Henry Hagnäs

 

Rework

     
Click here to download:
Rework_tagbookreview_delay5_mi.zip (206 KB)

The authors behind Rework are Jason Fried and David Hansson, the dynamic duo behind 37Signals. David Hansson is better known as @dhh, the guy behind Ruby on Rails which powers 37Signals' popular "web 2.0" services like Basecamp, Backpack, Highrise and Campfire. They are well known for a contrarian view towards the way web and tech-companies are structured and live the way they preach - 37Signals has a relaxed and hands-off approach to management, they haven't taken any outside investments and keep their team small. This book is their second book about how they make a living successfully this way.

Rework is a short and fast read, full of advice that is useful but also very commonsense. Sometimes you need to hear the obvious too and this is a good a book as any for that. The message of commonsense minimalism in business rang very true and almost painfully obvious as I read the book but as I said, useful to hear.

Jason and David go through explaining how and why you should start a business, why you should ignore advice like writing mission statements and do long-term planning and instead scratch your own itch, think small but flexible , etc. They have some pretty good tips on productivity and management of creative people as well as handling marketing and PR in a small business. The important word here is "business", not "startup" — they both loathe the term startup which they think implies that you are building something fast to just sell it off to some sucker instead of building a sustainable, real, business.

If you are planning on starting a company or working on growing the company you really should take the time to read through "Rework", if for nothing else to get a little different viewpoint on how to do business. You won't feel a feeling of enlightenment after reading the book but you won't be bullshitted either — its nothing if not an honest book and that is refreshing!

p.s.. I read the book, as you can see, on my iPod touch. You can buy the book at http://ebookstore.sony.com/

Filed under  //   bookreview  
Posted March 22, 2010
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Friday productivity killer: List of old Youtube favourites

Not sure if I have any twitter-follower anymore but today I decided to ruin everyones productivity by posting funny,old Youtube-clips on twitter. My favourites-list on Youtube came in handy here (you can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/user/hagnas#g/f ).
Instead of continuing this barrage I will list all of the ones I posted and planned to post here and anyone can use their own judgement about viewing them or not :).


Already posted:


Comedy: Henry Rollins - Rave and Modern Rock Music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyRDDOpKaLM

Comedy: Sniper Business http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfz2D6dglCo

Comedy: Mr. Deity and the Science Advisor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Clm6nlWxzc

Extreme Sheep LED Art http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

Cannonball in mercury http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm5D47nG9k4

Old Woman and Airbag http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZCoIege8oM

Inspired Bicycles - Danny MacAskill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o

Urban Sprinting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96OljGZapv4

Public Dancing at Centraal Station Antwerpen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UE3CNu_rtY (Magical!)

Cat Shit One Movie Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr4QBZfjtqs

Important information about the danish language http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk

Rodney Mullen showing how skateboarding is done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U-cgn3cEGA

Ali-G interviews Posh Spice and David Beckham: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P842Tmi6lrc

Christopher Judge of SG-1 learns about Furries http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB_1SK0I_sM

Club Coach, howto prep for tonights night out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xts0mCO3bQ8

Coolest 8-year old! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8x14cLGh5o Wonder what she does novadays?

I have decided to ruin your productive friday by posting links to old Youtube clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2XQ97XHjVw

 

Planned to post:

Short film: Validation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

Excellent interview with @donttrythis (Adam Savage from Mythbusters) from Reddit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8jqea8R-bE

Trailer: Office 2010 - The Movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUawhjxLS2I

Comedy: Handsome Men's Club http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyGJXLxtVEo

Comedy: Tim Minchin (@timminchin) - Storm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujUQn0HhGEk

Comedy: Louis CK - Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOtEQB-9tvk

Comedy: Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwOL4rB-go

Comedy: George Carlin - Saving the Planet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw

Comedy: Mithchell & Webb - The Evil Genius http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgX6JFoV0TM 

Comedy: Dara O'Briain - Homeopathy & Nutritionists vs Real Science http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIaV8swc-fo

Music video, Fear the Boom and Bust (Hayek vs Keynes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk

Music video, Helsinki Complaints Choir http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATXV3DzKv68

Music video, Dub FX - Soothe Your Pain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F6EoMdn95E

Music video, The Guilt Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGas0D9_zgI

Music video, Rock and Roll Nerd http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP9pnSXhibw

Music video, The World is Just Awesome XKCD-edition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQAk_T9SBbw

Music video, The World Is Just Awesome 2009 (Boom De Yada!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0jZzBEKIMc

Music video, The World Is Just Awesome 2008 (Boom De Yada!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0

Music video, The BossHoss - Hey Ya! (new vid b/c old link was killed.. ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQVWXAlEUB8

Music video, Large Hadron Rap http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

Music video, The Space Camp Song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY0xwRIGOdc

Music video, Richard Dawkins Rap - Beware the Believers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFXIALf9zDA

Music video, C.I.L.F (Cartoons I'd Like to F) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82DjpPX60xU

Music video, TSA Gangstaz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7AWw7t5zj0

Music video, The Day The Routers Died... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y36fG2Oba0


Now I can't use the same trick to ruin everyone's productivity next friday, luckily there's a whole week of brainstorming until then.. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Filed under  //   friday   video  
Posted March 19, 2010
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The Undercover Economist

The Undercover Economist, by Tim Harford, is a book that I’ve been meaning to read for a long time. It’s a book that tries to explain everyday things from an economic perspective and teach you about economics in a fun way. I like knowing a little about everything so it would seem like the perfect book for someone like me. 

