I don’t normally post music videos (in fact this is the first one ever), but being the most amazing video editing I’ve ever seen I wanted to share it with you. Watch it full screen if you want to catch the hidden stuff.
Fun Fact: Played soccer with Joe (red tie) in elementary school. His hair hasn’t changed since.
Just finished recording an mp3 that I’ll be using in place of an alarm clock every morning when I wake up. I’m using Jakes MP3 Alarm, free software which will play an MP3 at a time you specify. I used Audacity, free MP3 editing software, to record the mp3 and overlay a pleasant background to my voice.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn’t stick to my last morning routine for even a week. I think the weakness was that all too often when I’d wake up I just wouldn’t have the instant self-discipline to tear myself out of bed and start exercising. The night before I could always sit there for a moment and say “When I wake up I WILL exercise and meditate,” but by the time my alarm would go off the previous night’s determination would have faded away.
I’ve always thought Jackie Chan had it easy in this regard. His dad threw cold water on him and forced him to wake up and work out for an hour. Chan didn’t have a choice, so sure enough he got up. I might not have someone over here throwing water and then forcing me to get up, but I’ve always liked the idea and leveraged it in the Mp3.
Another weakness of the previous routine was that all the items in my first option set were hard-core cardio, and some mornings you simply don’t wake up feeling cardio. This time I’m including the hard cardio option (Kung Fu), but also including Tai Chi and Qi Gong as options. Millions of Chinese people wake up to Tai Chi every morning and enjoy stellar health. It should at least be an option.
An invigorating talk by Larry Lessig on the need for more open copyright laws that will let creativity flourish. Whether or not you agree, to understand Lessig’s position is vital in the debate.
Giving an undesired gift used to be considered better than nothing. “At least it’s thoughtful, right?” Not anymore, at least not in my book.
The question is all over the place, “Is consumerism sustainable?” In its current form the answer is clearly no. Now, not only are you giving someone a random object that will take up space, you’re potentially giving them a guilt trip for wasting natural resources on their behalf. How thoughtful!
Here’s a suggestion: Give your friends and family a gift that will keep on giving. One that can be immediately converted to cash if they so choose, but that is more likely to give them a warm feeling inside for the next 8-12 months… at which point they can re-use it for the same warm feeling, or withdraw it for that cash if it turns out they need it… with the cycle continuing endlessly. Now there’s a great gift!
To those of you who insist on giving me gifts, the #1 thing on my wish list would be Kiva gift certificates to help grow my portfolio. Thanks & happy gift giving!
Just bought a $200 laptop for my mom, with a matching $200 laptop going to a child in a developing country. It’s fun to think about the kid out there who will get the internet from a laptop matching this one.
The laptops are not killer for 3D gaming, but they can use pretty much any web app out there. These laptops are also durable, weather resistant, & have some sweet design innovations. The ability to purchase one of these laptops expires Dec 31st, 2007. They won’t arrive in time for X-Mas, but if you’re interested you should order one now!
Bonus Tip - the matching laptop is tax deductible!
Imagine if you could play a fun game that would teach you vocabulary while providing food for hungry people around the world for every word you guess right. Let’s cut to the chase - there’s no imagination necessary because you can do just that at FreeRice.com!
This is a beautifully innovative website that personalizes the difficulty for you with each question you answer. It contains vocabulary advanced enough to help prep someone for the SAT, GRE, or LSAT, while also being able to provide a fair challenge for people new to English.
I was planning on prepping zero for the vocab section of the GRE (unacceptable opportunity cost). Sitting alone with a static-text book learning vocab you’ll rarely use just to prove you have the cognitive discipline to memorize a bunch of jargon? Screw that. Make it a fun and addictive game, and give my winnings to starving people while you’re at it, now you’ve got my attention! It almost sounds too good to be true, but check it out and you’ll see for yourself - FreeRice.com
I’ve made several mistakes on 4 entrepreneurial startups over the years. In this podcast, I rattle off as many lessons learned as possible within 30 minutes. There might not be exactly 50 mistakes, but I manage to squeeze in a good number.
In order to be a successful entrepreneur, you probably have to make at least 350 mistakes, learn from them, and keep persevering. I hope this podcast will save you thousands of dollars you may have lost through similar mistakes, so you can skip to more advanced [and enjoyable] mistakes & the learning opportunities associated.
For those of you interested in learning more details on the network security startup I bootstrapped in this podcast, I refer you to this older podcast focused on that startup that I released back in March - How to be an IT Consultant - Part IV
Signed up for Jott.com only three days ago, but it’s already proven its worth in the fields of both productivity and peace of mind. Jott.com is a free site that translates voice messages into text and e-mails and/or SMS’s them to yourself, your friend, or an entire group of contacts you designate.
When I first heard about this I questioned how useful it would be, but since signing up I’ve found it utterly convenient.
[While walking to work]
-call Jott-
“Who would you like to Jott?”
“Myself”
-beep-
“Remember to get more Fancy Feast for Barine”
“Got it!”
[hang up with peace of mind & resume a leisurely, care free walk]
The ‘Got it!’ after your message is great. You subliminally feel like you have a secretary ready to take notes for you at a moment’s notice. Your secretary’s got perfect integrity and will pop the note right into your Inbox, and she works for free.
At least check it out - Jott.com
6-7am option set
option 1: Kung Fu forms forward 5 times, Tai Chi 1st loop twice.
option 2: Kung Fu forms mirror 5 times, Tai Chi 1st loop twice.
option 3: 500 hand techniques (50 each side x 5 techniques)
option 4: 500 foot techniques (50 each side x 5 techniques)
option 5: biking
7-8am option set
option 1: 30 mins meditation, 30 mins reading.
option 2: 20 mins meditation, 40 mins business.
option 3: 60 mins meditation
option 4: 20 mins Quadrant 2 Introspection, 40 mins business.
option 5: 60 mins Quadrant 2 Introspection.
8am shower/breakfast; arrive at work 8:30am.
action items
- get the meditation clock from dad’s place, set it for 5:55am.
- in the mean time, set cell for 6am.
- disable alarm in bathroom.
- track adherence and option set preferences in Google spreadsheet
auxilliary action item play nice music for Barine while I’m not home.
props to Steve Pavlina’s article How to wake up feeling totally alert
a bit of insight - if you’ve ever tried a morning routine and failed, perhaps it was because the morning eventually comes where you don’t feel like doing the same task. providing an option set provides flexibility and options can be cycled in and out as needed.
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