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“When it rains, It pours!” : Ways to fight stress!

Paul

The Emotional Side of Job Search Image by danieljohnsonjr via Flickr

Your doing your usual stuff and the something happens.   You really don’t know what to think or do.   You could be in shock, or just disbelief.   I have had that happen last week.   I thought it would be fun to discuss this and give a few insights as to what I learned.

The back story

I was at work doing what I normally did to make the customers happy.   My job was one of those really good jobs where you would have to always listen to the customer and try to help resolve their problem(s).  It isn’t the easiest job in the world, and I bet most technicians would also agree that sometimes the customer can be down right mean or even rude to the technician just because they have no one else to yell at.  Last week I lost one of my dearest and most paying contracts, it isn’t easy to just sit still and wonder how will I pay bills now without this retainer client.   I bet Mike Smith has this problem all the time and probably worries about it every week when he losses a client like this.  Some of things that I want to know is how do others deal with stress.

Stress is a killer

I know I am not the only one who has to deal with the stress.   I do however wanted to come up with a way to help prevent some of the stress from happening.  According to some places, Stress can be a great motivator and also be our downfall in the long.   I say this not to scare people but to bring up some very important topics that I thought we should at least look at:

  • Stress is different for each person — Now I am not saying that some people don’t have stress but they do not show it very often if never.   You may never know that some person you are talking to is having a stress full day because they may never show the signs of being under stress.

  • Stress makes you grow older quicker —  Now this is something that I have felt in the past when I have more stress it makes me feel older and not like I used to be.   This also can be a bad side effect, because it will sometimes send people into a depressed state.

  • Stress can give your High Blood pressure —  I should know about this one because this has been my case for the few years.  This is something that I have had to deal with because of what all stress has been put under my belt the last few years.

Fighting Stress

So you have thought about it and have come to the conclusion that you have to much stress in your life.   You’re probably like me and want to reduce some of the stress that you are having right about now.   I know I hate stress and what it does to my body.   I wanted to share some ways to reduce the stress in your life so you can live a healthier and longer life.

  • Exercising —  This is one of those many found truths that if you exercise everyday, either by walking or do aerobics you can decrease the stress in your life in one way or another.  You should however do something once a day for at least an hour.   I have found walking on paths to be my best way to relieve stress .

  • Journaling — I have found sitting down to blog to be a great way to reduce my stress in my life.  If you don’t have a blog or know how to blog this is great time to start.   You can start by creating your free blog at wordpress.com and not have to worry about any of the problems of hosting or domain services.

  • Find a friend — another great way is to talk to someone about your problems and your stress.   Although some people will not do this it is  however a good way to relieve or at least reduce your stress.  Just talking to someone can help you live longer.

  • Praying — Yes You’ve heard me right.   I have found this to be best way to reduce stress.   You may not know this but I do believe in God and every time something happens, I ask God what to do.   He has answered a lot of questions in his own way.   God has been a source of strength and peace in my every day life.

  • Music — Find some uplifting music and listen to it.   If you find music that lifts your spirit then you will reduce stress in more ways than one.   I have found this to also help my stress.  Most of the time I start singing and I feel my stress going away.   I might not be the best singer but I do sing and it does help.

These are just a few but I will let you figure out how to fight stress.   I’d love to hear how you fight stress and what has worked for you when it comes to relieving your stress.   Please feel free to comment and help me make my life less stressful.

Paul Sylvester

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Intro to Podcasting Part 1

Paul2 Replies

Watamu (16) Image by malczyk via Flickr

So you want to start your own podcast?

I’ve helped several different organizations set up there own podcast, so I thought we would go into detail about the process.   I am going to lay it out to everyone who might be interested and discuss the finer points on how you’d start and what you will need.   Although, this will not be a complete tutorial, I did figure we could at least talk you through it and help someone who might be wanting to start your own podcast.

Starting a podcast can be a challenge, but yet really fun.   In the tutorial we will discuss aspects of:

  • What is podcasting?

  • Why Podcast?

  • How to Podcast?

