The paranoid person’s guide to online privacy

The most important issue for everyday internet users is privacy—and rightly so. In today’s connected world, we’re being tracked and surveilled more than ever by everyone from search giants and social media companies to ISPs and advertising firms. These organizations don’t just record what we click on or share, but analyze our online activity to compile complex demographic and psychographic profiles about us—so they can manipulate us into doing their bidding, whether that’s clicking on ads they serve us based on the data they hold about us or getting us to interact with their sites more and share even more information about ourselves.

To a large extent, your average user can claw back some of their online privacy by using ad blockers or more privacy-focused browsers like Brave and Firefox. And for most of us, that will be enough to balance our desire for online privacy versus being able to take advantage of all the web has to offer.

But what if you’re not the average person? What if you’re more than a little paranoid or just sick and tired of almost every company invading your privacy? That’s where this online guide to privacy comes in. But be warned: If you really want to remain truly invisible online, the only surefire way to do that is to never go online.
Assuming you’re not quite prepared for that level of discretion but still want a higher-than-normal degree of online privacy, read on. But you should know that following some of the steps listed below will definitely hinder your online experience to some degree. Then again, that’s the trade-off you make for enhanced privacy.


With that in mind, here’s the paranoid person’s guide to online privacy:

1) Ditch Facebook and anything to do with Facebook

You can’t be a Facebook user and retain your privacy. The two concepts are fundamentally incompatible with each other. It’s just like something can’t be wet and dry at the same time. Facebook works by you willingly posting information about yourself online. So if you want to reclaim your online privacy, it’s time to delete your Facebook account, delete your Instagram account, and delete your WhatsApp account. There is no way around this.

2) If you want to use other social media, like Twitter, make your accounts anonymous and private

But what about other social media sites like Twitter and Reddit? To a degree, you can continue to use these sites and retain a fair amount of privacy. The trick for Twitter is to set up a new handle, make your account private, and don’t allow anyone to follow you. A completely anonymous handle will mean you can still follow whoever you want on Twitter and still retain a great degree of privacy about yourself. Same with Reddit. If you want to continue using it, just create a new, non-identifiable account. And remember on both platforms, never provide personal information about yourself.

3) Use a burner phone for two-factor authentication

Many websites are now prompting users to turn on two-factor authentication in order to help users better protect their information. You should take websites up on this, but when they ask you for a phone number to text you 2FA codes, don’t give out a phone number that is connected to your real identity. In other words, don’t give out your main mobile phone number. Why shouldn’t you give websites your real mobile number for 2FA? Just ask Facebook.

Instead, spend $20 on a cheap disposable phone you can buy with cash at most Walmarts or airports. Use this phone’s number for any 2FA setups that require you to enter a code the website texts to you. (And if you’re even more paranoid, toss that phone down the sewer drain every few weeks and get a new one.) Alternately, you can use an app called Burner to get a virtual phone number for receiving texts.

4) Say goodbye to Google

Just like Facebook and privacy are incompatible, the same goes for Google and privacy. If you want to reclaim maximum online privacy, you’ll need to jettison your Google account. Delete it and then never use Google to perform your web searches again. Instead, use DuckDuckGo as your search engine, and for maps and directions use OpenStreetMap. Now ditch Gmail for encrypted email provider like Tutanota.

5) Use a secure browser, preferably Tor

Speaking of Google, you’re going to have to say goodbye to Chrome too. If you’re looking for the ultimate privacy when browsing the web, you’ll want to use the Tor web browser, which obfuscates your location by bouncing around your internet traffic between multiple servers across the globe.

If Tor is a little too hardcore for you, then I recommend Firefox or Brave. Both web browsers have a heavy focus on privacy and can be configured to make it exceedingly hard for websites to acquire data about you. Both browsers also feature forced HTTPS, which encrypts the data you send to websites, so that prying eyes, like your ISP, can’t see what you are doing on those sites.

