Thirty7 Signals book - see (2009-10-13) Rework 37s Book

The Thirty7 Signals crowd has a new book on the way, now called Re Work. Unlike last time, they went with a traditional publisher, so there won't be a super-cheap open-EBook available, though there will probably be a Kindle version, etc. Even though we had tremendous success self-publishing Getting Real, we decided that this time we wanted to write a best seller. We want to sell hundreds of thousands or millions of copies. We couldn't do this on our own, so we decided to work with a traditional publisher. (more)

Experiment without Limits, a self-improvement book by Chris Sparks. (2019-08-13) Sparks Experiment Without Limits Inside The Creative Process (more)

In reviewing Ted Gioia's The Jazz Standards, Benjamin Schwarz notes how much jazz leveraged the "Great American Songbook". Items from the Songbook form by far the largest portion of Gioia’s selections, and indeed of any conceivable version of the jazz repertoire. The great overlap between the Songbook and the jazz catalogue largely explains a fact that troubles Gioia—that his book can enshrine “few recent compositions”—and raises doubts about his assertion, supported by passion rather than by argument, that “the jazz idiom [is] a vibrant, present-day endeavor.” (Syncopated Music) (more)

the music of pop culture

Karl Schroeder story "Degrees Of Freedom" from Hieroglyph Stories. (more)

In many scientific fields, the degrees of freedom of a system is the number of parameters of the system that may vary independently. For example, a point in the plane has two degrees of freedom for translation: its two coordinates; a non-infinitesimal object on the plane might have additional degrees of freedoms related to its orientation. Another example is the hand having 27 independent degrees of freedom. In mathematics, this notion is formalized as the dimension of a manifold or an algebraic variety. When degrees of freedom is used instead of dimension, this usually means that the manifold or variety that models the system is only implicitly defined. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_freedom

Ted Gioia: My 12 Favorite Problems. I’ve benefited in my own life by asking the same questions over and over—for a period of decades. (more)

Ambient Genius. In January, 1975, the musician Brian Eno and the painter Peter Schmidt released a set of flash cards they called “Oblique Strategies". (more)

The Lounge Lizards are a jazz group formed in 1978 by saxophonist John Lurie and his brother, pianist Evan Lurie... Drawing on punk rock and no wave as much as jazz, The Lounge Lizards have since become respected for their creative and distinctive sound... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lounge_Lizards (more)

In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected which make an off-beat tune or piece of music. More simply, syncopation is a general term for a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm: a placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn't normally occur.[1] Syncopation is used in many musical styles, and is fundamental in styles such as ragtime, jazz, jump blues, funk, reggae, Rap Music, progressive electronic dance music, progressive rock, progressive metal, breakbeat, drum'n'bass, samba, baião, ska, and dubstep. "All dance music makes use of syncopation and it's often a vital element that helps tie the whole track together".[2] In the form of a back beat, syncopation is used in virtually all contemporary popular music. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncopation (more)

Derek Sivers on Brain Rules for Aging Well by John Medina ISBN:0996032673 - Current research on brain aging, and how to slow or reverse its effects. Be very social. Read 3+ hours per week. Intensely learn something new, especially a new language. Take dance lessons. Practice gratitude and mindfulness. Flood your mind with nostalgic memories. (more)

"The 4 Levels of Non-Reactivity:" Whether you’re studying Stoicism, Buddhist Meditation, Mindfulness, or simply practicing How to Not Give a Fuck, the underlying principle remains the same – How to become less reactive and more emotionally stable. How to cultivate a healthy indifference. Note that this is different than avoidance.... The goal here is NOT to become an emotionless robot. We don’t want you to stop reacting to things and allow everything to happen, that’s not the aim. Instead, the goal of these practices is to be aware of and in control of your reactions. To be as Steven Covey says, “Response-able” or “able to control our responses”. (2018-11-27) The 4 Levels Of Non-reactivity (more)

The 4 Levels of Non-Reactivity. Whether you’re studying Stoicism, Buddhist Meditation, Mindfulness, or simply practicing How to Not Give a Fuck, the underlying principle remains the same – How to become less reactive and more emotionally stable. How to cultivate a healthy indifference. (more)

People who express high negative affectivity view themselves and a variety of aspects of the world around them in generally negative terms. Negative affectivity is strongly related to life satisfaction. Individuals high in negative affect will exhibit, on average, higher levels of distress, anxiety, and dissatisfaction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_affectivity cf Dispositional affect (more)

Dispositional affect, similar to mood, is a personality trait or overall tendency to respond to situations in stable, predictable ways. This trait is expressed by the tendency to see things in a positive or negative way. People with high positive affectivity tend to perceive things through "pink lens" ("rose-colored glasses") while people with high negative affectivity tend to perceive things through "black lens". The level of dispositional affect affects the sensations and behavior immediately and most of the time in unconscious ways. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispositional_affect (more)

Core self-evaluations (CSE) represent a stable personality trait which encompasses an individual's subconscious, fundamental evaluations about themselves, their own abilities and their own control. People who have high core self-evaluations will think positively of themselves and be confident in their own abilities. Conversely, people with low core self-evaluations will have a negative appraisal of themselves and will lack confidence. The concept of core self-evaluations was first examined by Judge, Locke, and Durham (1997) and involves four personality dimensions: locus of control, neuroticism, generalized self-efficacy, and self-esteem. The trait developed as a dispositional predictor of job satisfaction, but has expanded to predict a variety of other outcomes. Core self-evaluations are particularly important because they represent a personality trait that will remain consistent over time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_self-evaluations (more)

Category Pirates: Stop Teaching, Start Transforming: Meet The AI That Turns Your Ideas Into Life Breakthroughs. Fast. Most people think they have a knowledge problem. (more)

the whacking of the SaaS industry by AI

The GoodTherapy Blog on Negativity. Therapeutic techniques such as journaling and meditation may be of benefit to individuals who experience negativity, as written or mental consideration of one’s emotions may facilitate an understanding of what lies behind those emotions. (more)