Jon Aquino's Mental Garden

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Saturday, December 31, 2011

How to shred a document by hand

Here's a simple way to shred a document by hand. It's easier and more effective than just ripping it up haphazardly.

First, take the thing you want to shred (a document, or just your address), and fold it many times:




Then cut it once:




Finally, put one half in your recycling bin and the other half in a garbage can. If you do that, it should be pretty safe.

Friday, December 30, 2011

20 seconds of courage

A couple of days ago, I watched a movie called "We Bought A Zoo". I thought it was pretty good. Anyway, I liked the following quote:
Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. Just, literally, 20 seconds of just embarassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Buying gas like an investment

My brother does this interesting thing when he buys gas, similar to "dollar cost averaging" in investing (i.e., investing the same amount each month, regardless of whether the price is high or low).

Basically he pays the same amount at the pump on each visit ($20), regardless of whether gas prices are high or low.

I was trying to think if this has any real benefit, and actually I think it does. When gas prices are low, $20 will last a long time, which is good. When gas prices are high, $20 will last a short time, and you will be forced to retry again soon - so you will have more frequent opportunities to try again for a lower price. Kind of makes sense.

Compare this to filling the tank to the top every time. You will be visiting the gas station at a constant time interval, without the automatic adaptation mechanism described above.

Interesting!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Most versatile dance move for any music

I recently found myself in a dancing situation at a Christmas party, and really had no clue what I was doing. Afterwards, I did some googling on the subject, and found this useful video on a basic dance move that works for a variety of types of music.

If you are as inept at dancing as I am, check out the following video: