in the “War of Currents” with George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla. Edison had promoted the use of direct current (DC) for electric power distribution, whereas Westinghouse and Tesla wanted to use alternating current (AC).

At the time, Edison had over one hundred power stations in the United States that delivered DC electricity to consumers. But because of a power loss due to resistance of the wire during transmission, the power station had to be located within a mile of the consumers. Edison?s then-employee, a brilliant Serbian engineer named Nikola Tesla proposed that AC could solve this problem but Edison didn?t listen.

Indeed, Edison had previously asked Tesla to improve his electrical power stations with $50,000 ($1 million in 2006 US dollar, Tesla?s wages were just $18 a week back then) as a reward. After Tesla delivered, Edison reneged on his offer and thus created bad blood between the two.

Back to the War of Currents: to demonstrate that his DC system was better and “safer,” Edison noted that AC had a lethal potential and could be used to electrocute. Though he was against capital punishment, Edison (and a hired employee named Harold P. Brown) developed the electric chair.

In 1903, a circus elephant named Topsy at Coney Island?s Luna Park went berserk and killed three people including an abusive trainer, who tried to feed her a lighted cigarette.

The elephant was considered a threat and the owners wanted it executed. When animal advocates protested the proposed method of hanging, Edison saw a publicity opportunity and suggested electrocution with AC.

Topsy was fed carrots laced with cyanide and then electrocuted with 6,000-volts AC. She died “without a trumpet or a groan” within seconds. (Source)

Topsy?s execution was a public spectacle: about 1,500 people attended and Edison even filmed the event:

[YouTube Link. Warning: gruesome]

Despite of Edison?s publicity campaign (he tried to popularize the term for being electrocuted as being “Westinghoused”), Tesla?s AC system won out in the end.

We didn?t talk about Edison?s main inventions, such the electric light bulb and phonograph (after all, this is an article about the weirder things about Edison) If you?re interested, two good links to check out are the wikipedia entry on Thomas Edison and the Edison National Historic Site website.

Written by collegebars

Meet 19 year old Lynzee Stauss. The author of ?College isn?t necessary?. Lynzee believes that women should not have to go to college. Why you ask? Well because the boys should have to, and these boys need to work if they want to have a good life. She believes that a husband should get home from work so she can ?go out to eat with all the money he makes and also pay the bills.? You can read the rest of her grammatically amusing article below.

But is this real? Or is it some sort of internet hoax aimed at garnering attention for a website? Well, we did some searching of social networking sites and found Lynzee, added her as a friend, and she accepted. We think she has yet to realize her recent internet fame. Or that all of her photos are going to be circulated around the internet now that they are public domain.

So what do we do now that she has revealed everything to us? We release it, of course. Because even Libby Hoeller knows, once you post something to the internet you can?t take it back.

Below you will find her profile and albums including her mother who undoubtedly is partially responsible for instilling this brilliant logic upon her child. We cant help but wonder, did Lynzee?s mother go to college? Did she find a man who is successful and ?treats her like a princess?? We hope not, because uh, well you can see her mother below and draw your own conclusion. (It would be kind of a bum deal for him!)

MySpace Stats:

About me:
my name is lynzee. im 18i love life i absolutly LOVE my boyfriend he treats me like a princess. He is my prince charming. And there is nobody out there for me better then him. I have two of the most AMAZING friends. Amber and Charisma I dont know what I would do without them.

After further consideration, there have been some business objections to the rest of the content in this post. Thus, at the request of our owners it has been removed until we can get full approval.

Source imagechan

Written by neatorama

You’ve seen these tech logos everywhere, but have you ever wondered how they came to be? Did you know that Apple’s original logo was Isaac Newton under an apple tree? Or that Nokia’s original logo was a fish?

