Author: smartpeopleiknow

Would you live in an 8 square meter apartment that you had to walk up 7 floors to get to?

The answer seems obvious: no, right? Well, what if it were this apartment in a beautiful building in Paris?

You can see a sleeping area, a bathroom and a window. But there’s alot more hidden under the bed and the countertops .It’s really a gem of an apartment, and ingeniously designed.

For more on this place, including a video, go to this link.

Writing I really enjoy: The New Family / 1,000 Families Project and this piece on Brian, Jen and Emily

If you ready nothing else from the The New Family / 1,000 Families Project, at least read this piece on Brian, Jen and Emily.

I predict after you do, you will want to read more of them. All of the stories I’ve read so far I’ve really enjoyed. The site itself looks great too.

A great look into the many ways we are families. Highly recommended.

The trick of caramelized onions

Caramelized onions are a great thing to have: many basic dishes can be enhanced by adding these golden beauties. Sound good? If so, consider this:  Why recipe writers lie and lie about how long they take to caramelize onions.
 I recommend you read this before you try to make caramelized onions, otherwise you might wonder why the burned/undercooked ones you just whipped up don’t have the appeal you expected.

Stuck for a recipe to use them with? Consider this egg dish recipe from Martha Stewart: Caramelized Onion and Gorgonzola Quiche Recipe or this pasta recipe from:  A CUP OF JO: Rigatoni with Caramelized Onions and Gorgonzola.

The Economist (and yours truly) on why you want to update your LinkedIn profile

If you think LinkedIn is a waste of time and something no one uses, think again. For starters, check out this chart:

More and more companies and people are using LinkedIn.

You might counter: I have never heard of anyone getting a job on LinkedIn. To that I say that people are losing jobs to LinkedIn, in that HR and others are using LinkedIn as a screening process. Good use of LinkedIn might not get you a job, but poor use of LinkedIn might lose you a job.

I’d add that lots of recruiters use LinkedIn, more than you think. The better your profile, the better chance you have to get linked in with someone with a new and better job for you.

Lastly, LinkedIn is becoming a longer and better version of a resume. Just like you should have an up to date version of that, you should have an up to date version of your career highlights on LinkedIn.

For more on this topic, and to see where I got the chart, go to The Economist’s excellent tumblr

Some thoughts on ebola and the measles

There’s been so much written and spoken about ebola in the recent hysteria concerning it that I hesitate to add to the noise. Instead, what I want to do is highlight another disease: the measles. I want to highlight this one because it is a disease that there is little hysteria associated with it. If anything, people sometimes think it is a right of passage, like acne or puberty.

Now look at this simulation: How quickly Ebola spreads compared to other diseases – Washington Post.

The measles may not be as deadly as ebola, but as a disease it spreads faster and is deadlier than anything else, save ebola and smallpox. Despite that, more and more there are people not immunizing against it.  To me, that is stupid and irresponsible.

People who aren’t vaccinated or whose children are not vaccinated against the measles (and other diseases on that list with vaccines) should get vaccinated.

Need a gift for a child? Consider the Kano computer


I am a big fan of the Raspberry Pi. And I think there is no better way to learn about computers and take your knowledge to a deeper level than building your own computer. The folks at Kano must agree, because they have put together this kit than combines the Pi with everything the owner needs to build a workable and very useful computer. Now you can buy all these things separately, but this kit saves you time and makes up for any lack of knowledge you might have in this area.

You will still need to have a display device to connect to it. Preferably this will be a HDMI device, though it is possible to hook it up to a non-HDMI device. (See here for details.)

For more on the Kano, go here: Kano – Make a Computer.

More evidence – in case you needed it – that many great things take time

The overnight success idea is one that refuses to die, regardless of how much evidence there is that great things take along time to accomplish. If you needed a reminder of this, then consider this: In Praise of Slow Mastery: 10 Great Achievements That Took Time – 99U.

