MineZone Wiki

Miscellaneous Notes

Weight Watchers Points Formula

One point = (calories/50) + (fat grams/12) - (min{r, 4}/5)

"The last part of the formula — min{r, 4} — is equal to the number of grams of dietary fiber or 4, whichever is the smaller number. The formula means that one point is equal to the number of calories in a food serving divided by 50. The value increases by about one point for every 12 grams of fat, and drops by about one point for every five grams of fiber."

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Getting Free Canon Copier Copies

"Go into "Service Mode" (using star-2 and 8-star), and push the "Option" tab. Underneath it, push "Acc". A new menu will pop up. Hit the "Coin" button, and enter "0" on the keypad. Once you are done, hit "Enter" or "Apply" (you MUST do this after you change any field; otherwise it will reset the next button you push). Once you are done, hit reset until you are on the main screen. Voila - free copies!"

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"Although doctors usually recommend firm mattresses for their patients with bad backs, new research shows that back pain in people who slept on medium-firm mattresses was twice as likely to improve than in those who slept on firm mattresses."

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JUGGLING BEATS PER MINUTE

"Surely at some point you've juggled to some music with a good beat? You want music that is somewhat upbeat. A fast 3-ball pattern or a "normal" 5-ball pattern is going to be executed at about 4-5 throws a second, or 240-300 throws a minute. 240 beats per minute is pretty upbeat."

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BUSINESS FINANCING BOOKS

• Financing Your Business Dreams With Other People's Money
• Guerrilla Financing
• Finding Money

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MARKETING TIP

"The 10-10-10 rule - Here's a great tip for someone just starting out or a seasoned professional storyteller, who wants to market themselves. After you do a show that goes well, give the event coordinator of that show 10 bio sheets and 10 stamps. Ask them to send them out to 10 people they know that might have a use for what you do. I've never had someone reject a request to do this. Put that in your contract. (You are working with a contract aren't you?) You will be amazed at how effective this will be to get the ball rolling in your area. Even better is to have them attach a personal note or letter to the bio. Scientists have recently discovered that the most powerful force in the universe is the personal reference. So don't just sit there, go make a bio sheet and get the word out about you! Be Shameless!"

- from http://www.greatstoryteller.com/10%20hints.htm

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"From the business point of view--not to overstate it--intellectual property is dead; long live intellectual process. Long live service; long live performance. The intellectual assets should be distributed for free, and then you should use them as advertising to charge for speaking, consulting, for software support--for T-shirts. The Lion King is great advertising for T-shirts, baseball caps, lunch boxes. To me Java [software] is advertising for Sun Microsystems. And my newsletter--. . ."

"If you meet me at a conference, I'll give it to you for free. But if you want a steady supply, a subscription, I will charge you $600. Again, you give it away once or twice for free to hook them on the serial, on the subscription, on the membership. But people are much less likely to pay for one copy. They will pay for a stream, for a performance, an experience."

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It may sound like an old wives' tale, but in a recent study, adults who ate 16 ounces of plain yogurt a day had fewer allergy symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose and nasal congestion, than those who drank an equal amount of skim milk. The yogurt contained two types of "beneficial" bacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum, which help create a healthy balance of microflora in the gastrointestinal tract. This makes you better able to fight allergens in your body.

If you suffer from allergies: Buy yogurts, such as Stonyfield Farms, Cascade Fresh and Horizon, that list these two bacteria on the label.

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From Austin Public Library reference desk emailed response:

"I could not find any zoning maps online, but you can go to the Development Assistance Center Document Sales on the first floor of 505 Barton Springs Road to purchase zoning maps. They are open 7:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m."

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COLOR IMPACT

In Color for Impact, Jan V. White says that the use of color in presetations makes them 60% easier to see, reduces search time by 80%, increases attention span by 82%, improves understanding by 70%, recall by 60%, and brand recognition by 70%. Companies from 3M to Xerox promote the use of color in presentation materials, not just to sell product, but because it works.

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"Google AdWords is a Blue Book for words, eBay is a Blue Book for everything."

