Matt Gemmell is such a good writer, his post Dear TextMate is a beauty and must reflect the thoughts of many former Textmate fans.
His recent Simplicity post has me looking into Octopress.
Another great piece by Matt, Accessibility for iPhone and iPad apps is must read for anyone designing a User Interface. I sent this to a friend who suffers the condition Matt was referring to and he was blown away by the insight shown.
Rings true to my own experience
How to Accomplish More by Doing Less:
It’s not just the number of hours we sit at a desk in that determines the value we generate. It’s the energy we bring to the hours we work. Human beings are designed to pulse rhythmically between spending and renewing energy. That’s how we operate at our best. Maintaining a steady reservoir of energy — physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually — requires refueling it intermittently.
……
Stress isn’t the enemy in the workplace. Indeed, stress is the only means by which we can expand capacity. Just think about weightlifting. By stressing your muscles, and then recovering, you gradually build strength. Our real enemy is the absence of intermittent renewal.
(Via HBR.org)
Just bought this bundle from A Book Apart, excellent value – especially as eBooks.
I already had the CSS3 book by Dan Cederholm and its a good little book. Its the little part that I particularly like, these days I find I do not have the time to work through large technical books and much prefer condensed focused works like the ones published by A Book Apart. Another thing they have right is providing multiple formats so I can read this on my Kindle and the Macbook Air, the prags led the way on this and another favourite publisher.
A video of a US policeman calmly capsicum spraying unarmed sitting protestors has created an international storm. James Fallows has exhaustive coverage and Mark Bernstein summarises the story with key links and adds his own view in this excellent post Shame:
The walk of shame, as UC Davis Chancellor Katehi walks to her car before rows of silent students, was extraordinary. James Fallows wrote of the affectless sadism of the campus police, captured forever in film. If the euro collapse does usher in the second great depression, that video is going to become an icon and this behind-the-scenes account will someday be treasured the way we cherish stories of riding in the car with Martin.
Bob Ostertag wrote a terrific piece on the shameful militarization of campus police. He doesn’t go far enough. Chancellor Katehi claimed that the quad was cleared because of “the encampment raised serious health and safety concerns.” Ostertag argues treats this as an error, a stupid failure of understanding and planning. But it’s not just a mistake.
It was a lie.
……….
(Via Mark Bernstein)
Perhaps all law enforcement officers should be trained in the fundamentals of non violent action to enable them to more appropriately respond to these situations. Thoreau’s essay is a good starting place (full text here), Ghandis’ biography is another valuable source
Here is a visually striking and information rich diagram from the BBC showing how the Euro countries are indebted to each other.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15748696
via Mark Krugman in the New York Times
Also check out this incredible graphic from xkcd
Sophisticated campaign orchestrated by Greenpeace using the same Star Wars theme that feature in the latest VW adds. The aim is to raise pressure on Volkswagen to put more effort into bringing its green technology to bear across its fleet. Worth checking the video’s out and sign up..
There is good in Volkswagen. We feel it…
Volkswagen is a big part of many of our lives – indeed many rebel vehicles are VWs. But it seems the bosses at Volkswagen have been seduced by the dark side of the Force and left us with little choice but to challenge them. But it’s not too late. There’s a chance that together we can turn Volkswagen away from the dark side and into a Force for good, leading to a brighter future for us all.
via vwdarkside.com
Douglass Rushkoff is always worth reading, here is a rousing speech he gave to Occupy Wallstreet
You are not fighting against people, but against a machine.
It was put in place over 500 years ago.
By a wealthy elite – trying to repress a booming peer to peer economy.
Those people are all dead, but their program lives on.(Via Douglas Rushkoff)
As he says in the opening lines this speech covers the material that is exhaustively documented in his book Life Inc
which is a fascinating read – read the book and start thinking.
Great post over at MyMicroISV from Jarie Bolander. Very timely for me as I in the process to creating a day off a week to allow time to grow a new venture.
The Innovator’s Secret Weapon:
- Keep an idea journal: An idea journal is an invaluable tool to find trends and cluster ideas. Just reading through a journal can give you all sorts of inspiration.
- Have a hobby: Hobbies are great to spark creativity and innovation. I once had a friend who created an entire remote control toy business because he was sick and tired of not having enough frequencies to use.
- Be well read: Reading a wide variety of topics and styles creates opportunities for cross over innovation. Great ideas will come from looking at a problem from a different perspective.
- Take long walks: Wander, stroll, skip or run. Anything to get you out of a building and thinking. Many of my best ideas come when I’m working out.
- Volunteer: Volunteering is not only tremendously rewarding but a great place for inspiration. You would be amazed at how much you can help an organization and yourself by just giving a few hours a week.
- Help others innovate: Get out there and help someone else create. This is just like the recruiting others above and it’s for the same reason – the more brains, the better the idea flow.
Jarie Bolander (Via MyMicroISV)
