What I Learnt Today

Do you sometimes feel that your job is more about attending meetings then actually doing the real work?

Do you find meetings productive and inspiring?

Seth Godin’s Domino Project has been a publishing sensation since its launch earlier this year.

http://thedominoproject.com

The latest title ‘Read this before our next meeting’ was released today. The book is a manifesto for how ‘modern meetings’ should be conducted.

I pre-ordered it for the special price of $7.99. But for the next one week you can download it for Kindle (on Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad or Kindle) for the even specialer price of $0.00.

http://www.amazon.com/Read-This-Before-Meeting-ebook/dp/B0057ZER34/ref=tmm_ki…

What can you lose, apart from bad meetings.

So, you want to become a writer.

Pointer.org trains journalists.

Their 50 writing tools can be downloaded as a PDF free of charge, or you can listen to the complete series of 50 podcasts available through the iTunes university.

I think that this post would have been better if I had paid more attention to Tip 39

39. Write toward an ending. Help readers close the circle of meaning.

Many HSC and Uni subjects test essay writing skills as much as they test subject content.

Success is not based on what you have learned, or your intuitive understanding of a subject, or your depth of knowledge, but on how well you can answer a specific question in a very short amount of time, according to an accepted framework.

This is where the Australian firm ‘The Research Den‘ steps in.

Director Bronwyn Hall has a degree in Social Science and a Masters in Anthropology, but now specialises in assisting HSC and Univeristy students to write better essays. She has published two books, ‘The Night Before Essay Planner’ (that sounds up my alley) and ‘The High School Essay Planner’, and her site provides a number of resources to assist organised people and crammers alike.

‘The Research Den‘ can also provide individual assistance for a particularly troublesome project.

And now ‘The Night Before Essay Planner‘ is available as an iPhone app, providing a practical ‘workbook’ to guide your essay so that it’s on time and on the money.

(Oliver, sounds like you need this before Tuesday)

As Merlin Mann says, “Buying new running shows is more fun than actually running“

Apple has just released its financials statements for the June quarter.

The company has $76.2 billion dollars in cash

The US treasury updates its financials daily. The government has an operating cash balance of $73.8 billion

You, astute reader, will note that Apple has more cash than the US government.

As Business Insider points out, this is because Apple collects more money than it spends, while the US government does not.

Business Insider points out some other ‘mind melting’ facts from the Apple June Quarter Statement.

• Apples Revenue grows 82% year after year – this is astounding for what is already the worlds biggest tech company.
• Net profit for the quarter was up 125% ($7.3 billion)
• Apple earn more in this quarter than in the whole of 2008
• 20.3 million iPhones and 9.3 million iPads were sold in that quarter. There are now 220,000,000 iOS devices in the world.

Bugger. Should have bought a house at Wategoes and shares in Apple years ago.