43Folders and Lifehacks

An everyday system, TM, is a simple, commonsense solution to an everyday problem, grounded by a pun or metaphor. Propose/discuss new systems here.
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brownstudy
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43Folders and Lifehacks

Post by brownstudy » Sun Jun 12, 2005 4:23 am

Hi all. I'm rather surprised not to have come across mention of Merlin Mann's 43 Folders sites (web and wiki). It's oodles of tricks geared to "getting things done," along with "lifehacks." As Merlin puts it in one of his posts, these are ways to patch weaknesses in our personal OS. He also hosts a Google Group called 43 Folders.

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting Reinhard's intent, as No S and SG are rather comprehensive systems attacking big problems, and the 43Folders stuff seem more a collection of tips and tricks sometimes. But I think the intent of both sites is to help its readers stay out of their own way so they can feel more in control of themselves and their environments.

Here are relevant URLs if anyone is interested:

-Wherein Merlin made his big online splash with his homemade PDA: http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/introducing_the.html

-Life hacks from the 43 Folders wiki site: http://wiki.43folders.com/index.php/Mai ... Life_Hacks. The unsorted LifeHacks are great fun to browse.

-Misc tips and tricks:
http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/saturday_night_.html
http://www.43folders.com/2004/10/small_milestone.html
http://www.43folders.com/2004/11/hack_your_way_o_1.html

And there's lots lots more, if you're the kind of person who shivers with delight in an office supply store. Merlin is Mac-centric but there's lots of fun for the whole computing family here.

Regards,
Mike Brown

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:32 pm

Mike, this stuff is awesome, and I think you've captured the distinction between our sites well: Merlin's granularity is finer. His stuff is like a collection of really cool one liners, mine is like shell scripts (we'll leave the bloatware apps to the charlatans). They should complement each other well. Maybe I could even pipe a few of his together, to beat the analogy to death :wink: . I need to spend a bit more time poking around, but I'm pretty excited. Think merlin would be amenable to a link exchange? Oh, heck, there's something so scammish about that, I'll just link to him.

The hipster pda reminds me a bit of my aborted nabocard system (read about its ignominious demise here)... have to think about what he did better.

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Post by brownstudy » Mon Jun 13, 2005 1:56 pm

reinhard wrote:Think merlin would be amenable to a link exchange? Oh, heck, there's something so scammish about that, I'll just link to him.
I don't know Merlin personally, but he's quite the digital celeb nowadays. If you look at his pages, you see Trackbacks and all sorts of links back to individual pages of his site. It does make fun reading--he's a racey writer and solid thinker (by which I mean, he's able to keep the forest in mind while studying the trees).

Based on what I know now, I think Merlin would get a kick out of your systems.

I was thinking of posting to the 43Folders google group about your No S diet and Weekend Luddite systems since they do share the spirit of Merlin's enterprise. Like I say, you guys seem kindred spirits. (I think I first saw mention of No S on a Ask Metafilter page on losing weight, and not in the 43Folders Google group.) I'd say join the Google group and post a message about your sites. You'll get lots of hits, so be warned. Merline usually highlights significant threads from the Group on his web site.

I did the Weekend Luddite this past weekend -- it was very nice. I read about 35 pp of a novel that I'd stalled on and did bits of clean-up round the house. But then i stayed up till 11:30pm last night on the 'puter. Rats. My usual shutdown time is 9 pm, but I breezed right through it.

All best,
Mike Brown

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Post by reinhard » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:15 pm

Merlin is quick! Looks like there's an everydaysystems link on the 43 folders home page already. And he (or his doppelganger) seems to have joined our bb. Welcome and thanks, Merlin.

I'm happy to finally have some weekend luddite company. I think I'll promote that system from the "lab" to front page billing on everydaysystems.

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Post by brownstudy » Sat Jun 18, 2005 2:16 pm

reinhard wrote:Merlin is quick! Looks like there's an everydaysystems link on the 43 folders home page already. And he (or his doppelganger) seems to have joined our bb. Welcome and thanks, Merlin.
Yeah, I saw the link in his sidebar earlier this week. Congratulations! His sidebar links are always very interesting to follow. Since that sidebar link comes from his del.ici.ous feed, it'll be there for others to explore, I reckon.

I forgot about Weekend Luddite! I'm writing this on Saturday morning! Shutting down after I send this.

I think I need to put a reminder in my tickler file that Saturday's are for acoustic fiddling only, no digital allowed.
Mike Brown

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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Sun Jun 19, 2005 11:18 pm

Hey Reinhard, Hi Brownstudy! Play the Orange Blossom Special... Now!!! :lol:
Merlin's "Hipster" reminds me of Nabocards! What a coincidence....
8) Deb

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