Debunking The Myths of Multitasking [Exclusive Lifehacker Interview] (57)
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Gina Trapani (1290)
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Lifehacker (5150)
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In a fast-paced business culture of "get everything done yesterday," it's easy to admire and reward those busybusy people who always seem to be juggling fourteen things at once. But business coach Dave Crenshaw argues that the most common kind of multitasking doesn't boost productivity—it slows you down. In his new book, The Myth of Multitasking: How "Doing It All" Gets Nothing Done, Crenshaw explains the difference between "background tasking"—like watching TV while exercising—and "switchtasking," ...
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Chris McQueen said:
If I stopped multi-tasking I might be able to implement this...
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Simon said:
I've been trying to focus on a single task at a time at my new job and I have really noticed a difference. Mind you, my new job doesn't have nearly the pressure of the old so I can focus on one thing at a time.
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Sean said:
More discussion on this ever present problem.
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JayCrossler said:
Rich Byrne once challenged me that the more you multitask, the less quality all of your result are. I took that as advice to stop checking my blackberry and texting someone on my iPhone while he was talking.I think there is another story, though - multitasking at the right time is very valuable. I see many people who attend 4 hour meetings without brigning their laptops - and then during the 2.5 hours where their attention isn't needed, they just doodle or try to inject their great ideas into areas that don't need them. I think if we understand that most people don't deserve my full attention (though, Rich Byrne definitely does) then we can all get much more done.Anyone know a polite way of saying, "Excuse me for typing while you are talking, but you're only worth 28% of my attention"?
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Timothy said:
For some reason this made me think of what Ashley has to deal with on a daily basis in the ER.
What $68 Billion looks like (1)
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Vinay (0)
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ThinkChange India (0)
1 week, 4 days
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Here is a great diagram putting the funds of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s endowment in perspective. Source: Technology, Health & Development
Making condoms cooler through cellphones (3)
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santhosh (0)
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2 weeks, 2 days
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It’s definitely an out of box and innovative idea, and could be just what is needed to make the word ‘condom’ more socially acceptable in India. The BBC World Service Trust has launched a condom ringtone for cellphones, a 45 second short which repeats the word condom over and over again [via BBC World Service Trust] The latest phase of our campaign to normalise condom use in India the BBC World Service Trust has just ...
pptPlex Puts PowerPoint Slides on an Interactive Canvas [Featured Windows (25)
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Kevin Purdy (1414)
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2 weeks, 3 days
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Windows with Office 2007 only: pptPlex, a free Office add-on, makes PowerPoint presentations less of a one-way street and more of a neighborhood exploration. After installing the add-on, you'll be able to put slides together in groups, slide around the canvas during a presentation, easily zoom in on charts or stats you want to highlight, and generally make the presentation more open to give-and-take and audience questions. Check out the video above for an overview. ...
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Srinvard said:
Download and install this =)
Spinning Electricity With An E-Charkha (1)
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Shital (0)
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ThinkChange India (0)
2 weeks, 5 days
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Followers of Mahatma Gandhi are familiar with the charkha, a spinning wheel that produces a type of cotton known as khadi. A new twist on this old tool is that it can also be used to generate electricity, as an article in The Hindu describes its use near Jaipur: In a few villages near here, Charkha, promoted by Mahatma Gandhi as a symbol of self-reliance and source of income for the rural population, has started ...
Ceding the floor to the other side, even if just for a moment (1)
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Vinay (0)
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ThinkChange India (0)
2 weeks, 6 days
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The greater point is that not all products and services are the same, and in some cases creating sustainable markets may be all but impossible. Though it is certainly not “ideologically attractive,” I strongly believe Kremer and Miguel are correct in reminding us that for at last some essential public goods and services “There may simply be no alternative to ongoing subsidies financed by tax revenue raised either from local or national governments, or international ...
Discover your inner Social Entrepreneur on the Train (1)
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santhosh (0)
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ThinkChange India (0)
3 weeks, 1 day
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The Tata Sons are starting to be quite innovative in designing their CSR efforts [via Financial Express]: Tata Jagriti Yatra 2008 will be an inspirational train journey undertaken by around 400 young and enterprising participants, between 18-25 years, from India and overseas, Tata Sons’ Executive Director, R Gopalakrishnan, said in Mumbai. The youth will participate in an 18-day train journey interacting with social and economic entrepreneurs across the country, encouraging the spirit of social entrepreneurship, ...
Thumbs up, thumbs down for Microfinance (1)
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Vinay (0)
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ThinkChange India (0)
3 weeks, 2 days
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Thumbs up: Obopay and Grameen Solutions partner together to provide microfinance services to clients. The initiative will be called the “Bank A Billion Initiative.” The premise of the project is to provide access to basic financial services through cell phones, reducing the need for costly personal contact between financial institutions and their customers. The initiative hopes to take advantage of the rapid spread of cell phones in developing areas, especially in areas without access to ...
[TC-I Changemaker]: NComputing makes $70 PC for the Poor (1)
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Vinay (0)
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ThinkChange India (0)
3 weeks, 3 days
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The ThinkChange India staff is committed to providing our readers with interviews with people we believe are at the brink of something special but have for the most part been overlooked by the mainstream media. Readers will be able to see other conversations under our TC-I Changemakers tab. Last week, Vinay sat down (via webcast) with Stephen Dukker, Chairman & CEO of NComputing , a company that has developed a low-cost, robust virtual pc platform ...