Let’s take a look at the origin of tech companies’ logos and how they evolved over time:

Adobe Systems

Source: Adobe Press

In 1982, forty-something programmers John Warnock and Charles Geschke quit their work at Xerox to start a software company. They named it Adobe, after a creek that ran behind Warnock’s home. Their first focus was to create PostScript, a programming language used in desktop publishing.

When Adobe was young, Warnock and Geschke did everything they could to save money. They asked family and friends to help out: Geschke’s 80-year-old father stained lumber for shelving, and Warnock’s wife Marva designed Adobe’s first logo.

Apple Inc.

In 1976, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs (“the two Steves”) designed and built a homemade computer, the Apple I. Because Wozniak was working for Hewlett Packard at the time, they offered it to HP first, but they were turned down. The two Steves had to sell some of their prized posessions (Wozniak sold his beloved programmable HP calculator and Jobs sold his old Volkswagen bus) to finance the making of the Apple I motherboards.

Later that year, Wozniak created the next generation machine: Apple ][ prototype. They offered it to Commodore, and got turned down again. But things soon started to look up for Apple, and the company began to gain customers with its computers.

The first Apple logo was a complex picture of Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. The logo was inscribed: “Newton ? A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought ? Alone.” It was designed by Ronald Wayne, who along with Wozniak and Jobs, actually founded Apple Computer. In 1976, after only working for two weeks at Apple, Wayne relinquished his stock (10% of the company) for a one-time payment of $800 because he thought Apple was too risky! (Had he kept it, Wayne’s stock would be worth billions!)

Jobs thought that the overly complex logo had something to do with the slow sales of the Apple I, so he commissioned Rob Janoff of the Regis McKenna Agency to design a new one. Janoff came up with the iconic rainbow-striped Apple logo used from 1976 to 1999.

Rumor has it that the bite on the Apple logo was a nod to Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science who committed suicide by eating a cyanide-laced apple. Janoff, however, said in an interview that though he was mindful of the “byte/bite” pun (Apple’s slogan back then: “Byte into an Apple”), he designed the logo as such to “prevent the apple from looking like a cherry tomato.” (Source)

In 1998, supposedly at the insistence of Jobs, who had just returned to the company, Apple replaced the rainbow logo (“the most expensive bloody logo ever designed” said Apple President Mike Scott) with a modern-looking, monochrome logo.

Canon

Source: Canon Origin and Evolution of the Logo

In 1930, Goro Yoshida and his brother-in-law Saburo Uchida created Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Japan. Four years later, they created their first camera, called the Kwanon. It was named after the Kwanon, Buddhist Bodhisattva of Mercy. The logo included an image of Kwanon with 1,000 arms and flames.

Coolness of logo notwithstanding, the company registered the differently spelled word “Canon” as a trademark because it sounded similar to Kwanon while implying precision, a characteristic the company would like to be known and associated with.

Google

In 1996, Stanford University computer science graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin built a search engine that would later become Google. That search engine was called BackRub, named for its ability to analyze “back links” to determine relevance of a particular website. Later, the two renamed their search engine Google, a play on the word Googol (meaning 1 followed by 100 zeros).

Google.com in 1998

Two years later, Larry and Sergey went to Internet portals (who dominated the web back then) but couldn’t get anyone interested in their technology. In 1998, they started Google, Inc. in a friend’s garage, and the rest is history.

Google’s first logo was created by Sergey Brin, after he taught himself to use the free graphic software GIMP. Later, an exclamation mark mimicking the Yahoo! logo was added. In 1999, Stanford’s Consultant Art Professor Ruth Kedar designed the Google logo that the company uses today.

The very first Google Doodle: Burning Man Festival 1998

To mark holidays, birthdays of famous people and major events, Google uses specially drawn logos known as the Google Doodles. The very first Google Doodle was a reference to the Burning Man Festival in 1999. Larry and Sergey put a little stick figure on the home page to let people know why no one was in the office in case the website crashed! Now, Google Doodles are regularly drawn by Dennis Hwang.

