Benjamin Franklin’s Principles

In the year 1723, a 17 year-old boy arrived in Philadelphia without a penny to his name. At age 42, he retired, wealthy. Few men, before or since have ever been as successful as Benjamin Franklin. He gave credit for his many inventions and business successes to this list of some principles. Each of them should be practiced in order so that all of them become a habit in your life. They’ll work as well today as they did then.

• Temperance: Eat not dullness; drink not to elevation.

• Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself, avoid trifling conversation.

• Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have it’s time.

• Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

• Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; waste nothing.

• Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut of all unnecessary actions.

• Sincerity: Use no harmful deceit; think innocently and justly; and if you speak, speak accordingly.

• Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

• Moderation: Avoid extremes; forebear-resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

• Cleanliness: Don’t tolerate, uncleanliness in body, clothes or habitation.

• Tranquillity: Be not disturbed at trifles, nor at accidents.

• Chastity: Be chaste in matters with the opposite sex.

• Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Instagram Versus Vine

Make short form video work for you

By Ken Subedi, Kathmandu

Instagram launched a glorious feature called video to be edited with image stabilisation. What does this step mean for Vine? The competion gives users adequato excitement wheather you are a Vine freak or Instagram loyalist. Instagram attracts people who document their feet, coffees and pets, whereas Vine has been pleasing users who are pleased by the objections made in the app.

Instagram’s video offering is just as good as its photo offering due to its photo offering due to its filters, longer video lemgth, stability technology and already ingrained user behaviour. Vine videos are nearly 6.5 seconds long. Twitter specific Vine determines that its length is perfect for video consumption and also makes the creator to think out of the box so as to tell the story concisely. Instagram video lasts for 15 seconds, which could feel lengthr for the viewer but for the creator it can be spacious.

There are many similarities in both platforms, like allowing to shoot multiple, disjoint clips, and string them together. Instagram lets users delete the last clip they shot in a series to recover the bad take. You can remove the most recent clip taken. However, Vine does not let you edit at all. Both Instagram and Vine will not let you take video from your camera roll. Both demand that you shoot Vine-able or Instagramable video through their own respective apps. However, Vined or Instagramed clips will be instantly saved to the camera roll for later camera and let you switch back and forth between front- and rear-facing cameras while taking snaps.

Instagram’s cinema feature helps to stablise video shot within the app. Vine does not have such feature. In case of sharing options, Instagram tops Vine. Vine lets you share to Vine, Facebook (FB), and Twitter whereas Instagram lets you share videos to FB, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, foursquare and even through e-mail. As Twitter’s video service, Vine has Twitter’s full card support allowing Vines display right in your Twitter stream. Geo-tagging of locations can be done in both apps but it is only Instagram that offers a photomap that lets you surf users’ photos based on location.

Both Vine and Instagram will auto play videos but Instagram will auto play videos but Instagram makes you two-second buffer wait before it plays. Vine is more rapid, maybe due to its short length. There is no option for silencing video in both the apps.

The author is the technical writer at www.thinkdigitalworld.com and Living with ICT. He can be reached at kengb1@gmail.com.

Tales That Teach

Doing nothing

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing?”

The eagle answered, “Sure, why not.”

So the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Bullshit treatment

A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I’d love to be able to get to the top of the tree,” sighed the turkey, “But I haven’t got the energy.”

“Why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull. “They’re packed with nutrients.”

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story: Bull shit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

Quick move

One hot day, an ant was searching for some water. She came to a spring.

To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass. While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water. She could have drowned if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her.

The dove quickly plucked off a leaf and dropped it into the water near the struggling ant. The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up there. Soon it carried her safety to dry ground.

Just then a hunter was throwing out his net towards the dove to trap it. Guessing what he was about to do, the ant quickly bit him on the heel. Feeling the pain, the hunter dropped his net. The dove was quick to fly away to safety.

Moral of the story: One good turn deserves another.

