How to Tell if Someone Is Being Sarcastic
If you’re tired of not being able to tell if someone is sarcastic, then you’ve come to the right place.

Find the steps, tips and warnings at http://www.wikihow.com/

Writing is much more a part of system administration than most people acknowledge. A good writer will be more likely to produce quality documentation and presentations and other documents.

Writing for Wikipedia can be one method that you can use to improve your writing (by seeing other’s writing, and by getting reviews from others). However, contributing to Wikipedia is also a way to give back to the community, a way to show appreciation for what Wikipedia provides.

The most obvious is to just edit any article that needs it, and to improve its wording and spelling. However, there are techniques that are not as obvious in which you can participate in the growth of Wikipedia.

First, there is the Wikipedia Community Portal – a sort of single point of entry for contributing to Wikipedia. This should be a starting point for anyone "going deep" into Wikipedia contributions.

One can also join a Wikipedia Patrol. Wikipedia patrols watch over a certain type of Wikipedia page for problems and assist in making pages better.

For example, one join the Recent Changes Patrol, watching the Recent Changes page (reloading every so many seconds for instance) for new edits, and check any that appear to need closer examination: edits that are from IP addresses, or that have no comments – or edits that come from users that are making a lot of edits rapidly.

One could also join the Random Page Patrol, selecting a random page to improve.

Another thing to do is to join a Wikipedia WikiProject. For instance, there is the Wikiproject Circus – which is focused on improving pages about circuses. (By the way – you really should visit the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin, sometime…)

Contributing – and improving your writing and others – is not limited to Wikipedia: you can add your abilities to Wikipedia’s sister projects:

• Wikiquote (quotations)
• Wikiversity (learning)
• Wiktionary (dictionary)
• Wikibooks (text books)
• Wikinews (news reports)

Add your voice to Wikipedia!

You can also work on similar sites that are not directly related to Wikipedia – such as WikiHow (how-to manuals) or others – but Wikipedia and its related sites are probably better because of their respectability, their focus towards writing (articles, etc) and their wide audiences.

It’s back … fun with headlines!

Spotted (ha ha) today in wikiHow:

How to Make Luggage Easier to Spot

(click here for the real story)

What comes to your mind?

Here’s what came to ours:

Erik Moeller, Deputy Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, reacted to
Wall Street Journal’s article “Volunteers Log Off as Wikipedia Ages” with a
long article of his own. And that was good. At least we know now that he cares for his organization. Here’s an excerpt:

‘What’s happening to Wikipedia’s volunteer community? Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that “Volunteers Log Off as Wikipedia Ages”. The article is a comprehensive description of the challenges and opportunities facing the Wikipedia community. Among other things, it describes recent research findings regarding the number of Wikipedia editors. A quote from the article: “In the first three months of 2009, the English-language Wikipedia suffered a net loss of more than 49,000 editors, compared to a net loss of 4,900 during the same period a year earlier, according to Spanish researcher Felipe Ortega.”…

‘…We want more people to join us, to edit Wikipedia to make it richer and better and more comprehensive. We don’t know what the “perfect” number of Wikipedia volunteers is, but we do know that we want to significantly increase it from where it is today.

‘In addition to direct volunteer participation, Wikimedia depends on public support. If you share our goal of bringing free knowledge to every person on the planet, please make a donation today.’ -wikimedia.org blog.wikimedia.org/2009/11/26/wikipedias-volunteer-story/

Erik Moeller, Deputy Director
Erik Zachte, Data Analyst
Wikimedia Foundation

Humble-sounding isn’t it. Let’s just hope he is sincere.

In my post WIKIHOW just 2 days ago, I addressed Wikipedia volunteers and suggested that if they find Wikipedia too strict, they might switch to Wikihow. It seems many heard me – 49,000 volunteers just exited Wikipedia:

‘In an attempt to rein in the lawlessness and veiled opinion running rampant among its volunteer editors, Wikipedia may have shot itself in the foot. In the first 3 months of this year, there’s been something of a stampede of contributors exiting the crowdsourced online encyclopedia, leading to a net loss of 49,000, analysis shows, compared to just 4,900 in the same period a year earlier. And some blame new restrictions meant to curb vandalism in a community where one of the rules used to be “Ignore all rules.”

‘“Wikipedia is becoming a more hostile environment,” the researcher who noticed the trend tells the Wall Street Journal. “Many people are getting burnt out.” The new rules require a more thorough vetting of certain articles after a recent uptick in blatant lies and biased articles, and at least one expert thinks the falloff may be a good thing. “It’s too many cooks in the kitchen,” he says. Perhaps so—though participation has fallen off, the number of visitors is booming.’ -WSJ

WikiHow’s “How to Handle Jealousy” article had really strong points.

Identify what your jealousy is teaching you. Jealousy can alert you to what you want and what is important to you. If you’re jealous of someone talking to a friend of yours, personal relationships may be important to you. Ask yourself, “Why am I jealous over this? What is making me jealous? What am I trying to keep? Why do I feel threatened?”

Change any false beliefs that might cause jealousy. There are often false beliefs that underlie jealousy and fuel emotion. If you examine the belief, you can often eliminate the jealousy. For example an underlying beliefs could be “If this person leaves me, I won’t have any friends.” Beliefs are changeable. If you change your belief, you change the way you feel.

How to Draw Perspective

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit
If you like to draw landscapes or buildings and want to give them a realistic (not flattened) look, you have to learn how to apply perspective to the objects. It involves knowing what point of view from which you want the reader to see the object and how far into the distance the drawing goes. The main thing to remember is that as things get farther away, they appear smaller, as the angle at which they fade gives your drawings its realistic, three-dimensional visual effect.