Even as things get faster, it remains true that to accomplish great things you need time. Here’s to you on the great things you are on your way to achieving.

And now, a very strong endorsement for Blackberry’s new Passport phone

Not from me: I was a huge Blackberry fan since almost 10 years on, but they lost me a few years ago and I switched to an iPhone. But Jonathan Kay in this vigorous piece (below) on the new Passport got me seriously thinking about Blackberry again. I think I will stick to my iPhone for now, but anyone who was a fan of Blackberries should really read this: Jonathan Kay: Why I ditched my iPhone for Blackberry’s massive new Passport | National Post. You might find yourself heading down to your local service provider and coming out with one.

I am hopeful for Blackberry/RIM making a comeback. More and better choices are better for everyone.

Are you travelling for work? Listen to Austin Kleon and travel smart

You may not being going on a book tour, but if you are travelling for work, you can steal these ideas from Austin Kleon (Austin Kleon : 10 Things I Learned On Book Tour) and have a much better trip.

Ideas I stole on a recent trip:

  1. Invest in good gear. I had my carry on well packed, and it fit nicely above my head. It made my 2.5 hour flight a breeze to get through. Plus I had everything I need, meaning no need to scramble at my destination looking for things (time you usually won’t have, anyway).
  2. Wear a uniform. I do this now on all trips. You look presentable, you look good in photos (if you take selfies), and you don’t have to pack as much.
  3. When in doubt, go to an art museum. I was in Tampa, and I found out where their museum was and visited. Not only is it a great museum, but they had on two good shows. Bonus: the area around the museum was excellent in itself.

His entire list is worthwhile. If you are travelling soon on business, you will benefit from reading him first.

P.S. Photo from a link to his blog. Go read his blog. Better still, buy his books.

4 p.m. recipe: Marcella’s butter tomato sauce

Onions, butter, tomatoes. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. And yet, delicious. Also beats the stuff in a jar, of course.

Once you have a great tomato sauce, then there is a wealth of possibilities for dinner, from pasta to veal to eggplant to….whatever needs a great tomato sauce.

For more on the recipe (and where I got the photo), see: Stacey Snacks.

Looking to buy a technical gift for someone (or yourself) ?

Then you need to check out the Wirecutter. It has experts in every area of technology — from headphones to TVs to much more — stating what they think is thebest thing to buy right now. They explain their reasoning, offer alternatives, and best of all, the site is kept up to date. Also, they have links to sites like Amazon and others to let you take the next step and purchase the tech you want.

Making walls better with moulding


While you can do interesting things with paint or wall paper to your walls, another idea is to use simple moulding to break up boring walls. The woman featured in this post, Charlotte’s Budget Beauty — House Call | Apartment Therapy, has  it throughout her place, and I think it looks great.

Want more ideas on how to do that? Here you go 🙂  http://lmgtfy.com/?q=add+moulding+to+walls

Helpful advice in preparing for dealing with the death of a parent

If you are fortunate, your parents are living and you have a good relationship with them. The dreaded day will come, though, when they die. It will be hard to deal with, no matter what advice you get, but this piece of advice will certainly help: Things I Wish I Had Known When My Mother Died :: YummyMummyClub.ca.

I would add: expect to deal with a lot of administrative tasks that will seem surreal at times. There is much more of it then you think. At best it will seem bizarre. At worst, it will be agony. Either way, it must get done, and if you don’t think you will be able to do it, consider who you would lean on to help you with it when the time comes.

(Thanks to Emma W for the pointer to this.)

Is there no limit to how small computers can get?

Right now it doesn’t seem it when I see a general purpose computer shrunk down to this size:

You can find out more about that computer here: Inverse Path – USB armory.

I believe that soon everything you buy will come with computing built into it, by defaul. When this occurs,people may find it weird to think about non-digital devices, just like younger people might find it weird to see people working from previous generations doing work and not using computers.

Ello, we must be off.

I thought: I better share some thoughts on Ello before it is too late!

