50 Sophisticated Words You Should Start Using Instead Your New Year's resolutions might have included getting more exercise, or going back to school to get your degree. Might we humbly suggest you also take this time of starting things anew by phasing out some of the played-out words in your vocabulary and replacing them with creative alternatives? Don’t feel bad; everyone you know has been guilty of letting a "fail" or an "LOL" slip at least once in a while. Cyber Substitutes Supreme: Epic doesn’t mean what you think it means. Better Buzzwords Donjon: Men, have you been relegated to a small segment of the house referred to as your "man cave?" Underage Upgrades Alas: "Oh, snap" is so out. Professional Pick-me-ups Demiurgic: "Innovative" is the second-most overused resume filler word. Romantic Retools Cherish: Take a lesson from The Association and discover another way to say "I love you." Dignified Descriptors Atrocious: You spilled your coffee, broke a shoelace, smeared the lipstick on your face. January 17th, 2012 written by Staff Writers
A List of Books | 623 of the Best Books Ever Written The Chip Bag Fold Learn this chip bag fold and you will never need a clamp ever again! Have you ever had a bag of unfinished potato chips which you want to keep fresh? These simple steps will allow you to close the potato chip bag without using a clip or clamp. An example of a silly (but undeniably useful) origami fold. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. LiveAndTell, A Crowdsourced Quest To Save Native American Languages While you won't have any trouble finding a way to learn Spanish, French, or German in the United States, brushing up on your Lakota or Navajo isn't so easy. The Endangered Language Fund projects that half of the languages spoken on earth will disappear in the next century, and Native American tongues are among them. The Administration for Native Americans reports that when the U.S. was founded, more than 300 Native American languages were spoken. That number has since dropped to 175, and only 20 are taught to children. The rest, it says, “are classified as deteriorating or nearing extinction.” In an attempt to preserve endangered indigenous dialects such as Lakota and Ho Chunk, South Dakota-based programmer Biagio Arobba has built LiveAndTell, a user-generated content site for sharing and learning Native languages. Arobba, 32, is a member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe. LiveAndTell lets users create "audio tags" for pictures, similar to tagging on Facebook or Flickr.
Your Picks: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books More than 5,000 of you nominated. More than 60,000 of you voted. And now the results are in. The winners of NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy survey are an intriguing mix of classic and contemporary titles. Over on NPR's pop culture blog, Monkey See, you can find one fan's thoughts on how the list shaped up, get our experts' take, and have the chance to share your own. A quick word about what's here, and what's not: Our panel of experts reviewed hundreds of the most popular nominations and tossed out those that didn't fit the survey's criteria (after — we assure you — much passionate, thoughtful, gleefully nerdy discussion). So, at last, here are your favorite science-fiction and fantasy novels. 1.
handwriting tips You’ve decided you want to improve your handwriting and you’re probably hoping a fountain pen will do the trick -- maybe a friend told you it would. Maybe you’re just adventurous and you want to try your hand at calligraphy (or you might, once your handwriting improves). Good for you! A fountain pen may make your writing look a bit better, but if your writing looks as if frenzied chickens got loose on the page, chances are this won’t be enough. After coaching handwriting and teaching calligraphy over the years, I’ve learned to see the characteristics of those who’ll be able to pick up the necessary motions quickly from those who’ll have to work a bit harder. Crampy, uneven letters are often the result of drawing the letters with the fingers rather than using the whole arm to write. People who inevitably have trouble with handwriting and calligraphy write with their fingers. If you use the right muscle groups, your writing will have a smooth, easy flow and not look tortured. Fig. 1. Top
5 Ways to Give Yourself an Education That Kicks the Crap Out of the One You Got in School 5 Ways to Give Yourself an Education That Kicks the Crap Out of the One You Got in School One of the biggest reasons that people are denied the privilege of education is because they can’t afford it. However, today we live in a world where knowledge and information are at our finger tips like never before. Self Motivation is Not Optional Taking this kind of approach to educating yourself requires an extremely high degree of self motivation. 1. There are a handful of traditional education institutions that have started to embrace this trend. 2. In a recent feature, the CBS Sunday morning show said that there were approximately 50 million active blogs online. Want to learn how to get in shape? What’s interesting about the blogosphere is that it has created a trend of unconventional education and the opportunity to study any subject you have an interest in. 3. 4. 5. TED: One of the most inspirational educational resources at everybody’s disposal is the TED web site. Interested? Tweet Like
30 Books I’m Glad I Read Before 30 In various ways, these 30 books convey some of the philosophy of how Angel and I live our lives. I honestly credit a fraction of who I am today to each title. Thus, they have indirectly influenced much of what I write about on this site. A medley of both fiction and nonfiction, these great reads challenged my internal status quo, opening my mind to new ideas and opportunities, and together they gave me a basic framework for living, loving, learning and working successfully. If you haven’t read these books yet, I highly recommend doing so. They will enrich your library and your life. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert – Gilbert, a Harvard professor of psychology has studied happiness for decades, and he shares scientific findings that just might change the way you look at the world. What are your favorite books? Photo by: Katie Harris