mikkelmarius.dk

Playing for the love of the game

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:21:21 +0100

It’s sometime in the 1990’s in a school in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen. We’re playing floorball. My team is losing. We’re growing silent as defeat seems inevitable.

Then one kid gets an idea: What if we just pretend like we’re winning? What if we try to have fun with it and see what happens? It’s true, we have been playing worse since it dawned on us that we were losing. And the other team has played better. Confidence, it seems, does make a pretty big difference.

So we try it. We cheer each other on when we have the ball, we laugh with someone when they miss terribly and when we score we gather around the scorer in a big circle, cheering like we just won the game.

And it seems to work. We’re playing better as individuals and as a team. Soon we’re ahead and the other team seems visibly frustrated. They begin to play worse, to go for goal themselves instead of passing to each other. Their game falls apart as ours comes together. Now they are the silent team.

For some reason this experience has stuck with me. And I came to think of it yesterday when I was reading the excellent Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

McDougall talks a lot about the joy of running. About how the only way to be the best, to be any good, actually, is to love running. Take ultramarathon legend Ann Trason:

But yeah, Ann insisted, running was romantic; and no, of course her friends didn’t get it because they’d never broken through. For them, running was a miserable two miles motivated solely by size 6 jeans: get on the scale, get depressed, get your headphones on, and get it over with. But you can’t muscle through a five-hour run that way; you have to relax into it, like easing your body into a hot bath, until it no longer resists the shock and begins to enjoy it.

Dr. Joe Vigil has been studying runners for decades. He thinks the key to understanding great runners isn’t just about physiology or diet. It’s about the mental aspects:

Vigil had reached the uncomfortable conclusion that all the easy questions had been answered; he was now learning more and more about less and less. He could tell you exactly how much of a head start Kenyan teenagers had over Americans (eighteen thousand miles run in training). He’d discovered why those Russian sprinters were leaping off ladders (besides strengthening lateral muscles, the trauma teaches nerves to fire more rapidly, which decreases the odds of training injuries). He’d parsed the secret of the Peruvian peasant diet (high altitude has a curious effect on metabolism), and he could talk for hours about the impact of a single percentage point in oxygen-consumption efficiency. He’d figured out the body, so now it was on to the brain. Specifically: How do you make anyone actually want to do any of this stuff?

American marathon runners have become quite a bit slower since professional runners have been allowed in the Olympics. People actually perform worse when they get paid to do whatever it is they are doing (research backs this up, see this TED talk for more on the subject). As Christopher McDougall puts it:

Sure, plenty of people will throw up excuses about Kenyans having some kind of mutant muscle fiber, but this isn’t about why other people got faster; it’s about why we got slower. And the fact is, American distance running went into a death spiral precisely when cash entered the equation.

Vigil could smell the apocalypse coming, and he’d tried hard to warn his runners. “There are two goddesses in your heart,” he told them. “The Goddess of Wisdom and the Goddess of Wealth. Everyone thinks they need to get wealth first, and wisdom will come. So they concern themselves with chasing money. But they have it backwards. You have to give your heart to the Goddess of Wisdom, give her all your love and attention, and the Goddess of Wealth will become jealous, and follow you.” Ask nothing from your running, in other words, and you’ll get more than you ever imagined.

In our small way, that was what we discovered during that floorball game back in school. When we stopped focusing on winning or losing and started playing for fun, for the love of the game, we got much better.

I like to remind myself of that story once in a while.

You Are Listening to Los Angeles

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:44:29 +0100

You Are Listening to Los Angeles is a simple site that mixes ambient music with live police radio from various cities (check out New York or Baltimore, for example) for an awesomely creepy effect.

Right now they are doing a Kickstarter project to raise money for an iPhone app. I’m backing it, and you should too!

Five people you should be following on Twitter

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:02:17 +0100

A friend asked me to name five people to follow Twitter. That turned out to be harder than expected because of the staggering amount of awesome people on Twitter. (Which means that if you weren’t included on this list it doesn’t mean you’re not cool.)

These five are all somebody I’ve been following for years and who have consistently given me ideas, inspiration and laughs. Go follow them.

2011: A year in Twitter faves

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:50:58 +0100

MaryHChrist Mary Holy-Christ
In the middle east. Pregnant. On a donkey. FML
24 Dec

madsbrynnum mads brynnum
Udtrykket “at plante sin sæd” er ækelt nok i forvejen, men det er som om Amagermanden lige tog den et skridt videre.
20 Dec

tveskov Bjarne P Tveskov
“Give a man a fish, and you’ve fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you can sell him a ton of accessories.” ukendt oprindelse
20 Dec

Kahrzdn Carsten Jørgensen
Man skal ikke kaste med sæd, når ens far bor i et arresthus.
20 Dec

mikebodge Mike Bodge
Yo sorry im late on this because I’m away, but did Lil Kim die in Korea?!?!?
19 Dec

sween Jason Sweeney
Me: “I wish I was a cat.” My cat: “Believe me, you’re not a cat.” Me: “Then why can I understand you?” My cat: “Mrow?”
19 Dec

macleanbrendan Brendan Maclean
We did it Twitter. We made every Kim Jong-Il joke there was to make. I’m sure North Korea will appreciate it once they get the Internet.
19 Dec

fiskeben Ricco Førgaard
Hvis du fik barn i lørdags så husk på, at barnet KAN være en reinkarnation af Kim Jong-Il.
19 Dec

gaberivera Gabe Rivera
If anyone has a copy of Kim Jong-il narrating “The Crazy Ones”, now would be an excellent time to reveal it.
19 Dec

morgenthaler Jeppe Morgenthaler
Gad vide om Clement nogensinde har hørt et andet menneske sige en hel sætning
18 Dec

Fjelsted Anders Fjelsted
Har altid ment, at hvis Boston Celtics eller LA Lakers trænede håndbold i et år, ville de storsmadre alle. #basketerfedereendhåndbold
17 Dec

beep Ethan Marcotte
Zynga had a $1B IPO today? If you’ll excuse me, I need to procure a mule, some pots, and schematics for a mud hut.
17 Dec

appoulsen Asbjørn Poulsen
Mit barn skal ikke gå i en vuggestue, der har en hotmail-adresse. Punktum.
16 Dec

Cennydd Cennydd Bowles
Already neglecting Path; it just doesn’t fulfil a useful need in my life. Shame. Proposition trumps design.
16 Dec

RabidBob Nathaniel Woody
@gruber @danbenjamin I’m upset at John eating on microphone. It’s too quiet. He should like louder foods to eat like celery or live geese.
16 Dec

SteveMartinToGo Steve Martin
I’ll be on @JoyVBehar tonight. Don’t tell my trusting wife.
15 Dec

marks Mark Jensen
@guan Har du et API? Jeg gider ikke bruge Google mere når du er bedre.
15 Dec

davepell Dave Pell
My 3 year-old daughter: “Santa knows if you’re naughty or nice. But on hanukkah you get presents even if you’re naughty.”
12 Dec

Elnif Didde Elnif
Dette blev weekenden, hvor jeg opdagede at nogle svenskere har svært ved at skelne mellem ordene røvfuld og rovfugl
12 Dec

