Windows 8 apps store cracks 20K

In competition with Apple App Store and Google Play

NEW YORK: While 20,000 apps in an online store may seem paltry compared to the more than 700,000 apps in Apple’s store and more than 600,000 apps in Google Play, the milestone is significant for an upstart in the app trade like Microsoft. Microsoft broke the 20,000 mark last week, according to Directions on Microsoft Windows App Store Watcher Wes Miller. Nearly 18,000, or 87 per cent, of those apps are free, according to Miller.

Those are worldwide numbers, and the total number of apps available within regions can vary. For example, the Canadian Windows 8 app store has come 14,000 programmes, while the US has 12,675; and the UK, some 11,000. What must be heartening for Microsoft is the velocity at which apps are being added to its online market: some 500 new apps appear each day, according to The Next Web.

At the rate, the store could reach 40,000 apps by the end of the year. Moreover, that climb should remain steep as buyers of new Windows PCs during the holiday season hunt for apps for their new computers for weeks to come, and developers feverishly seek to meet that demand. Nevertheless, app uploads must accelerate even more for Microsoft to meet its goal of 100,000 apps in the store within 90 days from the launch of Windows 8 on October 26.

Comparing the number of apps in the Windows 8 store to the Apple App Store and Google Play can be misleading, though, since those outlets service mobile devices. A more suitable comparison might be made between the Windows store and Apple’s Mac App Store. From January 2011 to April 2012, only 10,000 apps were added to that Apple outlet. Uploads at the Windows 8 app store have been a source of controversy for Microsoft in recent days. — Agencies

Teacher’s impact

Years ago a John Hopkin’s professor gave a group of graduate students this assignment: Go to the slums. Take 200 boys, between the ages of 12 and 16, and investigate their background and environment. Then predict their chances for the future.

The students, after consulting social statistics, taking to the boys and compiling much data, concluded that 90 per cent of the boys would spend some time in jail.

Twenty-five years later another group of graduate students group was give the job of testing the prediction. They went back to the same area. Some of the boys — by then men — were still there, a few had died, some had moved away, but they got in touch with 180 of the original 200. They found that only four of the group had ever been spent to jail.

Why was it that these men, who had lived in a breeding place of crime, had such a surprisingly good record? The researchers were continually told: “Well, there was a teacher…” They pressed further, and found that in 75 percent of the cases it was the same women.

The researchers went to this teacher, now living in a home for retired teachers. How had she exerted this remarkable influence over that group of children? Could she give them any reason why these boys should have remembered her? “No,” she said, “No I really couldn’t.” And then, thinking back, she said amusingly, more to herself than to her questioners, “I loved those boys…”

I will live

As the light shines through my window I awaken.
I am reminded once more that today is another day stolen from borrowed time.
Today I will live and live to will. I will be thankful for all I love and all I have.
Every breath taken in shall be full as I take in the world around me.
I will push away the pain, hide my tears and sorrow and drown out all that threatens my very being.
Today I will climb that rock and sit on top staring and soaking in the beauty of nature, of life.
I will let the wind whisper in my ears and flow through me filling my every sense, breathing life once more into my soul.
Just for today I shall truly live, making the best of everything, because I know as the sets and sleeps, so shall I.
I will be there once more to watch the last ray of the sun one day it may never awaken me. Just for today I will live.

— Laurah Lynn

How to properly clean gadgets

Without ruining them in the process

No matter how clean a house you keep, computers and gadgets are bound to get a little dirty here and there. Here is how to clean them well:

1. Monitor: White vinegar

LCD screens are pretty delicate, so do not press hard on them, because that can burn out the pixels. Instead, turn the monitor off (so you can better see the dirty spots), and grab a dry micro fibre cloth. Just gently wipe the screen. If the monitor is filthier, resist the urge to press hard and wet the cloth with a 50:50 mix of water and white vinegar. If possible, use distilled water instead of tab water. Do not use anything paper-based, like paper towel, Kleenex, or toilet paper, since they can scratch your monitor. Remember never to spray any liquid on the monitor itself—always spray it on the cloth first.

