Would You Buy a Chromebook If It Ran Android Apps?

Yesterday, we got a very strong indication that Google is bringing its Android-based Google Play Store to Chromebooks. This could be a game changer. Would it affect your decision to buy one?

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Six Things You Should Know About How Your Brain Learns

Whether you want to learn a new language, learn to cook, take up a musical instrument, or just get more out of the books you read, it helps to know how your brain learns. While everyone learns slightly differently, we do have similarities in the way our brains take in new information, and knowing how this works can help us choose the most efficient strategies for learning new things.

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Make Foolproof Stir-Fry Dishes with This Simple Formula

Once you know the basics of stir-frying, an endless variety of quick and healthy dishes will await you. These infographics from Cook Smarts tell you everything you need to know.

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The Ultimate List of Hobbies for Men: 75+ Ideas For Your Free Time

In the days of old, leisure time was not thought of as a chance to “veg out,” but as an opportunity to pursue one’s passions and interests — an outlet for the sides of a man that were not stimulated in his professional vocation. Hobbies were deemed important for the way in which they can strengthen every part […]

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London adopts e-paper signs for real-time bus schedules

Picture the scene: it's raining and you're waiting for a night bus in London, with very little charge on your phone. Wouldn't it be great if the bus stop had some up-to-date arrival times? So you didn't have to pull out your phone and refer to Citymapper or Google Maps? Transport for London (TfL) is now trialling e-paper displays at a small number of bus stops which offer timetables, route maps and real-time travel information. The screens are the same size as a conventional bus stop sign -- equivalent to three A4 sheets of paper stacked on top of each other -- and complimented with some colourful buttons for illumination and page switching.

The hope is that the new displays will be both readable and environmentally friendly. Like a Kindle, they should be readable in bright sunlight and draw less power than a conventional full-colour screen. TfL says they can be charged from a solar panel too, and retrieve bus arrival information over 3G. For now, it's only available in one location, near Waterloo Bridge, although the plan is to introduce a further three in Parliament Square, Piccadilly Circus and Sloane Square next month. They're be trialled until the autumn -- a full roll-out is probably too expensive, but this should give TfL a better idea of its viability.

Via: BBC

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Comic for December 16, 2015

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Winter is Coming: Join the Holiday Watch and Defend the Realm

Winter is coming. Today, in households and offices all across Westeros the world, unstoppable forces are planning to wreak havoc on waistlines and stop momentum dead in its track. We have been fighting hard to level up our lives all year long, dutifully exercising regularly, walking further and getting stronger, making healthier food choices, and building […]

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Try I’ve been lucky enough to be able to not only view some of...

Try

I’ve been lucky enough to be able to not only view some of the recent rugby matches on TV but also to be able to go to watch some of the games live. Professional sport, regardless of which, always inspires me. The effort, time and commitment these people dedicate to getting minimal but crucial gains on their opponents is amazing. Looking back through my pictures I saw the one above and it got me thinking about the word ‘Try’ and what that really means to people, specifically in the world of health and fitness.

Lots of people will say they have tried be in good shape. They tried having a good diet. They tried doing some exercise. It’s used quite often as an excuse not to make the effort because they’ve been there and tried anything and no matter what they’ve done it just hasn’t worked. However, we all know if you really try, you get results. It’s impossible not to. Hard work and effort= gains. That’s how your body works. So how much effort does it really take to try and how can we quantify it? Honestly, I can’t answer that. Everybody is different and there can be no one size fits all. Personally, I would say trying includes all of the following:

1) At least 12 weeks of solid effort
Not 12 hours, not two days or even two weeks. Your body takes time to adjust to the changes taking place. People don’t get out of shape overnight, nor do they gain a stone in a day. It happens gradually, so much so that some people don’t even realise they’re gaining weight until suddenly their clothes don’t fit anymore. The same is true of weight loss and fitness results. They take time. Trying therefore, means not quitting until you’ve given your body at least twelve weeks to see the changes.

2) Making real changes
By real changes I mean ones that you can stick to and ones that you know will make a difference. It’s pointless increasing the amount you exercise and at the same time increasing the amount of bad food you’re putting in your body. It may sound like I’m making this up but I know many people who will do an hour of exercise and then go to McDonalds afterwards because they’ve earned themselves a ‘treat’. That isn’t trying. Nor is completely changing everything overnight, that’s just setting the bar too high. Make small, real changes you can and are likely to stick to.

3) Being committed
There’s no point lying to yourself or others if you aren’t really committed to your goal. If you’re skipping exercise sessions, if you’re eating more treats than you should then you aren’t committed. You’re lying to yourself and you’re lying to others. That isn’t trying, it’s setting yourself up to fail and it’s hurting you psychologically too. Be honest with yourself, if you aren’t ready to change then don’t say you’re trying. Wait until you’re ready and do it properly.

