Saving on car repairs

Photo by spikeblacklab

Are you among those few people who are having difficulty in getting their automobiles repaired and drained of their funds also? If you are, then it's high time you start looking to ways to save on car repairs ,and save more in your piggy bank.
Defective cars aren't even suitable to be sold without undergoing all the necessary repairs. You can't even trade it with another car without getting it repaired.You're left without any choice at all but to get it repaired. The only trouble is that without the suitable guidelines you need in selecting the right repairs, you can be spending more than what you
can give. With the high costs of parts and repairs happening in the market today, no one can
truly afford to have their cars repaired in very expensive packages. So you have to concoct ways to save more on auto repairs.You can cut back on car repairs and save more cash on an
ordinary basis without opting to excessive ways.

Here’s how you are able to save on car repairs:

1. Do your homework
One of the biggest troubles most motorists come across is that they spend more on auto repairs merely because they didn't choose the best auto-mechanic or repair service for their automobiles. Through research, you will be able to identify the proper mechanic and the
right workshop.

2. Take note of the items that need to be repaired
Before you go to your auto-mechanic, it's best to have all the essential repairs listed on a piece of paper. In this way, you will be able to tell your auto-mechanic right away the items that need to be serviced. This will prevent unneeded repairs or misinterpretations on the type of repairs that your automobile needs. Unneeded repairs will only add up to more repair expenses. I keep a $35.00 code tester handy which comes with a manual of generated error codes and their corresponding fixes. It has saved my butt more than once. I simply print out and deliver to the mechanic the results, that way there is no second guessing or padding of the bill.

3. Shop and compare
To get the best quotes on car repairs, try to shop around (I use CraigsList) and comparison shop. In this way, you'll be able to evaluate and compare costs enabling you to find the best quotes possible. Never snap up the first fix-it shop you find. By searching around, you can still find better shops than what you have right now. There are even mechanica on CraigsList that will come stright to you but use caution and instinct. Get it in writing that they guarantee their repair and always get their identification before they leave. (Drivers License) Don't trust anyone if you havent worked with them in the past and observered their standard and quality of work.

4. Try to get every transaction in black and white
This means that before you commit yourself to a particular repair job, it is best to have the estimate written on a piece of paper. Attempt to get a copy of your own. This will prevent the unneeded collection of extra charges, which were not included on the first estimation.
Keep in mind that not all job repairs were made equal and not all auto-mechanics are honorable. So it is best to protect yourself as always.

5. Get your car’s old parts before you let the mechanic start the repair process
There are certain car parts that can still be rebuilt. So never let your mechanic take the chance of acquiring these things. You can have them repaired on some machine shops and cut back your expenses on the next repair.

6. Know your way around
If you don't know your way around auto repairs, it's best to ask someone (definitely not your mechanic) for some second opinions. In this way, you will be able to decide which things need bigger considerations. Besides, if you just let your auto-mechanic decide on your car’s
repair procedure, you might pay more than what you can imagine. Better yet, read some easy-to-read manuals on automobile maintenance. In this way, you'll learn some essential tricks regarding car parts and repairs. This will enable you to distinguish the important repairs from those that you are able to do by yourself.

7. Ask for the warranty
Some car repair shops offer up guarantees on the services that they make. Note this so that you will be able to be sure not to drop another hundred dollars for the same repair in just a couple of days. Furthermore, guarantees can assure high quality repairs so you'll be able to be sure that your car and your wallet are in good hands. Indeed, automobile repairs can not be avoided. These are the particulars that you have to learn to accept.

Finding good fix-it shops aren't that hard. Just try to remember these pointers and you'll certainly spend less with auto repairs. Also, consider learning how to do the simple jobs yourself. That’s where those manuals may come out handy. With just a bit of knowledge you'll be able to manage minor maintenance like oil changes, tune-ups, changing windshield wipers and other simple jobs. Learning to do these yourself will result in huge savings!

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Beat the debt collector

Photo by djdennyp

More than ever in the recent history of the U.S., credit card companies are willing to negotiate with you if you find you can't pay your monthly credit card statement. This hasn't always been the case, and until recently due to the Economic meltdown, your only recourse was to file for bankruptcy.Not every bank will deal with you, but most will be willing to talk today.If they have to write off your debt you may be eligible to pay the only the taxes involved, but that is only a small fraction of what you may actually owe them. Also keep in mind that if things do get ugly and go to collections, there is a narrow window that these agencies must operate under regarding what they can or cannot do or say.

A short course on knowing your rights:
Know this,if you’re behind in paying your bills, or a creditor’s records mistakenly make it appear that you are, a debt collector may be contacting you very soon.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect from you.
Under the FDCPA, a debt collector is someone who regularly collects debts owed to others. This includes collection agencies, lawyers who collect debts on a regular basis, and companies that buy delinquent debts and then try to collect them.

Here are some questions and answers about your rights under the Act.

What types of debts are covered?
The Act covers personal, family, and household debts, including money you owe on a personal credit card account, an auto loan, a medical bill, and your mortgage. The FDCPA doesn’t cover debts you incurred to run a business.

Can a debt collector contact me any time or any place?
No. A debt collector may not contact you at inconvenient times or places, such as before 8 in the morning or after 9 at night, unless you agree to it. And collectors may not contact you at work if they’re told (orally or in writing) that you’re not allowed to get calls there.

How can I stop a debt collector from contacting me?
If a collector contacts you about a debt, you may want to talk to them at least once to see if you can resolve the matter – even if you don’t think you owe the debt, can’t repay it immediately, or think that the collector is contacting you by mistake. If you decide after contacting the debt collector that you don’t want the collector to contact you again, tell the collector – in writing – to stop contacting you. Here’s how to do that:

Make a copy of your letter. Send the original by certified mail, and pay for a “return receipt” so you’ll be able to document what the collector received. Once the collector receives your letter, they may not contact you again, with two exceptions: a collector can contact you to tell you there will be no further contact or to let you know that they or the creditor intend to take a specific action, like filing a lawsuit. Sending such a letter to a debt collector you owe money to does not get rid of the debt, but it should stop the contact. The creditor or the debt collector still can sue you to collect the debt.

