Good list of some useful tools
Check out this article from USA TODAY:
5 simple steps to a faster computer
http://usat.ly/13ouDnx
Friday, August 16, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Book review of Decisive
Decisive
by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Review by Peter Narloch
Decisive is a new book in our bookstore from the Heath brothers who wrote Made to Stick and Switch. This book focuses on the topic of how we make decisions in life. They open the discussion up with building a case that we humans do not have a good track record for making good decisions. They cite many facts to build their case such as 83% of all mergers in business fail to give value to stockholders and the number of people who change careers after only beginning.
The Heaths contend that there are four villains preventing us from making good decisions:
1. We narrow our framing which causes us to miss options
2. Our own confirmation bias taints analysis with self serving data
3. Short term emotions lead us astray
4. Over confidence about future outcomes cloud the picture
The authors build a believable case supporting the existence of this villains. I was able to relate to many of the example stories that they used as examples. I feel that this could be a good text for high school seniors to read through and chew on. Who do I date? What college to attend? Which job to take? Should we get married? are just a sampling of decisions that facing every young adult today.
Decisive presents a process which the authors feel can significantly increase our chances of making good decisions. They use the acrostic WRAP to describe the decision process that should be used.
Widen your options goes after the first villain which focuses on getting out of the either-or trap in decisions. We are encouraged to use multi-track thinking and to consider this AND that rather than this OR that logic to combat the first villain.
Reality test your assumptions addresses leaning towards our own biases in decisions. Ooching is encouraged which is basically the act of trying something out before deciding.
Attain distance before deciding is a technique to build a barrier from the effects of our short term emotions. Heaths write about loss aversion and using a 10-10-10 method to help give us fresh perspective.
Prepare to be wrong is the last decision tool which is used to address the fourth villain of over confidence. Using bookend results, setting trip wires and trusting the process are techniques in this final tool bag.
Each chapter of the book has an excellent summary page which can be used to quickly review the concepts which are discussed in the chapter. It is safe to say that everyone would glean some morsel from Decisive. If not directly for yourself, then for the many people in our lives who are struggling to make good decisions.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
SF Vintage Cycle Blog entry
Love the Jason to Dan razz.
SF Vintage Cycle |
| 2013 Mid America Auctions Results Las Vegas Posted: 19 Jan 2013 05:49 PM PST |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2013 02:00 PM PST I won't be in the shop for a lil while because my dog Jessie isn't well. Please say a prayer for her, do a 'get well' dance or whatever. Also, Dan will be at the shop so feel free to go over there and talk to him for an hour about how you use to own a Triumph. Then make some wise cracks about Lucas electrics and how old Brit bikes leak oil. Then have him tell you whats wrong with your bike and how to fix it yourself. Then leave without buying anything.  |
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Book Review: Deep & Wide by Andy Stanley
Deep & Wide by Andy Stanley
Review by Peter Narloch 01-05-2013
This Andy Stanley book is a very personal writing. Pastor Stanley shares many personal stories throughout the book. The book is divided into five major sections with different target readers in mind. In general I would recommend this book to those who have been around church for awhile or are interested in church leadership. If you one who is in a position of leading a ministry area or doing any teaching during the weekend services I would say this is a must read for you. This book is a call to action for churches to become churches for the unchurched.
Section one shares a very personal account of the starting of north point community. If you have been an Andy Stanley fan you will most definitely appreciate this insight into Stanley's life. The thought that everyone has a story rings loudly from this section.
Section two discusses the definition of a church. This section offers an excellent summary of history. Those who have been around church for awhile will appreciate the clarity of these chapters. I specifically enjoyed the discussion of truth and grace within the church world and whether all decisions in churches need to be fair. Stanley states that churches have removed "move" from the original Christianity movement and have become very stuck in their ways.
Section three focuses on the five faith catalysts that North Point uses to guide its ministries. This section is a must read for all church leaders including those leading small groups. One their five catalysts is Providential Relationships and I appreciated the insight on being deliberate to influence relationships.
Section four is the largest section of the book and its focus is making your church irresistible. Stanley is bursting with things to share with his readers in this section. He speaks very pointedly to church leaders and cautions them repeatedly not get used to use the messes in your church. He encourages leaders to be very clear in defining what they want to accomplish in each area of the church. How do you know if you delivered a good message or ran a good student ministry gathering? All church leaders should read this section.
