[Server+RS+MU] November 1st, 2008 - MP3 - The Comatorium
[Server+RS+MU] November 1st, 2008 - MP3 - The Comatorium:
http://rapidshare.com/files/167791884/MVPF....com_part_1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/167794740/MVPF....com_part_2.rar
Sound Board recording !!! 320K! New Drunkship jam! Epic!
1. Fistful of Dollars- 2:20
2. Drunkship of Lanterns- 23:45
3. Viscera Eyes- 9:55
4. Wax Simulacra- 3:04
5. Goliath- 13:45
http://rapidshare.com/files/167791884/MVPF....com_part_1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/167794740/MVPF....com_part_2.rar
Source: http://taringa.net/posts/1804535
rapidshare.com/files/167791884/MVPF_by_atravesdelpuente.blogspot.com_part_1.rar
rapidshare.com/files/167794740/MVPF_by_atravesdelpuente.blogspot.com_part_2.rar
Soundboard recording, 320kbps, tracked
EDIT: Megaupload link added: http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=B616G8AO
EDIT2: Mediafire 128kbps link added by Caba: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zzimow2djhd
Enjoy!
Redacted
And the first rule of (redacted) was
Don't be with some one you don't trust
The second rule of (redacted)
The rooftop is not a good place to be
The third rule is to be prepared
The fourth rule is to not get scared
The fifth rule is to stay serene,
Turn off your mind and float downstream
The sixth rule, have a good friend at hand
The seventh rule, i hope you understand
Is not to look too deep into your soul
Or you might find a hideous hopeless hole
Of hatred, anger, infinite, idiot, mindless
Meaningless, nothingness
Nothing less
Nothingness
Nothing less
Nothingness
Nothing less
Nothingness
Nothing less
Nothing less
Nothingness
Nothingness
And that's what i did
Built to Spill, Doug Martsch, Perfect From Now On, interview, Treasure Island Music Festival, Justice, Vampire Weekend, Raconteurs, TV on the Radio: Built to Spill (with interview), Treasure Island Music Fest, and Menomena - It Shows - Crawdaddy! - S
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Menomena
September 20th at the Independent
Menomena's three men stand beside one another at the front of the Independent's stage, no one individual sticking out as the frontman. This democratic arrangement makes sense considering their computer-aided songwriting process and their respective musical abilities: All of them can sing (and do so very, very well), and if you were to swap out any one of their members, it surely wouldn't add up to the precise, ornate pop songs they performed as headliners at this "Treasure Island Night Show." They made clear that they were grateful for the slot: "Thanks to the Treasure Island Festival for opening for us today," they chuckled, being sure to point out that bass player Justin Harris "has a treasure island of his own in his pants!" Such shenanigans certainly didn't impede their performance. They opened with "Strongest Man in the World" from their first full-length, I Am the Fun Blame Monster!, for which keyboardist/guitarist Brent Knopf and drummer Danny Seim traded off on vocals after the icy pulse of the introductory keyboard loop. None of their songs resemble traditional pop songwriting structure—sure, there are refrains and hooks, but the songs are more like suites carefully cobbled together from parts that, though perhaps initially unrelated, glide elegantly into one another.
Although they began with an older song, the set primaril
Car Slams into Plane on Freeway -- baltimoresun.com
My friend was driving this car Luckily she was ok.
Human World - Sent Using Google Toolbar
Human World
The women of the Tiwi tribe in the South Pacific are married at birth.
When Albert Einstein died, his final words died with him. The nurse at his side didn't understand German.
St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish.
The lance ceased to be an official battle weapon in the British Army in 1927.
St. John was the only one of the 12 Apostles to die a natural death.
Many sailors used to wear gold earrings so that they could afford a proper burial when they died.
Some very Orthodox Jew refuse to speak Hebrew, believing it to be a language reserved only for the Prophets.
A South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I.
Born 4 January 1838, General Tom Thumb's growth slowed at the age of 6 months, at 5 years he was signed to the circus by P.T. Barnum, and at adulthood reached a height of only 1 metre.
Because they had no proper rubbish disposal system, the streets of ancient Mesopotamia became literally knee-deep in rubbish.
The Toltecs, Seventh-century native Mexicans, went into battle with wooden swords so as not to kill their enemies.
China banned the pigtail in 1911 as it was seen as a symbol of feudalism.
The Amayra guides of Bolivia are said to be able to keep pace with a trotting horse for a distance of 100 kilometres.
Sliced bread was patented by a jeweller, Otto Rohwedder, in 1928. He had been working on it for 16 years, having started in 1912.
Before it was stopped by the British, it was the not uncommon for women in some areas of India to choose to be burnt alive on their husband's funeral pyre.
Ivan the terrible claimed to have 'deflowered thousands of virgins and butchered a similar number of resulting offspring'.