Bad company

Finding that cranes were destroying his corn, a farmer set a net in his field to catch the destructive birds. When he went to examine the net next morning he found a number of cranes and also a stork.

“Release me, I beseech you,” cried the stork, “for I have eaten none of your corn, nor have I done you any harm. I am a poor innocent stork, as you may see, a most dutiful bird, I honour my father and mother. I…”

But the farmer cut him short. “All this may be true enough, but I have caught you with those were destroying my crops, and you must suffer with the company in which you are found.”

Moral of the story: People are judged by the company they keep.

A purpose

Two men were walking one summer day. Seeing a tree nearby, they decided to rest in its shade. Gazing up into the branches one man said to the other, “What a useless tree this sis. It does not have fruit or nuts that we can eat and we cannot even use its wood for anything.”

“Don’t be so ungrateful,” rustled the tree in reply. “I am being extremely useful to you at this very moment, shielding you from the hot sun. And you call me a good-for-nothing!”

Moral of the story: All of God’s creations have a good purpose.

Futile advising fools

On a mango tree in a jungle, there lived many birds. Before the onset of the rainy season, all the animals repaired their homes.The birds also made their homes more secure. “We should also store some food for our children,” chirped one bird. And they collected food, until they had enough to see them through the rainy season. Soon the rain came. All the animals and birds stayed in their homes. One day, a monkey came into the forest. He sat on a branch, shivering with cold.

“Brrr! It is so cold!” said the monkey.

The birds felt sorry for the monkey but there was little they could do for him. One of them said, “Brother! Our small nests are not enough to give you shelter.”

Another said, “All of us prepared for the rainy season. If you had, you would not be in this situation.”

“How dare you tell me what to do?” said the monkey. He angrily pounced on the bird’s nest, tore it and threw it on the ground.

Moral of the story: Fools never value good advice. It is better not to advice. It is better not to advise them.

Morality: Must But Difficult

Morality — the word sounds good, but it can neither be imposed upon anyone or even be cultivated by anyone, due to its intrinsic quality. But one can definitely develop a healthy sense of morality from childhood itself with the help of some essential elements and an active role played by the parents.

If parents are honest, kind-hearted, educated and disciplined, their progeny are likely to have similar qualities. A mother with good sanskars would give birth to a quality child. She could play the most vital role in building her child’s character. A mother should never have an illusion that some institution will later on teach everything to her child. In fact, it is her prime duty to cultivate good values and habits in her child because childhood is the best time to sow seeds. Hence, mothers should sow good seeds in their children with the help of good teachers who are a friend, philosopher and guide for the students.

One of the most important elements in developing morality is the practice of meditation. We find in all religions that some fixed time is set aside for prayers daily. We should, therefore, form this habit in our children to devote some time daily for prayer or mediation, because it brings about a great change in our lives and helps us understand what is right and what is wrong to navigate our lives in the right direction. One must always remember that all materials around us are transitory and will perish in due course, but the fruits of our deeds will remain forever.

Morality emerges from deep within where all can’t reach as we habituated to operate from the surface. Through meditation one can easily realise this ultimate truth and conquer greed, pride, anger, lust and decorate oneself with divine virtues and reach the highest peak of purity and morality causing all round transformation.

Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji, the author can be contacted through nikunjji@brahmakumaris.in, www.brahmakumaris.com.

Must-Have Skills for Managers

Let us face it — what is trending now is constant change, added responsibilities and rising expectations. To stay alive, you have to increase your flexibility, expand your skills and close gaps. You need to become a multi-dimensional go-to person. In short, you must invest in yourself and your people. These six critical skill sets core competencies that are initial to your success.

1. Management and leadership skills: To set prior-ities, delegate, motivate and develop your people, coach them to become top performers and communicate objectives and goals.

2. Communication skills: To get your point across, create a compelling presentation to support your goals and get buy-in for ideas, inspire others to achieve better results and demonstrate emotional intelligence.

3. Collaboration skills: So you can value and celebrate differences, build rapport, form alliances and negotiate effectively.

