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Outsourcing My Life 2 - Loic's RunCast Comments

This is becoming funnier and funnier. Loic just posted his RunCast with comments and and a new challenge to me as a follow-up from my previous Outsourcing My Life 2. Now I have been challenged to comment on Le Web 3 in RunCast format too! Don't worry. A RunCast with Outsourcing My Life 3 will come too now with comments on Le Web 3. And Loic, what about turning peoples VideoCast on Le Web 3 into an actual Advisory Cast Board? Stay tuned to the RunCast, SwimCast and PoolCast too.. Technorati Tags: loiclemeur , leweb3 , netanel , outsourcing, entrepreneurs, video

Outsourcing My Life

Inspired by Timothy Ferris book "The 4 Hour Workweek" and AJ Jacobs, editor-at-large at Esquire magazine, I have just taken the first steps to outsource my life. Being a Swede/Israeli living in Israel, running the business of Maxthon, based in China while spending lots of time on the road especially in the US and running Mashup Media can be quite a challenge. 

So when I heard Timothy Ferriss speak at the Web 2.0 Expo last month I got inspired. I have always been of the opinion that you don't need to run around, answer all your emails and talk on the phone all the time to get real results. I never picked up the book, but today I stumbled upon Timothy's website and read the account of how AJ Jacobs outsourced his life.

This is music to my ears! I just know that this is the right thing todo. I immediately contacted Brickwork
, and now I am sitting here all excited waiting to take the first step in oursourcing my life. I already work on a daily basis with China, US and Europe, so why not add India to the sauce as well? I've always loved a good curry.

I will let you know how it goes as the story develops..

The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more are left to be done.

Tao Te Ching

Let the story begin..

Technorati Tags: Outsourcing, Timothy Ferris, 4 hour week, AJ Jacobs, Esquire, Brickwork, Maxthon, Mashupmedia, Lifehacks, India

My Personal Google Search History

I just checked my personal search history on Google and it's quite fascinating. I learned the following about my search habits that I didn't have any clue of:

1. I search mostly during January and November
2. I search mostly on Thursday followed by Wednesday
3. My search activity is at peak at 2pm

What are your search habits? A quick analysis of this seems to imply that I am search mostly during the winter months, my search activities are mostly intensive towards the end of the week (in Israel Thursday IS Friday) when I have got the most important stuff done and I have more free time. Finally, I my search activities reaches its peak a 2pm - that is after lunch when I am more relaxed and I am in a discovery mood.

Technorati Tags: Google, Search, puppy

Traditional Media Dead? Not Yet - 10 New Uses For Newspaper

With the advent of citizen journalism, blogging, twitters, youtubers and the overall fragmentation of news, traditional media is trying hard to find new ways or not being irrelevant. Here are 10 new uses for newspaper:

1. Deodorize food containers. Stuff a balled-up piece of newspaper into a lunch box or thermos, seal it, and let sit overnight.
2. Ripen tomatoes. Wrap them individually and leave them out at room temperature.
3. Pack delicate items. Wrap frames and figurines with several pieces of newspaper, then crumple the remaining sections to fill extra space in the box.
4. Wipe away tough streaks on glass. Use newspaper with cleaning fluid to clean mirrors and windows.
5. Preserve antique glass. Some older frames have finishes on the glass that can be damaged by cleaning solutions. Remove smudges by rubbing with newspaper dipped in a solution of one part white vinegar and one part warm water. Let air-dry.
6. Dry shoes. Place crumpled paper in them overnight.
7. Wrap gifts. Use the comics to wrap a child’s birthday gift, or try the wedding announcements for an engagement gift.
8. Create a home for slushy snow boots. During the winter, keep a pile of newspaper near the entryway. When your little snowmen and -women come home, they can toss their winter wear onto the newspaper instead of creating puddles on the floor.
9. Prepare a garden. In the fall, mow a patch of lawn to make room for a dedicated bed. Cover it with four layers of newspaper, then a four-inch layer of shredded leaves or bark mulch. Hose it down. Come spring, the compost blanket will have smothered the grass roots, and the bed will be primed for planting.
10. Keep the refrigerator vegetable drawer dry and free of smells. Line the bottom with newspaper.

Who said that newspapers are dead? The above proves that they can be really useful in daily life. Soon coming : 10 New users for TV and Radio.

The above 10 points were found here but in a totally different context...

Technorati Tags: Lifehacks, Media, New Media, Newspaper, 10 new uses, puppy, TV

The Office: Stealing From the Best

 

Paul Kedrosky posted this fascinating BBC Documentary about the origins of the Office.  From the conversation between Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the series's creators they admit that they they stole ideas from everybody, and especially the best.

Ricky Gervais: We ripped off the best.
Stephen Merchant: No, there's not one new idea in that whole goddamn show.
Rick Gervais: We ripped off Laurel & Hardy, The Simpsons, Spinal Tap, and what was the other one you said?
Stephen Merchant: Woody Allen. Larry Sanders.
Ricky Gervais: We ripped them all off.
Stephen Merchant: And we got away with it.

I actually had a colleague when I was working for a start-up in London that not only looked exactly like David Brant but actually was like him in real life...That was quite an experience to say the least.