Before the Second World War, it was considered a sacrilege to even touch an Emperor of Japan.
An American aircraft in Vietnam shot itself down with one of its own missiles.
The Anglo-Saxons believed Friday to be such an unlucky day that they ritually slaughtered any child unfortunate enough to be born on that day.
During the eighteenth century, laws had to be brought in to curb the seemingly insatiable appetite for gin amongst the poor. Their annual intake was as much as five million gallons.
Ancient drinkers warded off the devil by clinking their cups
The Nobel Prize resulted form a late change in the will of Alfred Nobel, who did not want to be remembered after his death as a propagator of violence - he invented dynamite.
The cost of the first pay-toilets installed in England was tuppence.
Pogonophobia is the fear of beards.
In 1647 the English Parliament abolished Christmas.
Mao Rse-Tang, the first chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, was born 26 December 1893. Before his rise to power, he occupied the humble position of Assistant Librarian at the University of Peking.
Coffee is the second largest item of international commerce in the world. The largest is petrol.
King George III was declared violently insane in 1811, 9 years before he died.
In Ancient Peru, when a woman found an 'ugly' potato, it was the custom for her to push it into the face of the nearest man.
For Roman Catholics, 5 January is St Simeon Stylites' Day. He was a fifth-century hermit who showed his devotion to God by spending literally years sitting on top of a huge flagpole.
When George I became King of England in 1714, his wife did not become Queen. He placed her under house arrest for 32 years.
The richest 10 per cent of the French people are approximately fifty times better off than the poorest 10 per cent.
Henry VII was the only British King to be crowned on the field of battle
During World War One, the future Pope John XXIII was a sergeant in the Italian Army.
Richard II died aged 33 in 1400. A hole was left in the side of his tomb so people could touch his royal head, but 376 years later some took advantage of this and stole his jawbone.
The magic word "Abracadabra" was originally intended for the specific purpose of curing hay fever.
The Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas Carols, judging them to be out of keeping with the true spirit of Christmas.
Albert Einstein was once offered the Presidency of Israel. He declined saying he had no head for problems.
Uri Geller, the professional psychic was born on December 20 1946. As to the origin of his alleged powers, Mr Geller maintains that they come from the distant planet of Hoova.
Ralph and Carolyn Cummins had 5 children between 1952 and 1966, all were born on the 20 February.
John D. Rockefeller gave away over US$ 500,000,000 during his lifetime.
Only 1 child in 20 are born on the day predicted by the doctor.
In the 1970's, the Rhode Island Legislature in the US entertained a proposal that there be a $2 tax on every act of sexual intercourse in the State.
Widows in equatorial Africa actually wear sackcloth and ashes when attending a funeral.
The 'Hundred Years War' lasted 116 years.
The British did not release the body of Napoleon Bonaparte to the French until twenty days after his death.
Admiral Lord Nelson was less than 1.6 metres tall.
John Glenn, the American who first orbited the Earth, was showered with 3,529 tonnes of ticker tape when he got back.
Native American Indians used to name their children after the first thing they saw as they left their tepees subsequent to the birth. Hence such strange names as Sitting Bull and Running Water.
Catherine the First of Russia, made a rule that no man was allowed to get drunk at one of her parties before nine o'clock.
Queen Elizabeth I passed a law which forced everyone except for the rich to wear a flat cap on Sundays.
In 1969 the shares of the Australian company 'Poseidon' were worth $1, one year later they were worth $280 each.
Julius Caesar wore a laurel wreath to cover the onset of baldness.
Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour during World War II, left school at the age of eleven.
At the age of 12, Martin Luther King became so depressed he tried committing suicide twice, by jumping out of his bedroom window.
It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if your name is Mary.
The Turk's consider it considered unlucky to step on a piece of bread.
The authorities do not allow tourists to take pictures of Pygmies in Zambia.
The Dutch in general prefer their french fries with mayonnaise.
Upon the death of F.D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman became the President of America on 12 April 1945. The initial S in the middle of his name doesn't in fact mean anything. Both his grandfathers had names beginning with 'S', and so Truman's mother didn't want to disappoint either of them.
Sir Isaac Newton was obsessed with the occult and the supernatural.
One of Queen Victoria's wedding gifts was a 3 metre diameter, half tonne cheese.
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never phoned his wife or his mother, they were both deaf.
It was considered unfashionable for Venetian women, during the Renaissance to have anything but silvery-blonde hair.
Queen Victoria was one of the first women ever to use chloroform to combat pain during childbirth.
Peter the Great had the head of his wife's lover cut off and put into a jar of preserving alcohol, which he then ordered to be placed by her bed.
The car manufacturer Henry Ford was awarded Hitler's Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle. Henry Ford was the inventor of the assembly line, and Hitler used this knowledge of the assembly line to speed up production, and to create better and interchangeable products.
