Saving Inspiration

Terrible tragedy. Great recap by Colbert.

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:38:00 -0700

Terrible tragedy. Great recap by Colbert.

You Should Get Married As Early as Possible, But No Earlier - The Daily Beast

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:34:20 -0700

You Should Get Married As Early as Possible, But No Earlier - The Daily Beast:

The older you get, the more your dating pool shrinks. You also run into the Problem of Grandma’s Lamp: the more settled you get, the harder it is to adjust to a potentially excellent mate who doesn’t quite fit into the life you’ve made. Obviously, these barriers are not insurmountable, since lots of people get married in their late thirties. But it’s easier if you’ve got an open mind: if you’re ready to get married whenever the right person presents themself.

betype: One Week of Awesomeness

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:02:11 -0700

betype:

One Week of Awesomeness

Quora: What does a great product manager at a tech startup do day-to-day? (e.g. wireframe, feature flow, etc.)

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 22:18:00 -0700

Read Quote of Dan Schmidt’s answer to Product Management: What does a great product manager at a tech startup do day-to-day? (e.g. wireframe, feature flow, etc.) on Quora

The Myth of Focus | Mindvalley Insights for Online Marketing Techniques

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 09:47:44 -0700

The Myth of Focus | Mindvalley Insights for Online Marketing Techniques:

Note Law #3 – “Multiple Projects Lead to Multiple Successes”

Peter is a prolific “Unfocuser”.

He runs Singularity University, The X Prize foundation and Planetary Resources. Multiple companies started in the span of a few years.

In short, almost every great entrepreneur I’ve studied – chose NOT to focus.

Focus is myth. It’s bull. And if you’re working under me, especially on my marketing team, you have to get used to my inability to focus.

This does not mean NOT getting things done. Instead it means getting multiple things done WITHOUT stress.

In short, for many great entrepreneurs - Focus is the Distraction. It’s the big myth that distracts them from truly being great and pursuing their crazy dreams.

C. Everett Koop, Ex-Surgeon General, Dies at 96 - NYTimes.com

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:24:03 -0800

C. Everett Koop, Ex-Surgeon General, Dies at 96 - NYTimes.com:

He also maneuvered around uncooperative Reagan administration officials in 1988 to send an educational AIDS pamphlet to more than 100 million U.S. households, the largest public health mailing ever done.

Modern Love - Dealing With Asperger’s Syndrome, With the Help of His Wife - NYTimes.com

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 10:57:51 -0800

Modern Love - Dealing With Asperger’s Syndrome, With the Help of His Wife - NYTimes.com:

Acquiring empathy seemed a taller order, given that my Aspergerish point of reference is myself in every circumstance. (Someone just slipped and killed himself in the men’s room? I see. How long until they get him out of there so I can go?) But I’ve learned that people can develop empathy, even if by rote. With diligent practice, it can evolve from a contrived acknowledgment of other people’s feelings to the real thing.

To that end, I started asking Kristen how her day was and then paying more attention to her body language than her words. (Occasionally I would have to ask if I was reading her correctly.) If I sensed she was tired, I would take the kids out so she could have quiet time. If she seemed really burned out, I would offer to give her a foot massage, or to just listen. Soon these started to feel like real rather than manufactured emotional responses.

Alex Payne — Alone Together, Again

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:59:15 -0800

Alex Payne — Alone Together, Again:

Nobody’s life ever really falls apart, exactly. Lives unravel, thread by thread. First, I came to realize that the job wasn’t the right job. Then the city wasn’t the right city. Two threads loose, easily stitched back in; there are other jobs, other cities. Our house went on the market. I resigned.

Then, a month ago, the person I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with came home from a neighborhood-scouting trip to a place we were intent on moving back to. “We need to talk”. Never good. “I can’t do this anymore. We’re just too different”. The seam, ripped.

(via Some people can handle fame, some can’t. |...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:50:19 -0800

(via Some people can handle fame, some can’t. | Thoughtjoy)

An award doesn’t necessarily make you a better actor. —...

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:14:08 -0800

An award doesn’t necessarily make you a better actor.

— Javier Bardem

(via Thoughtjoy - your one stop for beautiful, inspirational quotes)

Is There an Ideal Running Form? - NYTimes.com

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:15:01 -0800

Is There an Ideal Running Form? - NYTimes.com:

But the most provocative and wide-ranging implication of the new Kenyan study is that we don’t know what is natural for human runners. If, said Kevin G. Hatala, a graduate student in evolutionary anthropology at George Washington University who led the new study, ancient humans “regularly ran fast for sustained periods of time,” like Kalenjin runners do today, then they were likely forefoot or midfoot strikers.

