• WOWOW: The Scissors Edition [Links of the Week]

    edited by Alexander Becker

    Please, quickly, we're almost there. Have a look at the last ones for this year. Just a glance and you're done.

    • The Secret to Winning at Rock, Paper, Scissors --

      Research shows that stone, also called rock, is the most popular of the three possible moves in the game. That means that your opponent is likely to choose paper, because they will expect to you to start the game with stone. By going with scissors, you achieve an early victory.

    • How to Set Up a Portable Personal Nerve Center --

      You can get the best of both worlds by setting up a web-based Personal Nerve Center (PNC) and making it ubiquitous and redundant so it's available from anywhere, even offline.

    • Charisma versus Innovation --

      I wonder if there is a trend in blog reading that we like nicely packaged, un-challenging, charming blogs, just like the tabloid celebrity culture we are all familiar with.

      Not for everybody.

    • Why Self Actualization Requires Exercise --

      Maslow's advice is more applicable today than it ever has been. Maintaining our physical health is absolutely necessary to keep our journey towards self-actualization on a firm foundation. Make the investment in your physical health, and you will continually receive dividends throughout the other facets of your life.

    • Intelligence Redefined: Are You A Gifted Person?

      In the process of lauding top scorers and scholarship winners we may be crowding out those who actually have advanced and complex patterns of development but just don't fit the system's definition of 'top students'.

      Just make sure to have the one to asses be someone who is either absolutely intelligent (doesn't exist) or one who has completely overcome ego (wouldn't assess other's intelligence)...

    • Hack Yourself --

      You can be happy. You can live the life you want to live. You can become the person you want to be. This is what I've figured out so far.

      Hacking yourself? The following comes up every year or so, but still --

    • Drugs to Build up That Mental Muscle --

      Despite the potential side effects, academics, classical musicians, corporate executives, students and even professional poker players have embraced the drugs to clarify their minds, improve their concentration or control their emotions.

    That's it. It's over. Time flies. See you soon.

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  • WOWOW: The Kids Edition [Links of the Week]

    edited by Alexander Becker

    Square watermelons this week, a bunch of nested lists, the what and the where, and something for the kids, from Steve Jobs and Bill Gates -- no, not the fisticuffs...

    Brainstorming

    • ... discovering blog topics, yes, but even more, following your excellence works this same exact way --

    • The Reverse-Process Technique of Discovering Blog Topics --

      Have a good think about the activities and events in your own routine, what can you find that gets results, sets you apart, or might be interesting then drill right down. Think from the point of view of a curious prospect and you might be surprised how many topic ideas you can think of!

    • Also, compare mindmaps here and there, where Hundreds of Post Ideas for Your Blog create the luxury of selecting the best and most appropriate ones --

      The key when you do it is to let your creativity run wild (because it can take you in some wonderful directions) but then to be ruthless in culling ideas that don't actually add anything to your blog. Remember - everything that you post on your blog either adds to or takes away from your blog's perceived value - so not everything that you come up with should make it through to the front page of your blog.

    • Ultimately, make sure to keep it in check: Master Your Muse and Multiply Your Blogging Effectiveness

    • Square Watermelon Problem Solving is one more instance of the common uncommon --

      Been there, done that: Believe it or not, your problem has most likely been encountered by others. This could be other companies, other departments within your company, even the guy sitting next you right now. Seek out those that have had similar issues and study their response. You shouldn't necessarily mimic what others have done, but clearly there is something to be said for taking an idea and customizing it so that it solves your problem.

    • ... with a mention of TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving), which 40 principles I happen to use, printed on small index cards --

      Two basic principles in TRIZ maintain that:

      1. Somebody, someplace, has already solved your problem or one similar to it. Creativity means finding that solution and adapting it to the current problem.
      2. Don't accept compromises. Eliminate them.

    Knowledge Units

    • Speaking of already solved problems: Google to Wikipedia: "Knol" thine enemy --

      The system is called "Knol" -- which refers to a "knowledge unit" -- and it will let anyone create, edit, and profit from creating a page packed with information on a specific topic.

    What to do and How

    • Triple Your Productivity Tomorrow on a --

      Project-Kill Day. This is a day where I am at my most productive state. I set aside large amounts of time to kill off the projects on my to-do list and get ahead. I've found, if you plan it properly, you can make tomorrow up to 3 times as productive as ordinary days.

    • From the Duh-department, but still --

      Provide Context for Better Ubiquitous Capture

      If it's worth capturing, it's worth capturing well, so take the extra couple seconds to remind yourself what the hell you were thinking about.

    Where to Get and How

    • Should You Write a Personal Mission Statement?

      Absolutely --

      Your personal mission statement should be a concise representation of what's most important to you, what you desire to focus on, what you want to achieve, and, ultimately, who you want to become. In its purest form, it's an approach to your life, one that allows you to identify a focus of energy, creativity, and vision in living a life in support of your inner-most beliefs and values.

      [...]

      A great personal mission statement is one that inspires you, motivates you, and offers you the opportunity for continued happiness and fulfillment.

      Making you look even better.

    • While we're here --

      Achieving Your Dream: How to Take the First Step

      Don't --

      • Wait until the situation is perfect.
      • Wait until other people agree with you.
      • Wait until your skill is good.

      Do --

      • Believe in your dream.
      • Visualize your dream.
      • Expect a hard way ahead.
      • Take one bite at a time.