  • Purpose of Podcasting?

  • Making money from Podcasting?

  • Examples of Podcasts?

  • Content Delivery, Free VS Paid!

As you can see there will be several different aspects that we will be delving into and even discussing them in length.   I will say this will be one of those times I am going to learn with you on this because I will be researching this as I post it.   So you can have all the information with you and learn something.

Podcasting 101

You’ve probably heard the term podcasts, or even have some podcast that you listen to already but if you don’t, I will explain it to those who might need to understand it.

A podcast (or non-streamed webcast) is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication. The word replaced webcast in common vernacular due to the fame of the iPod and its role in the rising popularity and innovation of web feeds.

Via Wikipedia

Anyone can podcast and you could be the next big podcast.  It just depends on what your goal is and what your aiming for.    I will say that podcasting seems to be more and more out there than it was 10 years ago.

Why Podcast?

This has been asked over and over through the years. It varies from person to person. I will give you the general answers because it will be hot topic to anyone. Although some would say why not, here are in my mind the most common answers:

  • To Make even more Money

  • Connect to even more people around the world

  • easier than blogging

  • Your Personality

Like I said these are in my mind the most common reasons and are not all the possible answers that someone in the podcasting field might not have another reason. As you can see these are just generalized and should be used as reference and nothing more.

In the next part we will discuss the fundamentals of podcasting, what you will need and why you’ll need it. Hope you’ll stay tuned into this fun little subject!

Paul Sylvester

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To podcast or Not to podcast? That is the question!

Paul

US Navy 100514-N-7227H-012 Rear Adm. Craig Fal... Image via Wikipedia

I did love doing the Miketechshow Listener Round Table!

I kind of wish Mike would do more Listener Round tables.  Talking about the tech of the day and having those how to podcasts are something that really excites me.    I loved the discussions we had about our experiences and stuff.   I loved the creativity of the podcasts, and I would love to restart those podcasts.   I just have some problems with this.

First Problem: Extra Guests!

As you can see this would be the most crucial part of the whole problem.   Having guests who would want to come on board on a usual period.   I haven’t decided if i will do this but if i did, It would probably start off being a monthly podcast and then we’d go from there.

Second Problem: Intro Music and Album Art!

I have never been good with making intro music like Mike does on his podcast.   If I did decide to do this then I’d want to have everything set before I do start having a podcast.  I already have a good Podcasting headset which is the Plantronics .Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset which is a very good headset to do a podcast with.   I even did most of the podcasts with this head set.   I absolutely love this little headset to use on any podcast.   That at least is not a problem for me right  now.

Third and Final Problem:  Editing!

Although I can edit them using Audicity, I do not have a good understanding just yet and also where I would host the file for you to download.   I can always host it on a free service but I think it is important for the listeners to be able to download them to listen.   Although I have looked around, I have found some great free services but I would like to not do free because most of them require an audio advertisement that i get no money for.   If I am going to do some kind of advertisement, then I would like to have the money to help support the blog or podcasting, so I can buy more stuff to make the podcast even better!

What do you think?   Do you want to do a listener round table like we used to or not??   You answer will determine what I do next!

Paul Sylvester

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Security and Privacy go hand in hand! Or does it?

Paul

Brigid's Well (5 Stones to Pray the Rosary by) (7) Image by sfpanda_pix via Flickr

Privacy Really?

I’ve been commenting on Gail Garners Blog about how Google mail is putting ads in the emails.  Now I have done at least one post about Privacy and you not having it.  If you haven’t read my  post then I will give a outline of that post.

It basically boils down to some main points that I will discuss on this post:

  • No-one is Immune on the Net — Anyone and everyone has some information floating out on the internet and even celebrity information that they don’t want you find can be found if you look hard enough.

  • Know the Information before anyone else — Seriously if you want to keep track of what is being put out on the net about you.   Have Google email you when either name or some other information that you are looking for gets put out on the net.

