Be Useful – if your post isn’t informing, inspiring, entertaining or making someone’s life better – don’t publish it until it does.
Share your Opinion – opinions are often what sets bloggers apart from the pack.
Cut out the Fluff – before you hit publish, revise your post and remove anything that doesn’t add value.
Visualise Your Reader – writing with a reader in mind personalises your writing.
Make Your Posts Scannable – only 16% of people read every word online. Format your posts so that your main points stand out.
Work and Rework You Headlines – a good headline can be the difference between a blog post being read, or ignored.
Write with Passion – when you show you care about what you’re writing, your readers are more likely to care too.
Give your Readers something to do Next – ask your readers to DO something once they finish reading. It could be to read something else, comment, apply a lesson, share the post etc.
Tell Stories – stories are powerful ways of connecting with, inspiring and teaching your readers – they also create memories
Give Your Posts Visual Appeal – the inclusion of an eye-catching image or a well designed diagram can take your post to the next level.
Practise – the best way to improve your writing is to write. Practise Makes Perfect.
Dear reader , this isnt a typical Sahilo.wordpress.com post but I thought it would be fun to write this out!
So here are a few things that I like to do when I am dead bored(In No Particular Order)
1. Eat Ice Cream – Always works for everyone , I mean who doesn’t like Ice cream!! It’s just impossible not to like this creation of the almighty. Trust me , Jesus invented ice cream for a purpose , and that purpose is , for us to eat it when we are bored!
2. Arrange My Room – Sounds boring? And sounds super boring when you think of doing this when you are super bored? Well , trust me on this one guys , turn on some really cool(the best you got) music and open up your wardrobe and start arranging stuff. Arrange your bookshelf , your desk or anything you want to. After you’re finished , you’ll know what the reward is.
3. Music Music Music – Now this is simple , just put on some headphones and sit on a couch or lie on you bed and listen to some cool music. It can be anything you like. For eg. I like Rock N Roll , when I’m bored , I listen to Led Zeppelin , Deep Purple , Kiss and stuff.
4. Read a book. – Such an obvious yet an amazing option to consider doing while you’re bored. You can read a mystery novel , a self help book or a poetry book maybe. It enhances your vocabulary and creativity skills.
5. Write! – This can be anything , for eg. I am bored right now(this very freakin’ moment) and I am writing this article. You can write a poem(I write poetry too! gosahil.wordpress.com) or a story or maybe a journal/diary.
6. Do Things You’ve Never Done Before – Now let me give you an example here , when I was bored a few days ago I thought of doing three things that I never did before:- 1. Write a Song. 2. Ride a Roller Coaster 3. Bang my head 10 times on the wall…and it worked!! I wasn’t bored! I was actually enjoying what I was doing.
So people I hope this post helped , any suggestion? Or if you wanna tell me what you like to do when you’re bored , just drop a line or two in the comments.
If you don’t have a smartphone or tablet and you want to enjoy gaming there are hundreds of completely free computer games available online, ready to download to your desktop PC or laptop. So in no particular order, here’s a list of some of the best free computer games you can play without spending a single penny.
The Tribes games have been around for about 11 years now, and the developers have decided to make their newest release, Tribes Ascend, free to play. At first glance, you might mistake it for your average first person space shooter, something similar to the Halo franchise perhaps. Once you see it moving it’s a different story – Tribes moves at breakneck speed, allowing players to ‘ski’ down slopes and use a jetpack to quickly shoot up the other side. The game becomes a much deadlier version of “tiny wings” where speed and accuracy reign supreme.
Check out this introductory video, for a taste of the Tribes Ascend action:
As with any free-to-play game you can add money to it if you want to. Purchasing the in game cash ‘gold’ allows you to unlock more weapons and character classes a lot quicker than you would usually and also gives you a small boost on the XP you earn. If you find yourself playing Tribes Ascend regularly then it might be worth adding a couple of pounds to the game, but it’s so well balanced at this point that anyone can have fun without feeling outgunned by the paid players.
