3 Quick And Easy Steps To Tell Someone You Appreciate Them
After watching the great video on the importance of saying thank-you, I realised that this is one area where I fail. Sure I say thank-you all the time, but those people are not really the ones who are important to me. They are not people who I spend all my time with. They are people I meet in an elevator at work, or in a class at university.
While I do connect with some of them, the time I spend with them is very short. Most of my time is spent with family and friends. These are the people who deserve a lot more thanks and appreciation then I give. In fact I probably give those superficial friends more thanks and appreciation than my closest family and friends.
I know I’m not alone, I know many people struggle with this. So what can we do about it?? What can we do to let people know that we appreciate them?
Here are 3 quick steps that you can follow to let people know you appreciate them.
Step 1: Take the Time to Say Thank You
Ok it seems pretty obvious that it is important to say thank-you…. but how often do you actually say it?
I don’t mean saying thanks as an off handed remark. e.g ‘thanks for passing the salt’…. Read the rest of this entry »
Learning To Say Thank-You
How great does it feel when someone says a simple thank-you! It is one of the greatest feelings. It makes you feel wanted, needed, and loved. However we often don’t say thank-you to the people that really need it.
Check out this video of Dr. Laura Trice examining the issue, and take the time to say Thank-You to the people that matter.
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Amazon search lists Barack Obama and John McCain as Terrorists
If you have been following the US presidential campaign you will know there has been a lot of fighting between the Democratic and Republican Candidates. However it seems that Amazon.com has tried to list Barack Obama and John McCain costumes under the search term ‘Terrorist Costumes‘.
The search term originally showed up Barack Obama….
However after a few blog posts now the term now strangely lists John McCain.
While I don”t believe either candidate is actually a terrorist, the fact Amazon search has listed this is absolutely crazy!
UPDATE: Amazon have now removed both costumes from the search results.
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[Via John Battelle]
Take The Time To Help A Student
Once of the most valuable resources a student has is time given by a teacher. Time is the ultimate gift, and is something that should be shared. Check out the video below of Dave Eggers great idea for tutoring, and then think about what you might be able to do in the life of a student you know.
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5 ways to deal with ignorant or annoying people at work
I logged into my email from home the other day to see a message from a colleague. The message basically came to the assumption that I had not been doing my job as was asked of me. The assumption was totally incorrect and based on incomplete information coming from someone who should not be making these type of calls.
While normally I try to keep a cool composure about such emails, this time I have reached boiling point. I have reached a level of anger which I don’t often reach. While I would normally think of how I could resolve the situation with out much conflict, for some reason this time I want to retaliate. I want to argue my case, I want to get the load off my chest, while at the same time inflicting the most negative emotions which I can summon up.
Strangely enough this has me concerned about a few things.
Job Security
If I can’t be trusted in my job by other staff members, sooner or later this will cause issues for my job. I am one of those people that doesn’t work well having people standing over my shoulder. I am a very quick and efficient worker. I do the job in a short time, and do it at a professional quality. Having someone stand over my shoulder makes me feel inadequate and like I’m standing in front of a firing squad. It is not beneficial to my work. It is extremely distracting. But probably the biggest issue is that it makes me feel like quiting.
Working Friendships
Once you have one person off your side, it can easily cause issues to the other friendships with your co-workers. I love where I work. I love the people, and I love the job we do. It concerns me greatly that some people are so shallow as to not ask adequate questions before jumping to conclusions. I hate the feeling of having everyone off your side because of colleague telling everyone you don’t do your job.
5 ways to deal with ignorant people at work
While my concerns may be valid, it still leaves me asking one serious question of myself. Am I really dealing with the situation in the best possible way? It can’t be good for me to be bottling up this hidden resentment. So what do you do? How do you deal with people that just trigger a nerve?
I’ve done a bit of searching and here are 5 ways which you can deal with the ignorant people in your life in ways that let you go about your day in peace.
1. Ignore Them
This may or may not be the best solution. However one way to deal with those annoying people is to just not give their comments any time.
When you receive an email from someone who does not know what their talking about, just push it to the back of your mind. Don’t let it get to you. Go and do something else to distract you from the situation. But whatever you do DON’T RESPOND.
If you respond to an email sent to you, it is likely that you will write something which reflects badly on yourself. If you confront them you will likely get into an argument. It is much better for you to go away and calm down, and then not dignify the email with any form of response.
2. Talk to a Friend
One of the most effective ways to not let annoying or ignorant people get to you is to talk to a close friend. Tell them everything that’s going on. Yes I do mean everything! All the emotions your going though. All the stress your under. What you feel like doing in response. Sometimes the advice of a close friend is more valuable than you could ever imagine.