Can a debt collector contact anyone else about my debt?
If an attorney is representing you about the debt, the debt collector must contact the attorney, rather than you. If you don’t have an attorney, a collector may contact other people – but only to find out your address, your home phone number, and where you work. Collectors usually are prohibited from contacting third parties more than once. Other than to obtain this location information about you, a debt collector generally is not permitted to discuss your debt with anyone other than you, your spouse, or your attorney.

What does the debt collector have to tell me about the debt?
Every collector must send you a written “validation notice” telling you how much money you owe within five days after they first contact you. This notice also must include the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and how to proceed if you don’t think you owe the money.

Can a debt collector keep contacting me if I don’t think I owe any money?
If you send the debt collector a letter stating that you don’t owe any or all of the money, or asking for verification of the debt, that collector must stop contacting you. You have to send that letter within 30 days after you receive the validation notice. But a collector can begin contacting you again if it sends you written verification of the debt, like a copy of a bill for the amount you owe.

What practices are off limits for debt collectors?
Harassment. Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact. For example, they may not:

•use threats of violence or harm;
•publish a list of names of people who refuse to pay their debts (but they can give this information to the credit reporting companies);
•use obscene or profane language; or
•repeatedly use the phone to annoy someone.

False statements. Debt collectors may not lie when they are trying to collect a debt. For example, they may not:

•falsely claim that they are attorneys or government representatives;
•falsely claim that you have committed a crime;
•falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit reporting company;
•misrepresent the amount you owe;
•indicate that papers they send you are legal forms if they aren’t; or
•indicate that papers they send to you aren’t legal forms if they are.

Debt collectors also are prohibited from saying that:

•you will be arrested if you don’t pay your debt;
•they’ll seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages unless they are permitted by law to take the action and intend to do so; or
•legal action will be taken against you, if doing so would be illegal or if they don’t intend to take the action.

Debt collectors may not:

•give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit reporting company;
•send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency if it isn’t; or
•use a false company name.

Unfair practices. Debt collectors may not engage in unfair practices when they try to collect a debt. For example, they may not:

•try to collect any interest, fee, or other charge on top of the amount you owe unless the contract that created your debt – or your state law – allows the charge;
•deposit a post-dated check early;
•take or threaten to take your property unless it can be done legally; or
•contact you by postcard.

Can I control which debts my payments apply to?
Yes. If a debt collector is trying to collect more than one debt from you, the collector must apply any payment you make to the debt you select. Equally important, a debt collector may not apply a payment to a debt you don’t think you owe.

Can a debt collector garnish my bank account or my wages?
If you don’t pay a debt, a creditor or its debt collector generally can sue you to collect. If they win, the court will enter a judgment against you. The judgment states the amount of money you owe, and allows the creditor or collector to get a garnishment order against you, directing a third party, like your bank, to turn over funds from your account to pay the debt. Lawyers call this a,"license to hunt."
Wage garnishment happens when your employer withholds part of your compensation to pay your debts. Your wages usually can be garnished only as the result of a court order. Don’t ignore a lawsuit summons. If you do, you lose the opportunity to fight a wage garnishment.

Can federal benefits be garnished?
Many federal benefits are exempt from garnishment, including:
•Social Security Benefits
•Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits
•Veterans’ Benefits
•Civil Service and Federal Retirement and Disability Benefits
•Service Members’ Pay
•Military Annuities and Survivors’ Benefits
•Student Assistance
•Railroad Retirement Benefits
•Merchant Seamen Wages
•Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Death and Disability Benefits
•Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Benefits
•Compensation for Injury, Death, or Detention of Employees of U.S. Contractors Outside the U.S.
•Federal Emergency Management Agency Federal Disaster Assistance
But federal benefits may be garnished under certain circumstances, including to pay delinquent taxes, alimony, child support, or student loans.

Do I have any recourse if I think a debt collector has violated the law?
You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date the law was violated. If you win, the judge can require the collector to pay you for any damages you can prove you suffered because of the illegal collection practices, like lost wages and medical bills. The judge can require the debt collector to pay you up to $1,000, even if you can’t prove that you suffered actual damages. You also can be reimbursed for your attorney’s fees and court costs. A group of people also may sue a debt collector as part of a class action lawsuit and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collector’s net worth, whichever amount is lower. Even if a debt collector violates the FDCPA in trying to collect a debt, the debt does not go away if you owe it.

What should I do if a debt collector sues me?
If a debt collector files a lawsuit against you to collect a debt, respond to the lawsuit, either personally or through your lawyer, by the date specified in the court papers to preserve your rights.

Where do I report a debt collector for an alleged violation?
Report any problems you have with a debt collector to your state Attorney General’s office (www.naag.org) and the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov). Many states have their own debt collection laws that are different from the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Your Attorney General’s office can help you determine your rights under your state’s law.

The most important part is to have an answering machine ready to record any infractions. If you happen to hook a fish on tape call your District Attorney and tell them that you have a tape that you believe they need to listen to.

About The Easy Living Sherpa - Personal and Financial Growth For Intelligent People

The objective of this personal and financial Blog is to assist you in evolving into an efficient and more pro-active person. This includes instructing you on how to feel more motivated and stimulated, aiding you in accomplishing financial freedom, practicing what you love, and leading you to make a genuine contribution to yourself and the world around you -- so you will be able to finally experience the kind of life that deep down, you always recognized you were intended to experience.

This Blog will assist you in making conscious decisions in your personal evolution and financial situation whatever it may be, and aid you in courageously carrying out those decisions. This means possessing the desire and maturity to take one hundred percent responsibility for your wellness, your career goals, your finances, your human relationships, your emotions, and your personal habits. It addresses taking a good look at yourself, your finances, your personal life goals and consciously determining what kind of person you are inside, and then aiming your actions to be in line with your true self and life situation. The goals are to assist you in accomplishing dramatic effectiveness while maintaining inner balance, where your ideas, feelings, actions, and accomplishments are completely working in agreement to produce the life you deserve.

