Supernifty - nifty stuff

For some time I’ve held an interest in Buddhism and Zen, and have read a number of books on the subject. I’m also a reader of Zen Habits, by Leo Duchovny, David Duchovny’s younger brother.

I would argue that Leo’s blog has very little relationship to Zen (*cough* false advertising *cough*), and in fact I would suggest that a more appropriate title would be “Nice guy habits”. But that doesn’t really have the same ring to it.

Zen isn’t really about being nice, or being organised, getting things done, being productive, or any of that hoo-ha. Why do people even care so much about these stupid things? Being productive? Woohoo, way to go, mark that down as your headstone quote.

Zen, without the Buddhism, is simply about living in the present moment, and meditating a lot to get good at that.

So, with that out of the way, Supernifty will now, as is the fashion in blogs, preach with a list of ways to be awesome.

1. Be nice
No.

Ever hear the saying, “nice guys finish last”? Well, it’s true. This means that being nice results in a double whammy of suckfullness. First, you have to be nice. Second, you come last.

Being grumpy, and bad, is the alternative personality to aim for. Grumpiness is fun, and helps you live longer. Also, grumpy people are pretty funny. John McEnroe for instance. His grumpiness gives him an ongoing income stream: every time someone says “you cannot be serious” on commercial television, he gets a dollar.

Girls love bad. You just have to watch TV to know this. There’s even scientific evidence indicating as such.

Unfortunately, if you are too bad, you might end up in jail. Supernifty life tip: avoid jail. This means aiming to be in the smart bad end of town, the guys that don’t get caught. If you think you might be in the stupid bad category, maybe you should just be good instead.

2. Patience is a virtue
No.

I’ve spent a lot of time waiting around for stuff and generally, it’s a waste of time. Time is the one thing you can never get more of in your life so don’t spend it being patient. Seize the day, and don’t wait another moment to go fix yourself a big sugary treat.

3. Only the good die young
Actually no, it’s mainly the bad guys dying young by killing each other, and themselves. Drinking, smoking or shagging themselves to death. Not taking care of themselves, driving too fast, taking stupid risks. All that stuff is the domain of the baddies.

But doesn’t it sound like fun? You only live once, do you want that one life to be the boring, long, life of the nice guy?

4. Live in the moment
Zen tells us the only moment is now.

So forget the past, and forget the future (i.e. consequences of your actions). Do whatever the hell you want, and do it right now.

* Please don’t take all aspects of this article seriously. I actually quite like Leo’s blog.

How great are our paralympic athletes? Their efforts at the Beijing Paralympics have been incredible. Their stories, hardships and sacrifices have been at times heartbreaking, but more often inspirational.

In short, it’s been very good.

Further to Supernifty’s map of Olympics medallists, Supernifty is proud to announce a similar deal for the Paralympics medallists.

Using this map, you can see where all our local heroes hail from. If you’re considering setting up a tickertape parade, rock concert or air-force flyover in their honour, this is a chance to check that you are in the right town.

OK, so that last paragraph was sheer silliness.

But you should check out where our Beijing Paralympics medallists come from.

The map will be updated daily as more medals are won, until the conclusion of the games, so feel free to check it frequently.

Well, the 2008 Beijing Olympics are over. However, there’s still so much scope for distraction with this new Google Mashup from Supernifty.

The page shows where in the world all the medal winners come from. See which athletes are from your home town.

This will help you know who to look out for down at your local shopping centre.

It’s also an opportunity to learn more about your favorite athlete, where they got started, and how they got to be at the top of their game.

And of course it’s an opportunity to stick it to your neighbouring state/city/county by checking to see who won the most medals.

Check out the Supernifty Olympic Medallist Google Maps Mashup today!

We’ve added a simple new tool to the Supernifty health range - a pulse calculator.

Your pulse rate gives you an indication of your heart’s health - if it is very high, very low or suddenly changes, there may be something wrong.

This simple tool gives you a quick and easy way to determine your pulse, and provides an evaluation of your health, based on your pulse rate.

If you are engaged in a fitness program, consider taking your pulse regularly to see if your pulse improves over time.

Of course, this does not constitute medical advice - consult your friendly Doctor if you have any concerns.

Try it out! Find out what your pulse says about you - are you ultrafit, normal or unfit?

I regularly hear of the big wave of excitement surrounding the power of positive thinking, and the practically unbounded benefits such enthusiastic self-praise can bring to its practitioner.

I’ve always been somewhat sceptical, likening it to wearing rose-tinted glasses to convince yourself that your life is in fact awesome.

For instance, if you were stuck at the bottom of an erupting volcano, or had just been jettisoned into space, telling yourself that everything is going swimmingly is surely an exercise in self-deception.

However, perhaps there is something in it.

An experiment involved two groups of victims solving crosswords. For one group, the solution contained aggressive and impolite words, e.g. “obnoxious”, while the other group had nice, polite words in its solution.

On finishing, the subjects would return to the experimenter, only to find him busy in conversation. The true purpose of the experiment was to see which subjects would interrupt the experimenter.

Guess what? 6 out of 7 the polite group didn’t interrupt at all, and on average the one that did interrupt waited 9 minutes, whereas most of the rude group interrupted, typically in under 6 minutes.

And just from doing a crossword containing selected words.

It seems clear that the state of your mind, even if you’re unaware of it, has a big impact on how you act. And state of mind can make the difference between going for a once in a lifetime opportunity, and not taking that chance, and missing it forever.

So, I would suggest making a list of positive phrases and reading them before you start your day. Possibly reading them at the top of your lungs on the morning train.

Example lines:

I am a positive, confident person.
I live my life the best that I possibly can.
I like to visit Supernifty, it makes me glad and smiley.
I welcome today with a happy and open attitude.

Of course, other than no. 3, feel free to adapt to your own particular situation. Wow, I am feeling so madly positive from writing that I think I might go sing some opera on my roof.

There’s so little to lose, and potentially great gain. Try it every day for a week, and see what happens. You don’t even have to buy one of those crazy positive thinking books.

That’s right kemosabe, you can get everything you need, here at Supernifty.

Supernifty is pleased to announce the release of the BMI Calculator.

Find out if you are considered a healthy weight, and see which celebrity is shaped most like you!

BMI (Body Mass Index) is a simple method used to classify underweight, healthy and overweight adults.

Use our BMI Calculator to dynamically calculate your own BMI, and see a BMI chart showing your BMI status.

We’ve added a bunch of celebrity BMIs, so you can compare your shape to your favourite celebrity, and see which celebrity you are most like. It’s so much fun.

Happily, I am most like Orlando Bloom. Now just to acquire his other physical attributes, and his wealth and success…

Which celebrity are you?

Note that BMI is a very general method of assessing if you are a healthy weight; you can easily be outside the healthy BMI range and still be very healthy.