French
50 Ways To Improve Your French
Barron’s French Idioms
Learn French: The Fast And Fun Way (This book has tons of great worksheets and everything. It’s great for learning French!)
2,001 Most Useful French Words
Say It Right in French: The Easy Way to Pronounce Correctly
Streetwise French
Berlitz Hide This French Phrase Book
Italian
50 Ways To Improve Your Italian
Berlitz Self-Teacher Italian (Personally, I don’t really care for these types of books, mainly because I don’t the things you learn in the first few chapters. Unless you have a base in the language, I don’t think this book will work for you.)
Learn Italian: The Fast And Fun Way (This book has tons of great worksheets and everything. It’s great for learning Italian!)
Barron’s Italian Idioms
Easy Italian Phrase Book: 770 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use
Correct Your Italian Blunders
Spanish
50 Ways To Improve Your Spanish
Correct Your Spanish Blunders
Just Enough Spanish
Dirty Spanish - Warning: This is really vulgar.
Barron’s Complete Spanish Grammar Review
Making Out in Spanish (I think this title is great. I’ve never read this book, but if you’re looking for slang/everyday Spanish, this seems like a pretty good book.)
Ven Conmigo! Grammar and Vocabulary Workbook: Level 1 (This is the actual workbook I use in my Spanish 1 class. It is great and I love it. If you want to teach yourself Spanish, I highly recommend getting a workbook like this.)
Hide This Spanish Book (This has a lot for a small book. Mainly just some basic phrases, along with some that are more vulgar.)
Hide This Spanish Book for Lovers (The title speaks for itself…)
Mierda! The Real Spanish You Were Never Taught In School
Say It Right In Spanish
German
50 Ways To Improve Your German
Dirty German - Warning: This is really vulgar.
Say It Right In German: The Easy Way to Pronounce Correctly
Easy Way to Enlarge Your German Vocabulary
Barron’s German Idioms
The Tell-Tale Heart - If you want to read in German, this seems like a pretty good book to get.
German-English Visual Dictionary
Scheisse!: The Real German You Were Never Taught In School - I love all these books. They have them in every language (The title means “Shit”). Although it doesn’t have the pronunciations, its still pretty great for the vocabulary it has. It’s a bit vulgar though, but not too bad.
Portuguese
Just Enough Portuguese: How to Get by and Be Easily Understood
Portuguese Verb and Essentials of Grammar
Berlitz Portuguese Phrase Books & Dictionary
51 Portuguese Idioms - Speak Like a Brazilian
Arabic
Arabic-English Visual Dictionary
The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read and Write It
First 100 Words In Arabic
Learn Arabic: The Fast and Fun Way
Making Out In Arabic
Instant Arabic!
Japanese
Berlitz Concise Dictionary
Essential Kanji: 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters
Colloquial Kansai Japanese: The Dialects and Culture of the Kansai Region
Speak Japanese Today
Making Out In Japanese - I just bought this book, and it seems pretty great.
More Making Out In Japanese
Korean
Say It Right In Korean
Korean Made Easy
Instant Korean
First 100 Words In Korean
Making Out In Korean
More Making Out In Korean
Korean For Travelers - I think this might only be a Nook book, which kind of sucks.
Dirty Korean - Warning: This is really vulgar.
Basic Korean: Workbook
Intermediate Korean: Workbook - I’m not sure if this is worth getting because of the price, but it seems like a helpful book
Korean At A Glance
Teach Me Everyday Korean
Chinese
Making Out In Chinese (I think this title is great. I’ve never read this book, but if you’re looking for slang/everyday Chinese, this seems like a pretty good book.)
Mandarin Chinese - English Visual Dictionary
Survival Chinese
Get Talking Chinese - This book is so great. It’s kind of like a children’s book, but for learning basic Chinese, it’s great.
Hide This Mandarin Chinese Phrase Book
Instant Chinese!
