Love Parkour

Because Ladies who love shoes, love Parkour. Go Girls!

Marty Moose

Marty Moose is one of my aspie bros from Wrong Planet and is a stand-up Comedian in Chicago. This clip is him headlining a gig this week, proving that Aspies can be funny. After working with comedians for many years I suspect many of them are on the spectrum like me.

Aspies are hilarious, as they say what most people think but daren't.

You Walk Wrong

Being an Aspie Girl married to an Aspie Boy we share more than a few traits, like our habit of 'toe-walking'. It's one of the classic ways of spotting aspie kids, who often walk like a 'fox' or a ballet dancer on the pads of their feet. I love shoes to look at but still kick them off the first chance I get, and spend most of my time in New Zealand wandering around barefoot.

Most people stomp around in shoes all day, and are in fact walking in an unnatural way. A study titled “Shod Versus Unshod: The Emergence of Forefoot Pathology in Modern Humans?” shows that in fact You Walk Wrong.

So after years of practicing a 'normal' stride, I'm embracing my inner bounce. Already my back feels straighter and spinning round the studios is a fun way to take a micro-break. If you have an aspie kid then don't tell them off for toe-walking. Tell them that more people should learn to walk like them instead!

Podcast: Indie Film

There are plenty of great sites sharing tips and tricks for Indie Film-makers and start by getting your sound right. People will watch grainy footage, but not if they can't hear a word of dialogue. Professional lighting can be achieved on a miniscule budget, especially if you think creatively. For reflectors try a cheap silver car windscreen shade. Diffuse lights? Use a shower curtain or a white umbrella. Need a cheap Steadycam? Try a plastic bag.

LISTEN/DOWNLOAD AT RADIO WAMMO

Show notes at the The MsBehaviour Files: Indie Film

Having a laugh

The Economist reports that Having a laugh at work is very important if you want to hang onto great employees and increase productivity:

"The best bet may be to hire people with a sense of humour. That was the philosophy of Herb Kelleher, the legendary boss of Southwest Airlines, an airline that is actually a pleasure to fly. One of his staff delivers one of the better and curiously timely lines, “We’re sorry for the delay, but our automated bag smasher is broken and we are having to break your bags by hand.”

How to Take Great Breaks at the Office

Life Dev is a great site full of posts on Productivity for creative people. How to Take Great Breaks at the Office has some useful tips for incorporating mini-breaks into your working day. I'm all for micro and mini-breaks, as freelancers & entrepreneurs need to take some chill time whenever they can.

Which "Star Wars" Character Would Be the Best CEO?

HR World poses an excellent question with, Which "Star Wars" Character Would Be the Best CEO? Their view on Princess Leia:

"Leia embodies today’s concept of the career woman. Beautiful and put together, yet adept at firing a blaster or manning a ship, the princess could command a company with her drive and courage alone. This senator and leader of the Rebel Alliance possesses a devotion to duty and freedom, which could work both for and against her. Her metal bikini might also distract her underlings. "

* Note to self. Do not wear metal bikini around underlings.

Impossible is merely an opinion...

Thanks to Lisa for sharing one of her inspirational sayings. She says:

"My fav quote is from Justin Herald who says "Impossible is not a fact it's merely an opinion" I love it!!"

Nothing is impossible. Never put in your own limitations. Even walking seemed impossible once, but we learned how to do it step by step.

Bubuntu

Linux Chix Rock! Thanks to Researching Point Omega.

40 Things You Have to Know Before Starting a Web 2.0 Business

40 Things You Have to Know Before Starting a Web 2.0 Business is a very useful for anyone thinking of venturing into the new dotcom boom. The last is particularly important:

"All of these rules are going to change. The nature of the web 2.0 world is that it fluctuates with the latest consumer demands. Be prepared to take on new faces and try new things in order to stay alive in the changing Internet."

25 Quotes From Famous Entrepreneurs

This is a great list of 25 quotes from famous Entrepreneurs. I particularly like this one:

“The key is to just get on the bike, and the key to getting on the bike… is to stop thinking about ‘there are a bunch of reasons I might fall off’ and just hop on and peddle the damned thing. You can pick up a map, a tire pump, and better footwear along the way.”

-Dick Costolo, founder of Feedburner.com

What colour will your bike be, and where do you want it to take you?

11 Innovation Lessons from World of Warcraft

The makers of hugely popular online game World of Warcraft, share 11 Innovation Lessons they have learned. Such as ‘Fail Often, Fail Fast,’ and Move Quickly in Pieces. This is a wise piece of advise especially for those dealing in online alchemy:

"build in small increments, review with the clients and continually iterate the design until the customer is satisfied.”

The quicker you can get the screens the better, and with flexible open platforms such as Drupal you can literally develop with the client by your side. It's a lot more efficient than wasting time documenting.

Above all don't be afraid to give something a go even if it doesn't work out:

“As Alan Mullaly said when he led Boeing Commercial Aircraft, ‘We celebrate mistakes; bring them into the open, because we can’t help fix what we don’t know about.’ ”

Entrepreneurs Thrive During Bad Times

Business Pundit points out that in turbulent economic times, entrepreneurs often thrive.

