Not that I wear Ties a lot but I always find a reason to put one on at least 2-3 times a year.  This is a great video on how to tie a half-windsor knot.

The WSJ has an article abut the trouble Wal-Mart is facing, because competitors are offering Wal-Mart’s low prices along with better quality merchandise, better service, and more convenience.

The most interesting part, however, was this video showing the way Wal-Mart has spread across the country like a microbe culture in a petri dish.

    Today, though, Wal-Mart’s influence over the retail universe is slipping. In fact, the industry’s titan is scrambling to keep up with swifter rivals that are redefining the business all around it. It can still disrupt prices, as it did last year by cutting some generic prescriptions to $4. But success is no longer guaranteed.

    Rival retailers lured Americans away from Wal-Mart’s low-price promise by offering greater convenience, more selection, higher quality, or better service. Amid the country’s growing affluence, Wal-Mart has struggled to overhaul its down-market, politically incorrect image while other discounters pitched themselves as more upscale and more palatable alternatives. The Internet has changed shoppers’ preferences and eroded the commanding influence Wal-Mart had over its suppliers.

TipCam is a free application that will allow you to record a video of your desktop, this is especially helpful when trying to so someone who is not so computer literate how to do something that is complicated to describe over the phone.

I noticed today my windows laptop wasn’t auto enabling num lock on boot, this was very annoying so I found this little bit of code to solve that:

1. Click Start, click Run, and type regedit to open the Windows registry editor.
2. In the registry, open the below folders.
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\
   Control Panel\
   Keyboard\
3. Within the keyboard folder, you should have a string value named "InitialKeyboardIndicators" with a value of 0, 1, or 2. Below is the explanation of each of these values.
   0 = Num Lock is turned OFF after the logon.
   1 = Disable Num Lock.
   2 = Numlock is turned ON after  the logon.

I haven’t had this happen to me before but while I was at my moms house playing around with her computer I managed to lose the WindowsXP default theme and it went back to the windows classic theme.  After a quick search I found this zip file all you need to do is extract it to C:\Windows and it will then allow you to change the theme back to the original.  Figured this would be handy so thought I should post it:

This is an annoying issue I ran into today with remote desktop and windows.  I use remote desktop to get to my other computer at work and without the copy paste function it is a huge hassle.  I found another blog that ran into the same issue to solve this issue:

Go to the remote computer, run taskmgr.exe then end the process rdpclip.exe then go to run and re-start the rdpclip.exe process.

Ever need to hear those crazy looking words out loud?  Well this site is simple and easy to use and as it is creatively named HowjSay it does just that tells you how to say that word.  This is great for those tongue twisters or words that you are just not sure how they should sound because they are not spelled phonetically.

This site is great, it has these slices of everyday objects and breaks them out into their technical terms and names.  This is great when you are looking up something at say a hardware store and need to find the do-hickie that you jiggle to make the toilet stop running.  It has a great Ajax search agent to help you find exactly what you want quickly and easily.  And as the name indicates it gives you a definition of each of the parts along with a little audible clip you can play to hear the word.

For those of us who give a lot of speeches (or plan on in the future) these are some great tips from one of my favorite sites (lifehack) that are some good pointers.  These are pretty helpful to remember while I am um…getting my MBA.  They also talk about not worrying about moments of silence as you typically try to fill that time with useless information.  It also says that these moments of silence allow you to slow down and emphasize certain points in your speech.

Practice, practice, practice! - You should know your presentation backwards and forwards before giving it. If you spend all your time thinking of what to say next, you can’t put emphasis on avoiding crutch words. Once you eliminate crutch words you can deliver unprepared speeches more effectively, but it is hard to cut the um’s if you aren’t prepared.

• Breathe In, Not Out - When you feel the temptation to ummm your way through a point, breathe in. This may add a pause to your presentation, but it will be far better than an ugly crutch word which blurs sentences together.
• Avoid them in Conversation - You speak all the time. Watch your crutch words when chatting with friends and family. If it helps on stage it will help in a conversation. Plus you`ll get far more practice.
• Get a Counter - If your giving an important speech, get a friend to count the amount of times you utter an um or ah. Keeping numbers makes you highly aware of when your using these speech-killers.
• Comma = 1 pause - Make a note whenever you are doing a presentation that every comma you encounter should have a pause attached. You might want to run through a list of ten items as if they were one thought. But force yourself to give a short count in between each item. Your audience will thank you for the added emphasis and clarity.
• Period = 2 pauses - The end of a sentence requires twice as much pause. There is a time-delay between hearing your words and registering their meaning. Don`t cut over this step by blurring together your sentences.
• Double Underline - Underline key words and phrases and double underline especially important ones. This is a technique I learned from a former radio broadcaster. It helps you understand where to slow down and emphasize an individual word. When you slow down to emphasize words, this reduces the temptation to inject crutch words in between.
• If Your Lost, Don`t Panic! - Um`s come in when you don`t have your next sentence ready. Your mind is still constructing what you want to say next, so you feel throwing a few um`s will fill the space until your ready. Don`t do this! Instead take a quick pause before moving on. The audience won`t notice and it will make your presentation smooth.
• Enthusiasm Cuts Crunch - Imagine the presentation you have to give was the most critical information the audience needed to hear. When you engage emotionally with your speech topic, it becomes easier to emphasize points and avoid crutch words. If you aren`t engaged, you might feel the urge to preface statements with crutch words to downplay their importance.
• Plan Tricky Parts - Know your conclusions and introductions word for word. Also plan out any tricky parts of a presentation you might have difficulty explaining. If you are preparing a business proposal and want to cover a sticky issue delicately, know that section word for word.
• Quality over Quantity - Speaking is a fairly inefficient medium for delivering large volumes of information. Emphasize only a few points in a speech, but emphasize them well and with repetition. A good way to have a presentation filled with um`s and ah`s is to cram a five minute speech with twenty minutes of information.

This is kind of an interesting find.  These are some good directional answers for the most common interview questions that you encounter.  Who knew that 80% of all interviews begin with the tell me about yourself question of which you are not supposed to give them your life story but relate your experiences to things that would benefit the job you are applying for.  Check out the other questions