6) Use a VPN

This is, without a doubt, the easiest and biggest step you can take to protect your privacy online. VPN’s aren’t just for tinfoil-hat hermits. Indeed, they should be used by everyone from the most ardent privacy enthusiasts to your dear old grandma. You can’t hope to get the most online privacy possible without using a VPN. So get one today.

7) Say goodbye to smart home products and Android devices

Android is owned by Google—a company whose aim is to know as much about you as possible. That means if you want the utmost mobile privacy possible, you’ve got to get rid of your Android device. Android devices send ten times the amount of data about your activities to Google as iPhones do to Apple. Get an iPhone and don’t allow any Facebook-owned or Google-owned apps on it.

Sadly, achieving the ultimate privacy possible also means you’re going to have to give up many of the smart home devices that are becoming ubiquitous. That includes smart speakers from Google, like the Home lineup, and those from Amazon, like the Echo line of speakers. But it’s not just smart speakers you need to toss. Also gone are connected home security products, like those made by Google’s Nest division, which were recently revealed to have hidden microphones in them.

8) Use a secure messaging app

Finally, any direct messaging you send should only be done through highly secure messaging apps. This disqualifies any messaging apps owned by Facebook (Messenger, WhatsApp) and Google (Hangouts). It also disqualifies Skype, as Microsoft doesn’t encrypt Skype calls or messages.

Apple’s Messages are a great option if you own an iPhone. But then all your friends need to own an iPhone or else your texts won’t be encrypted when it reaches them (Apple’s Messages will send your texts as regular unencrypted text messages to Android users). That means your best option for secure messaging is the cross-platform Signal. It’s widely regarded as the most secure messaging app on the planet, and since it is cross-platform, it works on Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows. Need more proof of how secure the app is? Signal is Edward Snowden’s messaging app of choice.




source: https://www.fastcompany.com/

Cognitive Biases That Are Messing Up Your Decision Making

Over millions of years of evolution you'd think your brain would have gotten pretty good at thinking. But the truth is natural selection hasn't been nudging our brains to be ever more rational. It's been nudging them to keep us alive. Those aren't always the same thing.

If our brains were bad at spotting predators, running away from danger, and evaluating possible friends and enemies quickly, the human race would have died out long ago. The trouble is, avoiding hungry lions is no longer the main task we use our brains for. These days we expect them to make rational decisions.

Turns out that's one thing they're not so well equipped to do. According to an incredibly fascinating body of social science (made most famous by the work of Nobel prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahnemann) our minds are riddled with a host of cognitive biases that help us act quickly in the face of danger but make accurately weighing evidence, assessing probabilities, and deciding logically often pretty difficult.

Forewarned is forearmed, and knowing about these biases can help you recognize and correct for them. But if you don't have time to read excellent but in-depth books on the subject, here's a quick cheat sheet of some of the most common errors to watch out for.

1. Confirmation bias

I'm not sure how this one evolved, but I'm absolutely certain I've seen it in action. Humans don't like to change their opinions. Rethinking our beliefs once they've formed is hard and uncomfortable. It's much easier to simply ignore information that calls our most cherished ideas into question than it is to engage with threatening new information. So, often, that's just what we do. It's called the confirmation bias.

2. Availability heuristic

Our brain has a simple shortcut for estimating probability -- how easy is it to recall something similar? But there's at least one huge problem with this approach. Big, terrifying events are easier to recall than run-of-the-mill ones. That's why so many people are afraid of plane crashes, child abductions, and terrorism, which in reality are extremely rare, and blasé about car accidents, which kill more than a million Americans a year. (Alarmist news broadcasts don't much help us get an accurate sense of events' actual frequency either.)

3. Anchoring

This one is beloved by business people setting prices, but beware anchoring if you're a consumer. The term refers to our tendency to stubbornly cling to a number once we hear it and evaluate all other offers based on that previous number, even if that isn't the most relevant bit of information. So tell people they are limited to 'four per customer' and they'll be much more likely to buy four of whatever you're selling, even though they were originally only intending to buy two and really don't need double that.