Atilla the Hun is thought to have been a dwarf.
The warriors tribes of Ethiopia used to hang the testicles of those they killed in battle on the ends of their spears.
On 15 April 1912 the SS Titanic sunk on her maiden voyage and over 1,500 people died. Fourteen years earlier a novel was published by Morgan Robertson which seemed to foretell the disaster. The book described a ship the same size as the Titanic which crashes into an iceberg on its maiden voyage on a misty April night. The name of Robertson's fictional ship was the Titan.
There are over 200 religious denominations in the United States.
Eau de Cologne was originally marketed as a way of protecting yourself against the plague.
Charles the Simple was the grandson of Charles the Bald, both were rulers of France.
Theodor Herzi, the Zionist leader who was born on May 2 1860, once had the astonishing idea of converting Jews to Christianity as a way of combating anti-Semitism.
The women of an African tribe make themselves more attractive by permanently scaring their faces.
Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland seemed to have a prodigious sexual appetite, and fathered hundreds of illegitimate children during his lifetime.
Some moral purists in the Middle Ages believed that women's ears ought to be covered up because the Virgin May had conceived a child through them.
Hindus don't like dying in bed, they prefer to die beside a river.
While at Havard University, Edward Kennedy was suspended for cheating on a Spanish exam.
It is a criminal offence to drive around in a dirty car in Russia.
The Emperor Caligula once decided to go to war with the Roman God of the sea, Poseidon, and ordered his soldiers to throw their spears into the water at random.
The Ecuadorian poet, José Olmedo, has a statue in his honour in his home country. But, unable to commission a sculptor, due to limited funds, the government brought a second-hand statue .. Of the English poet Lord Byron.
In 1726, at only 7 years old, Charles Sauson inherited the post of official executioner.
Sir Winston Churchill rationed himself to 15 cigars a day.
On 7 January 1904 the distress call 'CQD' was introduced. 'CQ' stood for 'Seek You' and 'D' for 'Danger'. This lasted only until 1906 when it was replaced with 'SOS'.
Though it is forbidden by the Government, many Indians still adhere to the caste system which says that it is a defilement for even the shadow of a person from a lowly caste to fall on a Brahman ( a member of the highest priestly caste).
In parts of Malaya, the women keep harems of men.
The childrens' nursery rhyme 'Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses' actually refers to the Black Death which killed about 30 million people in the fourteenth-century.
The word 'denim' comes from 'de Nimes', Nimes being the town the fabric was originally produced.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, there was a tax put on men's beards.
Idi Amin, one of the most ruthless tyrants in the world, before coming to power, served in the British Army.
Some Eskimos have been known to use refrigerators to keep their food from freezing.
It is illegal to play tennis in the streets of Cambridge.
Custer was the youngest General in US history, he was promoted at the age of 23.
It costs more to send someone to reform school than it does to send them to Eton.
The American pilot Charles Lindbergh received the Service Cross of the German Eagle form Hermann Goering in 1938.
The active ingredient in Chinese Bird's nest soup is saliva.
Marie Currie, who twice won the Nobel Prize, and discovered radium, was not allowed to become a member of the prestigious French Academy because she was a woman.
It was quite common for the men of Ancient Greece to exercise in public .. naked.
John Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, had a payphone in his mansion.
Iceland is the world's oldest functioning democracy.
Adolf Eichmann (responsible for countless Jewish deaths during World war II), was originally a travelling salesman for the Vacuum Oil Co. of Austria.
The national flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Matami Tribe of West Africa play a version of football, the only difference being that they use a human skull instead of a more normal ball.
John Winthrop introduced the fork to the American dinner table for the first time on 25 June 1630.
Elizabeth Blackwell, born in Bristol, England on 3 February 1821, was the first woman in America to gain an M.D. degree.
Abraham Lincoln was shot with a Derringer.
The great Russian leader, Lenin died 21 January 1924, suffering from a degenerative brain disorder. At the time of his death his brain was a quarter of its normal size.
When shipped to the US, the London bridge ( thought by the new owner to be the more famous Tower Bridge ) was classified by US customs to be a 'large antique'.
Sir Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' cloakroom after his mother went into labour during a dance at Blenheim Palace.
In 1849, David Atchison became President of the United States for just one day, and he spent most of the day sleeping.
Between the two World War's, France was controlled by forty different governments.
The 'Crystal Palace' at the Great Exhibition of 1851, contained 92 900 square metres of glass.
It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on their testicles when taking an oath. The modern term 'testimony' is derived from this tradition.
Sir Winston Churchill's mother was descended from a Red Indian.
The study of stupidity is called 'monology'.
Hindu men believe(d) it to be unluckily to marry a third time. They could avoid misfortune by marring a tree first. The tree ( his third wife ) was then burnt, freeing him to marry again.
More money is spent each year on alcohol and cigarettes than on Life insurance.
In 1911 3 men were hung for the murder of Sir Edmund Berry at Greenbury Hill, their last names were Green, Berry , and Hill.
A firm in Britain sold fall-out shelters for pets.
During the seventeen century , the Sultan of Turkey ordered his entire harem of women drowned, and replace with a new one.
Lady Astor once told Winston Churchill 'if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee'. His reply …' if you were my wife, I would drink it ! '.
There are no clocks in Las Vegas casinos.
The Great Pyramid of Giza consists of 2,300,000 blocks each weighing 2.5 tons.
On 9 February 1942, soap rationing began in Britain.
Paul Revere was a dentist.
The Budget speech on April 17 1956 saw the introduction of Premium Savings Bonds into Britain. The machine which picks the winning numbers is called "Ernie", an abbreviation, which stands for' electronic random number indicator equipment'.
Chop-suey is not a native Chinese dish, it was created in California by Chinese immigrants.
The Russian mystic, Rasputin, was the victim of a series of murder attempts on this day in 1916. The assassins poisoned, shot and stabbed him in quick succession, but they found they were unable to finish him off. Rasputin finally succumbed to the ice-cold waters of a river.
Bonnie Prince Charlie, the leader of the Jacobite rebellion to depose of George II of England, was born 31 December 1720. Considered a great Scottish hero, he spent his final years as a drunkard in Rome.
The Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone, was born of the 29th December 1809. Apparently, as a result of his strong Puritan impulses, Gladstone kept a selection of whips in his cellar with which he regularly chastised himself.
A parthenophobic has a fear of virgins.
South American gauchos were known to put raw steak under their saddles before starting a day's riding, in order to tenderise the meat.
There are 240 white dots in a Pacman arcade game.
In 1939 the US political party 'The American Nazi Party' had 200,000 members.
King Solomon of Israel had about 700 wives as well as hundreds of mistresses.
Urine was once used to wash clothes.
North American Indian, Sitting Bull, died on 15 December 1890. His bones were laid to rest in North Dakota, but a business group wanted him moved to a 'more natural' site in South Dakota. Their campaign was rejected so they stole the bones, and they now reside in Sitting Bull Park, South Dakota.
St Nicholas, the original Father Christmas, is the patron saint of thieves, virgins and communist Russia.
Dublin is home of the Fairy Investigation Society.
Fourteen million people were killed in World War I, twenty million died in a flu epidemic in the years that followed.
People in Siberia often buy milk frozen on a stick.
Princess Ann was the only competitor at the 1976 Montreal Olympics that did not have to undergo a sex test.
Ethelred the Unready, King of England in the Tenth-century, spent his wedding night in bed with his wife and his mother-in-law.
Coffins which are due for cremation are usually made with plastic handles.
Blackbird, who was the chief of Omaha Indians, was buried sitting on his favourite horse.
The two highest IQ's ever recorded (on a standard test) both belong to women.
The Tory Prime Minister, Benjamin Disreali, was born 21 December 1804. He was noted for his oratory and had a number of memorable exchanges in the House with his great rival William Gladstone. Asked what the difference between a calamity and a misfortune was Disreali replied: 'If Gladstone fell into the Thames it would be a misfortune, but if someone pulled him out again, it would be a calamity'.
The Imperial Throne of Japan has been occupied by the same family for the last thirteen hundred years.
In the seventeenth-century a Boston man was sentenced to two hours in the stocks for obscene behaviour, his crime, kissing his wife in a public place on a Sunday.
President Kaunda of Zambia once threatened to resign if his fellow countrymen didn't stop drinking so much alcohol.
Due to staggering inflation in the 1920's, 4,000,000,000,000,000,000 German marks were worth 1 US dollar.
Gorgias of Epirus was born during preparation of his mothers funeral.
The city of New York contains a district called 'Hell's Kitchen'.
The city of Hiroshima left the Industrial Promotion Centre standing as a monument the atomic bombing.
During the Medieval Crusades, transporting bodies off the battlefield for burial was a major problem, this was solved by carrying a huge cauldron into the Holy wars, boiling down the bodies, and taking only the bones with them.
A ten-gallon hat holds three-quarters of a gallon.
George Washington grew marijuana in his garden.
Need some shit to go here
and stuff here,
and
here.
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Republican "Change"
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12 New Rules of Working You Should Embrace Today | Zen Habits
12 New Rules of Working You Should Embrace Today
The workplace, more and more, is changing, and with this change comes a whole new set of rules.
The traditional office work environment and tools are still around, but at a very rapid pace, they're being supplanted by newer and better tools, newer and better ways of working. The old rules are being broken, and new ones are emerging.
You could call this the Workplace of the Future, as not all businesses have adopted these models, and it will be a few years before these new rules are the norm. But for many people (myself included), this is the Workplace of Today — there's no need to wait for new technologies or tools, because they're already here.
