Facebook Scrabulous barred

Talk about an emotional issue. I was playing Scrabulous via Facebook in the earl hours of Tuesday, and suddenly something was wrong. Well, I thought, just temporary. We in the Scrabulous community had been frustrated with a few glitches ... like requesting to host a table and having a game set up with the same person 5 times.

But no, this was sometthing serious, for a LOT of people.

From The New York Times, the HALF A MILLION PEOPLE who played Scrabulous daily had the rug abruptly pulled out from under their feet.

I'll admit I'm a Scrabulous fan and spent and hour or two daily, for relaxation. I got on line as usual, and there was a notice - no Scrabulous. I didn't even get to get my final stats on BINGOS. I played with my sister, my nephew, my niece, and a host of people from all over the world I knew nothing about. Sometimes we chatted, sometimes we just played. Everyone had their own style at Scrab.

I know it was a big thrill in my life that just that day I'd put down a 98 pt. bingo. The highest one before that was AFFLUENT for 95. I have a list of my Bingos tacked up on my bulletin board. My stat was slowly building as I learned strategy from people I played with - from all over the world.

I joined the environment of the Scrabulous community - the controversy over word lists and "cheaters," the 'adult' lists, the people who would write in their requests when wanting to host a table - no porn, no chat, just fun, and brain power only.

From the article:

The Calcutta-based brothers who developed Scrabulous bowed to legal pressure and barred North American users from playing the game on Facebook.

The demise of Scrabulous was sudden but not wholly unexpected. The game, a favorite time-waster among cubicle dwellers, was created by two brothers in Calcutta. On July 24, Hasbro, which owns the North American rights to Scrabble, sued them for copyright infringement. On Tuesday, the brothers made Scrabulous unavailable to Facebook users in Canada and the United States, citing legal pressure.

The backlash was instant. Bloggers denounced Hasbro, howls of protest flooded message boards, and new Facebook groups were created with names like “Down with Hasbro.” Although some people spoke up to defend Hasbro’s rights, most people jeered at the company, calling it everything from “short-sighted” to “technologically in the dark” to “despicable.”

I have had many hobbies and pastimes, and this was the latest one. Following on the heels of a long study of opera, I might add. New interests and hobbies are refreshing!

I had wondered how two brothers from India had been able to come up with something that worked so well, most of the time.

A waste of time? That's silly. One should have some time during the day to "waste." It was fun. It cost nothing, could be played at any time, connected me with some interesting people, and was a harmless activity.

Now I'll have to find something else.

Such is life!

The Romance out of Love

From a blog which is about seniors. The blog say seniors are not ones who took..., but consider this as sort of a mantra about emotionally intelligent living:

We could say "who took ..."

The melody out of music,
The pride out of appearance,
The courtesy out of driving,
The romance out of love,
The commitment out of marriage,
The responsibility out of parenthood,
The togetherness out of the family,
The learning out of education,
The service out of patriotism,
The Golden Rule from rulers,
The nativity scene out of cities,
The civility out of behavior,
The refinement out of language,
The dedication out of employment,
The prudence out of spending,
The ambition out of achievement, or,
God out of government and school.

And we certainly are NOT the ones who eliminated patience and tolerance from personal relationships and interactions with others!!

Brangelina and the Babies

Susan Dunn is a personal life coach, specializing in emotional intelligence for success in career, dating and personal life. Call 817-741-7223 or sdunn@susandunn.cc

We can't help but join in the excitement about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitts' new twins! Joining a brood with already 6 small children. We also can't help wondering how they will do it.

Even if there are nannies and maids, there's so much work to do, and lot of it emotional and demanding. CHildren learn their emotional intelligence from their parents, by watching how they react and respond to things.

How do we handle the stress?

• Maybe you have a stressful job where the demands on your time seem impossible


• Maybe you have two jobs and are struggling to put gas in the car


• Maybe you are in school and the pressure to compete combines with deadlines and tons of reading

Whatever the stresses you are under, you need to find YOUR way of handling them. Not everything works for each person. Let me guide you with coaching to find the way that works for you.