4. Critical thinking skills: To approach problem solving logically, research options, avoid biases and focus on meaningful data to draw the right conclusions — even under pressure.

5. Finance skills: To weigh the financial implications of your decisions — including the ability to build a sound budget and form-ulate reasonable forecasts.

6. Project management skills: To grasp the scope and objectives of projects, recognise the roles and responsibilities of others and use project management tools to stay on track and become an effective member of a cross-functional team. — Agencies

An Age of Giants

As we move towards a more technological future, the idea of big screen seems to entice us more and more. First, phones started boasting big touch screens, and the next big thing in technology turned out to be thin and portable tablet computers that boasted bigger screens with higher resolutions. These devices used the same mobile operating system as smartphones and ran the same kind of applications; but the larger screen area made it much easier and convenient to interact with. Nowadays, tablets have turned into an ordinary piece of technology that entices us all. And with the coming of Microsoft’s Windows 8 and its dynamic touch-screen support, tablet computing just turns out to be the next big thing in mobile computing.

With the huge commercial success of Apple’s iPad, many mobile and computer manufacturing companies jumped into this whole new market. There are many different tablets in the market to choose from nowadays, and settling for one might just be harder than you think.

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Here, we review some of the better options that you can choose from.

Amazon Kindle Fire

To put it simply, the Amazon Kindle is an amazing tablets that offers some amazing specs. The Kindle weighs light on your wallet and yet offers the performance of a 1.5GHz Dual Core Processor. The Kindle Fire coming from a long line of e-book readers offers a stellar screen that feels warm and comfortable to look at while indulging in a book or watching a movie. The Fire also comes equipped with one of the best media libraries in the market while working within a highly comfortable user-interface. The tablets also offers a clean strong feel with a glossy smooth front and a nice matte finish on that back that offers a good grip to the tablet.

What works against this tablet is the connection to the Amazon store that feels a bit sluggish at times, and as a new contender to the mobile app store, it offers limited availability to applications.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z

It wasn’t long ago that Sony took out their amazing waterproof phone, the Sony Xperia Z. Now, further, Sony has equipped the same technology into a thin light tablet with the same name. The tablet comes with a beautiful Full-HD10.1 display that may not compete with many of the other tablets out there but Sony seems to make up for with their Bravia Engine that provides a crisp and colorful display. Just like the Sony Xperia Z, its Tablet counterpart is also resistant to water. The tablet is also a beauty to look at with the lightest and thinnest body on the tablet today and also comes with a wonderful keyboard.

The downside to this tablet would be the battery that gives average battery life while taking forever to charge.

FuhuNabi2

In today’s technological age, kids love to play with cellphones or computers. And now, with the coming of tablet computers, these devices have turned into children’s favorites. But most of the tablets in the market are too expensive or either too fragile to be handled by children.

The FuhuNabi 2, however, is designed for use by children with a robust design protected by a durable rubber bumper that can handle a few drops. The tablet also comes with very easy to use parental controls and stellar hardware that runs on NvidiaTegra3 Processor, so kids can now enjoy running amok on their tablets, and the good part about this tablet is that it comes for good price.

The downside to this tablet would be the brightness of the screen that feels very dim.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0

Samsung first came up with the Note line of phones advertising their bigger screens and cellphone capabilities as a Phablet. Now Samsung has turned the Note into a full-fledged tablet that rivals Apple’s iPad Mini. If you happen to be looking for a small tablet that would be easy to lug around, then the Galaxy Note 8.0 is the device for you. It comes equipped with a state of the line Exynos 1.5GHz Quad-Core Processor. The Note also comes equipped with Samsung’s newer proprietary software like Smart Stay that allows the front facing camera to follow your eye movements that command the tablet accordingly. It also comes equipped with an IR blaster, like most Samsung Tablets, that allows you to interact with your television set directly from your tablet. Another amazing feature of the Note 8.0 is the S-Pen functionality that offers features like a Wacom Tablet that helps users to create digital art.