KaseyAnderson Kasey Anderson
You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I’m telling you why: you’re 11 years old and you have an iPhone, you little shit.
12 Dec

biorhythmist matt
Check out this app that takes our OKCupid profile pics and shows us what our kids would look like wait our food’s not even here yet
11 Dec

louisck Louis C.K.
Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon theater goes up in one hour louisck.com $5 paypal. You don’t have to join paypal.
10 Dec

danbenjamin Dan Benjamin
They boy (4): it’s just like summertime today, only cold!
10 Dec

LouiseKampmann Louise Kampmann
Til den ultimative hipster 9gag.com/gag/963718?ref…
9 Dec

Aspersioncast AspersionCast
I’ve got 99 problems and they’re all Luftballons.
9 Dec

nielsfez Niels Pedersen
Årets Døde Soulsangere 2011 - min personlige (og lidt morbide) playliste fuld af sjæl, kærlighed og fantastiske sange open.spotify.com/user/113177109…
9 Dec

mariaklinke Maria Klinke
Jeg har endelig skiftet min smadrede, jailbreakede 3G’er ud og føler mig nærmest lidt nyforelsket. #firmajulegaventilåretsmedarbejder
9 Dec

tambourinesam tambourine sam
Auto-correct retter “wacom board” til “escortpige”? Godt at jeg lige opdagede dét, før jeg sendte ønskelisten til mine forældre.
9 Dec

boetter Jacob Bøtter
Did you know? 11% of the world’s population is now on Facebook. That’s 800+ million monthly users.
9 Dec

Per_Vers Per Vers
I denne juleferie vil se ALLE disse dokumentarer. En VILD liste som jeg opsnappede fra mr. @pstq - tack grabban!! tl.gd/ejudvf
8 Dec

tveskov Bjarne P Tveskov
anbefaler @dseneste s julefølgeton: “Historien om internet” dseneste.dk/index.php/hist…
8 Dec

madsbrynnum mads brynnum
Ser i Ud & se at Harry er død. Det virker lidt voldsomt, DSB, kunne I ikke bare fyre ham?
8 Dec

iamdanw Dan Williams
“1 new interaction”. Thanks twitter UI, you really get humans.
7 Dec

solberg Kristoffer Solberg
I gave @marks +K about Puppies on @klout klout.com/user/marks/top…
7 Dec

kerns kerns
Marketed to busy Norwegians as the “Twin Dog”, but known to locals as the “double barrel”. pic.twitter.com/ez70Aovr
7 Dec

unclegrey Anders Graae
I går, lavede jeg kød-krybbe til aftensmad… #AEBMB #kød #sjovmad cc @goerlitz pic.twitter.com/rnUSmBTu
6 Dec

mikker Mikkel Malmberg
Er ved at skrive et show kun om konserves, så jeg er klar til at blive den sjoveste mand i Atombunkeren.
5 Dec

genmon Matt Webb
Hey, so I asked A to marry me and she said yes. How about that :-)
29 Nov

agentdero R. Tyler Croy
LinkedIn is pokemon for adults.
29 Nov

incanus77 Justin Miller
Man, incriminating as hell: imgur.com/gallery/W2Y5u
28 Nov

madsbrynnum mads brynnum
Hold lige på den Cavling et øjeblik - Radioavisen har netop spurgt en mand på Ærø-færgen om de fik spist alle pomfritterne. Og det gjorde de
28 Nov

siracusa John Siracusa
My 4-year-old daughter’s first typeface review: “If you turn the ‘G’ the other way it looks like a lowercase ‘e’”
28 Nov

mikker Mikkel Malmberg
Æbleskiver på 7eleven! Make it happen people.
27 Nov

Cennydd Cennydd Bowles
Today is a good day to wipe your Instapaper backlog. Do it. You’ll feel happier.
26 Nov

cdixon chris dixon
I wish Walter Isaacson would release all his interview transcripts to the public. Best parts of the book were when he just quoted them.
25 Nov

PellePeter Pelle Peter Jensen
Odd Future bruger Jes Dorph i deres merch! International Player!!!! skreened.com/theoddfuture/g…
25 Nov

tambourinesam tambourine sam
Hvordan kan “hahaha” nogensinde blive til “hashhandel”? Fulgte der en Nørrebro-ordbog med den nye softwareopdatering eller hvad? #sorrymor
25 Nov

sloganeerist JT D
Pro Tip: In cocktails that call for soda water, sub champagne. It adds a layer of depth, but otherwise there’s ni othor diffa;sjvlKm]vBvomit
24 Nov

Wendelboe Benjamin A Wendelboe
Vidste du at man på den franske tastaturer skal holde shift nede for at taste et punktum? Hvad siger det om franskmænd? #funfact
23 Nov

rune_ha Rune Ha
Drømmer stadig om Tom Waits på Orange kl.2 lørdag nat i PISØSENDE REGNVEJR! #rf12 #thetrueorangefeeling
23 Nov

danoliver Dan Oliver
I think Google could draw a big cock and balls on its homepage and people would wax lyrical about it.
23 Nov

camlarsch CamillaLarsenSchmidt
Så lige en dame med sin iPad stå og læse på stationen. Hun overvejede at tage vanterne af, men valgte så at scrolle med næsen. :D Seriøst!
23 Nov

buck4itt Buck
I took my family out to an authentic Vietnamese place. My wife and I had pho. The kids sewed Nikes for 14 hours and were beaten. Great pho.
23 Nov

kherman kherman
I favor same-sex marriage only for Wolf Blitzer and Paul Wolfowitz so we can have Wolf Wolfowitz.
23 Nov

mortensax mortensax
Hvor er forretningshemmeligheder dog et forældet ord, specielt når vi taler kager med glasur.. #agnes
22 Nov

TimOfLegend Tim Schafer
Explaining to wife: When I take off my pants to play Zelda, it’s not a sexual thing. It’s about being 100% committed to the quest.
22 Nov

hotdogsladies Merlin Mann
I keep my coffeemaker in the car and my toilet paper in the attic. So, opening a separate iOS app for Googling is right in my wheelhouse.
21 Nov

mariaklinke Maria Klinke
6årig: Kan vi ikke blive muslimer lissom Hajira og hendes mor? Mig (overvejer): Tjooh.. Hvorfor? Maya: Fordi deres tøj glimrer, jo! #dulle
21 Nov

appoulsen Asbjørn Poulsen
Har totalt perfektioneret evnen til at putte et barn på nøjagtigt den tid en pause i en fodboldkamp varer.
21 Nov

trinetrine Trine Rahbek
En medpassager har lige uopfordret vist sin togbillet til mand i uniform. Muligvis kaptajn. Så fik hun lige spoleret resten af hans mandag.
21 Nov

pollas Anders Pollas
Found old notebook w/notes from some very clever, abstract course at uni. On the other side: Wireframes. #shouldveseenitcoming
19 Nov

aedison Avery Edison
Either I’m insane, or someone came into my apartment while I was sleeping and stole my sugar. Both great choices.
19 Nov

drinkerthinker Elizabeth Galle
J: “What does @beep think about Bach?” me: “Not sure - is that a new web framework?” J: “Uh, no, he’s a composer.”
17 Nov

chockenberry Craig Hockenberry
HP’s next move is to copy the Mac Book Air and name it Resentment.
17 Nov

cdixon chris dixon
With PIPA and SOPA added to existing problems like patent trolls, startups in a few years are going to need as many lawyers as programmers.
16 Nov

bering Christian Bering
Singing: “I was gonna write a blog-post (about 6 months at Accenture), but then I got high(ly busy with work)”
16 Nov

pressfuturist alastair horne
Whenever an audiobook begins with “This is Audible”, I wonder whether a voice I can’t hear announces “and this is inaudible”.
15 Nov

rankenberg Susanna Rankenberg
Hvor kunne det dog være fedt bare at afbryde Clement Kjærsgaard. 20 gange i træk. Og hver gang hans sagde noget, så sige “BEB!BEB!BEB!”
13 Nov

jeppeengell Jeppe Engell
Alle, jeg gentager, alle som har en Iphone burde sende følgende kort til deres kærester/mænd/koner etsy.me/rUspUq
13 Nov

