Inspiration or Motivation: Tell me?

What's the difference between inspiration and motivation?  Tell me tell me..

Pavan for a Dead Panini Maker

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My krups Panini  Maker (the FDE312-75 to be exact) died yesterday and I have passed quickly from denial and guilt to reach reached the third stage of grief: ANGER.  For starters, a known component issue renders this unit useless. Something that should be easy to fix (like a fuse) isn't.  Really people, do we need more dead electronics?  Here's the fix, but I can't get the screw unlocked.  Bad Krups.  Very BAD Krups. Thanks to epinion for a clear description of the problem.  This is why we love the internet.

Tweet from email oh yeah!

I just tried twittermail by twittercounter... a shamelessly commercial app but really... who isn't deep down a capitalist in the silicon valley?  Yes you can!  You can send tweets from your email... and here's how

and here's the fine print: NOTICE: TwitterCounter may use cookies to collect and display data about your Twitter account when you visit third-party websites with The Visitor Widget installed. To disable this functionality you can log out of TwitterCounter. For more information please review our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service.

Parenting Tiger Style; Does it Work?

Is "Tiger Parenting" a panacea for declining academic standards in the US?  According to NYT columnist David Brooks... not so much:

"Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon have found that groups have a high collective intelligence when members of a group are good at reading each others’ emotions — when they take turns speaking, when the inputs from each member are managed fluidly, when they detect each others’ inclinations and strengths"  (NYT Op Ed Columnist David Brooks.  Read the full article: "Amy Chua is a Wimp". Jan. 17, 2011

What's Your Klout Poll

  What's your Klout classification.  Tell us! 

Vote Now: Typos on Twitter?

Are you good or bad with English conventions like spelling and punctuation? I'm in the bad column and let me tell you youngsters, writing really sucked in the old days before IBM invented the Selectric Typewriter. But enough ancient history. Tell me what you think. Does spelling matter on Twitter?

Calcium, Recyling, Groupon & Klout

Ok.. Point taken. It's random. Very random. But that's where the world is from behind my eyeballs today. Here's what we learned about the world since my last post:
--Calcium might be a magic bullet for exercise induced heart palpitations especially in people with Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome and Fribromyalgia (livestrong.com)
--Why you don't recycle pizza boxes and bottle caps
--Groupon sometimes offers really really great deals, but they are few and far between
--for my loyal readers who like social media, Klout is really really fun. Try it to see if you have any influence on the "Conversation" and learn who in your network does... Leave me a comment and let me know what your Klout score is today. Really, I want to know.

A memorable quote from Obama's Tuscon speech:

“At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized, at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do,” he said, “it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.”

Do Good Looking People Get the Job? The Ugly Betty Effect

Ugly Betty Plain and Beautiful

Are good looks an advantage to job hunters?  The answer is: It depends according to a recent study from from Ben-Gurion University.  Pictures were attached to resumes.  The resumes with pictures of "attractive" males were nearly 50% more likely to get a call from recruiters compared to "plain" males.  Resumes with no picture garnered the least response.  "It follows that an attractive male needs to send on average five CVs in order to obtain one response, whereas a plain-looking male needs to send 11 for a single response," explains Ze'ev Shtudiner, co-researcher and Ph.D. candidate.

Surprisingly, attractive women were LESS likely than plain women to get a call from recruiters.  "Among female candidates, no-picture females have the highest response rate, 22 percent higher than plain females and 30 percent higher than attractive females. Our findings on penalization of attractive women contradict current psychology and organizational behavior literature on beauty that associate attractiveness, male and female alike, with almost every conceivable positive trait and disposition," explain the authors.  Read the study here

All the Lonely People: List of Social Media

Back to work: Measuring Social Chatter

The holidays are over when dead fur trees lie down on the curb and colored lights go dark.  These signs tell us it's time to get back to work.  President's day is coming, enough domesticity, so let's turn our minds to measuring social chatter. 

In the old days, PR and Ad people used to have access to readership data collected by the publications to define their "product".  Today it often feels like we're flying blind.  Sure, we have Google analytics, but that only measure one game.  With YELP, twitter and all the other social media out there, how does a rational ad guy keep track of who is reading what?  Good question.  Ad Week suggests tracking Social Chatter.  Seems like a good idea.  But does it work?  Let me know.

Revewed Faith in Photography: Vivian Maier

A stash of more than 100,000 photos discovered in Chicago reveal life in the '50s with poignant force.  The artist's work is being shown for the first time in the US in at the Chicago Cultural Center.   Vivian Maier is her name.  See more gorgeous photos and read the unusual story of the discovery here.

Crock pot Carmelized Onions redoux

It works!  Yes, the Slow Cooker caramelized onions taste great!  The however is, it takes 8 hours.  This recipe is great if you want to toss the ingredients into the Crock Pot over night.  But it's not very energy efficient.  There's some disagreement about energy useage and slow cookers.  Here are both perspectives:
For: http://www.5min.com/Video/Using-a-Slow-Cooker-Can-Save-Energy-in-Your-Home-249784560
Against: http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Your-Crock-Pot-Really-Energy-Efficient?&id=2097552

Domesticity: Slow Cooker Camelized Onions

 Carmelized onions make great pizza and can perk-up an otherwise ho-hum meal.  Besides that, they keep for weeks in the fridge, so it's my go-to plan for those old onions that are starting to overstay their welcome in the pantry.  Here's the magic: make them in the Crockpot instead tending them on the stove.  Set them up in the morning and enjoy by dinner.   However, today I'm attempting to speed up the process because I forgot to start them this morning....(and otherwise dinner is looking a pretty ho-hum).

Ingredients

• 6-8  baseball-sized onions (about 4 pounds) peeled and halved
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 1 stick butter (more or less)

How to:

1. Slice the onions in the food processor (using the slicer blade of course)
2. Put them in the Crockpot insert
3. Add the oil and butter
4. Microwave on high 5 minutes to speed the cooking process (the crockery insert only...be safe)
5. Put the insert back in the slow cooker and turn to high
6. Crack the lid to let the steam vent

I'll let you know how long it really takes... (and if it works at all)