Check out Blogger's random site tool.  Basically you just drag the link into the link toolbar on IE 5 and it lets you randomly surf blogger blogs.  That really isn't too interesting to me.  What really would be cool if someone built a tool for Radio that let me put the sites I visit most often into a webring.  That would let me surf my favorite sites by merely clicking on a link in the link toolbar.  It also would be great if I could publish my webring link. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

» I think you could do this using BackFlip.  Add each of the blogs to your daily routine, then add the daily routine link to your IE toolbar.

I emailed them a while back about allowing you to have more than one tour, and to allow people to share tours (you can share link folders).  They never acknowledged me.

 

I have a consistent but managable RSI condition.  I've had it for over 10 years so I guess it isn't going away.  In that time I've had many programs that try and help me manage my time at the keyboard.  They haven't worked for whatever reason.

I've now found one that seems to.  It's called Break Reminder, it's simple to use and free for personal use (I have no affiliation with the company involved, I just like the program).

For my condition it enforces a 30 second break (called a micro pause) every 3 minutes with a 15 minute rest break after every ten micro pauses.  It uses audio queues to keep you informed of what is about to happen and has options to allow you to ignore breaks (which I have disabled) and blank the screen (to give your eyes a rest during breaks).   Timings for during and frequency of breaks is fully configurable.

I use the rest breaks to go do other stuff, do a little exercise or just read something on my desk.

It's irritating to have my work broken up.  It can break the flow state and makes me feel less effecient.  But, in the long run, I think it makes me more effective because I feel less pain and discomfort.

Recommended.

This passage from Synchronicity by Joe Jaworski so accurately describes what it feels like starting my new venture (my first):

"At the moment I walked away from the firm, a strange thing happened.  I clearly had no earthly idea how I would proceed.  I knew next to nothing about leadership curriculum and development.  I knew no one who could help me on the substantive side of things, no network of experts.  The resources necessary for a national effort would be enormous, far exceeding my own capacity.  I had none of this, only myself."

As Jaworski goes on to discover, myself is enough for now.  Already I don't feel so alone, I've met a lot of good people.  I'm starting to find my feet, define my purpose and understand my goals.  It's daunting, but not impossible.

Jaworski's book is full of insight and inspiration.  It was recommended to me by my life coach as useful for someone starting a new business venture.  He wasn't wrong!

 

Extreme programming, early learning, project management and KM!. Brilliant ... for some reason I have only just come across the term [Extreme Programming] (XP) ... a very similar methodology to one that Lotus Notes developers have been applying for the last 10 years or more and that was embodied in Lotus's AVM (Accelerated Value Methodology).

I apply this methodology myself whenever I can and taught AVM for a couple of years and so can highly recommend such methodologies.

An interesting insight though is that it can be applied to any project. Its about building rapid learning into the project - in fact it all about knowledge management. []

Extreme Programming (universally referred to as XP) is a methodology of programming which involves short cycle times working closely with the customer. In XP, the development team works in two week cycles, and works on implementing customer stories: stories being small enough pieces of functionality that can be implemented in a short space of time.

The theme underlying XP is "embrace change:" since we know user requirements will change, we make a virtue of it. XP uses the metaphor of driving to illustrate this: you don't drive from Los Angeles to New York by pointing the car in the direction of New York and then closing your eyes for the next 40 hours: you have to make small corrections along the way.

[Gurteen Knowledge-Log]

» Pauses for some company somewhere to start marketing their "eXtreme KM" product suite...

Oh wait, maybe I should do that :-)