Category: post

Roy was big for his breed, kind of dopey but very lovable. If Roy were a human, he would have been a laborer, like a handyman. Stocky, friendly and his pants just barely covering his bum. He would spend more time sitting around and shooting the breeze with you than doing the job at hand but there would be no way you could get mad at him because he would be so lovable. You would just chalk it up to Roy being Roy.

Roy liked to lick soft things, like stuffed animals, rugs and furniture. Once he started he would do this for hours. Licking compulsively as if unable to stop. Roy could not, given this fact, figure out why the cats did not want to play with him. When Roy slept, he would snore loudly and, every once in a while, he would whimper and twitch, obviously having a good dream, probably about licking the cats.

In the last few months Roy had a tough time. He was unable to walk, he lost control over his functions, his hearing was going and he seemed very frustrated and confused. We had to let Roy go to sleep today. I hope he is somewhere peaceful and licking cats.

More field notes from my internet safaris…
Lifehack.org had a great post about the ninja notetaking skills of Thomas Edison. This guy was a badass when it came to the art of paper and pen and his copious notes span five million pages. Both inspiring and daunting for sure but this article outlines some great take away advice.
I know these sorts of lists are becoming ubiquitous Digg-bait, but here is 24 things you can do with an index card – exactly 17 of which are really useful.
Here’s a great video of a casual talk that Merlin Mann gave at IDEO. He is looped up on cold meds so he is extra talkative. It is kind of funny actually.
Looking to outsource your life a la Tim Ferriss? Well, here are a couple of posts by someone who has. First covered is how to prepare for doing so. Then, another post covering actually doing it, the success and the pitfalls.
New site alert!!! Brassing Adds Character is a new blog devoted to paper pr0n and analog love. The first few posts cover Dixon Tri-Conderoga pencils and some Levenger hacking. Awesome!

This is the third of several entries for the readers of my ious locations around the interwebs. A definition of people, relationships, holdings, and terms that I refer to often:
We currently have three houses. We do an adequate but admiral job of keeping up with them all. We tend to refer to our houses by the street name or house number. As a matter of fact, I have found that people who live in Saint Paul generally all refer to their houses this way.
* The 230 House – This was the house I lived in before we got married and we moved into Princess Bethany’s house. It was the first home I ever owned. Great location. Walking distance to the schools. Grocery store and some other useful shops just a walk away as well. I put a ton of work and money into it before meeting Bethany so it is very well updated. It is currently on the market so if you know anyone who lives in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metro area and is looking for a great place, send them my way.
* The 627 House – This is the current house we live in. It was Princess Bethany’s and now we all live there. It is an 1886 Victorian with three floors. It is a beautiful and eclectic house and I have really fallen in love with it quickly. Because it is 140+ years old, it needs a lot of love and labor but it is quite comfortable and livable. We are currently working on refurbishing the back bedroom into a nursery for Trixie.
* The Summit House – This is the house the Bethany inherited when her Mom passed away last year. Summit Avenue is considered by many the most outstanding example of original Victorian bouled architecture in the United States. While this house was built in 1917, it is still a stately and elegant home. It has many perks including a in-groud pool and a hot tub. We eventually plan to move and live there full time but that will most likely not happen for at least a couple of years as there is much we would like to do and enjoy in our current home.

This is the second of several entries for the readers of my ious locations around the interwebs. A definition of people, relationships, holdings, and terms that I refer to often:
Tiger and Polo – Our two cats. Like most cats, they have very distinctive personalities.
Tiger is very protective. When you make a plate of food, he likes to come up and sniff it. Not because he wants to eat it, but because he wants to make sure it is OK before you eat it. Bethany tells me that when she first took Polo and Tiger in from their previous owner, Tiger would back Polo into a corner to keep him away from Bethany. He would not let Bethany near Polo until he approved. Tiger is very sweet and likes to cuddle with us before bed each night.
Polo is very much a one person cat and Bethany is his person. He mostly hides from everyone else. He will only tolerate me in any real way if Bethany is around. He will usually jump into bed shortly after we have fallen asleep and will tap Bethany’s face with his paw in the morning when the alarm goes off to make sure she hears it. He also has a tendency to leave hit cat toys in the other animals food bowls. We are not quite sure if this is out of protection or spite but we lean towards the latter.