Personal development is difficult work. If you're searching for shallow band-aids and quick fixes, you'll want to look elsewhere. This Blog will help you learn to live a lot more consciously, to mobilize the courageousness to face the unfaceable pieces of your life, and to work out the deep troubles you've not yet been capable of resolving. You will discover practical ideas to arrive at crucial changes in your life, both large and small, so you are able to get your life back in order and on track and start fulfilling your potential. This site cannot teach you to be perfect. Perfection is not the destination. The goal is for you to latch onto a path of practical, positive growth, both personal and financial.

The main subjects of this Blog are:
-Information: Accept reality and free your life of falseness and self-denial.-

-Love: Improve your power to plug into yourself and others.-

-Power: Build your motivation and discipline to produce the living you deserve.-

-Financial Security: Build a powerhouse of information regarding maneuvering through the rough roads and obscure paths to financial independence.-

-Authority: Take ownership of your situations, and see how to make clear decisions.-

-Intelligence: Live genuinely, and convey your real creativity.-

-Technology: Downloads, reviews, and helpful software.-

-Zen Creations: Spotlight on office workspace and backyard Zen creations.-

What to expect:
Here are excerpts from a couple of my self-help articles:

"When you are in an bad mood, determine to let it pass off as merely that: an inescapable human circumstance that will dissolve with time, if you leave it alone. A blue mood isn't the time to psychoanalyze your life. To do so is emotional self-destruction. If you've a legitimate trouble, it will still be there when your frame of mind improves. The secret is to be thankful for our good moods and graceful in our depressed moods - not taking them too seriously. The next time you're feeling low, for any reason, remind yourself 'This as well shall pass'. It will."

What we claim are little things are simply the causes of greater affairs; they're the start, the embryo, and it is the period of departure which, typically speaking, determines the entire future of an existence. One single black particle may be the starting of a gangrene, of a Violent storm, of a revolution.

The arenas of your life this Blog will aid you to improve include:
-Habits: Create a day-to-day routine that dedicates you a sense of flow.-
-Health: Acquire wellness habits that empower your human body.-
-Relationships: Revel in loving relationships that assist you in growing.-

Where to Begin?
This Blog carries plenty of free personal development information to help you to achieve all of the above and continues to grow everyday. Start anywhere because regardless of where you start, you're only a few clicks away from finding something valuable to you. If you discover an article that you would like to explore further, but you don't have time to read it at this moment, feel free to print it out. If you print a page from this Blog with your browser, you'll capture a nicely formatted printout without any navigation elements and zero advertisements. If you would like to visualize how any page will look when printed, merely use your web browser's Print Preview feature (File -> Print Preview). Try it out it right now on this main page if you wish.

Make certain to bookmark this Blog, so you are able to return to it time and again. A lot of visitors begin their days by spending 5-15 minutes here and report that it aids them in becoming more centered, motivated, and positive.

He spends an unhealthy amount of time here

That's a 30" big guy!
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Your green tea's not working!

Photo by mofo

Did you know that most of the free-radical fighters in green tea never arrive in your bloodstream?

But there's a solution. To sustain a better hold on the healthy catechins in your green tea, season your cup with a squeeze of citrus juice.

Green Tea Booster

Catechins -- the antioxidants in green tea celebrated for reducing your risk of chronic disease -- rapidly lose their major power in your intestine. As a matter of fact, as practically 80% of the catechins in green tea are never assimilated. The answer to promoting absorption, is as uncomplicated as flavoring your tea with freshly squeezed and strained lemon, orange, lime, or grapefruit juice.
Taking Tea with the ascorbic acid in citrus could assist with assimilation by increasing the acidity in your small intestine. Other unknown substances in the juice in all likelihood lend a hand, too. Researchers detected a 50-50 mix had the greatest catechin-preserving effect, and lemon did it best, closely followed by orange, lime, and, in last place, grapefruit.

It's Not All Bad News. If you do take steps to boost the power of your green tea, you may even get a few added benefits.
·It may help you lose weight. At least one study shows green tea can stimulate moderate weight loss.
·It may help keep your knees young and strong -- catechins fight inflammation and arthritis.
·It can help your skin look great if used in conjunction with an antioxidant cream. Dab it on.
·It can help you stay sharp -- try 2 cups a day to see benefits.
Real Age Benefit: Getting the right amount of antioxidants through diet or supplements can make your Real Age 6 years younger.

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Google News: Find any image with the "Similar Images" function

Similar Images
Image Search is a tool you can use to find just about any kind of image, but it can sometimes be difficult to find the right image if you can't describe it in words. The new Similar Images feature was developed with just this in mind. Using it you can now find images that look like an existing result simply by clicking on a link. Using visual similarity, you don't have to refine the text of your search, instead, you can just click on the link of an image you like. For example, if you search for [jaguar], you can use the "Similar images" link to quickly narrow your search.




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Adverse events cannot hurt us, only our perspective of them can.

Photo by forty-onecrush

“Death has a thousand doors to let out life: one shall find one”

One day as I was lazily pondering the bright clear blue skies of Southwestern Arizona, I had the strangest premonition. I was thinking of all of the people who had lived and died since the beginning of the world, and how they coped with the unavoidable physical and mental pains in their lives prior to their demise. How did each and everyone view their coming death, and how did they cope and come to accept their death when their time passed upon them. And then it hit me. Death is a natural part of living and growing, both physically and spiritually, and should not be feared.
Adverse matters themselves don't injure or handicap us. Nor do others. How we regard these matters is another affair. It's our mental attitude and response that give us problems. Consequently, even dying is no big deal in and of itself. It's our opinion of dying, our thought that it's frightening, that terrifies us. There are so many numerous and different ways to consider death. Scrutinize your beliefs about death - and everything else. Are they genuinely truthful? Are they serving you any goodness? Don't fear death or pain; fear the fear of death or pain. We can't select our outside circumstances, but we can forever decide how we can react to them.

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Spotlight: Dale Carnegie's summarized recipe for success

Photo by leefly

Dale Carnegie was born in 1888 in Missouri, and was schooled at Warrensburg State Teachers College. As a salesman and aspiring actor, he visited New York and began instructing communications classes to adults at the local YMCA. In 1912, the world-famous Dale Carnegie Course was created. He authored numerous best-sellers, including, How To Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Over 50 million copies of Mr. Carnegie’s books have been printed and published in 38 languages.

