Life of the list and all its content has moved to lifeofthelist.com. Keep following me there!
Facebook lets you download your posts!!!
March 10, 2011I was looking for a way to download my post and status messages on FaceBook, thinking someone must have written an app to do this, when I learned out that FaceBook has an option to do this. I figured it was not a well known feature. So here you go…
Step 1: Go to your account settings
Step 2: Go to the bottom of the page, find the “Download Your Information” line, and click on “More Info”
Step 3: FaceBook will send a link to your email address allowing you do download everything. A warning, it downloads everything! Pics, videos, status updates, everything. If you have a lot of content it could take a very long time. But it’s there to be backed up if you so desire.
Happy networking!
“if you like them…” – Ask. Pause. Listen. Care.
October 11, 2010THIS is cross-posted from my other blog, fixmytricks.com
There is an old adage in magic that states “if they like you, they’ll like what you do.”
I’m writing today to change that. And keep it exactly the same.
I suggest the following: “if you like them, they will like what you do.”
Allow me to explain:
I recently worked with a street team promotion for a well known fast food restaurant. Part of the job was to hand out cards explaining the details of the current promotion. As I watched my fellow teammates pass the cards out, my eyes were wide with horror as they would run up to a passerby and say something to the effect of: “heyhowyadoin-I just wanna tell you about this promotion we’re doing…”
(just so u can make the connection, this is akin to walking up to a table in your restaurant job and saying “howareyoufolks tonite- like to see some magic?”)
In magic, in sales, in life, DON’T ask how someone is doing and then plow over their answer.
Ask. Pause. Listen. Care.
Relax, you will be able to work your task somewhere in the conversation. In fact, if you are socially adept enough, they may even ask you why you are there. If that’s not a soft sell, I don’t know what is.
I tried hard that day to convince my teammates that they need to pause and wait for an answer, and being a conversation with our “customers.” They looked at me like I was crazy, and like I’m the new guy, so what do I know. Their job, in their minds, was to pass out as many of our promotional cards as possible before going home. My job, in my mind, was to promote the company and get people to pay attention to the promotion. Just more people who don’t “get it.”
As it turned out, I talked to far fewer people than everyone else, because I talked longer. Sometimes it took two or three minutes before I got to my subject. But, I met a lot of cool people. Oh, and there’s the other thing. I’m confident that the people I talked to will (most of them) take advantage of the special prices we were offering, and go to the restaurant I was promoting.
I’m also confident that the people who got the card shoved into their hands in the first ten seconds took those cards because they were too polite to say no, and that they threw their cards in the trash at the first available opportunity. Not wanting to hurt our feelings, they probably waited until they turned the corner, so we couldn’t see them throw it away.
Ask. Pause. Listen. Care.
If you are in any magic field where you have to approach people to perform, you need to do this. If they feel like you care about them, they will care about you. If you ask someone how they are doing, and don’t care about their answer, they will know this, and feel the same about you.
I was lucky enough to have a magic mentor that molded these ideas in my head early, so that they could grow through experience. But part of it is just logic and common sense.
I want to paraphrase my mentor here, to solidify the idea:
“People ask me which trick I start my routine with. I say, I don’t start my routine with a trick. I start by asking people about themselves, making some new friends. If I end up doing magic, I’ll start with whatever seems right to start with at the time. I guarantee one thing, if I do magic at a table, they already like me before I start my ‘routine’.”
and another:
“Novel magic idea of the day: Ask someone if they would like to see a card trick, and then actually listen to their answer. Just my thoughts,
Brent Braun”
“if you like them, they will like what you do.”
’nuff said.
Rating: ***** Five Stars, because I wrote it.
(This rating is not arbitrary at all)
I’m influencing the whole wide world with my blog :-)
May 17, 2010The day after my last post about ReQall, I received this email:
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| ReQall has done EXACTLY what I have asked for. I am aware that there is no way possible that I could have influenced this. This had to take some time to make. Still, it makes me feel good. I re-upped my subscription to the PRO service. It is amazing. |  |
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Must Have Apps #1 (a.k.a) Reqall vs Evernote vs. any other to do app
May 12, 2010
A long time ago on this very site, I talked about how great Reqall was as a service. I won’t take that back. As a service it’s great. The one problem I have with it is that I like to organize and categorize and have several projects happening simultaneously and would love to have the option of subcategories. In general, Reqall tries to make things simple, but it falls short in intuitive categorizing. The connectivity, however, is amazing. If they were to reformat the operation, and give the user more control, ala Todoist, for example, we would have a dream app. And it’s doable. But it does not exist, and I don’t have the know-how to make it so.I keep the Reqall app on my iPod Touch, but I think it’s based on nostalgia.
