Markus said...

A user sent this. I’m glad that somebody finally figured out what happened to Privacy in WhatsApp’s DNA. 😌

Having read some of the comments on Twitter today, I decided I need to talk to you about something very serious. Pass it on. https://telegra.ph/Beware-of-T-03-25

A little productivity lifehack, in case you're into analog stuff as much as I am: - Set the timer on your phone (or watch, or ) to 15 minutes. - Write today's tasks on a notepad/page (a .txt file also works, but it's much less fun than an actual piece of…

A little productivity lifehack, in case you're into analog stuff as much as I am: - Set the timer on your phone (or watch, or ) to 15 minutes. - Write today's tasks on a notepad/page (a .txt file also works, but it's much less fun than an actual piece of paper lying on the table next to you). - Draw a dustbin (for wasting time on junk you weren't supposed to be doing) and a couch (for having a legitimate and relaxing break). - Do stuff. - Mark tasks with a check as you finish them. - Whenever the timer ends: put some marks next to the stuff you've been doing in the last 15 minutes (I use a dot for ~5 minutes; 3 dots combine vertically into a line for 15 minutes; 4 lines are circled and make up a full hour) - Set a new timer for 15 minutes, stand up, (take off your glasses if you're wearing any), move around a little, assume proper posture again. - Ask yourself: what was I supposed to be doing? - Do more stuff. On second thought, this hack doesn't look so little when laid out like that. But it sure gives you some good stats to reflect upon at the end of the day. OK, another hack: Most days, you don't have THAT many different kinds of stuff to do. For this reason, I usually make a new headline in my "Book of Work" once a week (e.g., "Week of June, 18") instead of having a separate list for each day. - Add stuff under the headline as described above. - At the end of the week, mark all unfinished stuff with an X. - Write a short summary of the most important stuff you've done, not necessarily selected from the tasks on the page. - (If this is important, also briefly mention the things you couldn't accomplish. I usually leave that info for the monthly summary; things you've been trying to do for a month and couldn't are worth noticing.) - Start a new week. - If you need to finish something from last week, write it again under the new headline. This way you'll always have firm ground under your feet – and solid results to get back to and feel inspired (instead of feeling that an entire week went by, wasted on doing who knows what). OK. This post took almost twice-15-minutes to write. Let's walk around the table and get back to the real stuff...

Finding imperfection is easy – and sometimes useful, inasmuch as it helps you discover how you could do better. But practice also finding the good in even imperfect objects. Learning to salvage beauty from everything that surrounds us is as much harder, as it is more valuable. (This skill also makes you a better conversation partner – after all, grumbling is only fun when you’re the one who’s grumbling.)

As seen on an elevator wall: YOU ARE A SLAVE OF THE (SYSTEM is already crossed out and FIRE ALARM written instead)

If there's a hell and I ever get there, the first thing they'll ask of me will be to come up with a list of rules for who gets in and who doesn't. And then with another list of clarifications for an infinity or two of borderline cases.

Read this when you have a moment. Then read what's in there when you have a month or two. They're good. http://telegra.ph/Recommended-Reading-01-31

How terrorists can use encrypted messaging apps and what all of us can do about it: http://telegra.ph/Dont-Shoot-the-Messenger

Just in case you missed the news last week: http://telegra.ph/whatsapp-backdoor-01-16

Finished "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson today. It's funny how American authors are rarely satisfied with merely creating imaginary worlds and, having established them, immediately dip them into chaos. Dream landscapes, visions, parallel realities, twisted time travel, collective conscience, total break down of order, civil wars, you know the drill. Zelazny, Gibson, Stephenson, Herbert to a degree, and Philipp Dick above all else, the devourer of his own worlds. A strange culture-wide fascination with dismantling systems once they've grown past a certain point rather than seeing them unfold, and grow, and bloom. A pessimistic trait, if not outright paranoid. Doesn't mean I didn't like the book though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age

Morphine is a nice extension that will help you stay focused on whatever you're doing: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/morphine/fbnpehpbojenlldmfcopeajkichnnjpo?hl=en - You choose a list of websites that often distract you and get in the way of getting things done. - The extension blocks them so you can't open them just like that. Then comes the twist: - While you're online, you accumulate "minutes" (by default you get 1 minute per 10 minutes spent doing something different). - You can spend your stockpiled minutes to access websites on your blacklist for a while. - When you open a blacklisted page, you can choose how much of your "saved time" you want to spend there. - Once the allotted time runs out, the site becomes blocked again. Very simple, very flexible, very useful. Bonus: This extension only requires the rights to "read your browser history," which is important. Never install extensions that can "read and change all your data on the websites you visit."