December 2011 – Page 2 – Jonathan Frei

31 Step Financial Tuneup

This is old but still useful. The New York Times has a personal finance check list with tons of useful links, calculators, videos, and other tools and media.

Taking time out to put your personal finances in gear can reap both immediate and long-term benefits, from cashing gift cards to reallocating investments. This checklist can help you formulate a strategy, providing tips, the time needed to achieve them, and links to additional resources. For each category, Ron Lieber, the Your Money columnist, offers his insights on video. You can customize your list by removing items to suit your strategy, and then print a personalized list of the items you plan on tackling today.

A great thing about this check list is that it answers more than just the what. It also breaks down why each item is important, how to go about taking care of it, and about how long it should take.

via

December 26, 2011 by Jonathan Frei

We hurry and push and hustle, for the good of humanity! ‘The world is becoming too noisy, too commercial!’ groans some solitary thinker. ‘Undoubtedly it is, but the noise of waggons bearing bread to starving humanity is of more value than tranquillity of soul,’ replies another triumphantly, and passes on with an air of pride.

from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

December 25, 2011 by Jonathan Frei

As James Joyce said, “In the particular lies the universal.” (via Op-Ed: In The Particular Lies The Universal :: Articles :: The 99 Percent)

December 25, 2011October 7, 2014 by Jonathan Frei

A good graphic designer understands how to arrange information on the page so the reader can ask and answer questions, make comparisons, and draw conclusions. When the software designer defines the visual representation of her program, when she describes the pictures that the user will interpret, she is doing graphic design, whether she realizes this or not.

Magic Ink: Information Software and the Graphical Interface

December 24, 2011 by Jonathan Frei

Done is best…

It is better than “thinking about.” It is better than “started.” It is better than “perfect.”

“Done is better than perfect,” but that doesn’t mean that to never look back at what you did. Finish something and push it out the door, show it to the world.

After that you have choices: stop, iterate, or start something new.

Photo credit: Facebook’s Analog Research Lab via Cuban Council

December 24, 2011 by Jonathan Frei

The Psychology of Social Commerce

Tab Juice, a social e-commerce platform, has an interesting infographic on some of the psychological influences that go on in the minds of online shoppers.

When you combine the power of the mind and the force of social shopping, you have a mighty confabulation of social rules and subconscious needs. Together, these things play into the psychology of social commerce. Psychologists have defined six universal heuristics or learning methods that have been seen in shoppers and are now being seen in social commerce.

These are interesting factors to keep in mind when building commercial websites as well as when you’re shopping on them. It’s important to be aware of the mental influences on your decisions.