Polish
Say It In Polish
Berlitz Polish Concise Dictionary
Berlitz Polish Phrasebook and Dictionary
Polish: An Essential Grammar
Russian
Learn Russian: The Fast and Fun Way
Say It Right In Russian
Russian Vocabulary
Dermo!: The Real Russian Tolstoy Never Used
Russian At A Glance
Just Enough Russian
General Language Books
Barron’s 501 Verbs (comes in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Latin, Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, English and German)
Note: I love Berlitz and Barron books for learning languages. Most are just reference books for verbs, grammar, or basic phrases instead of textbooks. But once you have a base in the language, they help you improve so much. I highly recommend buying any Berlitz or Barron language books. I love the 50 Ways To Improve Your books. They are the best grammar/vocab/correction language books ever. I use the Spanish one to help teach myself Spanish, and I absolutely love it. And it isn’t very expensive either!
Notetaking
Sound Note - take notes while you record audio
Evernote - notetaking that syncs across platforms
Paper 53 - minimal notetaking that syncs
Microsoft OneNote - collaboration and syncing, best for Office users
Google Keep - jot things down, best for Google suite users
Notability - take notes and annotate PDFs
Mindly - create mind maps
Day One - a digital journal
Flash Cards
Quizlet - the quintessential flash card app
StudyBlue - another commonly used app
Cram - best for its “cram mode”
Eidetic - uses spaced repetition for effective memorization
Planner
My Study Life - schedules, tasks, reminders, and more
StudyCal - keeps track of tasks, exams, and grades
24me - automated reminders and event planning
iStudiez - schedule and prioritized task list
Google Calendar - a calendar, best for Google users
Glass Planner - a calendar and to do list with incredible functionality
To Do List
Clear - organized to-do and reminders
MinimaList - simple to-do and focus timer
Trello - collaborative project organizer
Todoist - clean and functional task manager
Default notes app on your phone
Time Management
Forest - plant trees by staying focused
Pomotodo - pomodoro timer with to-do list
Timeglass - custom timers
Tide - pomodoro with white noise
Alarmy - forces you out of bed
Pillow - smart alarm that tracks sleep cycles
Productivity
Workflow - automate tasks
Habitica - turn your habits into an RPG
Continuo - simple, colorful activity tracking
Freedom - block distracting apps
Free Learning
Coursera - free MOOCs
TED - listen to Ted Talks
Duolingo - language learning
Memrise - spaced repetition language vocabulary
Khan Academy - free video lessons
Ambient Noise
8tracks - curated playlists
Spotify - online music streaming
Coffitivity - cafe ambience
Noisli - background sound generator
Rain Rain - rain sounds
Binaural - binaural beats
Health
Rockin Ramen - recipes based on ramen
MealBoard - meal planning
Lifesum - healthy eating
Stop Breath And Think - mindfulness meditation
Pacifica - mental health management
Sworkit - personalized video workouts
Waterlogged - hydration tracker
Reference
WolframAlpha - Google on steroids
Oxford Dictionary - all of English at your fingertips
RefMe - citation generator
PhotoMath - solve math problems by taking a photo
Mathway - step by step math help
Desmos - free graphing calculator
Wikipedia - not the best source, but it’s handy
Miscellaneous
Companion - stay safe when walking alone
Mint - money management
Toshl - finance manager
Tiny Scanner - scan documents
Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of decoden and polymer clay questions about what to use to as a gloss/glaze. Almost every time the first response is “Clear nail polish, duh!”.
This needs to stop if people want to be creating quality items. Sometimes I’m afraid to buy handmade things for fear that they have been sealed with clear nail polish and they will deteriorate over time. I want to buy things that will last!
On Saturday, October 5, we will host the 10th annual International Observe the Moon Night. One day each year, everyone on Earth is invited to observe and learn about the Moon together, and to celebrate the cultural and personal connections we all have with our nearest celestial neighbor! This year is particularly special as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing while looking forward to our Artemis program, which will send the first woman and next man to the Moon.
There are many ways to participate in International Observe the Moon Night. You can attend an event, host your own or just look up! Here are 10 of our favorite ways to observe the Moon.
Image Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio/Ernie Wright
The simplest way to observe the Moon is simply to look up. The Moon is the brightest object in our night sky, the second brightest in our daytime sky and can be seen from all around the world — from the remote and dark Atacama Desert in Chile to the brightly lit streets of Tokyo. On October 5, we have a first quarter Moon, which means that the near side of the Moon will be 50 percent illuminated. The first quarter Moon is a great phase for evening observing. Furthermore, the best lunar observing is typically along the Moon’s terminator (the line between night and day) where shadows are the longest, rather than at full Moon. See the Moon phase on October 5 or any other day of the year!
