Monday, March 20, 2006

   myOtaku: Now with Permalinks
Someone made a lengthy Wikipedia post about myOtaku. Good job to whoever wrote it.

I'm sure someone would have written an entry on theOtaku, had it been even remotely manageable. I think at this point, it might even be beyond my own grasp.

Anyway, two things:
(1) I think it would be fun to have a weekly caption-ready anime image. Anyone want to do a few?

(2) Notice the new "Permalink" text at the bottom of every blog entry? That's something I threw together between my piano practicing. You can now link to people's individual blog entries. What do you think?

Also, Milky Cat asked a good question about comments. Right now, we don't have a good way to keep up with them.

So why don't we make a page that lets you see all new comments posted across the network? We could, but it's not a trivial addition. We didn't foresee this feature when we designed how comments are posted. Doing this, I think, would require massive, massive programming changes all over the place.

It's worth it, of course, but so daunting.
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Sunday, March 19, 2006

What's Next?
Now that the portfolio module is finished, what will garner my attention next?

I'm going to spend some time here on myOtaku. There are some nagging things that need attention here. For example, the PM system is completely screwed up (as many of you have noticed). Not a great thing when so much of the network relies on inter-member communication.

On a side note, it's really interesting that the most popular eCards lately have been very self-referential (e.g. "I'm sending this eCard because it has Inuyasha on it.")
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Saturday, March 18, 2006

Almost There
Yesterday, my eyes showed a lot of signs of improvement. Today is even better.

Crossing my fingers that all will be well with them by tomorrow. Then I can do some final touches to the portfolio module and launch her.
Comments (3) | Permalink

Friday, March 17, 2006

Eyes...Still...Twitching
(Ugh, but it's made me realize how much "eye"'ve taken them for granted)

In today's blog post, Gail asks:

Do you give a lot of thought in your life decisions (education, career choice, relationships, etc..) or just fly by the seat of your pants?

I call this bottom-up versus top-down planning. My first exposure to this concept was in one of my finance classes actually. But that's just an aside...

I'm a strong, maniacal proponent of bottom-up living. See opportunities, take them. Don't have everything planned out because nothing ever goes according to plan. Live by inspiration (but also be sane and use your reason to verify/validate your decisions).

So why do I feel so strongly about this? Two points:

(1) You never know what could happen. Life throws so many curve balls; things will never go according to your plan. (Aside: This is why you have to spend a lot of time cultivating a strong mind, to carry you through difficult times.)

(2) If you're too structured, you miss interesting opportunities and you also miss the scenery!

So, personally, I live bottom-up. However, this doesn't mean I live recklessly. I'll get struck by inspiration and will use my reason the best I can to validate that inspiration. Then I'll pursue it.

I live by inspiration and reason.
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Thursday, March 16, 2006

Otaku Folks Are Smart
Thanks for all your advice on my eye twitching. I'll let you know if it works, I had a lot of trouble at work today and couldn't really do much on the site.

I couldn't stay off the computer though. I've started working on my taxes...what fun!

FYI: For the portfolio module, the # of comments is the # that you've made on theOtaku (it doesn't count myOtaku). I guess it's confusing so I'll have to reword it.
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Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Eye Twitching
My eyes have been twitching uncontrollably for the last week. It's been really irritating. I guess I can't spend 20 hours a day on the computer without penalty : ).

Have any of you experienced this/can offer advice/etc?

Something exciting for you to check out! Go to:

http://www.theotaku.com/portfolio/YOURMYOTAKUNAME

You can see what I've been working on.

Also, for those of you who asked about what magazine I was published in...it's an advertising magazine, so it's actually only available to advertising industry folks. The name is simply MEDIA magazine (published by MediaPost). Maybe one of these days I'll do a scan or picture of it.
Comments (15) | Permalink

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

   Go Look! Go Look!
FPS Magazine has reviewed Art of Otaku. See theOtaku for the link.

Their review, like Art of Otaku, ROCKS.

(Not just the content, it's very well written.)

In a similar vein, the magazine I'm getting an article published in hit the stands today. Hopefully someone will read that and think "well written!" too.
Comments (4) | Permalink

Monday, March 13, 2006

I Hate Stale Bread
Came back from New England completely refreshed. Gave me the energy to put a good 4 hours into the portfolio module. I think it'll be a huge step forward once we get it up and running.

In other news, things are getting too routine for me. That's why I'm going to try to learn two new skills: Conversational Japanese and playing the piano.

Remember my earlier post about anchor points? I will definitely employ them. I'll keep you updated on my progress. I want to show that with a good strategy, even someone as insanely busy as myself can fit lots of new things in.

(I'm pretty knowledgable on learning languages. I can speak three of them already.)

Hey, let's make this an event. I think everyone reading should comment on a skill they'd like to learn, devote themselves to it, and set some anchor points to keep them motivated.
Comments (13) | Permalink

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Appreciating Air
In New England for the weekend...realized I'm extremely sensitive (in a good way) to clean air. I can't get enough of it! Five years of NYC will do that to you, I guess. One day I'll move, and one of my big factors will be how clean the air is.

Also, the new portfolio module is coming along great. I'm really excited about it, since there's so many cool things we can do there in the future. Should be done within a week. And yes, when it launches, it'll have the word BETA in it. Can't resist :-).
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Friday, March 10, 2006

Anchor Points
If you ever want to get anything done over a long period of time, you need what I like to call "anchor points." Diets, exercise, learning skills, etc.--all of these can be improved with anchor points.

What's an "anchor point"?

An anchor point is a point in time where you're anchored to the task. Here's some personal examples:

(1) I've been going to the gym about 3-4 times per week for the last 6 months. How did I keep this up?

I'm registered for a gym class that I force myself to attend every Thursday. No matter what, I never miss it. Just the simple act of going on Thursdays gets my body more enthusiastic to go to the gym the rest of the week.

Without this anchor point, I'd probably miss a week, then two weeks, then three, etc. It's happened before.

(2) I do my weekly poll and quiz for theOtaku. This keeps my mind on the site and keeps me working hard the other 5 days of the week.

(3) I've even seen couples set anchor points in their relationship. A guaranteed date once a week or once every two weeks, for example. It really works!

People can easily fall into laziness despite their best intentions. The best way to combat this laziness is with anchor points. And anchor points work best when you're truly anchored to the task, when there's some sort of penalty for missing it. This is why some people take classes to learn things instead of trying to teach themselves.

(Classes are harder to excuse away.)

So, whenever you want to tackle a long-term task, the first question you should ask yourself is: How should I set my anchor points?
Comments (7) | Permalink