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Pamela Skillings has produced the “how-to” book for anyone who dreads going to their miserable job. Escape from Corporate America outlines what the downtrodden toiler needs to do to actually get up out of his or her cubicle and chase down his or her dreams. Everyone has been there before; you hate your job but you feel like you’ll stuck there forever. Skillings has verbalized our collective feelings in her easy-to-read guide.

Outlining the reasons that we feel helpless and powerless when we toil away in cubicle land, Skillings has provided the kick in the pants many of us need to regain control over our work life. She doesn’t leave you feeling worse about yourself, which is what many of these types of books wind up doing. On the contrary, she addresses our feelings and then makes us realize that we have the capability to actually make the life changing move.

Immediately, Skillings connects with her readers as she says, “I wrote this book because I know exactly how you feel.” We learn that she was a high-powered mover and shaker in the corporate world but felt that her creativity was being sapped on a daily basis. Tired of just thinking about changing careers and idly threatening to do so, she talked to the right people that could help her go through with it. She is not trying to act like she’s better than us because she actually did the make the big move, rather she keeps her humility in tact as she continually sympathizes with our situation. Over and over, she asks why else would we be reading this book if we weren’t ready to grab hold of our lives and leave Corporate America behind us?

Escape from Corporate America is not a rant about what’s wrong with big business. She doesn’t trash capitalism or anything like that. She even cites some great companies to work for. The essence of her message is that as individuals we have to make changes to better suit ourselves. The message is clear that Corporate America isn’t going to look out for the little guy and take care of us through all our travails. Only we can provide the sense of fulfillment that we crave. Beautifully juxtaposing the corporate world and the salvation that awaits us when we do leave adds the extra incentive we need to make our move.

Learning to play an instrument can be expensive. The instrument itself is likely going to put a dent in your budget. Luckily, you don’t have to spend tons of money to learn how to play that instrument. The Internet has many websites that offer free lessons for almost any instrument imaginable. For the sake of brevity, this list just focuses on the most popular music lessons available online. Piano So you’ve just inherited your great aunt’s piano and you don’t know how to play? No worries…here are some great places to get started tickling those ivories.

1. GoPiano.com. Piano lessons for the beginner or someone who could use some review are available here. A handful of lessons are available online with more gradually being added. If you want to order their CD with even more lessons, they request that you provide a donation to cover the costs.
2. Free Online Piano Lessons. For the beginning student, this site offers lessons to get you started. In addition to these lessons, this site offers suggestions for other places to go for more lessons (not all are free).
3. Piano Clues. If you want to learn to play the piano, organ, or electric keyboard, visit this blog. You’ll get lessons and tips to get you started and keep you going.
4. Hear and Play. Learn to play piano by ear with four easy steps. You will need to register to get the free lessons, and not all the lessons here are free.
5. Pianologist. Devoted to innovative piano playing, this blog gives lessons on a variety of piano styles. Also check out the links to free piano lessons and activities available on the Internet.
6. GetPianoLessons.com. These ten detailed lessons culminate with an examination to see how far you’ve come. Using a combination of video, text, and photos, these lessons will have you playing the piano in no time.
7. Sonny’s Piano Blog. You’ll have to scroll through some For Sale posts, but this blog offers free tips and lessons for playing the piano. The video format of the lessons make it easy to understand the topic.
8. PianoMinds. This blog offers tips and lessons on playing the piano. You will also enjoy the YouTube tutorials this young man offers. Be sure to use the search feature if you are looking for specific topics.
9. Here’s a useful site–free piano lessons and piano information. Learn about PlayPiano.com’s free lessons on this blog post. Not only can you get information directly from the website, but you can receive lessons by email, too.
10. Piano with Nicole. While this blog is specifically aimed at teaching youth, there are lots of lessons to be gained by adults too. Don’t forget to visit her links for piano students section for links to more information for both children and adult learners.

Guitar Probably the most popular instrument to learn is the guitar. Here is a sampling of the many websites that offer free guitar lessons. Some are for specific types of guitars while others are more general.

