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A Nijawife

September 30, 2008
21:26
50 Rules To Being A Gentleman
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife

Written by KING Magazine

For dudes who split bills on fast-food dates, KING offers a template for sophistication. Relax and take notes.

The Gentlemen Panel: Fonzworth Bentley, Pacino Bing, John Delgado, Gerrell Gaddis, Damon Gales, Claveria “JoJo” Gumersindo, Rashaun Hall, Sheldon Hall, Grant Hill, Chris Mathis, Adam Matthews, Zach McCall, Mark Rooney, Jalen Rose, Anslem Samuel, Chiun-Kai Shih, Musiq Soulchild, Jamal Sullivan, Q-Tip, Greg Watkins, Pat Wilcox

50. A warm iron and a can of spray starch can do wonders. Invest in them even if you don’t wear slacks and button-ups regularly.

49. “If you buy one pair of shoes and one suit per year, you’ll have a nice collection soon enough. It’s an investment. Also, know your measurements and sizes, because you might find a woman who wants to hook you up and get a suit made.”-Chris Mathis, 36, barber

48. Wearing a fitted hat on your commute to work with your business suit or with just pants and a dress shirt isn’t a good look.

47. “Tone down the bagginess a bit without wandering into nut-hugger territory. Showing your ass and boxers is not appealing in any setting.”-Anslem Samuel, 31, magazine editor

46. Find a good tailor.

45. T-shirts should fall just below your waist, and the seam of the shoulder should be right on your shoulder.

44. Wear a belt. It’s called underwear for a reason.

43. Don’t try to outdress a woman. She should be the center of attention and should not feel that she’s underdressed.

42. “The world is bigger than your hood and the places your favorite rappers represent. Try to travel to a place where your cell phone won’t work. That’s when you know you’ve actually gone somewhere. If you can’t afford to put your passport on pivot, try reading a book or travel guide about the place you’d like to visit.”-A. Samuel

41. Barnes & Noble should be your best friend.

40. “[As far as books], start with the classics: Catcher in the Rye, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Odyssey, Crime and Punishment.”-Q-Tip, 38, rapper/producer/actor

39. If reading books the size of War & Peace seems daunting, peruse different types of magazines-ones covering art, architecture, design or photography.

38. Try not to go straight to the sports section of the newspaper.

37. Watch the news, preferably more than one channel. Suggestions: BBC, MSNBC, CNN and, yes, even FOX News.

36. Being open-minded and aware of the world around you shows class and sophistication, but avoid seeming pretentious by being modest instead of showing off what you know.

35. “There will come a time when you outgrow the dudes you grew up with. Have a beer with them once in a while, but it’s OK to move on and be friendly with new people.”-Adam Matthews, 36, journalist

34. Go easy on the slang, especially among those who are already judging you based on race and age.

33. Don’t just talk the talk.

32. Look people in the eyes when you greet them and shake their hand.

31. “Take criticism with an open mind. You can improve from listening to superiors and by changing your actions to serve them. Don’t mess with the pack order-it’s there for a reason.”-A. Matthews

30. Be on time to meetings-early if you can.

29. In meetings, don’t hold conversations at the same time someone else is speaking. Let the person finish his point before giving yours.

28. “Memphis Bleek had one good line: ‘The strong move quiet, the weak start riots.’ Don’t be the guy who always needs attention on him or starts problems over small stuff.”-Mark Rooney, 31, salesman

27. Don’t talk down to coworkers, including subordinates. You may be above them in rank, but as a human being, you’re on a level playing field.

26. “Look for the people who will make your job easier. You can’t do everything yourself, so you’re going to need help. These people will be pivotal to your success. And always thank them and show your appreciation when they come through for you.”-Claveria “JoJo” Gumersindo, 36, quality management

25. Don’t be afraid to share the spotlight in your workplace. Rather than being self-centered, work together with somebody of equal ambition. You don’t always have to be in the front seat-the backseat is cool.

24. Don’t think because someone has money, he’s a good businessman; there are people with no money who are better.

23. “You don’t want to do anything and everything just for a buck. I’ve walked away from deals a number of times that I think were good deals, but I didn’t think they were good people.”-Grant Hill, 35, Phoenix Suns small forward

22. Learn more about food and where to eat it cheaply. Most cities have great ethnic food; you just have to go to a specific neighborhood to get it.

21. If you initiate a dinner date or meeting, then you should expect to pay. That works both ways.

20. At a restaurant, let women order food first, and stand up when a woman leaves the table.

19. Avoid unnecessary use of expletives in public, especially in the presence of a woman you’re trying to impress.

18. Unless your Fight Club membership is in danger of being revoked, walk away from altercations.

17. Always put your napkin in your lap at dinner. Stuffing it in your shirt is grounds for getting slapped.

16. Caveman behavior at the dinner table isn’t good. Use utensils, avoid chewing with your mouth open and don’t leave a messy plate.

