There are several articles out there on how to win at email. Some are serious, some are cheeky. I don’t think winning is an end-state, so I’d rather talk about the journey to getting better.

This isn’t going to be a “how do you manage and prioritize all of those messages” – there are several great (and different) approaches to this that you will have to research yourself. One size doesn’t fit all. Personally I have adopted this approach.

What this will be is a back-to-basics primer that can help you and the people you email stay in sync better. It may even make them like you more. It will at least make them hate you less.

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Don’t get me wrong, I think smartphones are great. We’re carrying supercomputers in our pockets that now replace several things.

But there are some downsides I’m concerned about. Sure there are possibly long-term health effects that have yet to be realized, but I’m talking about the most immediate issue. The fact that you’re expect to respond in a moment’s notice to EVERYTHING. I think it is blocking people’s ability to be in the moment, because they’re constantly being harassed and interrupted.
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A year and a half after I purchased these bags, it’s time for a review. You can’t buy them anymore, but this is more of a review of panniers in general. I used to ride with a backpack. It works (and is good for laptop shock absorption), but be prepared to have an instantly sweaty back. I can’t walk up a flight of stairs with a backpack on and not start to feel damp 🙂  Getting the bag off of my back and on to the rack on my bike is a huge win for comfort and convenience.

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So, I started a new job. Besides actually leaving my home to at least occasionally go into the office, the other big change is I’ve been given a brand-spanking-new MacBook Pro to use (our shop is a part of the Apple Consultant Network).

While using Linux professionally for the last 13 years is sort of coming to an end, Linux certainly isn’t going away from my life, especially after using it almost exclusively at home for 20 years.

The MacBook is still a BSD unix system at heart – with some great hardware, and a lovely, albeit sometimes frustrating, user interface laid on top. Mac enthusiasts might abhor that the only application I set to launch on boot is the terminal. This article is not for them, because in old-school fashion I’m going to cover installing and using Emacs and some other extras in OSX.

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I like to tell the joke on bike to work day, “I’d ride my bike to work, but my wife doesn’t like it when I ride in the house.” I have worked remotely (at home) for several companies for the better part of 7 years. I consider myself an adept remote worker. When a friend of mine offered me to work with him, you’d think I’d think twice about the set-up.

Go into the office? Why?!? Well, first of all, going into the office is optional, I can still work from home. But I can also get away from any home distractions, which are surprisingly few as I’ve managed them over the years. However, I like the in-person conversations I’ve missed over the last 7 years.

Working from Home via The Oatmeal

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