Cohenville

The Washington Post has a new feature that’s kind of cool, although it’s not that much different than Google Local.  It looks to be a little bit more tailored to local area themes such as crime rates, schools and housing prices.  But the other capabilities, such as restaurants, grocery stores and other commercial facilities don’t seem to have too much more.  Still worth a look though.

Source: Washington Post Local Explorer

Google has a lot of products out there, many which we all use and love.  I personally use Gmail, Google Docs, Google Reader…well, too many to list really.  Lifehacker had a post on the Top Ten Google Products We Forgot About.   There are some good ones in there worth a look, like Google Base and Google Trends.

Source: LifeHacker 

A friend sent me this link, an interesting essay by Paul Graham on the transformation of web startups.   These companies are following a very similar pattern as products – new ones can be produced quicker and cheaper, making competition greater.  Read through his analysis and thoughts on the future.
Source: Paul Graham

I have been reading Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss and it has a lot of great points on productivity. It also has good ideas on how to start a new business that isn’t service based – so your time isn’t correlated 1:1 to your revenue. One tip is to outsource tasks, including anything from personal daily tasks to common work activities to generating business plans. You can hire the equivalent of a Harvard MBA for $15 or $20 an hour. Some companies/sites that can provide outsourcing include:

• https://www.getfriday.com/
• http://www.workaholics4hire.com/
• http://assistu.com/client/client_how.shtml
• http://www.yourvirtualresource.com/
• http://www.canadianva.net/files/va-locator.html
• http://www.elance.com (search “virtual assistants” or “personal assistants”)
• http://www.b2kcorp.com
• http://www.youmaninindia.com

Also check out Tim’s blog for some more interesting insight.

I have seen this on an interview before but an article at Full Tilt Poker provides some details as to his amazing run. Most of it is based on strong money management techniques which he details. His three guidelines are:

• He never buys into a cash game or a Sit & Go with more than 5 percent of his total bankroll (there is an exception for the lowest limits: he is allowed to buy into any game with a buy-in of $2.50 or less).
• He doesn’t buy into a multi-table tournament for more than 2 percent of his total bankroll, but he’s allowed to buy into any multi-table tournament that costs $1.
• If at any time during a No-Limit or Pot-Limit cash-game session the money on the table represents more than 10 percent of his total bankroll, he must leave the game when the blinds reach him.

Source: Full Tilt Poker

Comedy Central has put all…yes, all of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart archives online. Eight years of video to help you waste time.

Source: OCulture

Smashing Magazine had an article about modern solutions for implementing charts and graphs on the web. They list a large number of tools and frameworks, from free to expensive. If you are interested in this type of functionality for your website, take a look at the list.

Source: Smashing Magazine

Smart Money had a small blurb on Open Culture, a great website that lists educational podcasts and news. From their website:

“Open Culture explores cultural and educational media (podcasts, videos, online courses, etc.) that’s freely available on the web, and that makes learning dynamic, productive, and fun. We sift through all the media, highlight the good and jettison the bad, and centralize it in one place. Trust us, you’ll find engaging content here that will keep you learning and sharp. And you will find it much more efficiently than if you spend your time searching with Google, Yahoo or iTunes.”