January auto sales: Many automakers up, Toyota down
After a rough 2009, automakers are counting on sales in 2010 to recover. Now the results are in for the first full month of the year. Some automakers are rallying, while the numbers dash the hopes of others.
Toyota’s sales were adversely affected by a Stop-Sale order on the eight models which account for more than 60 percent of its sales. It ended the month down 8.7 percent over the previous year.
On the other hand, Ford, Hyundai, and Subaru all started 2010 with over 20 percent sales increases over January 2009. Here are the details:
Ford continued its sales surge with a 24 percent increase over last January and an increase in overall market share. Ford’s car models were the big sellers with the Focus, Fusion, and Taurus posting strong increases over last January.
CBC News - Politics - Breakthrough made on 'Buy American'
Canadian companies will get access to funding from U.S. economic stimulus projects in 37 U.S. states under a deal to circumvent the protectionist "Buy American" clause, CBC News has learned.
The breakthrough in negotiations between Washington and Ottawa might not be announced until tomorrow, the CBC's Chris Hall said.
During an afternoon press conference, Industry Minister Tony Clement would not confirm details of the deal but said Trade Minister Peter Van Loan and Prime Minister Stephen Harper were working hard on the file.
"There is nothing to be announced now," Clement told reporters at Parliament.
The agreement applies only to U.S. funding delivered under the current stimulus program, not future legislation that might include "Buy American"-type provisions.
The U.S. money is allocated for roads, public housing and other infrastructure projects, the drawback being that most of the money has already been spent.
Hall said the Canadian government is arguing the deal sets a precedent for future stimulus spending in the U.S.
In return, Canadian provinces are to sign on to a World Trade Organization general procurement agreement, which will give the U.S. and other countries access to projects underway in Canada with federal stimulus spending.
The "Buy American" provision gives priority to U.S. iron, steel and other manufactured goods for use in state-level and municipal public works and building projects funded with stimulus tax revenue.
The provision was put into the $787-billion US American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — the U.S. government's economic stimulus package — by the U.S. Congress.
Canada has been trying to get an exemption from the provisions since last fall.
In October, reports of progress between the U.S and Canada over the controversial provision prompted the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to withdraw a resolution to block U.S. companies from bidding on city contracts in this country.
Wow...
Apple's mac os x is less secure than windows - The Inquirer
IF YOU BELIEVE Apple's marketing then you would think that the expensive fruity machines are more secure than PCs.
After all, most of the viruses out there are designed for the PC and Apple users hardly suffer from the problem. But this line of reasoning does not influence corporate IT managers who, were it true, would be trying to stave off hackers by installing shedloads of Apple gear.
However that's not the case. Most tell us that even if Apple gear was half the price it's just security by obscurity. A determined hacker who wanted to get into corporate systems would be though it like a knife through butter.
Tyler Reguly, a senior security research engineer with Ncircle told the newnewinternet that if you take a look at the two platforms, and the mindsets of the companies behind them, then the Windows PC wins hands down. He said that the Mac ships with more exploitable vulnerabilities already on a system when it is delivered. Further, Eric Johanson, a security researcher pointed out that the Mac OS X has far more published vulnerabilities per user than Windows.
However Apple is also actually more insecure because of the attitude of its customers. A computer's security, if it exists, is only as good as the user. Unfortunately in the case of the Mac the user is a smug, technologically illiterate person who believes they are invulnerable because they use a Mac. Such people randomly press buttons, visit sites that sensible people don't and download things carelessly because Apple's marketing tells them they are safe.
A recent Eset survey last year showed that when Apple users fell for phishing crime they tended to lose a lot more cash than a Windows PC user. The cynic in me thinks that if you spend a third more than you need to for your PC and think that the Ipad is a pretty neat idea then you are exactly the sort of mark that a phishing campaign is designed to reach.
The Eset survey said that the only safer Mac user was one who used both a Windows PC and an Apple Mac because they tended to be a bit more clever than your average fanboy.
Another reason why Apple PCs are so insecure is that it is incredibly slow at responding to news that flaws exist in its software. Microsoft has long ago realised that sitting on vulnerabilities without patching them is dead stupid. Most patches from Microsoft arrive comparatively quickly.
