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Site of the day - PickyDomains.com, world’s first risk free naming agency
Weirdness takes many forms. When everyone else is carrying nylon computer bags and sporty backpacks, weird people insist on an “old-fashioned” leather briefcase (guilty). Many people think it is weird to go to over 50 Grateful Dead concerts and own recordings of hundreds of their concerts (also guilty). Is it weird to spend six hours on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in a dingy rec room playing Dungeons and Dragons? To collect chewing gum wrappers and own over 2,000, with examples from over 50 countries? To read instead of watching television? To ride a bike instead of driving? The weird is us. And the weird is you.
2. Extreme Cuisine: The Weird & Wonderful Foods that People Eat
Jerry Hopkins has raised the bar in food scholarship - Extreme Cuisine is an extremely entertaining read and a primary source for anyone interested in how (with recipes) and what other (often rural) world cultures eat. A most worthy successor to Unmentionable Cuisine. Great color photography inserts. Hopkins provides scholarly detail about some subjects some pet-lovers might find less tasty (eating dogs, cats, horse, monkeys, etc), some which are most assuredly unknown by most (eating rooster combs, wattles & testicles) and has a good sense of humor by including dumpster diving and eating roadkill. As Anthony Bourain learned, Hopkins is the perfect guide, the “Old Hand” to the other (than American style packaged foods) food worlds.
3. Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die
in 1700 there were less than 100 causes of death. Today there are 3,000. With each advance of technology, people find new ways to become deceased, often causing trends that peak in the first year. People are now killed by everything, from cell phones, washing machines, lawn mowers and toothpicks, to the boundless catalog of man—made medicines. In Final Exits the causes of death—bizarre or common—are alphabetically arranged and include actual accounts of people, both famous and ordinary, who unfortunately died that way. (Ants, bad words, Bingo, bean bag chairs, flying cows, frozen toilets, hiccups, lipstick, moray eels, road kill, starfish, and toupees are only some of the more unusual causes.)
4. Crazy: Notes On and Off the Couch
While the professionals are trying to help people resolve their problems, the therapists themselves are often depressed, anxious, and prone to panic attacks. They take antipsychotics, self-medicate with booze, and struggle in their own relationships. The ones who are providing the perspective are often the ones with the most on their plate. In short, they are just as “crazy” as the patients. Crazy is the story of how one mental health professional deals with his own personal problems and those of the people he treats. Part exposé and part memoir, it reveals what therapists really think about their profession, their colleagues, their patients, and their own lives.
5. Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites with Attitude
Amy Bloom’s latest book, Normal, gives those of us who are familiar with her fiction another opportunity to luxuriate in her distinctive, elegant prose. Those not familiar with Bloom’s work are in for a rare treat: a book which employs this writer’s considerable talents (as both a psychotherapist and an artist) for an attentive and comprehensive examination of people whose lives include (but are not limited by) transgender, crossdressing and intersex issues. Bloom doesn’t create “characters” in her exploration of these people; instead, she puts her artistry to work in giving voice to the living, breathing human beings who have the same range of responses as there are fascinating situations in this book.
An amazing succession to her first book, “If You Have To Cry, Go Outside,” Cutrone dives into deeper issues with complete honesty and witty humor that leaves readers feeling inspired. Topics in the book are what many people have contemplated between one another in conversations for years but have never had the nerve to stand up and defend their beliefs or opinions for the sake of revolutionizing change in multiple aspects of current issues and self-awakening. She stands up on a literary soap box to encourage people to question, reflect and embrace free thinking for positive reformations in society.
7. Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices
You probably don’t expect to find yourself compulsively reading a book called an encyclopedia of anything, but then you probably don’t expect to be reading about men who coax angry bees to sting their penises in order to make the organ swell and become more sensitive. The 750+ listings here will propel you from amazement to amazement as they carry you from abduction as a sex act to zoophilia (sex with animals). You will be repelled and excited, entranced and titillated, shocked and sucked right into the world of sexual extremes and oddities. And, all the time, you’ll be making mental notes of which entries you just have to tell this or that friend about.
8. Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original Psycho
In the autumn of 1957, the nation learned of a nightmare unfolding in the little rural town of Plainfield, Wisconsin. A local recluse and simpleton by the name of Edward Gein murdered Bernice Worden, the owner of the local hardware store. A murder, even in 1950’s America, wouldn’t grab the attention of most folks, but this crime did. Local police searching Gein’s farmhouse uncovered a soul shattering house of horrors. Not only did they find murder victim Worden in the most degrading condition, the police also discovered pieces of human bodies inside the house. Gein had fashioned soup bowls out of human skulls, masks out of human faces, and furniture out of human flesh. Every hour spent in the farmhouse turned up even more horrors, enough to make even the most hardened cop sick to his stomach. As the official inquiry deepened, America learned that a human monster lived in the most unlikely of settings, a man who embodied virtually every ghastly psychopathology known to modern science. The name Eddie Gein became synonymous with evil and he quickly became part of the dark side of American pop culture.
9. Letters of the Lost - Suicide Notes
Letters of the Lost is a collection of suicide notes. For many victims of suicide, writing a letter, or an email was not on the agenda. This book communicates the terrible loneliness there is in deciding to kill oneself. It covers people from all backgrounds, ages and gender, and hopes to enlighten people on why so many of our friends and family decide they cannot take this life.
10. The New Weird
This avant-garde anthology that presents and defines the New Weird—a hip, stylistic fiction that evokes the gritty exuberance of pulp novels and dime-store comic books—creates a new literature that is entirely unprecedented and utterly compelling. Assembling an array of talent, this collection includes contributions from visionaries Michael Moorcock and China Miéville, modern icon Clive Barker, and audacious new talents Hal Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, and Sarah Monette. An essential snapshot of a vibrant movement in popular fiction, this anthology also features critical writings from authors, theorists, and international editors as well as witty selections from online debates.
[Via - Madconomist.com]
Want more weird?
Dumb But Profitable. 10 Million Dollar Ideas That Shouldn’t Have Worked.
Stupid Shit People ACTUALLY Put On Their Resumes
35 Weird Facts You Never Heard Of
10 Things You Did Not Know You Could Buy On Amazon.Com
What If US Collapses? Soviet Collapse Lessons Every American Needs To Know
Before the rise of the Digital age, research and forensic scientists, biologists, and botanists, painstakingly identified each and every living organism by searching their various ranks in the Nomenclature Code rule book. Using advanced technology however, has made it possible to simplify these steps in just a couple of clicks on the computer. Determix has created Lysandra Online, an internet-based, biological database that classifies all organisms using interactive catalogues and identification guides. Everything is basically there; and unlike a trip to the library, it wouldn’t take a day to find a strange organism’s Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species classification—all in one sitting.
This is good news to scientists all over the world. Lysandra Online is co-authored by leading specialists in the fields of zoology and biological sciences; and it uses complex algorithms to search for an organism’s specific hierarchies. It makes things even easier by adding illustrated catalogues, handy navigation, and print output in its features. And here’s the best part: it can organize random search lists from the general catalogue and even create mini-presentations. Some of its published works include beetles and butterfly classification, butterfly identifcation database, and all that can be easily accessed via website.
The best part, however, is that it’s free. All its database and facilities are available after installation, and some of its demo databases don’t even need registration. Today, it is used as an accurate guide to biological classification, and Determix has now released a commercial version of its database that contains completely illustrated tools, maps, and pictures for better identification.
[Via - MadConomist.com]
* - do you own a web-based business? We’d like to profile your website, too.
IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea
How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur’s Guide by Dan S. Kennedy
101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads
Need business name ideas? PickyDomains.com, world’s first risk free naming agency
Here is a list of cool articles about successful unusual businesses for the weekend.