As humans we very much make decisions based on what other people do or say. If you have a friend who will level with you. Who will tell you the situation how it is, then you will be fine. Even the act of getting the pressure off your chest is hugely beneficial.
3. Be Kind
Ok, I know you read that and you started to cringe at the thought. However ignorant people are not bad people, they are just not well informed. They don’t know any better. So be kind to them. They can’t help their situation. It’s not their fault they have trouble keeping informed. Give them a hand, and bring them up to speed on the situation.
Not only will being kind make you feel better in the long run, but it is likely that you will place your self in a good spot with the person. If you are kind to them it will be amazing how this might change their attitude towards you. Even if it doesn’t stop them being ignorant or annoying, it much just take the edge off the situation.
4. Do an amazing job.
Sure if one person keeps making uninformed judgements or decision it can be a little off-putting. But you can use that emotion to do a better job. If you become better at your current job everyone else in your workplace will appreciate your work and will automatically not take the comments of the person on board.
If you do your job well enough you may even be promoted into a position where you no longer have to worry about what that person says. Don’t let their comments ever hold you back from doing the best job you can!
5. Tell them your problem
Ok so this might be a little nerve wracking. But if everything else fails you should calmly and politely them your problem. Tell them that they don’t understand the situation and that they need to stop speaking before finding out information.
Sometimes ignorant people just don’t know they are being rude. If nothing works then you do need to tell them. Who knows they may even appreciate you doing so. However if they are not appreciative don’t take it to heart. You won’t have lost a friend, but you will feel much better for telling them.
Whatever method you go with, it is important that you find a solution. It is not healthy to build up unwanted anger or resentment. You will be a happier person, and you will feel much more secure in your workplace.
If you have any other suggestions I would love to hear them. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.
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Photo credit, rstrawser
The Top Ten Apple Get A Mac (Mac vs PC) Commercials
So you know what the Top Ten Apple Commercials Ever are. But do you know what the Top Ten Get a Mac ads are? If your not sure what I’m talking about, I am referring to the “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” commercials.
These are a great little set of commercials which have been running for a few years and Apple just keep releasing more of them. They are simple, but yet smartly written and acted. The following ten are my pick of the best, let me know what you think should make the top ten.
10. Goodwill
Even during the holiday season PC can’t get over his hate for the Mac.
9. Better Results
This is quite a funny little ad showing ease of creating great movies on a mac.
8. Out of the Box
Mac and PC emerge to the world, but PC is not quite ready to go. I love this ad for its simplicity in outlining how easy it is to get a mac up and running. Read the rest of this entry »
The reason Apple sold so many Macs in 2008 is Happiness
If your anything like me you just live for statistics. I don’t mean you love to sit there trolling through boring numbers, but I do mean that you love the interesting numbers.
For instance you will know that Apple sold 2,611,000 Macs during Q4 of the 2008 year (9to5Mac). You would also know about Apples 1.14 Billion dollar profit for the same quarter (MacRumors). Both figures are up significantly on last year and sent share prices higher after they were announced.
I just have one question…. what is driving this growth?? Apple says its due to record Mac and iPhone sales. I however really want to know what is driving people to buy Apple??
Obviously the iPhone is a huge draw-card. Especially with it turning 3g and showing its face in as many countries as it has. However what is driving the Mac sales??
Is it the iMac? Is it the MacBooks? Is it the super slickness of the MacBook Air? What is causing people to buy Apple?
A Possible Answer…
Recently there was a study published in Australia which I think may explain why Mac sales are up.
You see I believe its all to do with happiness. Sure users are not happy with their PC’s and with Vista so their switching to Mac. But its got to be more than that! Is there a physical reason people are switching to Mac??
I think I found it.
The 2008 Happiness Index is a survey of 8500 Australians and has some interesting findings.
Australian men prefer to surf the Internet than spend time with their partners or have sex.
I spoke with Seonaid Anderson who is a Director at The Leading Edge who ran the study.
She says that men are much more self indulgent compared to females who are more interested in their families.
“For men, they’re really interested in surfing the Internet, sex and watching sport. So very much a kind of escapism or self-fulfilment. Whereas females are really much more into having a family meal or playing with their pet or playing with their children.”
So there you have it. Men are much more self indulgent. So therefore are physically likely to buy a cool looking mac.
So when you see that Mac which you just have to have, if your a guy your more likely to buy it so you can go about the happy activity of surfing the net. Don’t worry though girls, I think you might be able to justify a spend… after all the Mac’s are great for the family!