AmyJane Amy Jane Gruber
Crossing the street with Jonas. A car honks at us. I reflexively flip the bird. When I look up, it’s a parent from school, waving. Damn.
13 Nov

aedison Avery Edison
I learned English from my mother, so forgive me if I get a word wrong, or withhold affection.
12 Nov

aslak_gatas Aslak Borgersrud
Jeg ba telefonen, representert ved Siri, ringe min kone. Siri svarte, høyt og klart “Which one? You have 21”. Min kone var i rommet. #FML
12 Nov

badbanana Tim Siedell
The best things in life are free. Like taking candy from a baby.
11 Nov

bijan Bijan Sabet
Lady asks for my profession at dr office. I said “venture capitalist”. She wrote “adventure capitalist”. I’m good with that.
11 Nov

martinthimes Martin Thimes
Jeg hælder benzin på de gamle diskjockeys’ “de unge er uduelige”-bål ved at spille plader på @dinnyeven i aften. Og jeg kan ikke mixe. HAHA!
11 Nov

appoulsen Asbjørn Poulsen
1111111112, argh, pis os!
11 Nov

erlendloe Erlend Loe
Favoritttilbakemeldingen min i Windows Live Mail er: “Det har oppstått en ukjent feil”. Noe stemmer ikke, men ingen aner hva.
9 Nov

kissane erin kissane
If any of you have *not* read @Pinboard’s glorious takedown of the “social graph,” this is your chance. !important bit.ly/t7xWMC
9 Nov

eplekjekk Andréa
Uansett hvor kul du er, kommer det alltid til å være en pen jente med dristig profilbilde som får flere retweets når hun rapper tweeten din.
9 Nov

mattgemmell Matt Gemmell
iOS apps that are just webviews = your psychotic website murdered an innocent app and is now wearing its skin like a suit.
9 Nov

grapefrugten Ricki Mae Melchior
Changed my mail signature to ‘Sent from my white iPhone’, just so people can see how motherfucking BLANG I am!
9 Nov

laramulady Lara Mulady
“Credit card companies can predict with 98% accuracy when couples will divorce based on spending patterns alone.” @unwiredchris #komdag
9 Nov

siracusa John Siracusa
Cross-page highlights are apparently the Manhattan Project of ebook readers.
9 Nov

pm Paul
“Million dollar idea! A restaurant with tasty food, great environment, exceptional design. Now you do the execution. I’m an ‘idea person’”
8 Nov

Wikipedia Wikipedia
@SteveMartinToGo Please stop editing your Wikipedia page to say “best hair in the history of the world.” Need NPOV ur1.ca/5ogfq
7 Nov

kerns kerns
@krautwald You are the M.C. Escher of e-commerce.
7 Nov

kimelmose Kim Elmose
Min 11-årige drenge ser for mange reklamer på tv: Afslutter lektielæsning med ordene “Så er min lektier ordnet. That calls for a Carlsberg!”
7 Nov

danbenjamin Dan Benjamin
The boy (4), staring at a plate of 4 burgers: “I’ll be a football player if I eat all of these!”
4 Nov

KaareSorensen Kaare Sørensen
Journalisterne brokker sig (….kærligt) til spindoktorerne: Der var kaffe under den blå regering. Så nu får vi kaffe #dkpol
4 Nov

carlbildt Carl Bildt
If I remember right, the word “drama” is of Greek origin.
3 Nov

joshmillard Josh Millard
Life is short. Call someone you love and tell them that butts are lol.
3 Nov

galimathies Mathies B. Jespersen
Jeg dømmer dig på forhånd, søde kursusdeltager med sokker i sandalerne (på hænderne).
3 Nov

jonassmith Jonas Heide Smith
Sgu hyggeligt sådan at læse Steve Jobs-biografi i sync med så mange af jer. Lidt som at se tv i 80erne. #monokultur #gamledage
3 Nov

davepell Dave Pell
My shrink and I spend about half our time talking about the NFL. Neither one of us wants to talk about my problems anymore.
2 Nov

chockenberry Craig Hockenberry
The good news is that Google found a way to beta test an app with more than 100 devices.
2 Nov

davehayden Dave Hayden
Here we go. A song a day, in collaboration with @Horse_ebooks: nanoukemo.tumblr.com
2 Nov

flyosity Mike Rundle
I can’t stand this trend of dumping HTML views into a nav controller and calling it an iPhone app. It’s not. It’s a clunky pile of shit.
2 Nov

rankenberg Susanna Rankenberg
OH: “Vi kravlede over hegnet til zoo klokken-keld-og-dirch-lukketid og jeg overvejede seriøst at bøffe en pingvin.” #kolleger
2 Nov

jonasjuhler Jonas Juhler Hansen
1. Tag din (stavenazi) kærestes iphone, 2. Opret følgende genveje, 3. LOL, U MAD? pic.twitter.com/soX1Cxmt
2 Nov

Eris Eris Stassi
When you think about it, the Bat Signal was probably the first cloud-based push notification.
31 Oct

lars Lars Ettrup
#wordfeuddk -lars fuckoff from my stream ordkrig.ffdk.dk
28 Oct

DrExcitement Steve
Thanks for telling me to “like” you on Facebook, because I was running out of ideas on how to advertise for you, for free, to my friends.
28 Oct

khoi Khoi Vinh
Excellent, must-see visualization of Android fragmentation. j.mp/sHbAzH
27 Oct

mikkelnoewesth Mikkel Noe Westh
At aflevere et stort tilbud er som at løbe mod mål, lukke øjnene og fyre til bolden, gå hjem og efter en uge høre om man scorede
26 Oct

stevenf Steven Frank
Wow I am bad at Battlefield 3. Poets will weave tales of how bad I am at Battlefield 3 for generations to come. My badness defies credulity.
26 Oct

shelbyfero shelby fero
“WHERE MY LADIES AT?!” - man that has misplaced all his ladies
26 Oct

willhacker Will Hacker
I was reminded again today that sitting with the people who use your products is an eye-opening experience. Do it and do it often.
26 Oct

fagerlund Jesper Fagerlund
Ingen forstod albummet fra @kashmirofficial dengang i ‘79. Men det fik senere sin fortjente succes. #Spotify twitpic.com/75l8qp
25 Oct

rune_ha Rune Ha
Har aldrig været i Sovjetunionen men kommer tit i Fakta ved Borups Plads.
24 Oct

infonauten Ulf Reese Næsborg
Forslag til nyt slogan: “Spotify - fordi selv om du forestiller dig det værste, så er dine FB-venners musiksmag VÆRRE end du tror”.
23 Oct