4. Halo effect

Human brains are lazy and like consistency, that includes ideas that are consistent about a particular person or entity. Internal contradictions take up a lot of metal resources. That's why, when someone makes a positive impression with their small talk and self presentation in the first minutes of a job interview, you're more likely to view their professional accomplishments as similarly positive later. Your good first impression throws a hazy halo of positivity over all subsequent information.

5. Sunk cost fallacy

The everyday expression for this bias is 'throwing good money after bad.' The idea is that once we've invested time and/or money in something, we become vastly less likely to abandon it, even once it should be clear that the project will ultimately fail. The result is we frequently end up losing far more than if we had taken the hard decision to cut our losses early.

6. Survivorship bias

Success stories are easy to spot. Failures that sunk quietly into non-existence much less so. That's why we commonly over-estimate the likelihood of success in risky ventures. Just ask any startup veteran who has been disabused of his starry-eyed optimism over several years in the industry if you don't believe me.

This is also why we often put too much stock in the strategies of particular successful people -- like dropping out of school. We remember the Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world and forget to factor in the vast numbers of quietly struggling dropouts when we mentally calculate how likely an action (ditching school) is to lead to an outcome (striking it rich as an entrepreneur).

This only a small sample of the massive list of biases that afflict the human brain, so if you want to learn more, check out an exhaustive resource on the subject from Slack's Buster Benton, or a less lengthy but still very useful guide from James Clear.

26.2 things that happen when you run a marathon

 

Chas Newkey-Burden rounds up everything that inevitably happens during a 26.2 mile race, from competitive oneupmanship to an outbreak of bloody nipples

1. As you hang around at the start, marathon veterans pass the time with ostentatious one-upmanship. “I see weather’s not good as Melbourne 2001,” says one. “Indeed, but at least it’s better than Stockholm '97,” agrees another. They look around to see how many first-timers were listening.

2. You cave in to peer pressure and go for a pee before you set off, even though you don’t really feel like one.

3. After the starting gun sounds, one runner gets completely overexcited and passes the starting line as if he’s taking on Usain Bolt in a 100m sprint.

4. During the crowded first mile any illusions you have that running a marathon will turn you into an Adonis are shattered as you look out over a bubbling ocean of male-pattern baldness, skinny arms and protruding Adam’s Apples.

5. In mile two you notice a growing queue for the port-a-loos and feel secretly smug.

6. You get overtaken by men wearing wacky costumes: a rabbit, a big tomato and at least two Batmen.

7. A spectator shouts: “Keep going – you’re nearly there!” You’re in mile three, FFS.

8. A skinny, officious man elbows his way past you, muttering something about “race etiquette”.

9. Drinks stations become potential death traps as discarded plastic cups, foil gel wrappers and banana skins pile up on the pavement.

10. You keep getting overtaken by old men in jogging vests that reveal lots of grey arm hair. You die a bit each time.

11. Every time you see a race volunteer you want to thank them from the bottom of your beating heart. But you worry it may be patronising.

12. You worry that worrying about patronising volunteers is using up vital energy.

13. Spectators wave banners and placards as you run past, with slogans such as “Go Daddy!”, “You’re all winners” and “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.”

14. You spot a speedy female runner whose rather fetching behind is squeezed into a skin-tight pair of shorts. You join the large gaggle of men who are running breathlessly just behind her. Later that day, your wife will ask how you managed to complete the course so quickly. “What can I say,” you’ll shrug.

15. A runner collapses and is carried into an ambulance. You start to really pity Ambulance Guy.

16. The noise and the crowds cease to spur you on and start to freak you out a bit. For months you’ve trained in peace and solitude – now you’re suddenly surrounded by thousands of people.

17. You pass the 20-mile mark. You start to really envy Ambulance Guy.

18. The route passes a Nando’s or a McDonald’s. You look through the window and see people sitting down, putting food into their mouths. You suddenly feel hungrier than you ever have before.

19. Your nipples start to bleed. You realise that you look like you’re lactating blackcurrant juice.

20. You could murder a blackcurrant juice.

21. People poo themselves. Some content themselves with a colourful leak down the back of their legs, others go full Radcliffe.

