The Insomniac's Tumbleog

"Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:34:55 -0700

“Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

- John F. Kennedy

"An old girlfriend of mine said she knew our relationship would never last once she saw my obsession..."

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:53:57 -0700

“An old girlfriend of mine said she knew our relationship would never last once she saw my obsession with understanding things instead of chilling out and accepting things or, as she put it — “surrendering to the emptiness of life.””

- Jonathan Harris . Clouds and coins

"When they say “Would the Saudis allow a church near Mecca” they, in a back-handed way express their..."

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:59:42 -0700

“When they say “Would the Saudis allow a church near Mecca” they, in a back-handed way express their admiration for the bigotry of Islamic states, by wanting to mirror that intolerance in the US”

- The Ground Zero Mosque by greatbong

"No one gives a damn about the size of your to-do list. How we handle ambiguity and failure have a..."

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:31:45 -0700

“

No one gives a damn about the size of your to-do list.
How we handle ambiguity and failure have a lot to do with our potential for success.
Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.

”

- Ryan Freitas - 35 Lessons in 35 Years

"Losing friends is inevitable. Making enemies is not."

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:29:24 -0700

“Losing friends is inevitable. Making enemies is not.”

- Ryan Freitas - 35 Lessons in 35 Years

"Mahatma Gandhi once said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then..."

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:55:56 -0700

“Mahatma Gandhi once said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”.”

"When people offer unpaid gigs by saying, it’s “good exposure,” I like to ask how..."

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:55:26 -0700

“When people offer unpaid gigs by saying, it’s “good exposure,” I like to ask how much exposure they made last year.”

- Merlin Mann

Swift Kick Central: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 02:31:51 -0700

Swift Kick Central: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech:

Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a valedictorian and the whole educational system. Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without need for editing or cutting, here’s the speech in its entirety:

"the probability of making the right design decision was vastly improved when given the tiniest..."

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 05:51:11 -0700

“the probability of making the right design decision was vastly improved when given the tiniest amount of empirical data”

- Jakob Nielsen (via)

"When you think outside the box, what you’re actually doing is questioning the decision before..."

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:26:20 -0700

“When you think outside the box, what you’re actually doing is questioning the decision before the decision.”

- That decision is far more important and much more difficult to change than the decision you actually believe you’re about to make.

via The decision before the decision by Seth Godin

"talking about design is like performing interpretive dance about architecture. Words, while..."

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 02:33:03 -0700

“talking about design is like performing interpretive dance about architecture. Words, while critical, often don’t do our ideas justice.”

- 5 indispensible skills for UX mastery (For practicing User Experience …)

"About half of Internet users are using Google search, so if another company builds something and two..."

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:38:28 -0700

“About half of Internet users are using Google search, so if another company builds something and two people start using the Internet because of it, we’re going to get one of them”

- Google Research Director Peter Norvig on Being Wrong (via)

"I firmly believe that you are paid what you’re worth, so when I hear people complaining “they are..."

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 04:53:54 -0700

“I firmly believe that you are paid what you’re worth, so when I hear people complaining “they are underpaid”, in my mind, I translate that as you’ve “undersold yourself”, get skilled, spend time on weekends or early mornings to learn more, and apply new projects, programs and skills –or leave.”

- via Six Career Tips

"starting adult life with an autistically explicit “goal” that’s never been tested against any kind..."

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:02:37 -0700

“starting adult life with an autistically explicit “goal” that’s never been tested against any kind of real-world experience or reality-in-context, we can paradoxically miss a thousand more useful, lucrative, or organic opportunities”

- Watching the Corners: On Future-Proofing Your Passion | 43 Folders

"Speed of iteration beats the quality of iteration. You can test more options more often."

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 02:53:19 -0700

“Speed of iteration beats the quality of iteration. You can test more options more often.”

- An Event Apart: How the Web Works

"Lack of product orientation: Some people seem more concerned about the process than the result of..."

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:41:29 -0700

“Lack of product orientation:
Some people seem more concerned about the process than the result of activity.”

- http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/works/intelligentfailure.htm

Awesome Flow Chart

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:27:53 -0700

Awesome Flow Chart

I was reading Seth Godin’s article and answering the questions in my head so I thought I...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:48:00 -0700

I was reading Seth Godin’s article and answering the questions in my head so I thought I should put them down somewhere and make it public to hold myself accountable

Who are you trying to please?
>Myself, primarily.

Are you trying to make a living, make a difference, or leave a legacy?

> Make a difference, I can already make a living and I’m not interested in leaving legacies

How will the world be different when you’ve succeeded?
> It will be easier, people will wonder how they got along before I invented X Is it more important to add new customers or to increase your interactions with existing ones?
> Add new ones

Do you want a team? How big? (I know, that’s two questions)
> 10 or maybe 15 people, a tight knit similar minded bunch with everyone working towards a vision instead of for a paycheck

Would you rather have an open-ended project that’s never done, or one where you hit natural end points? (How high is high enough?)
> Natural high points so I can move on the next

Are you prepared to actively sell your stuff, or are you expecting that buyers will walk in the door and ask for it?
> I want people to rave about it and tell all their friends so that people come looking for us.

Which: to invent a category or to be just like Bob/Sue, but better?
> Invent a Category

If you take someone else’s investment, are you prepared to sell out to pay it back?
> NO Are you done personally growing, or is this project going to force you to change and develop yourself?

> Im done growing, this is all about what im building no longer about me

Choose: teach and lead and challenge your customers, or do what they ask…
> Challenge them, to rethink how and why they do things.

How long can you wait before it feels as though you’re succeeding?
> A few years at the most, if it takes longer than that I need to question my path

Is perfect important? (Do you feel the need to fail privately, not in public?)
> No perfect is secondary, potential counts more

Do you want your customers to know each other (a tribe) or is it better they be anonymous and separate?
> Anonymous

How close to failure, wipe out and humiliation are you willing to fly? (And while we’re on the topic, how open to criticism are you willing to be?)
> Not very close, I dont want to be distracted from what Im building to focus on financial matters

What does busy look like?
> Having something better to do than what other people are offering me to do

Burnout

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:59:07 -0700

“Within the first year or two of working as a professional designer, you will question if you want to do this any more. You will get beat up and overworked, you will produce a giant pile of work that you are not proud of. You will be lucky if you get out of the first year with a feeling of pride in or ownership of anything you make. You will look back after the first year and not remember most of what kept you busy. You will make work that you question the use of, and you will do things that make you feel like a cog in some sort of awful, wasteful machine. There will be times that you will be just merely a tool for someone else. You will question what all this work is for and you will need to re-convince yourself at some point as to whether or not you love this practice.”

via http://blog.frankchimero.com/post/777628842/holiday

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:50:05 -0700

““The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.””

- Henry David Thoreau