Unfortunately, in its quest to teach economics it kind of dumbs it down until it has little to offer anyone who has taken a basic economics class or thought hard about supply and demand for a while. The examples used are good examples for the situations described and really, this is the type of book everyone should be forced to read in high-school. It doesn’t, however, have much to offer the more advanced reader. Books like Freakonomics or Super Crunchers go deep into the details of certain interesting situations and explain the economics behind them well while giving you, if nothing else, something to talk about at cocktail-parties. The Undercover Economist doesn’t really leave you with much after reading it.

Its saving grace is that its short and a fast read so you won’t be wasting a lot of time, and who knows, maybe I am jaded by reading and thinking too much about economics? It does contain good lessons and information, but as I said, nothing that stuck to me as particularly insightful. 

Filed under  //   bookreview  
Posted March 18, 2010
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Bill Hicks: Love All The People

Bill Hicks (1961-1994) was one of the best american stand-up comedians ever to walk this earth. He didn’t write jokes as much as observed and criticized the society around him with a wit and intelligence that stands unchallenged to this day. Me and my friends obsessed over his CD:s for several years and could quote long sections as support or comedic relief in heated discussions over beers. I’m fairly certain he contributed a lot to our sometimes cynical view of the world and we thank him for it. 

“Love All The People” is a collection of his work, transcripts of his shows, essays he wrote and interviews of him. Since most of his work is stand-up comedy his work really is best to listen to and anyone who hasn’t heard him really needs to listen at least to one of his CD:s before reading the book so you know how he performs. You can find them on iTunes or http://thelaughbutton.com/ has two of them for free (not sure how they do that legally but enjoy while it lasts). 

To me the transcripts of his shows are readable but not nearly as funny as his full performance. Reading does, however, make it easier to analyze his jokes if that’s your thing and the book helpfully references and explains some of his subjects and connections to those of us lucky enough not to know who Debbie Gibson is. 

The best part of the book are the interviews and the essays as well as background information on Bill that you might not get elsewhere. His essay “Thoughts on Love and Smoking” is the best writing about lost love that I have ever read and easily worth the price of the book alone. I have it bookmarked so I can easily show it to friends or go back and read it again. 

I’m hard pressed to recommend the book to people who haven’t heard of Bill Hicks before, I’d rather introduce them to his CD:s because that is where his brilliance was. However, it is surely worth the price of a paperback for anyone who feels a pang of sorrow over the loss of Bill Hicks and wishes he was here to tell us the truth about bankers, subprime mortgages, terrorists and wars all while making us laugh about it. 

ps. Don't feel bad about skimming over parts that seem boring, its that kind of book.

Filed under  //   bookreview  
Posted March 18, 2010
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Freedom(tm)

"Freedom(tm)" is the follow-up to "Daemon" by Daniel Suarez that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago (http://www.henryhagnas.com/daemon-11) and wow... It's all of Daemon and then some. Luckily I had the opportunity to spend my whole day reading it, along with a great spring sunshine:

 

I have to first of all retract my previous criticism of Daemon's ending, while I think both books as one would probably have been better it isn't as bad as I first said. Both books are divided in parts that jump in time to keep the action going (since the books span years in time) and the jump between the books is quite natural. That said, to keep yourself sane you really should order both books or you'll end sitting on pins and needles while waiting for "Freedom(tm)" to show up.

As I said, the story continues a few years down the line, the Daemon has grown in power but so have its opponents and the resistance they provide, which keeps the book interesting and exciting all the way to the very end. I won't say more about the plot because I don't want to ruin anything for future readers of either "Daemon" or "Freedom(tm)", you simply owe yourself to read both of these if the initial review of "Daemon" seemed to tickle your interest. 

Daniel Suarez really does weave an excellent story out of the current modern technological, social and even economic trends, I especially enjoy the fact that I recognize a lot of the themes from popular books, articles and thoughts going around at the moment. Many other tech-people staying current will no doubt also recognize these. Even though they are more immediate and transparent future projections than what is described in say Neuromancer by William Gibson or even Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson I hope the description of their use will inspire people. I'm especially thinking about the Augmented/Virtual reality part that is basically Layar on steroids (for those who don't know, Layar is a dutch-developed Augmented Reality browser for iPhone and Android).

Do yourself a favor, order these books now.