15. When eating out, always tip more than 20 percent. Waiters live off of customers’ kindness. And you don’t want to make other people at your table reach into their pocket to cover your cheapness.

14. “Treat older women as if they were your own mother.”-C. Mathis

13. Always have a woman walk on the inside of the sidewalk and on the side of parked cars in a parking lot, basically using your body as a barrier from harm.

12. Sometimes the best movies are in the independent market. Documentaries are great educational sources, too.

11. If you’re trying to have a relationship, let the woman know. If you’re not, and you’re just trying to hit, let them know that, too.

10. Brush your teeth, gargle or have a breath mint before getting up close and personal.

9. If the opportunity presents itself on the first night, don’t pull a condom out of your wallet. She’ll get the impression that you’re premeditated and will be turned off.

8. Even if you’re having a one-night stand with a woman, be respectful. Jay-Z might brag about kicking women out five minutes after having sex with them, but he’s not having sex with your date-you are. Casual sex needn’t be disrespectful. In fact, it’s more fun when its not.

7. “Don’t fall asleep when you’re done. Just because you got yours doesn’t mean the night is over.”-JoJo

6. “If you’re not into oral, you better get into it. Not with every woman, of course, but someone you’re serious with.”-C. Mathis

5. “If you want her to be your devil, treat her like an angel.”-Gerrell Gaddis, 32, songwriter

4. Don’t ask about the last guy she was with; as in, “Was I better than he was?” Being competitive is a young man’s game.

3. Never forget to introduce your woman as your girlfriend, spouse or otherwise to people when you’re out at functions together.

2. Avoid public fights with your woman. Keep things private to let her know there’s an exclusive world that you and her share.

1. “Young guys should pump their brakes. Don’t have kids until you’re 30, and look at her family and background to know what you’re getting into.”-C. Mathis
September 29, 2008
11:18
Enjoy The View
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife
September 28, 2008
20:37
10 Creative Advertising Ideas from Students
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife

Collected by advertnews.com

Elke Krause, Janine Mompour, Kristina Möckel

Shawna Laken, Tony Kalathara

Doritos bags are printed on pockets of sweatshirts.

Jeongjyn Yi

A Sony PSP is painted around an actual tennis court.

Jeongjyn Yi

Victor Holanda, Moises de Oliveira

Andrew Seagrave

Peter Delgado

Help plant more. greenpeace.com

Sungkwon Ha

To promote match.com

Noah Phillips

Jeseok Yi
September 27, 2008
11:16
17 Free Web Based Applications That You Probably Love To Use
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife

Written by AN Jay

Today, we are listing 17 online free web based applications that are very helpful for you to process your daily work. Whether you are designer, developer, office worker, manager, supervisor, student, home user, etc. But we make sure to add something interesting for everyone. Most of them are not very well-known, but they are really amazing in respect to their features. Just take a look at them and share your thought here.

TweetLater

With TweetLater you can schedule future tweets for all your twitter accounts. Keep your Twitter stream ticking over with new tweets even when you’re not in front of your computer. Or, use it as your personal reminder system.

Screencast-O-Matic

Screencast-O-Matic is the free and easy way to create a video recording of your screen (aka screencast) and upload it for free hosting all from your browser with no install!

Site-Perf

With Site-Perf.com, you get an accurate, realistic, and helpful estimation of your site’s loading speed. The script fully emulates natural browser behaviour downloading your page with all the images, CSS, JS and other files - just like a regular user.

TextReminders

TextReminders.net is a free service that allows you to send out free text messages (sms) to others. Use the form below to send out an immediate text message to a friend. It won’t cost you anything to send the text message, however standard text messaging rates my apply to the receiver.

Letterfu

Letterfu is a website that provides you foldable letter templates. You can take their print out. You will need to choose the template you like, print it, write message on it and finally just fold it according to the instructions on the website before sending to anyone. That means you will no need for the envelope anymore.

Yammer

Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: “What are you working on?” As employees answer that question, a feed is created in one central location enabling co-workers to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions, and share links and other information.

DrawAnywhere

DrawAnywhere is an online diagramming website, where you can draw, modify and share flowcharts and other diagrams, with the look & feel of a desktop application. It runs on any browser with Flash 9 installed. There is no need to download software. It is an always-on-access-anywhere solution. It meets all your diagramming needs purchasing expensive software.

tinymail.me

Tinymail is an anti spam blocker and protection tool which secures and blocks out your email address from bots and stops junk mail from cluttering your Outlook Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo client.

Quarkbase

Quarkbase is a free tool to find complete information about a website. It is a mashup of over 30 data sources and many algorithms gathering information from Internet on various topics like social popularity, traffic, associated people, etc.