Please pardon the 1337 speak while I communicate a special message to our Linux using friends…
Word up haxorz! Looking for some contact/calandar/tasks applications for your little *nix boxen? Well then, look no further than Pimlico, a suite of lightweight PIM applications designed primarily for mobile boxes (like the Nokia N800, natch) but with some desktop versions as well. Not a lot in the way of features but a whole lot in the way of small and portable. Basic, simple and free, as in beer.

This is the first of several entries for the readers of my ious locations around the interwebs. Here is a definition of people, relationships, holdings, and terms that I refer to often:
* Princess Bethany – My wife, best friend and soul mate. Mother of my future daughter. The woman I have waited all of my life to find. We do almost everything together. She is one of the few people that I never tire of and am always intrigued by.
* My sons, Maxim and Miles -They are aged 16 and 14 respectively.
* Trixie – My future daughter (not yet here). Due date, February 14th but, you know, kids never listen. Therefore could be anytime.
* Roy the Wonderpug – My old Pug dog. He is getting up there in age and can no longer walk. He has lost control of most of his bodily functions as well. His time is coming soon. He has been a good companion and I will miss him deeply.
* Geronimo! – Our new dog. He is a 7 year old Keeshond with a real joy for life. A bit of a handful and a bundle of affection. Hence the reason I spell his name with a bang (!).

More reports of my stumbles around the internets…
Macworld has a great little tutorial for Mac users on creating a smart folder in the Finder to find recent files and applications. This is a great way to get at documents you have worked on recently that may be scattered in different folders. (via Lifehacker)
Moleskine is now offering it’s classic notebook line with soft covers versus the normal ones. The soft covers are a bit more pliable and, therefore, perhaps even more pocket friendly. (via Moleskinerie)
Like the Pilot G2 series of pens but the point is a little thick for your tastes? Well, Staples is now offering the Ultra Fine Point version (.38mm). Only $14.99 for a dozen. Having been a Pilot G2 fan, I can personally attest that these are a great and relatively inexpensive option. (via Daring Fireball)
Lifehacker has some good tips on how to cover your butt by taking good notes. The idea being that, if you have good notes on a situation, you can have a log of who said/did what, when and how. Great example of how simply having pen and paper at hand can save the day. Here is a quote:

The best way to avoid conflict is to understand what you are being asked to do. The next best way is to have proof that you’re doing what you were asked. That proof is complete and accurate notes. Of all the ways to keep yourself out of trouble and get ahead, your notes—if thorough and detailed—can provide you a clear path.
Great stuff!
Wired Magazine has a great write-up on David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, in it’s current issue. One of the better articles I have seen. They even peek a bit into his personal life and associations with Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness.
Speaking of The David, his series at The Huffington Post continues to impress. His latest entry, “What Does ”Organized“ Really Mean?“
Zen Habits comes through again with 10 Things You Can Do Today to Simplify Your Life. There are some good tips here including one I am a recent fan of – the small to-do list.
Favorite productivity site 43 Folders has had a complete overhaul with not only a new look but new features that make it a lot more easy to find popular and related content. I am still trying to come to terms with some aspects of it. I love the design and feel but I hate the new forums (which I was an active contributor to).

I have written before of my love for my Levenger Shirt Pocket Briefcase as my ubiquitous capture tool of choice. It is small, keeps me organized and is highly back pocketable. Always at the ready to help capture the action items that pop up in the course of my day. The three pockets help to keep a few spare index cards around (I use Levenger’s expensive-but-worth-it brand) and allow me to stash a few business cards to boot.
While it was great for capture, I needed something equally portable, pocketable and chic (style is important to me) for personal note taking. I often find myself in situations outside of work that require me to jot down things of a more permanent nature. For that, I am loving the new Field Notes notebooks. They have a durable cover, great grid style paper that takes ink very well and a fantastic sense of design nerd style. You get a three pack of these babies for just under 10 bucks and it is money well spent.
Due to recent health concerns, the idea of getting to a point where I can carry everything I need to get me through my day in my pockets is an especially important goal to me. Not to mention, once a baby girl comes along and I now have my hands full of strollers and bottles. These two items get my a long way there.

