I have the best Facebook Friend, ever....

Don't be jealous.

I have the best friend on Facebook.

Heh. (that part is for you Murph)

My Productivity Tools

My Productivity Tools and Techniques

pro·duc·tive (prə duk′tiv, prō-) adjective

1. producing abundantly; fertile productive soil, a productive mind

2. marked by abundant production or effective results a productive day

3. bringing as a result (with of) war is productive of much misery

4. Econ. of or engaged in the creating of economic value, or the producing of goods and services

5. Linguis. designating any affix or method which can be and still is used to make new forms “non-” is a productive prefix

Etymology: ML productivus <>productus, pp. of producere: see produce

From YourDictionary.com

We all want to be productive. We all have limited resources in everything we do and nearly limitless demands on our resources. Our time is usually the most limited of the resources and those demands on our resources include work, family, friends, school, video games, blogging...

There are lots of things we can do to become more productive and there are many blogs, seminars, books that try to teach us how to be more productive. Over the next few weeks (or months depending upon the other draws on my time), I'll write about the tools and techniques I use to be more productive.

I'm no productivity expert or life coach. I'm a married father of three young kids, working in corporate America, attending Business School at the University of Washington, who enjoys cooking and getting into the outdoors. I'm a geek when it comes to computers. My kids are involved in competitive swimming and I telecommute (though as I type this in early March, I am on a plane on my way to Oakland for a week long meeting).

This list is not a “woe is me” list; its not about how tough I have it. I know that I have a lot of things going for me. The list is meant to illustrate some of those competing demands on my time. With all those things going on, things that my wife and I have chosen to do, I need to be able to best use my time.

Tools and Techniques

Getting Things Done

Remember the Milk

Jott

ScanR

Online Grocery Shopping

Note taking

Online Banking

Google Calendar

Google Documents

Gmail

Grand Central

Over the course of the next few months, I'll post write ups on each of these tools.

I have Roger to thank for the inspiration behind this series. I wrote about some Web 2.0 resources I used and he asked for a review and this is what it turned into.

The internet has lost its fun factor

The internet just isn't as fun as it used to be. Sure, it's great for research or to be organized or stay in touch with friends. It's a great tool for communication and productivity, but I'm finding it lacking in the entertainment arena.

I enjoy blogging, don't get me wrong. That is fun, but not entertainment. I need to think a little (which is good) in order to write a post (in fact, I pre-wrote this post with pencil and a moleskine journal).

I enjoy reading other's blogs and checking out my friends photographs, but for pure recreation, I'm just not finding it.

Maybe when it comes down to it, I'm thinking about games. YouTube clips just don't do it for me. I'm looking for something diversionary and completely different.

Dear Readers - what do you do on the internet when you aren't working, blogging or connecting with friends?

For Mother's Day?

As Mother's Day is approaching, a lot of the ads that get into my mailbox are becoming mom focused. I quickly scan them and delete them, like most other ads, but the fact that they have Mother's Day themes sticks in my head.

I also get lots of spam. And almost 100% of the Spam is to enlarge my male organ.


Imagine my surprise when I see this ad from Red Envelope...

Compared to all the spam, that subject line seems pretty racy for Red Envelope and not quite the subject for Mother's Day.

But here is another twist. I followed the ad with the text, "Not everyone desrves flowers." Not quite the right sentiment with Mother's Day approaching, but I'll check it out.

Son 3 was quite surprised and wanted some explanation, "Is that guy POOPING in a box?"

His next statement was, "Click on his butt." I guess the surprise didn't last too long.


I was intrigued. I had to see what the product looked like.


It's chocolate. Or that's what they say at PooParcels.com. That's pretty disgusting. I wonder how they make them? Do they have a row of strange sex toys [safe link to my wife's blog] that extrude the chocolate? That might be too shocking too see!

I don't think that this targeted advertising is working well. Funny gifts, yes. But not for Mother's Day.

Now, I've got to figure out how I want to mail poo too...

That's not my thing

While I was catching up on the days news, my Firefox browser created some pretty funny tab names.

This one, I needed to get a screen shot of.



Really, that isn't my thing. I don't even want to imagine what government agents might do with their sunglasses, guns, badges or earpices.

The real article, though is one about DB Cooper and the recent spate of clues as to where he landed. Good Northwest news!

Just be careful of how many tabs you have open!

Valentine's Day drives spam

I've seen a recent surge in the spam I receive, the most part of which is trying to get me to buy some product to help me:

I think that these spammers are capitalizing on Valentine's Day and increasing their "advertising activities."