Section five deals with how to get your church aligned on a mission which may be contrary to the way things have always been done at your church. Getting everyone at your church on the same mission page is critical for all areas to work well together. Island ministry areas must be avoided. Everyone must be working for the same goal or there will be not be success for the local church.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The Computer Backup Rule of Three
Appreciated the clarity of this backup strategy
-Nar
Begin forwarded message:
Scott Hanselman's Blog
The Computer Backup Rule of Three
I'm ALWAYS pounding people to backup. I will continue. BACKUP YOUR STUFF. If you care about it, back it up.
Let's talk. Yes, I'm talking to you, non-technical friend. You're a writer, a blogger, not a techie. I get that. Can't be bothered, I get that. Very busy. You will be even busier when you lose access to your dropbox, or leave your laptop on a train.
Please. Read. Tell your friends.
These are NOT backups
Here are some things that are NOT backups. Feel free to tweet or Facebook them to
shameeducate your family.
- Backing up your laptop to an SD Card in the same laptop is #notabackup
- Backing up to a hard drive that is 6 inches away from your computer is #notabackup
- Backing up your Gmail to another Gmail account is #notabackup
- Backing up your book by copying it to another folder is #notabackup
- The photos that are still in your camera memory are #notabackup
Do you have any other good examples?
The Backup Rule of Three
Here's the rule of three. It's a long time computer-person rule of thumb that you can apply to your life now. It's also called the Backup 3-2-1 rule.
- 3 copies of anything you care about - Two isn't enough if it's important.
- 2 different formats - Example: Dropbox+DVDs or Hard Drive+Memory Stick or CD+Crash Plan, or more
- 1 off-site backup - If the house burns down, how will you get your memories back?
Why so paranoid?
Simple. Because I care about my work, photos and data and I would be sad if I lost it.
Think about all the times you've heard about a friend who has lost everything. A decade of photos. Years of email. It hurts- just like exercise - because it's good for you.
Try restoring from a backup to practice. Backups always succeed. It's restores that fail.
What should l do?
I think at a minimum folks should do this.
- Have TWO physical backups (hard drive, memory card) with a copy of everything, at least weekly. You can automate this.
- Backup everything that has data that matters. That means phones, too.
- Have a cloud backup storage (CrashPlan, DropBox, SkyDrive, something)
- Don't trust the cloud. I backup my gmail, too.
- Rotate the physical backups between your house and somewhere else. I use the safety deposit box. You can use your Mama's house. Just label one "Backup A" and one "Backup B" and when you visit, swap them.
Recommended Reading
Here's some other blog posts on the topic of backup. Now, take action.
- A basic non-cloud-based personal backup strategy
- On Losing Data and a Family Backup Strategy
- Windows 8, Step 0 - Turn on continuous backups via File History
- Automatically Backup your Gmail account on a schedule with GMVault and Windows Task Scheduler
- Give Grandpa and Grandma the gift of an off-site backup of your photos
© 2012 Scott Hanselman. All rights reserved.
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Book Review of Soul Detox
Book Review of Soul Detox
Soul Detox is a book that we carry in our bookstores which was written by Craig Groeshel who is the pastor of LifeChurch.tv church based in Oklahoma. This book was primary text of the recent Toxic message series at EBC. Groeschel writes in a very personal and engaging style sharing many of his life blunders as he encourages readers to come clean and recognize that this world is trying to lead you away from your relationship with Jesus.
This book is written in such a way that each chapter can stand on its own which makes it a great candidate for being a small group study book. There are supporting study guides also available if someone chooses to use this book as their small group material.
Groeschel starts out Soul Detox with some straight talk, challenging each of us to realize that we need to be on the watch for self deception and thinking that we are not susceptible to toxic influences of the world. Craig Groeschel writes with very color language which makes this book very easy to read. He covers topics such as envy, rage, relationship, culture and language with more detail than time allowed in the EBC Toxic message series. In the Green with Envy chapter Groeschel warns us of an important fact about the grass is greener mentality. He says "their grass may be greener than yours, but from where you're standing, you may not be able to see all the poop in their yard".
Soul Detox is an excellent book on many levels and could be recommended to everyone at some point whether individually or as a small group resource. It would be suitable for mature senior high students and all adults.
Friday, September 28, 2012
NFL financial insights
The first 10 mins of this program pretty interesting about the NFL
I am listening to The Dave Ramsey Show with TuneIn Radio.
I am listening to The Dave Ramsey Show with TuneIn Radio.
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