22. A mixture of exhaustion, pain, fear and elation mean you start to have a little cry. Well, at least you’re not pooing yourself.

23. You hit the wall, meaning your glycogen stores are gone and you feel apocalyptically exhausted.

24. Somehow, you pass the finishing line. For months you’ve imagined that this moment will bring feelings of enormous elation, accomplishment and pride. It’s all of that and much, much more.

25. You stumble around with your fellow finishers, all wrapped in silver foil capes. You look like recently-released avian hostages from the factory farm Bernard Matthews forgot.

26. As you hobble home in a haze, three words form clearly in your head: never, ever again.

26.2 A bath and a rest later, you go online to find the next marathon you can enter.

 

source: The Telegraph

83 Problems

There’s an old story about a man who came to see the Buddha because he had heard that the Buddha was a great teacher. Like all of us he had some problems in his life, and he thought the Buddha might be able to help him straighten those out.

He told the Buddha that he was a farmer. “I like farming,” he said “but sometimes it doesn’t rain enough, and my crops fail. Last year we nearly starved. And sometimes it rains too much, so my yields aren’t what I’d like then to be.”

The Buddha patiently listened to the man.

"I’m married too," said the man. "She’s a good wife… I love her in fact. But sometimes she nags me too much. And sometimes I get tired of her."

The Buddha listened quietly.

"I have kids," said the man. "Good kids,too… but sometimes they don’t show me enough respect. And sometime…."

The man went on like this, laying out his difficulties and worries. Finally he wound down and waited for the Buddha to say the words that would put everything right for him.

Instead the Buddha said “I can’t help you.”

"What do you mean?" said the astonished man.

"Everybody’s got problems." said the Buddha. "In fact, we’ve all got 83 problems. Each one of us. Eightythree problems and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you work really hard on one of them, maybe you can fix it— but if you do, another one will pop right into it’s place. For example, you’re going to lose your loved ones eventually. And you’re going to die someday. Now there’s a problem, and there’s nothing you or I, or anyone else, can do about it."

The man became furious. “I thought you were a great teacher” he shouted. “I thought you could help me! What good are your teachings then?”

The Buddha said, “Well, maybe it will help you with the 84th problem.”

"The 84th problem?" said the man. "What’s the 84th problem?"

Said the Buddha “You want to not have any problems.”

(from Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen)

Forgive yourself

Forgive yourself for not being the richest, the thinnest, the tallest, the one with the best hair.

Forgive yourself for not being the most successful, the cutest or the one with the fastest time.

Forgive yourself for not winning every round.

Forgive yourself for being afraid.

 

But don't let yourself off the hook, never forgive yourself, for not caring or not trying.

 

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/page/3/

Life is like Camera

23 Signs You’re Secretly a Narcissist Masquerading as a Sensitive Introvert

source: Scientific American/  Scott Barry Kaufman | August 26, 2013

♦  I can become entirely absorbed in thinking about my personal affairs, my health, my cares or my relations to others.
♦  My feelings are easily hurt by ridicule or the slighting remarks of others.
♦  When I enter a room I often become self-conscious and feel that the eyes of others are upon me.
♦  I dislike sharing the credit of an achievement with others.
♦  I feel that I have enough on my hand without worrying about other people’s troubles.
♦  I feel that I am temperamentally different from most people.
♦  I often interpret the remarks of others in a personal way.
♦  I easily become wrapped up in my own interests and forget the existence of others.
♦  I dislike being with a group unless I know that I am appreciated by at least one of those present.
♦  I am secretly “put out” or annoyed when other people come to me with their troubles, asking me for their time and sympathy.
♦  I am jealous of good-looking people.
♦  I tend to feel humiliated when criticized.
♦  I wonder why other people aren’t more appreciative of my good qualities.
♦  I tend to see other people as being either great or terrible.♦
♦  I sometimes have fantasies about being violent without knowing why.
♦  I am especially sensitive to success and failure.
♦  I have problems that nobody else seems to understand.
♦  I try to avoid rejection at all costs.
♦  My secret thoughts, feelings, and actions would horrify some of my friends.
♦  I tend to become involved in relationships in which I alternately adore and despise the other person.
♦  Even when I am in a group of friends, I often feel very alone and uneasy.
♦  I resent others who have what I lack.
♦  Defeat or disappointment usually shame or anger me, but I try not to

