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ThunderPeel2001

Things That Improve Your Life

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Every so often you stumble across something and think, "How the hell did I not know about this? Does everyone know about this? Why didn't anyone tell me?". For instance, I just came across a rather nifty bit of software that changes the look of your monitor to match the time of day, thus (in theory) helping your body adjust better to nighttime.

http://stereopsis.com/flux/

flux-shot.png

Other things I've come across lately that are really cool:

http://clea.nr/

Changes the internet (only YouTube atm) from this:

no-surprises-cluttered-100512.png

To this:

no-surprises-cleanr-100512.png

Here's a phone app that helps you wake up without feeling groggy:

http://www.sleepcycle.com/

Yes, it actually works. (It monitors your movement -- when you're coming out of a sleep cycle, your body movement increases.)

Finally, it's that SAD time of year again, and if you get the Winter Blues (like I used to), I highly recommend a Philips Wake-Up Light. They really work!

Got any things that improve your life that you want to share?

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Awesome. The YouTube one is absolutely gorgeous.

Also, I was thinking about getting one of those Wake Up Lights. You really like 'em?

I haven't bought this book yet but it seems interesting and apropos.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/b013/

b013_urawaza_secret_jap_tips_book.jpg

Here are some of my habits that improved my life so I feel compelled and obligated to share:

Meditate! Meditate! Meditate!

Reality as you perceive it is a mirror of your mental state existing in a physically plane governed by certain laws. If you take the time to meditate, every day if you can, your life will change. You will just be a better person intrinsically. The Universe reflects your thoughts, maaaan. ;)

Read!

Devour all sorts of literature and philosophy. Blow your mind constantly and evolve your perspective on everything.

Eat better.

I used to out of shape and slightly overweight. I decided to change that and I cut out soda/sugar etc and started eating better and noticed a marked improvement. Honestly, you hear this bit of advice all the time and I and many others kind of glance over it. Just do it.

Make art!

That definition and what it means is entirely up to you. Just create something.

Take Responsibility for everything in your life:

This little bit of wisdom that I learned from my personal experiences really shaped my life. I had a shitty job working manual labor, no money due to college loans, and just stressed about everything in my life. I would blame being overweight on the horrible practices of food corporations tainting their products with all sorts of hormones, chemicals, and carcinogens. I would blame a corrupt government and class system for my outstanding debt due to attending a University and my inability to find a job. So on and so forth. I felt helpless, frustrated, and on guard all the time.

Then I came to the realization, after meditating, that all those problems or what I perceived to be problems in my life where not necessarily my fault but my responsibility to take care of. I realized that I was in control of every aspect of my life and by understanding this I came to the conclusion to solve everything in my life. It starts out like Dominoes or a snowball down a hill, constantly gaining velocity and mass, until everything works out. Try it out and you might be surprised.

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I've been using a fun app called Unfuck Your Habitat. It doesn't have many fancy features or anything, it basically just a foul-mouthed motivation tool. Nothing fancy or engineered.

Unrelated, I've been playing Super Hexagon to get me pumped to do things. Generally any game I can pick up and play and is pretty intense works, Super Hexagon is just the one that's worked for me lately. Whenever I do try to unfuck my house, I use the breaks to hexagon.

(an aside, my biggest complaint about SH is that it uses frame dropping instead of slowdown when the framerate drops. This wouldn't be a huge deal except that it ignores input when a frame is being dropped so a good percentage of my game overs are from having my input ignored when a frame was being skipped. Or at least that's what seems to be happening, maybe I'm totally wrong and just suck)

Shop at Ethnic Markets

Seriously everything is much cheaper. Just go wherever there aren't any white people and your food expenditures will drop by half.

If you don't live in a town with ethnic markets, even the ethnic section of your supermarket will be cheaper. Funny how that works. BTW does anyone know why the Mexican food section always has St. Jude candles?

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Ah ha, I was thinking of getting something like this to keep an eye on my smallish SSD. Do you think the warning to verify with hashes is overkill? I'd need to download a separate program to do that, but then can I trust that program to verify itself correctly?! Who watches the watchmen?

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Can you suggest some replacements for standard, everyday household items that are far superior in terms of usefulness, luxuriousness and quality?

80+ suggestions, most of which are great.

I really like my Now and Zen alarm clock. It goes "ting" once right at the time of my alarm, and then waits 8 minutes before it goes "ting" a second time, then waits 4 minutes to go "ting" a third time, then waits 2 minutes, etc etc. It's a nice gentle way to wake up and usually I'm up and alert by about 2 minutes after the first "ting."

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BTW does anyone know why the Mexican food section always has St. Jude candles?

Yes, but it's not related to the thread. They're veladoras/novenas, and they're widespread in Latin American Catholicism and a number of syncretic religions (Voudou, Santeria). Also they may be used for candle magic outside those religions - St. Jude's colour is green, and green candles are used for money work (especially in hoodoo, though a Wiccan friend uses them too*).

* not that it's worked for her, mind you.

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I use an alarm clock that forces me to do math problems or I can't turn it off.

...Of course, all that really means is that I've gotten pretty decent at doing really quick algebra after having just woken up, at which point I close my eyes again. I'm so bad at just Getting Up in the morning. ):

Just heard about this thing! I guess it crawls the web for coupons and tries 'em for you, sometimes with success, at a bunch of online shopping sites. I just tried it, and the codes didn't work. but might be neat for those few times it does work!

http://www.joinhoney.com/

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I tried f.lux ... maybe it's irony, but my netbook screen was switching between teal and orange tints every few seconds.

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I don't like f.lux. I tried it a year or two ago. I understand the idea and it sorta makes sense when I'm just using the computer to browse the internet, but it makes the colors go all funky when I'm trying to watch a video or play a game.

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I suppose if I had big problems with sleep, I would use anything that could help. I don't, so I'm not willing to sacrifice seeing colours clearly.

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Butler, those are some pretty good thoughts. Meditation is something I should do. I'm already taking responsibility, so that's a good start.

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Butler: Good advice, sir! Perhaps a little too "change your life" from what I meant this thread to be, but appreciated non-the-less. (I've been thinking about meditation for a while -- it's tricky as my brain doesn't want to be shut off.)

Also, I was thinking about getting one of those Wake Up Lights. You really like 'em?

YES! The wake-up lights work wonders. Or at least they did for me. I haven't had SAD since I bought it five years ago. Woot!

Same goes for the Sleep Alarm app. I never wake up feeling groggy any more. Very nice indeed.

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:-/ This thread was intended for things you actually use, not just random links on self-help or pop-science.

I, for one, use negative thinking all the time.

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