Broong

Broong is an online social note service that lets people search, create and share multimedia content via a quick note from anywhere with everyone. People use Broong to search, create and share their thoughts, videos and pictures across multiple platforms over desktop and mobile devices.

formatpixel

Create your own online magazines, fanzines, brochures, catalogues, portfolios and more. Using the formatpixel online editor you too can design page based projects, layout text, upload your own images, add interactivity and customise their appearance.

pleasenotify.me

pleasenotify.me is a simple, free service to let you send tasks to people, and be notified when they’re done. You can use the form to email someone a task. If they don’t mark it complete by the time you specify, both of you will be notified. You’ll both be reminded daily until it’s finally completed. It’s the simplest project management imaginable.

AbouThiSite

This website can help you to find out who is the owner of any website, where are the server located and other websites name hosted on the same server etc

kissa.be

This is really helpful and interesting multipurpose web application that integrates 3 useful features in one website. These are URL shortener, email ‘mailto’ link protector and a tool that helps you overcome max. character limitation.

SantexQ

SantexQ, or “the Q” as you like to call it, is a web-based tool created to assist businesses in the detail-driven world of time and task management. Designed to enhance team efficiency, the Q keeps the critical information close by: the progress reports, deadlines and time budgets for all of your projects…all available at a glance.

Anyvite

Anyvite is a site designed to give you the necessary tools to quickly and effectively coordinate plans with your friends, without any unnecessary or confusing features to slow you down.

Zapproved

Zapproved is a lightweight Web tool that makes group decision-making faster, easier and more accountable. It is a unique solution that introduces peer-to-peer and organizational techniques to improve the process of building consensus.
September 26, 2008
11:45
Top 15 things you should never do on Facebook
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife

Written by James Rivington
Be less annoying to your friends on Facebook by following these guidlines
People do things on Facebook that they’d never dream of doing in real life:

Love them or hate them, social networking sites are here to stay. Facebook and MySpace are among the most popular destinations on the web. And even though they can be extremely annoying, there is one inescapable fact: the most irritating thing about Facebook is the 100m-strong army of people who use it.

When was the last thing you looked at your feed without someone posting an embarrassing picture, or someone else saying something irritating in their status update?

Here are the top 15 things you should never do on Facebook or MySpace:

1. Use Facebook mail instead of proper email
Are you silly? When you Facebook mail me, I have to log into my real email to find that I then have to go and log into my Facebook account to read and reply to your message. If you’ve got my real email address, please use it.

2. Add old friends and then forget about them
This is the biggest social networking crime of them all. How many times has it happened? You haven’t seen someone for 20 years; you vaguely recognise their name but not their face. They add you as a friend on Facebook and then after you accept them, you never hear from them again.

3. Adding people you don’t even know
It’s one thing to add an old friend and then never speak to them. It’s another to add anyone whose name you kind of vaguely sort of recognise. It’s like that old man in the pub who slaps everyone on the back as if they were old pals, when in actual fact he has no friends, largely because of this habit.

4. Adding single-serving holiday friends
Some people just don’t understand that the exchanging of email addresses at the end of a holiday is just a social ritual and is absolutely not an invitation to add you to Facebook and then turn up unannounced at your house three months later.

5. Accepting friend invitations from people you don’t know
It’s one thing to complain about irritating people adding you on Facebook, but if you accept those invites, you’ve only got yourself to blame. If you scan through your Facebook friends list, you’ll doubtless find a handful of people in there you barely know. It’s a horrible realisation - like when you suddenly realise your hand is resting on a knob of someone else’s chewing gum underneath a desk.

6. Update Facebook profile when you’re supposedly ill
How many times have we seen it? Someone calls in sick in the morning and then updates their Facebook profile minute-by-minute throughout the day, documenting a day of ice cream, chips, video games and jumping on the bed. Get dressed and get to work you lazy hoodwink, or else you’ll probably be fired. And it’d be your own fault for adding your boss to be your Facebook friend.

7. Write on a wall instead of communicating privately
The driving force behind the success of Facebook is… vanity. People love the idea that others are watching what they’re doing. Tell me this: for what reason would you invite someone to a private party by writing on their wall, other than to show off to all the people on their friends list who you don’t want to come? It just makes you look like a tit, so don’t do it.

8. Moan in your Facebook status
The most annoying thing that people do on Facebook is to spray their walls with vanity-filled drivel, by posting self-indulgent awfulness in their status updates. “Kerry is sorry how it ended but it had to be done. I love you and will miss you, and I hope you can apologise one day”. Oh sod off. If you’ve got something to say to someone, say it. Don’t post it on your wall because no one else is interested, and people just think you’re a prat.

