TechStuff

There's also an Eject command in the File menu. But yes, it's different from a PC, where you normally push a physical button on the optical drive.

a list of known Google Easter Eggs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_hoaxes#Easter_eggs

The original is here: http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/12/siri-weird-things-iphone-...

I'm sure the joke responses are deliberate, just as Infocom text adventure games were programmed to be 'smart' enough to respond to predictable human input.

The best version of Monopoly I've played is the Mega version. A third dice speeds up the game start and finish by forcing players to move to the next unowned property, or to the next property where they must pay rent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly:_The_Mega_Edition

+1 for those who recommended Settlers. Ticket to Ride is also fun, and Diplomacy does not have to destroy friendships. (Anyone willing to devote 5-7 hours to a game is a friend forever, no matter how long I remember that time they switched sides without warning and wiped me out.)

Why is this at the top of HN?

I'm not sure how much it's worth but I was happy to subscribe for $1 and sent a separate gift via PayPal for $10.

Go get 'em Marco!

Q: What does Microsoft sell that you can't get for free?

A: Unbreakable interoperability with other Microsoft products. That, and Active Directory.

Product exchange program. First 1,000 people to return their iPhone 4 get a free BlackBerry and $1,000 but can never use an iPhone again.

+1 to this comment.

PrimoPDF is another good alternative for enterprise users who just need print to PDF.

no

See also http://www.techstuff.ca/store/ (my April Fool's joke from a few years ago).

Digital proposed this back in 1997 or so (before Digital was swallowed up by Compaq, then by HP). They called it Millicent. http://web.archive.org/web/19970601153143/http://www.millice...

There's a patent and everything. http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7110979.html

I think Stephen Glassman (formerly at DEC) is now at Google. Not sure if he is/was involved in Google Checkout.

Yes, it's an old link. I didn't see it then. Mea culpa!

If you clicked on this story, you might also enjoy "The Age of Persuasion" on CBC radio. No podcast yet unfortunately, but streaming audio is available. (See right margin.)

http://www.cbc.ca/ageofpersuasion

This article is a mulligan stew of observations and opinions about several different problems that have earned the label "procrastination."

I fit the profile of what Ferrari calls an "avoidance procrastinator." Pychyl and Steel have got my number.

Schraw, on the other hand, seems to be guilty of post hoc, ergo propter hoc (thank you Aaron Sorkin). I do not procrastinate to have a better mental life; I do it because the alternative seems worse. To quote Pychyl, I feel lousy about a task so I walk away to feel better. I don't feel good, understand. Just not as bad.

Here's what I know - I hope it helps any other avoidance procrastinators who are reading:

Most of my task avoidance is based on uneasiness about the task; uneasiness caused (or multiplied) by not fully understanding the parameters and/or goals of the task.

That's it. For me, that's the key.

It is difficult - nearly impossible - to do my taxes each year. However, it is easy to do the various steps involved in doing my taxes, when I have a prepared list of the steps involved, and the order in which they should be carried out.

Clean out the garage is another good example of a task that I will never be able to do. But I have no problem doing the various small tasks that are hidden inside the phrase "clean out the garage" as long as someone can tell me what they are.

And this is the problem. I seem to lack the Project Planning gene that allows other people to break large, vague projects into smaller tasks. When I get help with this, and can approach a big project as a bunch of smaller tasks arranged in logical order, I have no problem. (Well, I still have the problems of laziness, perfectionism, distraction, etc., but no more than regular people.)

The trouble comes when the assignment lacks clarity.

This, I believe, is why procrastinator students in Schraw's study chose a detailed syllabus versus "a rough sketch of the assignments" -- not because "such specificity allowed for 'planned' procrastination" but because this approach removes the task ambiguity that triggers "my" type of procrastination.

Finally, saying, "Just do it" to a procrastinator is like saying, "Cheer up" to someone who's clinically depressed.

I assumed it was typo.

U = (E x V) / (P x D)