So you could wait a few years, resist the new trends, talk about how great things were back in your day … or you could embrace the new rules, and be a part of the change.
Transitioning from Electric Typewriters
I love my grandfather, a journalist of more than 50 years, but I always remember when the local newspaper (he's the former managing editor) changed from typewriters to computer terminals and a mainframe. Instead of typing his columns with an electric typewriter, which he'd done for 25 years, my grandfather had to learn to type on a computer … and save it, and pull it up from a directory.
It proved to be a pretty difficult change for him, and while he can still crank out an amazing column with the best of them, the technology of newspapers passed him by.
It can pass you by too, if you let it. That's why my philosophy has been to embrace change, be a part of it, help direct it, rather than just resist it. If a new technology or way of working is better, let's go with it. That doesn't mean we should just adopt things because they're new and shiny and trendy — sometimes the old is actually better. But if the new ways are better, let's embrace them.
Google, Wikipedia, Linux, and Freelancers and Bloggers … oh, my!
A number of companies and projects embody the spirit of the New Rules of Working, but my favorites are Google, Wikipedia and Linux. And the rise of freelancers and bloggers is another trend that shows these New Rules.
1. Google: While the company itself seems either cool or scary, depending on your point of view … but the tools that Google is making are not only perfect for the New Rules of Working, but in many ways they are driving these changes. The archive-and-search philosophy of Gmail, the easy collaboration of GDocs, the ease-of-use of Gcal and other online tools, the innovative uses of cloud computing. Google tools embody the new ways of working.
2. Wikipedia: In a few short years, this has become one of the most useful tools ever. It is more useful than regular encyclopedias by an order of magnitude. And it was created by opening things up to the public. Despite massive criticism for this open process, it has worked beautifully. Collaboration works.
3. Linux: Another tool that has been created through an open, collaborative process. While it still has a ways to go, for many it is already better than Windows, which was created using massive funds but a closed system.
4. Freelancers and bloggers: More and more, people are breaking out of the traditional workplaces in favor of more freedom and independence. This means they are working using mobile computing and technology, they are collaborating with others but not in the traditional heirarchical authoritarian structure, and they work where and when they want, as long as they produce good-quality work.
The New Rules of Working
With new tools, new models of collaboration, and new freedom and mobility in working styles, some New Rules of Working are emerging. Not all of these have asserted their dominance yet, and there's no guarantee that they'll ever totally supplant more traditional rules and ways of working. But they are emerging, and in my mind, they're all positive and exciting developments.
1. Online apps and the cloud beat the desktop and hard drive. While the majority of workers use desktop applications such as Microsoft Office, that's rapidly changing. Today, people like me use apps that are almost all online, such as Gmail, Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Gcal, WordPress, Twitter, Zoho Office, High Rise, Backpack and many others.
The advantages of online apps: you can use them on any computer, and never have to worry about where you saved documents. With desktop apps, you have to save the document to a folder and either email it to yourself or put it on a USB drive if you plan to work from home or on the road. And if you use another computer, you have to make sure you have the necessary desktop app. Mobile workers such as myself want to be able to use their key apps from anywhere, anytime.
Of course, there are disadvantages and limitations to online apps, but the gap is narrowing more and more. Many people also worry about being disconnected from the Internet. Well, that's becoming less and less of a problem — I can't remember the last time my Internet was down, and it's never been a problem in more than a year of using almost exclusively online apps.
Using the cloud instead of your hard drive has similar advantages — and one of the best being that you don't have to back up your info on your hard drive. In the cloud, the data is already backed up. And again, it's available everywhere — a very important factor in the emerging mobile workplace.
2. Collaborate on documents, don't email them. I won't name names, but recently I had to work with a group of people on a draft of a book. These people are intelligent people, but they are used to their old processes, and one of those is to use the Microsoft Word format for drafts, and to email revisions of the draft back and forth. In one case, they actually printed stuff out, marked up the printout, and FedExed it to me for further revisions.
But that's outdated! With online apps such as Google Docs, real-time collaboration is so easy these days. You can be working on the same document at the same time, and changes are autosaved. You can see who made what changes, you can go back to previous versions of the draft, and you don't have to worry about who has emailed the latest version. Best yet, if one of the collaborators is a Mac user (as I am), you don't have to worry about whether he has a copy of Microsoft Office (which I don't and never again will).
You can chat while collaborating. You can invite others to collaborate, and give them specific permissions.
There is no reason to email documents anymore when you collaborate, and for goodness sakes, there's no reason to print and mail them to each other!
3. Collaboration is the new productivity. It used to be that we tried to work our butts off to produce, but mostly individually. Sure, there were meetings, and there were teams, but in the end we mostly did it individually. It's still that way mostly.