Image Credit: NASA/Molly Wasser
With some magnification help, you will be able to focus in on specific features on the Moon. In honor of this year’s 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, see if you can find Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility)! Download our Moon maps for some guided observing on Saturday.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has taken more than 20 million images of the Moon, mapping it in stunning detail. You can see featured, captioned images on LRO’s camera website, like the crater seen above. And, of course, you can take your own photos from Earth. Check out our tips on photographing the Moon!
Image Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio/Ernie Wright
Is it cloudy? Luckily, you can observe the Moon from the comfort of your own home. The Virtual Telescope Project will livestream the Moon from above the Roman skyline. Or, you can take and process your own lunar images with the MicroObservatory Robotic Telescopes. Would you prefer a movie night? There are many films that feature our nearest neighbor. Also, you can spend your evening with our lunar playlist on YouTube or this video gallery, learning about the Moon’s role in eclipses, looking at the Moon phases from the far side and seeing the latest science portrayed in super high resolution.
Image Credit: NASA GSFC/Jacob Richardson
Observe the Moon with your hands! If you have access to a 3D printer, you can peruse our library of 3D models and lunar landscapes. This collection of Apollo resources features 3D models of the Apollo landing sites using topographic data from LRO and the SELENE mission. The 3D printed model you see above is of the Ina D volcanic landform.
Image Credit: LPI/Andy Shaner
Enjoy artwork of the Moon and create your own! For messy fun, lunar crater paintings demonstrate how the lunar surface changes due to frequent meteorite impacts.
Image Credit: NASA Explorers: Apollo/System Sounds
Treat your ears this International Observe the Moon Night. Our audio series, NASA Explorers: Apollo features personal stories from the Apollo era to now, including yours! You can participate by recording and sharing your own experiences of Apollo with us. Learn some lunar science with the second season of our Gravity Assist podcast with NASA Chief Scientist, Jim Green. Make a playlist of Moon-themed songs. For inspiration, check out this list of lunar tunes. We also recommend LRO’s official music video, The Moon and More, featuring Javier Colon, season 1 winner of NBC’s “The Voice.” Or you can watch this video featuring “Clair de Lune,” by French composer Claude Debussy, over and over.
Image Credit: NASA/SSERVI
Plan a lunar hike with Moon Trek. Moon Trek is an interactive Moon map made using NASA data from our lunar spacecraft. Fly anywhere you’d like on the Moon, calculate the distance or the elevation of a mountain to plan your lunar hike, or layer attributes of the lunar surface and temperature. If you have a virtual reality headset, you can experience Moon Trek in 3D.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/MIT
Visible light is just one tool that we use to explore our universe. Our spacecraft contain many different types of instruments to analyze the Moon’s composition and environment. Review the Moon’s gravity field with data from the GRAIL spacecraft or decipher the maze of this slope map from the laser altimeter onboard LRO. This collection from LRO features images of the Moon’s temperature and topography. You can learn more about the different NASA missions to explore the Moon here.
Image Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio/Ernie Wright
An important part of observing the Moon is to see how it changes over time. International Observe the Moon Night is the perfect time to start a Moon journal. See how the shape of the Moon changes over the course of a month, and keep track of where and what time it rises and sets. Observe the Moon all year long with these tools and techniques!
However you choose to celebrate International Observe the Moon Night, we want to hear about it! Register your participation and share your experiences on social media with #ObserveTheMoon or on our Facebook page. Happy observing!
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
(By Jean Bardot, Natural News)
Whether you’re a city mouse or a country mouse — with a high-rise patio or 1000 acres — building an herb spiral near your kitchen allows you to partake in the sustainable permaculture revolution and have fresh organic culinary herbs at your fingertips. An herb spiral is a compact vertical garden built on specific principles allowing for individualized management of wind and water flow to create the ideal garden in a limited amount of space.
The spiral is a natural form that provides an efficient method for managing space, storing and sorting. Using the natural universal design of a spiral, the forces of gravity and water flow are utilized to their fullest allowing for proper drainage downhill. Herbs that thrive on drier soils live at the top, whereas those needing more moisture reside at the bottom where water collects. This form allows for planting of a widely diverse number of plants, and creates natural, sunny and shady areas — a perfect miniature microclimate landscape environment. The herb spiral as a permaculture form that allows you to create your own ecosystem and become self sufficient. The format can be adapted to large gardens if space is available.
