Cool! It's always nice to know the feedback is appreciated. Some other things you might keep in mind:

- have a BIG work desk. A big desk (everything in easy reach) is like computer memory to a person, and your brain is the processor and the filing cabinet is the hard drive (spacous, but slow).

- There are many different people with different reactions to stress. A friend of mine used to faint regularly, and feel dizzy all the time. After she stopped her second job, a few weeks later she felt a LOT better. Listen to what your body is telling you; if you aren't sure, try changing things to see if it helps. Keeping a diary also helps. Note down what you did generally throughout every day - eat, drink, smoke, work, etc - and try to discover patterns. You may, for example, work out that the acne you get twice a month is actually connected to those few times you carpool with someone. Bad fibers in his car?

- be wary of other peoples' expectations. Are you a YES-sayer? Teach yourself to say NO or, at least, "I'll get back to you on that". I remember having immense problems resisting people who wanted me to do something for them because they projected their problems on me: "my computer HAS to work this weekend! My kids want to play games! I need to check e-mail!" It took me the burnout session to realise that that is THEIR problem. If that's an issue they'd best get a second computer. One of the best ways to get burned out is by assuming too much responsibility. If you're taking projects yourself, jot down how much time you think something will take, and double it. Use that number to plan your time. If you're in a corporate environment, tell your boss you're full and that you either need an assistant, or an intern, or more colleagues who can help you with the work; if he's got a dinosaur brain (like many managers do), write down your predictions and don't be afraid to give him the I-told-you-so after the $#!7 hits the fan because he didn't listen. However, do it constructively: tell him you'd like to discuss things with him to ensure it works better in the future. Destructive commenting is too easy and doesn't achieve anything at all aside from a few seconds of self-vindication. It may get you fired, but usually you're just doing your job and your managers' superiors will realise this; you can't help it you have a better view of things than your manager.

- If something seems "too big" or "too complicated", once again you're in the danger zone of a burnout; check my earlier post to see if you can recognise more warning signs. If you feel good and fit and are productive, on the other hand, it may not be burn-out but it may only mean you need to chop the project up into smaller parts to give you a good overview. If you can oversee all the steps in each of the parts, and can oversee how they all connect, you can see the whole project. This makes running it MUCH easier since you can keep an eye on both micro and macro goals.

- Set limits to your project beforehand. Make estimates of how long you plan to invest in a certain segment of the project, what you want to achieve, and STICK TO IT. If you have time left you can add extra stuff later. If you get extra ideas en-route, write them down but don't integrate them unless it's absolutely vital. You can review the achievements and extra ideas later. Also, plan in time for EVERYTHING: time for planning, time for arguing with colleagues, time spent in traffic, time on the phone, time reviewing the code or project. Try to hook a number on everything. You might not get it correct right away, but you will develop a much better feel for what you are doing and how much time each part takes, because you are consciously trying to manage them. A famous saying is: "who fails to plan, plans to fail." This is exponentially true of corporate environments with many people in it. On your own, or with two people - three max - you can do everything ad-hoc and take things as they come; above that and you need structure, work procedures, flowcharts, and people chasing each other's asses around. It sucks, but that's the way it is.

- Try to stick a bit of extra time organising yourself and your ideas. It takes effort and the rewards aren't immediate, but on the long run it will really pay off because of many different reasons: among others, it helps you structure your thoughts more easily, which in turns means it is easier to communicate them to others; it gives you overview; it means others can more easily take on your work if you ever get sick; it makes you more aware of all the aspects surrounding what you are doing; it gives you insight into why managers, coders, and other people think and act the way they do; the list goes on and on. I even made a "life management plan" which I revise twice a year. It tells what I want to achieve the coming year, where I want to be in 2 years, 5 years, 20 years. The 5+ year sections are only a page each, and are often unrealistic or need to be adjusted. That's fine. It means I'm consciously trying to achieve certain goals, and allows me to alter my course should something jeopardise my reaching them, or maybe they will turn out to be impractical. By structuring it, I help keep my short-term and long-term planning united and clear, and in that sense, the process and the goal are one and the same: clarity.

- WORK OUT. Sports are invaluable. They help you unwind, get you outside, clear kinks in muscles and bones, and prevents any number of ailments. Lower back problems? Go swim twice a week, or go rowing. I guarantee that 90% of you will no longer have 'em a few weeks later. Upper back and neck feeling locked up after too much computer work? Get some weights in the house (not too heavy, but not too light either), get on your knees and then on all fours (like a cat normally walks, lets say), put the weight under your hand, and with one arm at a time, pull the weight upwards with your elbow going at 90 degrees outward. This forces you to use the muscles more intensively. RSI is caused by the buildup of waste materials in your muscles; the trick then is to increase the blood flow to make them get carried away as they should be. The best way for this is to use the locked muscles. Two times 15 pulls on each arm is usually enough to get rid of most of the problems. If you aren't sure which muscles are used for what, consult a therapist or Google it.