9. Other irritating status updates
No, “Dave is” is not an acceptable status update, nor is it original or in any way clever. “Dave just is…” is equally as inexcusable. And “Dave is Dave is Dave” is downright taking the piss. Oh, and song lyrics are also a no-no. “Sandra was happy in the haze of a drunken hour, but heaven knows she’s miserable now” will impress people about the same amount as Morrissey’s saggy, miserable face.

10. Upload drunken pictures the morning after
Have a little common sense. If you go out for a big one on a Wednesday night, posting humiliating, drunken photos of your friends on Thursday morning is a recipe for disaster. Because when I call in sick at 9am, the last thing I want my boss to say is: “I’ve seen the pictures of you crawling in the gutter last night. I’m not amused or impressed, now get to work!”

11. Joining ridiculous chain-mail groups
Why do people insist on joining groups such as “On the X of May, everyone has to panic buy carrots”? Come on people, how stupid are you? There’s one group on Facebook devoted to nullifying the vegetarian moral crusade, and it’s called: “For every animal you don’t eat, I’m going to eat three”. That’s a good group name. “I think Ryan Seacrest is the best presenter ever” is not.

12. Starting said groups
Enough said.

13. Lazy grammar and spelling mistrakes
Reading Facebook is like perusing a six-year olds’ English copybook. Come on, people: ‘Your’ is ‘your’. ‘You are’ is ‘you’re’. It really isn’t hard to get that little one right. And understanding the difference between there, their and they’re surely isn’t too much of a challenge?

14. Upload photos to Facebook and deleting originals
Uploading photos to Facebook can be a very handy way of sharing your holiday snaps. But for the love of God, don’t lose your originals. Facebook is terrible at compressing and resizing images - it turns your 14MP panoramas into 14KB monstrosities. Facebook is not a suitable repository to store your precious photos!

15. Inviting me to be a Zombie Pirate Snot Monster
Please don’t do that ever ever again
September 25, 2008

11:51

6 TV Shows That Should Never Have Been Canceled

It’s weird to think that a show can have millions of avid fans and still be seen as a loser to the TV execs. While things that make our eyes bleed like “What I Like About You” or that Dawson’s River show (river, stream, creek, whatever) seemed to run on forever, here’s our countdown of shows that should still be on the air today.

6. Daybreak (13 Episodes)

Taye Diggs wakes up and every day is the same day. And we know what you’re thinking, yes Bill Murray already did that and they called it Groundhog Day…so it’s not a new idea…but like a good cover song (see: Ryan Adams Wonderwall), they took something old and made it their own. Because the day Taye had to relive is the day his girlfriend gets killed and he gets set up for it.

Why it should still be on the air: We liked tuning in each week to see Taye get a little closer…sure, this series couldn’t have lasted forever, but if Prison Break got 4 seasons, we’re pretty sure this could go on just as long. (And any show starring a guy with Digg in his name gets extra awesome points.)

5. Committed (13 Episodes)

It’s the classic story of boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy tries not to screw up so badly that girl leaves. Only in this story, the girl is insane and has a dying clown living in her closet. And the boy is a Ph.D.-having-super-nerd who comes from a family of people who all cross the thin line between genius and insanity, so he works in a record store. This show should have been called “When Crazy People Find Each Other.”

Why it should still be on the air: Did we mention she had a dying clown living in her closet?

4. Off Centre (28 Episodes)

You take John Cho (from the Harold & Kumar movies) and put him in an apartment with Eddie Kaye Thomas (Finch from the American Pie movies) and Sean Maguire (Kyle from “The Class” - another show we wish didn’t get canceled). It was low-brow humor…but it was awesome low-brow humor.

Why it should still be on the air: John Cho is so funny, we peed a little.

3. Jericho (29 Episodes)

Post-apocalyptic movies are awesome. We’re pretty big fans of the idea as a TV show as well (we even liked Showtime’s “Jeremiah” despite it starring Luke Perry). Someone sets nuclear bombs off all over the United States and the small town of Jericho tries to rebuild without any modern infrastructure and lots of looting.

Why it should still be on the air: The most loyal fan-base a show could have. When Jericho got canceled after its first season, the fans united. They started sending peanuts to the CBS building in New York…thousands of pounds every day…after 20 tons of nuts, CBS un-canceled the show and issued a press release saying “we’re pleased to announce the renewal of Jericho for a second season…please stop sending us nuts now.” Due to poor planning from CBS, season 2 debuted almost a year after the first season ended. Coupled with half the second season being leaked onto the Internet several months before they actually aired (and ratings that were never good to begin with), Jericho got canceled twice in less than a year.

2. Arrested Development (53 Episodes)

Arrested Development should have joined shows like The Office and 30 Rock for being on a list of shows that were so funny they caused world peace to break out. But Arrested Development never found an audience. We can’t explain why Arrested Development was funny…either you already know or you need to add the entire series to the top of your Netflix queue right now. If you don’t fall off the couch laughing, you can go ahead and start hitting yourself in the head with a hammer, because you’ve got nothing up there.

