Category: Uncategorized
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Joel on Bill Gates’ Software
Bill Gates is undeniably one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. He is also one of the most derided due to the poor usability of many Microsoft applications. The following article and this email are going a long way in repairing Gates’ image. Joel “on Software” Spolsky on his time at Microsoft: Bill…
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The Best of Neurophilosophy
The Best of Neurophilosophy is a roundup of the best posts from the blog of the same name. Posts highlighted include those on brainwashing, prefrontal lobotomies, trepanation,and the psychology of Alfred Hitchcock.
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2008 Penguin Design Award
The 2008 Penguin Design Award results are out and all of the designs are outstanding. Choice quotes from The Penguin Blog: ‘Good design costs no more than bad design’, said Penguin founder Sir Allen Lane. Something in the way visual communication courses are structured and delivered has fundamentally changed. We’re seeing a certain type of…
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Books That Changed Your Life
Lifehacker picked up on Kevin Kelly’s book list (one of the lists I wrote about here) and subsequently asked its readership what books changed their lives. The results were duly compiled in The Books That Changed Your Life. The top ten: The Bible The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)…
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Men’s Style
Omiru focuses on “real style for real people”. Coming in 46th place on Times’ 50 Best Websites of 2008, for people like me (the perpetually unfashionable) the Men’s section of Omiru is a Godsend. I know that it’s not entirely possible to have a 10-item-only wardrobe, but what 10 items do you think could make…
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Books on Behaviour, Irrationality, & Economics
I’m struggling to separate the wheat from the chaff in this list of books. I just know that hidden within some there must be a treasure trove of knowledge. The problem is: in which? Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions The Black Swan: The…
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Independent Budget Travel and Round-the-World Backpacking Trips
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain Travel Independent thinks it has “everything you need to…
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Using Cognitive Bias: Politics and Policy
You may have noticed that I’ve recently been fascinated by everything cognitive bias. With the release of Nudge—a book looking at how politicians around the world are using cognitive bias—the general public are now going to be hearing about it a lot more too. The Times has a nice case-study where the theories are used…
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How to Write a Business Plan
BBC Business’ How to Write a Business Plan has some sound advice for that basic business plan. However, being written by a multi-national corporation, I had an inkling that it wasn’t going to be very—I hate saying this—Web 2.0, so I went to the usual suspects. This Ask Y Combinator thread has some good advice…
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Bill Gates on Windows Usability
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has been scouring Microsoft’s internal emails (released through various law suits) looking for an insight into Gates’ personality and to get a picture of his role at the top of Microsoft. From this epic email rant, it is obvious that even Gates himself isn’t immune. I am quite disappointed at how Windows…