I am a huge devotee of Dale Carnegie. Though he remained only a name to me until relatively recently, (I was browsing the self-improvement section at a Barnes and Nobles during my lunch hour a few weeks back) His style, thought, and intelligence were an epiphany to me. Though the man died many decades ago, his teachings continue to live on in seminars, his books, and educational institutions. Mr. Dale Carnegie offers astounding insight into life’s everyday problems, and there is something in him for everyone. The rest is up to the reader. Read, apply, and enjoy the fruits of wisdom. I have compiled a brief summary of most of his major lessons.

Principles from How to Win Friends and Influence People

Win People to Your Way of Thinking
The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
Show respect for the other person’s opinion. Never say, “you’re wrong.”
If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
Begin in a friendly way.
Get the other person saying, “yes, yes” immediately.
Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.
Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.
Appeal to the nobler motives.
Dramatize your ideas.
Throw down a challenge.
Be a Leader

Basic Techniques in Analyzing Worry
Get all the facts. Weigh all the facts – then come to a decision. Once a decision is reached, act! Write out and answer the following questions:
a. What is the problem?
b. What are the causes of the problem?
c. What are the possible solutions?
d. What is the best possible solution?
e.Cooperate with the inevitable. Decide just how much anxiety a thing may be worth and refuse to give it more. Don’t worry about the past.

Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
Let the other person save face.
Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Become a Friendlier Person
Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
Give honest, sincere appreciation.
Arouse in the other person an eager want.
Become genuinely interested in other people.
Smile. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
Talk in terms of the other person’s interests. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

Fundamental Principles for Overcoming Worry
Live in “day-tight compartments.” (Translation: Drop the crystal ball and live for today)
How to face trouble:
a. Ask yourself, “What is the worst that can possibly happen?”
b. Prepare to accept the worst.
c. Try to improve on the worst. Remind yourself of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry in terms of your health.

Cultivate a Mental Attitude that will Bring You Peace and Happiness
Fill your mind with thoughts of peace, courage, health and hope. Never try to get even with your enemies.
Expect ingratitude. Count your blessings – not your troubles. Do not imitate others. Try to profit from your losses. Create happiness for others.

Break the Worry Habit Before It Breaks You
Keep busy. Don’t fuss about trifles. Use the law of averages to outlaw your worries.
The Perfect Way to Conquer Worry
Pray.
Apply these four good working habits:
a. Clear your desk of all papers except those relating to the immediate problem at hand.
b. Do things in the order of their importance.
c. When you face a problem, solve it then and there if you have the facts necessary to make a decision.
d. Learn to organize, deputize and supervise.
e.Don’t Worry about Criticism
f.Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment.
g.Do the very best you can. Analyze your own mistakes and criticize yourself.

Put enthusiasm into your work.
Don’t worry about insomnia.
Prevent Fatigue and Worry and Keep Your Energy and Spirits High.
Rest before you get tired. Learn to relax at your work.
Protect your health and appearance by relaxing at home.

Please view the entire video to gain powerful retrospect on your life, and the world around you. This is a 5 star video, and I spent several days finding it. After discarding dozens of YouTube videos this is the only one that stood out as phenomenal.Some of the best things in life are truly free!

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Meditation is a powerful life changing force

Meditating has changed not only my life but many others as well. The benefits are numerous and new discoveries regarding meditations health benefits are happening everyday.

Richard J. Davidson, PhD,findings demonstrate that a short program in mindfulness meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immune function. These findings suggest that meditation may change brain and immune function in positive ways and underscore the need for additional research.

Another study provided by the Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester found the following results from 22 study participants who were screened with a structured clinical interview and found to meet the DSM- III-R criteria for generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia
RESULTS: Repeated measures analyses of variance documented significant reductions in anxiety and depression scores after treatment for 20 of the subjects--changes that were maintained at follow-up. The number of subjects experiencing panic symptoms was also substantially reduced. A comparison of the study subjects with a group of non study participants in the program who met the initial screening criteria for entry into the study showed that both groups achieved similar reductions in anxiety scores on the SCL-90- R and on the Medical Symptom Checklist, suggesting generalizability of the study findings.

CONCLUSIONS: A group mindfulness meditation training program can effectively reduce symptoms of anxiety and panic and can help maintain these reductions in patients with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or panic disorder with agoraphobia.

Break the devastating habit of doing nothing

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"You'll be able to observe a great deal just by observing."To observe is to remove oneself from interpretation. When you ‘simply observe-just watch,’ everything signifies nothing, and nothing is a permanent state of zero. On the other hand, if I watch something and immediately get into my head, and begin pulling in distinctions, all I'll do is discover evidence for what I already think.Transferring to merely observing necessitates that I uncritically watch the situation as it opens before me. As my idea struggles to produce a drama to judge, I discover my mind playing games, then I have to breathe and release that game. In this clearness, I can choose a way to react that's harmonious to the current present moment and situation, without getting tied down in the games and dramas my mind enjoys.

The focused life ("observing by just seeing…") is about acting in some respects that is consistent with your most profoundly held understandings. You can't be passive by yelling… you can't resolve complications by producing chaos. The job of life is to convert to the consistent, persistent, and resistant.

Let me hand you what I hope will become a valuable metaphor. Let's use baseball as an illustration. "Think? How the hell on earth are you going to think and hit the ball at the same time?"
From a pragmatic perspective, when a pitcher throws a baseball at 100 mph, it takes the ball merely four-tenths of a second to stretch to home plate. That affords the batter about two-tenths of a second to make up one's mind to swing or not to swing.
Thus, when hitting a baseball, thinking interferes with the way of acting.
This is dead on target with learning most things. As we learn something, we proceed from complex and slow to easy and fast. (Remember, for example, to how tough riding a bicycle was, till it was not.)

I’m not saying that polishing off a 100 mile an hour fastball is easy to do. I'm alleging that if you're going to acquire this skill, you ought to abandon thinking you can reason your way through it. All you are able to do is swing a bat, over and over. Once your body ‘captures’ the idea, you will be able to then practice graceful hitting, until it turns instinctual. In Zen, we talk of discipline. The key discipline is ‘not-following,’ or not-attaching. You allow each non-helpful thought glide by not adhering to it. Now, naturally, as with many, such thoughts will arise until you die.