Some personal objections:
- These 23 items are completely independent of whether one is extroverted or introverted.
- You can be an introvert and a narcissist. You can be an extrovert and be a narcissist too.
- These signs apply, more or less, to all human beings

But it is a smart list

How to tie a tie

This is short, easy and very useful. If you wear ties, of course.

Byzantine Emperors

This is an excellent site with concise information about all Byzantine Emperors, from 330 A.D. to 1453.

It is still under construction but already very useful.

http://www.byzantium.xronikon.com

The Greek Fire

 A description of the Greek Fire according to Edward Gibbon in his The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter LII.

In the two sieges [by the Saracens], the deliverance of Constantinople may be chiefly ascribed to the novelty, the terrors, and the real efficacy of the Greek fire. The important secret of compounding and directing this artificial flame was imparted by Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis in Syria, who deserted from the service of the caliph to that of the emperor.  The skill of a chemist and engineer was equivalent to the succor of fleets and armies; and this discovery or improvement of the military art was fortunately reserved for the distressful period, when the degenerate Romans of the East were incapable of contending with the warlike enthusiasm and youthful vigor of the Saracens.
The historian who presumes to analyze this extraordinary composition should suspect his own ignorance and that of his Byzantine guides, so prone to the marvellous, so careless, and, in this instance, so jealous of the truth. From their obscure, and perhaps fallacious, hints it should seem that the principal ingredient of the Greek fire was the naphtha,  or liquid bitumen, a light, tenacious, and inflammable oil,  which springs from the earth, and catches fire as soon as it comes in contact with the air. The naphtha was mingled, I know not by what methods or in what proportions, with sulphur and with the pitch that is extracted from evergreen firs.  From this mixture, which produced a thick smoke and a loud explosion, proceeded a fierce and obstinate flame, which not only rose in perpendicular ascent, but likewise burnt with equal vehemence in descent or lateral progress; instead of being extinguished, it was nourished and quickened by the element of water; and sand, urine, or vinegar, were the only remedies that could damp the fury of this powerful agent, which was justly denominated by the Greeks the liquid, or the maritime, fire.
For the annoyance of the enemy, it was employed with equal effect, by sea and land, in battles or in sieges. It was either poured from the rampart in large boilers, or launched in red-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted round with flax and tow, which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil; sometimes it was deposited in fire-ships, the victims and instruments of a more ample revenge, and was most commonly blown through long tubes of copper which were planted on the prow of a galley, and fancifully shaped into the mouths of savage monsters, that seemed to vomit a stream of liquid and consuming fire. This important art was preserved at Constantinople, as the palladium of the state: the galleys and artillery might occasionally be lent to the allies of Rome; but the composition of the Greek fire was concealed with the most jealous scruple, and the terror of the enemies was increased and prolonged by their ignorance and surprise. In the treaties of the administration of the empire, the royal author suggests the answers and excuses that might best elude the indiscreet curiosity and importunate demands of the Barbarians. They should be told that the mystery of the Greek fire had been revealed by an angel to the first and greatest of the Constantines, with a sacred injunction, that this gift of Heaven, this peculiar blessing of the Romans, should never be communicated to any foreign nation; that the prince and the subject were alike bound to religious silence under the temporal and spiritual penalties of treason and sacrilege; and that the impious attempt would provoke the sudden and supernatural vengeance of the God of the Christians. By these precautions, the secret was confined, above four hundred years, to the Romans of the East; and at the end of the eleventh century, the Pisans, to whom every sea and every art were familiar, suffered the effects, without understanding the composition, of the Greek fire. It was at length either discovered or stolen by the Mahometans; and, in the holy wars of Syria and Egypt, they retorted an invention, contrived against themselves, on the heads of the Christians. A knight, who despised the swords and lances of the Saracens, relates, with heartfelt sincerity, his own fears, and those of his companions, at the sight and sound of the mischievous engine that discharged a torrent of the Greek fire, the feu Gregeois, as it is styled by the more early of the French writers. It came flying through the air, says Joinville, 22 like a winged long-tailed dragon, about the thickness of a hogshead, with the report of thunder and the velocity of lightning; and the darkness of the night was dispelled by this deadly illumination. The use of the Greek, or, as it might now be called, of the Saracen fire, was continued to the middle of the fourteenth century, 23 when the scientific or casual compound of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal, effected a new revolution in the art of war and the history of mankind