1. Selling Pickles Online? Actually, It’s A Great Business
2. 5 Online Millionaires You’ve Never Heard About
3. 20 Ways For A Starving Students To Make Some Money
4. We Only Have One Of Each - StAlfred.Com Business Model Generates Profit
5. What Happens To The Ring When The Wedding Is Called Off?
6. 9 Famous Things Invented by Accident
7. Profiting From Human Irrationality. 10 Must Read Books
8. How To Rent A Midget Online
9. AdSense Superstars - Who Makes Most Money With AdSense
10. How One New Yorker Makes $100,000 A Year Uploading CDs To iPods For Other People
11. Moonshine As A Business (Plus Free Moonshine Recipe)
12. 10 Weird Businesses That Make Money Out Of Nothing
Happy Thanksgiving weekend to everyone!
P.S. If you are into odd news, you’ll love our sister site MadConomist.com
So your startup needs a name. Welcome to PickyDomains.com, a crowdsourcing naming platform that has named over 1500 startups, services, blogs, online shops and news sites. Here are just a few examples of our work -DePrice.Com (discounted software retailer), SoftwareJudge.com (software review site), MadConomist.com (odd news), BatesExpress.com (bates numbering software for lawyers), BenePark.com (innovative domain parking system with above market payouts) and many, many others.
We understand that most startups don’t have any cash to burn, so our services cost only 50 US Dollars. Moreover, our service is risk-free, which means that if you decide that you don’t like any names (domains) we suggest for your startup, you get your $50 deposit back. You pay us only if you like our work.
We are very different from naming agencies and brand consultants. This is how the process work. First, you register as client. Then, you create your order and specify what you want - how long your domain should be, which extensions are desirable, does it have to have certain keywords or not, etc. The order goes active as soon as you make the deposit (we accept credit cards, paypal, bank transfers, invoices, and all other conventional payment methods). Within minutes (yes, minutes) you start receving suggestions from our contributors (we’ve got over fourty thousand registered copywriters and several hundred are active at any given time). You mark incoming suggestions as liked or disliked to steer our contributors in the right direction. When you see a domain that’s perfect for your startup, you register it first and then mark it as picked. Contributor who made that suggestion will get half of your deposit. Once again, if you aren’t happy with our work - the money is returned, no questions asked. You aren’t risking anything when hiring us.
We also do names and slogans, and our projects aren’t limited to startup names. We’ve been hired to name software, restaurants, product lines, adult websites, strip clubs, even dogs. So if your project needs a name, we’ll happily assist you.
Source - Startup names
You have looming deadlines, and there is more work than there are hours in the day for you to get it all done. Have you ever thought that what you really need is help that applies directly to the job at hand? There are thousands of specialized applications and services that can help you be more productive. I am sure you have heard about people hiring telemarketers and assistants in other countries to help them with their work, but there are many other services available. I have listed ten services and applications that you may not know about now, but they could become invaluable to you in the future.
1. Scheduling/To-Do Lists and Tasks – RememberTheMilk.com
RememberTheMilk is an online scheduling and task management service application. Its main selling point is that it integrates with all of your personal electronic devices: Android phones, iPhones, Blackberry and other PDAs, Twitter, MS Outlook, Gmail/Google Calendar, and many more. From your phone you can access your calendar and tasks that you have entered on your home computer. With this app you can even remotely manage your employees. While basic functions on RememberTheMilk are free, you can use the more advanced options for only $25. These might include iPod touch interface add-ons or synching RTM with Windows Mobile devices.
2. Domain Naming and Branding – PickyDomains.com
Need a new domain name or product slogan? PickyDomains.com is a domain naming and marketing service that offers you original ideas with no obligation or risk. When you place an order for a new name, you pay only $50 and you will start receiving suggestions. If you want to use one of the names PickyDomains pays a portion of the fee to the person who came up with the suggestion. If you don’t like any of the suggestions, you can have your fee refunded, with no obligation. Here are some of the over 1500 sites they have helped develop: Xutta.Com, NadaPay.com, Simplytics.Com, DiskScout.Com Coderria.Com, Nogeno.Com, and GymGenius.Com.