11. FreeGuitarVideos.com. Over 90 video lessons are available at this site as well as even more text lessons. They also offer premium lessons for a small fee if you want something more than what is available for no cost.
12. Free Guitar Video Lessons. This guitar lesson blog is updated daily with new lessons. Learn how to play the guitar with a wide range of videos from various sources.
13. Guitar MX. Learn to play with this site that offers both text and video lessons. Also available is a selection of shareware or freeware software programs to help you learn to play.
14. Beginner Guitar Lesson Archive. With these eleven text lessons, you will be on your way to learning to play the guitar. As an added feature, you can submit your email address and get each of the lessons emailed to you each week.
15. Justinguitar.com. Using a combination of text, video, and MP3 files, you can learn the guitar here. In addition to the general lessons, you can also get lessons in blues, rock and metal, jazz, and songwriting. The lessons at this site are free, but donations are gladly accepted from those who can afford to make a contribution.
16. Jack Grassel Jazz Guitar. Click on the Lessons menu to get a dropdown menu from which to choose your text lessons on playing jazz guitar. Most lessons also come with suggestions for further reading.
17. Guitar Lessons. These lessons are designed for the beginner and are specifically for electric guitar. You can even sign up for email notifications when new lessons are posted.
18. Cyberfret. This site offers links to various free guitar lessons on the Internet. Sign up with your email address to receive free lessons, tips, and site updates.
19. WholeNote. This "guitar community" offers all things guitar and is run by the contributions of the members. Free registration is required to get the full benefits of this community. Without registering, you still have access to tons of lessons ranging from the absolute beginner to advanced or choose specific styles of playing such as rock, acoustic, and classical.
20. GuitarNoise Blog. Learn a little something about playing the guitar every week with this blog. Podcasts are also available.

Violin, Viola, and Cello These three stringed instruments produce some of the most beautiful musical sounds. These instruments require a lot of practice, so get started on your lessons now with these resources.

21. Violin Masterclass. With these Quicktime videos, you can learn all you need to know to get started playing the violin. There is also a section just for children learning to play. Lessons are free, but donations are accepted.
22. Violin Online. Learn how to hold and play the violin with these text and photo lessons. If you are new to music altogether, you can also learn music basics at this site.
23. Learningviolin.com. View these eight lessons to get started playing the violin. In addition to the elessons, this site also offers book recommendations for both beginners and intermediate players and a FAQ section.
24. Folk of the Wood. This site is still uploading all their lessons. Eventually, they will offer lessons grouped by beginner, intermediate, and advanced. For now, beginners can learn how to play the violin with their text and photo lessons.
25. StringSavvy.com. Get free violin lessons at this website. The lessons have both text and video. Each lesson has a nice follow-up with questions about the lesson and additional homework you can do to enhance the lesson.
26. 8notes.com. Check this out for free lessons as well as free sheet music for violin. There’s even a beginner’s course in music theory if you need to start at the very beginning. And you can get viola lessons here.
27. Cello Lessons and Resources. Learn the basics of playing the cello or read about an adult just starting on the journey of learning to play with these handy resources. Scroll to the bottom for links to even more cello resources.
28. How to Play the Cello. These 19 steps will get you started with how to hold the cello and identify the parts. While this is a great place to start, you will likely need another source to get you very much further with your lessons.
29. Cello Heaven. This forum offers answers to many questions on how to play the cello. You will also find posts with instructional videos as well.
30. How to Play the Cello. These fifteen videos will help you with many aspects of playing the cello. There’s even a video on the proper way to clean your cello.

General Music Lessons From music theory to a wide range of different musical instruments, you will find all sorts of free music lessons among these sites. Many of these resources offer multiple types of lessons.

31. Berklee Shares. This site offers lessons in songwriting, music business, performance, music production, and music education. The lessons are available in video, audio (MP3), and PDF text files. all lessons are designed by the Berklee College of Music faculty and alumni.
32. Practicespot. In a slightly different approach, this website offers tools, articles, and more to enhance your playing. You can even look up musical terms in their online dictionary.
33. Gary Ewer’s Easy Music Theory. Take advantage of these 26 free lessons on music theory. Each lesson comes with an instruction sheet, a quiz, and an answer sheet.
34. Musictheory.net. Enjoy these interactive music theory lessons. You can also use trainers or take advantage of utilities such as a staff paper generator–and it’s all free.
35. Capotasto Music. This blog features tips for voice, guitar, violin, and ukulele. Click on the links at the right for free lessons specific to guitar, piano, and ukulele and to get free sheet music.
36. May Music Studio. Learn to play guitar, drums, or piano on this site with free lessons. You can also learn about music theory, songwriting, and download free music software.
37. Free Music Lessons Online! For now… This blog post tells you how to get free music lessons from YouTube. These lessons are all video-based, so you can actually see how to play the instruments.
38. Your Daily Music Lesson with Walt. Read this blog for news and music lessons. Also, Walt has a daily Ustream lesson from 6:00-8:00 pm EST. While Walt plays guitar, the Ustream lessons range beyond just guitar and include piano and general music lessons as well.
39. Top 40 Music Sites. Click on Lesson Sites to find lots of free lessons for a wide range of musical instruments and voice. You can use the search box or browse by category to find what you need.
40. Vocal Training Warrior. Learn about how to get the most from your voice. Posts on this blog include using differing styles, proper posture, and diction.

