February 2011
1 post
Friday Management Therapy
At a recent workshop, I walked the group through an exercise where we listed the characteristics of a bad manager.
Here’s the list. I’m wondering what’s missing.
“They don’t know what I’m doing”
“What the hell does he do all day?”
Absent
Asking the impossible
Authoritarian
Bad listeners
Bottom-line focus
Buzz kills
Hypocrites
...
January 2011
1 post
The First Three Bookmarks
It struck me that you could learn a lot from how folks prioritize and organize their bookmarks, so I asked Twitter about their first three bookmarks or bookmark groups. I graphed the responses with two or more results until an hour or so ago… Brief thoughts:
While not surprisingly, Instapaper’s dominance is impressive.
I’ve been considering Pinboard for a long time, looks...
November 2009
2 posts
Questions for Designers from Engineers
Regarding: http://twitter.com/rands/status/6123537976:
Mainly I’d suggest that they ask designers open-ended questions. Closed questions stifle creativity. neontapir
Qs: 1. What is your communication style (tools, speed…)? 2. How best can I give input & collaborate on UX? jeffreypriebe
“Can you tell me more about IxD and how it adds value to…?” Some devs...
“To postulate the existence of ideas apart from things is merely to complicate...”
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotelian_view_of_God
July 2009
1 post
I’ve been trying on URL shortening services for the past year. The usual story has been: looks good, tell a friend, gets popular, and doesn’t scale. The end.
Bit.ly has just been getting better.
There’s an obfuscation argument to be made about URL shorteners. Yes, they’re hiding information behind their tiny URLs. Yes, meaning is lost, but there’s also fascinating...
May 2009
1 post
Being Geek
The title of the next book is “Being Geek”. This title provides a continuity problem with other Rands writings. Many years ago I wrote an article called Nerd Attention Deficiency Disorder. I went back and forth on the title: nerd or geek? It came down to the inevitable acronym: N.A.D.D. or G.A.D.D? Neither are great, but N.A.D.D. wasn’t horrific, so I picked nerd as my term to...
April 2009
49 posts
The Scrub List
While I valiantly attempt to regularly use RSS readers, my standard means of mass information consumption remains the bookmark group. I have three: News, Mac, and Scrub.
Scrub is an ever evolving set of news aggregators that hit three to five times a day. They are:
Reddit. Good news — more content. Bad news — turning into Digg.
YNews. Nerd news without the lame. So far.
Digg....
The Rules of Men When They Are Angry (Incomplete)
(Contradictions forthcoming)
1. We believe we have it all figured out and when data arrives that reminds us that we do not, we get angry.
2. During this angry period, we are jerks.
3. We are never wrong.
4. Don’t get in the way. We’ll take it out on you. Doesn’t matter who you are.
5. There is likely no conversation you can have with us which is going to make us feel better....
In a comfort food battle between mashed potatoes and mac’n’cheese, I’m not sure who would win.
Plan for today, design for tomorrow.
Contentment escapes faster the longer you stare at it.
I would pay $4 just to watch the Birdhouse movie. Perspective, people.
All writing starts in Georgia 14 otherwise it’s not writing.
Management is the art of giving them what the need before they need it.
Text-only movie posters: http://bit.ly/17zU1Ps
(correct URL) Text-only movie posters: http://bit.ly/17zU1P
When I say thrice, I feel English, nay snooty.
Because you should think before you speak: http://bit.ly/DwwGn
Getting tired of life reduced to talking points. #irony
Highly recommend Important Things w/ Demetri Martin — half Wes Anderson, half Stephen Wright: http://bit.ly/1D6hI
In the job interview, what I try to understand is, “Are you aware of your surroundings?”
“The deal was —- we’ve give ‘em Obama, they don’t hate us anymore”: http://bit.ly/41sMhx
It’s like the coffee knows I’m wearing a white shirt.
The only key you need: http://bit.ly/39Tzt (@eris)
Look at the subject lines of your last 20 received emails. Think of them as a series of Tweets. Now, do you like your job more or less?
Can’t stop watching people buy shoes: http://www.zappos.com/map/ (@ryanorr)
Wondering when we ended up in a world where we have only two adjectives: awesome and douchey.
CSS is Awesome: http://bit.ly/12Ggk
It’s work when I notice that it’s work.
Roughly 30% Apology: http://bit.ly/4ArahK
Roughly 30% Apology
A few days back, I asked folks what they were using for their .sig emails sent via mobile phone. Attached are 30+ response that I received. Interestingly, some form of apology was included in roughly 30% of the sigs.
“Sent from my iPhone - please forgive any typographical errors” jpkang
“pecked on a virtual keyboard” robknight
“…sent when mobile”...
I favor those who can tell me precisely what they want versus those who think want is all you need.
Explaining why pretending that you know is a career limiting move.
Pessimism is a lot of work.
First! http://bit.ly/ub1Kq _or_ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ: http://bit.ly/Km81 (partially via @dunstan)
Do stupid things faster with more energy: http://twitpic.com/2udhc (@gnat)
We roll our eyes, sigh, and quietly accept the idiocy: http://bit.ly/Yu5D
Via the “it’s already happening” file - providers concerned that fast service will encourage watching video on the web: http://bit.ly/16CB27
First weekend in recent memory where the to do list starts with “Whatever”
Working dutifully to destroy all meaningless have-tos
Free strips of paper: http://bit.ly/2B0LIQ
Counting the number of words you’ve written is just another way to not write.
A Zen Twitter Experience: http://bit.ly/XzsL7 (@marmon)
I’ve been in this meeting: http://bit.ly/8O36F
It’s seems to the national pastime on Lost to kick the stuffing out of Benjamin Linus. Seriously, who hasn’t kicked this guys ass?
Build your own Moleskine: http://bit.ly/c9E8 (@eris)
I prefer my pomp with circumstance.
Pantone matched oxfords: http://bit.ly/1vUOn
Don’t let the folks good at plumbing design the toilet.
I’m a sucker for weather radar: http://bit.ly/fP1Yc (@sandrift)