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"Prior experience in programming is a much worse predictor of future success in programming than compelling interest in programming projects."

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From Mr. Smarty Pants (Austin Chronicle; February 6, 2004):

"According to one former medic, one way to tell if you have a fever without a thermometer is to close your eyes and with your eyelids down, try to roll your eyes around and up. If you feel pain in you eyes, there's a good chance you have a fever."

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(from http://www.example.com/):

You have reached this web page by typing "example.com", "example.net", or "example.org" into your web browser.

These domain names are reserved for use in documentation and are not available for registration. See RFC 2606, Section 3.

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• discount drugs from Canada
• find cheaper alternative drugs
• information on home sale in your neighborhood
• get estimated value of your home
• information on wills and trusts
• flat-rate wireless service
• shopping for wireless service
• shopping for wireless service

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DEBT RATIO

Keep debt payments under 15% of net income. Anything higher almost always indicates future debt problems. It also makes lenders reluctant to give you loans.

To calculate your percentage of debt to income: Total all your monthly expenses. Subtract your mortgage payments or rent. Include credit card bills, personal loans, student loans, medical bills for services already rendered and car loans. Divide this figure by your monthly after-tax income --including salary, investment income, alimony and child support.

Example: If you have monthly after-tax income of $4,000 and debt payments of $580, your percentage of debt to income is $580 divided by $4,000, or 14.5%.

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cube PCs @ Fry's

• shuttle spacewalker sk41g $250
• ice cube p4 $269

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Things I would like to re-find

1. (UPDATE: Found it!!!) I ran across a website once (maybe via memepool, metafilter, or boingboing) that had screenshots of someone's Windows desktop that they had configured via Active Desktop to show webcams around the world. It explained how you could watch the Sun rise and set around the world via the webcams. I thought it was a great idea and probably bookmarked it somewhere, but now I can't find it. I even tried turing to Google Answers, but without any luck.
2. I ran across a stand-alone freeware utility in late 2003 that would scan a drive or directory and tell you the total combined playing time of all the MP3 files. I can't remember the name of the program and now I can't seem to find a trace of it anywhere. I know that winamp and other players can calculate the time by loading all of the files, but this was a standalone utility with only one purpose. I've tried posting to alt.comp.freeware, but without any luck so far.

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From Niche Search:

FindArticles
A useful free search engine indexing published articles from more than 300 sources (PC Magazine apparently not among them).

eLibrary
Searchable archive of books, articles, newspapers, transcripts, pictures, and maps. After the seven-day trial, you still get abstracts free, but full files will cost you.

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Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design

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What resolution should my digital camera be set at if I want to order prints?

print size	minimum resolution in pixels
4 x 6	900 x 600
5 x 7	1050 x 750
8 x 10	1280 x 1024
wallet prints	450 x 300

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Terry Pratchett

• Discworld Reading Order Guides
• Terry Pratchett -- more Discworld information

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*´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ *Interesting*

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Phonetic Alphabet

A	Alpha
B	Bravo
C	Charlie
D	Delta
E	Echo
F	Foxtrot
G	Golf
H	Hotel
I	India
J	Juliet
K	Kilo
L	Lima
M	Mike
N	November
O	Oscar
P	Papa
Q	Quebec
R	Romeo
S	Sierra
T	Tango
U	Uniform
V	Victor
W	Whiskey
X	X-ray
Y	Yankee
Z	Zulu

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Changing Habits

• The Habit Buster
• The Habit Change Workbook: How to Break Bad Habits and Form Good Ones

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To Write a Business Plan

Sick of working for The Man? Get back at him by writing a business plan for your own start-up--say, while you're on company time! The Small Business Administration makes a good first stop, with a comprehensive list of things to think about in putting together your plan. Businessplans.org has great example plans along with helpful advice, and NASA actually has a good outline (even for non-space-oriented businesses). The free sample plan at Bulletproofbizplans.com is incredibly detailed and highly worth cribbing from. To download sample plans based on industry (manufacturer, retailer, and service provider), try the CCH Business Owner's Toolkit.