It sucks. At least Gmail does a pretty good job of culling them from my inbox.

Ubuntu is easy or Computer recover with Linux

It seems to be the time for hard drive failure in our house. Heather has had two hard drive failures in the last two years and I have finally had my first disk failure.

On Christmas Eve, my windows PC gave me a blue screen of doom error. I decided that it was a good time to turn it off. When I turned it on Christmas afternoon, my disk was clicking and clacking and the BIOS found no bootable disk. Not a good thing to happen.

I wasn't concerned because all my data was backed up with Carbonite. A good backup strategy is a great idea, no matter how you do it. Comcast provides some backup software with the free with subscription McAfee Security Center and there are scads of online backup services. But I really like Carbonite because it runs in the background and backs up to a remote site. I can selectively restore files or even to a new computer!

But, I needed a computer. Okay, I really wanted a computer - I store recipes online, I keep my tasks with Remember the Milk, and I was sure to get one or two Christmas greeting emails (I use Gmail). Just about everything I do an use is web based, so as long as I could get online, I was good to go.

I had also been wanting to play with some distro of Linux. This was my excuse to do it. I downloaded the latest Ubuntu Live CD, burned it to a CD (on my wife's computer) and just like that, I was able to boot my PC.

It was super easy! Unfortunately, it did confirm for me that my hard drive was entirely fried. But it wasn't a big deal, I had a working computer until my company was able to send me a new hard disk (well, a new laptop, too because it was time for a new computer anyway).

So, I've been running Ubuntu Fiesty Fawn for a short while (and know that I will continue to do so in the future) and here are my thoughts:

1. Incredibly simple install. You answer a few questions and then it does its thing. You don't have to sit and supervise it.
2. Package managers (either with the command line or a graphical one) make installing software so easy. I was very quickly able to get the software I wanted up and running (and it automatically installed all the required other libraries as well). For those still running Windows, check out Appupdater for that same type of functionality.
3. Almost all of the software is free! Free! Ubuntu is free!
   
4. Linux does a better job of memory management than Windows. I can run the same several memory intensive applications (Open Office with giant spreadsheets, Google Earth, GIMP and then several Citrix based java apps) simultaneously with better performance under Ubuntu. Linux will keep an older computer running longer than under Windows!
5. There is so much information available online to support Linux. Sure it helps to have a smart friend (I've got a few of them) for computer support, but there are all kinds of forums and blog postings out there. Okay, at the same time this can be problematic - some of it wasn't up to date, but there is lots of information available.
6. Ubuntu has a great UI. Most people think of 'nix and the command line, but you don't have to use the command line (editor's note: the command line is such a faster and easier way to do stuff, so check it out). The learning curve was almost flat from a user standpoint. If you are a just turn on the computer and use it person, you can do that with Ubuntu. If you want to get into the backend of the system, you can do that with Ubuntu.
7. I'd like to give serious props to the Wireless Network Manager in Ubuntu. Under Windows you always have to enter your wireless access point's WEP key in hex (numbers 0 - 9 and A - F). With the Gnome network manager, you can actually enter the plain text phrase - real words that are easy to remember and know that you typed correctly. Oh yeah, and you only have to enter it once as opposed to twice (or more if you type it wrong) under Windows.
   

So far the only thing I still have to figure out (and it is from a lack of looking, not that Ubuntu can't) is to manage my music and iPod. For the time being, it isn't a problem, because I manage my iPod on my daughter's PC, but I'd really like to be able to do that at some point.

Ubuntu is definitely as good an operating system as Windows, if not better, both technically and cost wise. The applications are out there and they too are as good as or better than the commercial alternatives. I'd recommend checking it out and thinking about it for your next OS.

Reducing the Stigma of Incontinence

Recently, a Forbes.com article was pushed to me through an RSS feed, entitled Panel Urges End to Incontinence Stigma. It was surprising on multiple fronts:

1. This was in Forbes magazine, a reputable news source.
2. I don't see what this has to do with business or finance, which is what Forbes is known for.
3. This panel was a government sponsored panel, by the National Institutes of Health.
4. I was even surprised to learn so much about incontinence.

Did you know that there are two types of incontinence, each with two subtypes?

Urinary incontinence is the more common type; previous estimates have put the number of people with this condition at around 13 million. Actually, more than 20 million women and 6 million men have experienced urinary incontinence at some point, the NIH panel concluded.

The two most prevalent subtype are stress incontinence and urge incontinence.