But if their hunts and other activities were conducted at a more sedate pace, closer to that of the Daasanach, then our ancestors were quite likely heel strikers and, if that was the case, wearing shoes and striking with your heel doesn’t necessarily represent a warped running form.

"If I had followed the program director’s advice and pumped experts for feedback, I would have..."

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:33:17 -0800

“If I had followed the program director’s advice and pumped experts for feedback, I would have learned about what you absolutely need for a fundable proposal. I avoided this step, I think, because some part of me didn’t want these answers. By writing my grant in isolation, I could ensure an optimal experience, where I had to put in focused hours, but never really challenge myself too much.”

- Study Hacks » Blog Archive » You Need to Master the Rules Before You Can Reinvent Them

6 Quick Hacks On Becoming A More Likeable Person

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:29:49 -0800

6 Quick Hacks On Becoming A More Likeable Person:

4) “You know I completely trust you”

First of all, the “You know I …” part can be used at the start of pretty much any sentence. It makes it so much more powerful by emphasizing that the person you’re talking to already knows the information that’s about to follow but you’re going to say it anyway. This implicitly acknowledges the importance of the information – if it’s worth repeating, it must be important.

Secondly, this statement implies complete confidence in the person you’re dealing with. It transfers the burden of responsibility from you as a boss, lover or friend to the other person. In essence, you’re telling this person that it’s his job to get it done and not yours. You’re telling him there will be consequences to the outcome of the job – either positive (gratitude) or negative (loss of trust).

A more implicit variation on this is “I’m sure you’ll make it work”.

A Short Rant About Working Remotely | Hacker News

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:42:29 -0800

A Short Rant About Working Remotely | Hacker News:

“It doesn’t take much distance before a team feels the negative effects of distribution - the effectiveness of collaboration degrades rapidly with physical distance. People located closer in a building are more likely to collaborate (Kraut, Egido & Galegher 1990). Even at short distances, 3 feet vs. 20 feet, there is an effect (Sensenig & Reed 1972). A distance of 100 feet may be no better than several miles (Allen 1977). A field study of radically collocated software development teams,[…], showed significantly higher productivity and satisfaction than industry benchmarks and past projects within the firm (Teasley et al., 2002). Another field study compared interruptions in paired, radically-collocated and traditional, cube-dwelling software development teams, and found that in the former interruptions were greater in number but shorter in duration and more on-task (Chong and Siino 2006). Close proximity improves productivity in all cases.” — http://conway.isri.cmu.edu/~jdh/VRC-2008

“Based on the empirical evidence, we have constructed a model of how remote communication and knowledge management, cultural diversity and time differences negatively impact requirements gathering, negotiations and specifications. Findings reveal that aspects such as a lack of a common understanding of requirements, together with a reduced awareness of a working local context, a trust level and an ability to share work artefacts significantly challenge the effective collaboration of remote stakeholders in negotiating a set of requirements that satisfies geographically distributed customers” — http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00766-003-0173-1

“Our results show that, compared to same-site work, cross-site work takes much longer and requires more people for work of equal size and complexity. We also report a strong relationship between delay in cross-site work and the degree to which remote colleagues are perceived to help out when workloads are heavy” — http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?reload=true&#…

“Our findings reveal that: software developers have different types of coordination needs; coordination across sites is more challenging than within a site; team knowledge helps members coordinate, but more so when they are separated by geographic distance; and the effect of different types of team knowledge on coordination effectiveness differs between co-located and geographically dispersed collaborators.” — http://kraut.hciresearch.org/sites/kraut.hciresearch.org/fil…

“One key finding is that distributed work items appear to take about two and one-half times as long to complete as similar items where all the work is colocated” — http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi?doc=doi/10.1109/…

“Our study of six teams that experienced radical collocation showed that in this setting they produced remarkable productivity improvements. Although the teammates were not looking forward to working in close quarters, over time they realized the benefits of having people at hand, both for coordination, problem solving and learning.Teams in these warrooms showed a doubling of productivity” — http://possibility.com/Misc/p339-teasley.pdf

“Despite the positive impact of emerging communication technologies on scientific research, our results provide striking evidence for the role of physical proximity as a predictor of the impact of collaborations.” —http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjourna…

“Groups with high common ground and loosely coupled work, with readiness both for collaboration and collaboration technology, have a chance at succeeding with remote work. Deviations from each of these create strain on the relationships among teammates and require changes in the work or processes of collaboration to succeed. Often they do not succeed because distance still matters” — http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1463019

