Two Minute Stress Buster

Concentrate for a moment on something stressful or challenging in your life. Can you notice your body getting tense? Feel your muscles tightening? Check your breathing and notice what's happening. Did you STOP breathing? Or is it rapid and shallow – higher in your chest? Okay, now you have a baseline.

1. Check the time and make a mental note of the minutes.
2. *Cross one ankle over another. Notice which leg is on top. Either will do.
3. *Next, extend your arms just below shoulder height, with the backs of your hands touching each other.
4. *Take one hand (same side as top foot) and cross the wrist over the other hand so that your palms now touch.
5. *Interlace your fingers.
6. *Swing your hands down, then in (inside) and up onto your chest. Relax your shoulders.
7. *Sit like that for two or three minutes and you’ll feel your breathing shift lower and slower in your chest, your  muscles relaxing and your mind clearing. Keep your head upright.

Albino Squirrels are not a myth!

I can now finally say at long last that I have seen an Albino Squirrel in Trinity Bellwoods Park.  Long talked about as a Toronto legend, everybody knows someone who has seen an Albino Squirrel, but few people can lay claim to personally coming across one of these furry little creatures.  I must say, that over the last few years I have been to Trinity Bellwoods Park several dozen times and I had given up hope of catching a glimpse of one of these guys.  People had said that with all of the redevelopment that the white squirrel population had died off, well it was a pleasure to see our little friend and I had enough time to catch a video.  The Youtube link is posted below:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6YAyiQNWxo

Is Lumosity worth your time and money?

I read about Lumosity some time back in the very excellent book "What Color is Your Parachute."  Lumosity is a web based platform of games designed to challenge and improve aspects of your brain functioning.  I didn't actually check out the site while reading "What Color is Your Parachute" but clicked on an online advertisement sometime later.  Perhaps you have seen one and are curious.  I decided I would provide my basic information (no credit cards) in exchange for a 7 day trial access. There are over 30 games and various training programs that run through the games in specific sequences.    I first completed the Basic training program.  It is 40 modules and was a bit of a slog to get through in the 7 day period but I wanted to give it a fair assessment before I considered spending for the website.  It is sold as a subscription model -- ie monthly or annually.  I didn't buy right away and I was rewarded for my patience as Lumosity sent me an email shortly after my trial period with a discounted rate.  In fact the first email offer was for a 20% discount and I didn't respond to this.  I next got an email for a 30% discount or 6 months free with an annual subscription.  I was tempted to wait further and see if the deals got better but decided that I was enjoying the site enough that I wanted to resume training unrestricted. 
Try it for yourself:

www.lumosity.com

Stress Buster Video

This short video will relax you. I recommend paying it on full screen. For more videos like this, I have started a playlist of guided relaxations on Youtube.

Swype -- A new way to type from the creator of T9 predictive texting

I long held to the belief that the chief advantage of a good smart phone was its keyboard.  This was a key deterrent for me with the iPhone.  That being said, the iPhone is the most popular single handset on the market  today and most of its slimmest smart phone peers today have sacrificed their keyboards in favour of larger screens.  I'm starting to come over to the screen keyboard and a prime factor for me is this new technology -  Swype.  The concept is that your finger stays on the screen through each individual word, only lifted your finger for a new word.  Swype is both rapid and accurate.  I learned about the feature as it is part of the just announced Motorola Droid X.  That being said it is already in some Samsung phones and could be featured by other phone makers.

Coffee Disloyalty Card

I picked up a Coffee Disloyalty Card at Dark Horse Espresso Bar today.  The card provides a free coffee for visiting all seven independent local coffee shops.  Part of something known as the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy.  The shops are all over the city so just in time for the spring weather it is a great opportunity to explore Toronto and take in some really good coffee.

Blondie’s Coffee Bar & Restaurant, www.blondiesbar.ca, 1378 Queen St. W.

Crema Coffee Co., www.cremacoffee.ca, 3079 Dundas St. W., 53 Bloor St. E. (inside Freshii)

Dark Horse Espresso Bar, www.darkhorseespresso.com, 682 Queen St. E., 215 Spadina Ave.

Lit Espresso Bar, www.litespressobar.com, 221 Roncesvalles Ave., 810 College St.

Manic Coffee, www.maniccoffee.com, 426 College St.

Mercury Espresso Bar, www.mercuryespresso.com, 915 Queen St. E.

Sam James Coffee Bar, http://samjamescoffeebar.com, 297 Harbord St.

Bill Gates on energy: Innovating to zero! | Video on TED.com

If you haven't seen this you gotta!

Bill Gates on energy: Innovating to zero! | Video on TED.com

Here's a transcript from a TED attendee:

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/12/highlights-from-ted-2.html