For a couple of months, I have been trying to get back in the habit of reading for pleasure but I can’t seem to find the time. One item I always have with me at all times is my Blackberry. Usually, if I am waiting around for a meeting to start, etc., I check email or play a game. It occurred to me today that I could probably use this “waiting” time to read a book if I could find a book application for my Blackberry. Enter the web site dailylit.com.
dailylit.com sends you sequential excerpts from popular books on a daily basis. For example, a user may choose to receive the text from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer over the course of 90 days via email. Each day, dailylit.com sends a new excerpt at a time of the user’s choosing. If you can’t wait a day for the next excerpt, dailylit.com will forward you the next excerpt at your request. In addition to several free books and classics, dailylit.com offers other books for a small fee.
If you have other suggestions for how to squeeze in a little leisure reading during your busy day let us hear about it in the comments.
Everyday I am hearing more and more bad news about the economy. Times are getting rough and the best thing any ordinary person can do is try and get their financial house in order. That means saving more of your income and spending less money. Here are the top three ways I curb spending.
Catch a sale
If you must spend money, try and buy things on sale. If you frequently shop online always check to see if the online retailer has a SALE link. For example, Amazon.com has a big DVD sale going on right now! Training Day for $7? Yes, please.
Get it for free
It is very easy to find tons of free services and applications on the Internet. Before you buy that new organizer software do a quick google search to see if you can find a free service that does the same thing. I was recently looking for photo editing software and discovered that Adobe is now offering an online version of Photoshop Express for free.
Schedule discretionary spending
On designated days of the month I allow myself to buy clothes, DVDs, music downloads and electronics, etc. For me these days are the 12th and the 27th, which are a couple of days before I get paid. During the month, instead of buying items at will, I write down what I want. On the 12th or 27th, after I have put a little aside in savings and the bills have been paid, I review my want list and buy what I can with the money I have left. Usually, I am able to buy one or two items from my list of approximately 30 items. For me, this is the best way to deal with impulse buys. Scheduling your purchases really makes you think about what you really want and need. A lot of times I end up deleting items from the list because I realize I really don’t want or need that item.
According to a CBS News’ poll, a large majority of people thought Obama’s speech was “good,” but the number of people who think that Obama is capable of unifying the country dropped sharply after the speech.
A poll in the Southern Political Report claims that African-Americans and independents were especially displeased with the speech. According to one pollster, “there’s no way around the numbers… Most people didn’t have a gut positive reaction to Obama’s speech.”
As part of the backlash, Gregory Rodriguez of the LA Times says that the speech was both brilliant and bad, because it “didn’t move beyond” the “politics of racial grievance,” merely adding white people to the list of aggrieved parties.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Barack Obama has morphed from a Presidential candidate who happened to be Black to a Black man running for President.
Today Barack Obama gave what some are calling a historic speech on race. The speech’s primary purpose was to denounce the comments of Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. In addition, Obama asked the American people to come together to address the issue of race in America. Watch the entire speech below.
Conventional wisdom states that the best way to commit to a personal goal and accomplish that goal is to “put it in writing.” This can be as simple as writing your goals on a sheet of paper. Or, if you have a flair for the dramatic, you can imitate Jim Carrey and write yourself a check for 20 million dollars and keep it in your pocket until you can cash it.
If you are a bit more digital, perhaps stikK is for you. stikK is a website that allows you to “put a contract out on yourself” by creating commitment contracts to accomplish your personal goals. According to the stikK website:
We all need help to reach our goals - whether it’s incentives, or support from others. Years of economic and behavioral research show that people who put stakes - either their money or their reputation - on the table are far more likely to actually achieve a goal they set for themselves.
To that end stikK provides you with the tools to set your goal, determine what your incentives will be and pick people that will hold you accountable for accomplishing your goals. stikK provides a user friendly interface and an interesting stick figure/Pillsbury dough guy guides you through the process. If you know of other useful tools for goal setting let us hear about them in the comments.
For a couple of months, I have been trying to get back in the habit of reading for pleasure but I can’t seem to find the time. One item I always have with me at all times is my Blackberry. Usually, if I am waiting around for a meeting to start, etc., I check email or play a game. It occurred to me today that I could probably use this “waiting” time to read a book if I could find a book application for my Blackberry. Enter the web site dailylit.com.
Everyday I am hearing more and more bad news about the economy. Times are getting rough and the best thing any ordinary person can do is try and get their financial house in order. That means saving more of your income and spending less money. Here are the top three ways I curb spending.
According to a 
Conventional wisdom states that the best way to commit to a personal goal and accomplish that goal is to “put it in writing.” This can be as simple as writing your goals on a sheet of paper. Or, if you have a flair for the dramatic, you can imitate 