The cappuccino company's mindset, however, while reinforcing the myth of indestructibility of OS X, means that Apple users will be exposed much longer than Microsoft. A hacker can go to the web and find a list of vulnerabilities which are months old and be secure in the knowledge that they are less likely to be patched.
Unfortunately for Apple this philosophy is fast coming unstuck following the success of the Iphone. The gizmo is popular enough to become a target of hackers and malware distributors. It also can be used to store data worth stealing.
Alas for most Apple users, Jobs Mob is more keen on working out ways to stop people jailbreaking its Iphone than it is on protecting them from malware on the gear. However the Iphone is a toy computer and has all the vulnerabilities of a computer.
So what will it take for Apple to pull its socks up? One enterprising malware writer to pen an interesting bit of code that installs itself on a Mac, sniffs address books for friends with other Macs and works out the way to distribute itself to them too. It is not a huge technology challenge and when it is designed then Macs will fall over all over the world.
Only when this happens will Apple reach the same epiphany that Microsoft did over security and follow the Vole into more secure computing. µ
Windows 7 Running on the Apple iPad via Citrix - citrix - Gizmodo
This content is restricted.Windows 7 Running on the Apple iPad via Citrix
Trumpets playing, bloody moons, seas of fire, cats cohabiting with dogs, and Windows 7 running on the Apple iPad right on the day it launches. That's how the Universe ends, my dearly beloved, and you can blame Citrix for it:
It turns out the 9.7 inch display on the iPad with a 1024x768 screen resolution works great for a full VDI XenDesktop. Windows applications run unmodified and securely in the data center, and even multiple applications at once.
The iPhone restrictions of screen size and small keyboards are overcome with the iPad. The iPad looks to be an ideal end-point device that can empower users to be productive wherever they are and IT will be able to safely deliver company-hosted virtual desktops and apps without worry.
Those are the wet words of Chris Fleck, the vicepresident of virtualization and remote software company Citrix. And what you are seeing above is Windows 7 running on the iPad SDK simulator, thanks to Citrix Receiver and XenDesktop 4—running meaning that it's executed on a server and remotely displayed on the iPad at full resolution.
Fleck sounds excited on his blog, and points out that the software will be ready for the launch of Apple's JesusTablet. Personally, I can't wait for other remote desktop applications to be adapted for the iPad full resolution. [Citrix via PC World]
Send an email to Jesus Diaz, the author of this post, at jesus@gizmodo.com.
'); jQuery.cookie(_cn, _cn_d, { path: '/', expires: 365 } );
![]()
Hey Jesus, I feel your pain but no matter how many mockups you make with a small bezzel, the real iPad will always have one big enough you can rest your coffee on it. Keep the dream alive my small bezzel loving friend ReplyEdited by TonyWonder at 02/02/10 12:39 PMJesus,Just curious. What is with Gizmodo's novel use of the word "wet" lately? From Joel, we get "It's taken me a couple of days for me to understand the wet sickness I felt" and yours, above.
I checked with UD, to see if it is some new kind of slang, but no luck. I am genuinely curious.
Is it from a movie? Reply
Jesus, I hate to complain, but this is misleading. Citrix sends out, basically, a video signal to a client display. The client isn't "running" anything other than the Citrix client software.Saying Windows 7 is "running" on the iPad here is no more accurate than saying that I currently have Windows 7 running on my Dell monitor. I don't. The software is running on the computer; the monitor is a display. Windows 7 is NOT running on this device. The fact that the iPad can effectively run a Citrix client is definitely newsworthy on its own, and there's no need to mislead by claiming something that isn't true. Reply
I was honestly looking at the JesusTablet, but I can't wait three days for it to restart every time it dies... ReplyThis is non-news for consumer users, but for all of us lawyers out there, this could be the difference between lugging our crappy Dell office laptops with us on vacations and weekend trips and tossing an iPad into a carryon. I had no intention of buying one until I heard about this on Sunday; now I think it's 60/40 that I will. Reply@Astigmatism: Or just getting any of those many tablets that can do this naively since they are running Win 7 on the actual device. Just one less hoop to jump through that way. Reply@Xeno: There's no "native" here, though - it's always just a presentation screen on your computer, with the actual apps running remotely on the (Windows-based) server. I use Citrix from home both on my iMac and my Vaio, and the experience is pretty much identical. The only thing that really puts me off this device, honestly, is the Flash thing, as Xeraphim notes. ReplyThere is a VNC client for iPhone; sure there will be one for iPad. No need for Citrix.