The main problem with this device would be the lack of a proper browser and the absence of a flash player.

Google Nexus

The two variations of Google’s Nexus line of tablets, the 8 and the 10, are possibly two of the best tablet devices that you can find in the market today. The Nexus tablets are packed with powerful hardware like the Quad-core processors and a 12-core GPU. The two tablets are quite the performers that did not feel sluggish at all, no matter how hardware intensive games we threw at it. Built by Asus under Google’s own Nexus line of devices, the two tablets do not fail to impress. Google Nexus is also famous for boasting the highest resolution display on a tablet till date with 300 pixels per inch spread across a 10.1 display. Although the Nexus tablets have been criticized for the lack of an expandable memory slot that so many Android tablets in the market have to offer, but, overall, the Nexus Tablets are quite simply one of the best tablets available till date.

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With the coming of tablets and the easy interface that they offer, many people are attracted to the idea of such easy connectivity. Tablets, no matter how advanced they may
have become or what powerful hardware they may be equipped with, the primary use of a tablet is limited to connectivity and mobile gaming. While tablets can handle more advanced applications, these applications have not been properly introduced into the mobile computing market.

For now, at least, the option on what a tablet can do seems to be limited. But the App market for tablets is growing and the use of tablet computers seems to be increasing.

PRAJESH SJB RANA, the writer of this post is República The Week’s much loved tech guru.

Keep ‘Em Close

One day a mother died. And on that clear, cold morning, in the warmth of her bedroom, the daughter was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t any more. No more hugs, no more lucky moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more “just one minute.” Sometimes, what we care about the most goes away, never to return before we can say good-bye, say “I Love You.” So while we have it … it’s best we love it. And care for it and fix it when it’s broken and take good care of it when it’s sick. This is true for marriage … and friendships! And children with bad report cards; and dogs with bad hips; and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they worth it, because we cherish them! Some things we keep like a best friend who moved away or a classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make us happy, no matter what. Life is important, and so are the people we know. And so, keep them close!

8 Immediate Stress Busters

Our lives are filled with family, work and community obligations. At some point, we feel as though we are ‘running on empty’. Here are eight immediate stress busters to help ‘fill up the tank’!

1. Let go: Next time you find yourself becoming annoyed at something trivial or unimportant, make a conscious choice not to get angry or upset. Effective anger management is a tried-and-true stress reducer.

2. Breathe slowly and deeply: Before reacting to the next stressful occurrence, take three deep breaths and release them slowly.

3. Speak slowly: Whenever you feel overwhelmed by stress, practice speaking more slowly than usual. You will think more clearly, react more reasonably and also appear less anxious and more in control.

4. Jump-start an effective time management strategy: Choose one simple thing you have been putting off, and do it immediately. Just taking care of one nagging responsibility can be energising.

5. Get outdoors for a brief break: Do not be deterred by foul weather or a full schedule. Even five minutes on a balcony or terrace can be rejuvenating.

6. Drink plenty of water and eat small, nutritious snacks: Hunger and dehydration can provoke aggressiveness and exacerbate feelings of anxiety and stress.

7. Do a quick posture check: Hold your head and shoulders upright and avoid stooping or slumping. Bad posture can lead to muscle tension, pain, and increased stress.

8. Reward yourself: Plan something rewarding to end a stressful day — a relaxing bath or an hour with a good book. — Agencies

The Fabulous 5

You are ready to embark on this journey called the college search, right? You probably have lots and lots of questions.

Here is a little secret about college admission counsellors: they love questions. They have to talk about the colleges search process and the institutions they represent. And they especially love when students ask them questions beyond the basic three: location, size and available majors.

College fairs are the buffet dinners of the college search process: You can taste many different options, but you can only digest a limited amount of information. So what information should you seek? And how?

Take advantage of admission counsellors’ gift for gab! Do not just swing by the table of interesting university to pick up a brochure and smile meekly at the counsellor before shuffling away. Instead, walk up to the table and introduce yourself. If you do not know where the school is located or what type of institution it is — public or private, large or small — ask.