Claus Claus Dahl
I think Apple really missed an opportunity when they didn’t name Siri sudo
23 Oct

hotdogsladies Merlin Mann
I’m lucky to be one of those people who only needs two hours of sleep to brain brain no thinkee ow head make bang bang bad ow what now?
22 Oct

Drake Drizzy
Haaa everytime I do more than one tweet people keep telling me I must be drunk…I won’t lie Gin and Tonics have me feeling righteous.
22 Oct

mrgan Neven Mrgan
@mathowie A guy in a class I took brought his “famous” BBQ-chicken-peanut-butter “pizza” to the potluck. It tasted like Warcraft.
21 Oct

anildash Anil Dash
People always ask “Why won’t MTV play videos?” “Why won’t CNN cover news?” Just go to YouTube or Google News! TV is not that into you.
21 Oct

gruber John Gruber
If your web server can detect a mobile browser and redirect from regular to mobile-optimized URL, it should be able to do the opposite.
21 Oct

StephenAtHome Stephen Colbert
M-C Hammer is launching his own search engine! I hope it’s more successful than Yahoo-Tang Clan.
21 Oct

beep Ethan Marcotte
Dear all sites that allow me to have multiple accounts, Let me sign into multiple accounts. It is the future now. Asimovian kisses, - E
21 Oct

monggaard Christian Monggaard
Åh nej, min datter er blevet vegetar igen.
21 Oct

JennyJohnsonHi5 Jenny Johnson
Annie was an orphan because she was a filthy, disgusting, ginger child who wouldn’t stop singing.
21 Oct

mrgan Neven Mrgan
Thanks to the sensibilities of the Japanese people, my phone comes preloaded with an image of a cute, smiling turd. Thanks!
19 Oct

bhc3 Hutch Carpenter
Asking ROI for an idea too early is like asking value of a baby. “It can’t walk, talk, what good is it?” - @RowanGibson #bei11
18 Oct

SMSerup Søs Marie Serup
Kan forstå omegnskommuner til KBH melder sig på stribe rundt om betalingsringen…super branding at være kendt som “parkeringspladsen”!
18 Oct

rune_guldbrand Rune Guldbrand
Wow @kerns this sounds exactly like you. youtu.be/Vt4Dfa4fOEY
18 Oct

RiccoWichmann Ricco Wichmann
Ingen…INGEN siger “Jeg Yellower” og jeg røvmyrder reklamen, der får mig til at skrive dette.
17 Oct

biorhythmist matt
I named my butt hole Kevin. He says hi.
17 Oct

mikebodge Mike Bodge
Love looking over the shoulder of someone intensely drawing in their sketchbook and seeing something a retarded blind person would make.
15 Oct

gordonshumway Jelisa Castrodale
Liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before liquor, DO YOU THINK I’M PRETTY? LET’S GET MAAAAAARRIED TONIGHT! WHY NOT? WHY DON’T YOU LOVE ME?
15 Oct

mashup Mikkel Westerkam
har købt ind i Netto. De har vildt mange ting og lader til at være billigere end Statoil.
13 Oct

gruber John Gruber
Good news for Samsung: when they get sued for ripping off Siri, they can cite ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ for prior art again.
13 Oct

AmyJane Amy Jane Gruber
“How many days until your site goes back to regular gray?” “It depends how long it takes my heart to heal.”
13 Oct

sween Jason Sweeney
The screen on my wife’s iPad is so dirty I replaced it with a bowl of hummus and she hasn’t noticed and now she won’t give me a turn.
12 Oct

aedison Avery Edison
Been told to make my humor more relatable. Don’t you just hate it when a cute guy is asking you out but you’re a pre-op transgender lesbian?
12 Oct

gordonshumway Jelisa Castrodale
Wow @dunkindonuts serves their coffee hot. My tongue wouldn’t have melted like this if it looked at the Ark of the Covenant.
12 Oct

waxpancake Andy Baio
Holy crap! One million people have backed @kickstarter projects, to the tune of over $100M. Huge infoporn dump: kickstarter.com/blog/one-milli…
11 Oct

fraying Derek Powazek
Every successful site had a predecessor that did almost the same thing. Sometimes it’s about timing/luck.
11 Oct

stuntbox David Sleight
“Siri, make me a sandwich.” Meanwhile, at the other end of the couch… “Why did your phone text me to make it a sandwich?”
7 Oct

nielsfez Niels Pedersen
Thor Möger - kunne godt fungere som navn på et black metal-band.
6 Oct

rorybremner Rory Bremner
After ‘a lot of prayer’ Sarah Palin’s decided not to run for President. Good Call, God.
6 Oct

Justyn Justyn Howard
I don’t know who to credit this image to, but I love it #stevejobs yfrog.com/hw93ip
6 Oct

asymco Horace Dediu
Does Tim look a bit thin?
4 Oct

golgolli Golli Hash
I want a kitty and I want to name the kitty Axure.
4 Oct

mcchristiansen michael christiansen
i en dekade har vores land udadtil været synonymt med fremmedhad… nu synes folk så det er mega pinligt, at villy taler dårligt engelsk.
4 Oct

lauaaen Lau Aaen
En selvproklameret liberal reg. træder tilbage, og straks bliver knivlov, pointsystem, iværksætter- og multimedieskat afskaffet. #dkpol
3 Oct

fagerlund Jesper Fagerlund
Ren fornøjelse på DR Update at se @vestager tage foto, skrive tekst og så popper tweetet lige op bagefter. Ingen spindoktorer her. Hand on!
3 Oct

AmyJane Amy Jane Gruber
I’m wearing a hooded dress. “Mama, you look like Palpatine.” I glare at him. “Well, if Palpatine was a nice pretty lady.” Good save, kid.
2 Oct

moot moot
8 years of 4chan. The things my eyes have seen.
1 Oct

fagerlund Jesper Fagerlund
På Gladsaxe Bib kan du tilmelde dig klubben. Men se det sidste felt. Elsker dig Internet! twitpic.com/6sqg7i #forms #webdesign
30 Sep

hotdogsladies Merlin Mann
I kid. I realize newspapers still have Editors. I mean *somebody* has to run things when the SEO guys go to lunch.
29 Sep

rune_ha Rune Ha
Tak for alle de fine tilkendegivelser. Næste uge ryger Forum og om 14 dage Ballerup Super Arena #enpyromansbekendelser
28 Sep

Kahrzdn Carsten Jørgensen
“@vestager: Folkeaktie købt!” makrel: OK makrel > tweet: Ikke OK uden disclaimer
7 Mar

erlendloe Erlend Loe
Fikk nettopp 25 bokser med Makrell i tomat salsa levert på døra, tydeligvis som en hyggelig gestus fra Stabbur… (cont) http://deck.ly/~xPKRR
7 Mar