2. Mouse: Water or alcohol

Most mice do not need to be opened up to be cleaned. Just turn the mouse over and take a cotton swab to the rubber pads, wetting it with water or alcohol if necessary. For all the mouse buttons, use some alcohol on a cotton swab to rub away dirt and grime. Also, remember to turn off or unplug the mouse before cleaning.

3. Touch screen gadgets: Water and vinegar

The best cleaner for a touch screen device is a 50:50 mix of distilled water and vinegar. Touch screens are a bit more resilient than LCD monitors, so you can press a bit harder if you have a particularly stubborn spot. Just like everything else, use a micro fibre cloth and spray the cloth with a small amount of liquid, not the screen, before wiping it down.

4. Keyboard: Compressed air and alcohol

If your keyboard is only mildly dirty, do two things: blow some compressed air in between the keys and clean dirty keys with a swab of rubbing alcohol to remove oil, grime, and germs. If the keyboard is rather disgusting, though, pop out the keys and really dig in with a toothbrush. — Agencies

Power of listening: Way to peace

We express our behaviour either in a positive or negative manner. Because of our positivity, we are steady, patient, calm, and consistent. The negativity, on the other hand, makes us rude, angry, imbalanced and inconsistent. Due to the absence of positive thoughts, we sometimes avoid listening to others, as a result of which we fail to understand them fully.

If we want to be good communicators, then we should develop the skill of listening to others first, otherwise we will not get the feedback of the communication process which is forced to become one way communication and that is as good as no communication.

There are a number of examples we get to read, or hear regarding misunderstandings happening between people, leading to severe conflicts between them. These conflicts happen simply due to lack of listening to the other party, which is the root of all the misunderstandings.

So how can one become a good listener?

The simplest way to be one is to consciously discard all the negative traits one has within oneself and start looking at everything positive around us. In short, if we want to be happy in life, then we must sportingly take whatever odd comes in our way. Else, it will become very difficult to adjust in this hi-tech modern life, that will lead to non-adjustment to the present environment which is beyond our control. Due to all this, no one else but we ourselves will be the worse sufferers.

So, why suffer? Why not enjoy our precious life which we get only once? So remember, first listen patiently and sincerely to everyone who talks to you, and later act using your own conscience and the power of ‘listening’ wisely.

Editor’s note: Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji is a writer at www.brahmakumaris.com and can be reached at nikunjji@brahmakumaris.in.

Our worth

A speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked. “Who would like this $20 bill?

Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you – but first, let me do this.”

He proceeded to crumple the 20 dollar note up. He then asked. “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he replied, “what if I do this?” He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. “Now, who still wants it?”

Still the hands went into the air.

“My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or creased, you are priceless to those who love you. The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do or who we know, but by …WHO WE ARE.

“You are special — don’t ever forget it.”

Mistakes to avoid

One of the hardest challenges we face in life is to live in our own skin — to just be right here, right now, regardless of where we are. Too often we needlessly distract ourselves with anything and everything to keep us from being fully present in the current moment.

We use compulsive work, compulsive exercise, compulsive love affairs, and the like, to escape from ourselves and the realities of living. Many of us will go to great lengths to avoid the feeling of being alone in an undistracted environment. So we succumb to hanging-out with just about anybody to avoid the feeling of solitude. For being alone means dealing with our true feelings: fear, anxiety, happiness, anger, joy, resentment, disappointment, anticipation, sadness, excitement, despair, and so on and so forth.

And it doesn’t really matter if our feelings are positive or negative — they are overwhelming and exhausting, and so we prefer to numb ourselves to them. The bottom line is that every one of us is an addict, and what we are addicted to is avoiding ourselves. Acknowledging this addiction is the first step to healing it.

Here are eight reason so many of us miss out on life as it’s happening.

1. The fear of missing out

If you feel anxious because you constantly feel like you’re missing out on something happening somewhere else, you’re not alone. We all feel this way sometimes. But you could run around trying to do everything, and travel around the world, and always stay connected, and work and party all night long without sleep, but you could never do it all. You will always be missing something. So let it go, and realise you have everything right now. The best in life isn’t somewhere else; it’s right where you are, at this moment.

