One of the most difficult things to come up with are unique gift ideas. What do you get for your colleague or friend or teacher? What do you give your significant other on the major holidays (Valentines day, Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, etc.)?

I’ve found a new site that helps ease that burden. You simply pick the category, such as a gift for her, or a child’s birthday gift and it will give you a slew of unusual and unique gift selections. Interested in getting your boss a unique gift for his birthday? Get him something in the business category. Interested in a baby shower gift? Get something from the baby shower section. How about a simple birthday gift? Sure, choose if they are a man or a woman, and go get it.

The site I am talking about is http://www.giftsourcestore.com

Give it a try! I am sure you will find something that will be perfect.

Baby Gift, Baby Shower Gift, Birthday Gift, Boss, Business Category, Christmas, Christmas Hanukkah, Colleague, Gift Birthday, Gift Selections, Halloween, Hanukkah, Holidays, Slew, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Christmas, Unique Gift Ideas, Unusual Gift

ChrisShaul.com has just activate a new feature that allows visitors to login to the blog using their Facebook login credentials. This way, you do not have to register to leave comments. All you need to post comments is your Facebook login. This site does not store or utilize your credentials. We only validate the login with Facebook.

Give it a try, by clicking on the login link on the sidebar. Then drop us a note. http://www.chrisshaul.com

chrisshaul.com, credentials, facebook, technology

Tonight I was reading an article on the History of Burbank, California and I read that Burbank was built primarily around Olive Avenue.

So as I was reading I was wondering why certain streets are referred to as Roads, others being Streets, and finally major through-ways being Avenues. Does anyone else know????

Okay, here is what I found out.

A Road connects places (such as between two towns).
A Street connect people (areas where there are homes and businesses)
An Avenue is a Tree-Lined Street, usually wider than a regular street.

Not so useful, but interesting.

Here are my sources (primarily Wikipedia).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/26412-avenue-vs-street.html

Avenues, Burbank, Roads, Streets, trivia

A friend sent me this video, my first impulse was think what would be the application here? How could we use such a thing. It is amazing how we question new technology, even if we are involved in technology. Essentially, it is small computer video blocks that talk to one another. You can create and learn things by the order and 3 dimensions of manipulation. In the video, the presenter answers my initial question, what is the application. But I have a feeling that this just scratches the surface. Similar to how main-frames where designed with accounting as the first application. Now we use computers in all aspects of our life. I see these being similar. We would only be limited by our imagination of the applications that these could be used for.

Take a look at the video and let me know your thoughts.

computer blocks, Siftables, technology, TED

Okay, I have an older personal laptop. I have my work laptop. So why do I need a new netbook? ‘Cause its light fast and mobile. The Netbook I am drooling over right now is a ASUS Eee PC 1000HA 10-Inch Netbook. Netbooks seem to be the way of the future. They have a solid-state drive, so it is not going to wear out like an old style hard drive. Additionally, the price on these is really inexpensive. They are about the same price as a fancy mobile phone. I would still keep my iPhone, but this would be useful for all those web apps, like Salesforce.com that I use.

Here are the key features that I like:

1. All day power. One of the most frustrating things is having to plug in after a little while of useage (usually a couple of hours). Or, when I used it the day before and didn’t charge over night. Having 7 hours of battery is very nice. This is especially true on my flights to Asia.
2. 3.2 lbs. Wow, I could carry this around all day with ease.
3. 160 GB Hard Drive, with 10 GB cloud storage. This is twice what I have on my current notebook.
4. Comes with XP. Now I am a Linux fan, but I would gladly use this XP netbook. I would probably make it dual boot though. Besides 160 GB would hold a very large iTunes library (which mine is becoming).
5. Built in Wifi. This means that you can pretty much connect anywhere there is an open wifi. This is becoming so convenient these days.

So I have added it to my Amazon wish list and will be saving my pennies! Let you know when I actually get it.

computer, Computing, netbook, notebook

This is amazing. Having been in many warehouses, this is pretty wild! Robots are now picking and putting away products.

So is this the way of the future?

cool, distribution, logistics, robots, warehouse

Ever wanted to raise a single cell organism and evolve it into a space faring race that dominates the galaxy? That is what my son and I are doing right now. There is a new game available today for the PC/MAC and other platforms. It is called Spore.

It is an amazing 3d game that allows you to grow creatures and evolve them. As you do every choice you make has an impact on how the creature survives in its higher evolutions. A small mouth or big arms all impact what happens later in the game. So you start with a single cell organism, be it herbavore or carnivore and you eat, collect DNA, and grow it until one day it has a brain and it evolves enough to come out of the water.

You then get to grow, make friends, become a tribe, become a culture, develop a space faring race and develop other planets. It is quite an addictive game.

Check it out at http://www.spore.com

ea, evolve, game, spore

Imagine Facebook, now imagine how the CIA might use it. Add friends (in the Intelligence industry), share stories, news articles, videos, etc. Except that nobody without proper clearance can access this secret social network. As you use it though, your pattern of usage is trended and then analysed to make sure you are doing what you are supposed to.

These are all things in the making for a new social networking site called A-Space that will be released this month, specifically for Intelligence Analysts.

You can read more at CNN here.

I wonder what Penelope Garcia would say about this? (Criminal Minds)

cia, facebook, myspace., spy

I’ve been a part of the beta for a new service called Ping.FM for sometime now and really love it. With one post or with one email to your secret address, you can update all of your social network sites with a revised status.  I update Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, Plaxo, and probably a few others I forgot all with one post.  This is a great tool!

You can now get in on the beta by going to Ping.FM signing up and using code “pingbewithyou’.

Give it a go, I am sure you will like it.

facebook, myspace., Ping.fm, social networking

This is an ebook that I purchased this evening and I enjoyed reading it so much that I wanted to share it with our readers.

It is the Zen Habits Handbook for Life by Leo Babauta. Some of it crosses over into Feng Shui, such as decluttering, but a lot of it are valuable life habits that we should all strive to adopt. I am still rereading it and have found it to be quite valuable in refocusing my priorities in life.

If you are looking to make improvements in your life and take the small steps necessary to improve, then I recommend you purchase this inexpensive life guide. At $6.95 it is worth every cent.

Zen Habits Handbook for Life by Leo Babauta
$6.95

Here’s the table of contents:

Introduction
Section 1: Simplicity

* Decluttering
* Single-tasking
* Edit Your Commitments
* Eiminate All But the Essentials
* Don’t Do Everything on Your To-do List
* The Art of Doing Nothing
* Declutter Your Mind
* 72 Simplicity Tips
* Eat Slower

Section 2: Productivity

* Purpose Your Day: Most Important Tasks
* Focus on the Big Rocks
* Clear Out Your Inbox
* Clear Your Desk
* Become an Early Riser
* Become Motivated When You’re in a Slump
* Make the Most of Your Laziest Days
* Decompress After High Stress

Section 3: Happiness

* Cultivate Compassion in Your Life
* Escape Materialism
* Practical Tips for Living the Golden Rule
* Accept Criticism With Grace and Appreciation
* Have Faith in Humanity, and Restore Kindness
* Boost Your Self-Confidence
* Live Your Life Consciously

Money-back Guarantee
Because I’m sure you’ll find value in this e-book and because I don’t want you to worry about feeling ripped off, I’m offering a 100% money-back guarantee, which will be immediate, hassle-free, no questions asked. Seriously, I won’t make you feel guilty at all, and you will get all your money back quickly. If you don’t, you can always post a comment below warning other buyers.

Zen Habits Handbook for Life by Leo Babauta
$6.95

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