ReplyNathan Obbards promoted this commentRemote access of full-fledged computers via terminals? Input and output on a basic shell, with a sort of... of... main frame doing the heavy lifting? Why, it's so crazy it'll never work! I mean, for starters you'd have to have some kind of completely wireless persistent network available all over the world. Reply"running meaning that it's executed on a server and remotely displayed on the iPad at full resolution."It will be interesting to see if Citrix codes their client software for the iPad to allow HDX, which takes advantage of client-side hardware for graphics and computing power. Seeing a demo of this working with 3D Studio MAX is a sight to behold.
For those who are concerned about the cost of such a system, yes, this is a business oriented total virtualization solution that Citrix offers which means the overall cost is out of reach of an individual. From what I gathered at a Citrix sales pitch last week, the lowest buy in price of the software is roughly $225 per seat (individual client license). At my company, we're looking to buy 170 of theses licenses, which is rather cheap for a company, but crazy for an individual.
However, given the fact that Apple's iPad has the attention of Citrix, who's to say they won't come out with a consumer version of the solution to provide individuals full computing power on their Jesus tablet? Reply
I've been in shock since the 90's that Citrix still exists. They basically sold their best technology to MS in the 90's and have been using the cash to try and come up with something profitable ever since.Am I completely wrong? Do they actually have a decent product that stands on its own or are you still better off just running a plain Jane 2Kx box running TS? Last I knew their main product is nothing more than Hummingbird (Virtual Apps). Reply
@UnderLoK: The difference, at least that I see, is that you can't push an application on TS, so someone could have Word, and only Word, on demand, without having to have a new desktop. ReplyUnderLoK promoted this comment@Greg Lloyd: That's all I know of which was a failure long before Citrix did it (Hummingbird would allow you to send specific X apps as well back in the 90's). I can see it working well for POS, but beyond that I don't really see the point.This coming from a guy who uses Fusion on a daily basis... ;) Reply
Edited by UnderLoK at 02/02/10 8:27 AM@UnderLoK: Citrix makes tons of money in the corporate space, allowing virtual sessions when you don't trust people to access your network (think offshoring). ReplyUnderLoK promoted this commentI'm a little confused. So Citrix is essentially running a custom Virtual Machine over a desktop onto an Ipad? Seems kinda silly but hell if I hear Windows 7 is running on an Ipad... That's pretty cool. Reply@armendni: Windows 7 isn't running on the iPad. The iPad is connecting via terminal services to a VM running on a server off in the cloud somewhere. You could do this for MacOS, Linux, anything that has a VNC or RDP server. The iPad is only running a little program that connects to a VNC/RDP server and displays it's screen, and passes keyboard/mouse events back. You can already do this, today, on the iPhone. Replyarmendni promoted this comment@SewerShark: No he won't, but this would be the only way I'd buy one of the damn things. ReplySewerShark promoted this commentI already do this on my iphone via RDP, it's ok and lets me listen to music over flash from my server thatsits in a FAST data center but it isn't a real solution. The UI is no suited to the device and its really hard to navigate. Either the ipad will support flash, via jailbreak or other mean, or I'm not buying one.Hey adobe! release a flash client via cydia and make everyone happy.