  • Be Ready for Anything — There isn’t much you can do to actually be ready for Anything but it is more of a statement to yourself that “Nothing will surprise you.”.   Sometimes just taking a long hard look at your life and remembering some of this can be quite concerning, so you should be ready for someone to find out and have an answer for them.

  • Our life are infinitesimal compared to the scheme of things —  Everyday, I am constantly thinking what can I do to make someone’s else happy.   I find blogging makes me happy but I always want to make others just as happy as I am sometimes.   I sometimes like to wake up in the morning and just thank God for each day I can bring something new to my readers!

How Security is involved in Privacy

If you read the title and was a little curious why security is crucial to privacy.   It does not take a rocket scholar to figure this out.  If your are one to worry about your privacy then you should be also worrying about what information is leaking out on the internet from sources that you have no control over.   This means you have to figure out just how far you willing to go.

  • Friends —  Sometimes your privacy is left to who you decide who your friends are.   They might accidentally mention your name or some other random tidbit about you.   It all depends on who your really trust and tell them not to share your information.

  • Family — Almost the exact same people as friends but since they are your family, there may or may not be trust so you will have to deal with them in your own way.   This is why I grouped them separately!

  • Services — If your ever signed up for Facebook or other social websites than you have not truely read the Terms of Service.   Most of them, if not all, require to the user to have personal information on there server.   In turn, someone could get on there server illegally and copy all those names and information.

As with my previous post about epsilon having been hacked.   If you have a computer or the internet then your information is slowly being leaked and there is nothing you can do about it.   You can minimize it but that is about all.

I want to hear from you.   Do you think you can still be invisible on the internet?  Leave a comment or ask a question.   I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Paul Sylvester

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My Reasons why Amazon will make an Android Tablet!

Paul1 Reply

Cover of "Kindle Wireless Reading Device,... Cover via Amazon

We’ve heard the stories!

It isn’t a far fetched idea but do we really know if they will do this.   I say they will and I want to point out some of my observations.

Having launched 2 products in relatively short time.   The Android App Store and the new Cloud Service makes it that much more obvious that they will be making an Android tablet.    You see they  would gain even more market shares and bring in that more revenue because Amazon has many digital services. That would tie these digital services more together and make customers want to come back more and more to Amazon.  If I was Amazon, I would want to tie these services to a platform and make it just that much easier for people to buy digital products an also store there music, files, and other important files in the cloud to access anywhere in the US and possibly the World.

Amazon Announces Special Offers Kindles!

Amazon the last few days has announced that you could save more money if you allow them to show an un-intrusive ad at the bottom of the screen.   You would then save $25 on a Kindle.   You’re probably thinking what does this have to do with Amazon making a Tablet.  It is simple, Amazon will probably slowly introduce this to all lines of Kindles to test the waters per say.  This would make it just that much easier for when they do release the Android Tablet to subsidize it and sell it to even more who will buy products on Amazon and in turn generate even more revenue the company.  So You see Amazon is thinking long term in this and other ventures and they want customers to buy there digital products more readily.

 

Video on Demand anyone?

Just like Netflix, Amazon has also said to customers if your a Amazon Prime membership that you can watch over a thousand movies and hundred movie shows.   Amazon is certain to grow this over the next few years and if you think about it they will also want to make it easy for you to watch on your Android Tablet.   I think we will also see an Android Tablet with 3G or 4G sold with Ad’s in  them so they can pay for the bandwidth.   Although this is just speculation it would make the most sense.   If you want people to watch your shows and keep them coming back you have to have a way for them to watch the shows when they do not have a wireless connection.   That is where the cloud service will probably integrate your home movies with what Amazon Offers.

 

Amazon will soon launch this Tablet, that I am sure of.   I’d be willing to wager they will probably do this just before Christmas of 2011, if not the next date that comes to mind is spring 2012.   That way they can get people to buy the tablet before they go on there summer vacations and such.    Like I said this is all just speculation on my part and my reasons only make my point that much stronger.   Who’d be willing to buy an Ad supported Amazon android Tablet??  I would, makes it just that much easier to watch my shows while I am on the road.

 

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Have a Good Day and see you real Soon!

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