IBM

Source: IBM Archives

In 1911, the International Time Recording Company (ITR, est. 1888) and the Computing Scale Company (CSC, est. 1891) merged to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR, see where IBM gets its penchant for three letter acronym?). In 1924, the company adopted the name International Business Machines Corporation and a new modern-looking logo. It made employee time-keeping systems, weighing scales, meat slicers, and punched-card tabulators.

In the late 1940s, IBM began a difficult transition of punched-card tabulating to computers, led by its CEO Thomas J. Watson. To signify this radical change, in 1947, IBM changed its logo for the first time in over two decades: a simple typeface logo.

In 1956, with the leadership of the company being passed down to Watson’s son, Paul Rand changed IBM’s logo to have “a more solid, grounded and balanced appearance” and at the same time he made the change subtle enough to communicate that there’s continuity in the passing of the baton of leadership from father to son.

IBM logo’s last big change – which wasn’t all that big – was in 1972, when Paul Rand replaced the solid letters with horizontal stripes to suggest “speed and dynamism.”

LG Electronics

LG began its life as two companies: Lucky (or Lak Hui) Chemical Industrial (est. 1947), which made cosmetics and GoldStar (est. 1958), a radio manufacturing plant. Lucky Chemical became famous in Korea for creating the Lucky Cream, with a container bearing the image of the Hollywood starlet Deanna Durbin. GoldStar evolved from manufacturing only radios to making all sorts of electronics and household appliances.

In 1995, Lucky Goldstar changed its name to LG Electronics (yes, a backronym apparently not). Actually, LG is a chaebol (a South Korean conglomerate), so there’s a whole range of LG companies that also changed their names, such as LG Chemicals, LT Telecom, and even a baseball team called the LG Twins. These companies all adopted the “Life is Good” tagline you often see alongside its logo.

Interestingly, LG denies that their name now stands for Lucky Goldstar? or any other words. They’re just “LG.”

Microsoft

Microsoft’s “groovy logo” source: Coding Horror

In 1975, Paul Allen (who then was working at Honeywell) and his friend Bill Gates (then a sophomore at Harvard University) saw a new Altair 8800 of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems or MITS. It was the first mini personal computer available commercially.

Allen and Gates decided to port the computer language BASIC for the computer (they did this in 24 hours!), making it the first computer language written for a personal computer. They approached MITS and ended up licensing BASIC to the company. Shortly afterwards, Allen and Gates named their partnership “Micro-soft” (within the year, they dropped the hyphen). In 1977, Microsoft became an official company with Allen and Gates first sharing the title general partners.

On to the logo history:

In 1982, Microsoft announced a new logo, complete with the distinctive “O” that employees dubbed the “Blibbet.” When the logo was changed in 1987, Microsoft employee Larry Osterman launched a “Save the Blibbet” campaign but to no avail. Supposedly, way back when, Microsoft cafeteria served “Blibbet Burger,” a double cheeseburger with bacon.

In 1987, Scott Baker designed the current, so-called “Pac-Man Logo” for Microsoft. The new logo has a slash on the ‘O’ that made it look like Pac-Man, hence the name. In 1994 Microsoft introduced a new tagline Where do you want to go today?, as part of a $100 million advertising campaign. Needless to say, it was widely mocked.

In 1996, perhaps tired of being the butt of jokes like “what kind of error messages would you like today?”, Microsoft dropped the slogan. Later, it tried on new taglines like “Making It Easier“, “Start Something“, “People Ready” and “Open Up Your Digital Life” before settling on the current “Your potential. Our passion.”

Oh, one more thing: what was Microsoft’s original slogan? It was “Microsoft: What’s a microprocessor without it?”