   Anyway, the bottom-line here is that you can create something really successful by "stealing" from the best and just serve it in a different way..

Technorati Tags: BBC The Office, Fun, Humor, Ricky Gervais, The Office

The $15 IKEA Guitar!

I love this story! Zachary created an electric guitar out of an $15 IKEA table! I don't know if it is the Swede or the musician in me, but this is so cool.

Zachary seems to be very pleased himself with this work:

This is one of the most interesting guitars I ever built and it is also one of the best.The action is great, the tone is unbelievable, the neck is super fast, tuning stability is as good as it gets. In short, everything just worked out great on this guitar. This amazingly figured top is from Ikea Furnishings. I bought one of their unfinished end tables for $15 and I can get three guitar tops from it. What a shame that they would use such amazing "tone-wood" for their cheap furniture. Its a sacrilege.I introduce several new things in this guitar. I use DiMarzio Virtual P90 pickups for the first time and I love them. They are powerful and have a lot of guts. Its some kind of a midrange tone which screams Texas blues and Billy Gibbons.

Something about Zachary tells me that he should be a Maxthon user..

The one thing that does not appear from the story is what table did he use? You know all the IKEA stuff carries swedish names. Was it the table Oskar or Rasmus? Anyway, I am eagerly awaiting for the next IKEA hack..

Oh, and if you have checked out the IKEA Hacker go there now - a wonderful blog dedicated to IKEA hacks for all of us who grew up in IKEA land ;)

Technorati Tags: Cool, IKEA, IKEA Guitar, IKEA Hacker, IKEA Hacks, Music, the art of the pitc, Zacharyguirars

Learning About Learning

I have been thinking a lot lately about what the most important skills that I can teach my children as they grow up. I have reached the following conclusion:

1. To treat others like you would like them to treat you (old Jewish wisdom ;)
2. Learning about learning
3. To be curious
4. To be passionate about what you do

The first one is is obviously the most important. But what I want to emphasize here is: learning about learning. In my eternal quest for knowledge and experience be it in academia, personal development or business (I prefer to see them all as part of one...) I have come to realize that the most important skill set today is to learn about learning i.e. learn how we acquire knowledge learn all kinds of heuristics and techniques for acquiring knowledge. Since I have a background in Psychology learning about some of these heuristics were a part of my curriculum, still it took me some years to realize how important they really are.

Once you have learned all kinds of techniques for learning, your capacity for learning almost anything is enormous. It doesn't really matter what the subject is: medicine, physics, philosophy or business. Coupled with curiosity  and the passion to learn - you have all the necessary tools you need to get by.

I would even go so far as to suggest to make "learning about learning" a mandatory part of any schools curriculum. Children are very curious by nature and building on that, learning about learning is something that they would absorbed like a sponge. Obviously, it has to be taught in a fun way and stimulating manner.

Having kicked off the subject, I will start sharing some books, techniques etc that I have found very helpful in learning about learning. What tools do you use?

Technorati Tags: , Cognition, Cognition, Learning, Creativity, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy

Singer Makes Music Video on Nokia N93

Last year. when I worked on the Anyfilms.net campaign together with Hyper Happen for Samsung Mobile, I covered how the new vide enabled cellphones is changing or is going to change the way movies & videos are produced and consumed. Now PSFK, is reporting about how singer Robert Dickinson, has made a music video of his song "Oceans" on a Nokia N93 phone.

The video is very good actually. This will certainly not be the last one produced by a mobile. Check out the Anyfilms Blog I ran (no longer active though) for more on coverage on the cross-over between movie making and cellphones..

Do you know of other music videos or movie shot on cellphones?

Technorati Tags: Anyfilms, Hyper Happen, Mobile, Movies, N93, Nokia, Rob Dickinson, Spreadsheets

Susan Wu @ CRV is Blogging Too

A month ago I had the pleasure to meet with Susan Wu, new associate with CRV. Today I noticed that she started to blog too. Susan is really bright and I especially paid attention to a blog post she made on StartCamp: the Art of the Pitch.

Susan highlights two key takeaways on "How to pitch to VCs"

1. Though the process may seem labyrinthine and intimidating, we VCs are just human beings.
   
   2. Your customers are all human beings. Even if you are building super high tech widgets[1], your customers are still human beings.

I could not agree more with her. I think many entrepreneurs many times forget that at the end of the day, we are all human beings - sharing the same basic needs, fears and prone to err.

Susan urges entrepreneurs to "help" VC to help them frame their thinking. I think this is a very important lesson. Since I have a deep background in Psychology (before I defected to business ;), I know how important it is to frame thinking.

You can have the most brilliant idea or technology, but if you can't make others understand it - what good will it do?

I really recommend anybody, to learn about framing, in order to learn how to facilitate the thinking process. A basic course in Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) will can also be extremely helpful for this purpose. It's money well spend and will be helpful in many other areas besides pitching to VCs.

Great post Susan - keep the coming! :) BTW, thanks to Susan's blog I learned about Snowcrash, a book I will pick-up on my next trip.

Technorati Tags: Charles River Ventures, CRV, Framing, NLP, Susan Wu, Quickstart, Snowcrash, StartupCamp, the art of the pitc, Venture Capital