4) Changing your mindset
This ties into the one above. As stated, lying to yourself is the worst thing you can do. I talk very often about a holistic approach to health and fitness and that includes having a healthy mind. I think that comes from being honest with yourself. If you’re having a couple of glasses of wine daily and or eating more cake than you should then you know why you’re gaining weight. You have to be honest with yourself about the things you are or aren’t prepared to do to change. If you aren’t ready, don’t begin to try.

5) Tracking your progress
I’m guilty often of letting myself down on this. I don’t keep an exercise diary but it can be a great way of tracking progress. You can actually see how many more reps you’re doing, how much stronger and fitter you are and how you really are going forwards. I rarely weigh myself either, I don’t think it’s a very good way of tracking progress and it can be hugely demoralising. Think instead about taking body measurements or pictures but take them weekly or better still fortnightly because your body takes time to change. Muscle weighs more than fat so it could be your body is totally changing shape and you’re looking a lot leaner but you weigh the same or more. Tracking your progress in a methodical way means you’re tracking the real changes in your body.

Trying will mean something different for everybody. If someone comes to me and says they have tried to change their exercise and diet habits, to lose weight or to see better results I will always ask them what they mean by that. If you believe you have tried in the past but haven’t followed some of the steps above then what’s to stop you making the effort and following my rules of trying to see where it gets you.

As always, if you’re looking for exercise and nutritional advice please don’t hesitate to contact me using the section on my website. And remember, if at first you don’t succeed you can always try, try again. Especially if you really are doing just that!

PS. In case, like me, you are suffering post rugby World Cup blues, here’s a look at some of the tackles of the tournament. Enjoy! Rugby World Cup 2015 Tackles of the Tournament

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How to Make Hearty, Savory Pasta Carbonara Using Only One Pan

Legend has it that pasta carbonara got its name from carbonaro — the Italian word for men who worked as charcoal burners. The hearty carbonaro were hardworking woodsmen who for centuries turned wood into charcoal by slowly burning it in kilns dotting the Apennine hills near Rome. As they often camped outside for weeks at […]

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Can You Complete The Green Arrow Workout? Save Star City!

Star City is in trouble. With masked supervillians like Deathstroke, Merlyn, Deadshot, and the League of Assassins terrorizing the population, it’s up to the our friend, Oliver Queen, also known as The Green arrow, to set things right. Thanks to the popularity of the surprisingly fantastic (and only kinda hokey) show Arrow, Oliver’s battle with the […]

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Time Spent Judging Others' Mistakes Is Time Not Learning From Your Own

It’s easy to get hung up on someone else’s mistakes. From the outside, you can see all the ways they could’ve done something differently. It’s so obvious! Instead of wasting that energy on choices you can’t control, examine your own.

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7 Tips For Parents Dealing with Fussy Eaters

Steve here! I wanted to introduce Dan Schmidt, our newest contributor and wizard. Dan is a long-time Rebel and fatherhood specialist, and will be sharing his expertise in raising healthy and happy Rebels! Take it away Dan! What have we always said is the most important thing? Breakfast. Family. As parents who want the very best for […]

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Top 10 Skills You Need at Work That Have Nothing to Do with Your Job

Hiring managers make the difficult decision of who the best candidate is for the job based not just on the specific job requirements but also basic skills every worker should have. Many of these are “soft skills” : Things like communication and teamwork. Here are the top 10 skills everyone should have to stay on top of their careers.

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TalkTalk hacked in 'significant and sustained cyberattack'

TalkTalk subscribers are this morning waking up to news that the company has been the subject of another hack. Following an intrusion at the end of last year, which saw some customer data stolen, the broadband provider announced today that its website was the target of a "significant and sustained cyberattack" that may have captured personal details including names, addresses, account information and credit card/bank data.

Source: TalkTalk

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Get Excited About Parchment Paper, One of the Most Useful Things In Your Kitchen

Being beige, dull, and two-dimensional, parchment paper doesn’t seem like the most exciting of kitchen tools. But those cellulose-based sheets have so many uses, it’s hard not to get a little excited about them. I can’t imagine making French macarons without the stuff, but parchment paper has a multitude of uses that go beyond baking, which is why my kitchen will never go paperless.

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How to Ditch the Victim Mentality and Become More Empowered

Hardly a day goes by that we don’t complain, criticize, blame, gossip or compare ourselves to other people. I certainly struggle with it. But sometimes playing the victim only limits what we’re actually capable of.

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