? Microsoft’s very first advertising campaign “Microsoft: What’s a microprocessor without it?,” which touted how Microsoft’s line of programming languages could be used to create software that would take advantage of the early microprocessors. The first advertisement in the campaign appeared in a 1976 issue of a microchip journal called Digital Design and featured a four panel black-and-white cartoon titled “The Legend of Micro-Kid.” The cartoon depicted a small microchip character as a boxer who possessed speed and power but quickly tired out because he had no real training. The other character, a trainer complete with a derby on his head and big stogie hanging out of his mouth, related the story of how the Micro-Kid had a great future but needed a manager, such as himself, in order to succeed. (source: PC Today)

Motorola

Motorola, then Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, was started in 1928 by Paul Galvin. In the 1930s, Galvin started manufacturing car radios, so he created the name ‘Motorola’ which was simply the combination of the word ‘motor’ and the then-popular suffix ‘ola.’ The company switched its name in 1947 to Motorola Inc. In the 1980s, the company started making cellular phones commercially.

The stylized “M” insignia (the company called it “emsignia”) was designed in 1955. A company leader said that “the two aspiring triangle peaks arching into an abstracted ‘M’ typified the progressive leadership-minded outlook of the company.” (I’m serious, look up the logo-speak here: Motorola History)

Mozilla Firefox

In 2002, Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross created an open-source web browser that ultimately became Mozilla Firefox. At first, it was titled Phoenix, but this name ran into trademark issues and was changed to Firebird. Again, the replacement name ran into problem because of an existing software. Third time’s the charm: the web browser was re-named Mozilla Firefox.

In 2003, professional interface designer Steven Garrity, wrote that the browser (and other software released by Mozilla) suffered from poor branding. Soon afterwards, Mozilla invited him to develop a new visual identity for Firefox, including the famous logo.

Update 2/7/08: I goofed on this one, guys: it was John Hicks of Hicksdesign that actually made the Firefox logo, designed from a concept from Daniel Burka and sketched by Stephen Desroches – Thanks Jacob Morse and Aaron Bassett!

Nokia

Source: about-nokia.com

In 1865, Knut Fredrik Idestam established a wood-pulp mill in Tampere, south-western Finland. It took on the name Nokia after moving the mill to the banks of the Nokianvirta river in the town of Nokia. The word “Nokia” in Finnish, by the way, means a dark, furry animal we now call the Pine Marten weasel.

The modern company we know as the Nokia Corporation was actually a merger between Finnish Rubber Works (which also used a Nokia brand), the Nokia Wood Mill, and the Finnish Cable Works in 1967.

Before focusing on telecommunications and cell phones, Nokia produced paper products, bicycle and car tires, shoes, television, electricity generators, and so on.

Nortel

Source: Nortel History

In 1895, Bell Telephone Company of Canada spun off its business that made fire alarm, call boxes, and other non-telephone hardware into a new company called the Northern Electric and Manufacturing Company Ltd. It began by manufacturing wind-up gramophones.

In 1976, Northern Electric changed its name to Northern Telecom Ltd. to better reflect its new focus on digital technology. Nineteen years later in 1995, it became Nortel Networks “reflecting its corporate evolution from telephoney manufacturing company to designer, builder, and integrator of perse multiservice networks.”

Palm

Palm Computing Inc. was founded in 1992 by Jeff Hawkins, who also invented the Palm Pilot PDA. The company has gone through some rough patches in its history: its first PDA called Zoomer was a commercial flop. Next, it was bought out by U.S. Robotics who was promptly sued by Xerox for patent infringement over its Graffiti handwriting recognition technology.

Then it gets convoluted: U.S. Robotics was bought by 3Com, and Hawkins, disgusted with office politics, left to create his own company Handspring. Ironically, not long after he left, 3Com spun off Palm Inc as a separate company. Palm Inc split into two, PalmSource (the OS side) and palmOne (the hardware part). palmOne then merged with Handspring and then bought PalmSource to coalesce back into ? Palm, Inc.!

Got that? No? Never mind. All along this journey, they not only change names, but logos as well. Well, at least the graphics designers got some money.