Steps

One Point Perspective
One point perspective is usually used when the object’s front is facing the viewer. In this type of drawing the horizontal and vertical lines will be horizontal and vertical respectively in the drawing, and lines getting farther from the viewer will have an angle towards what is called a “Vanishing Point.” Click on any of the following images to get a closer look.

1. Determine the horizon in your drawing. Draw a horizontal line for the horizon with a hard pencil. The horizon lines determines how far the viewer can see based on the terrain and the distance of the viewer from the ground.
2. Choose the vanishing point. This is what will determine the effect of the perspective. As a reference, the most basic vanishing point would be located in the center of the paper horizontally and over the horizon line. If you set the escape point to the right, the drawing will look as if the point of view is moved to the left of the objects. The vanishing point for some objects can also be above or below the horizon lines depending on the inclination of the planes in respect to the ground.
3. Sketch the main objects.
   • Take care to draw all the horizontal and vertical lines perfectly horizontal and vertical.
   • The lines that start near the point of view and get farther should be drawn extending towards the selected vanishing point. This will give the perspective effect.
4. Give detail to your drawing respecting the proportions dictated by the reference lines you sketched before.

Two Point Perspective
Two point perspective or perspective with two vanishing points is used when the objects’ corners are facing the viewer. This method is perfect for drawing isometric objects.

1. Determine the horizon in your drawing. Sketch a horizontal line for the horizon as in the first method.
2. Determine the point of view, which is the approximate location of the eye of the person viewing the drawing. This point may be located below the bottom of the paper (outside the paper.) You don’t need to actually mark the point.
3. Determine your first vanishing point. The usual method for this is to sketch a first line from the point of view in a 60 degree angle to the left and mark your vanishing point where this line intersects the horizon.
4. Determine your second vanishing point. For this you will draw a second line from the point of view in a 30 degree angle to the right. Again, the vanishing point will be the intersection of this line and the horizon. The 60 and 30 degree angles can be different, but the angle between the lines that go from the eye of the observer to the vanishing points have to form a 90 degree angle.
5. Sketch your main objects drawing the vertical lines perfectly vertical, the horizontal lines moving to the left at an angle towards the left vanishing point and the horizontal lines moving to the right at an angle towards the right vanishing point (all the horizontal lines should converge in one or the other of the vanishing points if extended far enough).
6. Give detail to your drawing respecting the trends given by the horizontal lines sketched for the main objects. These lines will determine the proportion of the sizes of the objects when they are located closer or farther from the point of view.
   • Make light, temporary guidelines with a ruler (shown here in green) to make sure your details are in perspective. Erase these guidelines later.

Three Point Perspective
Three point perspective includes the two point perspective or perspective with two vanishing points plus it also has a third perspective point or third vanishing point in the vertical perspective aspect as from near the ground for instance looking up at a tower — as the viewer is facing a vertical corner (edge) of the object.

Tips

• Always start your drawings with a hard pencil. 2H pencils are recommended for this part, but you may want to use harder pencils if you want to avoid your reference lines being seen in the final drawing. Complete the drawings with a slightly softer pencil, such as HB.
• A good way to practice is to visit places where you can see a structure disappearing into the horizon (railroad tracks are perfect, but be extremely careful of a train approaching from behind). Sit down and draw the structure head on; then move over 15 feet to the left (or right) and do it again. Practice drawing from various angles, always noting where the vanishing point is.
• Perspective can also be applied to block letters for a more dramatic and imposing effect.

Warnings

• Make sure you keep your hands very clean when drawing. Nothing is sadder than ruining a perfectly good drawing that took hours to get perfect just because your hands were not clean.
• Remember to try and draw lightly first, or you will see lines in the finished drawing where you have tried to erase previous attempts.
• Don’t forget the fact that you can throw away a bad try at a picture. Accidents happen.

Things You’ll Need

• Pencils: 2H or harder, HB, 2B or softer
• Sheets of paper
• A model object to draw

Related wikiHows

• How to Draw
• How to Draw a Straight Line
• How to Draw a Cube
• How to Draw a Landscape
• How to Improve Your Drawing Skills

Sources and Citations

• http://daphne.palomar.edu/design/space2.html

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Draw Perspective. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

First of all, I love Meryl Streep (Julia); she’s an amazing actress, good or evil she’s still on top. Stanley Tucci plays her lovely husband and they are great together.And they speak perfect French, I was amazed!

The movie wasn’t really about Julia, the courageous woman passionate about life and food; but more about the self-centered and helpless Julie. Now Julie has a problem. Beside pronouncing boeuf as « boof » which shows her narrow mind ; her job is crap and she has the most amazing husband you can possibly imagine. She likes to talk about her crappy job a lot, complain to everyone, play the victim and they all console her. Her husband is so nice he wants to help with a great idea: why not having a blog on cooking because she’s good at it? So she decided to set “herself” some goals and blog about how she will make the 524 recipes of Julia in 365 days… At this moment, it sounded a good idea.

She didn’t do it for herself; she complained all the way that nobody reads her blog and how unhappy that makes her but she still has to keep going “for her people”. She even envies her colleague who blogs like Belle de Jour…… Husband still comprehensive and wonderful. Eventually people start reading; well they made it a movie now! At the end she feels she achieved something after days trying to hook up people on how it’s hard to debone a duck.