Why it should still be on the air: There are two dominant theories to why Arrested Development was canceled. One is that the marketing done by Fox was so bad that they could have gotten more viewers if they had just spray painted “Arrested Development” on the side of a chicken and let it loose in Times Square. The other theory is that it was a smart show and there are just too many dumb people out there. All that we know for sure is that if you don’t think Arrested Development is funny, we will send someone to your house to fight you.

1. Firefly (14 Episodes)

There was a lot of debate about which show deserved the top spot, Arrested Development or Firefly, as they are both so awesome that we would gladly let the TV studios stab us in the face for another season of either. Created by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Firefly was one of the best sci-fi shows of all time. We liked Summer Glau so much that she’s about 89% of the reason we watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Sadly, Firefly came and went so quickly that we’re not really sure it was ever on TV at all

Why it should still be on the air: Firefly was so good that not only did they put out the entire series on DVD, but word spread so rapidly that every single copy sold out, every copy they had in warehouses sold out, and eventually some exec thought “hey, we should make a movie” and then “Serenity” got a theatrical release. TV shows that get canceled part of the way through their first season don’t get made into big-screen movies…it just doesn’t happen. Firefly broke the mold though and now we’re all hoping that the rumors of an Arrested Development movie are true as well.

September 24, 2008
11:57
11 ways Android will kick the iPhone’s ass
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife

Written by Dan Grabham
Start quaking in your boots, Steve. Or support some more stuff, up to you
So Android has arrived with the announcement of the T-Mobile G1. The HTC-manufactured phone certainly has a few nice touches, despite its lack of multi-touch (and with T-Mobile’s particular variant, no accelerometer).

But while this particular handset might not be the technology king to beat the iPhone, the potential’s there. And the OS looks super-hot. Here’s why Android can make its presence felt and could really threaten the iPhone.

1. It’s more open
Android is a fully open OS, which means that developing for it is a free-for-all. Handily, that’ll mean more free apps and games than the iPhone’s App Store can throw at us currently as they’ll be offered by networks, content providers and Google alike.

2. It’s got integration with online apps
Google is heavily involved here. We’ll get better versions of handy stuff like Google Docs, Talk and Calendar plus Street View mapping on Android-based handsets. And it all comes with a single sign-on.

3. It’s faster, faster, faster
One thing we’ve seen with Android all year is that it’s incredibly fast. In the tech demo at last week’s Google Developer Day and now we’ve got hands on with the G1, the interface doesn’t suffer from the recent glitches the iPhone 2.0 firmware has.

4. Better hardware
The iPhone is high tech hardware, but it remains that phones with features such as HSDPA and better digital cameras appeal to the masses. Add in Android, and the iPhone will be playing catchup.

5. There’ll be more variants
Apple has always been a bit one-size-fits-all. And the iPhone is no different in terms of the hardware (the capacity aside, of course). Android will be available in cheap mobiles as well as expensive ones, and that can only be a good thing.

6. It’ll have Flash
So Steve Jobs reckons Flash is too intensive for mobile use? We don’t think it’ll be too long before somebody develops a version for Android. In the meantime, websites use Flash, Steve. Get over it.

7. It won’t be restricted by Apple’s nuances
Following on from number 6, many Android phones won’t be locked down in the same way that the iPhone is (although how this plays out with networks remains to be seen). More flexibility could mean more fans.

8. You can have proper keyboards
We’re pretty used to typing with the iPhone’s keyboard now, but for many it’s a step too far - and too small. The QWERTY slider keyboard on the T-Mobile G1 is the real deal.

9. It’ll have better format support
Wider support for different formats will appeal to those frustrated by Apple’s restricted model. And bring a whole load of new fans to Android.

10. You won’t need to jailbreak
Hacking? It’ll be expected with Android (though, once again, we don’t know how this will play out with the networks). Customisation will be the norm, rather than the exception. Jailbreaking? What’s the point?

11. Unrestricted apps
Apple has banned several apps from the App Store, including the Murderdome adult comic. You won’t get so many restrictions with Android.
September 23, 2008
11:22
Top 10 80’s Cartoons
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife

Written by old-wizard.com

Oh the 80’s. The decade that gave us the Wonder Years, Who’s the Boss, great video games and a flippant hairstyle as high as a skyriser. What else could the 80’s be known for? What about all the great cartoons that came out in the 80’s? In this list, we will go through what we think are the top 10 cartoons from the 80’s. These are the cartoons that we watched after school, before school, on weekends, and any time we had the privilege to tape the shows on our VCR (mostly after school though). We wanted to revisit these gems to let everyone remember how amazing cartoons were in their yesteryear. We thought about these cartoons in our sleep and talked about them at class during the day. Here then are our the greatest cartoons of the 80’s.

