A nice day, got caught up on a number of things, took a great ride, and am enjoying re-reading the Hornblower series by C.S.Forrester (I'm on Beat to Quarters, the first written but the fifth in the series).  And now that the power's back up, a filter pass seems indicated...  here we go :)

So I'm reading a leader in the latest New Yorker entitled How Bad Is It, by John Cassidy, and I encounter this: "What sort of policies might make a real dent in unemployment? Providing subsidies to businesses that hire new workers is one. Extending extra tax cuts to firms that build new factories and offices is another. More radical ideas include investing in infrastructure projects, importing a version of the job-sharing scheme that Germany has used, and launching a national community-service program."  Amazing.  This is the Obamination in a nutshell; the only ideas for creating jobs involve spending government money.  No mention at all of the government getting out of the way of business, decreasing regulation, reducing taxes, and allowing value to be created.  And yet that's the only thing that's going to work. 

I find the illustration which accompanies the leader ironically apt; it shows President Obama standing next to an idle gear cage, wrench in hand.  Your caption here :)

The usually solid James Surowieki doubles down in The Business of Austerity.  Sigh.

Max apropos: How to motivate people: Skip the bonus and give them a real project.  Exactly. 

From the Oatmeal: Time spent using Tupperware.  I love it :) 

On 50lb bicycles and the lockability thereof.  "All bikes weigh 50lbs.  A twenty pound bike requires a thirty pound lock.  A fifty pound bike doesn't need a lock." 

Richard Dawkins: Attention Governor Perry, Evolution is a Fact.  And ignoring facts is not a leading indicator of a good leader :( 

I've been using the new LinkedIn iPhone App and loving it.  They made it simpler and more useful all at the same time.  I am actually going into it more often now to see "what's happening", much like I do Facebook.  Amazing how important the iPhone App interface is for a company these days, almost as important as their website UI. 

This is *so* true!  Twitter is like ICQ.  Exactly.  Great call. 

MG Siegler: A Perfect Circle: 'Friends'.  Why Facebook's privacy changes make it easier and better.  Personally I don't post anything to Facebook I don't consider "public", but I agree that "friends" and "public" are the two categories that matter.  This is why G+'s Circles feature hasn't excited me; I just don't need finer grained control. 

Don't you hate it when you go to a site which you haven't visited in a while, and you can't remember your username and/or password?  Sucks, doesn't it?  Here are some suggestions for all websites which require registration: 

• Use an email address as the username.  Easy to remember and unambiguous.
• If for some weird reason you need a username aside from an email address, tell users the username rules (minimum length, etc.), it will make it easier for them to figure out what username they chose.
• Tell users the password rules (capital letter, digits, minimum length, etc.)  Users use the same passwords everywhere, depending on the rules.
• Finally, let users enter more than one password guess at a time.  I only ever use one of a handful of passwords.  If I can guess them all at once, it would save time.

I can't add anything to all the chatter about Steve Jobs resigning as CEO of Apple.  He's been amazing, but I suspect Apple will continue on just fine without him at the helm.  I sure wish him well. 

[ Update: Scoble has a nice take ]