Sheet Music Once you start learning your new hobby, you will need sheet music to help you learn. It’s nice to have a variety, so all the following sites offer free sheet music ranging from classical to modern music.

41. Jaybuckey.com. Get free tablature and sheet music here as well as some free lessons. The focus of this website is on violin, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, dobro, cello, and viola.
42. Violinandviola Free Sheet Music. Download PDF files to get free sheet music for violin and viola. Teaching resources are also available for downloading.
43. The Mutopia Project. Browse by instrument or composer or perform a search to find printable sheet music. With over 1300 pieces of music, you are sure to find something to make you happy.
44. Werner Icking Music Archive. Find scores for a wide variety of instruments and voice at this site. It’s helpful to read the Introduction to the sheet music archive section before you begin downloading.
45. The Stringstuff Page. Download free sheet music for stringed instruments at this site. There are also lesson sheets for violin and viola as well as exercise sheets for violin, viola, and cello.
46. Calm-Down-Corner. This site offers intentionally short piano sheet music. In addition to the free music, you can also receive premium sheet music for a fee that will be emailed to you upon receipt of payment (in Euros).
47. Piano Passion’s Guide. Take advantage of this comprehensive listing of free sheet music available on the Internet. Just in case you don’t have the correct software to view and print the music, there are links to those as well.
48. Words and Music. Get free popular sheet music at this site. Download both music and lyrics from artists that range from the Beatles to Bon Jovi.
49. AllPianoSheetMusic.com. Download free piano sheet music from classical composers. You must be a paid subscriber to access all sheet music, but many are available for free.
50. PlayPianoTips.com. Get MIDI format hymn sheet music from this site. The files are provided by a company selling music lesson DVDs, but this music is available for free.

Google Reader is already a tool that can be used to boost your productivity throughout the day by letting you view your favorite blog’s feeds and posts in one spot: through your Google account. But for those of us who tend to get bogged down in a lot of useless subscriptions and really need to cut down on the minutes (or hours) we spend procrastinating each day, there are a lot of little hacks to make Google Reader more productive. We’ve compiled a list of over 50 of our favorites here.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use these basic but necessary keyboard shortcuts to make searching, organizing, sharing and reading your feeds more efficient.

1. /: Use the forward slash to move your cursor to the search box and start looking for new stuff or saved items.
2. g then u: Type g then u to go to your subscriptions.
3. g then d: This shortcut will take you to the recommended page. If there are no recommendations, typing g then d will take you to the browse page.
4. 2: Press 2 to see your subscriptions in a list view or headline view.
5. ?: Find more keyboard shortcuts just for Google Reader by pressing the question mark.
6. Shift-s: Pressing Shift-S will share or un-share the selected item.
7. s: Star and un-star your highlighted items simply by pressing s.
8. Shift-o: Open up the highlighted subscription or folder with this shortcut.
9. g then h: Press g then h to go back to the Google Reader homepage.
10. g then shift-s: This shortcut will take you to the "Your Shared Items" page.
11. shift-n/p: n/p stands for Next/Previous, and using this combination will select the Next/Previous selection or folder.
12. v: Open up the original page of the selected item in Google Reader.
13. e: Quickly e-mail a page or other selection by pressing e when you’re in Google Reader.
14. r: Check to see if anymore unread updates have been added when you hit the r button in the navigation.

For Firefox

Firefox users like their browser’s speed and ability to add on new scripts or buttons. Check out several Google Reader-specific hacks for Firefox here.