Stress incontinence is leakage caused by physical pressure to the abdomen, such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, jogging or lifting a heavy object. Urge incontinence is a sudden, uncontrollable urge to urinate, sometimes called overactive bladder.

Fecal incontinence is harder to measure, even more stigmatized and thus hardly ever studied. The best estimates suggest it affects up to 5 percent of the general population and up to 39 percent of nursing home residents.

A better factoid from the article is that "one in four US adults will experience some kind of incontinence". I think that means we should all be investing in Clorox or other detergent manufacturers.

But more surprisingly, the panel recommends, ""We as a society need to get over our discomfort with this subject..." Tax dollars at work suggesting that we should be okay with incontinence. This is going to change how parents raise their kids! This is going to change how kids interact with each other in locker rooms or with the stinky kid in pre-school.

What is this going to mean for toilet paper manufacturers? Are we as a society going to start to use less toilet paper? Is the toilet paper industry going to spiral into financial despair, requiring a federal bailout because we are all okay with a little anal leakage?

How about salty snacks and fat substitutes, like Olestra? Are we just going to replace all the fats with man-made fats because a little anal leakage is okay? Invest in Frito Lay, I say!

What about the clothing industry? Are pants prices going to increase because the butt and crotch portion will require absorptive reinforcement? Will demand for underpants increase because people will carry multiple sets to get through the day?

The implications are mind boggling once we are okay with a little incontinence.

But(t) being the rebel I am, I'm going to go against the government on this one. Cleanliness is next to godliness is how the expression goes and that works for my butt too!

For more resources on incontinence, check out this search on the NIH website. There's more than you could want to know!

Breasts and Hooke's Law

My wife brought up Hooke's Law in a comment on Amelia's blog about her breasts.

After thinking about Amelia's boobs and Hooke's law, I realized that she made errors in her explanation of Hooke's Law. I did post a comment, the text of which I have pasted below and I can assure you that I will explain and demonstrate Hooke's law to my wife and how it applies to her breasts at my earliest convenience.

Scout's Honor [ed: my wife's pen name], while Hooke's law does apply to boobs, I think you misunderstood which forces where being discussed.

Hooke's law is applicable to springs and what force F is required to make them stretch a certain distance x. There is a material property of the spring k, called the elastic coefficient, which drives that ratio.

So, how does Hooke's law apply to breasts, in particular Amelia's? As she so astutely noticed, probably along with the other men in her town, her breasts are getting bigger. As her boobs (need to bring this comment back down to the level that it deserves) increase in size, they also increase in mass.

This increase in mass increases the force due to gravity on her breasts, which could cause some, but not all of the problems you identified in your comment. Obviously a force applied to the boob will actually pass back to where the boob meets the chest (not that great lower breast part), but that which is visible when showing off cleavage. I can not imagine that boobs will get so large as to actually cause a rupture, or explosion as Scout brought up, but if the current rate at which your breasts are increasing in size continues, they are going to be ginormous!

However, this is where the science gets fun! Amelia, we need you to collect some more information. Maybe this is better information for your husband to collect, to mitigate any anger issues that might arise from how much thought I've put into your breasts lately. We need to measure the change in the elastic coefficient of your boobs.

While there are many good scientific methods we can use, a good approximation would be to measure their firmness, which is where your husband comes in. Another method would be to actually apply weights to your nipples and measure the amount of stretch, but I don't know if you are that kind of girl or not. Which ever method you and your husband choose to measure the elastic coefficient of your boobs is up to you! Make it fun, science is fun!

So, Hooke's law dictates that the larger your boobs get, the more they could, for lack of a better term, sag. But I maintain, especially amongst preggers, that as your boobs increase in size, they will also get firmer (sweet). This increase in firmness, or the elastic coefficient, should mitigate any additional sagging. From my experiences with Scout's boobs during and shortly after pregnancy, the firmness will change during the course of the day, based upon feedings and other external influences.

Amelia, in the name of science, keep collecting and reporting the details!

If there is anyone from the NSF reading this, I would greatly appreciate some grant money so that I can study the effects of increasing breast size, both in preggers and non-preggers, on the elastic coefficient of the female breast.


[ed: I wish I had the right pictures to put on this post; a picture is worth a thousand words]

Baby Island: Boobs - A Visual Aid

Baby Island is a blog my wife reads and the authoress, Amelia, comments frequently on my wife's blog.

Amelia wrote this post, Baby Island: Boobs - A Visual Aid, and of course, I read it. How could I pass it up with a title like that. And I just feel the need to pass it on.

