Disqus - Latest Comments for jxpx777

Re: inessential.com: News Diet

jxpx777 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:12:54 -0000

I think that as services like AideRSS (NetNewsWire 4.0 still the target?) and advanced readers like Fever http://feedafever.com continue to improve, the answer is actually *more* feeds so that you know which items are actually the top of the news. Using Fever for this right now and it's working splendidly. (I still keep my must-read subscriptions in NNW. There are actually very very few of these.) For my high volume feeds and especially feeds that tend to link around and not post much original content, it's a great way to find out what everyone is buzzing about without having to trawl the sea of individual feed items and mentally piece together that several folks all linked to the same article. And for these feeds, more feeds actually improve the accuracy of the Fever score (or Postrank if I were using NGO). So, yes, while feed readers are still working on a primitive and naive approach, fewer feeds is the way to go. But, I think that situation won't last very much longer.

Re: Proving the Sunshine - Man, this is just ridiculously ugly. Who’s...

jxpx777 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:28:17 -0000

No, I haven't installed it. I know enough from the screenshots. I don't want an eyesore of a window on my machine. Who thought the green gradient window was a good idea? Ick…

Re: AT&T Contradictory on Wi-Fi Security

jxpx777 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:24:11 -0000

Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate the note.

Re: syntax error, unexpected '\n', expecting tCOLON2 or '[' or '.' in rails migrations, sqlite3 « Scott Motte

jxpx777 — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:09:10 -0000

I found your site by googling the error message. The stupid thing is I got the erroneous syntax from Rails 2.3's scaffold generator. Trying to decide now if that is a problem with my Ruby or Rails configuration or if it's broken in Rails 2.3. :\

Re: Hey, Tumblr... Jesus Here...

jxpx777 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:20:07 -0000

Well, yeah, in Greek the word is apokalupsis (Pardon my transliteration. I know how it's spelled in Greek!), which means revelation. Moreover, no one would say "The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ...to John" in English. This is a problem of English translation. Even Latin uses apocalupsis, a loan word from Greek to Latin. But since apokalupsis is a singular noun, Revelation is indeed "more right" than Revelations.

Re: Bullcrap

jxpx777 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:02:55 -0000

In Abilene, TX, where I grew up, there was an armory next to the public park and swimming pool. We would frequently see train loads of these things coming and going. It's pretty cool when you're a tyke and see something like that, wondering where they're headed and such.

Re: Bullcrap

jxpx777 — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:15:11 -0000

I bought a Nerf gun for the Christmas party when I worked at Pier 1. Our director (big boss, only four, etc.) ended up with it and thought it was the coolest gift. I eventually bought one for myself along with an extra bag of darts. @slb forbids me from shooting the dog though. The boss that ended up with the other one said they modified it for higher power and eventually shot one of the arrows through a sheet of drywall. See also: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/766831/easy_nerf_...

Re: Bullcrap

jxpx777 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:00:40 -0000

If you modify that to allow user to specify a minimum album rating and exclude calculated ratings, then you'd be on to something and you'd be helping fix a significant usability problem with the current smart playlist functionality. :) And then, another one that does the same but for excluding calculated track ratings so user could generate a playlist of tracks ≥ a certain rating.

</shamelessCouldDoItMyselfFeatureRequest>

Re: Bullcrap

jxpx777 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:30:11 -0000

Love the Fanmail lid. Haven't thought about them for a long time.

Re: How I Use Evernote

jxpx777 — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 09:39:02 -0000

Follow the thread. I was talking to "air."

Re: How I Use Evernote

Wagner Brenner — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 08:58:30 -0000

The man did a great post and you go "try it out before your comment"?
Maybe you can try to get a life "before your comment".

Re: How I "Back That Thang Up", So to Speak...

jxpx777 — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:22:18 -0000

I'm using Backblaze, Time Machine, and Dropbox just like you are. I haven't put my Dreamhost Backup to good use and don't really see myself using it much. It's pithy but worth repeating, "There are two kinds of people in the world: those that backup their data and those that will."

Re: My Untested Task Management System

jxpx777 — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:44:56 -0000

Sounds like a solution that will work for you. I would think about a few text files in a Dropbox directory that serves as the "meta container" would be a better solution, but whatever works for you! Let us know how you get on.

Re: Tabula Rasa with Pandora

jxpx777 — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:55:10 -0000

Glad to hear I'm not alone! :D

Re: Proving the Sunshine - Much of the tech world is obsessed with engaging...

jxpx777 — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:04:40 -0000

I thought so too. I think the line got so blurred between hacker conferences and the info sec discipline that the latter has almost a parasitic relationship with the former. At C4 this year, the security presenters were unbelievably entertaining, irreverent at times, and made a point that at these conferences, presentation and flare count for as much if not more than the content of the paper/presentation. I think that is a terrible way to approach this stuff. It reminds me a lot of the episode of _How I Met Your Mother_ where Barney is wowed with Sven's presentation of the dinosaur building when the content of Ted's presentation of a proper bank skyscraper is clearly better.