2. Avoiding pain and defeat

Not to spoil the ending for you, but everything is going to be okay — you just need to learn a lesson or two first. Don’t run from the realities of the present moment. The pain and defeat contained within is necessary to your long-term growth. Remember, there is a difference between encountering defeats and being defeated. Nothing ever goes away until it teaches you what you need to know, so you can move on to the next step.

3. Holding on to what’s no longer there

Some of us spend the vast majority of our lives recounting past memories, and letting them steer the course of the present. Don’t waste your time trying to live in another time and place. Let the past, go. You must accept the end of something in order to begin to build something new. So close some old doors today. Not because of pride, inability or egotism, but simply because you’ve entered each one of them in the past and realise that they lead to nowhere.

4. Retelling a self-defeating story

If we continue to repeat a story in our head, we eventually believe that story and embrace it — whether it empowers us or not. So the question is: Does your story empower you? Don’t place your mistakes on your mind, their weight may crush your current potential. Instead, place them under your feet and use them as a platform to view the horizon. Remember, all things are difficult before they are easy. What matters the most is what you start doing now.

5. Attempting to fit in by becoming someone else

The hardest battle you’re ever going to fight is the battle to be you, just the way you are in this moment. We cannot find ourselves if we are always searching for, or morphing into, someone else. In this crazy world that’s trying to make you like everyone else, find the courage to keep being your awesome self. Be your own kind of beautiful right now, in the way only you know how.

6. The picture in your head of how it’s supposed to be

What often screws us up the most in life is the picture in our head of how it’s supposed to be. Although every good thing has an end, in life every ending is just a new beginning. Life goes on — not always the way we had envisioned it would be, but always the way it’s supposed to be. Remember, we usually can’t choose the music life plays for us, but we can choose how we dance to it.

7. Berating yourself for not being perfect

Don’t be too hard on yourself. There are plenty of people willing to do that for you. Do your best and surrender the rest. Tell yourself, “I am doing the best I can with what I have in this moment. And that is all I can expect of anyone, including me.” Love yourself and be proud of everything that you do, even your mistakes. Because even mistakes mean you’re trying.

8. Waiting, and waiting some more

Stop waiting for tomorrow; you will never get today back. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past. It doesn’t matter how low or unworthy you feel right now. The simple fact that you’re alive makes you worthy. Life is too short for excuses. Stop settling. Stop procrastinating step forward. If you are not sure exactly which way to go, it is always wise to follow your heart. — Agencies

Heaven or hell, friends do matter the most

An old man and his dog were walking along a road when it occurred to the man that he had died. He remembered dying.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall. It looked like fine marble. He saw a magnificent gate and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He saw someone sitting at a beautifully caved desk off to one side.

He called out, “Excuse me, but is this heaven?”

“Yes, it is, sir.”

“Wow! Would you happen to have some water?”

“Of course, sir. Come right in.”

“I assume my friend can come in…” the man said, gesturing toward his dog.

But the reply was, “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t accept pets.”

The main turned back toward the road. After another long walk, he reached the top of another hill, and he came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate. There was no fence, and it looked as if the gate had never been closed. He saw a man just inside.

“Excuse me!” he called, “Do you have any water?”

“Yeah, sure, there’s a pump over there,” the man said “How about my friend here?” the traveler gestured to the dog.

“He’s welcome too, and there’s a bowl by the pump,” he said.

The man filled the bowl for his dog, and then took a long drink himself.

“What do you call this place?” the traveler asked.

“This is heaven.”

“Well, that’s confusing,” the traveler said. “There’s another man who said that place was heaven.”

“Nope. That’s hell.”

“Doesn’t it offend you for them to use the name of heaven like that?”

“No. It actually saves us a lot of time. They screen out the people who are willing to leave their best friends behind.”

BlackBerry: 4 Apps to Avoid

BlackBerry has some applications that are plan useless

BlackBerry (BB) promises a variety of apps in its BlackBerry App World. Like Android and iOS, these apps can come with or without a price, and choosing and buying apps must be done with caution and planning. There are apps out there that are just plainly useless:

1. Girls Night Out Solitaire:

This is basically a game of solitaire, but what makes it different is the posh features. There are girly touches like martini glasses and high heels. The app also has FreeCell and Klondike with an additional Concentration clone. There is no use paying USD five for an app with ‘girlfriends’ who tell users what to do.