Filed under  //   bookreview  
Posted March 10, 2010
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Mobile video upload with N900

Been thinking, testing and planning to do more video-recording when appropriate and as a part of that I have been experimenting with mobile uploads straight from my Nokia N900.
Here's the twitvid-version which is lower in quality but faster to upload and auto-tweeted too:

The Youtube version takes around 10-15 minutes to be "processed" into 480p-quality after upload but then the quality is way better after that (nothing stunning still though).

I used Pixelpipe to upload the ca 40MB video, very easy and pain-free. Twitvid isn't really necessary I think; will instead setup autosharing to Twitter on Youtube and use Youtube exclusively for video in the future. Until Bambuser finishes their work on the Maemo-app, then I might have to start using that instead at times.

Filed under  //   n900   video  
Posted March 8, 2010
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Myllysilta sagging

Yesterday-morning (Saturday 6.3.2010) the Myllysilta bridge crossing Aurajoki in Turku started to crumble. Didn't have time or inspiration then to go look but since the weather was good we went for walk with Riikka and took some photos. Go over to Flickr for geotags and snarky commentary: 

Kind of sad to see that there hasn't been that much discussion about Myllysilta on twitter and other social media and even photographs were far and few between yesterday. New pictures are flowing in now though, like the below video by my friend Thomas, but citizen journalism in Turku needs a wake-up call I think :). 

http://bambuser.com/channel/dvlrnr/broadcast/608066

Filed under  //   pictures   turku  
Posted March 7, 2010
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Microsoft's Courier 'digital journal' -- Engadget

via engadget.com

I love the idea of this Microsoft prototype, I'd love to carry around an infinite and intelligent journal! To me its much more exciting than the iPad - unfortunately one shouldn't be comparing something real to something imaginary :). Microsoft also has an infinite capacity to ruin a good vision with management-by-committee, turning a brilliant vision into something bland and average :(. Still, one can always hope and dream.

Posted March 6, 2010
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Stop saying 'innovation' by Scott Berkun | The Economist

The more often people in a company use this word, the less likely anything worthy of that label is actually happening, as it's often the confused and the desperate who believe simply saying a word again and again like a magic spell causes anything at all to happen.
via ideas.economist.com

amen.

Posted March 4, 2010
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Daemon

"Daemon" is Daniel Suarez's first book and one of the most exciting and interesting novels I've read in a long time. Daniel Suarez is an IT-consultant turned writer and it shows; this is one of the few books that basically gets all the technical details right about Internet, computer security and other technology stuff. Not since Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon have I been as able to relate and enjoy all the technical details along with the excellent action presented. 

The Daemon which is the books main "character" is an advanced, autonomous, de-centralized, AI-construct that the millionaire and genius game-developer Matthew Sobol has created to set in motion when he dies. As news of his death are posted online, hacked machines laying dormant on the Internet set a deadly game into play. First it kills several of Sobol's collaborators who might've been capable of figuring out what he had planned. Then it sets in motion a deadly cat and mouse game with the police and FBI which ends in several deaths before the Daemon goes back into hiding in the dark recesses of the Internet. 

The Daemon recruits humans over the Internet to join its mysterious quest through a keen sense of human psychology and needs, its creator has foreseen multiple paths that the future can take and plays the world like a chess board. It remains spookily unclear to the reader which parts of its actions are pre-programmed and which parts are the result of the Skynet-like AI. While having a clear purpose it is also cold and unfeeling like only a machine can be - discarding humans like tools and killing them on its mission. The Daemon's servants turn into Fight Club's project Mayhem, unyieldingly loyal because the Daemon giva them something they needed, even though they don't know their real purpose.

The action never lets down and the book is an exciting page-turner all the way through the book, the technical parts are fascinating for a technical people like me but aren't distracting from the story - I would think. It might sound more futuristic than it actually is to someone who don't follow tech or read say Wired Magazine. That said, while all or most of the components are plausible the whole Daemon construct is pretty far-fetched and works too perfectly for a real-life scenario, lucky for us. 

If there is one criticism to the book it is that it's too short and ends in a cliffhanger. At around 400 pages and another 400 pages in book two, called "Freedom", the book could have worked better as a thicker book, like Cryptonomicon. The ending leaves way too many threads and motivations open, I'm all for sequels and more reading but this is almost too blatant. Then again, maybe I'm just grumpy because I need to wait a week for the second book to be delivered :). 

Either way, this is a must-read for any tech-geeks or fans of techno-thrillers. Fans of William Gibson or Neal Stephenson will feel right at home from page one. I hope Mr. Suarez continues his work for a long time. It isn't as lovingly crafted as Cryptonomicon or Pattern Recognition but then again it is Suarez's first book and was first self-published.

Added: Review of the follow-up, "Freedom(tm)" can be found here: http://www.henryhagnas.com/freedomtm

Filed under  //   bookreview  
Posted March 1, 2010
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