Back to Work

TOPIC: You can't perfect life.

This week opens with the carnage of today's Amazon S3 problems and why so much of the internet seems broken. A brief history of outage monitoring is provided and a praxis for improving the process is proposed.

Dan and Merlin debate what can be learned from how kids and other non-olds use technology "wrong." Should they be learning from us or should we be learning from them?

This leads to some deeper ruminations on how we can choose to get better at doubting our own perceptions and correcting our own weird thinking. The future still isn't here yet—and that's kinda what makes it the future.

After some discussion of mental health and creativity, the show pivots into yet more discussion of emerging technology, and how it consistently scares the crap out of people until…it just doesn't.

Dan and Merlin wrap by answering a listener's question about whether it's better to be good at writing or at speaking.

Links for this episode:

• Ungainly X-Mann Meetup #16 — Merlin Mann
  MERLIN MANN (Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, Reconcilable Differences, Do By Friday, You Look Nice Today, et al.) invites you to drop by Two Cats Comics on the evening of Thursday, April 27th to hang out, talk about comics, and just say, “Hi.” It's free and it's fun.
  

TOPIC: You're living in the future!

This week, Merlin is in a bit of a tizzy as he tries to make coffee, redo his ads, and change his productivity system at the same time. Todoist and the evolving landscape of task apps are discussed. Dan likes Trello and Merlin likes tearing everything down and maybe just starting over.

iPhone call ID and blocking apps get the treatment and Merlin has some recommendations.

Dan has some questions about comics, and the boys reminisce about The Simpsons. As you do.

Things get a little dark as your hosts look at deploying web ad (and tracker) blocking as survival and safety OPSEC.

This leads to the donning of Futurist Hats and some subsequent speculation about the unfathomable things we might expect from our devices in the coming years.

Links for this episode:

• How to use trackpad mode on iPhone and iPad | iMore
  
• Ungainly X-Mann Meetup #15 — Merlin Mann
  MERLIN MANN (Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, Reconcilable Differences, Do By Friday, You Look Nice Today, et al.) invites you to drop by Two Cats Comics on the evening of Thursday, February 23rd to hang out, talk about comics, and just say, “Hi.” It's free and it's fun.
  

TOPIC: Alice hopes to hear from you.

This week's episode is packed—literally, packed—with useful tips, tricks, and even a crazy challenge.

Psyching yourself into falling asleep, learning how to breathe, using your iPhone's secret trackpad, and a gauntlet thrown (or maybe dropped?) to make yourself do everything with your voice for a day.

Links for this episode:

• Ungainly X-Mann Meetup #15 — Merlin Mann
  MERLIN MANN (Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, Reconcilable Differences, Do By Friday, You Look Nice Today, et al.) invites you to drop by Two Cats Comics on the evening of Thursday, February 23rd to hang out, talk about comics, and just say, “Hi.” It's free and it's fun.
  

TOPIC: My place is here—I fight with you!

This week, Dan and Merlin cover a meetup announcement, Merlin's Les Mis obsession, Dan's new Hackintosh Method, and the Benjamin Family's slippery bar problem. Merlin advocates for "The Tiny Life Improvement Project." Pens and pencils are recommended, desks are discussed, and LBJ speaks out about his bespoke slack needs.

The boys talk about the FTC's actions over Vizio's super-creepy user tracking, and wonder what questions to ask about the future of privacy on our smart devices.

Things wrap with a quick discussion of culture-specific cargo culting and why we still cut the ends off the roast.

Links for this episode:

• Ungainly X-Mann Meetup #15 — Merlin Mann
  MERLIN MANN (Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, Reconcilable Differences, You Look Nice Today, et al.) invites you to drop by Two Cats Comics on the evening of Thursday, February 23rd to hang out, talk about comics, and just say, “Hi.” It's free and it's fun.
  

TOPIC: Celebrating your successful failures.

This week, Dan and Merlin kick off with discussion of night bears, the ascendance of Netflix, and some very nice emails from listeners. Merlin also shares an important life hack for Twitter.

Merlin brings in a new thought technology via Jen Kirkman guesting on John Moe's wonderful podcast, The Hilarious World of Depression: learning how to talk back to the voices in your head.

