Jax Holiday Trax
I am a big fan of holiday music. The only problem is that the vast majority of it sucks.
So I have been working on a Pandora channel for holiday music that doesn’t suck. To me, that means it is at least a little jazzy and not very poppy. Stuff that makes me feel good, but doesn’t bore me to tears. I like a little dissonance.
If that sounds good then check out Jax Holiday Trax.
Many Thousand Words
When Sabrina and I went to Florida we forgot our camera. I have been meaning to buy a pocket camera for myself b/c the camera on the iPhone is so shitty. So I bought one in Florida.
As a result I have been taking lots more pictures. Here are some of the better ones (probably only of interest to friends and family, not great photography):
         
My Wordle Bio
I used Wordle.net to create a bio for myself. It is a pretty succinct way to share the message that I want to share. I am not sure I got it right, but I like the way it came out.
Typically Wordle is used by pasting in a long piece of text or by pulling in an RSS feed. I wanted more control so I wrote a document for this specific purpose. I created a list of words and repeated that word to reflect how big I wanted it to be.
Buying Habits
Sabrina pointed something out to me the other day: we rarely shop online.
When I stop and think about it, that is kind of odd. I mean, I live online, but I don’t shop there? Sure, I spend lots of money online, but that is on digital stuff (music, software, services). It is very rare that I order something online and have it shipped to my house (or anywhere for that matter).
Why is this?
First, I like to see and touch the things I am going to buy. How do I know if I am going to like it if I can’t see the quality of the details? I know some people go and look at an item in the store and buy it online, but a 10% premium for buying it in the store is a reasonable convenience fee.
Second, I actually don’t buy much. I have been thinking about buying a new laptop bag and a new pair of shoes for months. I have found items that I like both online and off, but when it comes time to pull the check card out I balk. I bought a new camera while we were in Florida because I have been wanting a pocket camera and we left our main camera at home. Other than that I don’t really buy myself much.
Third, we are in the retail business. I don’t know that this has any real impact on our decision making, but I can’t help wonder if it is related. Maybe owning a brick and mortar retail store gives one an affinity for shopping in brick and mortar retail stores.
So, I am more likely to participate in Black Friday than Cyber Monday (or whatever the hell it is called). However the thought of going shopping on Black Friday is horrifying to me. I think I am most likely to stay home. Maybe this year I will buy the kids’ gifts online instead.
My Next Computer
I have bought a new laptop every 18-24 months since August 1998 like clockwork. I didn’t notice that my lifecycle for laptops had been so consistent until last year. So, it is no surprise that I am starting to think about replacing my almost 2 year old MacBook Pro.
Luckily for me Apple has recently rolled out the new models and they have been around long enough that the kinks are getting worked out. It is amazing how that happens.
So which laptop will I buy? (and I am not buying one just yet)
Normally I buy the cheapest configuration of the highest end model. Then I typically upgrade the hard drive and RAM myself. A curious couple of things have happened this time though.
- The distinction between the MacBook Pro and MacBook is probably not compelling enough for me to buy the higher end model.
- The markup on RAM and Hard Drives is small enough that I might as well just max it out from Apple.
There are some differences between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. The Pro has a bigger screen for starters. Bigger is better, but the MacBook Pro screen is not really bigger enough to matter. In fact, it is just big enough for my workspace to look cluttered. Also, I now have a 24″ monitor in my office, so the majority of the time I don’t really use the laptop screen any more. There are supposedly some other differences in the quality of the LCD.
There Pro also has better graphics capabilities. Granted, I use Photoshop every week or two for something, but I am not exactly a heavy graphics user. I don’t play video games. I don’t do movie editing. I don’t need the bigger graphics cards. The other side of the graphics cards is that they will likely be utilized by Snow Leopard (the next version of OS X) for computational intensive tasks. I would use this, but really, how often is the processor what is slowing me down.
What slows me down? RAM. The MacBook and the MacBook Pro have the same RAM limitations.
I don’t need the Express Card slot or Firewire 800 either (though I have a FireWire external drive, it also has USB).
So, where normally I would buy the $1999 MacBook Pro and buy RAM and a Hard Drive. It would bring the total cost to somewhere around $2400. This time it looks like I might get away with only spending $1600. How often does that happen?
Help Me Help a Good Cause
On November 1st I gave myself a clean shave. Those that know me know that is pretty rare. I did it so that I could grow a mustache.
I am participating in “Movember”. What is Movember?
“Movember (the month formerly known as November) is a charity event held during November each year.
At the start of Movember guys register with a clean shaven face. The Movember participants, known as Mo Bros, then have the remainder of the month to grow and groom their Mo (Australian slang for moustache), raising money and awareness along the way for men’s health and the fight against prostate cancer.”
The good news is that I only have to keep this thing until the end of the month. The bad news is that I am headed to southern Florida this week where everyone will assume I am down there to film copious amounts of women in minimal amounts of clothes.
So I will make you a deal. I will show you a couple of pictures of me with a mustache and you will donate $10 to help fight prostate cancer.
 
There. I have done my part. Now you can uphold your end of the bargain by going to my Movember donation page and making a small $10 donation.
Thanks! It is for a good cause.
Excelling at Execution
If I am going to be successful it is going to come down to execution. For me, procrastination and/or letting tasks fall through the cracks is my #1 threat. I know how to write code that works and scales. I know how to build databases for storing and reporting on large amounts of data quickly. I know how to architect applications that people want to use. I know how to evangelize and promote the projects I am working on. I just need to do it.