Team Fortress 2 has been around so long now it has no right looking as good as it does. Originally something you would have to pay for, Team Fortress went free-to-play in 2011 and attracted a whole new crowd of players. At its heart is a basic multiplayer first person shooter, but that’s part of what makes it so addictive and playable. It’s easy to get into and learn the basics, plus the game provides tutorials and handy hints along the way. If you want to get deeper into the game you can pay to buy loadouts. These give you different weapons and accessories that can be used in-game. Every loadout has it’s downsides, keeping the game very balanced, even if you’ve never bought a single piece of additional content.
Nitronic Rush is kind of like what would happen if you managed to bring a Bugatti Veyron into the world of Tron. It’s an arcade time trial game, where the track hates you and wants you dead. Obstacles sprout from the ground, and missing sections of track become more and more common as you travel round it. Fortunately, you have a couple of handy gadgets built into your vehicle. Rockets burst from the rear and a pair of small wings allows you to glide across more open sections. You can’t use these forever, but it’s not long before they recharge and you’re powering down the next straightaway. Just make sure it’s not directly into a wall. The game is completely free and even comes with a couple of gameplay modes, including a stunt course where you can flip and spin your car to your heart’s content. Well worth a try if you’re looking for some arcade fun.
For fast-paced racing thrills, check out the Nitronic Rush intro video:
Collect the pages. That’s all you have to do – wander around and collect the pages. I kept telling myself this over and over, while I was playing Slender. This free, first person horror game from Parsec productions is one of the most terrifying games I have ever played. Slender has a simple concept and short play time, but it’s a masterclass in building tension and something that any horror fan should check out at least once.
Turn the lights out and play through headphones for the full experience and remember, it’s only a game… isn’t it?
Those who think video games have become too easy these days should check out Spelunky. Spelunky is a ‘rogue-like’ cave explorer, which means that every time you play it the cave has a different layout. You never know what might be behind that next rock or at the bottom of a short fall. It also means you get one life. As soon as your health meter runs out (and believe me it will often) you get put right back at level 1 where you started. Despite this though it keeps you coming back for more, with the same kind of sadistic charm that players might remember from games like Super Meat Boy or N+. Part of this is due to the amount there is to discover in the caves. From damsels in distress to grumpy shopkeepers that are more than capable of looking after themselves, there is plenty to find.
Spelunky also taps into to that high score mentality. You just need to collect that little bit more gold to get a higher score than last time. Whatever it is that keeps you coming back, be prepared to die over and over again. A version of this game has just been released on XBox 360, but the original PC game is still completely free to download.
Though it may not be the most graphically intensive game on this list, those that download and play Battle For Wesnoth have found a surprisingly deep and exciting turn based strategy game. . Anyone that’s played games like Civilisation or the Might and Magic series will feel right at home, but here the focus is much more on combat and wiping out the other armies on the map.The fantasy theme means its not just swords that clash, but magic and monsters can be called in to join the fray. The battles can be epic and although there are plenty of single player careers to get through, it’s the 8-way multiplayer that can get really crazy. If you’ve got some time to kill and some like-minded friends, give Battle for Wesnoth a download.
Before you begin your mission, check out the Battle for Wesnoth intro video:
Few games can claim to be officially NASA endorsed. In Moonbase Alpha it’s your job to repair the life support system that’s been obliterated by a recent asteroid. It can be genuinely stressful watching those precious last minutes of oxygen slip away as you try desperately to fix that last pump. But don’t worry, you are given all the right tools for the job, including repair kits, robots and a rover (read awesome space car). You can also join up with friends and bound around the moon together. This is where the game gets really fun. Whether you are working as a team to get the base fixed as quickly as possible or larking around taking the rover off for some sweet jumps, there are plenty of ways to have a good time. Either way, Moonbase Alpha is worth a download and it’s even available on Steam at the moment, with full Steam leaderboards – so go check it out!
