February 2010
57 posts
“I’d rather be on a team that has no bad people than a team with stars. There are...”
– Corner Office - Mark Pincus - Every Worker Should Be C.E.O. of Something - Interview - NYTimes.com
January 2010
37 posts
“It’s really important in a product to have a sense of the hierarchy of...”
– YouTube - “Objectified” - Jonathan Ive talks about Mac design & Unibody MacBook manufacture
“Resist the urge to punish everyone for one person’s mistake. When one...”
– Resist the urge to punish everyone for one person’s mistake | Derek Sivers
Does makeup really make a woman more attractive to...
Makeup does pull the guys in. But how does it work? It seems to make a woman more attractive but studies have shown other effects as well:
cosmetics can send signals about status: one study published in the International Journal of Cosmetics Science has found that people judge women wearing cosmetics as higher earners with more prestigious jobs (Nash et al., 2006).
So what kind of makeup...
Is perfectionism good or bad?
There are two types of perfectionism:
Building on earlier research, Hill argues that perfectionistic traits can be either adaptive or maladaptive. It depends upon whether they are forward- or backward-looking, emotionally positive or negative, and motivated from an inner urge or an outside push.
Adaptive perfectionism was determined by combining the students’ self-reported scores in four...
The most insightful essay I’ve read on Apple’s iPad. The closing paragraphs:
Apple’s bet is roughly that the future of computing:
has a UI model based on direct manipulation of data objects
completely hides the filesystem from the user
favors ease of use and reduction of complexity over absolute flexibility
favors benefit to the end-user rather than the developer or...
Couples who say 'we' are better at resolving...
UC Berkeley researchers analyzed conversations between 154 middle-aged and older couples about points of disagreement in their marriages and found that those who used pronouns such as “we,” “our” and “us” behaved more positively toward one another and showed less physiological stress.
In contrast, couples who emphasized their “separateness” by...
Secrets to a long marriage
In the past few years psychologists have discovered that thriving couples accentuate the positive in life more than those who languish or split do. They not only cope well during hardship but also celebrate the happy moments and work to build more of these into their lives.
How couples handle good news may matter even more to their relationship than their ability to support each other under...
What leads us to trust people?
For new relationships, you trust people if they’re similar to your demographic. For old relationships, you trust people who share your perspective. And for in-betweens, you trust people who display trustworthy behavior.
How To Calculate A Return On Investment →
“Don’t pick a job that likes cogs. Don’t pick a job that insists on advanced...”
– Seth Godin
“The nature of the first step has an insanely disproportionate effect on whether...”
– Wanted - an Austrian School of Marketing - Rory Sutherland’s Blog - Blogs - Brand Republic
Lessons from "The PayPal Wars"
Couple your long-term vision with obtainable short-term goals
Assemble an A-team
Push decision-making down the org chart
Success doesn’t come easy
Platform dependence = risk
Success prompts attacks
“My advice: to engage potential customers, write a vivid story involving your...”
– Your Brain on Stories | Neuromarketing
“How should those responsible for copy writing use this neuromarketing insight? I...”
– Why Good Ad Copy Works | Neuromarketing
Neuromanagement: The Rule of Three →
“People often misinterpret their physiological responses as arousal and love....”
– Some Seriously Cool Stuff I Learned at ‘One Day University’ « Shrink Talk
3 psychological insights about lying
Humans can detect lying only 54% of the time, or only slightly above chance. The fact that it’s that high at all is likely because of the small group of people who are just horrible liars that we can all detect, as well as “Wizards,” those who are successful at detecting lies over 90% of the time. One study found only 18 Wizards in 20,000 people studied, and it’s unclear why they are able to...
There are always more than two options →
From Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby:
When someone says they only have one option, they’re really saying, “I have no choice,” and you know that’s wrong. (At very least, add “do nothing” and “go insane” as choices.) When they say they only have two options, beware. It means they got stuck. Once people get two options, they start comparing the pros and cons of those two, and forget...
WatchAn insightful talk by Jonah Lehrer about how we decide
Is LeBron James the best basketball player alive? →
Justin Wehr cites Wages of Wins:
Both players are above average with respect to almost every statistic. King James, though, does more. In fact, LeBron has done more across the past four seasons than Kobe has done in his four best seasons. And the difference is even bigger if we look at what each player has done in 2008-09.
Kobe is not even the best player on his team. (Gasol and Odom have ...
Dr. Weil's Vitamin Advisor →
I was given a daily recommendation of 2 multivitamins, 1 antioxidant, 2 omega-3, and 1 vitamin C.
Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet →
General Diet Tips:
Aim for variety.
Include as much fresh food as possible.
Minimize your consumption of processed foods and fast food.
Eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables.
The science of prayer
Is it possible that directed prayer might spark forgiveness in those doing the praying—and in the process preserve relationships?
Most of the time, couples profess and believe in shared goals, but when they hit a rough patch, they often switch to adversarial goals like retribution and resentment. These adversarial goals shift cognitive focus to the self, and it can be tough to shake that...
How important is physical attractiveness to a...
The relative difference between partners’ levels of attractiveness appeared to be most important in predicting marital behavior, such that both spouses behaved more positively in relationships in which wives were more attractive than their husbands, but they behaved more negatively in relationships in which husbands were more attractive than their wives.
(source)
“Live by example. Live the way that you think would make a better world.”
– Brandon Boyd
“Now is not about looking for answers because we don’t yet know their meaning....”
– amber rae.
The best time to do anything
Best time to have surgery: Morning (4x less likely to have complications in the morning than between 3-4PM)
Best time to call a company’s customer service line: As early as possible (lowest call volume)
Best day of the week to eat dinner out: Tuesday (freshest food, no crowds)
Best day to fly: Saturday (fewer flights means fewer delays, shorter lines, less stress)
Best time to fly: ...
ME: Hey, do you wanna...
RJ: YES.
ME: ...have sex with a man? I knew you were gay.
ME: Anne and I had a bet. And we both won.
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“All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s...”
– Conan O’Brien, final episode of The Tonight Show
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A fable
A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away.
All the neighbors came by saying, “I’m so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said, “We’ll see.”
A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses. The man and his son corraled all 21 horses.
All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so...
2 tags
“Writer’s block is just a symptom of feeling like you have nothing to say,...”
– Ignore Everybody - by Hugh MacLeod | Derek Sivers
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“Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.”
– Ignore Everybody - by Hugh MacLeod | Derek Sivers
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“There is little doubt that different people are blessed with different amounts...”
– Garry Kasparov, “The Chess Master and the Computer”