Give a nice 1 finger salut to apple at the same time. Reply
Benguin approved this comment@Cy Cyril: You actually raise a pretty interesting point. I wonder what would happen if Adobe did release a flash plugin via Cydia. Their stance of "Apple maintains a closed ecosystem and won't allow open development" always read to me more as "Why bother fixing anything when we have a perfectly good scapegoat right here."If they were to undermine Apple like that, I see one of two things happening:
1) They prove that Apple are just being giant dicks and flash isn't as horrid as they make it out to be
2) They prove Apple right and everyone on the internet can stop whining.We as consumers could not lose. Reply
Did the author just name a product he doesn't own after himself? ReplyCovertghost promoted this commentis it possible to hack the iPad then install a free new OS on it? Apple sais iPhone OS is a stripped down Leopard ReplyUnderLoK promoted this comment@UnderLoK: Not reallty, there are loads of Linux based OS's, the problem is drivers for the OS's. ReplyUnderLoK promoted this comment@Mr_Bishop: Linux dists you mean... Linux is the OS, Debian, Suse, RH, Slack, and the rest are dists.So as I said you are extremely limited. You can run Linux or FreeBSD or? That leaves a pretty big gap as far as usability goes. You know, since most people need OSX or Windows. Reply
Edited by UnderLoK at 02/02/10 8:43 AM@UnderLoK: Yeah I guess if your hell bent on running a closed source OS. Personally i like Ubuntu,Debian,Android and the rest. If only they would combine Android and chrome OS... Reply@Mr_Bishop: Ubuntu has done one thing right, get the masses to see Linux and try it for themselves. Problem is that Linux IMO is still only good as a server and still fails on the desktop like it always has.The draw used to be a fancy desktop which brought people in the droves to Linux. Enlightenment alone was responsible for most of the influx of users in the late 90's. Now Gnome and KDE are bloated, XFCE isn't bad, but E it is not. Hell they don't even look as good! OSX's dock that people go on and on and on about? Looks just like E's did, that brushed aluminum look? Again a default E theme... The list goes on.
I would just like to add that if you are hardcore OSS you should be running Fedora. Ubuntu supports more hardware for a reason. Reply
Edited by UnderLoK at 02/02/10 9:19 AM@UnderLoK: Im not hard core by any means, i mean sure i use Ubuntu Almost exclusively instead of windows but im learning. Excluding available software and one issue with my old nvidia GPU ive yet to have any issues compared to XP. I also like Gnome more then Explorer (im assuming thats what you meant by E?) Ubuntu runs smoother, longer, and cooler on my PC then XP did. Reply
Microsoft reveals 60 million Windows 7 sales - Pocket-lint
Microsoft reveals 60 million Windows 7 sales
Fastest selling OS ever
29 January 2010 9:30 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott
Microsoft's second quarter financial results have revealed just how many copies of Windows 7 the software giant has shifted since it went on sale in October 2009.
While announcing record revenue, sales figures of 60 million Windows 7 licenses from Microsoft make it the fastest selling operating system ever.
With revenue up 14% compared to the same period the year before, the success is being credited to the launch of the new OS: "Exceptional demand for Windows 7 led to the positive top-line growth for the company", Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft said.
"This is a record quarter for Windows units", added Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. "We are thrilled by the consumer reception to Windows 7 and by business enthusiasm to adopt Windows 7".
The $27,000 suitcase - CNN.com
(CNN) -- Talk about a hefty baggage fee:
For months now I have not been able to get the $27,100 suitcase out of my mind.
The economy is rocky. People are out of work. Yet the $27,100 suitcase exists. It's not a joke.
At first I thought it was. Last fall I was traveling through Naples, Florida, and a cover line on a glossy local magazine caught my eye.
The magazine was called Gulfshore Life, and the cover line said:
"The $58,000 brooch... The $27,100 suitcase... Check Out Our Luxury File."
Perhaps, I thought, this was a teaser to a satirical story using literary exaggeration to whistle past the graveyard of America's fiscal hard times.
But when I flipped open the magazine, the feature seemed to be serious.
The $27,100 suitcase, the story said, was sold by Hermès, the luxury retailer, which has a store in Naples. The suitcase was called the Hector, and was "constructed of Officier canvas with Evercalf calfskin."
I closed the magazine, but could not stop thinking about the suitcase. A suitcase is something that gets banged around. It sits out in the rain and snow on airport runways. Baggage handlers toss it roughly onto conveyer belts. Sometimes it gets lost on flights.
Why would anyone pay $27,100 for a suitcase?
Weighty and important matters dominated the news. But there it was, always in the back of my mind: the suitcase, and the parallel world of wealth it represented.
Over the holidays, I was in New York City. One morning I walked to the Hermès store at the corner of 62nd Street and Madison Avenue. I took a deep breath and walked in.
"May I help you?" a clerk asked.
"I'd like to see the $27,000 suitcase," I said. (I shaved $100 off the price; the phrase sounded smoother that way.)
"Which bag specifically?" she said.
"You have more than one that costs that much?" I said.
"There was one that cost $200,000," she said. "It featured diamonds."