2. AutoTimeZone:

The AutoTimeZone app lets users choose the option of automatically changing the BB’s time anywhere they go. The app looks for your current location through GPS and sets the time accordingly. However, this function is common in BB phones. Once the phone connects itself in a given time zone, it automatically sets the time, even without the help of this app. There is no reason to pay USD 10 for it.

3. Massage Therapy for BlackBerry:

This app lets your unit vibrate on the area you wish to massage. It comes with degrees of intensity. Although with good intentions, are users willing to pay as much as USD three for this? The instruction is vague and the app is just bland. The 37 KB required storage for this app is probably its best feature.

4. Bright Smile:

This app helps you brush your teeth effectively. The app provides a stopwatch that lets users devote good time to brush. But would users pay USD five to only use the phone’s stopwatch? The sad things is you need to have 500 KB for an app that teaches you how to brush. — Agencies

When to Say No to Your Boss

Your manager comes to you in a panic and asks you to fill in for Satish. Your first thought is, “Why me?” Yet, despite your frustration, you smile and say, “No problem.” Your boss in making the request, after all, so refusal is not an option. Right?

Not necessarily. In some cases, “Sorry, I can’t” may actually be the most appropriate response. Dubious about this claim? Here are some examples of situations in which it might make sense to say no and suggestions for how to turn down the boss diplomatically.

Handling deadline of colleague

The situation: Whenever a colleague falls short on an important assignment, your supervisor looks to you to save the day. Initially, being the go-to person was flattering. But having to constantly step in at the last minute is forcing you to put in extra hours so you can get your own work done.

The solution: If your boss is in a bind and needs your help, stepping up is the right thing to do and can earn you valuable bonus points. Above all, you don’t want to leave her hanging. However, if these situations arise regularly, to the point where they begin to interfere with your regular assignments, you may need to start pushing back.

Refusing to lend a hand in a crisis will only make you look bad. The next time your boss approaches you seeking emergency assistance, you might say, “Of course — I’ll help. But, as you know, I’ve had to cover for others a lot lately, and it’s affecting my other work. Once we get through this project, can we talk about how to better accommodate these types of requests in the future?”

Unreasonable deadline

The situation: Your supervisor has just asked you to complete something you know you can’t deliver in the desired timeframe. But you realise you’re the best person for the task, and you don’t want to disappoint your boss. The gears in your mind start whirring furiously, “Maybe if I push these other assignments to the back burner, skip this afternoon’s meeting and work overtime, I could make it happen. At least, I think so.”

The solution: Stop. If it will take moving the stars and the moon to meet a deadline, you need to have a conversation with your manager. Tell your manager, “I’m happy to work on this, but I’m worried about the deadline you set. Is there any flexibility there?” Then, explain why you feel the timing will be problematic.

Working late again

The situation: The boss in Office Space asks his employees to work ridiculous hours, and it’s a running joke in the film. However, in real life, when your manager has the same expectation, it’s not so amusing.

The solution: Most professionals understand that there will be times when they must stay late, come in early or take work home to meet key deadlines and objectives. But when these requests become routine, you should speak up. Putting in extra hours every day can quickly lead to burnout.

You might say to your manager, “I know we’re all working a lot of extra time. I must be honest, though, and tell you that these hours are becoming difficult for me to maintain. Will we need to keep this pace much longer? If so, could we talk about ways that might help me achieving a better work/life balance during this period?” — Agencies

Peer Pressure

Written by Carl Sandburg

“Come on! It’s Friday. There is a new release so we’re going to the movies. EVERYONE is bunking college. Let’s go!” says the coolest kid in your class. Do you do what you know is right and go to college. Or do you give in and go with your friends.

As you grow older you will face many such challenging decisions. Some may not have clear right or wrong answer like what subject to study or college to go to? Or some may have serious moral issue like lie to your parents and teachers; take your first puff of cigarette, get involved in physical relationship. Making decisions on your own is difficult. People who are of your own age, like your classmates are called peer. When they try to influence you how to act, to get you to do something, it’s called peer pressure.