I used to possess a poster on my office wall that read,

"If you aim at nothing, you will hit it."
Many people whine about their situations, and their human relationships and my immediate question is this, "Well, what do you want?" Now most may reply, "Here’s what I do not want…" Baloney. Expressing what you don't wish, or where you're not going, or who you're not is fruitless and slothful. "I never want to be in a relationship like this again!" OK, so the next one is worse. You got what you asked for. This happens all the time.
If you consider it, specifying what you don't wish is out of the question, as you cannot address everything.
There's nothing more crucial than discovering the territory (what I want) and securing a map (how to behave and then how do get I there.) It's like utilizing a foreign subway system. If you've a destination, all you've got to figure out is the map, how to reach the proper platform, and which rail car to go into. If you've no destination, you're going to wind up ‘wherever.’
Sure enough, life is hard. There are the bad breaks we make, and bad breaks that simply occur. So what? The only way to really live is to concentrate on what you want, as you cast off your attachment to what you don’t require. Then, begin. Sounds easy, but it requires discipline. Is it worth it? "Uh-huh!"

Remember: your problem is to state, clearly, who you are, what you are about, and wherever you are. From ‘here,’ you decide your next action. Next, insure that you possess integrity. Integrity implies that your actions agree what your mouth is stating. Wandering about all baffled and lost, while bellyaching about how hard you're working at defining what and where you aren’t, is the pinnacle of dumbness.

Listening to others:
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
A conversation requires full attention, astuteness, and a willingness to be candid and vulnerable. Most people babble to hear their own voices, and to fill up fearsome silence with sound.
Talking (small gossip, accent on small) is the socially accepted way to fill the silence void. We are disciplined to regurgitate small talk, which has zero to do with genuine conversation.
Conversation calls for the willingness to listen carefully, while setting aside judgement. If we don't pay attention, we're nothing more than the total of our pre-judgements-our preconceptions.
Actual conversation is like verbally dancing, because both parties make a sober attempt to communicate, "This is who and where I'm right now." Conversation is sharing who I am through self-reflection, and taking heed to what the other individual has determined of themselves through their self-reflection. Many people discombobulate self-reflection with an incessant whimper about how bad their lives are.

Even when you listen carefully, your ego-based biases have a fashion of perplexing you. Listen once again, with an unclouded heart and mind, and you might discover something different.
Remember: slow down. Utter your truth, from as deep inside at heart as you are able to reach. Give away more and more of you, including the messy, harmful, filthy parts. Then, hush up, watch and take note. As you discover yourself planning a response to what another is articulating (put differently, you've stopped listening,) be quiet and open your ears. A conversation is never an argument, and there's no winner.

"All that you are is what you have thought."
We unceasingly self-describe, and because we believe it, we tend to stop at that place, believing we are what we think ourselves to be. Consequently, to change is, first, to alter your self-description.
Our lives are the testifying ground for our beliefs. Where I'm at in life- right now-is a perfect mirror of who I really am, what I believe, and especially what I do. I can view my surroundings and my mental, emotional, and active state and tell precisely what I believe, and who I am.
We need to search the rules we maneuver under. If we don’t consider what we believe, to see if what we believe adds up for us now, we're condemned to live out some old translation of our life plan, and be completely woeful in the cognitive process.
Remember: ‘a slump’ is an assessment, and makes the thing perceived appear to be something away from your control. If you put the way you are presently into a package tagged "Out of my control," you're well and truly shafted. Alternatively, empty that package. A simple affirmation of, "Here is where I'm at right now" allows for the next clause, "…and here is what I'll do differently.


If you come to a fork in the road, take it.
This is different than just standing there, gazing at the fork, declining to choose, to move, to resolve. Or, you are coming down a road that’s not getting you where you desire to go. You touch on a place for changing directions, yet continue down the stale path. You say, "I may not be becoming what I want, but at least this path is familiar to me."
Others are enclosed thick inertia, declining to reposition anything, including the painful material, until they can be guaranteed that they’ll progress to the ‘right’ destination.
Just standing at a crossroads, incessantly debating the ‘correct course,’ is a losers game regrettably, our existence is filled up with people doing just that-doing zero, while boasting about how much endeavor they're placing into their internal debate.

As they stand there - Doing nothing
Not to choose is to choose. What comes about in our life is about what we acknowledge or give acceptance to. Something different occurs in our situations when we choose to switch our understanding, and then our actions. This path, or that path-no difference, no waiting to discover the ‘right path’-just take the fork in the road.
Remember: life delivers endless forks in the route. Generally, any option we make can be altered at any time. (Life-or-death options come about rarely.) Turning a garden variety alternative into life-or-death ("But… but… what if I make up the wrong choice???") is actually a way to stay baffled. Pick one, and start walking. You don't get the time you consume back at the end of your life.

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How to make money on Craigs List

Photo by Howstuffworks.com

Craig's List is an advertisement phenomenon. Let's face it, just about everyone has heard of Craig's List, and a lot people have placed advertisements on Craig's List, but I'll wager if you own your own company you never thought about using Craig's List to advertise your company. Am I correct? I'll bet that I am, particularly if you are a new company.
There are two scenarios to take into account when you're thinking about promoting your business enterprise using Craig's List. The first scenario is one in which your company renders a service to the world. Craig's List accepts all forms of classified ads, and offering up services is one of the best things that you are able to place an ad for on Craig's List. As a power user of Craigs List who's gotten some of my best gigs through Craig's List, I can testify to the power of targeting an ad for your services. Best of all placing an advertisement on Craig's List is perfectly free, and although the ad is only online a short time, you'll be able to quickly and easily repost it from your free account. So, if you're a small-scale start-up company without a lot of an advertising budget then Craig's List is an unmatchable way that you'll be able to advertise your services without spending more money. You'll reach a big audience, and once you know who your target audience is, the probability of getting new business is even bigger.