This goes against so many of my principles that I had to share.

When did people start to think “why not making a blog, I’m gonna be famous!”? Who thought that once you write something on the web, billions of others are going to worship it? Seriously? I mean, it’s still the same folks you talk to in the street, but on a larger scale! And this is the next generation according to Hollywood? A bunch of lost lazy kids that just put their next impulse on the web (yeah, Julie nearly get fired, she said she called in sick but the time under the post doesn’t lie…).
Some do it, don’t get me wrong; it’s exactly like in real life except they think it doesn’t count coz it’s online. Some others see it as an opportunity of mass collaboration, a platform where you can get what you need from people who’ve been there. This is what it should be, by the people for the people; not fame and glitter (which you can achieve without talent or blog by the way, it’s called reality tv…)

So I thought I’d help out and I am now a proud editor of WikiHow. I categorize, write, add videos or images to posts I know a bit about. It’s simple, doesn’t take me a lot of time and makes me less stupid every day. I get that it may not going to change climate change tomorrow…but Rome wasn’t built in a day

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

I came across this interesting wikiHow article about how to turn any old unwanted vinyl records into a cool looking bowl. I will admit, it’s after Halloween, so if you used it as a mask you might look very out of the ordinary. I might recommend pouring all those trick-or-treat candies in an old album bowl and throwing your favorite one on the turntable.

I probably wont be running to my oven any time soon, but I think its a good way to deal with problem many who don’t adore their vinyl collections have when it comes to disposing them. Conventional recycling is not the best option.

This isnt my work, but I am allowed to republish this for you. I think this is a pretty neat tutorial on how to draw Spongebob!

How to Draw Spongebob

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Spongebob Squarepants is a cartoon sea sponge who has his own show and full-length film. He lives in a pineapple with Gary, a pet snail that acts like a cat. Did you ever want to draw Spongebob, but thought that it was just too hard? Here you will find an easier way to draw Spongebob with simple steps and illustrations.

Steps

1. Draw a curve. The curve depends on the direction Spongebob is facing. If he is facing to the left, make the curve like this: (.



2. Erase the edges of the previous square and make it bumpy. This gives Spongebob that spongy texture.



3. Draw two wide, circle eyes. Spongebob’s eyes are white, and the two small circles are black. The circles around the black circles are blue. The eyes should be the same distance from the cross that you sketched on his face, and they should be drawn on Be sure to draw them on the top half of the cross. Add three thick eyelashes to each eye.



4. Draw a long, slim stick which increases ever so slightly in width for the nose. The nose is in the center.



5. Draw a mouth connected to the nose, which is black with a red tongue. Make sure that you have two rather noticeable bumps for his cheeks, with three red dots on them.
6. The mouth is a slightly curved upward line and has an even more curved line connected to it. You can now erase the cross that you sketched.



7. Draw two buck teeth, color them white. You might not have to, if you’re using white paper.



8. Draw square pants with thin, black rectangles going across the waist (4), draw a collar with a tie. Color the pants brown, the shirt white and the tie red. At the very bottom, draw two rectangles sticking out from underneath, which will be the pant legs.



9. Draw sleeves, which should be located slightly above the middle of his body, and should be in the shape of a fourth of an oval. Arms are thin sticks that do not increase or decrease in width.



10. For hands, draw two perfect circles, which will be the palms, and then draw what you did for the nose – a thin stick that is slightly wider at the ends. Erase the extra lines.



11. Draw two legs poking out from the two pant legs that are thin like the arms with unvarying thickness. Draw socks with two very thin lines and black shiny shoes. To make the shoes just right, add a perfect circle to his ankle and another at the end of his shoe; then connect these lines and add a heel. His socks are white, and the two lines are blue and red.



12. Add Spongebob’s holes and make them darkish yellow-green. On your right side, there are three holes: one big at the top, and one big hole at the bottom followed by a smaller hole. On the left, there there is a big and a small hole on both the top and bottom. On his side, there are always four holes, no matter which direction he is facing. Three of the holes are always above his arm, while one may sometimes be above, below, or beside the arm.

Tips

• Spongebob works at the restaurant the Krusty Krab, so he usually wears his uniform. His uniform is just his normal outfit plus a tall navy blue oval-shaped hat with a gold anchor.
• Be patient if your first drawing is less than perfect. Think of your first drawing as practice.
• Draw your lines lightly so that you can easily erase without leaving marks.
• Gather pictures of Spongebob and refer to them. Clip pictures from magazines and advertisements. Save pictures of Spongebob to your computer. You can find Spongebob clipart on Google Image Search. A good place to start is Sponge Bob clipart.
• Have you ever wondered what he’d look like with a moustache?

Warnings

• Never make SpongeBob’s teeth goof out in different directions. If you look carefully, you will see that his teeth are in fact perfectly straight, rectangular, buckteeth. They do not stick out!
• Spongebob’s eyes are touching. It is a common mistake to draw them too far apart.