A prayer

A prayer by Eusebius of Caesarea, (c. 263–339 AD) one of the Church fathers and the author of the first "Church History"

• May I be an enemy to no one and the friend of what abides eternally.
• May I never quarrel with those nearest me, and be reconciled quickly if I should.
• May I never plot evil against others, and if anyone plot evil against me,
• may I escape unharmed and without the need to hurt anyone else.
• May I love, seek and attain only what is good.
• May I desire happiness for all and harbor envy for none.
• May I never find joy in the misfortune of one who has wronged me.
• May I never wait for the rebuke of others, but always rebuke myself until I make reparation.
• May I gain no victory that harms me or my opponent.
• May I reconcile friends who are mad at each other.
• May I, insofar as I can, give all necessary help to my friends and to all who are in need.
• May I never fail a friend in trouble.
• May I be able to soften the pain of the
• grief stricken and give them comforting words.
• May I respect myself.
• May I always maintain control of my emotions.
• May I habituate myself to be gentle, and never angry with others because of circumstances.
• May I never discuss the wicked or what they have done, but know good people and follow in their footsteps.

Magnus Mills, "This much I know

From the excellent column in Guardian the "This much I know" input by Magnus Mills, bus driver and novelist. Delicious!

Despite what you'd think, it's an easier job since we got one-man buses. Some of the conductors were nightmares. At least now we have some control over our destiny.

Tube stations have luxurious staff toilets which bus drivers, who have none of our own, must ask permission to use. It's a disgrace. So we use the toilets in William Hill's, who are friendlier.

No experience compares to driving along Oxford Street and the concentration required. People keep walking in front of the bus and look quite angry if you keep going. You don't want to constantly hit the brake when there's standing passengers. Mums shoving their buggies out into the road are the worst - usually on mobiles, talking to someone other than their child.

When The Restraint of Beasts was published [1998, Booker Prize shortlisted] I packed in driving buses. I thought I was going to live the life of a writer, sitting in pubs drinking Guinness. But I like having a day job, too. I can only write, it turns out, when I have no apparent spare time.

If you don't want to eat junk food while you're driving, it's important to have a good breakfast. I've had the same caff breakfast for three years. Toast, marmalade, poached egg, hash browns, black pudding, two mugs of tea. But if I could survive on a tablet, I would. Then I could spend an hour in perfect peace, not thinking about getting fuelled up.

Every bus shelter has a poster for a film on it. Most have an actor posing with a gun, and often it's pointing at people waiting for a bus.

I don't like repeating a word on a page, let alone in a paragraph. But there's one word I didn't realise I used twice in a paragraph in The Restraint of Beasts. I'm getting it changed before another reprint. But it's my secret which word.

Most schoolkids don't show their passes. Ken Livingstone made a great mistake letting them travel free. There's a whole generation growing up who think it's a right rather than a concession, and it's us who have to deal with it.

It was very breezy up on Mount Fuji, and very remote. Striding through the soft ash feels like bouncing on the moon.

The travelling public won't understand, but we're never told over the radio to travel faster. We only get messages to slow down, to stop for one or two minutes. It's about maintenance of headway. No drivers would personally choose to be late, because then you get more passengers to deal with. But we're only admonished by inspectors for earliness.