However, there's another business scenario in which you as a business owner will unquestionably prefer to promote your business on Craig's List, and that's when your competitors are. Small companies are not the sole ones climbing on the Craig's List band wagon, large and long-familiar companies do it as well. If you're a small company who has big or even small competitors who are advertising their services on Craig's List, then you can't afford to not do the equivalent thing. When a company doesn't promote in the same arena as their competitors, particularly when that promotion is free, then they're fundamentally forcing all those potential purchasers to their competitors. While understandably if you're small and or a start-up company and you do not have a big budget, then you'll in all probability not be able to reach those potential customers that the kingpins are paying a great deal in advertising for, advertising on Craig's List can grant you a way to contend with the big dogs. However, there's one instance in which you may prefer to consider other advertising avenues, and that's if Craig's List is concentrated with companies in your niche advertising the exact same service. In this case your ad is in all likelihood going to get lost in the ocean of all the other advertisements positioned for the same services on Craig's List.
When advertising on Craig's List it's not merely important to know your audience, but another important component when advertising on Craig's List is to hold stellar advertising copy. I've seen some genuinely bad advertisements on Craig's List, ones from companies that I certainly would never buy services from. Even if you don't know how to compose sales copy, and can't afford to hire someone to do it for you, there's actually no reason to fear. There are tons of free e-books, Internet courses and Internet sites that can train you on how to write an ad that gets read and then followed up on. All it takes is a bit of time and effort, and you should be able to compose a bang-up ad to place on Craig's List.

So, once you've composed your ad, all that's needed is to sign up for a free account on Craig's List, find the city nearest to you if yours isn't listed then complete the form place your add in the appropriate category. You will want to log in regularly because your ad will only be put up for a short time, and if you would like to continue to have it posted, you will have to to repost it once the time limit is up. Advertising your business on Craig's List is to your advantage, not only is it free, but if executed correctly, you'll be able to draw a lot of new business and clients.

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Look out! Credit cards are getting tougher and meaner

Photo by Medill Money Mavens

What's arising inside the minds of charge card companies now that the charge card reform act is descending on us? A client service supervisor for a major credit card company emailed us to present to us the low-down: decreased grace periods, thinning lines of credit, increased fees on balance transfers, and, naturally, over-inflated APRs. Here's the details:

REDUCED GRACE PERIODS If you've a 25 or 28 day grace period, banks are going to shrink their grace period to the new minimal, 21 days.

CUTTING CREDIT LINES Credit card companies are reexamining account statements for debt-to-income ratio, and lowering lines of credit. "Lets say you owe 40k in debt, and your last reported family income is 60k. Well, if you already owe 40k, and you only clear 50k, how are you ever going to pay that back? So the bank is omitting the line because they do not sense they will ever get paid back if they give it to you. You cant default on another 10k if they don't let you have it in the first place."

DIVY ON BALANCE TRANSFERS Anticipate the fee for transfering balance from one charge plate to an additional one to increase to 5% from 3%

INCREASED MINIMUM PAYMENTS This is a component of the CARD act (http://consumerist.com/tag/card-act/), I think, and will actually help some people liquidate their loans quicker.

APR INCREASES This is the worst one. All the big issuers are conjuring up higer rates. The new polices don't take effect until February 2010, so the banks are acquiring in all the rate increases they can. The new law determines when an APR can be changed, and requires it deceases after 6 months of on time payments. So the banks are putting their rate hikes in immediately, so your new 'steady' rate, is the old 'default' rate. It used to be you had a rate of around 10%, and if you were late you went up to 20%. or more. Just about anyone studying this probably have had their rate increased to someplace roughly about 20% now."

You can fight back and it's not rocket science: Pay ALL OF YOUR BALANCES off asap and, cut the cards up and mail them back to the issuer therefore sending them a powerful consumer message. Better yet only make a small charge once a year to keep the account open and not take a hit on your credit score. (This works only if you're the disiplined type) Only use your credit cards if you can afford to pay them in full during the grace period! This is no game, and your very life, and peace of mind is at stake here.

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Closing a credit card - The pro's and Con's

Photo by largeprime
You’ve finally paid back that charge card. It’s sitting in that secret location with no more balance on it and you hated ever having it. It’s fetched a high rate of interest and no rewards program and you'll never use it again.
But should you cancel it? This is an interesting argument that frequently occurs in personal finance circuits. I believe there are benefits and problems disregardless of which you select and the “better” answer isn’t unconditional in all cases. So here's the low-down.
If you hold on to the card…
If you choose to keep the card, there is a couple of things you had better think about.

First, merely accepting the card is an identity theft hazard. If you no more actively use the card, the danger is fairly modest, and you will be able to make the risk even lower by taking action.

Second, not closing the credit card opens the doorway to spending frenzy. Apparently, if you have got the forte of character to liquidate all of that debt, you are able to hold the temptation under control.

There are two big steps you will be able to accomplish to bring down the two chances above even more, chopping them down to an unbelievably tiny splinter.

For one, demolish the active card. Cut it in half so that there is no danger of misplacing it or having it stolen. I actually melt the charge cards over a fire (Honestly - I’ll chuck them into campfires).

For another, withdraw your credit card data from any internet retail merchant that might still have it. Look at your Amazon account statement or any other retail merchant you may use and make certain your 0 balance credit card Is not listed there. Just take the information entirely out of the system.

If you close the credit card…
Let’s suppose you select to close the card. What are the problems of canceling it?

The huge one is that canceling a credit card leads to a negative knock on your credit score. This knock vanishes after around a year or so, but during that twelve months, your lower credit score can buoy some short-term negative deductions. It can drive your insurance rates climb. It can slim down your opportunities for acquiring employment.

The big one, though, is that it could also damage you if you are trying to acquire mortgage. An inferior credit ranking right at the time when you are seeking to insure a home mortgage isn't a good option.

So what had I better do?
From my view, the solution is uncomplicated. Before you do anything, ask yourself if you’re planning on switching jobs or acquiring a mortgage or a automobile loan in the next year. If you’re expecting a major change like this in the short-run, do not close the credit card. The gamble of the short term drop in your credit rating is higher than the gamble of just mangling the card and forgetting about it.

Alternatively, hack up the credit card, but hold onto the account till you are beyond that bump that you are confronting in the short-run. When you’ve pulled through, then make the call and close that charge card.