"In this economic turmoil gold and silver are thriving. New highs are being reached on almost a daily basis. If you have invested in precious metals than this is your time.

Entrepreneurs are like precious metals they know how to thrive in bad times. With unstable times there comes incredible opportunities. Capitalizing on these opportunities separate you from the doomsayers. It also provides income opportunities that may not have been there in the past."

Geek 2.0

Chelfyn and I celebrated out 50th Virtual World show yesterday on Radio New Zealand, National. We decided to mark this milestone with a special on the rise of Geek 2.0 with a History of the Geek, Geek 1.0 v Geek 2.0, The Geek Creed, Home Hacking and links for How to Geek.

You can also listen to a podcast of Geek 2.0.

Goo or Prickles? Atheist Spirituality.

This animated recording of Alan Watts on Atheist Spirituality was produced by Trey Parker & Matt Stone of Southpark.



"Once you realize that all religions are man-made fictions and that intelligence has no special status in the universe you can ask some truly deep spiritual questions and our only hope of finding real answers is with science, math and philosophy."

G33k Comedy

Thanks to Marty Moose at Wrong Planet for introducing me to the G33k Comedy Genius that is Demetri Martin. He had me ROFLMFAO! And in true Geek Style he was also briefly in in the 'Original Flight of the Conchords' with Bret, playing the Keytar.

Podcast: Pings, Alerts & Social Search

Tracking column inches used to be a full time job for a PR person or even team. Drinking coffee, scanning newspapers and cutting out any mentions of clients in the news or letters to the editor. Now we can use software to carry out the very same service, delivered direct to your inbox. Stories move fast across the internet and it's important to open your digital ears as wide as you can. MsBehaviour explains how.

Listen to the podcast at Radio Wammo.

Read the full Ms. Behaviour File at the Big Idea.

Gay Scientists Isolate Christian Gene

UK plc: A Confederacy of Dunces, Clones and Psychopaths?

The Peter Principle, the Negative Selection Principle, the Law of Unintended Consequences, the Procrustes Principle and the Psychopath Principle dictate that the UK will inevitably underperform.

Introduced by Canadian sociologist Dr. Laurence Johnston Peter, the Peter Principle is defined in The American Heritage Dictionary as: ‘

The theory that employees within an organization will advance to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level at which they are incompetent.’

According to Dr Peter, only those within a company who haven’t yet reached their level of incompetence perform any productive work, and long-established companies tend to have a much higher concentration of incompetent managers than new, growing companies.

Read more at Meritocracy.org

A Dune Guide To Business

What wisdom can digital entrepreneurs gain from famous works of literature? A Dune Guide To Business from Steve Spalding uses Frank Herbert’s, Dune.

“The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man.” –from Collected Sayings of Muad’Dib by the Princess Irulan

The Four-Hour Work Week Top Ten Tips

1 Check e-mails once a day at most, and never first thing

2 Wriggle out of meetings

3 Delegate, or outsource, all labour-intensive tasks

4 Practise being awkward, so you're not troubled with trifles

5 Take outrageous liberties with your working practices without asking permission. You can always apologise afterwards

6 Apply Pareto's Law: focus on the 20 per cent of work that produces 80 per cent of profits

7 Dump the 80 per cent that produces 20 per cent of profits

8 Cultivate “selective ignorance”. Don't waste time reading what's of no relevance to you

9 Liberate yourself gradually from the workplace, claiming to work more efficiently from home

10 Don't defer having fun till you're too old. Take two or three “mini-retirements” each year

The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss, Vermillion, £10.99

In More Naked New Zealand News...

These Kiwis eh? Whatever you can do, they can do naked. A would be car thief in the South Island was startled this week by an off-duty cop who tackled him while completely starkers, and brandishing a torch.

I think the cop should apply to be on Naked News Flash. He could read the weather bare arsed.

While moonlighting...

Asperger's and IT: Dark secret or open secret?

Computerworld covers a topic that I have been studying for some time Asperger's and IT: Dark secret or open secret? Well, it's pretty much obvious to any geek that we share a few common traits. Like the Big Interest or series of projects/obsessions that keep us happy in our caves for hours on end.

As Temple Grandin says..." We wouldn't even have any computers if we didn't have Asperger's."

Be nice to geeks. After all we pwn your interwebs...

G33k Chic from MsBehaviour

I have been designing geek tshirts in my head for years, so I am very excited about my new G33k Chic line and Ms. Behaviour Store.

Uk Future Innovators

This is a great report from the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts in the UK on attitudes among young in the UK people today:

"Young people believe their own passion, motivation and personal attributes will be more important in helping them pursue the career of their choice than qualifications, according to a new survey from NESTA, due to be published today. They’re driven by a desire for personal fulfilment ahead of money, and by personal interest over altruism.

Jonathan Kestenbaum, CEO of NESTA, said:

“If predictions are correct, 50 per cent of the jobs that will be available in 10 years time don’t yet exist. On this basis, it becomes harder to predict what qualifications someone will need in 2020 and it is more important to give them a broad range of skills to prepare them for all the options. This means encouraging young people to be confident, creative risk-takers who will be more likely to come up with new ideas, lead business or drive social change”.

For more visit NESTA's Future Innovators space.