Friday diversions

[hardcormier]

Some things I've come across on the web that you might like:

1. Musician Jonathan Coulton posts a very interesting post on online piracy. Fave quote:

"Make good stuff, then make it easy for people to buy it. There’s your anti-piracy plan."

2. Former Clerk of the Privy Council Alex Himelfarb blogs about austerity. Fave quote:

"A good rule of thumb for

Comments

[sinnick]

Seth Godin is so pithy.

On the topic of work/life balance, I recently read this article on codinghorror: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/02/farewell-stack-exchange.html

I was particularly amazed that it took the death of Steve Jobs to prompt him, and other startup CEOs, to spend more time at home. Great that he's doing it, I guess, but I can't believe it took the death of Steve Jobs to make him realize it.

[hardcormier]

I think the death of Steve Jobs shook people because he was the epitome of success for that industry. He made the sacrifices and reaped the (massive) rewards. When your idol dies suddenly, leaving a biography that suggests they might not have been happy with their success, I think you can't help but start to re-evaluate your own decisions.

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what "success" means. Beyond the glib posters and all the lip-service, what does it actually mean to succeed at life? When you realize that success in any area of your life can only come at the expense of another. Seth Godin is right that there is no working harder when you already work 24/7/365. So what balance is really going to make you happy? I don't know, and the answer is completely subjective, but I suspect the pondering is itself worthwhile.