- from http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,111109,pg,5,00.asp

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Unsafe Vanilla

"Most of the vanilla sold in Mexico is synthetic, though it doesn't all have coumarin in it. Telltale signs of the fake stuff: clear, or dark and murky (the real stuff is amber colored and translucent), low alcohol content (genuine vanilla extract contains at least 35% ethyl alcohol), laughably low price. Pure Mexican vanilla is available, but you're better off getting it in this country. Warning: it won't be cheap."

- from http://www.straightdope.com/columns/011207.html

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Storytelling

Once upon a time, there was a. . .
And every day. . .
Until one day. . .
And then. . .
And then. . .
Until finally. . .
And ever since then. . .

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International Metric Paper Sizes - ISO Standard
SIZE	WIDTH (mm)	HEIGHT (mm)	WIDTH (in.)	HEIGHT(in.)
A0	841 mm	1,189 mm	33.11 in.	46.81 in.
A1	594 mm	841 mm	23.39 in.	33.11 in.
A2	420 mm	594 mm	16.54 in.	23.39 in.
A3	297 mm	420 mm	11.69 in.	16.54 in.
A4	210 mm	297 mm	8.27 in.	11.69 in.
A5	148 mm	210 mm	5.83 in.	8.27 in.
A6	105 mm	148 mm	4.13 in.	5.83 in.
A7	74 mm	105 mm	2.91 in.	4.13 in.
B0	1,028 mm	1,456 mm	40.48 in.	57.32 in.
B1	728 mm	1,028 mm	28.66 in.	40.48 in.
B2	514 mm	728 mm	20.24 in.	28.66
B3	364 mm	514 mm	14.33 in.	20.24 in.
B4	257 mm	364 mm	10.12 in.	14.33 in.
B5	182 mm	257 mm	7.17 in.	10.12 in.
B6	128 mm	182 mm	5.04 in.	7.17 in.

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Computer trainer website

• Windows and Mac Training

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Steps in conversation

Listening Understanding Responding

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Tom Stoppard

Three things necessary for creative existance:

1. Unsinkable Quality
2. Excentric Existence
3. Irrepresible Vitality

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Car Donation

I'm considering donating my old car to a charity. Is this a good idea?

Answer from Barbara Weltman... Donating an old car to charity may not do the good you hope. The brokers who buy donated cars usually take most of the money. Charities may get as little as $100 per car. If you want to see the donation of a vehicle go farther, call a local church or synagogue and ask if they know of anyone who needs a car. (See your tax adviser about deductibility.)

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Digital Clock Screensaver

built-in "3D Text" clock option

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EBook Conversion

In addition someone in ClieSource? posted the means by which you can convert these (Pocket PC format) so that you can read them on the Palm. The following should help:- Do a google search and you can find a program called Clit 1.4 that will allow you to convert these files to regular HTML. Then use Mobipocket Publisher and plug in the .opf file that will be included in the conversion and in seconds you have a perfect Mobipocket version to read on your Clie

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Rapid Reader Palm Recommendations

• skip back 1 or 2 sentences button
• document view (rather than speedread view) when powering up

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St. Edward's University Fees

• New College Classes (per credit hour): $454
• Porfolio Assessment (per credit hour awarded): $54
• Request for Second Evaluations: $32

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Buying A New Car

Now, for the part that can actually save you some real dinero - "How do I get the best deal on my new car"? Very simple. Find the web sites of the 2 closest dealerships selling the car you want. Get an online quote (include the interest rate in your request!!) from one of them, then take the email offer he sent you, and forward it to the other. Lather rinse repeat until they've obviously cut every last dime out of the deal. Do this towards the end of the month, but not the last day, since if you have to walk on the deal to make a point you'll have to wait another 30 days for them to be that price aggressive again. Give yourself 2-3 days, that should be close enough that they're hungry to make their 30 day numbers, and leave you enough time to walk and be able to come back the next day.

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CSS Notes

Cascading Order:

1. Browser default
2. External Style Sheet
3. Internal Style Sheet (inside the <head> tag)
4. Inline Style (inside HTML element)

selector {property: value}

If the value is multiple words, put quotes around the value:

If you wish to specify more than one property, you should separate each property with a semi-colon.

