So amazing, so illegal. What are we going to do with you, future? That’s my pal, Jonathan Coulton, remarking on the disruptively talented Kutiman, who has made an astounding series of YouTube video remixes that’s lighting up the web and (one imagines) generating a lot of wood amongst our...

Merlin Mann - “Toward Patterns for Creativity” - Macworld PULSE Here’s a video of my presentation, “Toward Patterns for Creativity,” from earlier this month at Macworld, here in SF. My slides were kind of a mess thanks to a bonehead technical problem on my part, but you...

The best Mac ever | Editors’ Notes | Macworld I knew what the near-consensus would be before the page opened. Everybody knows. The SE/30 (with a hard drive) was, pound for pound, the best Mac ever made. Not only was it when the Mac arrived as a serious tool for normal (albeit deep-pocketed) pe...

Self-Reliant Film » Blog Archive » Twyla Tharp: Getting Things Done (with Boxes) This post by Paul Harrill is a great take on what I’ve been saucily referring to as, “Twyla’s Box.” (Yes, again with the Twyla Tharp book.) I’m sharing it here, because in addition to del...

Leo Interviews Merlin Mann of 43 Folders The beginning of a blood-curdling recession hardly seems like the time to ruminate about fantasy resources, I’ll grant you that. But, I want you to think about something. Really think about it. If, tomorrow morning, you had 60% of the time and resources...

Although it’s been way more than a month, per our little agreement, here’s some recent Merlin-related stuff that may interest you. Really good stuff this time around. Today/Friday: Macworld PULSE Like Chairman Gruber, I’m frustrated that it’s crazy-hard to link to our session...

If your mall’s bookstores look anything like mine (and it’s probably safe to assume that they do), you’ll find numerous sections devoted to helping writers, painters, musicians, and other aspiring artists to become successful in one way or another. There are books chock full of tip...

Eric Idle, on John Cleese’s Approach to Writing John Cleese sweated every word — to the point of exhausting collaborators like Eric Idle. In other places, I’ve heard Cleese himself talk about his work ethic within the Pythons, mentioning how Graham Chapman might slip out early to s...

the show with zefrank (2007-11-06 / “washington, ideas, brain crack”) Ze Frank, on executing ideas even, or especially, when you can’t do them perfectly. (PNSFW) [video via Waxy Links] As some pals and I have been banging around ideas for new projects, I’ve been thinking a lo...

apophenia: Warning: Email Sabbatical is Imminent .. and other random thoughts [via trivium] danah boyd is finishing her dissertation, then going on vacation for a month. While, she’s gone, she’s not accepting email. At all. Got that? No apology. No “vacation message” to prete...