Great Lessons for Life and Work

Are you a fan of Jeremy Lin?  Who? you might say.  And probably rightfully so.

Unless you're a basketball fan.  Jeremy Lin is a pro basketball player for the New York Knicks.  Up until very recently, there was really no reason to know who Jeremy was.  He played his college ball at not-exactly-a-powerhouse-Harvard.  He was not drafted by any NBA team and signed as a free agent last year with Golden State.  Earlier this year, he was being played very sparingly and there were even plans to release him once some players returned from injury.  But now?...

Due to those injuries, Jeremy was pressed into a starting role as the Knicks point guard.  Since then (5 games playing at least 36 minutes each game) he has led the formerly 2-11 Knicks to a 5-0 record.  How has he done it?  Well, having some talent certainly helps, but no one in the NBA (or most colleges) seemed to have noticed. But what he really did was be ready for, and seize, an opportunity when it presented itself.

I thought this 10 item list by Forbes contributor Eric Jackson really put it well and gives us all some lessons about life and work and how to do and be our best.  Here is Eric's list...

1. Believe in yourself when no one else does.
2. Seize the opportunity when it comes up.
3. Your family will always be there for you, so be there for them.
4. Find the system that works for your style.
5. Don't overlook talent that might exist around you today on your team.
6. People will love you for being an original, not trying to be someone else.
7. Stay humble.
8. When you make others around you look good, they will love you forever.
9. Never forget about the importance of luck or fate in life.
10. Work your butt off.

23 1/2 Hours

In this awesome video, Dr. Mike Evans asks the question, "Can you limit your sitting and sleeping to just 23 1/2 hours a day?"  And so what do you do with the other 1/2 hour that you're not sitting or sleeping?  Without spoiling it too much, you Exercise!  It doesn't even have to be too strenuous.  Watch the video to see the benefits you can achieve by just being active for 1/2 hour a day.  Then... go take a walk!

How come we didn't have...

The good ol' days?  Forget it!  Why didn't we have these when my kids were small?

I think I'll go bungee-jumping...

NOT!!!

At least not after this story on USA Today.

Yes, that's a half of the cord snapping back up while the other half is still attached to the jumper on her way down...  Thank goodness she is okay.  However, she must've hit her head since she is considering doing it again sometime in the future.

Here's a link to the video if you aren't into reading about mishaps and just want to see them.

Watch for people scanning prices with their phones on Saturday!

If you see an unusual number of people down at your local Target, Wal-Mart, or what-have-you-Mart scanning barcodes with their smartphones, they're probably using Amazon's Price Check app.  Why would they be doing this?  Well, this Saturday, Dec 10, Amazon will give you 5% off, up to $5 per item.  You can do this for up to three items, thus saving you up to $15!

Thanks to lifehacker for the info!

Above and beyond the call of spousal support

This story from TUAW shows the wife of Rovio's CEO wearing a dress resembling a certain bird.  Can you see the familial lines?  I guess after all the money her husband's game has made, it's the least she could do!  Would you?

Pictures from Rovio and The Hollywood Reporter via TUAW

Something cool if you're a student

Along with its calculation capabilities, Google is now graphing equations!  Below is an example of what it can do.  Just type the (single variable) equation you want graphed and voilà!

Thanks to LifeHacker for the tip!

Why it's called a "Big Mac" and not a "Big Win"

Here are the instructions for setting up your computer (Mac or Windows PC) on McDonalds free wi-fi.  Hmmm... Seven steps, or three?  Which is going to get me back to my fries faster?

Thanks go to Daring Fireball via Cult of Mac (so you know it's biased, but so what?) for this link.

Geez, I wish I could present as well as this guy!

And he's a 6th grader!

When are you coming back from your break?!?

What does it say about a product that's in Beta and you already can't live without it after just a week or two?  Well, right now, it's called Siri, Apple's "intelligent" assistant.  The service was down for a few hours yesterday and it's down again today.  I'm finding myself checking every so often to see if it's back (when Siri's down, it tells you that it can't connect to the network).  And it's not just me either.  Do a Twitter search on "Siri down" or "Siri outage" and there are numerous posts about it.  Do a Google search for the same thing and you'll find any number of stories.

So, anyway, what do I think it says about the product?  I think Apple has a big hit on its hands.  I just hope it knows just how big it is and this is just a pre-release glitch and not what we can regularly expect from Siri.