MattGourley Matt Gourley
This burrito is so good it’s being played by Colin Firth.
7 Mar

louisck Louis C.K.
Why did the 4 babies get thrown out of the bar? Cause they’re just 4 stupid fucking little babies. Shitty fucking babies.
5 Mar

clint Clint Ecker
I have decided that @CharlieSheen has #trollblood running thru his veins in addition to #tigerblood
3 Mar

mortenjust Morten Just
Phone URL is now open source. Hoping people will join me in getting rid of phone numbers code.google.com/p/phone-url/
3 Mar

sockington Sockamillion
HEY @CHARLIESHEEN GREAT TO HAVE YOU JOIN THE ONE MILLION FOLLOWER CLUB AND hey wait a minute where’s my catnip stash COME ON CHARLIE
3 Mar

kerns kerns
…begs the question, why isn’t Apple working harder to cure Autism? #ipad2
2 Mar

jeppeengell Jeppe Engell
Hvem twitter for @Kforum - man kan ikke finde mere amatør agtige twits end deres og lige netop folk fra det site burde vide bedre!
2 Mar

jespernr Jesper N. Rasmussen
OH på ChrHavn: Han har et underligt ansigt og så hedder han vist Laurent eller noget - vi skal smadre ham! #ErDetDigSåPasPå #TæskeholdPåVej
1 Mar

SteveMartinToGo Steve Martin
Piers Morgan to Charlie Sheen: “You were taking Cocaine…” Charlie Sheen: “I wasn’t taking it. I had to pay for it.”
1 Mar

guan Guan Yang
{placekitten} http://1e6.us/pE
28 Feb

sloganeerist JT D
“I WILL NOT CHANGE ONE SINGLE THING!!!” -Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, sounding exactly like me, except one of us is talking about brochure copy
26 Feb

informerfolk FOLK
Kong Abdullah har kastet 190 mia. i grams til folket for at holde sig på tronen. Lignende flotteri er ikke set siden Anders Fogh var statsm.
24 Feb

informerfolk FOLK
Det ulmende oprør i MØ spreder sig nu til andre dele af verden. I dag demonstrerer de i Viborg mod kæmpebesparelser på sygehusene i regionen
23 Feb

appoulsen Asbjørn Poulsen
Sønnen er voldsomt skuffet over ikke at være blevet gul efter at have spist boller i karry…
20 Feb

VeryShortStory Very Short Story
I paid the fee & opened the door to my fantasy. There you were alive again. I soaked in the 15 minutes I could afford from selling our house
18 Feb

clarkekant Clarke Kant
Come on, Twitter. Get to the point.
17 Feb

jkottke Jason Kottke
Explaining what a logo is to a three-year-old is difficult.
17 Feb

iconfinder IconFinder
My new wallpaper: i.imgur.com/KnyNC.jpg
16 Feb

MisterPrankster MisterPrankster
Know those people going the other way when you’re going to work? They go to your place & sleep in your bed. Happening for years. Surprise!
16 Feb

biorhythmist matt
I like my coffee like I like my used condoms I found in the bathroom trash three years after dad’s vasectomy, mom?
13 Feb

rune_ha Rune Ha
RCRD LBL er stadig min trofaste musikblog. Hvad er din? #blogcheck http://rcrdlbl.com/
10 Feb

ToneStangeland Tone Stangeland
Playboy har en egen utgave for gifte menn. Den har den samme modellen måned etter måned etter måned…
10 Feb

Claus Claus Dahl
Har I tænkt på hvordan 1980-danskeren ville forstå sætningen “Bøger i tabletform”? #braincandy
8 Feb

alaindebotton Alain de Botton
Insomnia is a glamorous term for ‘thoughts you forgot to have in the day.’
8 Feb

YeahImAshley Ashley
Who the hell did Semicolon sleep with to get on the home row?
8 Feb

michael_J_m00n Space Cowman
Roses are red, and cost fifty bucks. So for Valantine’s day, make sure that she fucks.
8 Feb

Per_Vers Per Vers
Fuck hvor er jeg bagefter alle deadlines… men jeg blir jo NØDT til at se denne 40 mins dokumentar om J DILLA: http://thejdillaproject.com
7 Feb

ddockett DARNELL DOCKETT
They need to take jerry springer off TV! Cuz I swear this this some true FUCKERY at its BEST!
7 Feb

mikkelgruner Mikkel Grüner
“Mange innvandrere er dessverre ikke rustet til å møte den norske bakterieflora. Derfor vil vi i FrP innføre spytting på innvandrere.”
7 Feb

mattgemmell Matt Gemmell
Us: “We like PlayStations, and phones!” Sony: “Behold: PlayStation Phone!” Us: “We also like toast!” Sony: “Behold: ToastStation Phone!”
7 Feb

annebitsch Anne Bitsch
Noen bedre ord enn “intimfrisering” som samlebetegnelse for både hårfjerning, barbering og trimming av kjønnshår? Jeg spør jobbrelatert. :)
4 Feb

Claus Claus Dahl
.@mortenjust har lige vist mig det fedeste website jeg har set i et stykke tid: http://www.mta.me
3 Feb

Per_Vers Per Vers
Efter at have set doku om norsk black metal er jeg kun sikker på én ting. Varg Vikenes aka Greven aka Count Grishnack ligner @supertroels.
2 Feb

davidfg David Gallagher
Playing with this new iPad app for crowdsourcing the DJing at a party. It’s got potential. And physics. Tune Drop: http://bit.ly/ekV2x6
2 Feb

leisa Leisa Reichelt
If I can tell your site is run on Drupal (without you telling me), your designer isn’t finished yet.
2 Feb

gordonshumway Jelisa Castrodale
Crest Whitestrips: A Play in 3 Acts 1) They’re not whiter yet. 2) Nothing yet. 3) Not ye- OWTHEBURNINGSWEETCHRISTTHEBURNINGMAKEITSTOP ~fin~
2 Feb

Elnif Didde Elnif
Hyggeligt at blive vækket af småfuld fling kl 6… Ærgerligt, han ringede på forkert dør (min) to gange før han forhåbentlig fandt “Malene”
2 Feb

UncleDynamite Uncle Dynamite
You have really nice teeth. Strong. Like monkey teeth. #worstpickuplines
2 Feb

bobearth Bob (Tim) Earth
I think someone accidentally set the Sim City preferences for Queensland to “expert.”
2 Feb

ddockett DARNELL DOCKETT
Damn I can’t sleep! Time change is crazy! Who up? I wonder if krispy kreme open?
1 Feb

thesulk Alec Sulkin
Hey, thanks for making sure “Nazi” is capitalized, iPhone. Way to honor them.
30 Jan

biorhythmist matt
What’s up? (I have *no* sense of direction!)
29 Jan

ddockett DARNELL DOCKETT
Damn I said I will not drink another mai tai and now look at me!! this big girl next to be looking like J-LO with a spanx!! FML! I’m done!
29 Jan

gruber John Gruber
I weigh myself before applying deodorant.
29 Jan

ddockett DARNELL DOCKETT
My SON told me when he does show& tell next week N school its over cuz No1 can. Do it better! Adrian. Peterson http://plixi.com/p/73197592
29 Jan

whitehouse The White House
President Obama on the phone with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in the Oval Office, VP Biden listens http://twitpic.com/3ubl1u
29 Jan

textfiles Jason Scott
attention shmoocon attendees: I am bringing a copy of geocities that I can dupe onto your 750gb drive.
28 Jan

ddockett DARNELL DOCKETT
My crackhead uncle name peanut keep calling me talking bout they got lawn mowers/and Tvs for sale and he can ship them to hawaii! FML!
28 Jan

mariaklinke Maria Klinke
Mine medpassagerer i s-toget glor på mig så man skulle tro de aldrig har set en pige spise koriander direkte fra posen før. Weirdos!
27 Jan

mikkelmarius Mikkel Marius W.
Beklager, @berlingske, men jeg må ud med det her. http://plixi.com/p/72640085
26 Jan

kanyewest Kanye West
WE DROPPING NEW MUSIC CAUSE IT’S OUR FUCKING JOB! THIS WHAT WE HERE TO DO! WE THE NEW STONES WE THE NEW BEATLES!
26 Jan

danbenjamin Dan Benjamin
“Daddy, when you die you are just bones in the desert.”
26 Jan

annebitsch Anne Bitsch
Jeg skjønner ikke hvordan det skal være *mulig* å ikke kunne steke en ferdigpizza greit.
26 Jan

