JonnyTran

itouchtouchthings: unsolvedmysteries: i wish this was a real...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:00:00 -0500

unsolvedmysteries:

i wish this was a real invention

I wish for the opposite of erasure: Dearest, please never forget me.

How the ambient sound at Walt Disney World works - Boing Boing

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:28:35 -0500

How the ambient sound at Walt Disney World works - Boing Boing:

(via kyle-burton)

Reminds me how I wish I had musical bio-feedback of the emotion centers of my brain so I could learn to better recognize the feelings I’m having.

heather-rivers: “It’s like there’s a gap. For the first couple...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:15:00 -0500

heather-rivers:

“It’s like there’s a gap. For the first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good, okay … it’s not that great. It’s really not that great. It’s … it’s trying to be good, it has some ambition to be good, but it’s not quite that good. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game — your taste is still killer.”

Watch this, okay? Especially you creative types. It’s important.

What does this mean?

It’s more evidence that you can only be great at something you really love, because you’ll only put in enough work if you really enjoy it.

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:08:42 -0500

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V

Time Running Slow

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:03:45 -0500

Sometimes I feel like moving to the suburbs was the worst choice I’ve made in the past 3 years. But that is the ungrateful bastard in me talking.

I originally made the choice because I had become disillusioned with the city. There is nothing here. But that’s exactly the point. I came here to leave all the crap behind. And I’ve made some friends. This is the first school or job I’ve had where I don’t feel like an outsider.

It’s nice to just be able to say that: I’m not an outsider.

This is thanks to them, but thanks to me also. Because I was always the one preventing myself from being one of them. And that’s all I’ve ever wanted. To be normal.

…How pathetic. But honest. This is what happens when you get old. You get tired of life’s dead-ends. And almost every time, it was a dead-end because I wasn’t being honest with myself.

For a few years now, I’ve been taking a week-long retreat every fall to be more honest with myself. If I do this instead of a regular vacation, the weight is lifted for the entire rest of the year (as opposed to just a few weeks), making up for it 10-fold. In fact, things have changed so radically since last November that I feel like it’s been years.

When many things in my life change, like the first few weeks of a school year or getting a new job, time always runs slow. A couple weeks go by, but it feels like months. The entire landscape of my life is so dramatically different from a year ago, I couldn’t have predicted it. If it weren’t for the calendar saying 2009, I would have said it’s been 4 or 5 years since November of ‘08.

Sometimes it feels overwhelming to have to handle all that life hurls at you. Ultimately, all I want is to age without aging. So this year has been a huge success.

The reason so many things in my outer life have changed is because my internal landscape changed. Beliefs dictate our lives. For example, because I believe that underwater basket weaving is important, I’m going to have the thought to practice underwater basket weaving when the guy next to me won’t. And if I have enough of these thoughts, it’s likely that I actually will practice underwater basket weaving. The belief is the source from which everything flows.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to change your outer landscape to try to change your life. But will that change anything if your internal landscape follows you? I relate it to the thought-experiment where you take the country’s wealth and divide it evenly among everyone. In a year’s time, will the people who used squander their assets suddenly change? Or will they squander it again? making those who used to be rich, rich again, at their expense?

Beliefs are the root cause, and they hide in plain sight. When you step on these butterflies, the effects can ripple through your entire life.

Can you ever forgive me? … it is Sunday.

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Can you ever forgive me?

… it is Sunday.

"I’m your user. I’m supposed to be the protagonist. I’m on a hero’s journey...."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:38:00 -0500

“I’m your user. I’m supposed to be the protagonist. I’m on a hero’s journey. Your company should be the mentor/helpful sidekick. Not an orc.”

- KathySierra

Anyone want a Goolge Voice or Google Wave invite?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:14:00 -0500

I have a few and they aren’t doing me any good. (I need your email address to invite you. If you don’t want to publish your email address, you can make a submission.)

Update: Voice invites are gone.

Creating Passionate Users: Point of view matters

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:53:30 -0500

Creating Passionate Users: Point of view matters

Zombie, Frankenstein, Dracula, Jesus venn diagram (via...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:33:00 -0500

Zombie, Frankenstein, Dracula, Jesus venn diagram

(via venndiagrams, datavis, colt-rane.com)

The Not To-Do List

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:05:59 -0500

The Not To-Do List:

zenhabits:

The idea is to list all the activities you are intentionally going to stop doing for the sake of greater productivity.Here’s why this is important. As people succeed at work, they attract more and more assignments. It’s like they become a task magnet. “Give it to Laurie. She’ll to a great job!” The problem is that people are a finite resource. I don’t care how good you are, you only have so much energy and so much time. It’s true for me. It’s true for you.

Why you already know what you should be doing next | Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:33:13 -0500

Why you already know what you should be doing next | Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist:

…and First, be honest about what you want

We will be here - Map of the Future - (via densitydesign via...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:20:00 -0400

We will be here - Map of the Future - (via densitydesign via sid05)

All this, and not a soul in sight.

Creating Passionate Users: The power of One Team thinking...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:22:00 -0400

Creating Passionate Users: The power of One

Team thinking leads to incremental improvements, and prevents revolutionary ideas. Revolutionary thoughts are, by definition, thinking outside the team. … It’s not teams that are the problem, it’s the rabid insistence on teamwork. Group think. Committee decisions.

Thank you...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:59:56 -0400

In his Digital Strangelove, davidgillespie says you are what you share.

Starting a few days ago, I decided to share my gratitude on twitter. This is my way of saying thank you for following me and being a part of my life. Since you tend to become like those you associate with, and attract what you focus on, I hope that this will bring the blessings of my life into yours.

Ironically, I am too embarrassed to tweet this. The romantic side of me is very bashful, perhaps too self-conscious for its own good.

Dear Dia(na|ry)

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:52:00 -0400

I smelled your scent again for the first time in years. I didn’t think that memory was still in me. I can no longer recall it at will. It’s understandable that people would die for that kind of scent. Kill for it.

I miss you. I do.

A Flowchart to Determine What Religion You Should Follow (via...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:48:00 -0400

A Flowchart to Determine What Religion You Should Follow

(via labellafigura, alicia)

55+ Extremely Useful Online Generators for Designers

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:45:59 -0400

55+ Extremely Useful Online Generators for Designers

4 Lies about social media | Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:14:00 -0400

4 Lies about social media | Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist:

Potential employers like LinkedIn because they can glance at your LinkedIn profile and get a sense of how connected you are and how much money you make. (Yes, large networks correlate to large salaries.) That’s the utility of the scorecard.

If I’ve recently invited you to connect on LinkedIn, it’s b/c I respect you, and I want to help you make more money.

You should connect with me on linkedin here.

Digital Strangelove - or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Internet

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:28:23 -0400

davidgillespie:

Digital Strangelove (or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Internet)