A Favorite Web Site for Readers

I do not know about you, but I loved the Reader's Digest. They brought together the latest in interesting articles and repackaged them for easy consumption. I also like the jokes, which came in three or four flavors (humor in uniform, etc.). It was funny that my reaction to their condensed books is just the opposite.

Whenever I come across one of their condensed books at a garage sale, I will pull back in horror. I appreciate how they will abbreviate non fiction material, so that I can get the important core of it easily, but in reading novels, I really want the original words of the author, just like I am disappointed with the editing that changes a book into a movie.

I came across their web site and found that there you can get many of the articles that you enjoy in the print edition. Of course you do have to subscribe to get everything, like the vocabulary column, which I always enjoy. Also, it is much easier to create gold painted 3-D Christmas trees from the print edition.

The World's Funniest Joke (and more)

I recall hearing the following joke on NPR (My most listened to station) as the winner in the scientific search for the worlds most funny joke.

• Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go on a camping trip. After a good dinner and a
  bottle of wine, they retire for the night, and go to sleep.
  Some hours later, Holmes wakes up and nudges his faithful friend. "Watson,
  look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
  "I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes" replies Watson.
  "And what do you deduce from that?"
  Watson ponders for a minute.
  "Well, astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially
  billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I
  deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Meteorologically, I
  suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Theologically, I can see that
  God is all powerful, and that we are a small and insignificant part of the
  universe... What does it tell you, Holmes?"
  Holmes is silent for a moment. "Watson, you idiot!" he says. "Someone has
  stolen our tent!" 

 What I did not know at the time, is that it was a preliminary result, and the final report came out in October 2002 with much less fanfare. (I did not hear about it). Well it is available here: http://richardwiseman.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/ll-final-report.pdf and is chock full of interesting and funny facts. such as..

What type of humor is the most popular in the US or Canada?
What part of the brain is responsible for our humor?
What is the top Joke in Wales?
How did Dave Barry try to sway the results with gnawing weasels?

It is easy reading (only 14 or so pages long)

The Laugh Lab web site which has more resources is: http://laughlab.co.uk
  
Oh, and here is the final winner:

• A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them
  falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled
  back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the
  emergency services. He gasps to the operator: “My friend is dead! What
  can I do?” The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: “Just take it easy. I
  can help. First, let's make sure he's dead.” There is a silence, then a shot is
  heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: “OK, now what?”

Have a fun day! Any good jokes you would want to share?

In Book Heaven in Anaheim

I had fun this morning at the exhibit hall of the American Library Association Annual Convention in Anaheim. I picked up a few pre-publication preview books, and  lots of publisher information. I read more non-fiction than fiction, and most books I saw were Young Adult, which I do enjoy, and children's books. At the end of the conference, and maybe during the conference (I am not sure since I just dropped by on the last day) they sell display books at 50% and then most go down to as low as $5 for a hardbound and $2 for a paperback. I was on a tight budget today, so I only picked up free stuff. Here is a picture of the haul for the day:

 I was able to find a parking spot on a side street around the corner from the convention center, and I chose to forgo the $8 hot dogs in the convention center. I was really torn as to whether I should spend the time at the convention but I did enjoy it, and it was pretty painless. Next time, I would pack some crackers, because I was hungry when I got back home at 2:00pm.

I was fortunate to have a friend forward me a complimentary exhibit pass, but they are normally only $25 for an exhibit-only pass. I always keep an eye open for trade shows that have an inexpensive exhibit pass option. I noted that when the craft association came to San Diego, they made it very difficult for a member of the general public to get in. You had to prove that you were registered with the state as a craft retailer.

I want to do a shout out to Dave Kellett, artist and author of Sheldon and Drive, the SciFi comic. I had met him at ComicCon  two years ago, and I am a kickstarter backer of his movie STRIPPED: The Comics Documentary. He is a really nice guy. Despite my not buying any of his stuff today, he made me a personal drawing. I should have taken a picture of him drawing it, but I was not thinking clearly. I also met the # 2 guy at Wondermark, another of my favorites!

Since I do not have tickets to ComicCon this year, this was a nice treat.

Jackpot! of a sort.

I shared my love of the TED conferences a few months back. They, in general, are informing entertaining and thought-provoking. As a book lover I was intrigued by the fact that an in-person conference attendee (at over $7000) also is part of the TED book club described in this snippet from their web site:

TED Book Club: Enrollment in the TED Book Club, which sends inspired 2-3 book selections four times a year via Amazon Kindle software/hardware or physical books. While we send 12-15 titles per year, the Kindle option includes additional bonus selections (at least 10) available only electronically. Kindle software reader available for iPad, Mac, PC, and iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows 7 smartphones in addition to Kindle itself.