"Why would someone spend that kind of money on a suitcase?" I said.
"Hand-stitching," she said. "Sometimes exotic material."
She looked around, as if to be certain no one was listening, then half-whispered:
"I use my Samsonite."
She said that the $27,100 suitcase was not, on that day, on floor display. I left New York, still mulling: How could a person take such a suitcase on a trip? It would be like putting a baggage tag on $27,100 in cash.
At Midway Airport in Chicago, I went in the slush and slop to Southwest Airlines' curbside baggage-check area to commiserate with my baggage-handler friends there. I told them the story.
I would like to report their response, but it was so cold outside, and they were so bundled up head to toe, that all I could discern was their muffled laughter.
In recent days I was in southwest Florida again. This time I went to the Hermès store there, in the elegant Waterside Shops outdoor mall.
"I'm interested in the $27,000 suitcase," I said to the first clerk I saw.
She absolutely beamed, and I immediately realized she had mistaken my intentions.
"No," I said. "No. I don't want to buy it."
The wattage of her smiled dimmed a bit. She said I would have to give her more information about the product; she said some specially made Hermès bags sold for $40,000 or $50,000. "The people who pay that much for a bag usually fly on jets," she said.
"Most people fly on jets," I said.
She gave me a don't-be-dense look.
"Oh," I said, surmising that, in these circles, "jets" was a synonym for "private jets."
Back in my hotel room, I called Hermès' U.S. corporate headquarters.
There, a spokeswoman, Bernice Kwok-Gabel, said that for many customers, only the best that money can buy will do. "They want the finest," she said. "No compromises." She said that for people who might spend $27,000 on a work of art, $27,000 for a suitcase is not excessive. "If they want it, the price is not a big concern."
She said that the $27,100 Hector suitcase is actually a twinned piece of luggage: two compartments carried by a single handle. For a customer on a tight budget, a single Hector compartment can be bought by itself.
For $14,000.
I ended my quest where it began: at Gulfshore Life magazine, where I had seen the original mention. I called the editor-in-chief, David Sendler, to ask if he thought his readers had greeted the item about the suitcase with a shake of the head.
"Some probably did," he said. "But I'm sure there were others who saw it and thought: 'I'd like to have that bag.' We have a very high-demographic readership."
I will leave you with this thought. At that Hermès store in New York, I asked the clerk why someone would pay so much for a suitcase that would inevitably get scuffed and scratched in transit.
"Some people buy metal cases in which to enclose their suitcases," she said.
She saw the disbelief in my eyes, smiled, and said:
"They buy suitcases for their suitcases."
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene.
GM alongside other automakers were struggling to sell vehicles priced under $30,000 yet there are suitcases going for $27,000. If I'm EVER going to spend that much on a suitcase, it better have a genie or something in it...
Despite being Indian, why I don’t fly Air India…
NEW DELHI: The Maharaja witnessed his first in-flight Mughal-e-Azam at 30,000 feet above sea level on Saturday, as two members of the cabin
Watch Video ) Endangering the lives of 106 passengers and grossly violating safety norms, the airline staffers came to blows in the cockpit and galley of the Indian Airlines Airbus A-320 as the aircraft cruised over Pakistan en route to Delhi via Lucknow from Sharjah. The cabin-vs-cockpit tiff originated on the ground in Sharjah itself and then turned into a full-blown fight once IC 884 took off soon after midnight. The cabin crew alleged that pilots harassed a 24-year-old female colleague who later filed a molestation complaint against them with the cops after the flight landed in Delhi. The pilots, on the other hand, accused a male flight purser of misconduct that seriously compromised flight safety, and said the accusation of molestation aimed to protect the complainant's purser friend—who has a commercial pilot licence (CPL)—from facing action. No party denied that blows and abuses were exchanged as bewildered passengers looked on. Sources said that the female cabin crew member and the co-pilot sustained bruises. Confirming the in-flight fight, Air India said it had ordered an inquiry and had grounded the staff members involved. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has also ordered a probe. There were unconfirmed reports that at one stage the cockpit was unmanned, as the crew was busy fighting outside. Things allegedly degenerated to the point where the captain threatened to divert the plane to Karachi, likening the situation, sources said, to a "hijack". In Sharjah, the cabin crew went to meet Captain Ranbir Arora and co-pilot Aditya Chopra for the pre-flight briefing. Both sides give different versions of what happened after this. The cabin crew lobby said that after the initial tension on the ground in Sharjah, when the woman crew member went into the cockpit, one of the pilots held her hand and then pushed her out of the cockpit. "She hit the cockpit door with such force that she started bleeding. When Amit Khanna, the purser, saw her in this condition, he went to the cockpit to ask what was happening. At this point, the pilots got abusive and started a fight with him," said a representative of the IA cabin crew, who added that the actual fight took place on the Lucknow-Delhi segment. Pilot sources claimed that despite his CPL, Khanna could not get a pilot's job due to the downturn. "The airhostess had announced flying time from Sharjah to Lucknow as per the schedule, and not the actual one that the commander gives. After taking off, the pilot scolded the airhostess and then called Amit to the cockpit," said a source. Khanna, the source added, entered the cockpit angrily and that's when the fight started. "He became abusive, and tempers ran high in the cockpit. Given the highly unsafe situation there, the commander said he would divert to Karachi, to which Amit retorted, 'Jahan le jaana hai, le jaao, is aircraft ko main bhi uda loonga (take it wherever you want to, I can also fly)'," a pilot representative said, adding that the fight occurred over Pakistan, while the plan was flying from Sharjah to Lucknow. The woman crew member, the source explained, got bruised when she entered the cockpit in the melee. The cockpit was cleared, with pilots pushing out Amit and then locking the door. After that, the plane landed in Lucknow at around 4.30 am. "Amit then apologized to the pilots, and they took off for Delhi so that the flight wasn't delayed. He later got the woman crew member to level charges of molestation to avoid action for making a hostile entry into the cockpit," said a source speaking on behalf of the pilots. The police are investigating the woman's complaint and have registered a case against the pilot and co-pilot. "There are several eyewitnesses and we are recording their statements," said joint CP (operations) Satyendra Garg. The police had the victim examined at Safdarjung Hospital, where her bruises were confirmed. A case was registered, among others, under Section 354 for outraging the modesty of a woman. The DGCA is fuming at the gross violation of safety norms on IC 884. "The airline didn't even inform us of this incident in time. We're going to summon the crew members on Monday. This incident is shocking and we may need to take exemplary action," said a senior official.
crew—one male and one female—slugged it out with the pilot and co-pilot. (
It’s stupid things like this that make me stay away from Air India. I flew with them once, back in 1993. One of the worst flight experiences I had and I’ve never gone back.
50 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do | Marc and Angel Hack Life
Self-reliance is a vital key to living a healthy, productive life. To be self-reliant one must master a basic set of skills, more or less making them a jack of all trades. Contrary to what you may have learned in school, a jack of all trades is far more equipped to deal with life than a specialized master of only one.
While not totally comprehensive
, here is a list of 50 things everyone should know how to do.
1. Build a Fire – Fire produces heat and light, two basic necessities for living. At some point in your life this knowledge may be vital.
2. Operate a Computer – Fundamental computer knowledge is essential these days. Please, help those in need.
3. Use Google Effectively – Google knows everything. If you’re having trouble finding something with Google, it’s you that needs help.
- Google Guide
- Google Advanced Search Operators
- Google Web Search Features
- 20 Tips for More Efficient Google Searches
4. Perform CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver – Someday it may be your wife, husband, son or daughter that needs help.
- Learn CPR
- How To Perform Adult CPR (video)
- How CPR Works
- How to Perform the Heimlich Maneuver (video)
5. Drive a Manual Transmission Vehicle – There will come a time when you’ll be stuck without this knowledge.
- How To Drive a Stick Shift Instructional Movie (video)
- Learn to Drive a Stick Shift
- Learn to Drive a Car with Manual Transmission
6. Do Basic Cooking – If you can’t cook your own steak and eggs, you probably aren’t going to make it.
7. Tell a Story that Captivates People’s Attention – If you can’t captivate their attention, you should probably just save your breath.