FROM THE MAILBAG

From Ben: I did the yoga thing and it turned out to be more like another job. Rushing to get there. Working at getting it right. I came home more stressed then when I went there. What's up with that?

From LaDiva: she told me to go to a park and walk in nature. so i did and i breated deep like i was sposed to and just started coughing from all that stuff in the air. and there were kids there fighting and dogs too. this doesnt work for me.

From Kayley: meditation would be nice but i just can't turn off thoughts in my head. seems to me like i'd do better running a mile and get exhausted physically. what do you think?

Well, whatever your stress levels, there IS a way to manage it, and it may not be what works for someone else.

Let me coach you to success and managing the stress.

Lessons in Management

LESSONS IN MANAGEMENT
(source unknown)

Lesson 1: A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob , the next-door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you $800 to drop that towel." After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, "Who was that?: "It was Bob the next door neighbor," she replies. "Great," the husband says, "did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?"

Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders, in time you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

The Dogs Days of Summer

Hubble photo of Sirius, the Dog Star, believed to be in the public domain.

Folks, we are in the Dog Days of Summer. If you're feeling irritable and also lethargic, you aren't alone.

This is the Dog Days of Summer. This is because of the Dog Star, Sirius, and it's serious business!

Going back to ancient times, the Northern Hemisphere has had to deal with scorching summers and has had various explanations.

Here's the story-- Sirius, the Dog Star, is the brightest star besides the sun.

The "Dog Days" are when Sirius rose just before or at the same time as sunrise, but this has shifted somewhat since the precession of the equinoxes over time. This happened to be the heat of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Also, of interest, it was the time when the Nile River flooded.

The Dog Days used to be considered "an evil time when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics and frenzies" according to Clavis Calendarium, 1813.

Of course we can see now that it's the heat!!

Official dates are:
Old Farmers Almanac says 40 days, July 3 - August 11
The Book of Common Prayer says July 6 - August 17

REMEDIES:

• Understand what the heat does to us, emotionally, mentally and physically (that's why we have phrases like - chill, and hot under the collar.
  
• Stay "cool"
• If you're tired, don't take a Red Bull, take a nap
• Don't pressure yourself or others about things that can wait. "Let sleeping dogs lie."
• Don't get over-heated - mentally, physically or emotionally
• Stay out of the heat - literally, and also remove yourself from 'heated' situations.
  

In other words, it's a good time to practice your emotional intelligence skills. Don't allow yourself to be provoked by others who are "losing it."

Employees on the Internet

UH OH

Seen on the Scrabulous request board:

Looking for a relatively fast game, but I'm at work so there may be some distractions

How to handle the employees and the Internet takes some EQ - in - action.
EQ is all about leadership, finesse, the "soft" skills that make the hard skills work .... call me (817-741-7223) or email me, sdunn@susandunn.cc, for coaching.

Brad Pitt's IQ

The IQ ad that pops up on our screens states that Brad Pitt's IQ is 136 -- and can you beat it?

So much interest in IQ! And now there's a growing interest in EQ - emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence refers to all those "other things" that make a person successful in their personal and professional life, besides their raw IQ score.

What's really great is that EQ can be learned. It's considered that your "IQ" is pretty much set in early childhood, but that our EQ does increase over time, if we PAY ATTENTION and learn.

I coach emotional intelligence. Come join me for a great learning experience.

Coaching by email, Internet courses, one-day seminars in Dallas, San Diego and D. C. EMAIL ME for more information.

I also train and certify coaches in emotional intelligence, lifeskills, wellness, relationships, dating, etc. One-day seminars, or long-distance. I have trained coaches all over the world. Distance is no problem!

DATING COACHING - visit the blog: http://datingcoachblog.wordpress.com/ .

Now YOU Can Be a Coach

Someone asked me the other day about becoming a coach. Did you know that I have trained and certified coaches all over the US and the world?

I train long-distance, and also offer one-day seminars for training and certification in Dallas, San Diego, and the D. C. area. (email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc to arrange YOURS.)

Want to become a coach?

