Why Sans-Comments is Awesome –

If you’re already subscribed to Alex Payne’s weblog let me know so I can stop linking to it from here. (Maybe.)

The Problem With Email Clients –

Alex fails to mention the real problem: email itself.

I’m thinking we should all take a break from email for 30 days. Those we have to communicate with we could call or talk to in person. Those we don’t have to work with wouldn’t be able to infringe on our time because they don’t have our phone numbers. And we may just end up having meaningful dialog with our friends and family instead of keeping in touch by sending shallow links to funny YouTube videos.

What say ye?

Monday By Noon Joins Fusion Ads –

Linking to Jonathan’s site over a year ago, I said:

Monday By Noon is a great idea. I always thought posting once a week on Mondays would be a runaway concept.

Jonathan writes on web design once a week and publishes his article every Monday before noon so you can have something to read during your lunch break.

This site is a fantastic addition to Fusion if I do say so myself. Jonathan is also the man behind SuggestRSS.

Permalinks for Gmail Messages Can be Linked as Web Clips in Things –

The number one feedback I received from readers after yesterday’s review of Things was that they did not know they could drag web or email clippings (or any other links to files) into the “Notes” pane for a task.

Reader, Pat Dryburgh pointed out in an email that for those who use Gmail but not a desktop mail client (such as Mail), they can still link a particular email message within the Notes pane. Since Gmail offers permalinks of their email message, you can drag the web clip for that message’s URL into your task in Things.

From the Offical Gmail Blog:

All emails now have dedicated URLs, so just by adding a browser bookmark while viewing a message, you can return to it whenever you want, just like a regular web page–although you will still have to log in to Gmail if you’ve signed out.

(Thanks, Pat!)

“Toward Patterns for Creativity” –

The YouTube video of Merlin Mann’s 27-minute talk at Macworld.

There is a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson that I think is very apt on this issue. He says, “Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.”

‘Management is a Total Career Restart’ –

Michael Lopp:

This sensation will appear at the end of the day when you ask, “What did I build today?” The answer will be a troubling, “Nothing”. The days of fixing ten bugs before noon are gone. You’re no longer going to spend the bus ride home working on code; you’re going to be thinking hard about how to say something important to someone who doesn’t want to hear it. There will be drama. And there be those precious seconds when there is no one in your office wanting… something.

When I was promoted from print designer to marketing director everything I knew changed. The above paragraph (yea Michael’s entire article) describes the learning curve of my life for the past 10 months so well it’s almost scary.

MacApper Interviews Jürgen Schweizer About Things –

Right from the beginning we wanted to create a tool that was easy to pick up yet powerful. It is no exaggeration, with Things it is possible to manage thousands of to-dos, but Things is also the application with the most modest learning curve.

Update to Flickr Uploadr –

I am upgrading from the 2.x version so this is a huge update for me. But if you’ve already been on the 3.x version you’ll be happy to know that Flickr’s OS X desktop software for managing and uploading your flickr photos is now “more better”.

(Via Dan Benjamin)

Inaugural Preparation Images on The Big Picture –

Love the Legos.

UPDATE: Don’t miss the new photos from the inauguration day itself.

The $300 Million Button –

What the web team assumes is helpful for the user is not always what is actually helpful for the user.

(Via Derek Posazek)

MSNBC’s Video Archive of President Obama’s Inaugural Address –

An historic day. God bless President Barack Obama.

Wilard Wigan’s Micro Sculptures –

The tail is a dust fiber, plucked from the air.

Unbelievable.

Get RSS Suggestions Based on Similarity to Your Current Subscriptions –

New ‘big-time beta’ website from Jonathan Christopher which analyzes your OPML file and suggests new feeds for you.

The more OPML files that are uploaded the better the RSS suggestions you’ll receive.

Currently there are 10,664 feeds from 109 users, which averages to 98 feeds per user. I’m actually surprised by that number. I try to keep my feed subscriptions between 60 and 75, but assumed I was a rare breed and that most people had well over 100 feeds in their feed reader.

The suggestions I received based on my OPML were relevant, but unfortunately they were not very helpful. Nearly each “new” feed that SuggestRSS listed for me was for a site I am already familiar with. Yet the reason I’m not subscribed to it now is because I was and have since unsubscribed, or because I don’t like their writing style.