Need some saftey signs? Check out the
Safety Sign Builder, a nifty little gadget that lets you build up your own safety signs. Why? Beyond the obvious, the collection of icons are a great lesson in simple, concicse communicative design. And its just plain fun.
Heres a big grab bag of interesting stuff that I’ve been collecting.
Windows security is always an issue. 5 years ago Microsoft made lesser priveliged user accounts viable with the release of Windows 2000. Unfortunately most software assumes that the user is running with full control of his machine and makes using a limited privelige account difficult. However, using a lowered set of priveliges prevents many virus, spyware and malware infections and significantly reduces support issues. Nonadmin.editme.com is a site dedicated to utilities and knowledge for making the most troublesome applications work in a limited permisions environment. CPAU is another utility to help in the process.
We’d all like to be able to remember stuff better, whether it is things we need to get done or peoples names. Memory Master appears to be a collection of techniques and exercises on improving your memory. Now if I can only remember to get around to fully reading it.
Computerized calendars are certainly useful and web based ones even more so. Monkey Calendar looks like it is exploring some interesting and useful interface refinements, certainly something to watch.
I’ve come to regret not paying attention in English class, the ability to write clearly and concisely is still very useful in the day and age of text messaging and IM technologies. I found 50 tips which can help you in Writing and already feel like I’ve improved. Of course, there are quite a few that could still help me there.
Google has certainly made the internet better by giving us the ability to find what we want on it. At times though, it is difficult to pick out the exact bit of page we need through all the pages that are out there. The Google Advanced Operators Cheat Sheet gives a quick list of some of the tools that are available to use Google to its full potential.
What do you do when your web site or web server is acting up? DnsStuff.com, Candidinfo’s resouce page and Internet Supervision all help to track issues down.
A big congratulations to Wilbur and Jessica, who were married tonight in Reno!
Wilbur called me this afternoon to see if I could make it up, he said he was probably going to elope. No flights were available so I couldn’t make it but I’m still very happy for the both of them. His two boys were there, along with my parents and my brother Sam and his wife. I’m supposed to have pictures and video sometime…
Every instrument needs a virtuoso and the ukulele is no exception. Jake Shimabukuro takes the Ukulele far beyond the little 4 string instrument you played with in grade school because you were too small to hold a guitar. Take a look at Jake playing Gearge Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Scott Berkun has a collection of essays including a great one on Why smart people defend bad ideas. It’s certainly something I’ve done before to my detriment and it is something I’ve seen in others that I’ve tried (and failed) to avoid.
The problem with smart people is that they like to be right and sometimes will defend ideas to the death rather than admit they’re wrong. This is bad. Worse, if they got away with it when they were young (say, because they were smarter than their parents, their friends, and their parent’s friends) they’ve probably built an ego around being right, and will therefore defend their perfect record of invented righteousness to the death. Smart people often fall into the trap of preferring to be right even if it’s based in delusion, or results in them, or their loved ones, becoming miserable.