Share your stuff
What if you could combine the yahoo group AustinFreeCycle, the websites NetFlix, PeerFlix, TimeBucks, Craigslist, and more!
You might get:
Neighborhood Swap (tries to match wish list items with items available)
Differences between Christmas and Hannukah
Richard posts a humorous comparision of Christmas and Hannukah. Here is a copy of what he posted:
There are many misconceptions about the differences between Christmas and Chanukah. This should clear them up!
1. Christmas is one day, same day, every year: December 25th. Jews also love December 25th. It’s another paid day off work. We go to the movies and out for Chinese food.
2. Chanukah is eight days. It starts the evening of the 24th of Kislev, whenever that is. No one is ever sure. Jews never know until a non-Jew asks when Chanukah starts, forcing us to consult a calendar so we don’t look like idiots. We all have the same calendar, provided free with a donation from the World Jewish Congress, the kosher butcher, or the local Jewish funeral home.
3. Christmas is a major holiday. Chanukah is a minor holiday with the same theme as most Jewish holidays. They tried to kill us. We survived. Let’s eat.
4. Christians get wonderful presents such as jewelry, perfume, stereos. Jews get practical presents such as underwear or socks.
5. There is only one way to spell Christmas or Xmas. No one can decide how to spell Chanukah, Chanukkah, Chanukka, Channukah, Hanukah, Hannukah, etc.
6. Christmas carols are beautiful: Silent Night, Come All Ye Faithful, etc. Chanukah songs are about dreidels made from clay or having a party and dancing the horah. Of course, we are secretly pleased that many of the beautiful carols were composed and written by Jews. And don’t Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond sing them beautifully.
7. A home preparing for Christmas smells wonderful. The sweet smell of cookies and cakes baking. Happy people gather around in festive moods. A home preparing for Chanukah smells of oil, potatoes, and onions. The home, as always, is full of loud people all talking at once.
8. Women have fun baking Christmas cookies. Jewish women burn their eyes and cut their hands grating potatoes and onions for latkes.
9. Parents can’t wait to deliver presents to their children on Christmas. Jewish parents have no qualms about withholding a gift on any of the eight nights.
10. The players in the Christmas story have easy to pronounce names such as Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The players in the Chanukah story are Antiochus, Judah Maccabee, and Matta whatever. No one can spell it or pronounce it. On the plus side, we can tell our gentile friends anything and they believe we are wonderfully versed in our history.
Reminds me of a Jewish joke I heard recently. A Jewish boy comes home to tell his mother he got a part in the school play. They were both excited. Then she asks him what part he got and he replied "I’m the Jewish husband", at which time she exclaimed "You go back and tell your teacher you want a speaking part!".
Power Statistics
I recently read "Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln – 12 Powerful Secrets of History’s Greatest Speakers" by James Humes. One chapter is titled Power Stats.
I’m often unimpressed by news of rich people donating money. It’s not the gesture I object to, it’s the big deal that is made of it.
If Bill Gates were to pay the same percentage of his wealth to take his spouse to a movie that the average person does, it would cost him $19 million for the film tickets.
Companies often only get a fraction of productivity from their employees.
I can see that all the tables seat eight. Well, consider that two of you at each table are going to to back to your office and work to correct the other six’s mistakes.
What a powerful way to illustrate this idea!
Getting a second dog as a companion to your first
Gwen recommends against getting a second dog unless you really want a second dog. She has good advice on the sex and when to get a second dog
The practice of docking dogs tails
The two breeds of dogs we are considering, the Jack Russell and the Australian Cattle Dog (Heeler) often have their tails docked. Especially the Jack Russell. If done, you’re suppose to have it done by a Vet (if they are willing) within 5 days after birth to minimize the trauma to the dog. Australia has completely outlawed the practice.
The arguements FOR docking include esthetics and tradition, preventing damage to the tail, especially for working dogs, and removing an easy target during scuffles. Ranchers and professional breeders are the most likely to support docking.
Here are the minutes of a hearing on PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS AMENDMENT (TAIL DOCKING) BILL with arguements against docking. In it, the following argument is made:
the logical extension of advocating tail docking as a means of
preventing potential injury or harm is like suggesting that we should
remove the tonsils or appendix of all infants in order to avoid
possible tonsillitis or appendicitis in a few adults later in life
It seems the same "extension" could be made for circumcision. I can promise you, it hurts the baby so the fact that tail-docking hurts a puppy isn’t particularly compelling.
How-To site
Why smart people defend bad ideas
Scott Berkun discusses how to recognize and respond to pushy people
Teaching kids how to program computers
To this day, one of my favorite game CD’s for kids is The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain. Each of the games require critical thinking which is why I love the game.
My personal favorite is the “Train of Thought” which requires you to control the intersection switches on ever-increasing in complexity railroad tracks. Colored balls are introduced on the track and you have to make sure they arrive at a single destination in the right order.
Another games is a simple interface controlling a robot on a grid. It is intended to teach basic programming constructs.
I came across another program for teaching kids about computer programming. I found it searching for resource for python programming. It’s called The Guido van Robot or GVR for short. Haven’t downloaded yet but the screenshots look interesting and I’ll get around to trying it out.
More efforts to help kids learn about programming and computers.
Alice – The focus of the Alice project is now to provide the best possible first exposure to programming for students ranging from middle schoolers to college students
Kids Programming Language (KPL)
Whole Foods Chicken Sandwich
I love their chicken sandwich. I think the killer ingredient is the carmelized onions. Jane makes some awesome quesadillas with carmelized onions. The “Austin Grill” chicken sandwich is not on the menu but the people there know it by name. In case they forget, here are the ingredients:
Grilled Chicken
Monterrey Jack Cheese
Carmelized Onion
Lettuce
Tomatoe
Cooked Red Pepper
Chipotle Mayo
Toasted to melt the cheese.
Served with tortilla chips
Yummy!