Unblokt - social storywriting

My friend Sean O'Hagan has written a neat little Web 2.0 app called Unblokt. Basically it gives you two sentences from a story, and your job is to write the sentence that goes between them. It's a fantastic way to get into creative mode, while interacting with people from around the web.

Jon away Aug 18-22

I'll be away August 18-22 at the Foo Camp tech conference in Sebastopol, California. If you send me an email I might not have a chance to get back to you until I'm back home in Victoria.

Lifehack: Read-Vacuuming

Do you detest vacuuming as much as I do? Well today I discovered a way to make vacuuming more pleasant. It's called read-vacuuming, and as you can see from the video below, it consists of reading while vacuuming -- slowly, very slowly. By vacuuming at a snail's pace, you'll be more efficient because you'll only have to make a single pass over each area of the carpet. And trust me, you'll have to move slowly if you want to concentrate on that book.



And it helps your reading too. Naturally you won't be able to read at top speed, but this is actually a benefit as you can ponder each paragraph more deeply.

Once you experience the joy of read-vacuuming, you'll want the vacuuming to go on longer. You'll want to vacuum more rooms than you've been assigned; nay, you will be eager to go over the rooms a second time. What does it matter, with good company like Neal Stephenson or Malcolm Gladwell?

Quote from Charles Schwab

"There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticize anyone. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. If I like anything, I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise." [Charles Schwab]