Brain Broadcast – Holidays October 31, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in holiday.Tags: halloween, holidays
3 comments
Happy Halloween/All Saints/ All Hallows / Samhain / Drunken Adult Dress Up Day / Trick or Treat or whatever to you all!
On an unrelated note my kids tried ice skating for the first time last night, so they sort of got to dress up and act silly one day early. But on skates. They even got treats, too!
Brain Broadcast – Thinking October 30, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in thinking.Tags: , article, ilker yoldas, jamais vu, the thinking blog
2 comments
Ilker Yoldas at The Thinking Blog has been kind enough to publish a couple of short articles for me. Please click the attached links if you’d like to read them:
Brain Broadcast – Manipulation October 29, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in manipulation.Tags: business, manipulation, manipulator, psychology
add a comment
EDIT: let me give you a little back-story about this article. There have been a few times recently when I’ve been trying to decide something about my pet peeves. Namely: what are my absolutely positive biggest pet peeves? I wrote an article about one of them, which is arrogant or egotistical people. My other pet peeve would be manipulative people. Like, say, sales people. Sorry if you are a sales person, but selling tactics really, really, really annoy me.
What do you think? Are there other key things to watch for when being manipulated?
EDIT 2 (Oct. 30/07) – much to my pleasant surprise, the website Dumb Little Man has linked to this article. Go check them out, won’t you?
Brain Broadcast – Punctuation October 29, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in punctuation.Tags: punctuation, tips, writing
8 comments
Seriously, I think this is a great little article that should be a mandatory read. They should make high school students read the article, then take a test to demonstrate their mastery of the topic.
Or, students should at least learn and master what they are supposed to learn by the time they graduate from high school.
I blame parents. In ten to twelve years, I’ll be blaming myself. 
Brain Broadcast – Handwriting October 28, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in handwriting.Tags: cursive writing, grammar, handwriting, spelling
8 comments
Over the past decade, I’ve really been starting to feel like the world is starting to outpace me and I’m gradually falling out of step as the world only seems to move faster and faster. It doesn’t bother me THAT match except that I do worry how some things in our world just seem to get worse and worse.
I’ve ranted about the decline in spelling, punctuation, and grammar in our world, particularly North America. I think we collectively look like a bunch of illiterate, self-deluding cretins when you look at the average E-Mail box, blog, journal, or message board. I found out something today that, on the surface, seems progressive, but is a major mistake.
Folks, they are stopping the practice of teaching cursive writing in the schools in my part of Canada. Yes, that’s correct, our public schools will no longer be teaching handwriting. Oh wait, they will teach you how to sign your name on a cheque, application form, or credit application. I guess we don’t need to write anymore, we’ll either print everything or resort 100% completely to the personal computer to create hard copies.
I know that my handwriting has become much less legible during the past few years, but I can still write quickly and it can be read.
Has anyone else lamented (or notice) the loss of cursive writing in their hometowns or countries? Does this worry you?
Brain Broadcast – Featured on Fridays (Oct. 26/07) October 26, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in blog reviews.Tags: blog reviews, bloggers, featured on fridays, scott h young
2 comments
Welcome to a regular feature at The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog called Featured on Fridays. Every Friday I will introduce you to one or more of the blogs and bloggers that fill my newsreader. These are blogs that I genuinely enjoy and read regularly.
In this third installment I’m featuring one blogger! This gentleman is a fellow Canadian who has an interesting series of “broadcasts” of his own:
Scott H Young has been writing a blog with the catch phrase “get more from life” for at least a couple of years. He writes about productivity, wellness, and ways to generally improve your life by changing your thinking about some of the challenges in your life. He’s written an E-Book about an approach to change your habits, something we can all profit from. In addition to his own blog, he is a regular contributor to Lifehack.org and he probably does quite a few other things while he is attending university! I believe he is also in Toastmasters. Check his blog out, you’ll find it stimulating.
If you’d like to be reviewed in Featured on Fridays, don’t hesitate to drop me an E-Mail (see About Me page) or leave me a comment.
Brain Broadcast – Meme’d October 25, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in meme.Tags: 3 Things You Can't Let Go, meme
12 comments
Oh dear, it’s meme season again. Today’s subject is 3 Things You Can’t Let Go. I’m assuming this means that I have to describe three things that I can’t let go, physically, mentally, or emotionally.
Hm.
OK, one of each:
1) Physical: my comic books. I probably have at least 1000 of them (although I’ve owned at least 2,000 others over the years – this is what’s left). Most of them have been sitting in long boxes for years. I just can’t bring myself to throw them out or sell them (mainly because I couldn’t sell most of them for very much money). It’s part emotional attachment, part stubbornness.
2) Mental: the desire to become a paid, professional writer.
3) Emotional: I’m going to generalize and say that there have been a couple of times, both personal and professional, where I feel that I was betrayed. Or naive. Or ignorant. Or all three. It’s almost impossible to forget. Actually, it’s impossible.
Today’s meme originally came from here
Site Insights tagged me with the meme
And now, Earthlings, I hereby pass this wonder of pop culture to:
(EDIT) Blush (my original choice was Mimzie but someone else tagged her first…)
and…
Let the wailing begin!
Brain Broadcast – Syndication October 25, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in rss.Tags: atom, feedburner, netvibes, rss
add a comment
You may notice the new icon on the right-hand sidebar. The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog is now signed up with Feedburner to make it easier for you to subscribe to these Brain Broadcasts with the reader of your choice.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve started to use Netvibes for my own list of must-see blogs, but that’s just one of several services that you can hook up with using Feedburner.
Brain Broadcast – Communication October 24, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in communication.Tags: communication, confidence, public speaking, toastmasters
2 comments
Just saw a great little post that I couldn’t agree with more. The author talks about the benefits of joining Toastmasters, a global organization that helps people improve both their communications and leadership skills in a positive, mutually rewarding environment.
I’ve been a member of Toastmasters for two and a half years and it has really helped me with my communications skills, particularly in front of crowds. It’s a great, self-paced program that provides lots of opportunties for learning and growth. I can’t recommend it enough.
The Toastmasters website features a link to help locate a club near you. Check it out – you will be pleasantly surprised!
Brain Broadcast – Rankings October 24, 2007
Posted by markdykeman in rankings.Tags: rankings, rat race, technorati
4 comments
What I might think if I was really concerned about my rankings with various blog directories:
According to Technorati, almost 800,000 blogs outrank mine. So what have they got that I don’t have? Video? Audio? Porn? Paris Hilton?
Damn, now I feel inadequate…
What I really think is:
Am I already in the top 1% of all blogs around the world? Or at least the ones that Technorati tracks (over 100 million)? In three months? Cool.
No wait, what I actually think is:
Is this ranking really meaningful? I doubt it. But it is an interesting piece of trivia and it is one means to measure progress.