Why do people fall victim to peer pressure

• Some people suffer from low self-esteem and confidence.
• The need to be liked by others, to fit in the group or to avoid being a laughing stock.
• Sense of curiosity to try something new that others are doing.
• The idea that “everyone’s doing it” and it is alright.

Walking away from peer pressure

• Be confident about your individuality. As said beautifully by Lydia Maria Child-Nature made us individuals as she did flowers and pebbles. Don’t be scared to be different.
• Listen to your inner feelings and the sense of right and wrong and BE FIRM.
• Choose your friends carefully. Find someone who can say NO too.
• Don’t hesitate to share your problem. Don’t feel guilty if you’ve made a mistake or two. TALK to someone you trust.
• Parents and teachers or school counselor can be very helpful.

However peer pressure cannot be a bad influence all the time. Kid read books, join sports clubs because their friends are involved in them. Always remember:

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

Via: The Voice of Eagle, Volume 1, Issue 1, October 2012.

Keep a Time Log, Feel Free

Are you always busy, busy, busy? Do you tell people you worked 60 hours a week and claim to sleep six hours a night? As you lament to anyone stuck next to you at parties, you might be basically too busy to breathe? Do you want to work just 45 hours a week and sleep close to eight hours a night? Doing so you will not get any less done.

The secret behind it is to keep track of how you spend your time. We all have the same 168 hours per week — a few people contemplate even as they talk about 24X7 job — but since time passes whether you acknowledge it or not, you seldom think through exactly how you are spending your hours. Owning up to how you are spend your hours gives you more control of your time, and ultimately, of your lives.

Here’s how to do it —

Keep a time log

If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you may have tried keeping a food journal. Like tracking meals, tracking time keeps you from spending it mindlessly or lying to yourself about what you do with it. Write down what you’re doing as often as you remember for at least a week. Add up the totals. Checking Facebook five times a day at six minutes a pop adds up to two-and-a-half hours in a workweek.

Be honest

While Americans claim to sleep six to seven hours per night, time logs show that they sleep more than eight. One study tracking people’s estimated and actual work-weeks found that those claiming to work 70, 80, or more hours week logging less than 60. Ask yourself what you’d like to do with your time. Claiming to be busy relieves us of the burden of choice. But if you’re working 50 hours a week, and sleeping eight hours a night (56 per week) that leaves 62 hours for other things. That’s plenty of hours for a family life and a personal life — exercising, volunteering, sitting on the porch with the paper, plus watching TV if you like. Set goals — maybe three hours of exercise and swapping out two hours of TV for reading — and see where in your 168 hours you could make that happen.

Changing your language

Instead of saying “I don’t have time” try saying “it’s not a priority”. Often, that’s a perfectly adequate explanation — “I have time to iron my sheets, I just want to”. But other things are harder. Try it — “I’m not going to edit your résumé, sweetie, because it’s not a priority”, “I don’t go to the doctor because my health is not a priority”. If these phrases don’t sit well, that’s the point. Changing your language reminds you that time is a choice. If you don’t like how your are spending an hour, you can choose differently. — Agencies

Bucket list: Too individualistic?

Skydiving and swimming with dolphins are just two popular items on the lists of things people want to do before it’s too late. But are they facing up to death — or merely in denial? Kira Cochrane reports

In 1940, when John Goddard was 15, he made a list of everything he wanted to achieve. There were 127 goals in all, which included: visit every country in the world; explore the Great Barrier Reef; watch a cremation ceremony in Bali; milk a poisonous snake; and visit the Moon. Some goals were bundled together. Number 113, for example, reads: “Become proficient in the use of a plane, motorcycle, tractor, surfboard, rifle, pistol, canoe, microscope, football, basketball, bow and arrow, lariat and boomerang.” There is a tick beside this one, marking it as done, as there is beside 109 of those original goals. And in the years since, he has set himself hundreds more, writing them down as a form of commitment.

Goddard’s Life List, which featured in the Chicken Soup for the Soul self-help franchise, is one of the inspirations cited by people who have created what are now more usually called bucket lists. The phrase derives from ‘kick the bucket’, a term for death, with unclear origins, but which quite likely relates to the bucket kicked away at a hanging. It was popularised by the 2007 film The Bucket List, in which characters played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman meet in a cancer ward, then race around the world, packing in experiences. As in that story, some people start these lists when diagnosed with incurable illnesses, and in those cases the goals often seem to have a deeper, much more personal flavour.