10. Smurfs

One female in the entire population. One red-hatted elder who holds no real power but is in charge of keeping the village work organized. Everyone has the same size house. Everyone has the same power and authority. Everyone has a unique skill that contributes to the harmony of the population. Everyone is blue. Smurf your smurfing communist conspiracies, this was a wholesome tale about being unique. While they all looked the same, dressed the same, and lived the same, they all had unique personality traits that helped to save the group from mean old Gargamel and that hungry, misunderstood Azrael. Coincidentally, there was a local band back in the mid-nineties called Liquid Azrael who did a mean cover of Sesame Street’s 1-2-3-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12. SMURF YOU! I thought that was entirely smurfing relevant to the discussion (smurfing smurf-holes…).

9. Gummi Bears

Bouncing here and there and everywhere. You remember the show, don’t you? Disney animated Gummi Bears was a fun romp following the escapades of the furry little bears who drank magic Gummiberry Juice and bounced around the forest and outsmarted Duke Igthorn every week. The production quality of the show was great and would set the benchmark for all the other great Disney cartoons that would soon follow it. The show began the great Disney Afternoon timeslot run, which included many great shows such as DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, and Gargoyles.

8. GI Joe

GI Joe: A Real American Hero was a half an hour of pure entertainment. Hawk and Sgt. Slaughter on operations with the significance on par with the biggest moments in history. Could Hasbro have any idea how successful GI Joe would be in the animation realm? These cartoons were flashy, loud, in your face, and all around dominating. GI Joe’s strength and rigor were consistently tested by Cobra who was always stealing shit like teleportation units and weapons that could manipulate weather. These were certainly large tasks for the GI Joe team all bundled up in half an hour segments. You got what you sat down for when watching GI Joe. You wanted these cartoon to last an hour instead.

7. He-Man

He-Man was the strongest of the strong. The most powerful of the most powerful, and he embodied all these qualities in the 80’s cartoon that spoke to a generation of nerds who wanted to hold the power of He-Man. Maybe we also liked the fact that He-Man could probably get any women he wanted to, and we couldn’t. At least we were honest in our admiration of that which was better than us lonely nerds seeking solace in a fictional cartoon. Who else could blow a gust of wind so powerful that it could knock opponents off a cliff? Who else could rub their hands together fast enough to turn sand into glass? He-Man is the ubermanch of the modern cartoon world. If only it were real. If only we were able to be He-Man for one day.

6. Transformers

Transformers Generation 1 was a firestorm for the cartoon market. It had everything a kid wanted. Robots destroying robots. Robots transforming into even bigger robots. Robots combining powers to destroy even bigger combining transforming robots. This show was huge and anyone who ever wanted to be a machine man would identify with Transformers austere disposition. Was there ever more of a recognizable robot in all of cartoon fiction that Optimus Prime? He is referenced everywhere in modern TV and for good reason. He was the first non-sentimental protagonist in robot history. He smashed buildings at will and dominated destructive bots at the drop of an oil spill from his energy tank. The transition from comic book to cartoon was flawless for Transformers, with the cartoon actually becoming more successful than the comic book. This certainly can be called a smooth transition.

5. Mario Brothers

Of course we had to include Mario Brothers on our list, not only because it’s Nintendo’s main protagonist, but because the show had such great storylines and ironic twists that it led to a pure entertainment experience. Luigi was being pulled down drains, Mario was rapping with Milli Vanilli up in the clouds, and the Princess was looking as good Natalie Portman in Closer. Their adventures would take them to the sea, the desert and to all the areas in the actual Mario Brothers game. Everyone who played the Mario games enjoyed this cartoon. Bowser was up to his old antics chasing the brothers around the world all the while contemplating world domination. The Mario Brothers can never do wrong, and they continued their successful streak with this fun cartoon.

4. Rescue Rangers

Rescue Rangers went side by side with Duck Tales with the title of greatest cartoon of the 80’s. The adventures of Chip and Dale would last in the viewers head for some time to come. They were always avoiding a fat cat who appropriately smoked a massive cigar signifying smoking negativity to an impressionable youth. Gadget came up with the best technological designs to ward off the fat cat while always looking stunning for a pale faced rat. Both Chip and Dale would fight over her throughout the series. Some of these conflicts became some of the best moments in the cartoon series. Some of the most memorable moments came from their adventures on their hot air balloon traversing the globe in search of their desires. Memorable characters, great inventions, great story lines, Rescue Rangers was a great cartoon.