Move over flight simulators, it’s time to take this shuttle into space! Watch the Moonbase Alpha video:
League of Legends is one of the most popular online games currently available and like everything else in this list it’s completely free to play. It is just one of the games in a rapidly expanding genre known as MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). Purely multiplayer focused, this game pits 2 teams of champions against one another in a bid to push deeper into the other team’s territory and eventually destroy the closely-guarded crystal at the other end. It is a game of tactics, quick thinking and an even quicker mouse click. You play as one of the champions on each team and each champion has their own set of attacks and powers. On top of that there are smaller, non-playable characters that constantly spawn and run along three lanes on the field. It’s your job to push the other team back far enough that you can get these smaller characters to flood the opposing base. That is a very simplified explanation of what can quickly become a very tactical game.
Get ready to hone your battle tactics, with League of Legends:
League of Legends this might be one of the hardest games in this collection to just pick up and play straight away. With words like ‘jungling’ and ‘item builds’ being bandied around, it can take a while to start picking up all of the terms. Fortunately, there are some helpful video tutorials out there to get you started. Even if you watch the help videos I would still suggest playing against a computer controlled team before you start taking on real players. The League of Legends community is one of the most passionate out there and matches can get pretty heated.
Being a free-to-play game you are going to get a little more out of it by adding some dosh. For free you are given a selection of champions that rotates every month, so you can’t guarantee the character you have been learning with will be there next time you play. You can purchase these characters so that you always have them unlocked, along with extra outfits and cosmetic changes to each one. If it sounds like something you want to try, you can jump right in without having to spend anything at all.
Digital: a love story might be the oddest addition to this list. Less of a game and more of a digital novel, the game is told through the medium of 1980’s bulletin board posts (imagine a very early form of internet). It plays out a lot like an adventure game, with the text in each post guiding you on what to do next. It only takes about an hour to get through, and does involve a lot of reading, but it’s surprisingly engaging. You really feel like you have gone back in time and been given access to an early PC. If you can get past the old clunky interface the story is strong enough to keep you ploughing through and is well worth a look if you fancy a good old love story.
I couldn’t really finish a list of free PC games without adding an MMORPG in there somewhere. Dungeons and Dragons Online is one of the many Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games to have gone free-to-play in recent years and become successful. Not being a big player of these kinds of games, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how easy DDO is to get into. There are a lot less of the ‘fetch quests’ that seem to plague these types of games and this makes it a lot more action oriented than something like World of Warcraft. There is also an ever present dungeon master that narrates your tale for you. Far from getting in the way, this voice keeps the game moving along and feels a lot like the D&D you might have played by rolling dice on a table top. In fact, it feels so much like it that anyone who previously played D&D with the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 rule set will feel right at home, thanks to the mechanics behind the scenes.
The controls and gameplay are easy enough that even inexperienced players can get a kick out of this game, but as with any MMO I would advise that you don’t travel alone. These types of games are much more fun when played with a group of mates, so if you’re going to jump in, I would gather a few friends together. You can add money to the game to purchase items from the DDO store, but a lot of the items can be found in the game world anyway, so it’s very easy to enjoy Dungeons and Dragons Online without spending a penny.
inspired by the song Kannadasa Kannadasa from the Tamil movie Dhavam
A Venus of pen and paper
We make love to please another
Come, dip your pen in my reality,
Compose these songs of my soul, your fantasy
*
Painting my whispers with your prose
Composing my sighs with your verse
*
Wedded to your heart, I own your dreams
A mercurial Messenger on passion’s wings
Created from your love for another
I’m but a Mistress to my faithful Poet
Nice article i came across. Thought to post!! Source:SDD
Google “improve brain power” and you’ll find all sorts of tips, techniques, books, and games explaining how you could improve your brain power. Most of them involve physical exercise, balanced nutrition and complex mental exercises.
While it would be cool if everyone could incorporate these tips, I highly doubt that after reading such advice you will start jogging for one hour every morning and change your diet to incorporate more fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. Some people don’t do that even when they are at risk of having a heart attack!
For the lazy crowd looking to give a little boost to the brain functions, is there anything easier? Luckily yes
Switch the side of your mouse-pad
Yes, it is as simple as that.
By switching the side of your mouse-pad you will force yourself to use your non-dominant hand. This, in turn, will stimulate the neural connections between the right and left hemispheres on your brain. Scientific research confirmed that people that use both hands equally have 10% more nerve fibers joining the two sides of the brain.
