Monthly Archives: June 2008

Help TuDiabetes Help More People Touched By Diabetes

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Please help us at the Diabetes Hands Foundation so we can reach out to more people touched by diabetes and continue to raise awareness about diabetes.


Find more videos like this on TuDiabetes.com

If you want to contribute money, you can do so by clicking on the “ChipIn” button in the widget at the top right of this blog.

1) Add the TuDiabetes Fundraising widget to your blog or web site, to help us raise funds.
2) Buy TuDiabetes merchandise through the TuDiabetes Online Store.
3) Join the Volunteer Group: through it you can welcome new members and help spread the word about TuDiabetes.com by reaching out to new members or contacting media about the community.
4) At all times, please participate actively in the contests we organize. This helps everyone in the community as our contests are meant for empowerment as well as for raising diabetes awareness.

Thanks for your help and, if you have questions on how to donate (online or offline), please check our Fundraising page.

Sigur Ros: The Best Album of 2008

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The naked people on the cover aside, I had a mixed reaction when I started listening to the “Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust” by Sigur Ros. The opening song was just not like your typical Sigur Ros: it was too… pop.. I was confused: was this Death Cab for Cutie? Had I clicked on the wrong MP3 on iTunes? “Gobbledigook” turned out to be a poppier track, indeed, but even at performing pop they rocked!

From the second track, you go back into familiar Sigur Ros territory. The main difference (besides the opening track) this time around is that the band gets more intimate, with acoustic guitar-based tracks, such as “Gódan daginn” and “Íllgresi,” and quiet piano-based tracks like “Fljótavík,” the closing “All Alright” and “Ára bátur” (which later evolves into a majestic epic that only they could have recorded).

After 8 listens, the album keeps growing on me. There is only one other album that could be as good this year (though it most likely will be in second place: “Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow by Hammock.” Otherwise, Sigur Ros did it again and make any wait for their music worth every minute.

The Last Lecture: a great read!

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“The Last Lecture” is largely based off the video by the same name that you can catch on YouTube and many other websites. However, that is only part of the story.

The book (a few hours to read), unlike the video (under an hour in duration), lets you become one with Randy and his process of preparation for what appears as a certain death as he goes from diagnosis, through treatment and determination to accept his fate of being a pancreatic cancer patient.

My dad died of liver cancer, so Randy’s story resonated very strongly with me. However, my dad did not have the chance to prepare himself (or his family) for his passing. Randy has chosen to live the rest of his life on earth preparing things so that his young children will know what his dad was like… this is a father who loves his kids, no doubt.

Instead of rolling on the bed or complaining about his fate, he embraces it fully (with humor, often) and gets as much out of him as he can, so that his children will have a vast testimonial from which to learn, even though his father won’t be around.

As he paves the road for their future, we benefit from his effort and, if we open up enough, we are bound to learn from Randy like we learned from Morrie in the now-classic “Tuesdays With Morrie.”

The Road to More Compelling Presentations

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Chuck, a friend of mine from Orlando, recently launched a very interesting service. It’s called Deckware.BIZ. His goal is very clear:

Our goal at Deckware.BIZ is to help our members and customers create compelling illustrations and overall communications in a time-efficient manner. You can try our pre-made slides to get you started on many common illustrations, or check out our forum for advice and ideas. If you are stuck, and don’t find your answer already there, feel free to ask. The community is there to help.

He also set up a network on Ning to complement his Slide Store. In this network, members can help each other out with ideas and tips while getting a presentation ready for the road.

Today is such a fascinating time: we are empowered to solve the needs of others in a way that doesn’t take an entire web development crew to put together. A smart guy with a good idea puts hard work into it and the results are inspiring.

Sharing Presentation Slides Goes Social

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This is a PPT presentation I did back in 2006, titled “Blogs More Than Just Personal Journals”. If there had only been Slideshare back then! But things don’t happen until the time is ripe for them. Today we have this great tool to share presentation slides.

Their mechanism to share slides (post them) on Blogger was a bit off, but nothing I couldn’t fix by editing the post it generated.

June 21, 22: Andreina's Art Show in Danville

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This coming weekend (June 21, 22) Andreina will be participating in the much anticipated Danville Fine Arts Faire. She will be stationed in booth 145.

If you print this post and bring it with you, you will get 5% off on any purchase.

Below you can see a sample of some of the works Andreina has in progress that will be displayed and available for sale at the show. We look forward to seeing you there.

How High Gas Prices Can be a Good Thing

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Ouch!!
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

This picture was taken today at a Valero Gas Station between Palo Alto and Mountain View. The sad thing is that it was the CHEAPEST gas I could find in the area.

You start thinking a lot before driving these days, which is a good thing for the environment and for saving and exercising more. A good thing, overall.

Somebody was telling me at a dinner I went to last Sunday that gas prices actually may be the best thing that’s happened for the US health system, since more people will be walking and biking.

Selling Home Using Facebook Marketplace: Help Me Spread the Word!

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In our latest attempt to sell our BEAUTIFUL 3B+DEN HOUSE IN ORLANDO (the caps were intentional to capture your attention!) I have listed it on Craigslist (again) and also gave a shot to Facebook Marketplace. I had no clue you could sell things on Facebook (I know: silly me!)

If you know anyone looking for a house near UCF in Orlando or Oviedo, FL, PLEASE let them know about this listing on Facebook. I don’t say this because I am the one selling the place: the house is a great deal for what it is. It’s VERY reasonably priced.