Things You’ll Need

• Pencil
• Good eraser, preferably an edged one, like Pink Pearl (always a tool for an artist)
• A sketchpad
• Patience

Related wikiHows

• How to Draw a Template Manga Head
• How to Draw a Sea Creature
• How to Draw an Octopus
• How to Draw Mickey Mouse
• How to Act Like Sponge Bob
• How to Draw Still Life

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Draw Spongebob. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

super sweaty, super weird, super confident (not)

Ok, so when I go to the gym, even though afterwards I’m swetty and red and totally messed up I fell like the hottest person ever. I Just feel like all the guys are looking at/want me ( including old people, like today I though a guy was looking at me that way even though he had three kids around him, totally sad). Then I sat next to this 10 year old girl and she looked kinda depressed, looking down eating a cake, and because I’m a good Christian I suddenly though ” What a loser ! She needs to be more confident, look at her, she’s already  ugly if she’s not confident she’s nothing. Oh yeah, I’m so right (and so hot) “

( i know it’s weird i become a totally different person, but i’m actually not lying i really thought that)

Then I realized I was right, but i wasn’t confident when I was ten ! I’m not even that confident (only when I just got out of the gym). And I admire those people who think they are so awesome in front of really , hum, “cool” people. But in the back of my mind I know I’m just confusing self-centered people with confident people , but whatever/

But really, the main key for people liking you and getting ” what you want” is being confident, because even though you don’t change anything in the way you dress, talk or walk, just by feeling confident people will feel it.

I wanted to be more confident but I didn’t know how, so I entered wikihow (this thing is miraculous) to see if there is something about “How to be Confident”.

I did not only found how to be confident, but I found out how to strengthen my ankles, make a Michael Jackson costume and even how to love my wife according to the bible ! It’s good to know that  wikihow sucks my life is gonna change so much ,for good, thanks to wikihow.

hope that’s it ,I’m starting to hallucinate that rabbits are  in my bed here

have to take care of them before they eat my pillow,

peace out

URLS

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Confident

http://www.wikihow.com/Strengthen-Your-Ankles

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Michael-Jackson-Costume

http://www.wikihow.com/Love-Your-Wife-According-to-the-Bible

Thank you wikiHow for referencing the genius works of Howard Gardner and for posting: How to Discover your Child’s Abilities.

My favorite step, “Observe: Take time to watch your child at play. Don’t assume that your child’s play is meaningless. Children play in ways that reflect their intelligences and natural abilities.”

I had a mini party when I read these words. 

But then it got better (i know, hard to imagine):

“Talk: Ask your child about the things that interest them and about their interest they like the most and why.”

so can we deduce from this that we can help our children discover their abilities by learning their interests?

VICTORY AT LAST.  Well, not really but I am definitely making some headway on my theory that our interests are linked to our natural abilities.

I thought to be Carrie for Halloween and as part of the challenge this Haloween is to make the costume yourself I thought I’d inaugerate my moms old sowing machine and make the dress myself. I have no idea how to sow so I found this googling:

from wikiHow

Everyone wants to look good at formal events like a ball, cocktail party or prom, but let’s face it – dresses can cost a fortune. If you are on a tight budget, here is how to make a simple but effective dress without a pattern.Read through all instructions before beginning this project.

Steps

1. Choose a good fabric. Use whatever works. The best fabric is stretchy. Try experimenting with different colors and styles.
2. Take a large (like a small blanket or a very large towel) piece of fabric and wrap it around yourself below your armpits while standing in front of a mirror. If it doesn’t look good, try a different fabric or style of wrapping.
3. Remove the fabric and turn it inside – out so that the part that will be the outside when you are finished is now on the inside.
4. Hold the cloth together with your left hand and pin the cloth around yourself with your right hand (or the other way around if you’re a leftie) so that it stays on and maintains your figure. You may want to use safety pins because regular pins fall out easier and they can stab you. The lowest pin should be between mid-thigh height and where the edge of the lowest skirt you would ever wear in public would be.
5. Slide out of the cloth and lay it flat on the floor or table. Be very careful while doing this if using regular pins.
6. If you do not have a sewing machine, get thread to match the fabric and a needle and use small stitches to sew from the top edge of the fabric to the lowest stitch. If you do have a sewing machine, that will make your job easier and a lot faster. Remove the pins.
7. Try the dress on again. Note the way that the excess cloth will drape down. You may want to cut both layers of excess cloth diagonally from the outside top corner to the place where you stopped sewing. This will prevent it from dragging on the ground and being excessively drapey. The excess cloth should be on the SIDE and NOT dead-center. If you wish to make it dead-center, turn the dress inside-out again and sew the cloth together all the way to the bottom. This looks better if it’s centered at the back than at the front.
8. Fix the edges and enjoy.

Seems easy enough to make in about 3 days, no? Lets hope so!

I have realized since the beginning of summer that it is hard to live a life of insane amounts of, well no sleep. You could say it was as an idiot mistake to make to assume that 30 minutes to an hour of sleep to last me 40 hours would be a bad idea. But I still went through with it, because the facts are I just didn’t sleep and half the time I couldn’t. It all started in September when my bed broke, I was sleeping on the couch and eventually just took my mattress and stuck it straight on the floor of my basement bedroom. Note to self, it was even colder only a 50cm difference between the bed and the floor it was terrible I found myself wrapped in blankets and sheets even though it was warm throughout the house. It didn’t take long before not sleeping effected the way I acted in school a lot of people assumed I was dead half the time.

It didn’t take long before I fell asleep in class, the feeling of waking up at the end of class not knowing what the homework had been and having people saying that only a couple of people noticed I had fallen asleep. Listening to music from the likes of Lou Reed to Breaking Benjamin to Mos Def I just had a hard time running my everyday life, I’d doze off out of nowhere. Felt like I woke up in a different place but in fact I was the same place I was when I fall asleep it was like the protagonist in Fight Club. I could say it a million times that I wasn’t tired but my body was simply shutting down half the time and I would try ignore the feeling that seemed to always kick in. At almost exactly eleven a.m. I would feel a feeling of tiredness to move my legs to move anything and even on school days this was very annoying.