8. Win or Avoid a Fistfight – Either way, you win.
- How To Actually Win a Fistfight
- How To Win a Fistfight (video)
- How To Win a Street Fight
- How To Avoid Confrontations Like a Samurai Warrior
9. Deliver Bad News – Somebody has got to do it. Unfortunately, someday that person will be you.
- How To Deliver Bad News in Writing
- How to Deliver Bad News to a Customer
- Good Ways to Deliver Bad News
10. Change a Tire – Because tires have air in them, and things with air in them eventually pop.
11. Handle a Job Interview – I promise, sweating yourself into a nervous panic won’t land you the job.
- The 25 Most Difficult Questions in a Job Interview
- Job Interview Questions and Answers
- How to Handle Your Job Interviews Successfully
- 10 Sticky Job Interview Situations and How to Handle Them
12. Manage Time – Not doing so is called wasting time, which is okay sometimes, but not all the time.
- How To Manage Time and Maximize Effectiveness
- Managing Your Time
- 10 tips for time management in a multitasking world
- Time Management Tips and Exercises
13. Speed Read – Sometimes you just need the basic gist, and you needed it 5 minutes ago.
14. Remember Names – Do you like when someone tries to get your attention by screaming “hey you”?
15. Relocate Living Spaces – Relocating is always a little tougher than you originally imagined.
16. Travel Light – Bring only the necessities. It’s the cheaper, easier, smarter thing to do.
17. Handle the Police – Because jail isn’t fun… and neither is Bubba.
- What to Do If You’re Stopped by the Police
- How To Handle the Cops if They Knock on Your Door
- How To Handle the Police
18. Give Driving Directions – Nobody likes driving around in circles. Get this one right the first time.
- How To Give a Complete Stranger Driving Directions
- How To Give Directions
- Giving Good Driving Directions
19. Perform Basic First Aid – You don’t have to be a doctor, or genius, to properly dress a wound.
20. Swim – 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Learning to swim might be a good idea.
21. Parallel Park – Parallel parking is a requirement on most standard driver’s license driving tests, yet so many people have no clue how to do it. How could this be?
22. Recognize Personal Alcohol Limits – Otherwise you may wind up like this charming fellow.
23. Select Good Produce – Rotten fruits and vegetables can be an evil tease and an awful surprise.
- Produce Primer: Selecting the Best
- Tips on Choosing Produce and Keeping it Fresh
- Buying Fresh Vegetables
24. Handle a Hammer, Axe or Handsaw – Carpenters are not the only ones who need tools. Everyone should have a basic understanding of basic hand tools.
25. Make a Simple Budget – Being in debt is not fun. A simple budget is the key.
26. Speak at Least Two Common Languages – Only about 25% of the world’s population speaks English. It would be nice if you could communicate with at least some of the remaining 75%.
- Free Online Language Courses
- Learn a Foreign Language Online Free
- Language Learning with Rosetta Stone
27. Do Push-Ups and Sit-Ups Properly – Improper push-ups and sit-ups do nothing but hurt your body and waste your time.
- How To Do a Proper Push-Up
- Chris Comfort’s Push-Up Workout (video)
- 19 Variations for a Push-Up (video)
- How To Do Sit-Ups (video)
- How To Do an Abdominal Crunch (video)
28. Give a Compliment – It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give someone, and it’s free.
- How To Give a Good Compliment
- 5 Kick-Ass Reasons to Give a Genuine Compliment
- How To Give a Killer Compliment
- 10 Best Compliments a Man Can Give a Woman
29. Negotiate – The better deal is only a question or two away.
30. Listen Carefully to Others – The more you listen and the less you talk, the more you will learn and the less you will miss.
- Tips on Effective Listening
- Listening Tips for the Classroom Environment
- Techniques for Active Listening
31. Recite Basic Geography – If you don’t know where anything is outside of your own little bubble, most people will assume (and they are probably correct) that you don’t know too much at all.
32. Paint a Room – The true cost of painting is 90% labor. For simple painting jobs it makes no sense to pay someone 9 times what it would cost you to do it yourself.
33. Make a Short, Informative Public Speech – At the next company meeting if your boss asks you to explain what you’ve been working on over the last month, a short, clear, informative response is surely your best bet. “Duhhh…” will not cut it.
- How To Conquer the Public Speaking Fear
- Better Public Speaking and Presentation
- How To Write an Informative Speech
34. Smile for the Camera – People that absolutely refuse to smile for the camera suck!
35. Flirt Without Looking Ridiculous – There is a fine line between successful flirting and utter disaster. If you try too hard, you lose. If you don’t try hard enough, you lose.
