featured articles
random articles

Equivocation Cripples Action

Readers frequently give me a hard time about some edge case in my writing as if I haven’t thought the subject through, and pared the word count down by half. I’m confident that those readers don’t write a whole lot. If they did write, they would realize that in order to produce a cogent piece, especially in the abbreviated format of a blog, one has to chop mercilessly. Here’s my... Read More

Techzing Interview Tuesday March 23rd

TechZing, “News and views from the front-line of tech & startups”, was crazy enough to invite me to do an interview tomorrow at 6:30pm EST. I’m not sure when it will be available for listening, but I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s up. We’ll be talking about my publishing company, Kenrose Media, and how less than a year of unglamorous work (read: flailing)... Read More

Is Your Face Real?

“Is your patch real?” My eye patch is a conversation piece. Many people ask about it, a lot assume it’s either fake or temporary (it’s neither). “Do I need it?” some ask. Some people reflexively yell “Yarrr!!” at the sight of me, like their ancestors evolved some pirate instinct that preserved their genes from pillaging while other, less impulsive genotypes... Read More

Ira Glass on the Creative Gap

If you don’t know Ira Glass, you should. If you don’t know Ira’s show, This American Life, you should. This message is about how creative people need to really stick with what they are doing. He’s talking to people who work in TV, but it applies to everyone who produces. A few excerpts: Most everyone I know who does interesting, creative work went through a phase of years where... Read More

How I retired at age 25

When I was younger I pulled some ballsy moves, trying to get rich young. My goal was to be rich enough to do whatever I wanted to do by the time I was 25. Back then I planned to fight my way to the top of the ladder, and sky dive from the ladder’s lofty heights into retirement, riding a golden parachute. Instead I was left out to dry by the incompetent CEO who hired me then was fired, and I myself... Read More

Don’t You Dare Waste Your Fucking Time

Gabrielle Bouliane, the woman in this video, was diagnosed with stage four cancer and died on January 29th, 2010. Funny how death washes away the... Read More

Content Survey Results

I let the poll run for two weeks, got plenty of responses, and the results are in. What kind of content do you want to see? Getting Your Mind Right: 50% Productivity Tools: 0% Building Income: 50% I’m planning some “Building Income” posts for the near future, look for them. I’m still going to publish some stuff about productivity, but it’ll be put on the back burner for... Read More

Meaningful Work

Last week I published an essay called Achievement Porn in which I warned against the dangers of addictive treadmills sinking their hooks into your ape brain and its greedy dopamine receptors. My goal for that essay was to encourage people to reevaluate their activities, and enable them to make a deliberate decision about how they spend their lives and why. A lot of people told me it was the wake up call... Read More

Achievement Porn

Hacker News pointed me to an article recently called “Addicted to Fake Achievement“. That article is about video games, but this one isn’t. The thesis of that article is that some games (it mentions Role Playing Games) don’t actually require skill, just time. You start with a weak character and perform some task that’s almost too easy to fail. You’re rewarded by... Read More

Pete Michaud Content Survey

The survey is closed! See the Survey Results... Read More

« Previous Entries Next Entries »