Book Recommendation

The Simplicity Survival Handbook: 32 Ways to Do Less and Accomplish More by Bill Jensen

With a title like this, Jensen's book should be flying off the shelf. I know it caught my eye when I first saw it. We all want to "do" less and "accomplish" more and there are some excellent ideas in this book to help you do just that.

Nothing in this book is easy, though. Someone as inclined to follow the rules like myself will find it difficult, if not impossible, to implement the more demanding recommendations. This is a shame, as these people are those who would probably benefit the most.

Even if you don't think of yourself as a rabble-rouser, you should still read this book and take heart that there are some possible methods of extracting yourself from business situations that leave you feeling busy, but not very productive. There are ways of escaping the bureaucracy and yet keep your job.

The cutest, yet still effective, idea in the book is the "Less-O-Meter" associated with each chapter. These graphical gauges give you an "at a glance" reading on how much Courage you will need to put this tip in place, how difficult it can be and the possible yield to your productivity and happiness.

You may be ready to take on your whole company and engage in full-scale "pushback", but implementing even one idea from this book could do a world of good for you, your job and your career, while helping your company, as well.

Bill Jensen Web Site

** Other books by Bill Jensen

History was not black and white

Poverty's Pallette

Most younger people's visions of America of the 1930's is the bleak, black and white photographs "created by the New Deal-sponsored photographers who traversed the country in the 1930's and early 1940's," Unknown to most of us, though, are the color photographs that were created when Kodak released its color film products in the mid-1930's.

This collection of photographs helps to clarify the realities and look of everyday life from that period, without the bias that black and white photos have given to our remembrance.

Via MetaFilter

Career-Op: The Rules
by Douglas E. Welch, ComputorEdge Magazine

As I move through my high-tech career, a series of rules have developed over time. Sometimes it is a rule for how to go about solving a particular technical problem. Other rules deal with how I work (and play) with those around me. Whatever the focus, though, these rules were not developed at some high-level strategy meeting. They were developed over time, layer by layer, like an oyster develops a pearl. This has many advantages. Instead of being based on some ideal goal and purpose, these rules have developed out of the day-to-day reality of working in a high-tech career. In no particular order, here are the rules that I find myself living with on a daily basis. Your list will certainly be different, but hopefully this will spur you to analyze and create one for yourself.

(Continued)

Discuss High Tech Careers

BallDroppings

Addicitive game with no score and no winner. Create ball drops that make their own odd music as they bounce. You can alter walls, friction, gravity and the number of balls to keep things interesting. (Windows/Mac)

Warning: Dangerous timewaster!! -- but it is almost Friday.

Via Cool Hunting

Clip Art Crafts from MSL

Martha Stewart Living has been providing cute monthly crafts, in PDF format, that you can print out on your own color printer.

Currently they have a series of colorful recipe cards and customizable Father's Day coupons for kids to give as presents.

Book discussion, signing and reading

Rosanne Welch and Dawn Comer Jefferson discuss "Three-Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work, and Family" Sat., May 15, 2004, 2 pm
Borders - Yorba Linda, 22401 Old Canal Rd, Yorba Linda, (714) 974-4743

with authors Wendy Hunter and Yuliana Min-Kim Grant

Three Ring Circus Web Site

LA Blogs mentioned in LA Times

LABlogs.com, to which I sometimes contribute, got a mention at the end of an LA Times article today. To Live and Blog in L.A. focuses on the founders of blogging.la, but is nice enough to mention LA Blogs and other LA web sites in a sidebar.

The article link above is only available to paper subscribers of the LA Times who have set up a free CalendarLive account. Bummer!

According to this story from Broadband Reports, a new verison of Spybot has been released. You can download it from Download.com using the link below.

I highly recommend some form of Spyware/Trojan Horse cleanup program as part of a well-protected computer system, along with Anti-Virus software and updated Windows software.

Spybot Version 1.3
New ad/spyware killer released. The latest free version of Spybot: Search and Destroy has been released, according to our security forum regulars. Version 1.3 is available at Download.com or Major Geeks. Users in our forums have been tinkering with, and giving their thoughts on t.. [Broadbandreports]

Looking for graduation gifts?

Do you have a friend of family member graduating from high-school or college?

Are they considering a career in High-Tech?*

The High-Tech Career Handbook would make an excellent gift!

Give graduates the benefit of years of experience and the best of Career Opportunities, the high-tech career column from ComputorEdge Magazine.

Visit http://welchwrite.com/htch/ to order.

* much of the advice in HTCH is applicable towards all careers, not just high-tech

Reviewing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has an excellent system that allows you to comment on upcoming legislation and other issues that effect your high-tech world. I regularly use this system to make my views know to the US Congress, FCC and other governmental departments.

The latest "Action Alert" advocates for a review of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that provides for a better balance between the rights of copyright holders and the public. These action alerts are sent to appropriate committee members and representatives via email or fax.

Review the latest EFF Action Alert

Top 100 Library Books

Librarian in Black points over to a list of the Top 100 Library Books.

I love lists like this, since it gives me a feeling for what I have read and what might be worth reading in the future.

The #1 book? In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters. Well, that is one book I have already read.

A few new things...

Trying things out...

Trying out a few new things that Blogger.com has provided on their site.

You will now notice a "comments" link below each message. I am also posting this message via the email posting service in order to test it out.

Be Well!

Unstuck by Keith Yamashita & Sandra Spataro

While the design of this book is first rate, I had a difficult time connecting to the ideas within. It attempts to be the place "to turn for inspiration and immediate solutions," but I found myself answering many of the question within with "How?", instead.

I get the feeling that the book would be great companion item to seminars provided by the authors, on its own, it seems too terse and fragmented to follow. There just wasn't enough information presented to give me a handle to use the concepts of the book. Like the print analogue of a web site, the book directs you to specific sections based on your needs or answers to a given exercise. While I am an experienced web users, I found it frustrating in a traditional print publication like this.

That said, the real-world examples given in the book were the most useful. This could be a personal preference, but I tend to develop a better understanding when given a good story as an example. There were tidbits that I found useful and led to further thinking on my part, but these had to be teased out of the text and graphics instead of being immediately observed.

I feel the authors are onto something here, but without their personal guidance down the path of becoming "Unstuck," the book can be a bit frustrating.

Amazon.com: Unstuck

Unstuck Web Site