Then it happened a moment of realization, last week on Thursday when my school had an early release day (meaning we get out 4 hours earlier) I had totally blanked out after having a shower, I woke up like five o’clock in the afternoon my eyes heavier then how my legs had felt. I looked at the clock and literally yelled the word “Fuck” Three times, I had missed not one but two tests and it was a moment that the insomnia had gotten me, it had made me stay up and it had made me fall asleep in the morning. My dad had thought I was dead nearly, alarm ringing all day my phone going off as well with about 20ish text messages missed. It was terrible and that was the day I decided I should change for the better of things, to put an end to the insomnia once and for all.

But the other fucked up thing was when I tried to go to sleep, by reading countless articles on WikiHow almost like self help articles I had conquered it averaging about 8 hours of sleep on the weekdays and 12 on the weekends (which is way too much) But I’m glad that I can finally carry out a conversation without nodding off, I still look dead in the morning. But Im secretly a zombie, so it’s all good.

  ©2009 guest blog by an anonymous Author on WikiHow

 Donna says: while people and circumstances we find hard to forgive are often related to Pluto’s position in our natal charts and by transit, the process of forgiveness seems to fall under the realm of Neptune. In observing clients and friends–and myself–under long Neptune transits, I often notice a gradual softening of a long-held grievance against some significant figure. For instance, during Neptune transits to the Moon, people may come to see their mothers more realistically rather than the larger than life, all-powerful parent they experienced as a small child. Perhaps under this transit, the mother is clearly aging, ill, and vulnerable. Under the Neptune transit, the hard feelings gradually dissolve, replaced by compassion.

 I found How to Forgive on WikiHow and reprint it here because it contains helpful insights into our recent discussions of bitterness and other difficult expressions of Pluto, although the author appears to come to forgiveness  from a traditional Christian perspective.  In dealing with WikiHow, always keep in mind that the authors may or may not be qualified mental health professionals, for anyone can contribute a how-to piece, and all their authors are anonymous. Take what’s helpful from the article that follows, but don’t consider it professional advice. Rather, as appears to be the case with this piece, it may be the work of someone who has learned from a difficult experience.

 One of the hardest, thorniest and most difficult things we humans are ever called upon to do is to respond to evil with kindness and to forgive the unforgivable. We love to read stories about people who’ve responded to hatred with love, but when that very thing is demanded of us personally, our default seems to be anger, angst, depression, righteousness, hatred, etc. Yet study after study shows that one of the keys to longevity and good health is to develop a habit of gratitude and let go of past hurts.

Want to live a long, happy life? Forgive the unforgivable. It really is the kindest thing you can do for yourself. Your enemy may not deserve to be forgiven for all the pain and sadness and suffering they’ve purposefully inflicted on your life, but you deserve to be free of this evil. As Ann Landers often said, “hate is like an acid. It destroys the vessel in which it is stored.”

Steps to Take in Forgiving:

Realize that the hate you feel toward your enemy does not harm them in the slightest. Chances are, they’ve gone on with their life and haven’t given you another thought.

Make a list of the good things that happened as a result of this awful experience. You’ve probably focused long enough on the bad parts of this experience. Look at the problem from a wholly new angle; look at the good side. The first item on that list may be a long time coming because you’ve focused on the bad for so long, but don’t give up. Force yourself to find 10 good things that happened specifically because of this experience.

Look for the helpers. Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) related that, as a little boy, he’d often become upset about major catastrophes in the news. His mother would tell him, “look for the helpers.” In your own nightmarish experience, think back to the people who helped you. Think about their kindness and unselfishness.

Look at the bigger picture. Was someone your “good Samaritan”? In this biblical story, a traveler happens upon a poor soul who was beat up on the road to Jericho and left for dead. It’s a lot easier to play the part of the Good Samaritan than to be the poor soul who is left bleeding and bruised on the side of the road. Perhaps this isn’t all about you. Perhaps your trial provided an opportunity for others to rise to an occasion to provide you with help and support.

Be compassionate with yourself. If you’ve ruminated over this problem for a long time, steering this boat into a new direction could take some time, too. As you try to make a new path out of the dark woods of this old hurt, you’ll make mistakes. Forgive yourself. Be patient and kind to yourself. Extreme emotional pain has a profound effect on the body. Give yourself time to heal – physically and emotionally. Eat well. Rest. Focus on the natural beauty in the world.

Learn that the Aramaic word for “forgive” means literally to “untie.” The fastest way to free yourself from an enemy and all their negativity is to forgive. Loose yourself from them and their ugliness. Your hatred has tied you to them. Your forgiveness enables you to start walking away from them and the pain.

Forgiveness must be unconditional. Therefore, it cannot be dependent upon the repentance of those who have harmed us. However, unless those who have harmed us have truly repented of whatever they have done, we need to use wisdom in avoiding repeating the hurt. This may require avoiding those who are unrepentant of the harm that they have inflicted upon us.

Stop telling “the story.” How many times this week did you tell “the story” about how badly you were hurt and how horribly you were wronged? How many times a day do you think about this hurt? It is a stake driven into the ground that keeps you from moving away from this hurt. Rather, forgive your enemy because it’s the kindest thing you can do for your friends and family. Negativity is depressing, physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

Tell “the story” from the other persons perspective. Actually imagine that you are the other person (the one who offended you) and use the word “I” when saying what they would say. You, most likely, don’t know exactly what the other person was thinking when this event unfolded but pretend that you do and just go with the story that comes up in your head. Sit down with a friend, or maybe even the person you are trying to forgive, and tell the story as though you are that person. It is important to do this verbally and not just in your head. Realize in advance that this is not an easy exercise but it holds great power. Just your willingness to tell the story from the offender’s perspective requires a bit of forgiveness. Also, realize that this is not a contradiction to the preceding paragraph since this perspective will change your story.

