The ice bucket challenge videos that have been running around have done $41 million in good (and climbing.) Here’s a video that everyone involved in a challenge or not needs to see.
Antonio Carbajal has been diagnosed with ALS. As has his mother and his grandmother. This is his video. And his youtube channel. I encourage you to watch and to subscribe.
And to donate to ALS research here.
If you want to help Antonio directly, you can donate to help with his medical costs here.
Filed under Uncategorized
These suggestions have nothing to do with one’s religion. Most of them are pretty firmly endorsed by everything I learned as a psych major.
In a recent interview with the Argentine publication Viva, Pope Francis issued a list of 10 tips to be a happier person, based on his own life experiences.
The Pope encouraged people to be more positive and generous, to turn off the TV and find healthier forms of leisure, and even to stop trying to convert people to one’s own religion.
But his number one piece of advice came in the form of a somewhat cliche Italian phrase that means, “move forward and let others do the same.” It’s basically the Italian equivalent of, “live and let live.” You can check out the full list below.
The Pope gives a thumbs up to an audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. (Photo: CSV)
The Pope’s 10 Tips for a Happier Life
1. “Live and let live.” Everyone should be guided by this principle, he said, which has a similar expression in…
View original post 374 more words
Filed under Uncategorized
Something important to think about. What habits are the computres recording about you?
I recently read an article that opened my eyes wider to just how manipulative the algorithms are on Facebook. I’m guessing similar extra long math equations are also used to determine what ads show up on the side panes of almost ALL the sites I find myself traversing on the internet. As I was reading / understanding the article (click here to read, then come on back for a spell), a couple of things about my FB interactions became clear.
First off, all those deep, meaningful posts I’ve liked and shared have been used to box me into seeing only the content the FB computers “think” I would enjoy, based solely on what I “liked”. My FB experience was being tailored to the person a computer mathematically calculated me to be. Secondly, the very reason I was sharing and liking these posts – to spread information and the occasional cat…
View original post 261 more words
Filed under Uncategorized
Harlequin Ichthyosis is tragic and in the past very deadly.
I will warn that there are photos on this post that may disturb some. And I’ll throw on a trigger warning for historical child death.
Personally, I find it fascinating what the human body can do when it goes wrong.
Last Saturday, I was lounging around on the couch watching 5 straight episodes of Forensic Detectives (don’t judge) when I heard my computer ping. Being the internet junkie that I am, I immediately checked my inbox and saw a message from my old school friend, Andy, who is currently studying medicine at Case Western. He had an idea for a blog post, he wrote, but worried it might be too disturbing for my audience. Naturally, my curiosity was piqued.
Turns out, Andy had reason to worry. In the next message, he attached a photo of a 19th-century fetus (left), which is now housed at Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam. The baby had died from a very rare genetic disorder known as Harlequin Ichthyosis, which causes the overproduction of keratin protein in skin. As a result, those with the condition are born with huge, diamond-like scales all over their bodies…
View original post 755 more words
Filed under Uncategorized
So that Super Secret Business that I did want to name? It’s live!
We signed the first author today and I am utterly thrilled. She’s going to be doing an illustrated children’s series, so we need to get it into the stream pretty quickly.
We’ve got most of our ducks in a row. I’m going to finish up some banking details tomorrow morning, but for the most part, we’re ready to get going and it’s not a moment too soon.
JM is in charge of the organizational schedule and the day to day operations. I’m in charge of the money. It’s a good split that plays to our strengths. Of course, that means all hands on deck for marketing and social media and all of the other little details, like sourcing authors and illustrators.
Strangely, it’s taken this project to remind me just how far the net of my acquaintances runs. There’s artists, writers, computer programmers, and media photographers. I don’t think about what people “do” in their lives. To me they’re just people. That’s a good thing, but it can really hamper you when you’re talking about getting things done.
I’ve always run as far away from networking as I could, even though intellectually I know how it’s done properly. “Networking” is a scary word that elicits ideas of smug salesmen and multi-level marketing schemes.
But that’s not what it is. (What it can be, true enough.) Networks are community. And when you are building a community, or a family, you don’t think in terms of what can you do for me. A good networker shouldn’t think about what they want, but rather what they have in common with the person they’re reaching out to. Isn’t that the squishiest definition of networking you’ve ever heard?
Networking theory says that if I build friendships with people, when I need someone, they’ll be there for me in the future. Well, yeah, that’s what friendship means.
I have always separated building friendships and professional relationships as unrelated to networking and that is one of my stupid moments. This particular enterprise has reminded me that friendships, professional relationships, and networks are all interconnected.
But I’ve been burned by a “professional networker”. She stopped being a friend and started being all about what she could get from me. Don’t be that person, okay?
I promise I won’t be. I’m just a little taciturn.
How did you build a community? How do you navigate between relationships and networking? Where is the line?
Filed under Business, Networking, Uncategorized
So, the weather is being particularly bipolar this spring/summer. We hit nineties in the early part of the week and now we’re in the sixties. I pity the poor bastard who agreed to be part of the fundraising dunk-tank today. Silly managers.
Beyond that, it’s just sort of a grey day all around. I have the motivation of a limp noodle and the distinct dislike of the world. A perfect noir type of day. And I’d love to say that I was inspired, but I’m not.
Work is dull and dragging (as all day jobs just to bring in money are.) I can think of half-a-hundred things to do, but just don’t want to.
I can’t tell if this is just me being under-caffeinated, or if I just don’t care. You know what I’d love? Someone to pay an assistant for me. Yeah, that would be the best gift in the world.
I’ll get my mythical patron right on that.
Filed under Uncategorized
Head on over to http://wedschild.wordpress.com/
This is where you’ll find raw fiction and little snippets that may never show up anywhere else.
Maybe I’ll collect them into a book of flash fiction some day.
Filed under Uncategorized
This is something most Americans wouldn’t notice. Electric kettles aren’t really, you know, a thing here. But there’s plenty of opportunity for there to be micro-computers in blenders or juicers or coffee-pots. And the idea of this is fascinating.
The Russians are claiming that there are micro-computers hiding inside of electric kettles which leach off of the power supply, find unsecured WiFi, and then become spambots. (The Register) Charlie Stross threw in some good reminders about the availability of the tech. (Trust Me, I’m a Kettle) I suggest following his blog in any case. He’s got some great insights into technological advances.
I was thinking about how this technology could be a positive. You could set up an alternate net for communications and wrap your messages around the powerful government agencies who are trying to destroy your little rebels. Or you could use it to build an inexpensive alternate net for sharing. Or hundreds of little applications that could be hiding everywhere.
It could also be utterly terrifying. The small computers could also be spying on your family, like an old-school bug, but now by connecting to your WiFi and reading your messages. Or, you could create some sort of censoring technology based on this.
Filed under Uncategorized
[object HTMLTextAreaElement]
via Amanda Palmer: The art of asking | Video on TED.com.
This is probably one of the most terrifying ideas I’ve ever encountered. The utter fearlessness and vulnerability that comes from asking people to support you without the framework of retail stickers or even a hard product. Music, art, blogging, connections that are made and lost in an instant – all of those things are beautiful.
But they are terrible too; in the true sense of the word. The idea of being vulnerable in front of thousands (I am not Amanda F’ing Palmer) shakes me to my core.
I’ve been flamed on-line for having opinions. I’ve been flamed for posting stories – free and clear without even a tip jar.
And at the same time, I have been praised and moved to tears by some of the responses to my work I’ve experienced.
So, I guess the bottom line is whether I’m going to let fear stop me.
Filed under Uncategorized
BitterSuites 