There was a bloke who said he was going to get his knife out and stab me because I wouldn't let him travel with an open can of alcohol. The next day he was at the same bus stop and he was very apologetic and said he didn't carry a knife and that the alcohol had mixed with his medication. He's now one of my best mates whenever he gets on the bus.

If you live in the immediate vicinity of a fire station, like I have, you don't suffer crime of any sort. Firemen have a lot of time on their hands and run outside if there's any trouble.

I try to be more tolerant nowadays. I think Ian Paisley set a good example. If he can be tolerant to Martin McGuinness, I can be tolerant in the morning to someone who swims in the wrong direction in a swimming-pool lane.

I'm only really interested in the position of the bus in front of me and the one behind.

Jorge Luis Borges | the just

The Just
by Jorge Luis Borges

A man who cultivates his garden, as Voltaire wished.
He who is grateful for the existence of music.
He who takes pleasure in tracing an etymology.
Two workmen playing, in a café in the South,
aaaa silent game of chess.
The potter, contemplating a color and a form.
The typographer who sets this page well,
aaathough it may not please him.
A woman and a man, who read the last tercets
aaaof a certain canto.
He who strokes a sleeping animal.
He who justifies, or wishes to, a wrong done him.
He who is grateful for the existence of a Stevenson.
He who prefers others to be right.
These people, unaware, are saving the world.

The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

This is from the New York Times:

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
   How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
   How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
   How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
   How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
   How to eat: Just drink it.
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
   How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
   How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.'’ They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
   How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,'’ it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
   How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
    How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
    How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

A list of best and worst to consider

Some Things To Consider:

• The most destructive habits.............Worry and Assumption
• The greatest Joy........................Giving
• The greatest loss...................Loss of self-respect
• The most satisfying work................Helping others
• The ugliest personality trait............Selfishness
• The most endangered species..............Dedicated leaders
• Our greatest natural resource..............Our youth
• The greatest "shot in the arm".............Encouragement
• The greatest problem to overcome.............Fear
• The most effective sleeping pill............Peace of mind
• The most crippling failure disease...........Excuses
• The most powerful force in life..............Love
• A dangerous pariah...........................A gossiper
• The world's most incredible computer.........The brain
• The worst things to be without.... .......... Hope and Humor
• The deadliest weapon..........................The tongue
• The two most power-filled words................"I Can"
• The greatest asset.................................Faith
• The most worthless emotion.......................Self-pity
• The most beautiful attire........................A SMILE!
• The most prized possession...................... Integrity
• The most powerful channel of communication.........Prayer
• The most contagious spirit.......................Enthusiasm

Phillips Brooks

Be Happy, Confucian Style

Confucius' advice on how to live the good life, contrasted with some of the tenets of Taoism and Buddhism.

1. Invest in intimate ties

Confucianism's view of life is built on the idea of 'Jen'. This means a feeling of concern for the wellbeing of others. Those following Confucianism should bring Jen into both their social relations and, so far as they are able, into society itself.

Compared with the modern observed conditions of happiness this looks like good advice. Generally speaking marriage makes us happier, more friends make us happier and people are especially happy if they have someone to confide in. Classical Taoism goes along with this point but ancient Buddhism runs counter to the evidence, advising the avoidance of intimate ties.

2. Embrace society

Society is accepted within Confucianism and the philosophy encourages its followers to engage in it. Looking at the research, this is also good advice. People who are members of clubs, churches and other organisations are happier, people who have a job are happier, and so on. The evidence shows that this is also true at a societal level. Countries in which people have the densest networks of friends are also those in which people are the happiest.

In comparison, ancient Taoism says retreat to nature and Buddhism says withdraw completely from society - both these points of view are suspect if happiness is your goal.

3. Be successful

Confucianism recommends a devotion to your occupation. The wealth earned from working is also seen in a positive light within Confucianism. Generally speaking people with more money and higher status are happier (but bear in mind that more money doesn't always equal more happiness). In contrast both ancient Taoism and Buddhism are sniffy about earnings.