Kahrzdn Carsten Jørgensen
@tveskov En motorvej, egen iPhone-app og en koncerthal til musikere der toppede for 20 år siden, SÅ vil alle flytte til kommunen.
26 Jan

tveskov Bjarne P Tveskov
“Vores egenudviklede unikke app giver borgerne en helt ny samlet, oplevelsesorienteret indgang til SydDjurs kommune” #2012 #DerUntergang
26 Jan

Mike_FTW Mike Monteiro
@anildash I see your bagel and raise you pretty girls in sundresses. Pretty sure they’re girls.
26 Jan

anildash Anil Dash
@Mike_FTW I’m having a bagel, and later I will get on a functioning mass transit system. Good morning to you!
26 Jan

pollas Anders Pollas
Skidt, skidt takeaway-folder-placering: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollas/5387656466/ #riget
25 Jan

kristygee Kristy Grant
It’s not a “nervous breakdown.” I’m just happier under the bed so I’m staying forever.
25 Jan

schwa Jonathan Wight
After days of “why did Apple do it like that? I can do better”, I realize I’ve learnt why they did it like that and will do it the same way.
25 Jan

ConanOBrien Conan O’Brien
Remember what I tweeted back in August? “I’m picking the Packers and Steelers for Super Bowl XLV.” Too bad there’s no way to prove it.
25 Jan

MikeVick Mike Vick
No homework for you ! RT @kahuna531: @MikeVick my teacher says if u tweet back then no homework today. Come on mike help my class out.
24 Jan

Moltz Moltz
In the ski lodge. A little girl just taught Hank to dip his fries into his cocoa. I think he’s going to marry her.
24 Jan

JaneMejdahl JaneMejdahl
@marks Remoulade bliver også kaldet “jydepesto”
21 Jan

jessamyn jessamyn west
I am growing an avocado tree. Which is to say, I ate an avocado yesterday and I still have high hopes for this project today. #winter
19 Jan

Paxochka Pax Paxochka
Handy survival tip for the workplace #3 Fill your coffee pot with Guinness.
17 Jan

IdaAuken Ida Auken
Har fået en lille søn i torsdags. Vidste ikke, man blev SÅ lykkelig af det!
17 Jan

ulotrichous eli neiburger
“Is this C3PO?” Oh iPhoto, you just made my day. Cameo by @ADaniels3PO. http://twitpic.com/3qc4i9
15 Jan

jacobpackert Jacob Packert
Københavns Politi foreslår at man gør det konservative gruppeværelse til visitationszone, da mange mistænkes for at gå med dolk. I ryggen.
13 Jan

hodgman hodgman
O @TheTweetOfGod, I am not aware of such an app. But I can tell you that “Plants vs. Zombies” is basically Revelations. You should sue.
11 Jan

mikkelmarius Mikkel Marius W.
Politiken burde lave et bilmagasin og kalde det Berlinko.
11 Jan

shawnries Shawn Ries
“I don’t know, guys, I think there can be at least some diggity.” -Guy about to get kicked out of Blackstreet
10 Jan

notch Markus Persson
There’s are men with tools in the Mojang office, tearing at the floor. These are manly men. I feel boyish, with my keyboard and my irony.
10 Jan

Elnif Didde Elnif
Stopper m at bage brød. Stopper m at tweete om brød. Har opnået fuldkommen valnøddebrøds-perfektion. Det var det http://yfrog.com/h3z7dgj
8 Jan

sween Jason Sweeney
Just had a very thorough pat-down by a TSA agent. Now he wants to talk about my feelings, but I’m soooo sleepy.
7 Jan

madsbrynnum mads brynnum
Synes alle partier bør ha en slagsang. Ved bare ikke hvad LA kan få til at rime på “hvis du dør tidligt er det din egen skyld, taber” #dkpol
6 Jan

marks Mark Jensen
OH: “En jeg kender har fået en hest med et hagekors på i julegave.”
6 Jan

Claus Claus Dahl
Som trofast top 200 follower på mange lister, åbenbart, vil jeg gerne sige til mine followees: You suck.
6 Jan

Mkkl Mikkel M. Henriksen
My top follower in 2010 was a creepy drunk guy who ran after me on the way home from a bar one night.
6 Jan

arne Arne Fismen
Jeg har ikke vært en fan av Angry Birds for iPhone, men Blackberry varianten ser hot ut: http://i.imgur.com/NPdnw.jpg
5 Jan

Per_Vers Per Vers
En Kort, Og En Mere Der Osse Er Kort. #lessambitiousmovies
5 Jan

kanyewest Kanye West
Fur Coats and shit
1 Jan

jkottke Jason Kottke
When Picard says “Fire at Will”, does he realize that Riker’s standing right there? Awkward!
1 Jan

Happy 30th, Britney

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 10:54:38 +0100

Quote of the year:

Ten years ago, Britney rang in her 20s by wearing a python to do “I’m A Slave 4 U,” a song about seething party-girl desperation that compares her vagina to a kitty cat; she rings in her 30s with “How I Roll,” a song about seething party-girl desperation that compares her vagina to a kitty cat. If you don’t think that’s artistic integrity, there’s something wrong with you.

Happy 30th birthday Britney Spears: Here’s to 10 more years of pop awesomeness

Spotify links for Berlingske's Danish album top 10

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:15:00 +0100

Danish daily Berlingske posted their top 10 Danish albums of 2011.

They didn’t include Spotify links so I thought I would collect them here:

Malk De Koijn: Toback to the Fromtime
Michael Møller: A Month Of Unrequited Love
Oh Land: Oh Land
Ulige numre: Ulige Numre
Per Vers: Ego
Magtens Korridorer: Imperiet Falder
Hymns From Nineveh: Hymns From Nineveh
Cody: Under The Pillow, Under The Elms
Kidd: Greatest Hits 2011
Freja Loeb: Odyssey

New job

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 09:15:14 +0100

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” my dad told me once, quoting John Lennon I think. And boy have I been making plans.

A couple of months ago I left my full-time job at Wemind to begin a new career as a freelancer. I did it because I wanted to expand my horizons, try new things, and get inspired by working with new people.

