Remember my intention to publish a weekly link list? Well, that failed! Still, my nvAlt queue has a number of articles in it that I really want to share with all of you. Here we go!
Share a Digital Contact Card Right After You Exchange Business Cards
The whole point of exchanging business cards was to feature in each other’s address book or rolodex. But now that address books are digital, the physical business card serves little purpose other than a greeting token.
Not a bad idea in this day and age. I know I tend to trash business cards after hand-coding them into my address book, because I still have to find a good electronic solution that allows me to deal with the very diverse lay-outs in a consistent manner.
How to Stay Productive In an Open Working Environment
Ringing phones. Pinging e-mail. Co-workers’ ringing phones and pinging e-mail.
A look at how to deal with the challenge of working in an open office environment. Virtual offices and people working at remote locations make this article a must read.
Strive Not to be a Success
Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. – Albert Einstein We all want to succeed. Whether it’s in losing weight, learning the guitar, speed reading, or starting our own business. For those of us who have tried and failed, success seems elusive.
Lifehack looks at what really constitutes adding value to the people around you and to your life. The challenge with this type of articles is that while conceptually sound, the price replication often is very very difficult. Especially when you confronted with a reality where money is the measuring stick. Being able to keep a true North anywhere else where material possessions are very important takes a good person. If you are that person, you are my hero.
Deliver Better Public Speeches with a Bit of Vulnerability
Giving a speech to a large audience is hard, and although we have a few ways to help normal people give great speeches, everyone has their own tricks and tips. James Altucher is no stranger to addressing groups, but even he has a few mantras to adhere to when standing in front of a crowd.
Okay. This is an essential read. We feel, as an audience, when you are defensive. And most people, in front of an audience, become very defensive. Don’t. Don’t be afraid. We are not there to kill you. We are there to listen to your message and ideally to take away something from it. The best way to make us relate to you is by being vulnerable.
How to be a slave
One might think: don’t be a jerk. You weren’t in chains in the 1800s. That was real slavery. Ok, I hate arguing. Go away.
Just so you know, I hated this article when I first read it. I probably hated because it’s so confrontational. Even if you feel a resistance when reading it the first time, do yourself a favor and read it all the way to the end. You’ll thank me later.
This Video Puts 30 Popular Life Hacks to the Test
If you’ve seen some of the tips and hacks we’ve posted (and some others we wouldn’t dare post, but make their way to other sites anyway) and wondered if they actually work, check out this video from Mental Floss. John Green put 30 different life hacks to the test with some surprising results.
A life hack may make some conceptual sense. Most actually do, otherwise they would never be recognized as life hacks To begin with. This guy actually tests their real relevance. Quite interesting results.
Becoming An Entrepreneur: The Ultimate Lifehack
Entrepreneurship is no business for the weak of heart. It takes certain elements of courage, ambition—even occasional carelessness—to be an entrepreneur in today’s cutthroat world.
Wow. Just wow. I sometimes wish I had the courage.
40 Of The Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken
Sisters pose for the same photo three separate times, years apart. Retired Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis is arrested for participating in the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011.
These pictures are likely to leave everyone speechless.
Watch Daniela. She’s Up To Something Big
Somebody should be watching Daniela Rus and her pals at MIT, because what they are doing is so crazy, so potentially important, people need to know about them.
Do you want to see the future? That is it, right there. Now go watch Terminator.
POV video of a space jump
A year ago yesterday, Felix Baumgartner rode in a balloon up to a height of almost 128,000 feet and jumped out. Red Bull, who sponsored the jump, has finally released the full-length footage of the jump from Baumgartner’s point-of-view.
No words.
Due Professional Care What Is Reasonable and Competent
Richard Chambers, CIA, CGAP, CCSA, CRMA, shares his personal reflections and insights on the internal audit profession. In my last blog, I observed that internal auditors are expected to demonstrate a number of core attributes.
This article is an essential read for internal auditors anywhere.
16 Life Lessons I Want My Kids to Know
As I struggled to hold on to the arm of my one-year-old to keep her from getting lost in the busy galleria, she defiantly pulled it away, taking her first independent steps into a world she wanted to explore on her own.
‘Teach Your Children Well,’ by Madeline Levine
It would be easy, on first glance, to dismiss Madeline Levine’s “Teach Your Children Well” as yet another new arrival in a long line of books that have urged us, in the past decade or so, to push back and just say no to the pressures of perfectionistic, high-performance parenting.
As a parent very aware of the enormous pressure that our children are being put under every single day at school. The pressure to perform is enormous. We fail to give them what they need the most which is a childhood. I have no answers, I just have a strong feeling that most of what I read on the subject is very true.
Epic bus ad from Denmark
Posted on Wednesday, October 16th, 2013 at 5:24 am. PTWritten by I’m a real sucker for a good commercial, and this is better than most. I challenge you to come up with a better ad campaign for public transport.
Now this is public transportation I would love to take. Sadly, Belgian rail is far from getting to this level of enjoyment.
Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming
It’s important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased. A declaration of members’ interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. I’m going to tell you that libraries are important.
These are words of a master storyteller. They should not be ignored.
Red Team
We all have stories, as engineers, of fixing some crazy thing at the last minute right before the demo goes up. We have all encountered situations where we needed to fix something that was our fault and we needed to fix it now.
While we certainly all have our stories, some stories are a lot more, well, scary than others. This is one of them. Enjoy.
Out in the Open: Hackers Bring Lawmaking Into the 21st Century
Have you ever thought you could do a better job writing the laws of our country than those jokers on Capitol Hill? Or have you at least felt the urge to scratch a few lines out of a bill and replace them with something else? Here’s your chance. Every bill currently being debated in the U.S.
Now this is something I truly believe in.
Praise Process Not the Person when Giving Feedback
We assume that when we’re giving criticism that we don’t want to attack a person on an individual level, but 99u points out that you want to take a similar approach when you’re giving positive feedback as well.
Quite an interesting approach to feedback. I’m giving this a try.
Merlin Mann
Merlin is best known as the creator of 43folders.com, a popular website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and raised on Florida’s humid coast, Merlin was awarded a B.A. from New College of Florida.
If there is but one link you follow in this list, let it be this long, but essential read.
Complexity won’t make the public fall back in love with development
There’s much to like about complexity if you’re long on questions and short on answers, but if you’re in the business of trying to communicate messages about how to help others build themselves a brighter future then it is best not to get too fixated on the lament that it’s all very hard to explain.
A challenge most aid agencies are being confronted with, and the basis for an article I’m writing.
MailMate Explorations
MailMate is a relatively new and very nerdy email client for the Mac. The developer is trying something new by attempting to fund future development (version 2.0) with an IndieGoGo campaign. It’s an novel and honest approach that could easily be dismissed except for two things:
If you are looking for a high performance OS X mail client, this is it.
Exploring The Black Box 