Re: I'm Protective of My Time (and I'm Rude)

jxpx777 — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:04:48 -0000

Actually, I find that being rude is the only way to get people to leave me the fsck alone. My wife is more polite than I am and she has a constant stream of people (mostly at work) wasting her time. I'm viciously protective of my time (especially against salespeople because they are more likely to try to flow chart me) and honestly, the chances that I will have to deal with this person again are slim to none. And what's the worst that happens? Maybe the word will get around and people won't bother you at all. :)

Re: Bullcrap

jxpx777 — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:05:06 -0000

Uhm, that guy's obviously not playing what we're hearing. His fingering doesn't change with the harmonic rhythm of the audio. And his lips don't sync up.

Re: Bullcrap

inkedmn — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:28:17 -0000

I know, but it was the only decent version I could find on YouTube.

Re: Dear Apple,

jxpx777 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:06:54 -0000

To solve this, I usually just call and immediately cancel. Then, save from my recents. But I agree, this should be fixed.

Re: Complaints about GTD

jxpx777 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:16:21 -0000

Brett, my friend, you've hit the nail on the friggin' head. I have been thinking this way for a long time. For some people who are pathologically without any sort of productivity system at all, it makes a lot of sense to have some rigorous system to force themselves into for a bit. But, as Merlin is fond of quoting, "You don't need the boat once you've crossed the river."

I have been working from a project and singleton foxhole for quite a while and I think it's working. I keep a list of the projects I'm working on and I keep a list of one-off tasks. The location of these all depends on what my thought work has told me needs to happen. Things that I need a reminder for generally get thrown into Backpack (Or Sandy, but she's been pissing me off lately.) Just "shit" that has to be done, goes on a list on an index card or in iCal. iCal tends to get used for tasks that have some deadline but can be done any time.

I tend to fly by the seat of my pants with a lot of stuff. I have a junior circa full of notes about a few projects and stuff, but I'm content to leave them there unprocessed because I know where they are. I do things when they are due. I don't tend to work ahead a lot.

Personally, I think that a lot of people, if they got really good at this productivity stuff, would go insane. If you didn't have anything on a list saying, "You have to do this," what would you do? I know that many of us like you, me, Patrick, Brad, etc. have an answer for this, but tons of people simply don't! They are so stuck on the runway (again with the airplanes) that they wouldn't know what to do if the runway were clear. They honestly haven't given it a bit of thought. I liken people like this to the blobulous people in Wall•E. Without the constant barrage of crap from an outside source keeping them occupied they were simply dumbfounded as to what they should do with their time.

I think that GTD is a lot like Mr. Miyagi teaching Daniel-san. Once you get fed up with all the minutiae of GTD, that's when you know you've learned something.

Re: Proving the Sunshine

jxpx777 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:49:13 -0000

Thanks for the comment and clarification Phil. I am honestly not sure how I feel about the decision, but I'm glad to know it's thought through. Cheers.

Re: Ask the Readers: What happens to “Do it Now” Actions?

jxpx777 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:23:36 -0000

I definitely lean toward junking it. If it's a one-off task, I say junk the trigger. Even if it's project related, unless there's some valuable info in the stuff, I can't see keeping it. If you just need to keep a record of having completed the item, a simple date next to the action in the list should suffice.

I think moreso than "maybe/depends" my answer is that if it's not immediately obvious that I should keep something (for instance my tax returns after completing the taxes) then I throw it out. I don't keep my utility bills after I pay them. I don't keep my shopping list after I go to the store. (Nevermind that it's on Backpack.) I don't keep my syllabi after the school semester is over. Each of those should be immediately obvious as to whether the artifact should be kept or not.

If you're not sure, a good exercise is to get a banker's box and anything that you aren't sure of, put it in there. Every time you retrieve something out of that box, refile it in a second banker's box. After six weeks or six months or some other suitable amount of time you should have two banker's boxes, one more full than the next. If you're too liberal in throwing things out, your second box will be more full. If you're too conservative, the first will be more full. Throw out whatever is in the first box. You haven't needed it by now, you're likely not going to. In addition, you should have some real experience that will help you make better choices about what to keep and what to throw out.

Re: Ask the Readers: What happens to “Do it Now” Actions?

AndyP — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:03:53 -0000

Thanks, Jaimie. So it sounds like the your answer is "maybe/depends" to all four points? With a heavy leaning to junk it!

I'm wondering how often actions actually deserve being kept?

Re: Ask the Readers: What happens to “Do it Now” Actions?

jxpx777 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:49:58 -0000

If the stuff is just the shell after you've eaten the peanut (to use Merlin's phrasing), throw it away. If it serves some reference or other purpose, it needs to be filed. If you just need to keep a record that you did the action, perhaps a log such as Matt Cornell's Big Arse Text File, the Backpack Journal, or a Moleskine notebook is in order. And if in doubt, throw it out.

Re: Converting Coworkers

jxpx777 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:28:58 -0000

I have to say this is absolutely true. At work, people have noticed that I do things differently. I take notes as mindmaps in meetings. I don't respond to email immediately. I get projects done early. I use my IM status effectively. No one has asked me about what makes it go, but the productivity is certainly noticed. If I were going to be at the company beyond tomorrow (seriously) I anticipate people would start poking around at what I'm doing. :)