Making a List, Checking It Twice (1)
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Shital (0)
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3 weeks, 3 days
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The Summer Olympics takes place every four years. So does another, lesser-known event: the Copenhagen Consensus Conference (CCC). The forum involves a group of established and renowned economists discussing the world’s problems, and then prioritizing ways to address those issues. A 2005 video from TED Talks features Bjørn Lomborg, a Danish political scientist, who explained the rationale behind CCC. He called the project “the defense for boring problems,” and noted that the solutions are prioritized ...
EXIMIUS - Entrepreneurship Summit @ IIMB - August 22-23rd (1)
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Vinay (0)
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ThinkChange India (0)
3 weeks, 4 days
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This weekend, there is an entrepreneurship summit at the IIM in Bangalore. Titled Eximius, the goal of the summit is to “present a wonderful opportunity for students and aspiring entrepreneurs to validate your ideas, network with like-minded people and gain valuable feedback from venture capitalists before you step into the real world.” Here are a list of panels at the event: Ingen - Invites innovative business ideas in the field of education. At stake - ...
SKS to insert ads in passbooks (1)
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Vinay (0)
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ThinkChange India (0)
3 weeks, 6 days
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The company has given its old black-and-white passbook a colourful facelift, using glossy paper, at once reaching out to its depositors and opening up a new revenue stream — through advertisements. And with that simple modification, SKS Microfinance’s leader Vikram Akula has managed to address multiple problems at once. First the addition of color and gloss sends a strong signal that even the poorest people deserve high quality goods and services. And second, it provides ...
Kallout Brings Web Search Inside Office Documents, Notepad, etc. (11)
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Amit Agarwal (375)
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Digital Inspiration (471)
1 month, 1 week
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Kallout is simply brilliant. It’s a tiny Windows utility that integrates web search inside Microsoft Office documents, Outlook email, text files opened in Notepad or even PDF files that you may be reading inside Adobe Acrobat Reader. Let’s see how Kallout works with Microsoft Word - you make a text selection inside a document and there pops up a contextual menu with links to various search engines. Pick any one and search results get displayed ...
Create Screen Mockups & Web Page Prototypes in Firefox with Pencil (17)
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Amit Agarwal (375)
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Digital Inspiration (471)
1 month, 1 week
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With Firefox, you can do much more than simply browse web pages. Pencil is a free add-in that lets anyone sketch complex GUI screens or web page prototypes in Firefox without even being a graphic designer. Pencil includes a set of stencils that you can place on the drawing campus. Right click a shape to edit basic properties like color, border, opacity, etc. Alternatively, you may also drag images from the desktop. Like other illustration ...
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ScorpFromHell said:
May be just what I needed for my team!
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$udhi™ said:
web designers, this one goes out to you :)
Export the Feeds from a Google Reader Folder (63)
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Ionut Alex Chitu (694)
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Google Operating System (708)
1 month, 1 week
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Most feed readers let you import and export subscriptions using the OPML format. For Google Reader, you'll find this option in Settings > Import/Export.But what happens when you need to export the feeds from a single folder so you can share them with a friend or upload them to a site? Google Reader lets you export the feeds from a folder:http://www.google.com/reader/public/subscriptions/user/-/label/FOLDER(you should replace FOLDER with the actual name of the folder)Another way to share the ...
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Jen said:
Aw man, I needed this on Sunday.
Task-Defined Binder Clips for Your Hipster PDA [Hipster PDA] (12)
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Adam Pash (1877)
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1 month, 2 weeks
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If you get things done with a classic Hipster PDA—i.e., simple notecards with a binder clip—but would like to expand your hipster PDA to more complex realms, DIY web site Curbly offers a simple suggestion: label your binder clips. Inspired by these $8 task clips, this obvious DIY alternative uses either a label maker or paint pen to roll your own task clips on the cheap. Not groundbreaking by any means, but a good way ...
ChipIn - The Easy Way to Raise Funds Online (4)
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Ellie Harrison (2)
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MakeUseOf.com (397)
1 month, 3 weeks
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ChipIn is a neat and free web app that allows you to raise money online easily and quickly - without a lot of complicated coding or hassles. Signing up is easy - just start filling in the boxes, tell them what you are raising money for, how much, how soon you need it, and your PayPal email address. It is important to note that if you use PayPal, you may be subject to their fees. ...
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nlnnet said:
I am testing this one myself - http://kelleynews.blogspot.com/2008/07/testing-chipin.html
gAttach Fully Integrates Gmail into the Windows Desktop [Featured Windows Download] (18)
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Kevin Purdy (1414)
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1 month, 4 weeks
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Windows only: Free Windows utility gAttach tightly integrates your web-based Gmail account into your operating system, fixing nearly every "Mail to" or "Send to" button and option to use a small Gmail window instead of Outlook or another desktop mail client. In other words, XP users can say goodbye to accidental Outlook Express pop-ups. The small app works with right-clicks on files, "Email this file" in Windows Explorer, email links in your default web browser, ...
Google Map Maker Released (2)
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Philipp Lenssen (889)
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Google Blogoscoped (913)
2 months, 1 week
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Google just went live with Map Maker, a program that makes certain regions around the world – like Jamaica, Iceland, Bahamas, Grenada and more – editable by everyone (everyone with a Google account, that is). “Map Maker allows you and your peers to add, edit and moderate most features you see on maps including roads, lakes, parks, points of interest, businesses, cities and localities,” Google writes in their blog post. I find the interface for ...