3. Thundercats

The eighties were all about team work, and no cartoon exemplified this more than Thundercats. Generally speaking, cats are solitary creatures, except for lions of course, which is probably why Lion-o was the leader, since he was the only one who had experience working in groups. You never see packs of cheetahs or jaguars though, let alone a mixed pack of the feline species, or kingdom, or phylum, or whatever (I was never good at biology). Anyway Thundercats had a similar plot to Superman, their planet blew up and they had to flee so they ended up crashing on a planet called Third Earth. What happened to the first two we’ll never know since that was never addressed in the plot. They also fought a mummy and creatively enough his name was Mum-ra. This show was great, personally I loved the snarfs the most. Though I often wondered if the thundercats would eat them if times got bad. I also had a huge crush on Cheetara, she was such a babe.

2. Duck Tales

Everyone remembers the theme song to Duck Tales, and for good reason. Everyone watched every episode of this show. After school at 4:00, you knew where you were. You were on the couch eating an early dinner or snack watching Duck Tales. Scrooge McDuck and the boys were constantly getting into trouble or preventing trouble. The adventures that the three of them would go on would be epic. They went through Amazon rain forests, go back in time to ancient Greece, and even deep underwater looking for a fortune for their rapacious uncle. This show would never get dull, and the viewer was always on edge experiencing the tales of the young anthropomorphic ducks. Duck Tales was one of the best of the 80’s cartoons. You couldn’t watch just one episode.

1. Voltron

This was the pinnacle of 80s cartoons. It combined all the genius of the previously listed cartoons, animals (specifically lions), robots, magic, monsters, space travel, swords, babely babes, and mean bitches. The five robot lines were each stored in the most awesome garages ever, needless to say they were perfectly suited for the elemental association each lion carried with it. Keith was the leader, he was your typical hero, quick on his feet and cool in command. Lance was the cool guy, he might have been French, I don’t know, either way I bet he got laid the most, he had that sort of troubled vibe. The princess was also a babe, I had a crush on her too. Imagine a threesome with her and Cheetara, now that would be freaky. Then there was the nerd pidge. He seemed like the type that might have installed a camera in the princess’s shower. Finally was the muscle, Hunk. He’s the guy you take to the bar so when you pick a fight he can beat everyone up.

The crew from Voltron fought a cadre of bad guys ruled by King Zarkon. His son, Prince Lothar, always seemed like the rich kid who would take daddies’ Benze and wreck it after a night at the clubs. I have a serious chip on my shoulder about rich kids, never liked ‘em. Basically in every episode the witch Haggar would make a Robeast and voltron would defeat it. Haggar worked for Zarkon on the contingent that when Zarkon finally defeats Voltron she would get the associated magic. I would have went for health insurance and a good pension but whatever. She’s also the reason that Voltron was broken up into five robot lions rather than the full robot. It never seemed like much of a disadvantage really, maybe she felt stupid after that, and that was why she was working for free. Much of my early childhood was spent pretending to be Voltron. It was great. This line still gives me chills: “Ready to form Voltron! Activate interlocks! Dyna-therms connected. Infra-cells up; mega-thrusters are go! Let’s go, Voltron Force! Form feet and legs; form arms and body; and I’ll form the head!” You always knew a Robeast was going to be slaughtered soon after, well usually right after the blazing sword was formed. The only thing the show left me questioning was what the hell are dyna-therms and infra cells and why are the essential to making a giant robot out of five smaller, though large in there own right, robot lions?
September 22, 2008
11:46
15 Great Quotes from Torvalds and Stallman
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife

Written by jun auza

In celebration of Software Freedom Day 2008, I would like to share to you all some of my favorite quotes about Free and Open Source Software from no less than the two pillars of FOSS, Linus Torvalds and Richard M. Stallman. Enjoy and be inspired.

1. “To be able to choose between proprietary software packages is to be able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a master. And in the area of computing, freedom means not using proprietary software.”
-Richard M. Stallman

2. “Software is like sex: it’s better when it’s free.”
-Linus Torvalds

3. “Value your freedom or you will lose it, teaches history. ‘Don’t bother us with politics’, respond those who don’t want to learn.”
-Richard M. Stallman

4. “Software patents are a huge potential threat to the ability of people to work together on open source. Making it easier for companies and communities that have patents to make those patents available in a common pool for people to use is one way to try to help developers deal with the threat.”
-Linus Torvalds

5. “If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict the use of these programs.”
-Richard M. Stallman

6. “One of the questions I’ve always hated answering is how do people make money in open source. And I think that Caldera and Red Hat — and there are a number of other Linux companies going public — basically show that yes, you can actually make money in the open-source area.”
-Linus Torvalds

7. “Control over the use of one’s ideas really constitutes control over other people’s lives; and it is usually used to make their lives more difficult.”
-Richard M. Stallman

8. “It just makes it even harder for people to even approach the (open source) side, when they then end up having to worry about … public humiliation.”
-Linus Torvalds

