One Photo Per Mile

From the Statue of Liberty to the Golden Gate bridge, one photo at each mile marker. That was the goal of matt Frondorf as he drove across America. Click here to view his collection of 3,304 photos as an interactive map or as a movie.

Your Personal Mission Statement

All you A-type, goal-oriented people probably already have your personal mission statement memorized, in your PDA or tatooed onto some part of your body... but for those of you who haven't taken the time to actually put on paper (or hard disk) your life mission, This FranklinCovey > Mission Builder might be just what you needed. It was for me.

Sure, it’s a bit odd that a web page with lots of inspirational quotes, elevator music and photos of cheerful people would purport to help you define your life mission with a few questions spit out by a web server somewhere...BUT, i found it an enlightening and helpful exercise that helped me define values and goals, some of which were rather surprising. (Click here to try it out. It's free and they email the results).

How to Write so that They'll Read

You can double the usability of your web site by following these guidelines in this article, Writing for the Web. For example:

• 79% of users scan the page instead of reading word-for-word
• Reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper
• Web content should have 50% of the words of its paper equivalent

I hope this article is helpful for those of your who write or want to write something for the Web.

Turn Off Your TV

I love this rant. I agree with this rant. Here's a taste:

The average American watches 4.5 hours of television every day. You sleep for eight hours. You get up and work for eight hours. Come home, eat some dinner and turn on the television. A few hours later you're getting sleepy. Time for bed.
.....................WHAT ARE YOU DOING??
We're not kidding. All those things you wanted to have in your life: passion, romance, love, childhood, parenthood, adventure? when are you going to do all that?

Click here to read the rest of this funny, straightforward diatribe against waisting you life in front of the television. If you want a little gadget that will turn off nearly every television anywhere, click here (for coverage in the news on this gadget, click here)

Sperling's Best Places (USA)

Who would have guessed that Florence, SC has the 5th highest crime rate in the U.S. among small cities and that Wichita, KS is the 2nd worst city for dating?

For those of you considering a move or just curious, Sperling's Best Places web site ranks locations in the U.S. by all sorts of criteria, like best and worst cities for dating, gas prices, sleep, stress, crime and cost of living. Click here: to see if your city ranks or is rank.

How to Eat in Mexico

We thought you might like this insightful book Eat Smart in Mexico: How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure.

For the adventuresome traveler, this book is a richly annotated road map that will steer you to the right markets and teach you where to find authentic Mexican food. It offers what is most important about Mexican food and culture wrapped in a nutshell.

From our experience, that can mean the difference between a fantastic, culture-filled, Mexican vacation or a bathroom-languishing, gastrointestinal misery tour.

Name Calling (or Fun with Names)

Try out this fun, interactive site for baby names (or any name):

The Name Wizard: NameVoyager
(then click "Launch NameVoyager")

Once you get to the right page, type in your own name (or that of your kids or friends, or family) and you'll see how it has ranked over the last century. It's fun, and we found ourselves laughing a lot at the results. I was amazed at how unoriginal we really are...for example, both my name (Tim) and Annette's peaked during the very year we were named.

Google Maps

Today's tip is about a new service launched by Google called Google Maps. They've done for maps what they did for the search engine. They offer nice clean maps that allow searches for more than just addresses. For example, type in mexican restaurants near Chattanooga, TN and the map zooms to the S.E. of the United States and a tasty list of restaurants shows up on the right partnered with little orange push-pin map markers. Click on one of the markers and get the exact address, telephone number, website (if one exists) and MapQuest-type directions from here to there.

Note: to navigate the map, just click and drag the image or use the arrows for navigating are in the upper left hand corner.

Thou shalt not click on emailed links

They've tricked me and they've tricked my parents, so save yourself the pain and suffering and just read this article Phishing for your personal information: Lifehacker. Here's an excerpt:

A great way for credit-card stealing monsters to get your personal information is to send you an email that looks like it’s from your bank with a link that says “click here to update your information.”

How to breathe deeply when you're nervous

Ever find it hard to get a good breath of air when your feeling anxious? I usually just shout profanities and lash out at strangers, but this short article offers a less anti-social for how to breathe deeply when you're nervous...or as the author (Ftrain.com) calls it: Vacuuming the Lungs.

So take a deep breathe and click here to read this tip on how to breathe easy in the most stressful of situations.

Google Cheat Sheet

This Google cheat sheet shows you the "how to's" for a surprising number of ways use Google to find what you want. Click here for the Google Help : Cheat Sheet.

Useful Household Tips

Click here to download a list of 24 tips like how to cure a throbbing headache with a lime and how to use Scotch tape to get that painful splinter out.