If you know what types of academic programmes interest you, ask if the school offers them. Then, if the school sounds like a viable possibility, ask the fabulous five questions.

Fabulous question 1: How would you describe the student body’s personality?

Each college campus has a personality, revealed through its student body. Of course, not everyone on campus has exactly the same personality, but a student body tends to value certain qualities. For example, some campuses are politically liberal; some are conservative. A student might especially value the arts, or athletics or community service. This question helps you determine if you might fit in well among your potential classmates.

Fabulous question 2: How is this school distinctive?

Each school has a unique story. In fact, most schools have many unique stories. Maybe you will learn about a newly developed internship programme; maybe you will hear about an unusual curriculum or a special programme for freshmen. Because college administrators cannot include every extraordinary opportunity in publications or on websites, this question is one of the best ways to learn about them. If the counsellor mentions a programme or opportunity that interests you, make a note to follow up with an e-mail or a phone call to get more information.

Fabulous question 3: How many students transfer to another school during or after their first year?

This questions offers a glimpse of how satisfied current students are. You obviously want want to attend a school where your peers are generally happy. Sometimes a high transfer rate indicates that students are not finding what they thought they would find at the school; sometimes a high transfer rate is related to a change in curriculum or financial aid. If the transfer rate is high, ask why and listen carefully to the response.

Fabulous question 4: How would you describe students’ relationships with professors?

Chances are, the admission counsellor will answer this question by first telling you who teaches undergraduate courses — professors or graduate assistants. The counsellor might also tell you about opportunities for students to collaborate with professors on research. Or maybe she will mention that professors give out their home phone numbers so students can reach them outside of class and office hours. You will have a general idea about how accessible the professors are – an important part of your college experience.

Fabulous question 5: How do you award scholarships and financial aid?

Colleges and universities have widely different policies about scholarships. Some schools require separate applications for scholarships; some simply award scholarships based an information in a student’s application. A university might offer scholarships for specific academic programmes or for artistic or athletic talent. You need to know not only how to apply for these awards, but also which qualities the scholarship committees weigh most heavily. You also need to know how a college awards financial aid, which is based on your family’s need.

Beyond the fabulous five

The fabulous five will help you determine if you should spend time learning more about a college. As you continue your college search, you will develop questions that reflect your interests and values. One more piece of advice — keep in touch with the admission counsellors who represent schools that interest you.

So stop by a few tables at the college fair and whip out the fabulous five. You will surprise and delight a few admission counsellors, but more importantly, you will gather valuable information for a successful college search. Happy asking! — Agencies

MMS: Managing Mood Swings

By Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji

There are days when we all feel down. Where no matter how bright and sunny the weather is, still we’re in a bad mood. And most of us allow our moods to get the better of us. So, how do you deal with the mood swings? Do you eat yourself silly or spend time snapping at everyone who crosses your path?

No one likes to be around a person who is in foul mood. When in a huff, we tend look for things to fuel the bad mood. Why? Because we are subconsciously trying to justify that our mood is valid, that it’s okay to be in a bad mood. But, there has to be a point when we say STOP — stop being moody and pull yourself out of the mood. Do things that make you happy, think about happy thoughts and hang out with happy people. Happiness is contagious. If you’re with a happy person, you’re likely to feel happy too.

When you’re in a better mood, make time to understand what you in that mood. There’s obviously a reason for it. Was it a particular event or person or thing? Don’t blame anyone. If you do, you’re allowing others to control your mood.

Take responsibility for you mood. Go a bit deeper and listen to your emotions. Try and find what’s really bugging you. The aim behind these process is to avoid mood swings and become good mood managers. To do this you need to understand how your thoughts shape your moods. A simple way to strengthen our emotional muscles and master our moods is to start the day with the thought: “Today I choose to be happy, to feel good, no matter what.”

The author can be contacted through nikunjji@brahmakumaries.in, www.brahmakumaries.com.