3. Web and Graphic Design – 99Designs.Com
In 2010, 99Designs won a Webby award and they have since been featured in many tech magazines and blogs with good reviews. 99Designs is a service that specializes in graphics such as logos, templates, icons and many other types of design. They have a huge membership of graphic designers who charge much less than traditional design firms would. You can purchase an original logo for approximately $99. Most graphic design firms would charge you at minimum, $295.
4. Sales and Marketing – oDesk.Com
Like 99Designs.com, Odesk is similar but they offer a wider range of outsourcing services. It is particularly good for sales lead generation and business prospecting. For example, if you are a doctor who works with law firms, preparing expert testimony for personal injury cases, you need to contact lawyers in that field. Through oDesk, you can employ competent marketers from Thailand, Russia, or India for a very low hourly fee. You can write your job description to be extremely task specific, even telling them exactly where to find the leads and what to do with them. You could, for instance, offer .10 cents for each lead generated and email sent. Contacting 1000 prospects that would have taken you weeks, could instead now cost only $100 and can be done by several remote employees in a matter of hours.
5. Competitive SEO/PPC – iSpionage.Com
If you run an internet business and want to keep tabs on what your competition is doing with their SEO, iSpionage will be invaluable. All you have to do is search your competition’s URL and you can see which keywords they are using, their position and if they are buying PPC ads. You will find out approximately how much money they have spent and can even access the text for their AdWords ads, and how much traffic they are generating from their SEO. Their free service lets you search up to 10 domains or keywords per day, but for a fee of $59 to $129 you can have full access to all the information.
6. Corporate Intranets – BitrixSoft.com
This service is your one-stop shop for corporate intranets. You may not have heard of them, but almost 60,000 sites in Russia for media, government and corporations use it. With Bitrix, a competent programmer would be able to get corporate intranet, including employee pages, forums, messaging, blogs, video conferencing, and e-mail, in place very quickly. Their fees vary, depending on the size of the intranet service you need.
7. Social Network Building – Microworkers.Com
Feeling sad that you have no followers? Does no one ‘like’ you on your business Facebook page? This can be a real problem when you launch a new corporate Facebook page. At Microworkers for under $100 your social networking page will have hundreds of members right from the beginning. Now you won’t have to spend your own time trying to get a few ‘friends’ and Twitter followers. At Microworkers.com you can pay as little as .10 to .15 cents apiece for people to ‘like’ you on Facebook or ‘follow’ you on Twitter.
8. Invoicing and Business Processes – SideJobTrack.Com
The economy is bad and everyone is moonlighting, so how do you keep track of all your extra jobs? You can find quite a few online services that can perform invoicing and other business services. SideJobTrack.com is specifically designed for part-time contractors or people who do work on a variable basis, which is what sets it apart. You can create your own invoices and estimates from many different templates. You don’t want to pay for a standard invoicing/billing service if you only do these jobs a few times a year. Especially since SideJobTrack is absolutely free!
9. Software Translation – Transifex.net
If you are a software developer and want to market your program abroad, you might need to have your application translated into as many as 15 different languages. Often, programmers ask their users to translate the application in their native language or they may hire separate translators for every language. Transifex was originally created for open source translation projects but now offers its services for commercial applications as well. They have done translations for Firefox, Meego, fedora, GNOME, and django. At $30 EU per month, it’s very inexpensive. In comparison to other companies such as eLance the quality and speed is much higher and the fee much lower.
10. Legal Services– BatesExpress.com
Unless you work for a law firm, it is probably a good thing if you don’t what the Bates numbering system is. Lawyers, paralegals and clerks have to manually add Bates numbering, also known as ‘stamping Bates,’ to every single document in order to have courts accept them. BatesExpress provides a service that will automatically apply Bates stamps to any legal document, Word file, e-mail, image, or PDF file. BatesExpress has a free version as well as a paid version with more functionality.