So life got a little crazy after April Fool’s. My sister got married (congratulazione) and because I was in the bridal party, my life got put on hold. Lovely day, my sister looked a treat and my new brother-in-law is a top bloke. To infringe upon my life further, the Daydreamer was off swanning around Jamaica AND the Big Apple. And just to top it off, the last few weeks at work have been quite demanding. So take a guess who couldn’t be arsed banging out a blog post?

If you guessed either Donnie, MonkeyBoy, Jade or Jimmy Whatsisnem… you’re absolutely correct!

So now I have the formalities out of the way, let’s get straight to the begging. I’ve been quite an avid supporter of MacHeist. Not necessarily on the blog but definitely within my circle of Mac friends. Well, the guys at MacHeist have another bundle up for sale thought this one is more a “best-of” sort of affair. If you bought the last bundle, then this probably isn’t for you but for a recent switcher (or even a potential switcher) or a seasoned Mac user looking to add some unexplored apps, this bundle offers a great introduction to life in OSX.

So what’s in it for me? Well, click through the picture and every bundle you buy will give me a referral point. Three points is all I want so I can get myself a copy of RapidWeaver, a really beautiful app for web design ‘cos this little bee is getting tired of the blog’s appearance. I might just be motivated to redesign, especially considering I’ve been working my way through an enormous manual on XHTML and CSS.

Come on Beezhouse readers. Help a brother in need. Show me just how low I have sunk…

I have an amazing friend who points me to things that change my life. Sometimes I check it out straight away, and other times I’ll revisit six months later. My introduction to TED.com falls into the latter category. Over the last couple of months I’ve downloaded several videos for my later viewing, and whilst all are quite amazing, there are two I’ve found so incredible that I just have to share them.

Whilst hardly a practising (in the traditional sense) Roman Catholic, I still retain an interest in matters of faith. Karen Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion rings true with many of my thoughts on the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) - there is a single unifying ideology of compassion which gets lost amongst a sea of commentary. Sometimes people add too much crap to a really great idea. Karen is truly engaging throughout and her wish of an open dialogue between the faiths is one that I share.

Which brings me to Dave Eggers. Apart from being a fairly prolific author (his first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize), he was instrumental in opening a tutoring lab for young people in San Francisco’s Mission District called 826 Valencia. His TED Prize Wish outlines the setup and growth of 826 Valencia, and the subsequent implementation of the concept in other American cities. Entertaining and inspirational in the same breath, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the foresight of the project.

I wonder if I’ll ever speak before a TED conference. Guess I’ll have to do something worthwhile in the meantime…

Edit: at the suggestion of one reader, I have included direct links for downloading the relevant talks. Just means you won’t have to deal with auto-loading movies. And for those who enjoy watching video on their iPod, I recommend you download the zipped version and then use iSquint to convert it into iPod-friendly format straight into iTunes. Enjoy!

Karen Armstrong: Zipped mp4 or iTunes

Dave Eggers: Zipped mp4 or iTunes