Ideally you want to perform as many activities as possible with your non-dominant hand, but some of them might become cumbersome. I tried to brush my teeth using my left hand for one week or so, only to find out that the tartar was building up.
Using the mouse with the opposite hand is something that you can easily integrate into your life. During the first couple of days it will feel weird, and you might need to switch back when using programs that require intense “clicking” sessions. After this adaptation phase however, you’ll be navigating the computer just as efficiently with both hands.
Force yourself to remember things
Sometimes you want to remember the name of a song that is playing or the name of an old acquaintance that passed by . It is right there, on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t remember it. What would you normally do in such situation? Probably ask some nearby friend for the name, and upon the revelation you will even shout marveled, “Oh yeah! That is it.”
The next time this happens force yourself to remember that name. The brain can be stimulated just like your muscles and the more you exercise it the stronger it will get.
Do not limit yourself to remembering names. Are you calling your mother to get the phone number of your uncle? Forget pen and paper – you can memorize it. Try to look at the keyboard of your phone in order to create a mental picture of what the sequence of numbers looks like.
The worse that can happens is that you will need to call your mom again…
Play games that involve some thinking
You don’t need to participate in the Mathematical Olympic Games in order to stretch your brain capabilities. Oh no, games and activities as simple as sudoku or crosswords will already have a tangible impact upon your brain performance.
Regularity is very important here, so try to incorporate these games or exercises into your routine. You could bring a crosswords book with you on the daily commute, for instance. Personally I like to play a chess match every day before I start working. It takes around 15 minutes, but it ensures that my brain gets a kick-start every morning
I come across a lot of great articles daily, so I thought I’ll share some here which I stumbled upon in the last 3-4 days.
Mark on Productivity 501 has a pretty detailed article on getting an online masters degree from Harvard. If you are not in a position to get a regular, full-time master’s degree and considering an online course then you should take a look at this.
Marc Andreessen wrote on WSJ on why he thinks software is eating the world. It’s actually kinda obvious considering some or the other kind of software powers almost everything around us these days, but his article still is insightful and makes a nice read.
Another one from Productivity 501 on creating an electronic signature. I think digital signatures are going to take over pen-and-paper signatures in the near future so it doesn’t harm to know how to create them quickly and easily.
The Economist had this interesting article on the decline of Asian marriage and its far reaching effects. I wonder how the governments will tackle this new phenomenon if they could tackle it at all.
If I were forced to choose an aspect of the internet that made it simply indispensable, it would definitely be its availability as a huge learning resource. 20 years ago, who would have thought that one would have easy access to already completed business documents, research papers of world class universities, free encyclopedias and some great books, no matter where he or she is located in the world.
The internet also boasts of accommodating tutorials to absolutely anything. Here are 15 such super-useful sites which aim to provide you with all the tutorials you’d ever need.
How Stuff Works How Stuff Works is probably the best known How-to tutorials site. It has has a vast and diverse collection with topics ranging from food, health, computers, etc. One of the best things about this site is that it explains even the toughest tutorial in a very simple and easy to understand language.
YouTube
Surprised? Well, it shouldn’t be if you use YouTube a lot. Yesterday my younger brother bought a new guitar and the very first thing he needed to do was to tune it. So he just logged on, went to youtube.com and searched for “How to tune a guitar”. And there you go! He had a nice video explaining the process step-by-step.
eHow eHow is another comprehensive tutorials website with detailed instructions on how to do just about anything. Like How Stuff Works, this site also covers a wide range of topics.
About.com’s Video Tutorials About.com’s video tutorial site has a collection of very informative how-to videos and screencasts on topics which include Parenting, Style, Electronics and Gadgets, etc. I found the collection to be very comprehensive and probably better than You Tube’s collection of similar videos.
wikiHow wikiHow, as it says, is an editable How-to site with 40,100 articles contributed by volunteers from different parts of the world. You’re sure to find some nice tutorials here too.