Dan gives some big updates to his (theoretical) project to build a (theoretical) Hackintosh. Huge week.

Finally, Merlin shares a thought on how to potentially find success in your miniature failures. What happens when you decide to keep doing something not because you want to succeed at it…but just because it's a thing that you do?

Links for this episode:

• B. F. Skinner - Wikipedia
  
• The Hilarious World of Depression | Podcast | APM Podcasts
  A show about clinical depression...with laughs? Well, yeah.
  

TOPIC: Act like you're somebody that you like.

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about the evolution of voice recognition and touch interfaces and reminisce on the early days of making the turtle move.

Dan brings in the topic of how fears of both failure and success lead to missed opportunities. Your hosts talk about how to track down the nagging bad feelings about these regrets and troubleshoot what we can learn from them.

Merlin talks about recently returning to “Morning Pages,” what he’s learning from doing it, as well as some tips to help you get started with doing your own daily brain dump.

Links for this episode:

• Morning Pages | Julia Cameron Live
  Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing,
  

TOPIC: Youth is the aberration.

This week, Dan provides updates on his Hackintosh project, which leads to a discussion of finding reviews and advice with context. The hosts realize, acknowledge, and quickly move past their program’s 6th anniversary, spending more time on that drum sound Merlin makes with his mouth.

Recent email pitches are discussed, and advice is offered on smarter ways to pitch strangers on practically anything.

Merlin responds to a question from a listener about learning to find inspiration in the absence of crisis.

Links for this episode:

• Mack Weldon | Men's Merino Long Sleeve - Our Custom Blend: Merino Wool and Natural Tencel
  
• Amazon.com: Yeti Coolers Rambler Colster 12oz and Comes With Limited Edition Can: Amazon Launchpad
  
• YETI | Rambler Colster® Beer Insulator
  
• 5by5 | Back to Work #1: Alligator in the Bathroom
  
• The Sweethome
  
• Home | tonymacx86.com
  
• How to Win Friends and Influence People - Wikipedia
  
• Schoolhouse Rock- My Hero, Zero - YouTube
  
• Pogue's Basics: Life: Essential Tips and Shortcuts (That No One Bothers to Tell You) for Simplifying Your Day: David Pogue: 9781250080431: Amazon.com: Books
  
• Betteridge's law of headlines - Wikipedia
  
• Crash and the Boys - Im So Sad, So Very, Very, Sad. - YouTube
  
• Robert Lowell - Wikipedia
  Although Lowell's manic depression was often a great burden (for himself and his family), the subject of that mental illness led to some of his most important poetry, particularly as it manifested itself in his book Life Studies.
  

TOPIC: Reframing the conversation with yourself.

This week, Merlin talks about his weird mortgage ads and compliments the literally fancy pants he got from the silver underpants people. Suggestions are offered for running a dehumidifier in a “smart home.”

Dan and Merlin have a lot to say about terlets (hey, it’s been a while).

Merlin shares a service for intelligently correlating personal tracking data, a listener has success with some B2W email advice, and another listener asks for tips on doing better self-talk.

Dan shares his cool new project to build a Hackintosh.

Links for this episode:

• LETTERHEADY
  
• Exist.io
  Track everything in one place. Understand your life.
  

TOPIC: This is a feeling I'm feeling.

This week, your hosts look at the announcement of Dish's new Air TV box, along with the rapidly evolving landscape for cord-cutters. Also, fantasies of monk holes are entertained.

The big topic this week is a discussion of a listener's question about the role of positive thinking. [This is a good one.]

Links for this episode:

• Dish unveils a 4K Android TV streaming box with Netflix, Sling TV, and local channels - The Verge
  
• 5by5 | Back to Work #304: The 2016 Compilation Episode
  This is the Best of 2016 Compilation Episode, featuring your favorite moments of the show over the last 12 months. Each clip was suggested and submitted by you, our amazing listeners.Have a great new year!
  

This is the Best of 2016 Compilation Episode, featuring your favorite moments of the show over the last 12 months. Each clip was suggested and submitted by you, our amazing listeners.

Have a great new year!

Links for this episode:

• Jane Krakowski - Wikipedia