I have a whole backlog of stuff to catch up on so this might be one long, rambling mess. Also, since it has been a while, some of this may already be old news to you. This being said, you may find a a gem or two in the rubble. Let’s get started.
On the productivity front…
Kelly Forester of David Co, recently wrote something that really resonated with me and has caused me to look through, reevaluate and clean up my lists. For GTD best practice, she argues that one does not DO projects, you DO next actions. One should review the projects list regularly but one should only be working from the next action list. Great little post that helps to get your GTD back in focus.
That being said, one thing I have been doing lately that kind of goes against the tenants of GTD is making up a tiny todo list on an index card at the start of each day as recommended in this post by Leo Babauta at Web Worker Daily. This has really worked for me and keeps me from being overwhelmed by the giant working list of next actions I seem to have (which I probably need to refocus a la above).
There have been a few good recent reviews of Grand Central, a recent Google acquisition. Grand Central allows you to sign up for a local phone number and, with that one number, control all of your phone routing and voicemail. Merlin Mann has a nice little write up on how it has helped manage his telephonic life. Planet Intertwingly has an even longer review. I have signed up and have only just begun to dip my feet in the water but so far it looks very cool.
LifeClever cites a recent interview of Jason Fried of 37 Signals on the negative productivity costs of working closely together with others. In fact, Jason says “Proximity is an invitation to interrupt somebody. And interruption is the biggest enemy of productivity that there is.” Interesting stuff.
In a little bit of related self promotion, your truly was featured when the 37 Signals Product Blog took a look at Ideas for Getting Things Done with Backpack. Color me honored!
Hey paper nerds. Do you like lined paper for taking notes but wish you had grid paper for sketching on the fly? With Doane Paper you can have both. It combines both into a single sheet. You have to click the link and take a look for a better explanation of why they mean. The prices for each pad are not bad and the paper looks to be of good quality so well worth it. They also have a free template to download and print your own if that is your thing.
In other news…
As a sort of addendum to my previous iPhone post (and why I am waiting to get one), Thoughtfix has a fabulous post up comparing the iPod Touch to the Nokia N800. It is very thorough and makes a very strong case for the reasons why you may want both.
The New York Times has recently (finally) dropped the paywall they had for many of the archives of their articles and Jason Kottke is dumpster diving for the best stuff. The journalistic history here is astounding. Some of his finds include the firs mention of the World Wide Web, an early report of Lincoln’s assassination, and a report on the sinking of the Titanic. If you are even a casual fan of history, this post will save a lot of the hard work of trolling through this vast archive for you. Outstanding.
I have written about Flock before. It is an amazing new web browser, based upon the Mozilla engine, that is built around the idea of the “social web”. It has tight integration with many social networking and blogging services such a Flickr and del.icio.us. Flock is looking like it will be a real winner once it officially hits 1.0 as this video with CEO Shawn Hardin at PodTech indicates. I am betting my friend Jane at Social Days will be all over this when it hits.

I have had a terrible cold/flu type bug that has had me pretty much incapacitated for the last several days. While this sucked for sure, it gave me much time to ruminate on a tough decision I have had on my mind a lot lately weather or not to get an iPhone.
I really want one. There would be several advantages to my getting one. It would replace several devices I currently carry with just one. It has seamless integration with my Mac. The interface is intuitive and elegant. My work provides a reimbursement for getting a smart phone, thus reducing the cost. Oh, did I mention that it would make me look cool too?
The main problem is that I have an active Verizon contract. Getting out of it would either be a) expensive (i.e. Early Termination Fee) or b) a hassle (i.e. arguing my way out of Early Termination Fee). Not to mention that Princess Bethany and I have a shared plan and it would entail getting us both switched, porting numbers, etc. A lot of work…
The thing is, I currently have a device that can do everything that the iPhone can and more, is equally portable, is open source and has a wealth of 3rd party applications that can extend the capabilities of the device even further – The Nokia N800. The Nokia has WiFi, can play most video types, music files, has an excellent web browser that supports flash, has bluetooth that, with the addition of a data plan, will allow me to access the web through my phone, over 3G no less. Not to mention I can make calls via Skype or Gizmo Project via VOIP.
Although the integration with the desktop is not nearly as seamless as the iPhone, and it means having to also carry (and use) my (crappy, defective, and getting worse) RAZR, it means I can wait until my contract is up next May to think about making the switch. By that time, hopefully the iPhone will be greatly improved (more storage, support for flash in the browser, 3G, etc.) and the wait will be worth it.