Here are two views on Ello. First one, negative: Aral Balkan — Ello, goodbye. Second one, affirmative: How To Ello In 5 Easy Steps.

My own view is that people are not going to adopt a new social network unless there are significant benefits to doing so. The last one that I have seen that was successful was Instagram. In the meantime there has been a number that have not taken off, from Google Wave and Google+, to app.net and Yo. I suspect that Ello will join the latter group, rather than Instagram.

For people with big todo lists and/or like to draw on walls

I give you this:

I really like this idea, but then I am an IT architect and we like to stand up and draw on walls (ok, whiteboards). A whiteboard would also work, but if you have kids, there may be times when you want to save anything they did. Or never mind kids: maybe your own doodle was keep sake worthy.

By the way, you can get such paper dispensers at IKEA. Most people mount them on a table, but clearly the wall is an option too.

Wall-Mounted Kraft Paper Roll Dispenser – Design Milk.

If you think being vegan will limit you in your attemps to build muscle and compete in sports…

Then you need read this article. If that doesn’t convince you, then head on over to this site to see just how great you can get on a vegan diet.

If anything, being vegan may help you, depending on your current diet and other factors that may be limiting your ability to improve.

Some thoughts on the lost guitar solo from Here Comes The Sun

This post is fantastic:  Here Comes The Sun: The Lost Guitar Solo by George Harrison, from the blog Open Culture.

Not only do you get to hear the lost guitar solo, but you get to do so with Dhani Harrison (George’s son), George Martin and Giles Martin (the son of the great producer)

Even better, you get a sense of what George Martin was working with at the time, and you get a sense, at least I did, of how Martin thinks about what he is hearing.

A must for Beatles fan and anyone who appreciates popular music and how it is made.

Some of the best things in Paris are free


And the Guardian has a list of them.  If you are going to Paris, take a quick peek and take notes. Yes, many you may have heard of, as I had. One I hadn’t is pictured above and is relatively new:

Opened in 1993, six years before New York’s similar High Line project, La Promenade Plantee is a tree-lined walkway on an old elevated railway line in east Paris. The 4.5km trail is a wonderful way to explore the city, taking you up and down staircases, across viaducts, above the streets and offering the occasional chance to wave back at the lucky Parisians whose apartments overlook it. The walkway also runs over the Viaduc des Arts, a bridge in which the arches are now occupied by galleries.

• 12th arrondissemen, promenade-plantee.org

For more from the list, see 10 best free things to do in Paris | Travel | theguardian.com.

Bonus: here’s a piece from the Globe and Mail how to eat like a Parisian. Since you’ll be enjoying all these free things in Paris, you’ll have more money for food.

It’s Thursday: you can use some puns. Including some from a master.

Last night I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. No, actually, last night a friend of mine sent me this very punny version of “That’s amore” (see below) and it reminded me of the very funny (and punny) Groucho Marx. Here’s both: such a bargain!

When the moon hits your eye
like a big pizza pie
that’s amore.

When an eel bites your hand
with a pain you can’t stand
that’s a moray.

When our habits are strange
and our customs deranged
that’s our mores.

When your horse munches straw
and the bales total four
that’s some more hay.

When a beam from the sun
lights the heath where we run
that’s a moor ray.

When a sand-coated board
buffs your nails, yes milord,
that’s emory.

And our friend Mitch Albom
every Tuesday would come
to hear Morrie.

A New Zealander lad
sports tatoos by his dad.
That’s a Maori.

When a glacier’s retreat
piles up stones at its feet
that’s a moraine.

When two patterns of lines
cross to form new designs,
that’s a moiré.

The briefest of pauses
in poetic clauses,
they are morae.

What the palest young man
needs to get a good tan,
that’s some more rays.

When Othello’s poor wife,
she gets stabbed with a knife
that’s a Moor, eh?

A great whale in the sea
chases Raymond and me.
That’s Shamu, Ray.