Life as a freelancer was hectic and fun, it was pretty much everything I had hoped for. I met some really interesting people and I got some great challenges. It was busy, too. I had to turn down a few cool projects with people I really wanted to work with because I simply didn’t have enough time to do it all. Pretty great. I thought this was what I really wanted to do.

But being a freelancer also has its limitations, at least the way I did it. I had quite a few smaller projects for several different clients. That’s all good and well but it meant that when the opportunity to begin some really big projects presented itself, I had trouble fitting them into my tight schedule. And that’s exactly what happened. Doing freelance work for Zupa Recommended, I felt like I wanted to focus on the projects there instead of trying to make sense of my overflowing calendar.

So I’ve accepted a job offer as UX & Social Media Consultant at Zupa Recommended.

It’s with some sadness that I leave Wemind behind. (I have been working there 20 hours per week since I started as a freelancer.) I still think Wemind is a great company with a bright future. They will probably be looking for someone to do some UX work in the near future. If they do, I’ll be the first to recommend Wemind as a great place to work.

But at the same time I’m also really excited to begin my new life at Zupa Recommended. I believe that the work I do with social media can be much more effective with the power of a great advertising agency behind it. And I believe that the work an advertising agency does can be greatly improved by a deep understanding of social media. Zupa Recommended has a great list of clients and the expertise to do outstanding projects. I can’t wait to become a part of that.

This is awesome: The Weeknd remixes Lady Gaga.

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:59:38 +0100

This is awesome: The Weeknd remixes Lady Gaga.

Tyler, The Creator jams “Fish” with BADBADNOTGOOD. “I never did that shit, I...

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:05:42 +0100

Tyler, The Creator jams “Fish” with BADBADNOTGOOD.

“I never did that shit, I always wanted to do that but I don’t know any musicians. Fuck yeah we’re having a moment!”

R.I.P. Steve Jobs part 2

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:21:00 +0200

People keep writing beautiful, inspiring, heart-warming things about Steve Jobs after his passing. Here are some more links.

Matt Drance compares Steve to Edison, Ford, and Disney:

An era has ended, and we now sit to reflect on our good fortune for having lived in a time when a true giant walked the Earth. I had certainly contemplated his passing many times, but now that it has happened, I am struggling to grasp the concept that Steven Paul Jobs is gone and not coming back.

Tim Berners-Lee writes about using Steve’s tools to invent the World Wide Web, i.e. the Internet as we know it today:

Programming the WorldWideWeb client was remarkably easy on the NeXT. There was already a software module, the Text Object, which was an editable multifont editor. I just had to subclass it to make a hypertext object, and add the internet code. Designing the app’s menus was trivial — just drag and drop with InterfaceBuilder. The code framework of the app was generated automatically. That is a platform: something which allows you to build things which without it would have been possible, but a lot of work.

John Siracusa talks about how Steve Jobs inspired him:

The Macintosh was the first thing in my life that I recognized as being wholly new. Everything I’d seen thus far in my nine years had seemed like it already existed prior to my birth—perhaps like it had always existed. But here was something different, something amazing, and this magazine explained how it had been created by this small group of people.

The implications bloomed in my mind. We aren’t stuck with the things we have now. We can make new things, better things. And it doesn’t take many people to do it.

Michael Sippey spent two minutes onstage at the Worldwide Developer Conference in 2008, presenting the TypePad iPhone app to demonstrate what was possible with the iPhone SDK:

On the Wednesday afternoon before the Monday keynote we were to present in the theater on Apple’s campus to Steve, Scott Forstall and Phil Schiller; they’d have the final word on whether we’d make it to the big stage at Moscone. The wait outside the theater was torture, the walk down the aisle was nerve wracking, and the two minute demo we gave went by in a blur. I’m pretty sure I rushed it.

But Steve smiled. He said he liked it, that we had done a great job. And then gave us advice.

Jason Snell reflects on Steve Jobs’ life:

If you made a movie of Steve Jobs’s life (not that one), nobody would believe it. Think of how many amazing creations have come from a Steve Jobs-managed company. The Apple II, the world’s first mass-produced personal computer. The Macintosh, the basis for almost every single personal computer interface on the planet today. Pixar, one of the most successful movie studios of all time. The iPod and iTunes, which transformed the music industry and changed how we listen to music. The iPhone, which upended the stagnant cellphone industry and created the concept of a modern smartphone. And the iPad, which defines a category and pays off the original Mac’s promise of being a “computer for the rest of us.”

Dave Pell writes another insightful essay about the tools Steve built:

I made this on a Mac.

That statement is pretty common these days. But there was a time I would have never imagined creating something on a computer. Sure, I had some friends type up one of my essays or a college application on their parents’ Compaq computer, the glowing green letters clicking across a deep black square. They typed. My words came out of the printer. But it wasn’t creation. It was typing. The actual creation couldn’t be done on such an uninspiring, lifeless machine.

Last, but definitely not least: The hosts at 5by5 remember Steve Jobs.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:06:33 +0200

As the news of Steve Jobs’ death has permeated through the web, lots of people have been writing their memories and goodbyes. I’ve collected some of them here, in random order and without much commentary.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball writes:

But the thing that struck me were his shoes, those famous gray New Balance 991s. They too were well-worn. But also this: fresh bright green grass stains all over the heels. […]

Late last night, long hours after the news broke that he was gone, my thoughts returned to those grass stains on his shoes back in June. I realize only now why they caught my eye. Those grass stained sneakers were the product of limited time, well spent.

Lots of people have been posting Jobs’ famous Stanford University commencement speech from 2005. Clint Ecker remembers reading the speech:

When I first read that commencement speech, it knocked me on my ass. I was living in Ohio, working at a job I didn’t find particularly motivating or interesting. I tried to take the essence of that speech to heart and today I’m working for the President of the United States of America, trying in earnest to do what I can to make my country a better place for at least the next four years, if not the next 40.

Steven Frank writes about growing up with (and next to) Apple, and about the tools Steve has created:

I joked to my wife, “what we just did with that video was straight out of an Apple commercial.” That’s the funny thing about Apple commercials, though. They’re not sci-fi pipe dreams selling you a promise of a future that might be. They really built that stuff, and you can do it right now. Steve understood that a computer by itself wasn’t much more exciting than a hammer. Wouldn’t it be great, to borrow his phrase, if that hammer could help you build something world-class without you needing decades of carpentry experience?

Frank Chimero urges us to asses our own lives in the memory of Steve’s:

Today seems to be a suitable day for us all to step back and assess the influence and legacy of the work that we do. Jobs always said he wanted to put a ding in the universe. We don’t have to be quite so ambitious in scale, but it does seem prudent to consider the effect of our work in this larger concept of time. How will our efforts affect people now, and how will the way they change people extend into the future? The sadness you have (if you feel it) is not from a come-back story ending, or the changing of guard at a company, or from a connection to a device you carry with you daily. That sadness is for the loss of a man who unabashedly devoted his life to making things that helped others live well.

Here’s Tim Cook’s email to all Apple employees:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

Brian Lam regrets being an asshole to Steve:

I was on sabbatical when Jason got his hands on the iPhone prototype.

An hour after the story went live, the phone rang and the number was from Apple HQ. I figured it was someone from the PR team. It was not.

“Hi, this is Steve. I really want my phone back.”