On September 25, for instance, it was reported that former PR executive Simon Mitchell, who has a cancer of the blood, has been pursuing a list that involves helping other people, using his professional contacts to set up meetings between seriously ill children and the stars they admire.

But the trend goes much wider. Bill Clinton, Jane Fonda Cameron Diaz have spoken of having a list. A man who had camped overnight for an iPhone 5 said that specific experience was included on his. And it was also reported Megan Stammers, the 15-year-old girl thought to be in France with her maths teacher, had posted her own extensive list online. The last entry, fall in love, had been crossed off.

There are no end of websites for those wanting to compile and share their ambitions, with a whole industry having formed around the notion of cramming in eye-popping, hedonic experiences before you die: sky-diving, mountain climbing, throwing tomatoes at the Tomatina festival in Spain and meeting pop stars. On bucketlist.org someone proclaims their ambition to hold a baby white tiger; on bucketlist.net there are plans to fly in a hot-air balloon. A series of books lists the 1,001 films you should see, the 1,001 albums you should listen to, all the paintings and natural wonders you must catch, in order to be fulfilled before death. And while this approach can sound quite the opposite of fulfillment, an endless striving for satisfaction, that hasn’t stopped people’s wild enthusiasm.

Are bucket lists really a good idea? It can be useful to have defined goals, of course, but the lists seem to encourage a strange blend of highly individualised behaviour and conformity, a situation in which everyone is hurtling, alone, towards similar goals. The psychotherapist Philippa Perry suggests, laughingly, that they might actually have been started “as a brilliant PR stunt by somebody who was selling swimming with dolphins”.

There’s a consumerist, acquisitive vibe to many of the lists, with the experience they replicate being the writing of a shopping list, says Perry. Instead of building on what you already have, “to make a good life,” she continues, “it’s really an attempt to fill an existential void”.

There’s also an innate air of competition to bucket lists, of striving to best yourself — but also others. In some ways it’s no surprise that they have risen in popularity in an age when we are all encouraged to brand ourselves, to treat our Facebook pages as a shop window for our achievement-rich lives. Psychologist Linda Blair, who is writing a book called The Key to Calm, to help people deal with stress and anxiety, says chasing big experiences is worthwhile if you enjoy the whole process. “Saving up the money, planning it with friends, and then the moment as well. I’m all for that,” she says. “But if you’re constantly living in the future, ignoring what’s going on right now because you’re shooting for goals, which happen so quickly that they’re over, and then you have to chase another one, you’re not really living.”

Could they be a useful way of dealing with the inevitability of death? Blair doesn’t think so. “It’s a way of denying the idea of death, not coping with it at all … People usually do this to ensure that there are things to look forward to, which means there are things that are still going to happen … My experience warns me that it’s probably done in order to prevent thinking about death.” Perry sees it as a way of dealings “with how to pass the time. I think it’s a way of trying to generate some excitement.

“What we should be doing in our bucket lists,” Perry says, “is learning how to be open with our own vulnerabilities so that we can form connections with other human beings … I think, for me, what’s wrong with the bucket list is that it’s individualistic — the idea of the isolated self goes very deep in Western society — and I think it’s a red herring … It’s a distraction from the business of being human. We don’t all like swimming with dolphins but we are all made to connect to each other. That’s the really fun things to do before you die.” — The Guardian

Best practices for Gmail

Understand its core features to keep communication organised and efficient

Gmail is one of the most popular email services. Whether you use it for personal communication, work, or both, get more out of it by understanding how its core features work.

1. Message threads: Keep the threads intact as long as they do not deviate off topic. When they change topic, start a new thread simply by changing the subject line when you reply. You do not have to start a whole new message. All the recipients will be included in the new thread, and the history of the communication will still be archived within the message itself, under the ellipsis ‘show trimmed content’.

2. Labels: Think of labels more like tags. Use labels in Gmail liberally because they are not substitute for folders, but rather away to categorise or tag items and make them more searchable. Power users should explore the Settings area to configure more advanced labeling attributes. For example, you can set up rules or filters to divert certain kinds of mail to a label, and have that label show up in your left pane only when it contains unread messages.

