1. Understanding - It's about genuinely trying to understand the other person and to be understood (rather than shoving your thoughts down their throat and waiting for a gap in the conversation). "Do I understand her and does she understand me?" If there's mutual understanding, there will be good communication.
   


2. Listening - Ironically, some of the best communicators don't actually talk that much. Some people mistake verbal diarrhea for effective communication. We know that the vast majority of communication is non-verbal (93%), so why do we feel compelled to talk so much? I've had many productive one hour meetings with people where I've said literally fifty words, while they've talked non-stop.
   


3. Making the effort to understand different people's communication style. Learn new languages. Years of working with a wide range of people has taught me that what will motivate one person (a verbal kick in the pants perhaps) might devastate and de-motivate the next. Some need a smack around the head and some need an arm around the shoulder. Pity I'm so good at the head smacking thing. Oh well, arm around the shoulder it is.
   


4. Emotional Investment. This simply means caring about the person that you're communicating with. Caring about what they think, feel, want, need, believe. If people sense that you are genuinely interested in what they have to say, you will create instant rapport and connection. You don't need to 'love' or even agree with them, just respectfully consider their perspective.
   

Here's an example that buying in quantity isn't always a better deal. We've been taught by companies to think that you save money per item when you buy in bulk, but that's certainly not always the case. Be sure to do the math to find the best deal.

Paid in full my car loan, which went from 12000/23000 to 0 and just reported on all three bureaus via PM123. TU and EX FAKO did not budge. Equifax went up 2 points. Seems kind of chintzy, given that this took away 433 in monthly debt service. Who knows the effect on my real FICO. Must not be much because I didn't get an alert from my Equifax ScoreWatch.

Cheers,
VanceWade

Don't forget FatCash. And pick up at a nearby REI store to save shipping.

http://www.REI.com/outlet

(sorry, I don't know how to make it a link to click.)

I have been looking for a good overclocking yet budget motherboard for a system build and I came across this:

DFI P965-S Dark Motherboard

This is the lowest price I have to date for this motherboard. Newegg has it for $79.99 plus shipping.

It will overclock Core2Duos, Quads, and even the new 45nm wolfdale cpus (with a beta bios). Someone in DFI club was able to overclock their E8500 to 4.27ghz using this motherboard.

Although this is slightly older tech, it still performs on par with many of the high end motherboards. This motherboard will easily reach 500FSB, so it will probably max out almost an CPU you can use with it.

According to the site, this is only a 4-day deal that is ending on February 10.

15% off any refurbished* Inspiron or XPS PC purchased online at Dell Outlet!
Enter coupon* code at checkout: 3N82BC8X6CL?2G
Offer ends after 400 redemptions or 2/12/08, whichever comes first.

15% off any refurbished* Inspiron or XPS PC purchased online at Dell Outlet!
Enter coupon* code at checkout: 3N82BC8X6CL?2G
Offer ends after 400 redemptions or 2/12/08, whichever comes first.

Thanks for visiting! We've got an extraordinary selection of products at incredible low prices! Click "Shop" to browse our online catalog now! Register today and receive a free $10 gift card.

http://www.lagiftsandtreasures.com/welcome_new.asp

Reader Justin writes in to tell us how to opt-out of H&R Block's arbitration clause in their 2007 Client Service Agreement.

Justin says: " I filled out everything the next night (tonight) and got an email right away confirming (Written notice coming in the mail as well.) "

Boo arbitration clauses. Yay, opting out.

Opt Out [H&R Block]

Congress has been asking some tough questions while wearing their serious faces about why Dr. Richard Jarvik (inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart) is shilling Lipitor when he's not actually licensed to practice medicine.

ABC News says that Dr. Jarvik has been paid a guaranteed $1.35 million for the ads, which feature him espousing the virtues of Lipitor in a doctoriffic-looking lab coat and rowing around a lake talking about "when diet and exercise aren't enough."

Here's our favorite part of the story—the New York Times says that Dr. Jarvik uses a stunt double when he's shown rowing in the commercials.

As it turns out, Dr. Jarvik, 61, does not actually practice the sport. The ad agency hired a stunt double for the sculling scenes.
"He's about as much an outdoorsman as Woody Allen," said a longtime collaborator, Dr. O. H. Frazier of the Texas Heart Institute. "He can't row."