To Hell with Good Intentions by Ivan Illich

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:34:55 -0800

To Hell with Good Intentions by Ivan Illich:

There exists the argument that some returned volunteers have gained insight into the damage they have done to others - and thus become more mature people. Yet it is less frequently stated that most of them are ridiculously proud of their “summer sacrifices.” Perhaps there is also something to the argument that young men should be promiscuous for awhile in order to find out that sexual love is most beautiful in a monogamous relationship. Or that the best way to leave LSD alone is to try it for awhile -or even that the best way of understanding that your help in the ghetto is neither needed nor wanted is to try, and fail. I do not agree with this argument. The damage which volunteers do willy-nilly is too high a price for the belated insight that they shouldn’t have been volunteers in the first place.

thoughtjoy: “If we can’t protect the earth, you can be damn...

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:01:44 -0800

thoughtjoy:

“If we can’t protect the earth, you can be damn sure we’ll avenge it.”

— Tony Stark

It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being 'It' - WSJ.com

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:26:03 -0800

It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being 'It' - WSJ.com:

The game they play is fundamentally the same as the schoolyard version: One player is “It” until he tags someone else. But men in their 40s can’t easily chase each other around the playground, at least not without making people nervous, so this tag has a twist. There are no geographic restrictions and the game is live for the entire month of February. The last guy tagged stays “It” for the year.

That means players get tagged at work and in bed. They form alliances and fly around the country. Wives are enlisted as spies and assistants are ordered to bar players from the office.

“You’re like a deer or elk in hunting season,” says Joe Tombari, a high-school teacher in Spokane, who sometimes locks the door of his classroom during off-periods and checks under his car before he gets near it

Do I Love My Wife? Are You Really in Love Test - Esquire

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 11:48:58 -0800

Do I Love My Wife? Are You Really in Love Test - Esquire:

The Sex Drive. One of the main lust factories in the brain is a peach-pit-sized lump called the hypothalamus (deep in your skull, sitting just above the brain stem). This controls hunger and thirst. It also has receptor sites for testosterone, which fuels the sex drive in both men and women. So when you’re feeling horny, the hypothalamus is working overtime. You don’t have to be Richard Dawkins to figure out why evolution gave us the sex drive: Its job is to spread our DNA as widely and often as possible.

The Romance System. This produces the cocaine rush you get from beginning love. And cocaine is more than an idle metaphor. The reptilian brain — one of the nervous system’s most ancient parts — floods you with dopamine, just as it does after you snort a line of blow. The dopamine gives you the same high, lack of sleep, delusional optimism, and obsessive thoughts. The great poet Robert Palmer was right: You can be addicted to love. Romance evolved so that you could focus your mating energies on appropriate partners — the most fertile woman, the best providing man.

The Attachment System. This is friendship on hyperdrive. While romance is thrilling, attachment is calming. It’s created by a couple of hormones: vasopressin and oxytocin (not to be confused with Rush Limbaugh’s painkiller OxyContin). Attachment evolved so that we could “tolerate our partners long enough to raise a kid together,” says Fisher.

Summer Reading… and Programming

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:09:54 -0800

Summer Reading… and Programming:

Nothing is stranger than sitting in dirty sweatpants and picking up the ringing phone to say “Ellen Ullman speaking” in a mature, efficient voice. It is as if I have projected myself into another universe, where I am dressed in a blazer and slacks and my hair is washed, some place completely discontinuous with the universe I inhabit in sweats. While I speak on the phone — to a client, a CEO — I am aware that I have thrown my voice correctly, that they have seen me as I wished to be seen: a clever, enterprising woman sitting at a fine desk. To hang up then is almost painful. Click. I return to myself: creature swimming alone in puddles of time.

The Race Grows Sweeter Near Its Final Lap — Modern Love - NYTimes.com

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:05:49 -0800

The Race Grows Sweeter Near Its Final Lap — Modern Love - NYTimes.com:

OLD LOVE is different. In our 70s and 80s, we had been through enough of life’s ups and downs to know who we were, and we had learned to compromise. We knew something about death because we had seen loved ones die. The finish line was drawing closer. Why not have one last blossoming of the heart?

I was no longer so pretty, but I was not so neurotic either. I had survived loss and mistakes and ill-considered decisions; if this relationship failed, I’d survive that too. And unlike other men I’d been with, Sam was a grown-up, unafraid of intimacy, who joyfully explored what life had to offer. We followed our hearts and gambled, and for a few years we had a bit of heaven on earth.