On the other hand, if you do not experience a major change in your future, close that credit card. Doing so extinguishes the enticement to spend and annihilates the (low) gamble of identity theft.

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How to use Craigslist SEO secrets to promote your website

I came across a great how-to article tonight while browsing Squidoo. If you are an avid user of Craigslist, then you know there are hundreds of "How to make $10,000 a month scams on Youtube and various other Internet sites. This author has basically cut through all of the crap and whittled away at the inessentials to get to his final product. The article is pure Halcyon for those looking to drive traffic to their websites. 18 tips take you through the ins and outs of getting listed in the higher eschelons of page ranking. The air is thin up there but with a little effort and alot of smarts you can see your traffic grow exponentially by following even a few of the basic tips.

..........Click Here

Can't pay your doctor? Charge it!

Photo by CIMB Petronas

Americans are choosing credit cards over money when it comes to paying up the almost $300 billion they mop up annually in medical charges — the principal cause of bankruptcy — every year, CNNMoney.com announced earlier this month. The result is customers are only sliding down deeper into debt as they attempt to keep themselves healthy enough bring in more money to pay off the credit cards: "Out-of-pocket health care spending was already increasing in good times," said Bruce Carlson, publisher with health care market research firm Kalorama Information. "Now with high unemployment, consumers have to reach into their pockets even more to fund their health care."

The story continues to state that customers are also passing over their bills altogether, furnishing hospitals and physicians all the more willingness to accept credit card payments. Which is fantastic for credit card companies, besides the fact that they're clients are failing on their immediate payment more often.

External Link: Can't pay your doctor? Charge it -----------------------------Gail Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, an umbrella group for services that help consumers cope with debt gives us valuable and timely advice when you find yourself in trouble unable to pay your medical bills. There are ways to reduce, or at least more effectively manage, medical debt.

---------------------------------------------------------CONFRONT, DON’T IGNORE Procrastinating only leads to trouble. If your bills are turned over to a collection agency, the debt goes on your credit report and will remain there for lenders, and even potential employers, to see. You may have difficulty getting a loan and, if you do get one, you’ll be charged higher rates. So take action — even if that doesn’t mean writing any checks right away.
Proceed to Step 2:
SCRUTINIZE YOUR BILLS Look over your outstanding bills and make sure the listed services actually square with the care you received. Errors are common. If terms or procedures confuse you, call the hospital’s or doctor’s billing department and ask for an explanation.
If your insurer denied one or more of your claims, resubmit the bills, advises Mark Rukavina, executive director of the Access Project (www.accessproject.org), a nonprofit group in Boston that helps consumers cope with medical debt.
“If that doesn’t work, file a formal grievance or appeal with the insurer,” Mr. Rukavina said. “Even it that fails, most states allow insured patients the right to an external review by a certified third party, often a state agency. And patients should exercise this right.”
HIRE AN EXPERT Try first to negotiate with your providers for a discount or an extended payment plan. Explain that you simply can’t pay your bills in full right now, and you need some leeway. If this tactic doesn’t work, or you don’t have the time or energy to haggle, consider hiring a billing specialist — a professional trained to spot errors who speaks the language that medical providers understand and respond to.

(You can find a medical mediator at the Medical Billing Advocates of America Web site, www.billadvocates.com).
Some billing experts charge only if they save you money. Others may ask for a retainer up front. Make sure you clarify the terms at the outset.
BE WARY OF PLASTIC It’s tempting to get rid of your medical debts by paying them off with a credit card. But if you don’t pay off your card balance swiftly, a $1,200 doctor’s fee could balloon to $1,500 or more over the course of a year. Your large debts might also cause a rate increase on other lines of credit. And while medical debt on your credit report is often viewed with some sympathy, credit card debt is not.
If a hospital offers you a medical credit card at zero percent interest, be skeptical, warns Ms. Cunningham of the credit counseling foundation. The rate typically jumps to double-digit interest if you miss a payment.
SET BOUNDARIES If your debts are turned over to a collection agency, you do have rights. “Debt collectors can be very aggressive and frightening,” says Tena Friery of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. “If they call, ask for the name of the caller, and insist that they send you in writing the name of the collector and the amount you owe.”
According to federal law, a collector can call only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. They cannot threaten you with a lawsuit just to scare you into paying the debt. And they can’t garnish your wages, unless they take you to court and win.

For a guide to debt collection, see the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse’s Web site, www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs27-debtcoll.htm.

If a collector is harassing you, you can file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. And many states have their own consumer protection laws on medical debt.
And Next Time...
LEARN YOUR POLICY’S RULES. Study your plan’s Explanation of Benefits carefully so you won’t be blindsided by unexpected charges.
“Not knowing is what gets people in the most trouble,” says Arden Lee Taber, a lead negotiator for HealthCare Mediation, a mediation firm based in Austin, Tex. He handles hundreds of billing disputes each year.
KEEP A DIARY. Write down every instance of medical care you receive — all exams, tests, medications and procedures. This will help you or a mediator when reviewing your bills.
NEGOTIATE BEFOREHAND. If possible, discuss ahead of time the fees you will be charged for a procedure, test or exam. If you expect difficulty paying, ask about price breaks.
“You can often get discounts of up to 50 percent if you offer to pay right away,” says Mr. Rukavina. “We’re seeing more flexibility these days on the part of providers. Everyone wants to avoid the collection process.”

Learn to negotiate properly

Photo by Orchestra man

Learning how to negotiate properly is a very important skill to have and is Darwinian in nature. (Survival of the fittest). Many people drop the buzzword without really understanding what exactly it means, and just how powerful it can be for personal success and satisfaction.
Here are some tips that have worked for me throughout the years that when done properly yield immediate results. If you're a pinhead then have someone else do your negotiating such as a friend or a lawyer, and remember don't try this at home kids.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------1) Learn to jerk and flinch. This is one of the oldest tactics for negotiating but also one of the least used. A sudden jerk is a noticeable response to an offer or price. The objective of this negotiation tactic is to make the other person feel uncomfortable about their offer.

2) Recognize that people often ask for more than what they expect to receive.This means you need to defy the temptation to routinely reduce your price or offer a discount. I once asked for a large discount on a television hoping to get 1/2 of what I had asked for. I was pleasurably surprised when the shop owner agreed.

