Tag Archives: work

Set Up Your Own Google-Style 20-Percent Time to Try New Projects [Motivation]

Google lets its employees spend one day each work week focusing on their own projects, a practice that's delivered 50% of Google's offerings , including Gmail. Tech blog WebWorkerDaily suggests mixing up your work schedule by setting aside your own 20-percent time. More
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Is Canada’s iPod tax back? And if so, will BJ Snowden get her cut?

We know, BJ Snowden is an American artist -- but since her song "In Canada" is probably on every iPod and computer up north, we have to wonder whether a proposed amendment to the Canadian Copyright act will help her finally get what's coming to her. The brainchild of the New Democratic Party's Charlie Angus, the bill would extend 1997's Private Copying Levy "to the next generation of devices that consumers are using for copying sound recordings for personal use." Proponents of the plan says that it ensures that artists get paid for their work -- essentially, the government wants you to pay upfront for the music you're likely to steal anyways by taxing your next digital audio player purchase. Of course, much about the plan doesn't make sense (it doesn't address digital video, for instance, or the computers that people use to download and store their music in the first place) but we guess we'll let the Canadian government hash that one out. This is obviously not a new idea, and it is one the courts have rejected already, but who knows? Maybe this time it will "take." Lets hope not, eh? Continue reading Is Canada's iPod tax back? And if so, will BJ Snowden get her cut? Is Canada's iPod tax back? And if so, will BJ Snowden get her cut? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Xbox 360 ‘Valhalla’ motherboard leaked on Chinese forum?

Been to the gym lately? If not, then let this be your new motivation. What we're looking at here is a purportedly forthcoming Xbox 360 motherboard redesign that takes aim at slimming down the portly figure of Microsoft 's console. Sure, there's a small chance that this diet could be the work of a scarily talented console modder , but it'd still be a near-impossible task to work in what appears to be a CPU / GPU combo chip (pictured after the break) under that greatly reduced heatsink. Note that there's also an extra SATA port at the top left corner. Perhaps this is the " Valhalla " revision that we've all been waiting for ? On a related note, Microsoft is currently hiring a Motherboard Design Engineer for the Xbox 360 Console Development team, with such saucy tasks as "specifying, designing, implementing and verifying the mother-board and other various sub-system boards that make up the XBOX 360 product line." Feel free to sign up if you think you can hack out a better motherboard. Continue reading Xbox 360 'Valhalla' motherboard leaked on Chinese forum? Xbox 360 'Valhalla' motherboard leaked on Chinese forum? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Five Foot Lego Blackberry Adds Punchline Functionality [BlackBerry]

We're no strangers to the work of Lego master Nathan Sawaya , but his latest creation achieved the impossible: making a Blackberry exciting. It incorporates a working flat screen TV for comfortably displaying video. Clearly he took some artistic liberties. More
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Use Two Computers to Keep Your Work and Home Life Totally Separate [Productivity]

It's hard for a lot of us to separate our work and home lives under the best of circumstances. When you work from home it's even more difficult, but blogger Pat Flynn found a method that works for him. More
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Keep Your Daily Momentum Going With a 10/15 Split [Work]

One of the toughest aspects of staying productive is overcoming the ups and downs of motivation. Spending 10 minutes getting organized in the morning, then 15 minutes again in the evening, can help even out your daily go-get-'em energy. More
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Lifehacker’s Looking for a New Writer [Announcements]

Think you've got what it takes to join Team Lifehacker? That's good, because we're on the hunt for a new writer to join the crew. You could be a great fit if: You love and understand a lot about technology, and have a knack for tinkering with software and bending gear to your will. (Bonus points for command line/programming junkies in general.) You know how to slap together nouns, verbs, and the occasional em dash and enjoy a good href . You can deliver clean, crisp, and informed takes on everything from software and web sites to food and personal finance. You're creative, and you've got all kinds of ideas that would make for great Lifehacker features . (We particularly love a good how-to feature .) You're ambitious, looking to make a name for yourself, and are prepared to work hard . I'm emphasising the work hard part because Lifehacker is a job that does require some serious hours and dedication. But it's also a great place to work. If you think you may be a good fit, send an email to tips at lifehacker.com with "Lifehacker Job Application" in the subject. Don't include any attachments. Do include your Lifehacker commenter ID if you have one, along with anything else you've written, Lifehacker-y ideas you have that you think would make you a good fit, or anything else you think might wow us. The position we're looking to fill is part-to-full time and pays accordingly. We're expecting a lot of submissions, so we won't be able to respond to each email individually; rest assured that your interest is much appreciated.
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Lifehacker’s Looking for a New Writer [Announcements]