Since attending the conference is currently out of my reach, I really wanted to know what books all these movers and shakers were reading. (I know that being a mover and shaker is considered a good quality, even though it sounds a little odd).

Anyway, I searched a lot for the list of books, but could not find them anywhere, and what I found most peculiar is that few people talk about the list of books on-line.

Well, in yet another flurry of Google effort I hit pay-dirt with this web site.  

About Ideas: TED Talks, Books, Movies and Travel

 The author evidently goes to TED or TEDActive (the less expensive option at a secondary location). More importantly she lets her readers know when her TED Book Club delivery shows up. This new info will add fuel to the pile of books on my nightstand, and my book related web site Books and Big Ideas.  I am so excited!

Thought provoking content, daily

I have enjoyed following Seth Godin's blog for the last several months. He is point of view is refreshing, eye-opening and uplifting. Here is an example of one email update (slightly longer than average) I received that got me thinking. His book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? is one of my favorites. Follow the link to check out the book, or buy anything you want at amazon. It helps support my blogs, and costs you nothing extra.

How to succeed

You don't need all of these, and some are mutually exclusive (while others are not). And most don't work, don't scale or can't be arranged:

1. Be very focused on your goal and work on it daily
2. Go to college with someone who makes it big and then hires you
3. Be born with significant and unique talent
4. Practice every day
5. Network your way to the top by inviting yourself from one lunch to another, trading favors as you go
6. Quietly do your job day in and day out until someone notices you and gives you the promotion you deserve
7. Do the emotional labor of working on things that others fear
8. Notice things, turn them into insights and then relentlessly turn those insights into projects that resonate
9. Hire a great PR firm and get a lot of publicity
10. Work the informational interview angle
11. Perform outrageous acts and say obnoxious things
12. Inherit
13. Redefine your version of success as: whatever I have right now
14. Flit from project to project until you alight on something that works out very quickly and well
15. Be the best-looking person in the room
16. Flirt
17. Tell stories that people care about and spread
18. Contribute more than is expected
19. Give credit to others
20. Take responsibility
21. Aggrandize, preferably self
22. Be a jerk and win through intimidation
23. Be a doormat and refuse to speak up or stand up
24. Never hesitate to share a kind word when it's deserved
25. Sue people
26. Treat every gig as an opportunity to create art
27. Cut corners
28. Focus on defeating the competition
29. When dealing with employees, act like Steve. It worked for him, apparently.
30. Persist, always surviving to ship something tomorrow
31. When in doubt, throw a tantrum
32. Have the ability to work harder and more directly than anyone else when the situation demands it
33. Don't rock the boat
34. Rock the boat
35. Don't rock the boat, baby
36. Resort to black hat tactics to get more than your share
37. Work to pay more taxes
38. Work to evade taxes
39. Find typos

A favorite web comic

I have followed Schlock Mercenary for a number of years now. Even though the creator Howard Tayler would not want you to peruse his earliest drawing attempts, in the following comparison between his first strip and a very recent one, the improvement in drawing skill is noteworthy.

When I wake up each morning I dismiss the alarm on my phone, and go first thing to my email to read my daily dose of Schlock Mercenary. It is published daily with a large comic on Sunday, just like in the regular funny pages.  Even though I also love (and occasionally live) Dilbert, I figure I can catch up on his strip when I am retired. My daily Schlock habit must be supported.

I occasionally read Howard's blog where he does movie reviews. He also appears in a science fiction writing podcast called "Writing Excuses" where he is on a panel with 3 or 4 other authors and give writing tips and advice. I listen to that regularly as well.

Check it out. I am fairly certain you will not be disappointed. Do you have any web favorites that you care to share?

I wonder whom Romania votes for

Colossal, an Art and Design Site is Amazing

I just discovered www.thisiscolossal.com

The art is contemporary, and is very top quality. I liked these two projects since I like books so much. There is so much more that the site highlights.  Enjoy!

What are your favorite art sites?

Little Bits are Fun!

Just saw a TED talk about these Little Bits, electronic building blocks. Magnet connectors make it easy and fun to safely snap together components. The project is open source so the schematics are available online if you want to make them yourself. I think that it would still be hard to make your own building blocks, what with circuit boards and special plastic pieces, but it seems to me that other people can step up to add more interoperable modules. Not sure the price, but it looks like a blast to experiment with. What do you think?