But it is a great read and all about math and science! Read it for the articles.

8 Random Facts

Helen once again tagged me, this time for eight random facts about myself. So here goes.

1. I like a lot of espresso. I do also like espresso a lot. I drink about 6 shots a day. Ten on the bad days. I will try just about anything with espresso in it - I even made an espresso creme brulee twice (I forgot how bad it was the first time around).
2. My favorite dessert is creme brulee. Not any of the fancy flavored ones (no green tea or chocolate), just a pure and simple creme brulee. And I think that it is snobby to refer to is as "the burnt cream," as they called it at the Chena River Lodge in Fairbanks, Alaska.
3. I lived for 4 years in Fairbanks, Alaska and have slept outside in just my sleeping bag at -26 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. I love the outdoors, camping and hiking and wish I could spend more time with those pursuits.
5. I really like haiku. The formal structure appeals to the engineer in me.
6. Since I was ten, I haven't lived anywhere longer than 5 years. I hope to change that here in Washington.
7. I haven't gotten any taller since I was a freshman in high school. I was pretty tall then. Most people have caught up with me now.
8. I love new technologies and being on the leading edge. However, I am cheap (my friends tell me I am frugal) and that keeps me from being an early adopter of things that cost money. No iPhone here.

Wow. That was easier than I expected. Pretty random stuff. Enjoy.

You make me smile

Helen recently awarded me a You Make Me Smile Award over at I forgot where I was going with this. Evidently my comments make her grin from ear to ear." I can't take all the credit, most comedy acts come in pairs, but she sets the foundation for me to build some pretty funny stuff upon. Watermelon.


So, when awarded this, I am supposed to pass it on to 10 others. So, without further ado, the 10 others that make me smile in alphabetical order. And yes, I mean that I make the letters of the alphabet when I smile.

1. Agaetis Blojun
2. David's Big Adventure
3. Eugemar Strikes Back
4. Laura's flickr photostream
5. The Life and Times of a Broken Sith Lord
6. LifeHacker
7. Nullspace
8. The United States of Motherhood
9. Yomma Probably Wasn't Here
10. Zen Habits

I guess tag-backs don't count, but new Helen's new posts make me smile too.

There are a lot of other things that make me smile, too. I written about hugs from my littlest - he seems to just know when I need them. He has also taken to leaving me gifts - stuffed animals and drawings seem to be the leading ones. Watching my kids grow up and become more and more little people than little kids. Sunrises over the cascades.

Underwear models in my inbox!

I got this email from Amazon today. Look closely... At the words, silly. Look past the scantily clad ladies and you'll see that I was the lucky recipient of this email because of my "past purchases in intimate apparel."

Come on, I'm a guy! I can't remember my Dad's birthday, but I can remember every "intimate apparel" purchase I've made. And I haven't made any on Amazon. I even spent the time and reviewed my lifetime purchase history on Amazon (geek point, my first purchase was in 2001). No panties, stockings, garter belts, bras, bustiers, corsets or anything else vaguely intimate. It's all music, books, electronics and software.

Did Amazon's ad miss the mark? I don't think so. Who am I to complain about scantily clad women showing up in my in box? Amazon, keep them coming!

The marvels (and shocks) of the internet

Or alternatively titled: I can find anything on the internet that you ask me to find, even if you don't really want me to.

Yesterday evening, my wife was marveling at the information we had at our fingertips through the internet and how much of an improvement since our college days. I wasn't sure if day 6 specified Saturday when using crontab (pretty geeky, ehh), but I was able to quickly find the answer on Wikipeida. (BTW, yes 6 specifies Saturday, and either 0 or 7 specify Sunday).

She then lamented that she could not find a video to use in her blog of our new touchless, self-opening trash can. We estimate that it took less than two minutes for me to find one. After the fact, she confessed that she only searched for about 30 seconds on You Tube.

I then boasted that I could find anything on the internet.

My wife has taken a little risque turn (she's peppering her blog with rather enjoyable red head pinups) and so she wanted me to find a donkey show for her. In retrospect, she didn't really want me to find donkey shows for her, it was just her challenge to me. Which, shockingly, I was able to meet.

I'm not so certain that I want to be able to find anything on the internet. Trash can videos, I'm okay with that. Donkey shows just aren't my thing.

I missed the audition call for this one...

Evidently, Harlequin book readers want to "want to escape from the relationship that they're in" and the publishers have decided to put real men on the covers of their books.