• The ideal profession
• You're your own boss
• You set your own schedule and hours and rates
• It's a portable profession - you can move any time you want
• The perfect retirement profession
• No one can fire you
• You can only get better with age
• You help me
• YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE
• Tremendous growth field
• Cited in a recent publication as one of the sneaky 6-figure occupations

Areas I can certify you in include, but are not limited to:

• Dating
• Wellness
• Emotional Intelligence
• Life balance
• Stress
• Parenting
• Personal Life Coach
• Business Coach
• Life Coach
• Relationship Coach

I have an M.A. in Clinical Psychology, and was one of the founding members of Coachville, serving on Thomas Leonard's R&D team. I am proud to be Step-parenting expert and Attract your dream partner expert on a major website. I serve as EQ expert for WebProNews, and am proud to have been named Spiritual Life Path, and Adult Development Expert for selfgrowth.com, the largest selfhelp portal on the Internet.

Come learn with the coach who trains the other coaches.

Coach training and certification - long distance, on-site, Dallas, San Diego, D.C.; completely unique and personalized program for you, including marketing tips and strategies for a successful practice.

Requirements? An interest in becoming a coach.

Call 817-741-7223 or email sdunn@susandunn.cc

How to Learn How to MAKE A DIFFERENCE

"Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren't any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn't be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life's challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person." - Buckminster Fuller

Prepare yourself by taking the EQ course, about emotional intelligence. You can be the best you, and can make a difference.

There is nothing more satisfying.
eMail me at sdunn@susandunn.cc

Do these pants make my butt look too big?

About honesty in relationships, and "the truth."

A constant sort point in male-female relationships has to do with "the truth." To many men, truth is an absolute.

There's a joke circulating about this now - one of many. Here it is:

A woman is standing nude looking in the bedroom mirror. She is not happy with what she sees and says to her husband, 'I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'

He quickly replies, "Well you have perfect eyesight."

I hate to belabor the obvious on this one. It's a joke because we all know this.

IF you don't have tact, and if you confuse "honesty" with "the truth", as if you owned the truth ... please take some EQ training.

If you are a kind and decent person and a person needs reassurance, give it. It's the higher path.

The "truth" is a relative thing, subject to one's subjectivity. Kindness matters more in human relationships.

Don't Get Sick in July

Because a dear friend of mine became a night manager at a convenience store this year, and I've observed the effects on her working the graveyard shift, I've been looking at the effects of sleep deprivation. I also have heard her stories about the "night people," the people that frequent the store between midnight and 4:00 a.m. Many of them shift workers, and many of them working more than one job. Some have done so for years, and say, "You never get used to it."

What does it do to you to be up all night when you're supposed to -- biologically -- be sleeping? We'll be taking a look at this from different angles and here's one.

Maybe you haven't heard of this if you aren't in the medical community -- DON'T GET SICK IN JULY.

Why?

July 1 is when brand new baby physicians begin their internship, residency and clinical duties at teaching hospitals.

Common sense (emotional intelligence) would tell you you want an experienced professional if hospitalized, not to mention a rested and alert one, but I can tell you, having been married to a physician, that those schedules are grinding - almost a test of how well you can function without sleep.

There is some data to back this up.

According to "Near-miss errors in laboratory blood test requests by interns," there is an increased risk of error.

From the article:

The overall incidence of near-miss events when interns practiced during the first month of training vs. subsequent months was 1.6 vs. 0.6 cases per 100 intern-days at risk. The odds ratio for a near-miss event during the first month of intern training vs. subsequent months was 2.64.

That isn't exactly "alert the press information" -- that's why interns and residents are supervised. How well, is a function of hospital rigor and chance.

But take a look also at the effects of interns' on-call shift schedule as well:

One half of the near-miss episodes occurred during an intern's on-call days and another half of them during an extended on-call shift; none of the events occurred during a standard working shift. These events peaked in frequency when on-call interns had worked for 12–20 h.

So here's a matter of EQ -- if you, or someone you love, is hopitalized ever, but particularly in July at a teaching hospital, check out the 'state' of the doctor. You don't want an intern during his first month of clinical work who's on his 19th hour of duty on an on-call night ... do you?