Ooooooh, Nightmare Before Christmas icons. For free, they’re not that bad. Download them here. However, the Wall-E icons are really nice! Via.

I’ve always had a hard time figuring out my pricing for freelance design work. Consequently, I rarely get paid what I should (or at all). I just read this article about making a pricing sheet. The article also links to a great book about pricing for freelancers. Via.

The article linked below is titled, “Eight bad tech habits to quit in the new year”. It is subtitled, “These tired and tacky technology-based behaviors have got to go”. Not only is is a humorous article about some of the most common technology-related annoyances, but number six is one of my own biggest pet peeves. Number six involves forwarding emails that make crazy claims that induce fear or anger. Every time I get an email warning me that Pepsi is trying to change the National Anthem or that congress is ready to pass a law that will ban computer games, I immediately travel to Snopes.com and reply with the researched truth to the offending person. Read, “Eight bad tech habits to quit in the new year”.

On a somewhat related note, if you’ve received any emails about a crazy piece of legislation called the “Fairness Doctrine”, it’s extremely important that you know it is not made up. It is very real, even though it’s crazy enough to be fake. I sincerely hope that free speech isn’t injured by the adoption of the “Fairness Doctrine”. There’s nothing “fair” about it. It will kill conservative radio and television as we know it, and it will also kill Christian radio and television. The principles of that doctrine may also be applied to the Internet, which means a lot of opinionated Bloggers are in serious trouble if it passes. The “Fairness Doctrine” is designed to compromise the message of any broadcast that has a political, moral, or ethical standpoint.

In the last year the Dow has lost almost 50% of its value (it’s dropped 300 points as I write). Our national debt has ballooned to a multi-trillion dollar amount that exceeds America’s ability to produce, ensuring that America’s future remains lean and precarious. The national unemployment rate has climbed to a near depression-level figure and is expected to continue to climb. One of the backbones of this nation’s economy, the American auto industry, is near collapse. In the next year GM may not even exist any more as a company. Does that sound a little, you know, worrisome? Well, my friend Joe just emailed me this article from the Wall Street Journal, which isn’t going to lift your mood any. However, it’s a good article and further highlights the reasons to be financially stable right now, and prepared for leaner and meaner times ahead: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189377673479433.html