Think you've got what it takes to join Team Lifehacker? That's good, because we're on the hunt for a new writer to join the crew. You could be a great fit if: You love and understand a lot about technology, and have a knack for tinkering with software and bending gear to your will. (Bonus points for command line/programming junkies in general.) You know how to slap together nouns, verbs, and the occasional em dash and enjoy a good href . You can deliver clean, crisp, and informed takes on everything from software and web sites to food and personal finance. You're creative, and you've got all kinds of ideas that would make for great Lifehacker features . (We particularly love a good how-to feature .) You're ambitious, looking to make a name for yourself, and are prepared to work hard . I'm emphasising the work hard part because Lifehacker is a job that does require some serious hours and dedication. But it's also a great place to work. If you think you may be a good fit, send an email to tips at lifehacker.com with "Lifehacker Job Application" in the subject. Don't include any attachments. Do include your Lifehacker commenter ID if you have one, along with anything else you've written, Lifehacker-y ideas you have that you think would make you a good fit, or anything else you think might wow us. The position we're looking to fill is part-to-full time and pays accordingly. We're expecting a lot of submissions, so we won't be able to respond to each email individually; rest assured that your interest is much appreciated.
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Lifehacker’s Looking for a New Writer [Announcements]

Think you've got what it takes to join Team Lifehacker? That's good, because we're on the hunt for a new writer to join the crew. You could be a great fit if: You love and understand a lot about technology, and have a knack for tinkering with software and bending gear to your will. (Bonus points for command line/programming junkies in general.) You know how to slap together nouns, verbs, and the occasional em dash and enjoy a good href . You can deliver clean, crisp, and informed takes on everything from software and web sites to food and personal finance. You're creative, and you've got all kinds of ideas that would make for great Lifehacker features . (We particularly love a good how-to feature .) You're ambitious, looking to make a name for yourself, and are prepared to work hard . I'm emphasising the work hard part because Lifehacker is a job that does require some serious hours and dedication. But it's also a great place to work. If you think you may be a good fit, send an email to tips at lifehacker.com with "Lifehacker Job Application" in the subject. Don't include any attachments. Do include your Lifehacker commenter ID if you have one, along with anything else you've written, Lifehacker-y ideas you have that you think would make you a good fit, or anything else you think might wow us. The position we're looking to fill is part-to-full time and pays accordingly. We're expecting a lot of submissions, so we won't be able to respond to each email individually; rest assured that your interest is much appreciated.
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Improve Meeting Efficiency with a 22-Minute Limit [Meetings]

Meetings don't have to be the bane of the workday existence. Try scheduling them in 22-minute blocks to get more out of them and spend less time hating them. Photo by brianpobuda . Blogger Scott Berkun recommends latching onto Nicole Steinbok 's 22-minute meeting idea as a good metric for sticking to agendas and keeping meetings from becoming a time-sink. Of course, even abbreviated meetings won't work if you don't make good use of the time. Do not, for example, show up at a meeting with a batch of handouts for everyone to dig into. Send required readings 3 days beforehand – The burden is on the organizer to make this small enough that people actually do it. Never ever allow a meeting to be "lets all read the documents together and penalize anyone diligent enough to do their homework". (note: I think 24 hours is plenty). Of course, there may be times when 22 minutes is just not enough time to get things done. The vast majority of meetings, though, could probably be blasted through in even less time. How do you keep your meetings from spiraling into three-hour marathons? Share your hard-earned tactics in the comments. The 22 minute meeting [ScottBerkun.com]
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