Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Solving interoffice battles.................

What can't smartphones do? Mark laser tag off the list.
The AppTag Laser Blaster ($35) promises to turn your phone (or iPod touch, we suppose) into a laser tag gun/shooter that works via IR and high frequency sound to let app developers create nearly any kind of multiplayer shooting game you can imagine, all without needing to block the headphone port or eat away battery via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Six buttons — including a pressure sensitive trigger and a oversized reload switch — enable plenty of real-world interaction, and compatibility with most Nerf and Buzzbee toy guns serves as icing on the geek-flavored cake.

Thank you to Uncrate for letting me know about this new product!


Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Guinness facts, things you did not know............


Why Guinness is “Dark”
Guinness is Innovative
Guinness is Healthy
Guinness Fought Poverty
Guinness was a Great Employer
Guinness Supported the Troops
Click here to review the eplanantions from Men's Health.

Monday, February 20, 2012

President's Day & the style of our past presidnets....

Each President over the years has brought his own style of dress and grooming to the White House. The Significant Other posted each of the past President's photo and a brief comment about their style of clothing. Click here to find some very interesting photos and comments.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Bummer shrinking Snickers Bar.................

Get ready for a smaller Snickers bar. Candymaker Mars has told NPR's Salt blog that by the end of 2013, all of its chocolate bars will clock in at 250 or fewer calories. This means that the classic Snickers will be losing about 11 percent of its bulk (the equivalent of 30 calories), downsizing for the first time in its 80-plus-year history.
Milky Ways, Mars bars, and 3 Muskateers will also cut a trimmer figure. Since 2004, Mars has also been quietly phasing out King-sized bars — which, if I'm being honest, have always seemed a bit excessive as a snack food — replacing them with "duo" packs of two smaller bars better for sharing (considerate!).
Now the company is taking things a step further. It's all a part of Mars's effort to promote "responsible snacking," which sounds like something I once heard on Sesame Street. No word yet on whether prices will drop according to calorie shrinkage. All in all, though, sounds like kind of a bummer. But before we all start hurling insults in Mars's general direction, consider this: If the goal is to combat expanding waistlines, it's unquestionably better to trim bar size rather than try for a lower-calorie recipe... Right? At least it's the same classic Snickers we all know and love. Just a little more compact.

Thanks to Esquire for this notice.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The 10 best & most unusal employee perks..........

From @Time via twitter:

Google: The search giant comes in first on Fortune’s list of the best places to work, and its legendary perks helped put it there. Among the more outlandish are a boccie-ball court and bowling lanes at the company’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters — and for a nominal fee you can get your eyebrows shaped at its New York City office.

SAS Institute: Three weeks into the new year, let’s hope you’re not running low on sick days just yet. But if you’re lucky enough to work for this software maker based in Cary, N.C., you’d never have to worry because its employees get unlimited sick days. It also subsidizes Montessori child care and boasts a free health care center at its headquarters.

JM Family Enterprises: You’d think that benefits like a child-care center at the company’s headquarters, or free haircuts would be enough to keep workers happy. But this automotive distributor based in Deerfield Beach, Fla., keeps a fleet of yachts handy for employee use too. You know, just in case.

Whole Foods: The organic-food giant doesn’t so much lavish its employees with perks as give them the assurance that their bosses won’t be. The company caps executive pay at 19 times the average full-time salary.

Autodesk: Do your two weeks of vacation never seem enough? This Mill Valley, Calif., company takes a positively European stance on the matter. Employees can take a six-week paid sabbatical every four years. And when you are in the office, feel free to bring your dog along too.

Scottrade: CDs are yielding a paltry 1% these days, but employees of this discount brokerage get 5% interest on their checking accounts if they use the firm’s bank, which launched this year. A perk, indeed, in this no-interest world.

Atlantic Health: Based in Morristown, N.J., this firm owns several hospitals in the New York metropolitan area. But it doesn’t fail to overlook the health of its employees: stressed workers can get acupressure services at its on-site “mind-body centers.”

FactSet: This financial research firm lays it on thick with the foodie perks. Employees there get free lunches, and there’s also an on-site pie truck, Chinese truck and cupcake truck. Of course, there’s an on-site gym, too, to help burn off all those free calories.

Microsoft: Tech firms are known for their perks, and the original tech giant will not be outdone. Its Redmond, Wash., campus offers Microsoft’s many well-paid software engineers an organic spa for letting off steam.

Mattel: The world’s largest toymaker helps its employees find their inner child by shuttering its offices at 1 p.m. every Friday. Is there a greater work perk than not having to work?

Click here for more of Times Best & Worst list.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Brain Study....................

If you can read this you have a strong mind:


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Thank you to Dr. Pattye for passing this along.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

P*********** .......................

I missed it!


National Change Your Password Day


February 1, 2012




Spending the weekend working on it.








Wednesday, February 1, 2012

10 Questions That Create Success.............

Thanks to @presidentgee on Twitter for passing this Inc. article along:


1. Have I made certain that those I love feel loved?
2. Have I done something today that improved the world?
3. Have I conditioned my body to be more strong flexible and resilient?
4. Have I reviewed and honed my plans for the future?
5. Have I acted in private with the same integrity I exhibit in public?
6. Have I avoided unkind words and deeds?
7. Have I accomplished something worthwhile?
8. Have I helped someone less fortunate?
9. Have I collected some wonderful memories?
10. Have I felt grateful for the incredible gift of being alive?


Here's the thing. The questions you ask yourself on a daily basis determine your focus, and your focus determines your results.