Xerox

Source: Xerox Historical Logos

Xerox Corporation can trace its lineage back almost 100 years ago to the Haloid Company, which was founded in 1906 to manufacture photographic paper and equipment.

In 1938, Chester Carlson invented a photocopying technique called electrophotography, which he later renamed xerography (Carlson was famous for his persistence: he experimented for 15 years and through debilitating back pain while going to law school and working his regular job). Like many inventions ahead of its time, it wasn’t well received at all. Carlson spent years trying to convince General Electric, IBM, RCA, and other companies to invest in his invention but no one was interested.

Until, that is, he went to the Haloid company, who helped him develop the world’s first photocopier, the Haloid Xerox 914. The copier were so successful that in 1961, Xerox dropped the Haloid from its name.

In 2004, fresh from a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for cooking the books, Xerox tried to re-invent itself (complete with a new logo). Four years later in 2008, it tried to get away from the image that it’s only a copier company and adopted a new logo. The good news is people don’t think of copier when they see the new logo. The bad news is, they think of a beach ball.

Update 2/7/08: And yes, I missed the “Digital X” logo of Xerox. Check out Brand New blog for the entire scoop.

Written by Timothy Ferriss

The Choice-Minimal Lifestyle

Photo: CyboRoz

I was stressed out? over dog cartoons.

It was 9:47pm at Barnes and Noble on a recent Saturday night, and I had 13 minutes to find a suitable exchange for “The New Yorker Dog Cartoons,” $22 of expensive paper. Bestsellers? Staff recommends? New arrivals or classics? I’d already been there 30 minutes.

Beginning to feel overwhelmed with a ridiculous errand I’d expected to take five minutes, I stumbled across the psychology section. One tome jumped out at me as all too appropriate-The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen or read Barry Schwarz’s 2004 classic, but it seemed like a good time to revisit the principles, among them that:

-The more options you consider, the more buyer’s regret you’ll have.
-The more options you encounter, the less fulfilling your ultimate outcome will be.

This raises an difficult question: Is it better to have the best outcome but be less satisfied, or have an acceptable outcome and be satisfied?

For example, would you rather deliberate for months and get the 1 of 20 houses that’s the best investment but second-guess yourself until you sell it 5 years later; or would you rather get a house that is 80% of the investment potential of the former (still to be sold at a profit) but never second-guess it?

Tough call.

One call wasn’t tough: he recommends making non-returnable purchases. I decided to keep the stupid pooch cartoons. Why? Because it’s not just about being satisfied, it’s about being practical.

Income is renewable, but some other resources-like attention-are not. I’ve talked before about attention as a currency and how it determines the value of time.

The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen explores this using case studies, but here’s one example to illustrate: is your weekend really “free” if you find a crisis in the inbox Saturday morning that you can’t address until Monday morning?

Even if the inbox scan lasts 30 seconds, the preoccupation and forward projection for the subsequent 48 hours effectively deletes that experience from your life. You had time but you didn’t have attention, so the time had no practical value.

The choice-minimal lifestyle becomes an attractive tool when we consider two truths:

1) Considering options costs attention that then can’t be spent on action or present-state awareness.

2) Attention is necessary for not only productivity but appreciation.

Therefore:

Too many choices = less or no productivity
Too many choices = less or no appreciation
Too many choices = sense of overwhelm

Some people find that religion enables a practical choice-minimal lifestyle, as tenets often limit the number of possible actions. During his year of attempting to follow the rules of the Bible literally, the then-agnostic AJ Jacobs of Esquire cited the rules and restrictions of the Bible as amazing in this respect. Not having to consider a wide spectrum of options or actions-as he was following immutable if-then rules-allowed him to focus undiluted attention on the areas that weren’t constrained. The result? Increased output.

Even though I attended an Episcopal high school, I’m not religious in the common sense (and I don’t use the term “spiritual”), so this approach isn’t mine.