So there are three things I am working on:
- Being more effective
- Prioritizing
- Delegating / not doing what I don’t need to do
I have struggled with creating an effective workflow off and on for years. When I have a clear vision and a singular purpose I can knock shit out quick and effective. Once I start getting pulled in too many directions it doesn’t scale. It is not because there are not enough hours to get everything done (I don’t over-commit myself). Rather it is just that I start to get a little scattered.
The main problem is that I keep too much in my head. I don’t forget things, I just run out of RAM and my swap memory takes longer to access. (Note: yes, I am a cyborg)
So I have been working on the process. I have tried various methods of GTD and the problem has been getting it to integrate well in my workflow. Moleskins are great, but I have so many projects and tasks that I end up creating volumes of notes that are hard to reference. It is really easy for me to let something fall through the cracks when I start carrying more than a page worth of todo items (I am sure there is a way to do projects with a Moleskin, but I couldn’t figure it out).
I bought a license to OmniFocus a while back. Over the weekend I wiped my iPhone. In the process of setting it back up I made some changes to try and make email easier for me to manage. Then I had an epiphany. If I could figure out how to get email directly into OmniFocus as I was scanning my inbox and archiving messages, then I would get stuff out of my head and keep my inbox closer to that magical number of zero.
It took me several hours last night, but right now my primary email is now at Inbox Zero. I think I have found a system that can work for me. I know there are lots of productivity gurus out there so I am interested in tips that will help me improve my system. Here is what I am doing:
As I read email I do one of four things. If it is a really simple question then I reply right then and file it away in the proper archive folder (I have archive folders for major projects like Statzen, Plato’s Closet and reference like travel, account information, etc). If it is something that I need to write a longer reply to or need to reply to after I do something, I hit CTRL+OPTION+C and send it to OmniFocus (with project, context, and deadline information if necessary), then I move the messages to an @replies folder. The @replies folder is not to manage the list of messages that I need to reply to (that is in OmniFocus), it just makes it easier to find the message when it is time to reply. Once I reply that message is moved to the appropriate archive folder.
If the message requires action but not a reply, I do the same thing as before except that the message gets filed in the appropriate archive folder. Lastly, if the message is just noise (email lists, info messages, sales messages, etc) then I either delete it or file it if there could be some long term value.
What this method does is it removes my email from my task management process. Everything that I need to do is in OmniFocus. I have OmniFocus on my laptop and on my iPhone and they sync over the air with MobileMe. This eliminates the need to carry around a notebook (and I was carrying around three). It also lets me get everything out of my head into a consolidated place that is easy to work from and always with me. It is actually making me love my iPhone more. I wish there was a way to send items from email / NetNewsWire to OmniFocus on my phone though (now I end up skimming messages on my phone and processing them on my computer later).
I am hoping this system will allow me to hyper-perform. It is all about the execution so I am trying to improve my execution. I “know” enough to get the job(s) done; I just need to “do” more.
Vegitarians in Congress
Brad Feld has a post with some suggestions for the Obama Administration (man, I love saying that).
It is a good idea. It would be cool if we all put forth some suggestions, but in the mean time I like one of Brad’s suggestions so much that I want to repost it here:
“2. Veto The First Pork Laden Bill. I continue to be baffled by the dynamics around Pork in Congress. I want my politicians to become vegetarians and reject Pork. TARP is such a disgusting example of this - as far as I can tell, the only major difference between the TARP bill that failed the House and the one that came back from the Senate and passed was the addition of a bunch of Pork. Disgusting. When the first bill hits Obama’s desk that has one key issue in it that is covered with Pork, he should Veto it. He should then get on TV and explain the bill in clear English to the American population. He should describe the single issue in the bill, and then list the Pork - state by state, Congressman by Congressman. He should then insist that Congress revisit the bill, take all the Pork out, and send it back to him for approval.”
Can you imagine the look on the faces of the Congress?!? That would be great. It would destroy allegiances and force changes to the way things are done.
It won’t happen, but I am holding out hope that Obama will have a tactful way to accomplish the same end.
A Family of Space Cadets
I was doing the old “what do you want to be when you grow up” thing with the kids last night. It turns out both Zavier and Carter are interested in being astronauts.
That is when it dawned on me; I am going to visit outer space.
Sure, it is really expensive for civilians to go to space right now. And yes, we are in the middle of a recession. And no, I do not have any money.
I just don’t see why any of that needs to stop me.
So, I am adding “visit outer space with the kids” to my list of things to do before I die. Space Mountain ain’t got nothing on the real deal.
Note: I hope American Airlines starts flying to outer space soon. I have some systemwide upgrades I need to use.
The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth
I was having a conversation with my two oldest sons today about the word “geek”. They were trying to convince me that I am not a “geek”.
It led to a conversation about what a geek is. We ended up that a geek is someone who likes math and computers (a seriously narrow definition that ignores science, but they don’t really have science in 1st grade). This then led us to computer programming which is a pretty geeky hobby no matter who is defining “geek”.
It got me thinking about my BASIC programming in grade school. I asked them if they wanted to learn how to program computers; they are interested as long as they can create games.
Then, a few hours later I was reading some feeds when I saw a few references to this:
 “After a year in the making, and with very little fanfare, Microsoft last month launched Small Basic, a free programming language aimed at kids. Unlike Scratch and Alice, tools designed for kids to learn programming in a ‘codeless’ environment, Small Basic is essentially a small version of the BASIC language.”
Sweet. We may have to give this a try. Anyone want to make a rocket ship scroll across the screen?
|
