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 Shannon above Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina This is the second part of my interview with Shannon O’Donnell, travel blogger. To read the first part, click here.
Jennifer Barry: So what are the differences between Chiang Mai and the south of Thailand?
Shannon O’Donnell: Chiang Mai is much quieter than Bangkok, even though Chiang Mai is the second biggest city. It’s much smaller. Everything is motorbike-able within about 20 minutes here. But the north has a somewhat different culture, with different food than you see in the south. The islands in the south have so much Western influence in them.
JB: Really?
SO: Oh yeah. I went to the Thai islands on my visa run last month and it was so expensive and so Western. Continue reading A Brand New Role, Part 2
 I’d heard great things about the local King Spa and Sauna. I thought it would be an excellent addition to my series on local adventures, but I never seemed to get around to visiting. I was busy and I couldn’t get anyone to agree to go with me.
Never one to back down from a dare, I decided this would be my response to Christine’s challenge to do something alone. A trip to the local Korean style bathhouse sounded like a great way to get out of my comfort zone and experience something totally new.
Although King Spa is an impressive 34,000 square feet, I drove by it the first time as it’s tucked down a driveway past wicker giraffes covered in tiny blue lights. The entryway is grand, with lion statues and a red and gold motif.
When I admitted I was a newbie to the guy at the counter, he was friendly and pleased to explain everything. After you pay, I got my bracelet with a key and number tag. Then I grabbed my “uniform” and immediately took off my shoes as required before entering the spa. I’m sure this helps keep the place very clean. Continue reading Seoul Seeker
I’m proud to say that today is the one year anniversary of Live Richly. I didn’t know if it would last this long. I started it as an experiment to learn about social media and marketing, but it turned out I really liked blogging for its own sake.
One of the best part [...]
 If you regularly shop for food, I bet you’ve noticed the dramatic price jumps over the past year. If you haven’t, it’s because the food manufacturers have shrunk the contents of their packages up to 20% while keeping the price the same.
So what is making food cost so much?
The first problem is that demand for food is heating up. When people become more prosperous in developing countries, the first thing they buy is more food. They buy luxury foods they couldn’t afford before, especially meat. As each pound of meat requires several pounds of grain to produce, the world must grow more grains just to keep up.
Ironically, the desire to “go green” is putting pressure on the food supply. Biofuels like ethanol are usually made from food. Every time you fill up your gas tank with food based fuel, you make it more expensive for yourself at the grocery store. Add government subsidies promoting ethanol to the mix, and you get artificial demand for grains. Continue reading Egypt, Bernanke, and the Rising Cost of Food
As you may know by now,  I’m very picky about what I eat. I order my meat from a small farmer, who doesn’t give his livestock antibiotics or vaccines, and feeds them organically. After choosing my food carefully, I like to cook it exactly the way I like it.
I prefer to eat local, organic produce, but my yard is not very conducive to a garden. It’s not surprising I would end up at Whole Foods, which is about a mile from my house. Despite the fact that I generally enjoy grocery shopping, I frequently leave the store frustrated. Though I believe I nearly match their target customer, this supermarket is not meeting my needs very well. Here are the 6 things that drive me up a wall about Whole Foods.
1. Hide-and-Seek: My brain is organized very visually. If I’m trying to find an item in the store, I bring up a metal picture of where it is. This works great until employees reorganize the shelves. This happens at least once a month, leaving me standing at the spot where the soy sauce should be, but isn’t. I’ve recently found out this is a sneaky trick used by many supermarkets to get you to spend more time searching for items, and therefore more money at the store as you add impulse foods to your cart. Continue reading Whole Foods: How to Alienate Customers in 6 Easy Steps
 Did you make New Year’s resolutions? Did you decide to be kinder to the environment or save more money towards your dreams? You can do both. I give you some tips on getting around while using less fuel.
1. Carpooling: It’s not easy to sell your home and move closer to work in this real estate market. You probably don’t want to quit a good job in this economy either. So you may already be sharing that long commute with some co-workers who live near you.
Sharing a ride makes sense. Carpoolers get a break from driving and can get caught up on their sleep or have a lively conversation. Many areas also have high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes so your trip is faster and you don’t have the annoyance of stop-and-go traffic. You’re more likely to stick with it if you find partners at your company whose company you enjoy. Continue reading Be Green, Save Green By Cutting Fuel Use
This is the second part of  David Rostcheck’s guest post. Trained as a physicist, he became a software engineer and has worked in IT for 18 years. David is employed by a security company who sent him to Singularity University in October.
All kinds of other revolutions are fomenting in biology and medicine. Genetic engineers are able to create entire organisms (like bacteria and yeast) from scratch, modifying them to do functions we want, such as produce pharmaceuticals or fuels. Biologists are cataloging the vast diversity of microbial life, finding naturally occurring varieties that do useful tricks from repairing massive radiation damage to producing glue that repairs cracks in concrete. Neurologists are achieving breakthrough maps of the brain’s wiring – a fundamental step to understanding human consciousness.
The intersection of information technology with medicine is opening up vast opportunities for change. Here are some examples (all of which exist now): Continue reading A Visit to the Future: Singularity University, Part 2
 This is a guest post from David Rostcheck. Trained as a physicist, he became a software engineer and has worked in IT for 18 years. David is employed by a security company who sent him to SU in October.
As I approached the campus, an airship flew over my head. And when I stepped on campus, the first person I met was Peter Diamandis – founder of the X Prize Foundation. His foundation had sponsored the record-setting first private manned spaceflight, which is to say that Peter had single-handedly launched the private space movement. Who better to teach changing the world than someone who had done exactly that?
I was at Singularity University, the only educational institution in the world dedicated solely to studying the future and preparing humanity to handle it. Located on the campus of NASA’s Ames Research Facility in California’s Silicon Valley, this two year-old institution is like no other. With faculty and lecturers plucked straight from the pages of Wired magazine and with students drawn from all around the world, I would spend the next 9 days trying to understand the changes that were coming quickly upon us. Continue reading A Visit to the Future: Singularity University, Part 1
I read a lot of blog posts about productivity. They give me tips on how to write faster, how to automate processes, how to improve my SEO, and how to make more efficient use of my time. I enjoy these posts – I link to them, retweet them, leave comments about them, and try some of the suggestions.
However, I realize I can’t do it all. No matter how clever, or helpful, or insightful, I don’t have enough hours in the day to attempt all this self-improvement.
In fact, working too hard causes its own problems. Here are 6 reasons why you shouldn’t: Continue reading 6 Reasons Not to Work So Hard
 I found out about Blog Action Day this week, and I was excited to see the topic was water. Unlike other things we buy, fresh water has no substitute. It’s a commodity that everyone needs, but few in the developed world think about. In the US, we often take it for granted, since you can run a tap almost anywhere and get it in unlimited quantities.
While fresh water seems plentiful, it’s actually rare on a global basis. Approximately 97% of the earth’s water is located in the oceans and it’s undrinkable without desalinization. Of the remaining 3%, most of it is frozen solid at the Poles. Less than half a percent is potable, and frequently it’s located far from population centers. Continue reading The Water Crisis: 5 Ways to Help
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