But consider Wikipedia: if each of those articles were written by a single writer, and then went through the traditional editing and publishing process, it would've taken forever to publish that many articles. Not to mention the headaches and cost of coordinating such a vast project. But using collaborative technology (wikis), Wikipedia was able to do it at relatively low cost (mostly computers, not many people), and a massive project has been accomplished by collaboration. Groups of people collaborating in a smart way are way more productive than those people could be in the traditional way, individually.
I could name many more examples of open-source technology, from Firefox to Linux to OpenOffice to Gaim and so many more — these are excellent examples of software, done collaboratively. This model can be spread to almost any industry, and it's vastly more productive.
That said, there will always be a need for individual work. Sometimes the best software is written by one genius, and there's nothing wrong with that. But to get really massive things accomplished, use collaboration.
"In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed." - Charles Darwin
4. People don't have to be in an office. This is the one I wish most businesses would get, right now, right away. It's so obvious once you get away from the traditional mindset. Traditionally, people worked in offices (and of course most still do). They go into the office, do their work, go to meeting, process paperwork, chat around the watercooler, clock out and go home.
These days, more and more, that's not necessary. With mobile computing, the cloud, online apps and collaborative processes, work can be done from anywhere, and often is. More people are telecommuting. More people are working as freelancers or consultants. More businesses are allowing people to work from anywhere — not just telecommuting from home, but literally anywhere in the world. People are forming small businesses who have never met, who live on different continents. People have meetings through Skype or Basecamp group chat. They collaborate through wikis and Google apps.
If you are stuck in the traditional mindset, think hard about what things really need to be done in an office. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for working in an office, but often those barriers have other solutions you just haven't explored yet.
The advantages of a decentralized workplace are many. Workers who have more freedom are happier, and often more passionate about their work. They enjoy collaborating with others who are smart and talented, and work is no longer drudgery. Flexible schedules work well for many people's lifestyles. Mobile computing is actually good for many types of businesses where people need to be on the go. And what really matters isn't that the worker is present, but that the work is being done.
5. Archive, don't file. Traditionally, people filed paper documents in folders, labeled the folders, and organized them in cabinets. With more and more documents being stored in computers, this way of organizing carried over to the computer desktop, with folders and files all being organized (or disorganized, if you aren't careful). This meant that either you spent a lot of time filing and organizing, or you lost things.
Today, many people still work that way, even if it doesn't make the most sense. What makes more sense, with the power of computers and speed of today's apps, is the method popularized by Gmail: archive and search. Instead of creating folders for everything, and then diligently filing, you could now just hit "archive" and then use Gmail's very fast search engine to find what you need. Of course, you could still "tag" things which is almost like folders but more versatile, but even that is optional.
Why is this better? Think about how much time is saved, when you don't have to file. It's much easier, less headaches. You don't have to remember to file and then lose things if you get disorganized. You can just search and find it.
This applies not only to emails, but to everything. Bookmarks are searchable in Delicious, my blog posts are searchable in WordPress, files are searchable on the desktop (on the Mac, Quicksilver and Spotlight both work very well; on the PC, Google Desktop also works well) or in an online server. Nothing needs to be filed — everything is searchable, and finding things is much faster through search than having to browse through files or directories.
Some people say they have trouble finding stuff sometimes through search. I haven't had that problem yet, and it's all I do these days. I think it just takes a bit of a shift in mindset.
6. Small teams are better than large teams. I know I said collaboration is the new productivity, but for many projects where a team is defined (as opposed to collaborative efforts like Wikipedia, where anyone can get involved), a small team works much better. It's faster, nimbler, smarter, less bureaucratic, more creative.
Think of a large corporation like Microsoft, trying to start up a new enterprise. Microsoft has never been good at that, because of its size. It's better at taking the innovation of other companies and leveraging existing dominant markets to make its new software or service successful. Or buying smaller companies who do something well and merging it with existing businesses. But when it tries to start something new on its own, the team doing so is well-funded, with the full force of the mega-corporation behind it … and yet has to go through so many bureaucratic steps, it's like going through the old USSR government. The new product ends up having tons of features (most of which aren't needed) and takes forever to launch.
New startups of just a handful of people — sometimes just 3-4 people — can create brilliant new products by keeping things small, lean and simple. They don't included a bloated feature set, don't have to worry about writing up technical specs and getting approval, don't have to go through bureaucracy. They just write the code and make it work, as fast as possible, because otherwise they die. Small teams are lean and hungry, with more freedom and creativity.
7. Communication is a stream. This is something I still have trouble with. In the traditional model, paperwork comes into an inbox, and you process things sequentially until you're done. Phone calls came in and you took them as they came, and took care of each one. Letters and faxes came in, and you dealt with them one at a time.