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Photo credits, flickrich and sean-b
The Top Ten Apple Commercials Ever Made
Apple have just released yet another instalment to the Get a Mac ads and it got me thinking. There are some really cool commercials that Apple have been made recently, and there are some brilliant commercials from the past, but which are the best? Which are the ads that get people thinking about Apple??
I went for a search to find the answer and here are my top ten Apple commercials of all time! Let me know what you think. Do you agree with my list?
10. 1984
Many Apple fans love this commercial, but personally I don’t think it deserves the right to be the best mac ad ever. It is the kind of ad you would run once and then would be put in the vault, which is exactly what Apple did with it. It is a great ad, but not the best. It doesn’t pull at emotions and is aimed at a tech crowd.
9. MacBook Air
I love this ad for a few reasons. Firstly the MacBook air is a cool looking product. Whether you like its features or not, it just looks cool. Secondly the application of fitting the MacBook Air into an everyday file which people use in their office was ingenious.
Will Australians be able to afford the new Apple Macbook?
The global financial crisis has now hit the retail technology sector with price increases to the latest Apple Macbook releases.
Apple announced their latest updates to the Macbook range at an invitation only event on Tuesday.
Anthony Agius is co-founder of MacTalk.com.au, a website dedicated to providing local news and information to over 17,000 Australian Apple users.
He says the falling Australian dollar has caused the price of the new products to increase dramatically.
“For Australians it means a significant price increase. Unfortunately, due to our flagging dollar, the pricing of the MacBook increased compared to previous models. In the USA, the MacBook pricing remained the same. Before this upgrade, the MacBooks were very competitively priced due to the Australian dollar doing so well.”
The increased prices could have significant impact throughout the market.
One of Apple’s key markets is education.
University students have been increasingly purchasing Apple products.
Many students already live tight budgets and may not be able to afford the cost increases.
However it seems some students still believe in the Apple brand.
Leighton Kuchel is a Griffith University design student.
He says that Apple computers are popular for students due to the success of the iPod and the new innovative designs.
“They have become more popular because of the iPod. I like the way they’re designed… Everything is thought out… and they can use Windows and Mac OSX on the same computer. Instead of buying two computers, you just buy one. Everything just works wonderfully.”
Apple has continued their trend of innovation with the latest release
A new refined manufacturing process allows Macbook enclosures to be made out of a single piece of aluminium.
This process greatly reduces weight and final thickness of the product.
The technology has already appeared in the ultra thin Macbook Air.
Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive, says the refined process is a new way of thinking.
“Traditionally notebooks are made from multiple parts. With the new MacBook, we’ve replaced all of those parts with just one part—the unibody. The MacBook’s unibody enclosure is made from a single block of aluminium, making the new MacBook fundamentally thinner, stronger and more robust with a fit and finish that we’ve never even dreamed of before.”
Not only does the new manufacturing process mean lower manufacturing costs, but it will also benefit the environment.
Several key components have been made from recyclable materials.
Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs says one of the key features of the new design is its environmental status.
“Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminium. And, just as important, they are the industry’s greenest notebooks.”
The product announcements will most likely help improve Apples market position.
Apple’s PR department has been trying to focus the market back on its technology in recent weeks, after a blogger made false claims that Steve Jobs had been rushed to hospital suffering from a heart attack.
When the false report hit a popular CNN website share prices plummeted.
The market quickly returned to normal levels after the story was denied.
The reaction to the news shows how volatile the current market really is.
Shareholders have had plenty of time to prepare for such an event if it was to occur.
Rumours about Steve Job’s health have been around for months after he appeared slimmer than usual at a keynote event.
Anthony Agius says he doesn’t blame shareholders for being concerned, at one stage Steve will have to leave.
“Steve has been so crucial to Apple’s success however, that I can’t blame shareholders for being concerned about his impending departure (either due to retirement or death - one of them has to happen eventually!).”
For more news on the latest Apple Release check out the following websites.
- MacTalk - List of the New Macbooks and Australian Prices
- AppleInsider - Takes a deep look at the new Macbook features
- IFixit - Goes inside the new macbook
- Mac Rumors - takes a look at the accuracy of the rumours in the lead-up to the Macbook release
- CNET - have posted a detailed review on the new Macbook
- 9to5Mac - On MacBooks, Nvidia, OpenCL and Snow Leopard
Amazing Moving Sculptures!
A friend sent me a link to an amazing website today. The website is called TED. This website is unlike any I have ever come across. TED is about spreading ideas, spreading real ideas, explaining things which you may never have ever understood.
The link my friend sent me was for this great video on moving sculptures. Arthur Ganson makes machines out of different objects. However these are not just any machines… these machines have a purpose. A sole discreet responsibility that they serve. They are absolutely amazing!!
Check out the video below.
