Patrick Rhone has just published his first book: Keeping it Straight. I’ve read it, and I enjoyed it. Patrick does a lot of things — he’s an entrepreneur, a tech consultant, a speaker — but first and foremost, Patrick is a writer.

Dan Moren for Macworld:

Apple has confirmed to Macworld that the new iMacs can be used as external displays via their Thunderbolt ports. However, to do so, you’ll need a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac, such as one of the early 2011 models of MacBook Pros.

High ceilings, open areas, and light colors help to foster creativity. Lower ceilings, tighter areas, and darker colors help with focusing in on detail-oriented tasks.

So is this why I usually am the most inspired and creative in the morning when the early light is in my office, and I am more productive at getting those ideas hammered out into something written during the evenings when it’s just the desk lamp providing light? And is this why we get outside when we just need to think, and we burn the midnight oil on that project because that’s when we’re finally in the zone to get things done?

Also, I’m curious if a similar study has been done regarding music and background noise and which types foster creativity and which types help with doing focused, detail-oriented work. This article about working at coffee shops because they’re “just enough distraction” is somewhat along that vein, but not quite.

(Via Ben Brooks.)

Nice summary on Ars Technica by Peter Bright regarding what led to the Amazon EBS outage on April 21. Amazon’s lengthy (5,600 words) description is available here.

Surat Lozowick with some good additional thoughts in response to my article about the iPhone as a camera:

Expensive gear might perform better, but it also carries a much higher risk. Sometimes a cheap camera or an old guitar are enough — or even better.

Transcript from president Obama’s address:

Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

The video of the president’s address is here.

Ian Hines interviews Chris Bowler:

On the topic of attention and consumption, it’s becoming pretty clear to most people that the internet is changing us and our habits. It’s pervasiveness into everywhere is having a cumulative affect. This I have felt (keenly) in my life, but is also coming into focus for much of our culture. So I know I’m not just pushing this onto others.

As I’ve come to a time in my life where I desire to create more than anything else, many of the habits formed in the past five years are a detriment to that. I struggle greatly to focus on one task for any length. Even if I achieve that focus, I still find myself switching spaces, letting my thoughts drift to other subjects, my fingers seeking that source of new input.

Twitter is the best example of this tension in my life. I love it, I hate it. My career would not be where it is without it, yet I know I could have created more, done more over the past three years if I removed all the time I spent on the service. It brings me useful information and in contact with amazing people, but also can daily cause me to miss important events in the life of my children.

Where then is the balance?

My thanks to Lithium for sponsoring the RSS feed this week to promote their SNMP monitoring software. Lithium is built for Mac and iOS users in need of professional-grade monitoring of their server, network, and storage. It is feature rich, highly customizable, keeps tabs on your devices and applications, offers alert notifications, and more. Not to mention Lithium has well-designed and native apps for your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, plus an attractive web interface.

Yours truly is also a guest on episode 29 of the Minimal Mac Podcast.

You’ve got to drive fast to survive.

I love it when Jason Kottke writes pieces like this.

Same idea as Greg Reinacker’s aforelinked plugin, except Tyler Hall’s will notify you based on certain domains showing up in your referral’s list (such as Digg, Slashdot, and Daring Fireball):

Why the name Holy Crap!? Because that’s generally the first thing you say when your website hits the front page of Slashdot.

And coincidentally, today is the 3rd birthday of Tyler’s plugin.