I liked Duff McDuffy's entry called How to Remain Equanimous in a Difficult Situation. It is based on physiology -- how our bodies react when we feel stressed. No woo-woo, just science and experience.

Based on my own experience, I would add two things.

1. In step 1, when you relax your facial muscles, make sure you also close your mouth. Closing your ( Read more... )

Through the convoluted tubes of the intarweb I discovered loltheorists today. My favourite entries so far are the Magritte LOLcat and the double LOLram.

It inspired me to the following slightly awkward attempt:

( Read more... )

As expected Metaquotes had a ball with the passing of Jerry Falwell. One nugget was this, presumably fictional, IM conversation.

A coworker drew my attention to Salon's interview with Tinky-Winky sparked by the same occasion.

People think loftier thoughts in rooms with high ceilings according to a University of Minnesota study.

Photo of a red ( Read more... )

RAW died in his home in Monterey, CA, today at 4.50, local time.

I remain for ever grateful for the way his books blew away the cobwebs in my heart and mind. Thanks also to cdybedahl for recommending him to me and lending me some of RAW's books.

"'Tis an ill wind that blows no mind" Malaclypse the Younger

I don't usually remember much of my dreams but lately there's been a theme: I'm living off-planet. In one I was living on a space ship that was cruising the galaxy. I think I was some sort of roving usability specialist who touched down on various planets to solve their usability problems. In another I lived on a space station. Not sure what I did ( Read more... )

Kathy Sierra over on Passionate Users has a long but wellgrounded entry about how being around negative people affects you. It's something I've really noticed in my personal life after moving from California to the UK. It's a good thing the effect is reversible ( Read more... )

In his blog, dilbert.blog (syndicated as dilbert_blog), Scott Adams theorises about what causes some people to be successful at losing weight and staying thin while others fail. His theory is that: "People organize their lives to get their minimum required units of pleasure. While individuals vary in terms of how many units of pleasure they need, everyone is ( Read more... )

I feel boring. The stuff I've done today isn't exciting in any way. Originally the plan was to watch something nice this evening. Bride and Prejudice or the first episode of Firefly, for instance. But I guess I got carried away with the responsible-adult activities. Paying the phone bill, going out with the trash and stuff like that. Well, actually ( Read more... )

This article by Justin Kruger and David Dunning from the Department of Psychology at Cornell University published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (December 1999 Vol. 77, No. 6) describes a series of studies designed to find out if and why incompetent individuals often have an over-inflated sense of their own accomplishments ( Read more... )