Stone or block building materials allow for retention of heat and insulate plants in colder weather or at night, while acting as the backbone for the structure. Collect water at the bottom and have a small fish or frog pond or even a bog and grow edible water plants. An herb spiral can be built even on a concrete foundation and filled with the richest biodynamic, organic earth to support any plants included.
The spiral should always be built to move in the direction of water drainage in whatever hemisphere it’s located in — for example, in the Northern hemisphere, water runs off in a clockwise direction and the opposite is true for the Southern hemisphere. This allows for optimal positioning of the pond at the bottom and reduces evaporation. The spiral can be built as a round or oval shape to take advantage of the movement of summer sunlight.
1. Maximize growing space to grow more food. 2. Multiple microclimates available for optimal plant growth.
3. Healthier plants where growing needs are met and companion planting is easy to reduce insect problems and foster beneficial plant relationships for better growth. 4. Aesthetic garden focal point.
5. Maximizes space even in very small areas on top of concrete or in high-rise buildings. 6. Harvesting access is easy and all plants are effortlessly accessible. 7. No bending, everything is at waist height — hooray!
8. Save money by growing your own food. 9. Eat organic, using heirloom seeds and avoid pesticides and genetically engineered seeds. 10. Reduces maintenance, little weeding and easy to turn and mulch.
11. Manage water amounts and use natural forces to perpetuate the growing season. 12. Reduce building costs when you use local available materials. 13. Use drip irrigation or a small sprinkler for easy watering and irrigation.
14. Create a bio-diverse habitat for creatures who come to visit. 15. Build an herb spiral to grow medicinal herbs to avoid Big Pharm drugs.
Sources for this article: http://www.mitra.biz http://themicrogardener.com http://welcometovoluntarysimplicity.wordpress.com http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/creating-an-herb-spiral/
im very grateful for the lessons in photography i was taught in stop motion class because just now they made it possible to photograph the stars with my phone in spite of the camera usually not detecting the light of stars because theyre so dim,,,, enjoy these shiny motherfuckers
Did you know, that you can make an AWESOME journal for your adventures ALL ON YOUR OWN from a cereal box and paper/scraps that you likely have at home/can get from friends or family/you may find around your environment?
They’re called Junk Journals and they’re my entire life.
Im gonna do my best to walk you through how to make one! First, get you a mini cereal box! I use boxes from those cool multipacks of cereal that you can find at Walmart!
And then cut it out so it looks like this! (I already had one cut, so I’m gonna use that)
That “nutrition facts” side is gone become your spine!
Next, find some paper to use to decorate your cover! I was lucky enough to be gifted a bunch of scrapbooking paper, so I’m gonna use that, but you can also use newspaper, paper from books/magazines, junk mail, napkins, paper towels (excellent texture), etc!
Go ahead and glue that paper to your box (to cover the cereal logo) and cut it out! It’ll look like this;
Next you need to find your pages! Again these can be anything! Junk mail, envelopes, receipts, food wrappers, magazine/book pages, scrapbook paper, computer paper, construction paper, ANYTHING. Just grab a whole bunch!
You’re gonna want to fold them in half and cut them to the size of one of the covers of your box, and layer other pages inside of it to make your signatures, like this!
Each signature should be about 7-10 pages. You don’t want them too thick, otherwise the inner pages start sticking out when folded in half. You’re gonna have a LOT of these signatures, as you wanna fill the area in the spine as best as possible. For this one I’m using 7 page signatures. Here’s a pic to show just how much paper you’ll need
Each of these signatures are 7 pages, 6 signatures have only filled about half of the spine, so I’ll need probably 6 more.