4. Have fun

Confucius thought moderate amounts of fun were acceptable. This is backed up by modern research finding that people who engage in pleasurable activities are happier (I know, surprise surprise!). Follow-up studies show no long-term disadvantages to a bit of short-term fun. So there's no point rejecting the possibility of happiness, as does ancient Chinese Buddhism, which warns that the pursuit of happiness will only end in disappointment.

5. Live healthily

Still in the land of the blindingly obvious - yes, people who are healthier are happier. Still, just because the advice is obvious doesn't mean it's any less relevant, or any more likely for people to actually act on! Despite this the self-evident nature of this advice, ancient Chinese Buddhism actually recommends physical privation. Again, we'll stick with Confucius on this one.

6. Meet your obligations

One of the most important aspects of ancient Chinese Confucianism is a sense of duty and responsibility. There's some sparse evidence from the individual level that this might lead to greater happiness. At a societal level, however, people who live in collectivist societies, like the Chinese, tend to be less happier than those who live in individualistic societies. This may be because collectivist societies stifle the individual's search for self-actualisation.

7. School yourself

You've guessed it, the well-educated are also happier. On the other hand education mostly contributes to happiness by enabling you to get a better job, and lots of education doesn't necessarily lead to more happiness. One thing is clear though, it is better to live in a more educated society, even if others are more educated than us.

The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains

1. Learn what is the "It" in "Use It or Lose It". A basic understanding will serve you well to appreciate your brain's beauty as a living and constantly-developing dense forest with billions of neurons and synapses.
2. Take care of your nutrition. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2% of body mass but consumes over 20% of the oxygen and nutrients we intake? As a general rule, you don't need expensive ultra-sophisticated nutritional supplements, just make sure you don't stuff yourself with the "bad stuff".
3. Remember that the brain is part of the body. Things that exercise your body can also help sharpen your brain: physical exercise enhances neurogenesis.
4. Practice positive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your default mindset and you look forward to every new day in a constructive way. Stress and anxiety, no matter whether induced by external events or by your own thoughts, actually kills neurons and prevent the creation of new ones. You can think of chronic stress as the opposite of exercise: it prevents the creation of new neurons.
5. 5. Thrive on Learning and Mental Challenges. The point of having a brain is precisely to learn and to adapt to challenging new environments. Once new neurons appear in your brain, where they stay in your brain and how long they survive depends on how you use them. "Use It or Lose It" does not mean "do crossword puzzle number 1,234,567". It means, "challenge your brain often with fundamentally new activities".
6. We are (as far as we know) the only self-directed organisms in this planet. Aim high. Once you graduate from college, keep learning. The brain keeps developing, no matter your age, and it reflects what you do with it.
7. Explore, travel. Adapting to new locations forces you to pay more attention to your environment. Make new decisions, use your brain.
8. Don't Outsource Your Brain. Not to media personalities, not to politicians, not to your smart neighbour... Make your own decisions, and mistakes. And learn from them. That way, you are training your brain, not your neighbour's.
9. Develop and maintain stimulating friendships. We are "social animals", and need social interaction. Which, by the way, is why 'Baby Einstein' has been shown not to be the panacea for children development.
10. Laugh. Often. Especially to cognitively complex humor, full of twists and surprises. Better, try to become the next Jon Stewart (Note: I just corrected his name from "John"...which may call for a #11: Spellcheck!)

Life lessons from Noah's Ark

this was sent to me by email. I don't know its origin:

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark

1. Don't miss the boat.
2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
3. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
4. Stay fit . When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
5. Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
6. Build your future on high ground.
7. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
8. Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs
9. When you're stressed, float a while.
10. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
11. No matter the storm, there's always a rainbow waiting...

Fourteen Things That It Took Me Over 50 Years To Learn

Fourteen Things That It Took Me Over 50 Years To Learn—by Dave Barry

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.

13. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

Blame is a waste of time

"All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much blame you place, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty of something, but you won't succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy." — Dr. Wayne Dyer, author (Your Erroneous Zones)