Having just watched the first film directed and produced by Aamir Khan, the recent bollywood hit Taare Zameen Par left the whole family lost for words.

This story is about a young boy with the challenge of dyslexia, who was mis-understood by his parents and teachers, teased by the fellow school kids, and who gradually lost his self-confidence. Catch the trailer here and check out this movie which although is in Hindi, will most likely be showing with English subtitles…

This movie highlighted the lack of support many children get from their parents. Children are so often afraid of just being themselves. They feel that they have to consistently live up to their parents’ expectations of how they should act, the aspirations they should hold, and who they should be.

It also reminded me of the powerful force I’ve had throughout my life - both my parents have stood by me, no matter what, and have supported my gradual progress in life. I’m sure there have been many moments of anxiety for them when they’d be wondering if I’d ever settle down into a “stable job”. Regardless, both mum and dad have been the secure foundation for me to discover myself, and allow me just to be as I am. In fact, I feel blessed that some of my closest friends have also been such a gentle and caring pillar of strength for me to gently tread along the path that continues to be defined for me.

Mum and dad - thank you…

Much love,
Suraj

Dinesh & Shilpa
Dad and Mum
New Years Eve 2002

The next time you’re out on vacation and you take a suitcase that has a zipper on it, here’s what to do if you lose the key to the padlock.  All you need is a pen!

Breaking Into A Suitcase

Maybe when they invented zips, they were meant only for doing up the fly on your jeans or to close up your jacket!

What would you suggest is decent vacation baggage as an alternative to carrying a suitcase that has a zipper on it?

The recently announced top quote “Don’t ‘tase me bro” by protester Andrew Meyers has now been turned into a ringback tone.

On 17th September 2007, University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was arrested and thrown out of a speech by a U.S. Senator. According to a Wired blog, “Meyer barged in line to harangue Massachusetts senator John Kerry during a campus talk that day. The student refused to pipe down after being asked to by the forum’s organizers, and after he carried on pressing Kerry for answers, police hauled him off. They forced him to the ground, and tasered him.”

This week, the quote was named most memorable quote of 2007, and has been turned into a ringback tone (sometimes known as a callback tone). Available from the Verizon site, this downloadable ringback tone is what the caller hears when they call you.

A ringtone or ringback tone is just another good idea for an Instant Digital Download product that can generate revenue for your business. Already we’re aware of other products that can be sold to and downloaded online by customers who want to be informed or entertained instantly, such as eBooks and MP3s.

What would you want your customers to have their callers hear when calling through? What ringback tone product could you create for your customers that would add value to them, and generate further revenue for you?

In line with Mik’s September 2007 post on Using Descriptive Domain Names To Drive Relevant Traffic To Your Web Site, here is a terrific resource called Good URL Bad URL that helps you understand:

1. what a good URL is and what a bad URL is using examples from existing sites
2. what would be a good URL for your own website
3. how to present your URL in your adverts

Check out www.goodurlbadurl.com before purchasing your next domain name for your online marketing campaign.

Fact is, there are some things that just bring grief to a relationship.

There’ll be friction. There’ll be heat. You’re different - she’s different.

Sometimes, you’re just gonna have to tolerate the differences.

Sometimes, you’re just gonna have to tolerate: your girlfriend.

Here’s how to tolerate your girlfriend so that your relationship becomes smoother…

Step 1: Attend to the situation you’re currently exposed to.

Step 2: Observe the element in her that you’re finding hard to deal with.

Step 3: Cherish this element in her, COMPLETELY.

By fully attending to the whole situation that has arisen for you both, hone in on that part of her presence that’s brought up this friction within you - hold it in your hand and observe it from all angles - and then learn to cherish this part of her.

You see, it’s not really about tolerance - it’s about loving what’s there, whatever it is, rather than wishing it wasn’t.

Now that you’ve cherished this one element in her, extend the love you’re starting to feel and cherish all of her, head to toe, inside and out. I assure you, it’s worth it.

What are you learning to cherish in YOUR girlfriend? Share your comments below…

There you go - smoother relationships in three easy steps.

Much love,
Sol

p.s. would you like to learn How To TAME Your Girlfriend In 3 Easy Steps?

If you’re a young company, or a solo-preneur, you naturally want to keep your startup costs as low as possible.

Here is a terrific resource that lists and describes 30 essential pieces of free to use software for Windows.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/

It includes web browsers, email clients, complete office applications, media players, image editing applications, and even games!

This week I am limiting my computer use to 6 hours.  Regardless of whether it is for emails, surfing, blogging, skype chat, social networking, writing articles, or listening to music, I will only use the computer for a maximum of 6 hours this week.

Yes, it is an experiment.  It tests to see what happens to the quality of my work, the depth of my relationships, and my level of vitality.

I expect that by limiting my use of the computer, my method of working would be more reliant on spending enough time working things out in my own mind, and then exploring creative ways to record information and communicate it with those I am collaborating on projects with.  It would also have an impact on my health (more time healthy eating and getting fresh air rather than being stuck in front of a computer), and most certainly enrich my personal and business relationships.

So hey, lets see what happens in a week and how it really impacts my work, my relationships, and my vitality…

For it to be truly effective and to make the most of limited time on the computer, it requires me to batch tasks such as checking and responding to emails, programming in Living Jain quotes, or raising invoices.

If you happen to get an autoresponder message from me when you email me this week, please be patient for my response - after all, the time I have on my computer is limited so that it can make me unlimited!

Much love,
Sol

photo credit: Arno & Louise

Girlfriends are fun to be around and can also take over your life. It may feel to you that this lioness is trying to change you, control you, and always needs to have the last word.

Here’s how to tame your girlfriend so that you’re never again railroaded by what she does…

Step 1: Welcome the situation that you’re both immersed in.

Step 2: Listen with all your heart to what she is expressing and to your initial inner response.

Step 3: Tame your RESPONSE to what your girlfriend does.

The moment you actually try to tame HER or are a victim of her actions, you’re gonna get knocked out. Keep trying to actually tame HER and you’ll see that it’ll soon be game over.

Instead, listen with all your heart to what she’s saying and tame your RESPONSE to it. Wake up, man! You’re blessed to have this wonderful woman in your life.

Who / what are you taming, and how’s it working out for you?

Much love,
Sol

On Tom Johnson’s blog titled “I’d Rather Be Writing”, he has pulled together a very valuable selection of usability tips for when you are setting up and adding content to your blog.

At Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog — Condensed from Dozens of Bloggers’ Experiences, Tom expands on each of the following tips:

1. Pick a topic for your blog.
2. Encourage comments.
3. Make it easy to subscribe.
4. Include an About page.
5. Present your ideas visually.
6. Keep posts short and to the point.
7. Use subheadings for long posts.
8. Link abundantly.
9. Make headlines descriptive.
10. Archive by topic.
11. Include a list of related posts beneath each post.
12. Allow users to contact you offline.
13. Present your real viewpoint.
14. Write for your future employer.
15. Include a Top Posts section.
16. Provide an index.
17. Get your own URL and match it to your blog’s title.
18. Include a Recent Posts section in your sidebar.
19. Reward commenters for commenting.
20. Post often.

Incredibly useful for new bloggers, and naturally a gentle reminder for the more experienced!

Highly recommend you check out Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog — Condensed from Dozens of Bloggers’ Experiences and then get in touch with us for any technical amendments you want for your blog.

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