15. Enhance Google Reader Preview: This script adds a Preview button so that you don’t have to open up an article or post all the way to read it.
16. BlogThis2Me: The BlogThis2Me script lets you "blog Google Reader’s "BlogThis!" to your own blog system, not to blogger.com," as long as you have Firefox and Greasemonkey.
17. Smart Google Reader Subscribe Button: this script "adds an overlayed check icon when you’re subscribed to at least one of the feeds that the site advertises via auto-discovery."
18. Gbutts 1.5.1: Gbutts is short for Google buttons, and you can add your Google Reader button, as well as any other Google buttons, to your Firefox address bar.
19. Better GReader: Better GReader works with Firefox adds a menu with extra options and features like Smart Subscribe, Preview Inline, Optimized Skin and others.
20. Google Reader Watcher: Google Reader Watcher is an add-on that makes Firefox check your Google Reader for unread fees. This download does not require Greasemonkey.
21. Quick Hide Message: Shave off milliseconds with this script, which "quickly hides the message displayed in Google Reader after performing renames, folder changes," and other actions.
22. Auto Add Feed: The Auto Add Feed script only adds feeds to Google Reader, instead of asking you where you want it to be saved.
23. Title Unread Count: This hack moves the unread count in Google Reader to the front.
24. Greasereader: Add even more hot keys to your Google Reader systems by reading this guide.
25. Google Reader All Starred: Extract all of your starred items as links from Google Reader so that you don’t have to download each one.
26. Google Reader Read by Mouse: Set up this script so that you can use a mouse-only system to read your feeds. It uses mouse buttons for the following actions: next item, previous item, and more.

Real Time Savers

If you’re serious about making your Google Reader visits more efficient, learn how to categorize by priority, use the "next" bookmarklet, and implement scripts that let you autoscroll, review your subscriptions and more.

27. Categorize by priority: Stepcase Lifehack recommends categorizing your feeds by priority so that you don’t get bogged down in irrelevant articles.
28. Google Reader Autoscroll: The autoscroll script lets you "view and mark items as read by means of a mouse wheel and keyboard shortcuts."
29. Mark All as Read: If you only want to read one article from a feed, you can mark everything else as read to weed out your extra entries.
30. Google Reader Scroll Reducer: With this script, you’re able to comment on and view the original site without having to scroll to the top of page to get to the URL.
31. The "Next" Bookmarklet: The Google Reader Blog discusses this hack, which "allows you to use Google Reader through just one link — clicking on it takes your browser to the next unread item in your reading list."
32. Review your subscriptions: Are you still getting subscriptions for some obscure hobby you were only interested in a year ago? Go through your subscriptions and delete any that you don’t really want emptied into your account regularly.
33. Print Button v2.0: The Google Reader Print Button v2.0 allows users to print either the selected content or everything that’s displayed on the page in Google Reader.
34. Gmail + Google Reader: Add Google Reader into your Gmail account so you don’t have to constantly switch back and forth.
35. Google Reader Filter: Get rid of duplicate and unwanted content with this script.
36. Tag your items: Take advantage of the tagging feature on Google Reader. It’s there to help you stay organized and more productive.

Social Media Hacks

How much time do you waste each day checking all of your social media accounts? These hacks let you sync up Google Reader with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google Chat and more.

37. Google Reader + ma.gnolia: This basic script lets you add a Google Reader post to ma.gnolia.
38. Google Reader Digg News: Add a Digg button to your Google Reader posts with this script.
39. Tumblr: Sync up your Google Reader and Tumblr with this script. You can attach your reblog button or Share-on-Tumblr at the bottom of articles on Google Reader.
40. Managing Your Shared Items: This post from the Google Reader Blog shows you how to add and remove friends from your Gmail or GChat account.
41. Google Reader and Flickr: Now you embed Flickr videos into your Google Reader, so you don’t have to switch back and forth to share with extra friends or read their comments.
42. Facebook Sharer + Google Reader: Share your favorite posts and articles with Google Reader friends and Facebook friends.
43. Google Reader + del.icio.us: Use this script to define tags and links for a faster way of posting to del.icio.us.
44. Google Reader + Twitter: Use this script to add reader posts to Twitter.

Add-Ons and Solutions

Try out these add-ons to customize your Google Reader experience and streamline your Google accounts.

45. Google Reader Notifier: This extension keeps you updated by showing you how many unread items you have in your account.
46. Add a Search: Add a search engine to your Google Reader account to make searching for items faster.
47. Google Reader Optimized: Use this script to view Google Reader in a larger space. The last official update was in 2006, but Google Reader users have submitted updates.
48. Google Reader Romeo Script: Check out this script to access Google Reader from your cell phone — if you don’t have an iPhone.
49. Google Reader Button for Internet Explorer: IE users can add on a Google Reader to their browser using this tutorial.
50. iPhone Skin: iPhone users can easily view Google Reader on their phones with this special skin from developer David Cann.
51. Iris: View your Google Reader subscriptions in a Firefox sidebar.
52. Go behind the scenes: If you want to know how many people have subscribed to a certain feed, you can use this tutorial to speed up your search times.