Links: 2-26-2012

  • » 24 February 2012, baked by Ben Ward @ The Pastry Box Project
    Quote: "We must recover our sanity where 100 million users does not represent the goal criteria of every new service. We must recover the mindset where a service used by 10,000 users, or 1,000 users, or 100 users is *admired, respected, and praised* for its actual success. All of those could be sustainable, profitable ventures. If TechCrunch doesn’t care to write about you, all the better."
    (categories: business startups value )

Links: 2-22-2012

  • You Can’t Motivate People
    Quote: "The great entrepreneurs I know work incredibly hard at creating environments that are motivating. They don’t pound away at the specific task of “motivating people”, rather they pay attention to creating context, removing barriers, being supportive, putting the right people in the room, and leading by doing. All of these things create a context in which people are motivated."
    (categories: motivation people management )

Links: 2-21-2012

  • Did You Hear We Got Osama? | roshfu
    That’s when I learned an important truth about news. Whether it’s TechCrunch, The New York Times, Wired, or Fox News: their job isn’t to educate or inform you, it’s to entertain you. You’re not reading them because you think you’ll be more knowledgable and informed, you’re reading them because you want to be distracted – because consuming has a more immediate reward than creating.
    (categories: noise filtering culture news life )

Links: 2-13-2012

  • John’s Tumblr • David Ogilvy, internal memo: “How to Write,” 1982:…
    “David Ogilvy, internal memo: “How to Write,” 1982: The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather. People who think well, write well. Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches. Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints: 1. Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times. 2. Write the way you talk. Naturally. 3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs. 4. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass. 5. Never write more than two pages on any subject. 6. Check your quotations. 7. Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning – and then edit it. 8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it. 9. Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do. 10. If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.”
    (categories: writing communication management )

  • The Perpetual, Invisible Window Into Your Gmail Inbox – Waxy.org
    On OAuth, security and apps.
    (categories: google oauth privacy security )

Links: 2-2-2012

  • The Kingdom (2007) – Memorable quotes
    Quote: "You know, Westmoreland made all of us officers write our own obituaries during Tet, when we thought The Cong were gonna end it all right there. And, once we clued into the fact that life is finite, the thought of losing it didn’t scare us anymore. The end comes no matter what, the only thing that matters is how do you wanna go out, on your feet or on your knees? I bring that lesson to this job. I act, knowing that someday this job will end, no matter what. You should do the same. "
    (categories: quotes life work )