Next you gotta figure out how you want them in your journal. Personally, I like to sew them into the spine, but you can also keep them in the spine with rubber bands, so you can have removable pages! (Be weary that rubber bands may break over time! So you may want to always keep extra bands near it to replace in case one snaps. This is why I prefer sewing them in) I find it best to look up on YouTube how to sew in signatures, just because having someone walk you through it where you can see what they’re doing is easiest. If you can’t access YouTube, there’s plenty of text tutorials on how to sew in signatures online, or you can message me! I’m not gonna go too into detail, but here’s the jist;
Okay so I’m a forgetful gob and I hecken forgot to take pictures as I was going along kahshshshsh
But essentially, I sewed in the pattern similar to the one I drew. The dots are where the needle goes all the way through to the back. I also like to use rubber band as an extra mode of support but you can do one or the other. I also like both cuz I can tuck stuff in em between the pages. Since I didn’t take more pictures; I’d really recommend looking up a how-to on YouTube or w/e if my badly drawn diagram isn’t clear enough (heh sorry about that)
Next, I glue fabric to the spine. It spruces it up quite a lot and holds the rubber bands in place, plus it give more support to the spine since there’s gonna be a lot of strain on it.
Only 10 photos per post, so I gotta post this and reblog it with the rest.
CLEANING
Dish soap
Laundry detergent
All-purpose cleaner
Hand soap
Broom
Mop
Wash cloths / rags
Vacuum
Dustpan
Lint roller
Sponges
KITCHENWARE
Plates
Bowls
Spoons
Forks
Knives
Glasses
Mugs
Tongs
Spatula
Plastic wrap
Ziplock baggies
Garbage bags
Paper towel
Tupperware
Ice tray
Oven mitts
Potato peeler
Mixing bowls
Frying pan
Pot
Baking sheet
Whisk
Stirring spoons / ladels
Tea infuser ball
Measuring cups
Strainer
Cutting board
Coffee maker
Kettle
Toaster
Magnets
Dry erase markers
Sticky notes
Microwave
Wire sponge
Trash bin
Recycling bin
Rubber gloves
Silverware organizer
Measuring spoons
Aluminum foil
Wax paper
Can opener
Bottle opener
Containers for salt, sugar, flour, etc.
LIVINGROOM
Sofa
Rocking chair (you know you want one)
Loveseat
Coasters
Blankets
Throw pillows
Coffee table
Book shelves
TV
TV stand
Floor lamp
End table
Stereo system / radio
BEDROOM
Mattress
Box spring
Bedframe
Linens
Sheets
Comforter
Hangers
Laundry hamper
Trash bin
Curtains
Pillows
Pillow cases
Night table
Alarm clock
Lamp
Dresser
Coat rack
Desk / vanity
Comfy chairs
DININGROOM
Dining table
Minimum of 2 chairs
Coasters
Placemat
Tablecloth
Tea lights /candles and candle holders
BATHROOM
Face clothes
Towel
Soap bar
Body wash
Shampoo
Conditioner
Tissues
Toilet paper
Trash bin
Plunger
Toilet cleaner
Cold, flu, pain, and allergy meds
Hydrogen peroxide
Antibacterial ointment
First-Aid kit
Tweezers
Nail clippers
Band-aids
Shower rod
Shower curtain
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Floss
Period products
Bathmat
Air freshener
Trash bin
Towel rod
Towels
MISCELLANEOUS
Elastic bands
Stapler
Stables
Paper clips
Needles and thread
AA / AAA batteries
Light bulbs
Extension cords
Scotch tape
Duct tape
Shovel
Rake (if you have a yard)
Stain remover
Jar of courters for laundry mat
Screw drivers
Hammer
Nails
Sticky tack
Screws
Box cutter / X-acto
Pliers
Wrench
Pens
Paper
Pencils
Pencil sharpener
Eraser
Welcome matt
Shoe rack
Coat rack
Flashlight
Flashlight batteries
Watch batteries
Rechargeable batteries and charger
Safe place to discard dead batteries
Candles
Matches
Lighter
Mini travel fans
Real fans
Emergency Survival kit
Fire extinguisher
Landline phone
Window air conditioner
Carbon monoxide alarm
Fire alarm
FOOD STUFF
Mustard
Ketchup
Mayo
Salt
Pepper
Baking soda
Flour
Eggs
Milk
Bread
Olive oil
Tea
Jam
Peanut-butter
Coffee grounds
Cereal
Rice
Pasta
Vegetable soup
Tomato sauce
Frozen vegetables
Crackers
Chickpeas / lentils
Apples
Oranges
Granola bars
Juice
Hot chocolate mix
Frozen meats