What to do? There are 6 basic rules or formulas that can be used, regardless of denomination.

1. Set rules for yourself so you can automate as much decision-making as possible (see the rules I use to outsource my e-mail to Canada as an example of this)

2. Don’t provoke deliberation before you can take action.

One simple example: don’t scan the inbox on Friday evening or over the weekend if you might encounter work problems that can’t be addressed until Monday.

3. Don’t postpone decisions or open “loops,” to use GTD parlance, just to avoid uncomfortable conversations.

If an acquaintance asks you if you want to come to their house for dinner next week, and you know you won’t, don’t say “I’m not sure. I’ll let you know next week.” Instead, use something soft but conclusive like “Next week? I’m pretty sure I have another commitment on Thursday, but thank you for the invite. Just so I don’t leave you hanging, let’s assume I can’t make it, but can I let you know if that changes?” Decision made. Move on.

4. Learn to make non-fatal or reversible decisions as quickly as possible.

Set time limits (I won’t consider options for more than 20 minutes), option limits (I’ll consider no more than 3 options), or finance thresholds (Example: If it costs less than $100 [or the potential damage is less than $100], I’ll let a virtual assistant make the judgment call or consider no more than 3 options).

I wrote most of this post after landing at the monster that is ATL airport in Atlanta. I could have considered half a dozen types of ground transportation in 15 minutes and saved 30-40%, but I grabbed a taxi instead. To use illustrative numbers: I didn’t want to sacrifice 10 attention units of my remaining 50 of 100 total potential units, since those 10 units couldn’t then be spent on this article. I had about 8 hours before bedtime due to time zone differences-plenty of time-but scarce usable attention after an all-nighter of fun and the cross-country flight. Fast decisions preserve usable attention for what matters.

5. Don’t strive for variation-and thus increase option consideration-when it’s not needed. Routine enables innovation where it’s most valuable.

In working with athletes, for example, it’s clear that those who maintain the lowest bodyfat percentage eat the same foods over and over with little variation. I’ve eaten the same “slow carb” breakfast and lunch for nearly two years, putting variation only into meals that I focus on for enjoyment: dinner and all meals on Saturdays. This same routine-variation distinction can be found in exercise vs. recreation. For fat-loss and muscle gain (even as much as 34 lbs. in four weeks), I’ve followed the same time-minimal exercise protocol with occasional experiments since 1996. For recreation, however, where the focus is enjoyment and not efficacy, I tend to try something new each weekend, whether climbing at Mission Cliffs in SF or mountain biking from tasting to tasting in Napa.

Don’t confuse what should be results-driven with routine (e.g. exercise) with something enjoyment-driven that benefits from variation (e.g. recreation).

6. Regret is past-tense decision making. Eliminate complaining to minimize regret.

Condition yourself to notice complaints and stop making them with a simple program like the 21-day no-complaint experiment. Just a bracelet and awareness can prevent wasted past-tense deliberation that improves nothing and depletes your attention and emotional reserves.

###

Decision-making isn’t to be avoided-that’s not the problem. Look at a good CEO or top corporate performer and you’ll see a high volume of decisions.

It’s deliberation-the time we vacillate over and consider each decision-that’s the attention consumer. Total deliberation time, not the number of decisions, it was determines your attention bank account balance (or debt).

Let’s assume you pay 10% over time by following the above rules but cut your average “decision cycle” time by an average of 40% (10 minutes reduced to 6 minutes, for example). No only will you have much more time and attention to spend on revenue-generating activities, but you’ll get greater enjoyment from what you have and experience. Consider that 10% of additional cost as an investment and part of your “ideal lifestyle tax,” but not as a loss.

Embrace the choice-minimal lifestyle. It’s a subtle and underexploited philosophical tool that produces dramatic increases in both output and satisfaction, all with less overwhelm.

Make testing a few of the principles the first of many fast and reversible decisions.