3. Archive: When you tell Gmail to archive a message or thread, all it does is remove the ‘inbox’ label so that the message disappears from immediate view. Any other labels attached to that message remain. For most messages in Gmail, archiving is preferable to deleting. You should delete mail that you do not need, but if there is a doubt, just archive it. It is much easier to retrieve.

4. Bulk actions: Gmail gives you the ability to select a whole lot of messages in a single shot to perform some operation on them in bulk. First, use a label or search term to get all the messages you want to perform an action on. They may not all fit on a single screen, but you will see an indication that there are more pages of content off to the right. Next, select the empty checkmark box at the top and to the left of the achieve button. Next, select the empty checkmark box at the top and to the left of the achieve button. Finally, look for an underlined bit of text toward the top saying, ‘Select all conversations that match this search’ and click that link. Limit bulk actions to no more than 1,000 messages. — Agencies

You can’t

Catherine Pratt tells you why you shouldn’t listen to this

I love inspirational stories from people who have achieved things by following their dreams no matter what. Imagine what a different world it would be it there was no Walt Disney, no Star Wars, no Beethoven symphonies. These have all been created by people who faced numerous rejections yet refused to listen to the negative people who said, ‘you can’t’.

Francis O’Dea:

You’ve probably never heard of Francis O’Dea but if you live in Canada, you’re probably very familiar with the coffee house company, ‘Second Cup’.

Francis grew up in Toronto, was sexually abused at age 13 and around that time starting drinking. Life quickly went downhill and before long he was homeless. He had to beg for change in order to survive. For six months he lived on the streets with no clue as to what he wanted to do or how to get out of his current situation. Happily, today Francis O’Dea is a multi millionaire. As he says, “One year I was broke, the next year I was a millionaire.”

He changed his life by focusing on what he wanted. He got a job and slowly started to turn his life around.

Four years later he opened a little coffee shop and called it ‘Second Cup’. Second Cup is now of the largest Coffee Shop chains in Canada.

Wayne Gretzky:

Wayne Gretzky has been quoted as saying, “It’s kind of ironic when I broken in at 17, I was told I was too small, too slow and I wouldn’t make the NHL.” He’s now recognized as one of the greatest hockey players ever.

George Lucas:

George Lucas spent four years shipping the script for Star Wars around to the various studios and racking up numerous rejections in the process. If he’d let his negative inner voice get to him he would never have ended up having the highest grossing film of all time.

Einstein:

He was considered an “unteachable” fool by his early teachers.

Michael Jordan:

He was cut from high school basketball team. Jordan quote, “I’ve failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.”

Bob Parsons:

Founder and CEO of GoDaddy.com. If you read his blog posting you’ll see that he overcame a lot in pursuit of his dream. He definitely was not an overnight success and experienced a lot of failure on the way. But, he kept his vision in his mind at all times and says, “I spent very little time looking back or feeling sorry for myself.” Another awesome quote from the article is, “Quitting is easy. The easiest thing to do in the world is to quit and give up on your dreams (and quite frankly, that’s what all the non-risk takers want you to do).”

Beethoven:

Beethoven’s music teacher told him he was a hopeless composer.

Colonel Sanders (creator of Kentucky Fried Chicken):

He was told “No” by over a thousand restaurants for more than a year while he lived in his car trying to sell his chicken recipe.

Thomas Edison:

He’s actually known as one of the most prolific inventors in history holding 1,093 US patents as well as a lot of patents in the UK, France and Germany. When Thomas was four he was sent home from school with a note. The note told his mother that she was to remove her son from school because he was “too stupid to learn”. Thomas’ mother decided to teach him herself. He only had three months of formal schooling yet went on to create numerous inventions like the phonograph. He was also partially deaf in one ear.

Walt Disney:

He was turned down by over a hundred banks when he tried to get funding to develop Disneyland. He was also fired from job at a newspaper for “lacking ideas”. He also had several bankruptcies before he was able to develop Disneyland.

Fred Astaire:

he kept a memo over his fireplace from an MGM testing director after his first screen test that said, “Can’t act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.”