I missed the audition call! I'm sorry ladies, but you won't be seeing me on the cover. If only I had been in Toronto at the right time! I know they would have picked me. And you all know it too!

Isn't this the truth?

CNN has an article today and I just have to laugh at the title.

Cosmetic surgery rates up; breasts most popular

Well, I've got to agree with them. In a popularity contest, I would probably vote for breasts as my favorite too.

Thank you for taking this juvenile trip with me!

I am the Hulk!

Your results:
You are Hulk

Hulk 75% The Flash 75% Superman 70% Robin 70% Spider-Man 65% Green Lantern 65% Iron Man 60% Wonder Woman 55% Supergirl 55% Batman 35% Catwoman 30%

You are a wanderer with amazing strength.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

PC Magazine's Most Useful Sites

It is the end of the year and all the Best of 2007 lists are coming. PC World Magazine just published their list- The Web's Most Useful Sites. I find these articles interesting because I often stumble upon interesting apps (Gliffy, Basecamp and Writely were all added to my repertoire this way). I am also really interested in Web 2.0 and I think it is changing the face of computing, business - disruptive technology at its best. But back to the article.

I am a big fan of Remember The Milk and the article rated RTM the winner in the to-do list category.

Winner: RememberTheMilk reinvents the to-do list in a snazzy interface that lets you make lists in configurable categories, all laid out on the front page as tabs. Adding to-dos is easy, though adding deadlines, notes, and time estimates is unintuitive.

You can add to-dos using natural language such as "Call Ted next Thursday," sync with your calendar via the widely supported iCalendar format, and set tasks such as "Pay credit card bill" to recur. RememberTheMilk sends reminders through instant message, e-mail, text message, or a combination of these. You can also upload tasks via a special e-mail address that the site gives you.

It's a tremendously well-rounded free product, with neither more nor less than you need to get and stay organized.

I take a little umbrage (if you can only take some) that they gave Gmail runner up status.

But its limitations--the inability to add new folders, to open multiple messages in one window, to filter e-mail, and to right-click on anything--will surely frustrate power users.

They fail to mention tags - that which power users will love the most. I've been thinking of totally dorking out and writing a post about the obvious superiority of tags in organization. But I'll save you from that for now.

In terms of the next, new interesting application, I'm going to check out Meebo, a web based, multi protocol IM client. I've been using IM more and more for work now that I am a remote worker and one of my large projects involves a team spread across the country, both in-house and consultants. I'll let you know what I think.

The article is a long read, but I recommend it. Check it out.

Now that Sarbanes-Oxley is under control, where will the accountants go?

Amsterdam! To the Red Light District, no less. No, this isn't a bunch of bean counting suits going to brothels and strip clubs to celebrate the end of a big project. The brothels in Amsterdam seem to have their own accounting difficulties.

In an article titled Amsterdam Curbs Prostitution 'Windows', the Guardian Unlimted writes "City officials ... are shutting down nearly a third of the 350 prostitution "windows'' in Amsterdam's famed Red Light District as part of a crackdown on crime."

Evidently, the less than stellar accounting practices in the brothels makes it hard to find "reputable accountants are often unwilling to work with them, making it difficult to keep correct books" which opens them up to illegal practices like "money-laundering, or other illegal financial activity."

So, all this is where the accountants need to go! They've got to have great work place benefits and when they have company parties - dude, they must be ragers! And I bet if the accountants got laid more, we wouldn't have policies like Sarbanes-Oxley forced down our throats.

Zagat guide for Seattle

I am a big fan of the Zagat's surveys. No, it isn't about listening to the voice of the people; I think that the Zagat's survey's are good honest reviews. My opinions are similar to the that of the combined reviewer, so I must have something in common with the Zagat demographic.

One of the many things that excited me about moving to Seattle was that it had its own Zagat guidebook. I'm pretty good about reviewing restaurants that I've been too. And I'm not ashamed to admit it, I like the fact that participants in their surveys get a free copy of the guide for the area that they reviewed.

Over the years, I've gotten the San Francisco and Seattle editions. This year, they didn't publish a Seattle guide. In one way, that makes me sad, sad that there aren't enough participants or restaurants reviewed to make a full guide book. But on the other hand, they sent America's Top Restaurants instead. I'm okay with that. I've been doing some more traveling lately, so having a more encompassing guide book is attractive.

But get out there residents of the Northwest! Review restaurants on zagat.com. Even if you do it for the free book! There is such great food here in the Northwest.