Instructables Instructables is a cool Do-It-Yourself site that has an extensive collection of user submitted how-to articles and easy instructions complete with videos and photographs. It’s a community driven website where you can submit content, vote and comment on existing content.
Wired’s How-To Wiki
Wired magazine’s how-to wiki has some very elaborate and detailed tutorials focussed primarily on topics like Gadgets, Technology and Computers. You can also subscribe to its RSS feed to get them the new how-to articles directly in your feed reader.
PC World’s How-to Site
PC World, one of the best tech journals available, also has a how to site that publishes technology focused tutorials related to various electronic gadgets, hardware and software applications.
VideoJug
When it comes to how-to video tutorial sites, VideoJug is probably the largest and most comprehensive. It has videos on varied subjects like choosing a new hairstyle, playing golf, installing windows or how to kiss someone passionately.
W3Schools W3Schools is a first class web development tutorials website which provides easy reference guides on languages like HTML, XHTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript. All the tutorials are free and nicely explained through various examples.
NETTUTS And PSDTUTS NETTUTS and PSDTUTS are sister sites, in fact blogs, and definitely one of the best online resources on web development and Photoshop skills. NETTUTS explores web development and designing in detail while PSDTUTS provides some world-class Adobe Photoshop tutorials.
5min 5min is a video tutorial site with a difference- the videos are short and no more than 5 mins. Like other video sites, this too covers a wide range of topics, however it’s yet to take on sites like VideoJug in the online video tutorial space.
SuTree Sutree aggregates the best video tutorials from other video sites and covers a variety of topics like softwares, games, pets & animals etc. Like instructables, SuTree is also a community driven website and lets you find videos through tags and subscribe to the RSS feed of the site.
VTC
Although VTC is not entirely free to use, it does provide some nice tutorials on software and business applications. Out of around 66,000 tutorials, it provides 12,500 for free.
Good Tutorials Good Tutorials has a nice collection of graphic design tutorials which it aggregates through various web design sites and blogs. And yes, it’s free to use !
PLEASE COMMENT AND LIKE THIS POST IF YOU FOUND IT USEFUL AND HELPFUL! THANKS!
Helllo everyone I was extremely busy these days so couldnt even say Hi to you!! I am very sorry and i am writing this to let you all know that I will start writting again very very soon!!!
Sahil(Admin)
Be warned: Should you choose to follow the instructions set forth, your hands may be dirtied and your patience may be tried. You may void the occasional warranty or risk having your friends call you “eccentric.” But in the end, you will know the incomparable satisfaction of greenhacking.
This week’s hack: Turn a chest freezer into a hyper-efficient refrigerator
Items needed: 1 chest freezer, 1 external thermostat (available at hoptech.com), 1 very understanding spouse who doesn’t mind pawing through a chest freezer to find the leftover lasagna.
Why this hack: We begin with this hack because it is simple and because the green return on money and time invested is impressive. Utilizing an inexpensive Energy Star chest freezer (about $400 for a 15-cubic foot model) and the aforementioned thermostat ($60), you can save more than half a kilowatt hour per day (and possibly much more: When I implemented this trick on a used Vestfrost freezer I picked up for $200, it consumed less than 1/8th of a kilowatt-hour per day).
If you’re paying $.16/kilowatt hour, that’s a savings of… ah, forget it. Repeat after me: “I hack for the hack, not the payback.”
Why it works: Well, for one, freezers tend to be better insulated than refrigerators. And for another, cold air settles. Every time you open the door to your fridge, cold air is essentially falling out of it; when you lift the lid on a chest freezer, the cold stays where it belongs: In the freezer.
Heart of the hack: Plug in external thermostat. Stick thermostat sensor in freezer (just run the capillary tube between the sensor and the thermostat over the lid gasket; the gasket will protect it from damage when opening and closing your freez… er, fridge), and set thermostat at 40-degrees or so. Plug the freezer into the thermostat and voila! You are a greenhacker.
Handy tips: If this is going to be a long-term arrangement, get some internal dividers for your new chest fridge to minimize the cluster factor. It also helps to elevate the freezer on some sort of base to ease the strain on your back.
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