So when email became the norm, the same top-down, sequential processing applied. Getting Things Done uses this method — start from the top, and work to the bottom until you're finished. Unfortunately, this is a bit overwhelming to many people these days, because there's just too much coming in to handle this way.
So the new way of working sees communication as a stream. You go in and bathe in the stream, and then get out. It's never-ending — think about when emails and IMs and Twitters and RSS feeds and forum posts and other types of things you read ever stopped coming in. It doesn't happen. And because it's never-ending, you can't process from top to bottom, sequentially.
How do you work with the stream? You know it's never-ending, and you don't try to process it all. You take what you need, go in every now and then to see what's going on, and don't worry that you're missing things. You're always missing things — everybody is. No one can fully process this stream — it's too overwhelming. Who can read all the blog posts out there? Who can respond to every email and Twitter and forum post? Who can read everything on Digg or Delicious or Stumbleupon? No one.
So you find what interests you, search for what you need, and pick and choose the things that matter most to you. Can you answer every email? No — so answer the important ones, and archive the rest. Can you know everything going on in your field or industry? No — so monitor what interests you, and when things really matter you'll find out from your network of friends or blogs you read.
Don't process everything — focus on what's important to you.
8. Fewer tasks are better than many. With the overwhelming amount of information coming at us, there's also an overwhelming amount of requests and things to do. While the old way of thinking said that we should Get Things Done, that's just not possible anymore. And it's not even desirable to do a huge task list — you're just spinning your wheels.
Instead, focus on the few tasks that make the most difference — to your company, to your career, to your life. Simplify your task list.
9. Meetings (usually) suck. The traditional way of doing business includes company meetings throughout the day, taking an hour or more usually. This can eat up half of your day or more. Add to that individual meetings — at lunch, or having drinks, or just a one-on-one in the office — and you're meeting more than you're producing.
If you've sat through a lot of meetings, like I have, you know they're almost always useless. Sure, sometimes they're good, but most of the time they're boring, full of chit-chat or useless information, and really can be accomplished through a simple email or phone call. They're a waste of everyone's time, and worse yet, most people know it. And nothing changes.
Instead, learn to accomplish the tasks of a meeting through an email, a quick phone call, a quick and focused IM, an online group chat if necessary. Collaborate through online tools, such as those mentioned above. Keep meetings to a bare minimum. Sure, you still need to socialize with people, and have actual conversations, but boring and useless meetings aren't the best way to do that. If you control your company or division, do yourself and your company a favor by eliminating most of your meetings.
"Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything." - John Kenneth Galbraith
10. Open-source is better than closed. This is related to Rule 3, where collaboration is the key to productivity, but it goes a step beyond that: instead of being closed and protectionist, open things to the public. Be accountable, release copyright, allow people to share, and allow others to contribute.
The traditional way was to keep things a secret, and not let others be privy to your inside information. Only those on the inside were allowed to collaborate. If people tried to share without paying, you sued.
The open-source model works much better in many cases. It allows people to contribute, recognizing that not just a select few people have good ideas or talent. It allows people to share, recognizing that an idea grows in value as it becomes more widespread, and an artist grows in worth as he reaches a wider audience, and a program becomes more successful as it becomes more popular.
This model can be applied to many businesses, from publishing to online apps to information workers and more (even blogging!). It can even be applied to governments, if we open the spectrum of ideas a bit wider. Imagine a government where all information is available, making things more accountable. Imagine a government not just "of the people" in words, but action — the people are actually contributing to it and making it work. Imagine a government where everything is distributed, and democratic, and shared. It's idealistic, but it's something that can happen if we embrace the open-source model.
11. Rest is as important as work. In the traditional model, people worked long hours to accomplish as much as possible and get ahead in their careers. However, there is a high rate of burnout and job dissatisfaction and employee turnover in this model.
The new model recognizes that we're people, not machines. That we have lives and interests outside work. That we need a good nap now and then (or even every day). That when we're well rested, we work better, and we're happier.
I'm not saying you have to rest just as much as you work, but that you should recognize that not only is nothing wrong with taking a nap, it's actually a good thing. Work doesn't have to be monotonous and done in 8-hour shifts — it can be fun, and done in productive bursts. See this article for more.
12. Focus, don't crank. This is a corollary of Rule 8: instead of cranking through a lot of tasks and multi-tasking, learn to focus on important tasks and single-task.
In recent decades, multi-tasking has been seen as a productive thing — although the more traditional model, dating decades earlier, said that doing one task at a time was a good thing. Today, more and more people are realizing that when you constantly switch between tasks, you get very little done. You actually tend to procrastinate on the important stuff, and use multi-tasking as a way to postpone doing things. You can crank through tasks all day long, GTD style, and not get anything real done.
Instead, simplify, identify the essential, and learn to focus on one task at a time.