When your enemy and their evil actions come to mind, send them a blessing. Wish them well. Hope the best for them. This has two effects. One, it neutralizes that acid of hate that destroys the vessel in which it is stored. The evil we wish for another seems to have a rebound effect. The same is true for the good that we wish for another. When you become able to return blessing for hatred, you’ll know that you’re well on the path to wholeness. The first 15 or 150 times you try this, the “blessing” may feel contrived, empty, and even hypocritical but keep trying. Eventually, it will become a new habit and soon thereafter, the anger and pain that has burned in your heart will evaporate, like dew before the morning sun.

Remember: you’re not the Lone Ranger On hearing my story of woe, one wise African-American preacher said, “I worship a God with holes in his hands and feet.” If they did it to innocent Jesus, then how much more to us? And if they wrong you for doing right, then you’re really doing what Jesus did. You’re in good company, at least!

Maintain perspective: While the “evil” actions of your “enemy” are hurtful to you and your immediate surroundings, the rest of the world goes on unaware. Validate their meaning in your life, but never lose perspective that others are not involved and do not deserve anything to be taken out on them. Your enemy is someone else’s beloved son, someone’s employee, or a child’s parent.

Tips:

• Put your best mental energies (perhaps first thing in the morning) into visualizing the new life you want. See yourself – in the future – as free of this pain and suffering.
• Keep the following quote in mind if you’re finding it hard to generate positive feelings for the person: “Those who are the hardest to love, need it the most.”

Related articles in this series:

• Purge Yourself of Pluto’s Negativity—Get Free of Bitterness
• Stuck For What Seems Like Forever? Maybe Areas of Unforgiveness are the Cause
•  Forgiveness–the Final Frontier
• Healing Tools For Plutonians: Transforming The Self And Others

Related wikiHows:  

• How to Cope With Loss and Pain
• How to Be Optimistic
• How to Apologize
• How to Remain Emotionally Unattached
• How to Deal With Unreasonables
• How to Become Friends With an Enemy

FREE EBOOKLET FOR SKYWRITER SUBSCRIBERS ONLY:  a 50-page excerpt from my out-of-print book, The Moon in your Life, also known as Being a Lunar Type in a Solar World.  Read more about it here: NEW: FREE BOOKLET FOR SKYWRITER SUBSCRIBERS!   If you’re already a subscriber and want a copy, forward the most recent email post to me at moonmave@spiritone.com. To sign up for a subscription, go to the top right hand corner of the blog and click on “Subscribe.”  Then send me an email with your subscription confirmation or an email post.

Art credits:  The protest sign was by Dogwearsglasses at WikiMedia Commons and is in the public domain. Red Riding Hood is from http://www.clipart.com, a subscription service.

©2009 guest blog by an anonymous Author on WikiHow

Donna says:  WikiHow’s featured articles of the day are on my internet home page, and lately they’ve had several that seem related to the more difficult expressions of Pluto. This one was at http://www.wikihow.com/Find-out-What-Makes-a-Controlling-Person and contains some thought-provoking insights.  In dealing with WikiHow, always keep in mind that the authors may or may not be qualified mental health professionals, for anyone can contribute a how-to piece, and all their authors are anonymous. Think over what rings true and seems helpful, but don’t consider it professional advice.     

Being termed a “control freak” is not the best experience in life, but it is something worth pondering. Why do people around you feel that you’re overly controlling? Finding out what it is that spurs you to be a controlling person is the first step to dealing with it constructively. These steps can also be useful in understanding and perhaps helping a controlling person in your life.

Consider your perfectionistic tendencies. Are you a person who needs to get everything “perfect”, “just right”, “complete”? This can be a driving factor in a controlling personality. Perfectionism can be innate, or can develop as a result of high parental or other role model expectations that you sought to live up to when young and still aim to do. You may want to read How to Control Perfectionism.

Consider whether you are patient or impatient. Impatient people are often very controlling because they are incapable of waiting for a more considered outcome, or for the time needed to create a quality end result. Combine this with perfectionism and the real controlling personality comes out – an unrealistic expectation of perfect work right now! Learn How to Be Patient and How to Be Laid Back.

Think about whether you need to be right – even at a huge cost. This is a central aspect of a controlling personality. It derives from a need for certainty in your life, in a very uncertain world. This aspect of a controlling personality will always drive you to override other ideas, options, and suggestions in favor of your own, because you’ve already convinced yourself that you know best.

This railroading really upsets other people. They would like to know that you have not only heard what they have to say but are actively considering their points of view and incorporating these into your plans. When you constantly override them, you undermine their ability to be part of your team. You are no longer a leader – you are a tyrant, a dictator who ignores suggestions of teammates and simply wears them down to get your way.

Be honest about your ability to commit to people and activities. Do you find yourself avoiding commitments because this feels as if you will be caught up in a web of allegiances to other people, and have to rely on their help to complete projects, or you might have to be there for them when needed? An inability to commit to others (and trust them) and to activities not driven by you is an indicator of a controlling personality. It will be quite useful for you to learn How to Delegate.