To make the style definitions more readable, you can describe one property on each line

An old browser that does not support styles, will ignore the <style> tag, but the content of the <style> tag will be displayed on the page. It is possible to prevent an old browser from displaying the content by hiding it in the HTML comment element:

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Protecting Checks

Use paper that's difficult to alter use chemically sensitive paper toner anchorage (laser lock or toner lock) use a 12 point font or higher secure number fonts? (white in black) secure number payee font number checks with dye (bleeds through and makes number visable on both sides) void pantograph (void printed in a dot pattern in the background of a check) laid lines (or enhanced laid lines) thermochromic inks (change color to react to heat and moisture) watermarks warning bands (add "do not cash", "do not accept", or "do not negotiate" after the warning) micro printing (circular microprinting as a logo)

Use "positive pay" where you send the bank a list of checks that you've written or "reverse positive pay" where the bank sends you a list of check that have been received for cashing

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Ebay Bargains

Search under misspellings. Savvy buyers have done this for years, but it bears repeating because the bargains can be big. Most shoppers search under the correctly spelled heading. There's less competition in an auction when the item description is misspelled.

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In today's market a 1 color on a white cotton tee averages $4.23 each for runs as short as 36 pieces. The price can be drastically reduced to $3.08 for runs of 144 pieces.

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• :-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*

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Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Fcuknig amzanig

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Management Class Errors

Chapter 9 Question 6 Multiple Choice (10 points) Question: Characteristics of small batch technologies include all of the following EXCEPT - organic + centralized decision making + formal - customized

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Firefox Complaints

• unable to upload images when selling items on half.com
• "Find in This Page" defaults to last search direction, rather than always "Down"
• find does not search in textboxes
• loses auto-saved tabs if opened with a URL argument
• multiple tabs not being saved on exit
• links opened from other applications not opening new tab

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10 ways to raise a purple cow (from Fast Company)

Making and marketing something remarkable means asking new questions -- and trying new practices. Here are 10 suggestions.

1. Differentiate your customers. Find the group that's most profitable. Find the group that's most likely to influence other customers. Figure out how to develop for, advertise to, or reward either group. Ignore the rest. Cater to the customers you would choose if you could choose your customers.
2. If you could pick one underserved niche to target (and to dominate), what would it be? Why not launch a product to compete with your own that does nothing but appeal to that market?
3. Create two teams: the inventors and the milkers. Put them in separate buildings. Hold a formal ceremony when you move a product from one group to the other. Celebrate them both, and rotate people around.
4. Do you have the email addresses of the 20% of your customer base that loves what you do? If not, start getting them. If you do, what could you make for them that would be superspecial?
5. Remarkable isn't always about changing the biggest machine in your factory. It can be the way you answer the phone, launch a new brand, or price a revision to your software. Getting in the habit of doing the "unsafe" thing every time you have the opportunity is the best way to see what's working and what's not.
6. Explore the limits. What if you're the cheapest, the fastest, the slowest, the hottest, the coldest, the easiest, the most efficient, the loudest, the most hated, the copycat, the outsider, the hardest, the oldest, the newest, or just the most! If there's a limit, you should (must) test it.
7. Think small. One vestige of the TV-industrial complex is a need to think mass. If it doesn't appeal to everyone, the thinking goes, it's not worth it. No longer. Think of the smallest conceivable market and describe a product that overwhelms it with its remarkability. Go from there.
8. Find things that are "just not done" in your industry, and then go ahead and do them. For example, JetBlue Airways almost instituted a dress code -- for its passengers! The company is still playing with the idea of giving a free airline ticket to the best-dressed person on the plane. A plastic surgeon could offer gift certificates. A book publisher could put a book on sale for a certain period of time. Stew Leonard's took the strawberries out of the little green plastic cages and let the customers pick their own. Sales doubled.
9. Ask, "Why not?" Almost everything you don't do has no good reason for it. Almost everything you don't do is the result of fear or inertia or a historical lack of someone asking, "Why not?"
10. What would happen if you simply told the truth inside your company and to your customers?