      In other words: Baby steps are still all the rage -- la rage, that is........

    • Tony Soprano's Top 11 Tips for Success

      Three out of eleven --

      • The smartest route isn't always the easiest one -- in most cases there will be multiple paths to obtaining your goals. Instead of going with the easy route, you need to go with the smart route.
      • Think things over -- if you are angry or desperate you probably start acting based off your instincts in hopes of satisfying your feelings. Instead of acting on things right away, start thinking things over because then you will be able to act based on logic instead of on feelings.
      • Don't show off -- there is nothing wrong with buying nice things every once in a while but don't buy something just to show off. Although attention is good, if you are someone worth knowing sooner or later people will get to know you. People who just show off draw too much attention and in many cases are hated by others due to jealousy.

    • Why I Started Punching Jerks Again

      Is there a chance that we would have fewer AK-47-toting high schoolers if it were socially acceptable to take of a glove, slap it across an offender's face, and issue the good 'ol Sir, you have insulted my honor challenge? I think a little fisticuffs would do most men a world of good, giving options to the masses who put up with too much, consequences to loudmouthed idiots who would then think twice, and a release valve to a gender that otherwise comes up with far worse things to do to men, women, wives, and children.

      Don't miss the comments. Very insightful and they prove the point. Either point.

      Do what is right. You decide.

    Kids Corner

    • 5 Signs That You Have Settled --

      So all this begs the question: what do I do if I have settled? As Steve Jobs said in the same speech: if you haven't found it yet, keep looking... As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.

    • Bill Gates: The skills you need to succeed --

      • A solid working knowledge of productivity software and other IT tools has become a basic foundation for success in virtually any career.
      • Beyond that, however, I don't think you can overemphasize the importance of having a good background in maths and science.
      • Communication skills and the ability to work well with different types of people are very important too.

    Don't settle.

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  • WOWOW: The Fighting Unpopularity Edition [Links of the Week]

    edited by Alexander Becker

    This week's links come somehow math-centric, with tips on subscribing, making money, latkes and the problem with becoming EX-WOW. Also, impressing your friends (hey!) and the art of taking notes.

    • Subscribing... I think I quote the whole thing except for the feed-URL which I replace with this blog's feed --

      If you're not currently reading your blogs through a reader, I highly recommend it. It's possible to go through a hundred blog posts in four or five minutes once you get good at it. When you click on the Subscribe link (in the left right column on this blog) you will see a list of available readers. Google Reader and Bloglines are quite popular.

    • 6 Steps to Making Money Because of Your Blog ... where the word because is the focus of attention --

      4. Give away the principles and Sell the Personalization -- I spoke with an author and business coach recently who does a fair few Media appearances to promote his work and he told me that his strategy is to give away as much general advice as possible when he's on TV or Radio in the hope that people will buy his books and come to him for coaching when they want to know how to apply it to their own lives. I think that this is a great strategy for bloggers also. A blog is a great place to spread the word of what you have to offer. Teach people the principles of what you know -- but make yourself available to those who want to take it further and apply it to their own situation.

    • Impressing your friends with mental Math tricks, how cool is that?

      Nine ideas that will hopefully get you to look at arithmetic as a game, one in which you can see patterns among numbers and pick then apply the right trick to quickly doing the calculation.

    • While on the subject: What is Lifehack x 2?

      One: How to Move Forward Once You Achieve a Big Goal ... or how to avoid becoming EX-WOW --

      What do you do once you achieve your big goal and make it to the top? This can become a big problem if it looks like the only way you can go is down. Professional athletes and aging celebrities all face this issue. The problem can be one of maintaining the position if this is what you want or figuring out where to go next while avoiding a big let down.

      Two: The Top 4 Misapplications of the 80/20 Rule --

      1. 80 + 20 = 100

      The 80/20 rule argues that 20% of the input creates 80% of the output. Inputs and outputs aren't the same thing, and therefore can't be made into the same pie chart. The 80/20 Rule could just as easily been called The 55/3 Rule, if 55% of the results were created by 3% of the inputs.

      Don't get caught up on the numbers. Both 80 and 20 are just examples of one type of uneven balances. The fact that they add up to 100 is a coincidence.

      See also The Pareto Principle vs. the Necessity of the Unnecessary and a review of The Dip by Seth Godin.

    • How do you counter the threat of unpopularity? The EX-WOW issue is an issue for you too: Want to become famous? Then stop trying! --

      Be yourself -- the most important part about creating your personal brand is that it represents you. If people don't like who you are or if they have a problem with you, then that is their problem and not yours.

    • How to Take Notes Like an Alpha-Geek or Ferriss-notes, if you want to. The key to taking notes is an indexing system you can rely on --

      Information is useful only to the extent that you can find it when you need it. Most of us have the experience of note proliferation—notes on the backs of envelopes, billing statements, hotel paper, etc. -- that somehow never gets consolidated. Consolidate and create an index.

      The culprit of taking notes is that you dump the information from memory to paper; you are able to memorize hundreds of telephone numbers but when it comes to remembering the ones you saved directly to your cellphone you're stuck: It's either/or; once it is on paper, it's off your mind, good or bad?

    • Also, what is the secret to making great potato latkes?

      We found that the starchier the potato, the crisper the latke.

    Happy holidays and enjoy your vices....

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