9. “I founded the free software movement, a movement for freedom to cooperate. Open source was a reaction against our idealism. We are still here and the open-source people have not wiped us out.”
-Richard M. Stallman

10. “When it comes to software, I much prefer free software, because I have very seldom seen a program that has worked well enough for my needs, and having sources available can be a life-saver.”
-Linus Torvalds

11. “If you focus your mind on the freedom and community that you can build by staying firm, you will find the strength to do it.”
-Richard M. Stallman

12. “Anybody who tells me I can’t use a program because it’s not open source, go suck on rms. I’m not interested. 99% of that I run tends to be open source, but that’s _my_ choice, dammit.”
-Linus Torvalds

13. “‘Free software’ is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ‘free’ as in ‘free speech,’ not as in ‘free beer’.”
-Richard M. Stallman

14. “I’m doing a free operating system just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu for 386 (486) AT clones.”
-Linus Torvalds

15. “Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system software free, just like air.”
-Richard M. Stallman

If you have other quotes about free and open-source software, please share with us.
September 21, 2008
13:45
How to just do it
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife

Written by Andrew Galasetti

“Just do it.” Three simple words that are simply powerful.

Nike made this phrase famous, but it’s not just a marketing gimmick. All you need is to “just do it” and you will reach a crucial tipping point in which you will go from saying and planning; to doing and proving.

It’s pretty scary to take a plunge into something like “just do it” implies. But here is how you go about it.
Don’t pick a time or day
“Just doing it” shouldn’t be precise; it should come to you out of the blue. There’s no need to pick a day or plan ahead.
Get pissed, get frustrated
I’ll be honest; I’m pissed and frustrated as I write this article right now. But it’s giving me an unbelievable amount of motivation, and even a little adrenaline to go for it.

Instead of fighting, crying, or complaining when you’re frustrated, funnel that energy into focus and action.
Remember that time’s a wastin’
Every month, week, day, hour, and minute you get closer to your end. Nothing will motivate you more to live than death.
Think less, act more
It might be risky, it might get you in trouble, but you must act more than you think. Forget the “what if’s.” F**K all the naysayers and whatever they tell you! Don’t worry if you fail. Don’t think about the money you’ll lose or gain. Be a little stupid and take a lot of action.
Lose these words and phrases
These aren’t real excuses.

“I can’t.”

“I don’t have enough money.”

You don’t need money to take the plunge.

“I don’t have enough time.”

Yes you do! I don’t care how busy you are. You don’t have enough time to wait.

“I don’t know where to start.”

“I don’t know how.”

Start learning. Get your feet wet and you’ll learn along the way.

“Later.”

No, now!
Stop acting like you’re busy
There are a lot of people out there who push papers around and act like they have so many places to go and so much to do. In reality, they’re just avoiding the actions that will get them what they really desire. May be it is because they’re scared or doubtful.

I don’t care who you are; you have time to “just do it” and chase something you want or need. You’ll just have to get less sleep, lose free time, and make lots of other sacrifices.
Know when you’re reaching your tipping point
One of the biggest obstacles keeping people from “just doing it” is not recognizing when they’re about to hit their tipping point.

If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “is this all there is to life?”, then you are closely approaching your tipping point. The same goes if you feel like you’re about to have a nervous breakdown.

You can either succumb to your emotions; or you can stand up, fight, and just go for whatever will make you happy. Once you cross the threshold towards your tipping point, your mind will never be the same and nothing can ever stop you; except yourself.
List what you don’t like about your life
Perhaps it is focusing on negativity a little too much; but grab a piece of paper and write down what you don’t like about your life. May be you don’t have enough money or worse you aren’t happy enough. For those who really want change, it’s enough for them to take the plunge.
Keep in mind:
“Just do it” is much easier said than done. And it should be that way. It separates the people who deserve it from those who don’t.

So what are you waiting for? Get to it! Close your browser window, turn off the tv, put down the book or magazine and get going!
Photo by MyLifeStory
September 20, 2008
12:09
5 Best BitTorrent Applications
» ‎ Read entry @ A Nijawife

Written by lifehacker

The days of peer-to-peer file sharing tools ushered into popularity by the original Napster are over and done, and today, BitTorrent reigns supreme. It took some time for BitTorrent to gain mainstream popularity, but now that it has, there are a surplus of BitTorrent clients available vying for your downloads. On Tuesday we asked you to share your favorite BitTorrent applications, and now we’re back with the five most popular choices. Keep reading for a breakdown of the top five and to pick the BitTorrent client you count on. Photo by djxspike.
Before We Get Started
By now BitTorrent is a common and popular file-sharing protocol, so chances are you all know how it works. If you don’t, check out our beginner’s guide to BitTorrent. If that’s too elementary for you, our intermediate guide might be more your speed.

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