Enter Evernote: I downloaded Evernote on my computer and my iPod as a replacement To Do app. In this, it failed miserably. Fortunately, I found that I could replace Google Notes, Google Docs, and a few other common apps with this one. I can categorize everything, and tag everything. If I wanted to learn a song, I can copy the lyrics and chords, and paste them into a new note, put it in my Music notebook, and tag it with Guitar, To Do, Chords, etc…
Evernote saves pictures, voice notes, PDF files, song files, text, Microsoft office files, and probably more than I have tried out. But I can use it to, as their logo states, “remember everything.” I use it for my short stories, thoughts, reminders, contacts, business cards, note taking, story ideas, song ideas, magic tricks I need to learn, simply everything that I would need to write down, jot down, save for later, or simply remember. And if I properly tag and organize every note, I can easily find anything I need to find.
It is totally worth the download. The one-two-three punch of a desktop interface, iPod/iPhone app, and a web interface means I have nearly unlimited access to remember everything I’d ever need to remember. It is a beautiful thing.
Still, I was at a loss for an actual, checklisted to do app that was quick and easy to use. I am currently using Errands by Yoctoville. Simple, quick, and stylish. I wish I could have subfolders within folders, but for now, as long as I can easily create my own folders, I am happy.
My iPod is quickly turning into my primary internet interface. And my most important app is my To Do app. More Must Have Apps will follow.
Some Free (original) Wallpapers 1024 x 768
May 3, 2010
You might notice that the file name in the middle picture is “Frog”.
I want to clear up any confusion. This is clearly a toad.
But his name is Frog.
Some Free (original) Wallpapers 1440 X 900
May 3, 2010
The brick wall is right outside my back door in the alley behind my house. Would be dreary, except for the inspiring graffiti.
The toad picture was taken at the New Albany riverfront by the YMCA. Had to lay on the ground to get this pic.
I’m not exactly sure what this means. Help me out!
April 28, 2010So I was at Deam Lake last week. (That’s Deam Lake State Recreation Area in Southern Indiana, for all my PA friends) Got a couple of interesting shots. But this one is my favorite, hands down. Apparently they have a problem with people dumping chips.
err...
By the way, I am pretty happy with my phone’s camera. Pretty dang good for a cheapie!
Until I’m here again,
M
I have been away
April 7, 2010Since about last August I have been in a daze. It seems like because I was in a transitional period in my life I put most things in my life on hold. Definitely a mistake. I’ve ignored people who are important to me, not taken steps forward in projects that I need to finish, and generally procrastinated on pretty much everything that is important to me.
Some people would have told me, I’m sure, that I was depressed and needed (need) to be on some sort of medication for depression. But all the while, deep down I knew I could have come out of it with some simple action. I just wasn’t willing to risk at that time in my life. My fear of failure, and this overwhelming fear I have at times of life in general, these things get the best of me. And I remain stagnant yet still unsatisfied.
Well, the haziness in my mind has not gone away. But I am preparing for war against it, because I don’t want to take it anymore. Whether it stays or it goes, I can’t sit around while it dominates my life and just hope it goes away. I’m ready for action. Really.
Don’t get me wrong, I have achieved some things in this time period. I stayed active and kept my weight off, even though I didn’t lose any. I got out from under the burden of a car and insurance I couldn’t afford, and into a cheap piece of junk that, although not even close to perfect, is mine. I began to be more financially responsible, saving some money, but especially paying my bills and not getting behind. A new years resolution was to read 24 books this year, and I’m working on my eighth right now. Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Charles Darnay have been some of the friends I’ve spent time with the last three months. I joined the YMCA, and I go at least twice a week. I have dedicated myself to finally getting my black belt in tae kwon do. I attend classes regularly. I moved a little bit closer to Jeffersonville, and am currently residing in, yes actually “in” Louisville, KY. And I think I’ll be happy here for a while.
So I have been moving forward. But certain events transpired that served to keep me in the fog, and although it may seem like I have achieved a lot, I have also made some really stupid decisions that I pray will not come back to haunt me. (A month long sickness to top it all off may have actually been the catalyst for getting out of the funk.)
I was able to spend a lot of time with my family over Christmas-in fact more time than I expected. I have an amazing, loving, giving family, always willing to help, and for that I am thankful. I am also blessed with friends who have very similar qualities, and I can’t even fathom where I might be now without all the advice and help they provided.
So here I stand. Relatively happy and unsatisfied, which to me is a very good thing. Because when it comes to me, satisfied=complacency=demotivation=depression. And that is what I’m warring against.
So life has brought me to a paradox.
I am unsatisfied, and that’s enough for me.
Decks, Lies, and Videotape?
November 22, 2009So, where have I been, you ask? I have been working on the book harder than ever, and I’m finally beginning to see the fruits of my labor much, much earlier than expected. The first chapter of the book was published independently as a stand-alone magic effect, called “Torched and Restored Revisited: An introduction to a Miracle.”
The 24 page booklet contains detailed instructions on how to perform the effect, a plethora of pics, the history of the effect, and a section called “the work behind it all” which really gets into the down and dirty details of why the effect works so well, and how to make it better. All in all it’s a worthy project that I believe adds value to the magic community as a whole.
The effect is on sale for $20 at Decks, Lies, and Videotape, and it comes with three bonus items that I will discuss in future posts. They are all valuable items. I believe that in this case, twenty dollars buys you thousands worth in knowledge.