Louisa May Alcott:

Author of Little Women, was encouraged by her family to be a servant or seamstress.

Enid Blyton:

She is a British author who was rejected by publishers 1,000 times. She wrote Noddy, The Famous Five, The Five Find-Outers, The Mystery Series, The Adventure Series, The Secret Seven, Malory Towers, The St Clare’s series, The Magic Faraway Tree series, The Wishing-Chair series, and hundreds of other books for children.

Enrico Caruso:

This famous opera singer was told by his teacher that he had no voice at all and couldn’t sing.

Richard Bach:

The author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull was turned down by 18 publishers before finally in 1970, MacMillan published it. By 1975, this book had sold more than 7 million copies in the US.

Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield:

These are the authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. They were turned down by 50 book publishers before somebody finally agreed to take a chance. They have since sold over 75 million copies.

Lou Ferrigno:

Most well known for his role on the TV show, The Incredible Hulk, as a child, Lou developed an ear infection which would result in partial but permanent hearing loss. His father was critical of and negative towards him due to his hearing disability. His father believed that he would never achieve success. Yet, he went on to become the youngest bodybuilder ever to win the Mr Universe title at the age of 20. Ferrigno quote: “If I hadn’t lost my hearing, I wouldn’t be where I am now. It forced me to maximise my potential. I had to be better than the average person to succeed. That’s why I chose bodybuilding. If I become a world champion, if I could win admiration from my peers, I could do anything.”

Stephen Hawking:

Well known for his ground breaking ideas on the laws that govern the universe, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease when he was 21. He was never let this disease stop him from following his passion and achieving a life of happiness.

Og Mandino:

Is a bestselling author of inspirational books. Before he became a well known author, he was addicted to alcohol. One day, after a long night of drinking, he bought a gun from a pawnshop for $3. He thought this might be the way to end all of his problems but he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. He wandered aimlessly for awhile before he ended up in a library. There he decided to transform himself and managed to completely change his life. From being able to change his own life he has gone on to help many others.

George Orwell:

Most well known for his two books Animal Farm and 1984. Animal Farm was rejected by a number of publishers including one who told him that it was “impossible to sell animal stories in the USA.” By 1996, Animal Farm had sold 20,000,000 copies and had been translated into 60 languages.

Muggsy Bogues:

The smallest player in NBA history. He’s only 5’3”. Who’s says you have to be tall to play basketball?

Become a good communicator

Many of us haven’t been trained in how to communicate with co-workers and clients. Here are some tips to help you become a better communicator:

Listen: It’s impossible to understand what someone needs or wants if we don’t give them our undivided attention.

Pay attention to body language: Is your co-worker saying she can meet a deadline, but wringing her hands while she says it? She might be afraid to tell you it be hard to make it.

Consider communication preference: Email works for some, but others would rather pick up the phone and talk, text, or even use social media or instant messaging to relay something. Respect the person you’re trying to contact and use the method she seems to prefer.

Consider your tone: Make sure your language is clear. Better yet, meet in person so nothing is misconstrued.

Don’t be too casual: Getting along with your work colleagues can help you do your job better, but don’t take it too far in your communication on the job.

Check your grammar: Always proof read anything you type—be it an email, Tweet, or letter.

Keep criticism constructive: Provide positive reinforcement when a job is well-done, and find ways to add in tips for improvement without being “that boss.”

Restate what you hear: Rephrasing what your co-worker or boss says to means you are listening and understand what you were told.

Get a little personal: Find ways to interact on a personal level without going too far.

Never stop improving: Effective communication is a skill you must practice. Observe how others respond to you to clue you in on areas for improvement. — Agencies

Seasons and reasons: Those in our lives

People always come into your life for a reason, a season and a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

When someone is in your life for a ‘reason’, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, or to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually. They may seem like a godsend to you, and they are. They are there for a reason, you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die, sometimes they just walk away. Sometimes they act up for out and force you to take a stand.

What we most realise is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

When people come into your life for a ‘season’, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season. And like spring turns to summer and summer to fall, the season eventually ends.

‘Lifetime’, relationships teach you a lifetime of lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway), and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas in your life.