Giulio Fidente - misc

ToDoist TIPS

2013-05-14T16:00:00+02:00

I was recently on the look out for some web (and portable) ToDo management application. I tried many, as many are free.

At some point I was even forced to re-define my own needs as I got confused. There are indeed at least two different kinds of tracking applications. Some are like iDoneThis, which is a sort of reporting tool. Some are more like Don't Forget The Milk, which seems more a pure ToDo managing application. What I needed was something more of the second type and in the end my preference went to ToDoist; it's got all the features I need, especially the time-setting thing which is great.

A couple of days after I signed up they sent me an (automated) email, listing a few pro "tips". Well, I was inclined to consider that as spam but after a quick read instead I realized the "tips" were very well chosen and also had a much broader scope than just inviting me to try the other features. These were discussing some principles I felt already familiar with, somehow, but the listing reinforced the core concepts. I thought they were worth sharing, see for yourself:

Many of the emails you receive contain action items, but without a way to set due dates, priorities, and reminders, those emails often get forgotten.

The same can be said for the other action items you put in the list!

If possible don’t try to do several things at once. Use your to-do list to keep you focused and on track. By working systematically to complete each task on your list, you’ll get more done.

I read that as a suggestion to prioritize the list and work on the one (or a few) item from the top.

Break big tasks into a number of smaller sub-tasks that can be completed in 1 hour or less.

I wouldn't enforce the 1 hour timeline, but the concept of splitting the bigger tasks into a number of smaller and easier to track items remains valid.

If your tasks aren’t accessible at all times, you’ll start to forget about them and miss opportunities to get things done.

I used to have separate lists for different purposes. Read, I don't mix work items with personal tasks, but I make sure my work todo list is easy to reach from any of the devices I use when working.

To improve your productivity, you need to be able to see how productive you are now and how your productivity levels change over time. Once you can see how your productive you are, you can work on figuring out which productivity tactics are working for you and improve your output.

Indeed.

One more for Aaron

2013-01-13T00:00:00+01:00

Yes, Aaron was the co-founder of Reddit and Avaaz. Aaron edited and contributed to the RSS specifications when he was 14. But that isn't the best part. Even for people like me, who only met Aaron on the internet, he was a lot more. From Remember Aaron:

Aaron's commitment to social justice was profound, and defined his life. He was instrumental to the defeat of an Internet censorship bill; he fought for a more democratic, open, and accountable political system; and he helped to create, build, and preserve a dizzying range of scholarly projects that extended the scope and accessibility of human knowledge. He used his prodigious skills as a programmer and technologist not to enrich himself but to make the Internet and the world a fairer, better place. His deeply humane writing touched minds and hearts across generations and continents. He earned the friendship of thousands and the respect and support of millions more. Aaron's death is not simply a personal tragedy. It is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach.

I think it's worth repeat those words again: used his prodigious skills as a programmer and technologist not to enrich himself but to make the Internet and the world a fairer, better place.

Lawrence Lessig has called for this tragedy to be a basis for reform of computer crime laws, and the overzealous prosecutors who use them. You can read more about Aaron and the case also in the EFF's farewell.

Long Life to Red Hat

2012-09-29T00:00:00+02:00

Sometimes a job is just a way to earn some money. Rarely it is also fun. Sometimes it is fun instead but not suiting very well your principles and culture.

But I'm a very lucky guy as I've got them all. And no it is not of Google that I'm talking about, this is better!. It's better because I've got many of the same benefits, including a thriving tech culture and a nice kitchen with free food and I've also got to work on open source and free software.

Free software! I mean free as in speech not as in beer. Software which can be reused, changed, improved, shared with and by other people and is not intended to hurt your privacy. To me that looks great, it is the living vision of the same people who brought to you (many years ago) the best-in-class OS, which also Google runs!

So, long life to Red Hat!

Napoli (Silicon Dust)

2012-04-08T00:00:00+02:00

From beef to vegetables

2011-06-20T00:00:00+02:00

Shifting from beef to vegetables for even a single day a week would in fact be more helpful in reducing greenhouse gases than shifting the entirety of one's diet to exclusively locally produced sources. See GREEN-EGGS-AND-HAM

Learned helplessness

2009-02-16T00:00:00+01:00

Learned helplessness is a psychological condition in which a human being or an animal has learned to act or behave helpless in a particular situation, even when it has the power to change its unpleasant or even harmful circumstance.

Learned helplessness theory is the view that clinical depression and related mental illnesses result from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation (Seligman, 1975).

Interesting? Continue on wikipedia