Profane but true quote of the day

[W]hen you work with assholes, you don’t change them for the better, they change you into an asshole.
–Bob Sutton (whose blog hosts a wealth of information about assholes; I think every office should have a copy of his book, The No Asshole Rule) via Chris Yeh
As the a-bomb quotient on this post is so high, […]

I’m going to LA for the Oscars

Okay, so I’m going to be watching them on TV at Cathy Seipp’s house, but still! (LA Times opinion editor Matt Welch and Emmanuelle Richard, who will be covering the Oscars for French TV on Sunday, have been kind enough to open up their guest room to me for my visit. I don’t think poor […]

Quote to remember

Perfectionism is the highest order of self-abuse.
Source unknown; thanks to Ashley Judd for this one.

Lauren Booth: Argh

This woman makes me break out in hives. Reading this article - where, for once, she doesn’t mention that Cherie Blair is her sister - I cringed about a thousand times. Lauren, it’s pretty easy:
1) Hire someone to do the cleaning and ironing. Even in London, you can easily find someone to do this for […]

The new web in five minutes

It’s the fastest five minutes I’ve ever spent on YouTube, interestingly, and really cheered me up. I’d love to show this (via Guido) to all of the people who love to tell me how there’s nothing especially interesting or earth-shattering about what we are now doing online. Oh, really?

“A room full of people trying to use each other”

I think this, via Hugh, goes a long way towards explaining why I tend to avoid ‘networking’ events like Britney avoids underwear, and why I take the same approach as Fredd:

I don’t bother “networking” anymore, instead, I try to build relationships with people I find interesting, and who I think are doing interesting things. And […]

Team Niall

I was a bit surprised to see two of the nicest guys I’ve met in Silicon Valley, Robert Scoble and Niall Kennedy, having an online tussle today. As you’d expect with these two, they’re fighting pretty clean. How disappointing. (Kidding…kind of.)
Microsoft violated the Creative Commons licence under which Niall posted a picture on Flickr, using […]

Career counselling for non-dummies

Brian Micklethwait has done the world a favour and blogged a little of his career counselling wisdom. I know a few people who have sought Brian’s help on career matters, and all have sung his praises. (I think it helps that he’s not afraid to call bullshit, but is also encouraging of enthusiasm. The combination […]

Worrying about future worries: A total freak’s tale

There is something very restorative about taking a few hours to do all of the “I’ll get to that later” online tasks that build up like so much tartar in the blink of an eye. Tonight I was digging the online dirt about certain companies for a family member (stay away from TotalProtect!), answering non-urgent, […]

There is no work/life balance; there is only life

Today I:
1) had a manicure, pedicure, and other girly treatments
2) had a massage
3) had acupuncture
4) bought wheatgrass juice, aduki bean sprouts, and nettle tea, and ate homemade vegetarian chilli for lunch
5) did an hour’s workout
6) did a lot of fun stuff for which I will be paid.
Apart from the scary realisation that I am turning […]

Expertise: The real blogging business model

I am a huge, huge fan of the Techdirt crew and the work they do. I have happily flown 20+ hours round-trip to take part in their Techdirt Greenhouse event, and will do so for the next one (whenever it is). Now, the Techdirt guys have launched what sounds like a pretty cool new business, […]

Blog posts from the edge

Good to be back in the UK. Lots to process, including the sick feeling I got this morning at Heathrow when I spotted three guys hovered together beside the baggage carousel, hunched over their Crackberries, thumbs a blur, mainlining connectivity. I was riveted by the sight of them, and the pang of recognition of myself […]

“Parallel reinvention and management argumentation”

Sorry, I can’t resist pointing out this gem, a collaborative effort between Adriana Lukas and Sun Microsystems’ Alec Muffett: The process of introducing and implementing stuff that actually works in companies. Should hit close to home for anyone who’s been told by IT that the best and most preferred tool won’t see the light of […]

Managing my spontaneous fun

When I decided to give up salaried work for the freelance and non-profit life, one of my goals was to read more books. I’m doing fine on that. My favourite of late has been Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, which I loved and did not want to end. Sittenfeld is only a year older than me, […]