A Few Final Words
Not all of these "rules" are accepted by the majority of people today — in fact, most aren't. But a growing number of people are working this way, and I think a majority of people will work this way in the near future.
Not all of these ways of working will work for you or your company. Some businesses and people are better suited for the traditional models, and that's OK. Figure out what works for you, and what you do.
However, at least give these points some consideration. In some cases, they'll be a better way of working, and can be good changes. I think this is exciting stuff, and I hope you'll embrace these changes as I have.
"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." - Harold Wilson
—
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The olympics
- what an amazing display of human coordination that was the opening
ceremonies! You have to see it HD.
- its like 1am and they are already boxing. Helmets; wack...
- watching the equestrian something or other, yawn, (how did they get
these horses here? B.A. Baracus style then by air?!?) Nothing to see
here... How can they call this a competition? Still trying to figure
out what this is call? Its not a race and there isn't jumping and it's
not polo either...
- looks like some more competition coming up at 2am on another channel.
--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
Lawsuit: Monster Cable Thinks You Might Confuse Mini-Golf With Overpriced Ca...
Sent to you by Thomas Guzman via Google Reader:
From News 10:
Monster Cable Products of Brisbane filed suit in Sacramento federal court this week against the owners of Monster Mini Golf in Rancho Cordova along with the Rhode Island woman who sells Monster Mini Golf franchises.
In its trademark infringement suit, Monster Cable claims the miniature golf courses "are likely to cause confusion."
Cindy Stoeckle, who with her husband Chris opened the Rancho Cordova location in March, was shocked when News10 told her about the lawsuit.
"What, are they not making money and they have to make some money off the little guys?" she asked.
The company's founder, Christina Vitagliano of Providence, Rhode Island, said she's been fighting with Monster Cable since she applied for her trademark in 2006. She said her attorney will defend the Stoeckles.
Monster Cable just loves to sue people! According to News 10 they sued Disney for Monsters, INC, the Boston Red Sox for "Monster Seats" on the big green monster, and is currently trying to keep them from calling the concession stand "Monster Concessions."
Rancho Cordova Mini Golf Course Hit with "Monster" Lawsuit [News 10]
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Do You Notice A Change?
Sent to you by Thomas Guzman via Google Reader:
The reasons: 1) Gas prices, and 2) The economy. It's not a huge difference, but traffic analysts believe some people are saving a few minutes on the way in to work:
The morning commute from Simi Valley to Los Angeles averaged 61 minutes in April 2007 when gas cost a little more than $3 a gallon but fell to 55.1 minutes last month. Also significant are numbers from the Inland Empire, where the morning drive from Riverside to Ontario fell nearly 13% -- from 41.5 minutes in April 2007 to 36.2 minutes this April.
The article even refers to KTLA's own traffic expert Commander Chuck Street. He thinks traffic is lighter these days, and, since he flies around so much, he ought to know.
I think there is a difference, but I think it has more to do with the economy than with the price of fuel.
There's a whole lot less remodeling and construction going on these days. People aren't taking thousands of dollars out in a home equity line, and spending it on upgrading their kitchen. Fewer people employed in construction means fewer cars on the road.
I travel the 101 through the Valley and the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass just about every afternoon, and I HAVE noticed it's slightly easier.
What do you see?
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When the world's great scientific thinkers change their minds - Edge Cover Story
Edge: Cover Story - Publico Sunday Magazine: "We are all equal
Simon Baron-Cohen, psychologist, Autism Research Center, Cambridge University
When I was young I believed in equality as a guiding principle in life. My mind has been changed. I still believe in some aspects of the idea of equality, but I can no longer accept the whole package. Striving to give people equality of social opportunity is still a value system worth defending, but we have to accept that equality has no place in the realm of biology."
Unwelcome Spirits Haunt 'The Bedlam in Goliath'
As origin stories go, this one's a doozy. While on tour, The Mars Volta bought a ouija board at at Jerusalem curio shop. The band used the board as a game, part of its after-show wind-down ritual. Then, according to guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, things got strange.
read more | digg story
"Cone of Silence" Possible Say Scientists
"Cone of Silence" Possible Say Scientists by ScuttleMonkey on 1/12/08 Ponca City, We Love You writes "The 'Cone of Silence,' once a staple of 1960's television shows, is now possible say scientists at Duke University who first demonstrated a working 'cloak of invisibility' that works at microwave frequencies in 2006. Such a cloak designed for audio frequencies might hide submarines in the ocean from detection by sonar or improve the acoustics of a concert hall by effectively flattening a structural beam. Although the theory used to design such acoustic devices so far isn't as general as the one used to devise the microwave cloak, the finding nonetheless paves the way for other acoustic devices. 'We've now shown that both 2-D and 3-D acoustic cloaks theoretically do exist,' says Researcher Steven Cummer. 'It opens up the door to make the physical shape of an object different from its acoustic shape.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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