• Can You Become a Creature of New Habits? - New York Times - "The small steps in kaizen don’t set off fight or flight, but rather keep us in the thinking brain, where we have access to our creativity and playfulness."
• How to answer the people who think you’re nuts? - "I’ve been doing a lot of radio interviews and I turn into a self-righteous bore when the host inevitably asks, 'How could you let your son take the subway alone?'"
• Dear Shaun, at bluishorange - "My writing is not some fragile vase that is going to shatter the second I split an infinitive..." [via mathowie]
• Clutterers Anonymous dot Net - "Clutter is anything we don't need, want, or use that takes our time, energy or space, and destroys our serenity."
• Spark 35: Your Digital Legacy - I'll be a regular contributor to the CBC's wonderful Spark (podcast). My first segment with Nora Young is on the basics of backup. (Hint: Next Christmas, send Uncle Joe a DVD with those hard-copy photos)
• TwitterSnooze! v0.13 - "TwitterSnooze is inspired by a Merlin Mann post and was written by Andrew Parker." Yay, nice!
  I think silent "snoozing" should be part of every social app. Warning, though; if your snoozed friend is the brittle type, note that re-following them will generate an email that gives you away. Caveat Twittor. [via del/andrewdparker]

While most sensible Mac users were looking forward to cool new features in Leopard like Cover Flow, Quick Look, and Time Machine, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, itching to try out iCal and Mail.app's new to-do list integration. I agree with Merlin's approach to using a bunch of single-purpose applications that are very good at what they do instead of a bloated piece of do-everything-ware like Outlook--"a series of super-sharp paring knives over one monstrous Swiss Army Knife"--as he put it, but I looked forward to a little bit of teamwork between two of the applications I use the most. And boy, am I disappointed.

Empty your inbox with the Trusted Trio

Gina's written up a post on her modified version of the email setup I laid out in my MacWorld Inbox Makeover article. She's stripping down to three email folders (besides the inbox), and seems to be having good results with the action-oriented results:

The Merlin Show

Over on my video podcast, The Merlin Show, we recently wrapped up our epic 4-part interview with John Roderick from The Long Winters (n.b.: part 3 is my favorite episode of the show so far). And, just yesterday, we posted the first in a six (6) part visit with America's Radio Sweetheart, Jesse Thorn, who's the host of the nationally syndicated public radio program (and, arguably, the best podcast [iTunes] in America), The Sound of Young America. (And now I can't stop saying "webmobisode" -- damn you, Jesse Thorn).

I hope you'll stop by if you haven't visited with us in a while. Plus -- thanks to the generous nerd skillz of our friends over at Blip.tv -- you can now watch each and every episode of The Merlin Show from the comfort of this handy dandy Flash viewer. (Note that you can jump to any episode by clicking on "GUIDE"). And, yes, please do feel free to "SHARE" this far and wide.

And, finally, please consider subscribing to The Merlin Show in iTunes or via the podcatcher of your choice. As of our latest episode, the Apple TV version of the feed goes out at full-on HD 720p (thanks, HV-20s!).

Subscribe to The Merlin Show...	iTunes	Democracy	Others
Standard, iPod-compatible version (320 x 176 pixels)
Hi-resolution, Apple TV-compatible version (most eps: 854 x 480 pixels, later eps: 1280 x 720 pixels)

evhead: Ten Rules for Web Startups

Ev's ten rules for a startup are all strong, but #10 particularly caught my eye:

#10: Be Balanced
What is a startup without bleary-eyed, junk-food-fueled, balls-to-the-wall days and sleepless, caffeine-fueled, relationship-stressing nights? Answer?: A lot more enjoyable place to work. Yes, high levels of commitment are crucial. And yes, crunch times come and sometimes require an inordinate, painful, apologies-to-the-SO amounts of work. But it can't be all the time. Nature requires balance for health -- as do the bodies and minds who work for you and, without which, your company will be worthless. There is no better way to maintain balance and lower your stress that I've found than David Allen's GTD process. Learn it. Live it. Make it a part of your company, and you'll have a secret weapon.

Right on.

Slightly off-topic, but on my mind...as I commented earlier today, I'm finding myself increasingly uncomfortable framing techniques like GTD strictly in terms of "productivity" (although the ability to be more efficient and productive is definitely a nice perk).

GTD fights stress not by transforming you into a drone or a brainless corporate cog, but by affording a framework for recovering and maintaining smart focus. What you do with that focus is entirely your affair -- clearly people will use it for everything from building a very swell startup to managing their music career and beyond. Gratefully, nowhere does The David say you have to turn into an enormous-toothed White Guy running sales seminars at the La Quinta Inn. In any case, when we're doing GTD right, Ev is right on the money: balance is sewn into every stitch of your week.

Even two years into using GTD, I have to say I'm still pleased -- and sometimes even surprised -- at how well it still works for me. Whenever I fall off the horse, I'm usually just a mini-review away from feeling retuned to my priorities and commitments. I agree with Ev; it's powerful stuff.

I do wonder if there's a better term for GTD's goals and methods than simply "productivity" or even "time management" What do you think? Does it matter?

Jason Corso - Vi Input Manager Plugin

Vi Input Manager seems like a godsend for Mac (or more accurately, Cocoa) users who have Vi commands permanently installed in their fingertips.

This bundle patches the Cocoa Text System to add a Vi-like command mode. After entering command-mode (typically, by hitting escape in Vi), ordinary Vi commands can be typed and the text field will be updated accordingly...

Right now, you should be thinking -- "you mean the editor in XCode will behave like Vi?" Answer: Yes.

Reminds me it's about time for another round of trying to learn Vim.

[ via: Vi Input Manager - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) ]

jwz - PSA: backups

This forum question about a comment I made on the most recent MacBreak Weekly reminds me that I mention jwz's advice on backup often enough that it's worth reposting the URL (as well as making sure credit goes where it's due). On the one hand, his advice could hardly be simpler (that's one reason I like it), but how many of us have taken the time to put a mature backup regime in place?

If you value your data, can't tolerate downtime, and are casting about for a thorough solution, consider giving this a try.

"OMG, three drives is so expensive! That sounds like a hassle!" Shut up. I know things. You will listen to me. Do it anyway.

NextBus provides real-time, per-stop predictions for several public transit systems across the U.S. (view all); we San Franciscans who rely on MUNI are fortunate enough to get accurate arrival times for any stop on the light rail line (F, J, K, L, M, N or S) as well as all stops along the mighty, ambling, urine-soaked 22-Fillmore line (don’t laugh: it stops a couple of blocks from Bottom of the Hill).

Unlike the speculative “schedules” that MUNI publishes, NextBus “uses satellite technology and advanced computer modeling to track vehicles on their routes.” So no guessing, standing in the rain, or watching as the last streetcar of the night pulls out of the station without you in it. As someone who lives 1/2 a block from a stop, I can tell you this actually, really works. And, inexplicably, hardly anyone I know seems to know about and use it.

If you're not already a big Quicksilver fan, this probably won't mint you as a new one, but if you're a text-y geek who's more comfortable with fast typing than changing modes, this is quite a gem.