Jodi, the Seattle-based casting agent, told me that I was everyone's first choice so far, but it was up to the client. And no, it wasn't my sterling (or tarnished) sculling technique that impressed them; by genetic luck of the draw and male-pattern baldness I was the best body double available for Dr. Jarvik, who it turns out is my age, an inch taller and five pounds heavier than I.

Naturally, Congress is very concerned about fake rowing—they're sending out letters to Pfizer's ad agencies to inquire about it, as part of their overall investigation into the Lipitor commercials. We guess they're worried because fake rowing would play into an overall picture of deceptive advertising.

In response to all the Congressional attention, Dr. Jarvik has been popping up on the morning chat shows and has even released a statement on his website defending his choice to shill Lipitor:

I do not practice clinical medicine and hence do not treat individual patients. My career is in medical science. I have earned Bachelors, Masters, and MD degrees, and I have received honorary Doctor of Science, Doctor of Engineering, and Doctor of Medicine degrees. I am presently President and CEO of the company that manufactures the Jarvik 2000 heart. I have collaborated closely with many top surgeons and cardiologists from dozens of leading medical centers in the United States, Europe, and Asia. I have been named Inventor of the Year and have received a Lifetime Research Achievement Award among other honors. The Jarvik 7 and Jarvik 2000 hearts have been displayed at the Smithsonian Institution as part of their exhibit called "Treasures of American History."

Statement by Dr. Jarvik Regarding his Role as Lipitor Spokesman [Jarvik Heart]
Dr. Robert Jarvik Lipitor Ad [NYT]
Drug Ads Raise Questions for Heart Pioneer [NYT via WSJ Health Blog]

A week after the House of Representatives passed their version of the economic tax stimulus package, the Senate has passed their own slightly modified version. Overall, the Senate version is very similar to the House version, differing mainly in the extension of the tax rebate to low-income seniors and disabled vets.

Here’s the deal…

Single filers making less than $75,000 will get a $600 tax rebate and couples making less than $150,000 will get a $1,200 rebate. On top of this, parents will receive an additional $300 per child. On top of this, tax filers who do not owe income taxes but have at least $3,000 in income will get a $300 rebate.

According to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the IRS will start sending out the checks in May.

The other day, in response to my article about average net worth values, a reader named ‘g‘ left a fascinating comment. As I pointed out in “Lessons Learned From Average Net Worth Values,” there is currently a huge disparity between the median and mean net worth values in the United States.

For those that need a statistics refresher, the median is the value separating the higher half of the sample from the lower half, whereas the mean is the plain old arithmetic average. So what this disparity indicates is that some fraction of those individual in the upper half of the sample are way, way, way above the median, thereby dramatically inflating the mean. In other words, the distribution of wealth in this country is highly skewed.

While this might not come as a surprise, it’s interesting to look at these same values over time. This is where the aforementioned comment comes in… According to ‘g‘, this is what the numbers look like based on historical data from the Federal Reserve:

1960: Median = $8,690; Mean = $10,420 (Median is 83% of mean.)
1976: Median = $13,549; Mean = $16,893 (Median is 80% of mean.)
1982: Median = $19,446; Mean = $26,259 (Median is 74% mean.)
2004: Median = $93,100; Mean = $448,200 (Median is 21% mean.)

As you can see, the numbers have become increasingly skewed over the years. In fact, since 1960, the median household net worth in the United States has increased 10.7-fold, whereas the mean has increased 43-fold.

Any thoughts as to why this is the case?

Just picked some 120G WD SATA 2.5" HDs from BB in Danbury, CT for $56 and change.

cute mat w/ non-slip backing.

cute dragon theme door mat/floor mat for child's room $7.96 shipped w/ Amazon prime membership or w/ $25 minimum order.

when my son was a young child, we had a little rug placed in front of the television and we called it his magic carpet.

$5.99

if you have something special planned for baking/cooking w/ your child for valentine's day, this looks cute.

Stolen from bens

Geeks.com has the refurbished IBM eServer 325 Dual Opteron 2.0GHz 1GB 120GB Server w/Video

$219 - 10% off with coupon code bensbargains $14 shipping = $212 shipped.