Chris O’Brien discusses why we feel Steve Jobs’ passing so deeply:

He knew us and understood us, it seems, better than we understood ourselves. There may be no better indicator of his grasp of people than the runaway success of his last great product, the iPad. Skeptics could see no reason people would want or need one. Jobs knew better. He oversaw the creation of something graceful and delightful and stunningly simple.

Walt Mossberg remembers the Steve he knew:

After his liver transplant, while he was recuperating at home in Palo Alto, California, Steve invited me over to catch up on industry events that had transpired during his illness. It turned into a three-hour visit, punctuated by a walk to a nearby park that he insisted we take, despite my nervousness about his frail condition.

He explained that he walked each day, and that each day he set a farther goal for himself, and that, today, the neighborhood park was his goal. As we were walking and talking, he suddenly stopped, not looking well. I begged him to return to the house, noting that I didn’t know CPR and could visualize the headline: “Helpless Reporter Lets Steve Jobs Die on the Sidewalk.”

But he laughed, and refused, and, after a pause, kept heading for the park. We sat on a bench there, talking about life, our families, and our respective illnesses (I had had a heart attack some years earlier). He lectured me about staying healthy. And then we walked back.

Some more links:

Dear Steve, Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for building the tools that have enabled me to do...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:29:34 +0200

Dear Steve,

Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for building the tools that have enabled me to do my life’s work so far. You didn’t do it alone but you had a vision of how you thought things should be, and you had the courage to go through with it.

You put a human face on technology. Before you, computers were something for geeks, suits and labcoats. Today, the PC is truly personal and the iPhone and iPad show us the way to a digital future which only seemed possible in science fiction.

You inspired me personally. You showed me that we should never settle for mediocre. That we should always challenge the status quo. It’s something I’ve tried my best to live by and which I hope I’ll never forget. I’m crying today.

Interview with Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:45:00 +0200

Here’s a nice little interview with Eric Ries who whote The Lean Startup (Amazon link). Ries’ methodology has helped me a lot lately when it comes to thinking about starting new businesses.

The interview is in two parts, I’ve embedded part 2. Part one is here.

Three Mashups

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:14:03 +0200

Here are three new (at least to me) mashup albums to sweeten your weekend:

De La Soul and Fela Kuti: Fela Soul
Ghostface and various funk artists: Ghostfunk
Another Fela Kuti mashup, this one with Michael Jackson: The King Meets the President in Africa

Put This On

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:29:00 +0200

If you’re a man and you’re interested in dressing like a grown-up (at least some of the time) you really should read these 25 pieces of basic sartorial knowledge so you don’t look dumb by Jesse Thorn of Put This On.

Also, you should check out season one of Jesse’s awesome web series, also called Put This On. Here’s the first episode:

And here are the rest.

If you like what you see, you have three days to help fund Put This On season 2 on Kickstarter. Go!

Want to learn how to code?

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:35:00 +0200

If you want to learn to code and build stuff and you’re starting by asking someone else what you should do, you’re already thinking about it the wrong way. Immediately, right now, with no preparation, in the blink of an eye, you can take a huge step toward your goal by realizing that you don’t need an answer to your question.

The wrong question: “I want to learn to code, what should I do?”

Or you could just go to Code Academy.

Going freelance

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:55:12 +0200

I have a really interesting job and I’m pretty good at it. It doesn’t make me rich but I definitely do alright. It’s fun and also challenging at times. I love my colleagues. But lately going to work hasn’t felt right.

I don’t know if it’s just me or if everyone feels like this but I need to be a little scared once in a while. I need to not know that I can do whatever it is I’m doing. It’s what pushes me to do things that end up making me proud – things that make me look back and think damn, I did that?

I could just keep doing what I’m doing; go to work every morning, come home every night. See the money go into my bank account, begin and end projects that are pretty interesting even though they just don’t get my blood boiling like it used to when I started something new. But I won’t. I’m too young to be complacent, too free from responsibilities to let financial incentives dictate what I do.

So I’ve decided to do something about it. One month from now, October 1st, I’m going freelance. It’s my hope that working with new people in new places on new projects will once again let me feel the rush of uncertainty, inspiring me to work harder and smarter, once again surprising myself by what’s possible.

So what are you going to do, I hear you asking. And for whom?

I’ve made a website where I talk a little bit about the things I do: Social media consulting, user experience design, community management and talks about the forementioned. I’ve talked to some friends and colleagues about going freelance and a few of them might be interested in working with me on some projects. And I’ve made a deal with Wemind that means I’ll continue most of my current projects and that I’ll work with them on future ones as well, probably working there about 20 hours per week. Apart from that, I don’t know.

So I need your help. If you would like to work with me or you know someone who might, I’d love to hear from you. Even if you don’t (think you do), I’d love some help spreading the word about my website by word of mouth or by using the little handy sharing buttons on the bottom right. Thanks!

Doing my life's work

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 22:44:00 +0200

When you’re on auto-pilot, no problem. You’ve done it before, so you recognize every pattern you’re in and there’s no need to worry.

But this also means you’re going the wrong way. You’re getting no new input, so you’re not recognizing any new patterns. If this is the way your life is going, you are actually actually becoming more useless. In an increasingly chaotic world, the best pattern recognizers win.

So the way to have an amazing life is to be constantly fearing failure, but driving forward anyway. It’s difficult to be doing this all the time. You need to pick your battles. Most things need to be stable and allow for safety, so you can focus on these one or two very difficult things.

— Julien Smith: How to tell if you’re doing your life’s work

This is very meaningful to me right now because I’m (a) generally doing great and (b) about to do something that scares me a lot. Let’s hope that’s a good sign.

GPX route file for the 2011 Cycling World Cup in Copenhagen

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:07:37 +0200

Yesterday I tweeted a question about finding a GPS app for iPhone that lets you draw a route to follow because I want to try and ride the route the riders will follow for the 2011 Cycling World Cup in Copenhagen.

Thanks to Søren Johannesen I came across MotionX-GPS, a GPS app that accepts route files in the GPX format. The World Cup website has a link to a Google Map of the route where I downloaded a KML file. I used GPSBabelFE to convert the KML to GPX et voilà! (To save you the trouble I uploaded the converted GPX file here.)

Pretty sweet.

Unfortunately MotionX-GPS does not support turn by turn navigation. Anybody know an app that does that and supports KML or GPX files?

Trouble On My Mind

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:22:00 +0200

This video is an example of why I’m really excited about where rap is going right now. OFWGKTA mastermind Tyler, The Creator joins one of my favorite rappers of the last couple of years, Pusha T, for an ironic take on the traditional cars-and-women rap video.

It’s just so much fun. Pusha T’s Re-Up Gang are usually unironic unapologetically hardcore gangsta rappers; they incapsulate the genre coke-rap. Now add Tyler’s crazy antics to the mix and the drive-by becomes an egging. And just take a look on Tyler’s face in the traditional gratuitous semi-nude scene. I guess that’s how I would look sitting in that car at 19 (okay, maybe even now).

Tyler’s solo album had some really great songs (and some really forgettable ones, too) and the new Mellowhype album is equally great. And I just saw that Frank Ocean is featured on one of the songs on Kanye West and Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne. I can’t wait to see what comes next for the OFWGKTA boys.