Confront your sense of vulnerability. The need for control stems from a deep-seated motivation to cover up your vulnerabilities. It is quite possible that somewhere in your life you felt threatened by not meeting standards that someone set for you and you strove very hard to meet those standards, possibly at great expense of interpersonal relationships and personal development.

 Think about these questions for your professional life:

• What do you feel vulnerable about?
• What fears loom up when you think about delegating responsibilities?
• What worries face you when you think of doing a job to an average rather than complete standard?
• Does order matter a great deal to you?
• What expectations do you hold of other people around you? Are these realistic?
• Are you a source of stress to other people? Do you thrive amid their stress?
• Are you always worried about failure?
• Are you happy with yourself underneath the perfect façade?
• Have you ever tried to Communicate Your Weaknesses?

Consider these questions in your personal life. Just as you wish to control your subordinates, co-workers, and projects at work, you are probably overly controlling in your personal relationships. Consider:

• Are you plagued by fears that your partner is unfaithful?
• Do you interrogate your partner any time s/he is a few minutes late, talking with someone else, tells you s/he is going to run some errands?
• Do such interrogations end in protests of innocence and tears?
• Do you bully or railroad your partner? Override his/her wishes in order to accomplish whatever it is you wanted to do?
• Do you notice your partner walking on eggshells for fear of angering you?
• Have you been called overly possessive, overly protective of your partner or children? Often, controlling personalities are so concerned that some bad thing will happen that they feel it necessary to constantly shelter and “protect” their families. This results in children who are fearful, timid, reluctant to take part in activities, particularly ones where practice is needed – they fear that they will not be perfect the first time, and that it will spark a lecture, training sessions, or drills from you.
• Do you often find yourself instructing your kids every step of the way on every little project – even taking over – rather than letting them complete it themselves?
• Do you temper every bit of praise with criticism? “Great tackle, son. You’re going to be a good football player if we can get some of that weight off you.” “You got a B+ on your Calculus exam? That’s good, but you could get an A if you would just apply yourself.” Criticism is your way of reminding them that they still don’t measure up to your standard of perfection. There’s a difference between striving for excellence and using criticism to keep a sense of oppression alive.

Think about the ways that you can tackle your controlling tendencies. There are positives about some controlling actions (you can direct people to better performances), but mostly, they’re negative (you become a petty tyrant, criticizing every tiny detail of their lives). The positives are that you are often someone who pays great attention to detail, you can manage projects independently, and you are relentless in seeking complete outcomes.

On the flipside, you upset people because you assume they’re incompetent, you create stress for them by pressuring them constantly, you don’t trust them, and you don’t let their own talents and skills shine through. Consider these ways of approaching your negative controlling tendencies:

• Get professional help with treating the anxiety that drives your controlling behaviors; cognitive behavioral therapy can be very helpful.
• Respect the anxieties of other people and stop overlaying your anxieties on theirs.
• Start trusting people and start delegating responsibility – a big test of letting go of your need for control!
• Polish up your ability to judge people’s skills so that you can rely on others to do what you ask of them; equally, don’t ask people to do what they’re not good at doing. Play to their strengths, and your own.

 Recognizing your controlling tendencies can help you channel that criticism into helpful suggestions, turn your jealousy and insecurity into an appealing romanticism, and change you from a bully into a leader. If you cannot recognize controlling aspects of your personality, admit to them and address them, you will find it difficult to sustain relationships, because most people will not volunteer to be your “subject” indefinitely.

Related WikiHows:

• How to Recognize a Manipulative or Controlling Relationship
• How to Control Perfectionism
• How to Delegate

Authors listed are:  Mona Westman, Krystle, Foxglove, Eric Wester

More Posts about Pluto on this Blog: 

• 6 Things You May Not Know about Pluto
• Pluto in the Career Houses–The Power to Manifest or Fail for Spite
• Vocational Angst for the Pluto-Uranus in Virgo Generation
• The Steamy Side of Venus-Pluto Aspects—A Photo Gallery
• High Maintenance–a Venus-Pluto Vignette
• Mars-Pluto Aspects? Use your Manifestation Mojo!
• Purge Yourself of Pluto’s Negativity—Get Free of Bitterness
• Pluto in Capricorn: A Laugh and a Half, by John Marchesella
• Pluto and the transiting Antiscia–not Over ’til It’s Over
• Planet or Not—Pluto IS Something!   

FREE EBOOKLET FOR SKYWRITER SUBSCRIBERS ONLY:  a 50-page excerpt from my out-of-print book, The Moon in your Life, also known as Being a Lunar Type in a Solar World.  Read more about it here: NEW: FREE BOOKLET FOR SKYWRITER SUBSCRIBERS!   If you’re already a subscriber and want a copy, forward the most recent email post to me at moonmave@spiritone.com. To sign up for a subscription, go to the top right hand corner of the blog and click on “Subscribe.”  Then send me an email with your subscription confirmation or an email post.

How to Clean a Keyboard in a Dishwasher: 6 steps (with pictures) – wikiHow.

From This

To This

I’d never seen this before and I don’t have a dishwasher so I cannot try it out.

However … I thought that dishwasher detergent is very strong alkaline. I’d try a small amount or a hot water rinse without detergent first.

Some say that Thai fish sauce (nam pla – น้ำปลา) is an excellent all-purpose cleaner, but I don’t believe them.

Have you had any experience with this?

Some of the related WikiHows are hilarious. They make me want to go out and buy a dishwasher.