- Guide to Flirting
- Flirt Without Frightening
- The Rules of Flirtation
- The Science of Romance: Why We Flirt
36. Take Useful Notes – Because useless notes are useless, and not taking notes is a recipe for failure.
37. Be a Respectful House Guest – Otherwise you will be staying in a lot of hotels over the years.
- 10 Ways to Be and Excellent House Guest
- How To Be a Good House Guest
- Have A Pleasant Visit By Following A Few House Rules
38. Make a Good First Impression – Aristotle once said, “well begun is half done.”
- How To Make those First Impressions Count
- Making a Great First Impression
- Tips for Making a Good First Impression
39. Navigate with a Map and Compass – What happens when the GPS craps out and you’re in the middle of nowhere?
40. Sew a Button onto Clothing – It sure is cheaper than buying a new shirt.
41. Hook Up a Basic Home Theater System – This isn’t rocket science. Paying someone to do this shows sheer laziness.
42. Type – Learning to type could save you days worth of time over the course of your lifetime.
- Online Typing Lessons for Everyone
- Free Typing Lessons for the Standard QWERTY Keyboard
- Free Touch Typing Program
43. Protect Personal Identity Information – Personal identity theft is not fun unless you are the thief. Don’t be careless.
44. Implement Basic Computer Security Best Practices – You don’t have to be a computer science major to understand the fundamentals of creating complex passwords and using firewalls. Doing so will surely save you a lot of grief someday.
- 4 Steps to Protect Your Computer
- Security Basics for Home Computers
- SANS Basic Computer Security Whitepapers
45. Detect a Lie – People will lie to you. It’s a sad fact of life.
46. End a Date Politely Without Making Promises – There is no excuse for making promises you do not intend to keep. There is also no reason why you should have to make a decision on the spot about someone you hardly know.
47. Remove a Stain – Once again, it’s far cheaper than buying a new one.
48. Keep a Clean House – A clean house is the foundation for a clean, organized lifestyle.
- The Keep-It-Clean Plan
- Keeping a Stress-Free, Clean House
- How To Keep Your House Clean in 20 Minutes a Day
49. Hold a Baby – Trust me, injuring a baby is not what you want to do.
50. Jump Start a Car – It sure beats walking or paying for a tow truck.
Check out these books for more ideas on pertinent life skills:
- 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn’t
- The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge
- The Experts’ Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do
If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe to our RSS feed.
Possibly Related Posts:
132 Comments
Filed under Hacks, Life, Productivity
Some great info here...
Photoshopping Illegal? France Set to Regulate Airbrushed Pics
File this squarely under “would never happen in the U.S.” but French lawmakers have a fascinating new idea to combat body image issues: require disclaimers on Photoshopped or otherwise “enhanced” images of people.
The required warning would be needed in newspaper and magazine advertising, press photos, product packaging, political campaigns and art photography, according to the Telegraph. The language will reportedly be: “Retouched photograph aimed at changing a person’s physical appearance.”
The proposed law comes from French MP Valerie Boyer and is inspired by a recent report she authored on anorexia and bulemia. She points to the deterimental effect that unrealistic body images can have on adolescents: “Many young people, particularly girls, do not know the difference between the virtual and reality, and can develop complexes from a very young age. In some cases this leads to anorexia or bulimia and very serious health problems.”
More than 50 French politicians have voiced support for the law. If passed, advertisers who break it would be subject to a fine of £30,000 (about $48,200 USD), or 50 percent of the campaign cost.
What do you think: should this law pass? Is Photoshopped body imagery a public health issue?
[via Ars Technica]
Project Natal - A step in the right direction
This is just amazing. This is a huge leap forward for the gaming industry, and will only be a stepping stone for the things to come. Well done Microsoft!!!


Self-reliance is a vital key to living a healthy, productive life. To be self-reliant one must master a basic set of skills, more or less making them a jack of all trades. Contrary to what you may have learned in school, a jack of all trades is far more equipped to deal with life than a specialized master of only one.
File this squarely under “would never happen in the U.S.” but French lawmakers have a fascinating new idea to combat body image issues: require disclaimers on Photoshopped or otherwise “enhanced” images of people.