When a Japanese knight
used a sword in a fight
that’s Samurai.

P.S. Here’s a link to the Groucho Marx video on YouTube.

Economic inequality is rising, plain and simple.

As this piece at Vox shows , economic inequality really is rising, no matter how you fuss with the data. Possibly because of the skepticism from some, Vox explores this using differing analysis. The conclusion is always the same: economically, things are getting worse.

Data aside, this anecdotal argument at the end of the piece nails it for me:

Outside the sphere of political debate, you also see the real world impact of inequality. Merrill Lynch recommends an investment strategy to its clients based on the growing economic clout of plutocrats, Singapore Airlines is now selling $18,400 first class cabin tickets, and observers think Apple is going to start selling a $10,000 watch. Conversely, Walmart is now primarily worried about competition from dollar stores. The executives at these companies are not hysterical liberals trying to drum up paranoia about inequality, they are trying to respond to real economic conditions — conditions that have entailed very poor wage growth paired with decent returns for those proserous enough to own lots of shares of stock.

Worthwhile and recommended.

Are you trying to learn to code? Are you finding it difficult?

It’s likely not you. As this piece argues, Learnable Programming, there are limits to the approaches that online sites have which many can get by, but some cannot. If you are in the latter group, give this piece a read. Afterwards you might think: aha! That’s why I couldn’t get it!

With technology, if you don’t understand something, don’t assume the problem lies with you. It may, but most of the time, the problem lies with the technology.

Looking for a new job? You need to tell a good story

Or, more likely, fifteen good stories, according to Lifehacker.

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I’d recommend anyone looking for a new job should consider having these stories and rehearsing them so that when asked you have good answers and don’t fumble as you tell them. Plus it always looks good to be prepared.

If you are looking for a new job, go to Lifehacker/LinkedIn for more guidance.

It’s Tuesday. You need some inspiration

If you are following this blog, yesterday you fixed up your (Windows) machine. You got a new todo list. Excellent. Now, perhaps, you need something inspiring for your desktop wallpaper.

If you agree, check out these wallpapers from Design Milk. There should be one to appeal to you, regardless of whether or not you are a designer.

VPN 101: what it is, how to set it up (quick links)

Here’s a collection of links on VPN, and VPN tunneling. Not authoritative, and not meant to endorse any one approach over another or even how to use the technology.

  1. Networking 101: Understanding Tunneling (obvious)
  2. Ensuring Network Security with a VPN (Virtual Private Network) – For Dummies
  3. VPN Tunnels Tutorial – Types of VPNS, Protocol & More (via About.com)
  4. What A VPN Tunnel Is & How To Set One Up (seems more oriented towards PCs than servers)
  5. How to Tunnel Web Traffic with SSH Secure Shell (oriented towards Linux servers)
  6. How to Set Up a Secure Web Tunnel | PCWorld (similar to #5)
  7. How to setup VPN server (PPTP on CentOS, RedHat and Ubuntu)? – Knowledgebase – PhotonVPS (if you want to set up a server)

Not the shortest but the most beautiful route to take

I found this piece awhile ago and think it’s fascinating: Forget the Shortest Route Across a City; New Algorithm Finds the Most Beautiful from MIT Technology Review.

I would love to see algorithms and other such means to find the best a city has to offer. And it’s not all that far fetched. For a long time flickr.com had a feature that featured photos viewers found the most interesting. If something similar was available for cities, a whole new generation of flaneurs and happier tourists might result. It might even spur improvements to areas deemed less beautiful.

The best todo list ever? Certainly the simplest. Likely the one you need.

By now you’ve had a chance to go over the things you need to do this week. Quite possibly it is looking overwhelming. Even though you are working hard, you don’t feel like you are accomplishing things. If so, try stepping back, take a minute, and read this: If you do this and only this, today will be a good day.

It really is a good way to approach your day. (And yes, it’s fine if you do more than one thing.)