The photos are from Flickr user Ivo Jansch, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ijansch/sets/72157612566299359/, shared under their Creative Commons license. They were originally used in Jansch’s blog

Galera, leiam sobre mais uma ferramenta Wiki!!! 

WikiHow é um projeto de escrita colaborativa para produzir o maior manual de como fazer do mundo. Com a edição e colaboração de todos, é um recurso gratuito que já ajuda milhões de pessoas, oferecendo soluções práticas para os problemas do dia-a-dia. Os mais de 434 artigos são escritos, mantidos e editados na maioria por voluntários. Qualquer pessoa pode criar uma página sobre qualquer assunto ou editar qualquer página já iniciada.

Neste link pode ser acessada a página do WikiHow em português, onde você obtém mais informações

After all those moments of “What’s so good about Jack in the Box moments?” I finally have that question answered. It’s nothing. The rice bowls have too much sauce in them, the hamburgers make me go to the bathroom multiple times for the rest of the day, and the chicken tenders are just…they just suck. A lot.

I ate a chicken sandwich at Jack in the Box today, because my parents brought us there to eat. I ate about half of the sandwich (a little more than half) and I felt like I had to barf. (Upchuck, throw up, etc. whatever you like to call “it”) The bad part was that I was in the car. The good part? I learned how to resist throwing-up from an article on wikiHow. In the end, there wasn’t a mess, and my dad finished up that sandwich. Oh, and nothing happened to him. Don’t worry…

Ryan

What kind of self-respecting Italian household doesn’t have a corkscrew? I mean, really now. A significant portion of last night was spent enacting the various scenarios in the following WikiHow. The neighbors must have had quite a laugh watching me through the window.

How to Open a Wine Bottle Without a Corkscrew

Hit Method

1. Hit the bottom of the bottle firmly and evenly against a reasonably flat, vertical surface (such as the wall, or even a tree). To protect the surface, wrap the bottom of the bottle in a towel, or place a phone book on the surface in the spot where the bottle will be hitting it. You can lean the phone book on the floor, against the wall, so that no one has to hold it for you, but you’ll need to be sitting down while you hit the bottle against the wall. The pressure of the wine against the cork will gradually nudge it out. Once it’s sticking out partially, you can pull it out with your hands, or pliers, or continue hitting the bottle rhythmically until the entire cork comes out (but be careful about wine spilling out, since you’re holding the bottle sideways).
   • See the video below for a demonstration of this method.
   • Alternatively, you can hold the bottle upside-down between your knees and strike the bottom of the bottle with your shoe. The cork should gradually come out. Once it is out far enough to grasp, remove as described above.

Push Method

1. If you can’t pull out the cork, then push it in. This is a last resort because the air and wine are already compressed inside the bottle; pushing in the cork can cause wine to spray out, so before you begin, pierce the cork all the way through so pressure can be relieved as you push it in. Place the bottle on the floor or a steady surface and push the cork down using a long rod or dowel, thick marker (highlighter, dry erase, etc.), or slim knife sharpener. Point the opening away from people, just in case wine sprays out. Push down consistently and most people can push it in with a little effort. Tapping down with a hammer or even a rock will help push the cork into the bottle.
   • Alternatively, you can use a key to push in the cork, but the technique is slightly different. Work it in along the side of the cork, in between the cork and the bottle opening; this will let off pressure gradually and the widening key eventually forces the cork to go into the bottle.
   • Using a carabiner is pretty foolproof. Push the carabiner open and use the hook to push the cork into the bottle. Great for camping.
   • Be prepared to have to push the floating cork down into the bottle during the first pour, as it may get lodged. A chopstick or the handle of a butter knife can come in handy to push the cork back as you pour the first glass. As the bottle is emptied, the cork becomes less of a hassle.

Now I know what your thinking…I’ve just put myself in a rut by naming my biggest competition in my first post, but i havent. WikiHow is a great place to learn how to do simple things that pertain to everyday life and yes this is a way that you could go to learn skills, but as a whole WikiHow lacks substantial information. Now don’t get me wrong i know that people work hard to keep it correct and very informative but it will always lack the whole body feel that you would get from a lecture or being in a class in school, which is kind of what I am trying to achieve here in             C1@ND3$T!N3 MUNk3Y, to give you the feel of getting the full classroom experience for no loss to you but the time it takes to learn it.

With that said WikiHow is a great way to fill in the gaps for many things with the only downside being, like with any wiki, that anyone can edit it and sometimes you get some really dumb shit.

Normally, we don’t cross-post, however, here is an exception.

We poke fun at so many wikiHow entries that we thought it only fair to call upon a well-written and grammar-related post from its:

Home > Categories > Education and Communications > Subjects > English > English Grammar > Punctuation section.

Enjoy the following:

How to Use a Dash in an English Sentence

Source: wikiHow.com

I know ya’ll have always wanted to know about a super power hidden deep within the depths of your soul: The Power Nap. Have at it on my studentstuff.com article here.

A little teaser…

I was shocked to learn that there are actually directions offered for how to power nap on the internet. WikiHow will never cease to amaze me with their selection of articles– they have more how-to instructions than there are choices at the dining commons salad bar. The rules are easier than joining Fight Club (plus you can talk about power-napping with whomever you choose).

(Photoshop.VN) – Web optimization is a vital part of web development and maintenance but also something often overlooked by webmasters. Just think of the money you can save, and how it can potentially help increase your readership and traffic when they are properly done.

Recommended readings: 

Source: Ultimate Guide To Web Optimization (Tips & Best Practices)