3) The person holding the most information does the best. You will need to learn as much as possible about the other person's situation.

4) Practice at every opportunity. People waver to negotiate because they don’t have the confidence needed. Develop confidence by negotiating at every chance you get. Ask for discounts everywhere. Cultivate the habit of asking for a price break when you buy from a retail store.
Here are a few questions or statements you can use to practice your negotiation skills:"
Is that your best price?"
That's way too expensive for XYZ." Wait for their response, and learn to flinch.

5) Retain your walking away power. It is always a much better decision to walk away from something rather than make too large a concession or cut the price of your product or service too deeply. Negotiating is a way of life in many cultures and is picking up steam in the United States. Apply these tactics and you will observe diversity in your negotiation skills immediately.

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There's a huge storm coming

Photo by C.I.S.A.

Others call it the end of the world. Each and everyday the news all around us gets more and more serious and devastating. A government that can’t govern its people, millions of job losses, and draconian laws being made so quickly that everyone will be in jail in the next 10 years. The Bible calls it the entry point into Armageddon, while others call it a societal breakdown.
The whole of society is breaking down. An accepted pattern and framework no longer exists, therefore we must return to "traditional standards" such as marriage and the sanctity of the family unit. The new criminal is even more dangerous than anyone can imagine. People are afraid to walk the streets because of the homeless, and many of them are on drugs. This is fact and not personal ideology. Check the statistics for yourself. But we are deep in denial, like a cheated on spouse who knows the sorry truth but tries their best to ignore it. In the last decade or so the spotlight of truth has swung this way and that, and one institution after another was suddenly exposed as being precisely as rotten as we always thought it was.

What's that? The economic boom is an unsustainable fantasy? Riot police can be a little "handy"? CEO’s are greedy? The (soon to be defunct) New York Times might have used underhand tactics to get a story? What next? Oxygen is tasteless? Pigs stink at poker? Children are overrated? We knew all this stuff. We just never had the details. What about each other? Society? Can we trust us? Doubt it. We're probably not even real, as was revealed in the popular documentary The Matrix. Made of pixels. Your co-workers? Pixels. You? One pixel. One measly pixel. You haven't even got shoes, for Christ's sake’s the very fabric of life breaks down around us, even language itself seems unreliable. These words don't make sense. The vowels and consonants you're hearing in your mind's ear right now are being generated by mere squiggles on a page or screen. Pointless hieroglyphics. Shapes. You're staring at shapes and hearing them in your head. When you see the word "trust", can you even trust that? Why? It's just shapes!
Right now all our faith has poured out of the old institutions, and there's nowhere left to put it. We need new institutions to believe in, and fast. Doesn't matter what they're made of. Knit them out of string, wool, anything. Quickly, quickly. Before we start worshipping insects.

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Another "how to drive traffic to your blog" post

Photo by ultimate iwealth
Many of my readers have aspiring ambitions to be knighted power-Bloggers no doubt. From personal experience I can attest to the fact that it is not an easy task, but with certain caveats and some general guidelines you can get off to a good start. This evening I found this valuable post by Seth Godin. If you have dreams of becoming a power-Blogger then Seth gives some of the most valuable advice that I have ever come across.
Follow Seth’s adventures here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

My friend Fred, a talented blogger, asked me for advice the other day. Here's a partial answer, with a few apologies to Swift: (and when you're done with this list, feel free to read my post about shark attacks).

1. Use lists.


2. Be topical... write posts that need to be read right now.


3. Learn enough to become the expert in your field.


4. Break news.


5. Be timeless... write posts that will be readable in a year.


6. Be among the first with a great blog on your topic, then encourage others to blog on the same topic.


7. Share your expertise generously so people recognize it and depend on you.


8. Announce news.


9. Write short, pithy posts.


10. Encourage your readers to help you manipulate the technorati top blog list.


11. Don't write about your cat, your boyfriend or your kids.


12. Write long, definitive posts.


13. Write about your kids.


14. Be snarky. Write nearly libelous things about fellow bloggers, daring them to respond (with links back to you) on their blog.


15. Be sycophantic. Share linklove and expect some back.


16. Include polls, meters and other eye candy.


17. Tag your posts. Use del.ico.us.


18. Coin a term or two.


19. Do email interviews with the well-known.


20. Answer your email.


21. Use photos. Salacious ones are best.


22. Be anonymous.


23. Encourage your readers to digg your posts. (and to use furl and reddit). Do it with every post.


24. Post your photos on flickr.


25. Encourage your readers to subscribe by RSS.


26. Start at the beginning and take your readers through a months-long education.


27. Include comments so your blog becomes a virtual water cooler that feeds itself.


28. Assume that every day is the beginning, because you always have new readers.


29. Highlight your best posts on your Squidoo lens.


30. Point to useful but little-known resources.


31. Write about stuff that appeals to the majority of current blog readers--like gadgets and web 2.0.


32. Write about Google.


33. Have relevant ads that are even better than your content.


34. Don't include comments, people will cross post their responses.


35. Write posts that each include dozens of trackbacks to dozens of blog posts so that people will notice you.


36. Run no ads.


37. Keep tweaking your template to make it include every conceivable bell or whistle.


38. Write about blogging.


39. Digest the good ideas of other people, all day, every day.


40. Invent a whole new kind of art or interaction.


41. Post on weekdays, because there are more readers.


42. Write about a never-ending parade of different topics so you don't bore your readers.


43. Post on weekends, because there are fewer new posts.


44. Don't interrupt your writing with a lot of links.


45. Dress your blog (fonts and design) as well as you would dress yourself for a meeting with a stranger.


46. Edit yourself. Ruthlessly.


47. Don't promote yourself and your business or your books or your projects at the expense of the reader's attention.


48. Be patient.


49. Give credit to those that inspired, it makes your writing more useful.


50. Ping technorati. Or have someone smarter than me tell you how to do it automatically.


51. Write about only one thing, in ever-deepening detail, so you become definitive.


52. Write in English.


53. Better, write in Chinese.


54. Write about obscure stuff that appeals to an obsessed minority.


55. Don't be boring.


56. Write stuff that people want to read and share.

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