If you're all still reading and hungry for more, I'll happily jot down more later this weekend. Now it's time for a beer. :D

There's, indeed, a LOT more to it than that. There are any number of things that may be blocking your creativity, but from the description I suspect burnout and/or depression. If you've been working a lot or are under a lot of stress (kids, too many hours, responsible position, people complaining to you a lot) your mind may simply be locked up. This is a panic reaction, a last defense mechanism for a mind running with hormonal imbalances. It will mean your cortisol is too high early on, then drops off at the time you need it most. Your body's stress response is worn out and depleted and needs time to regenerate. That's why burn-out victims are usually told to go home and do nothing for a year. It takes a LOT of time.

Ask yourself the following questions:

- Do I drink more than two cups of coffee every day? Too much caffeine will elevate cortisol and make you more sensitive to stress. Cut down on coffee and take Ginseng supplements - this will help your body restore its decreased cortisol capacity. I personally like green tea with ginseng. It takes a bit of time to switch, just do it gradually and you won't run into problems. Try to cut smoking and alcohol as well as much as you can.

- Can I work for a few hours only, and then feel like my mind "locks up"? This is definitely a stress sign. If that's the case, take a 10 minute break for a walk OUTSIDE, EVERY HOUR. (I mean it! I had the same problem, and an external management bureau with lots of hands-on experience gave us these tips, and they worked.) This will help you de-stress and over longer time will help reset your body's hormone system. Also: cut away any other stress factors. Are you busy two days a week helping your kids' soccer teams do their paperwork? Let it go. This will be difficult if you are indeed tottering near burnout - it makes you more emotional since your "logical" brain is less active - but it is vital. Also, do you jump out of your skin every time your mobile phone rings? Also a very strong indicator of stress. Be wary and get to know your own fear signs. If it is all too much, consider if you can let it all go and rest for at least half a year. The project will still be there then, or if you are overtaken by competition, there will be other projects. Rule one of life: we all want to feel good. Only then can we help others and be productive. If you're living only for others and don't feel good doing it, something is wrong. Some people - especially those with a large sense of responsibility - are extremely sensitive to stress, and you don't know for certain until you have crashed through and are well beyond your limits. That's what it took for me to realise something was wrong: I could barely do the dishes without being told how to do it. Don't let it get to that.

- Do I feel miserable? If so, that might indicate not only burnout, but also dysthemia/depression. GET PROFESSIONAL HELP. And I mean a real shrink, not just a psychologist. He can temporarily set you up on medication which will help you recuperate; after some time you can then build down and get rid of the meds once you're standing on your own feet again. But for the time being, medication is probably essential as a crutch. Note: it is of VITAL importance that you find one you're comfortable with; if you don't feel OK with the shrink after a few sessions, thank him/her and just tell them that you don't feel allright and try another one. It can take a few tries to find the right person.

- Do I sleep enough? If you're not getting at least 6 hours of clean sleep, you're probably stressed or burned out. I remember a "burning" feeling from that period and only sleepint 2-3 hours a night.

- Do I have a real work place, and are there distractions? I ran my own company for seven years, and in the beginning I worked from home. In doing so I could never really "get away" from it. Once I had an office outside the door it made a real difference: I went to the office to work, and psychologically that also did a trick - it set me into "work mode". I left the browser and Minesweeper alone and really went for it. When I worked at home I tended to loiter and surf and delay, but my office computer and surroundings were set up for work only: no games, simple browser, multiple computer screens for lots of info processing, good large desk, no distractions (other than iTunes on an ambient radio station, and that only occasionally). It takes around 8 minutes for the mind to get into "focus mode", and distractions - including the phone - disturb this.

- Can I daydream? Daydreaming is actually your creativity running rampant. I use daydreaming as a trick to get into "creative mode": first I daydream about something simple, then once it's active I start dreaming in the direction of the challenge I'm working on (e.g. how to set up some project or other, or what I want to include in a business plan). It's old-fashioned brainstorming and should work well for coding also. See if you can come up with a trick to get your creativity flowing.

- Have I drawn it out? The brain has 30something different processing sections for visual information. Draw it out! Draw lines, bubbles with ideas, connect them together, make up a start for a database, jot down everything you're planning. This will also help release your creativity as you see more and more links and possibilities.

All in all it will take a bit of puzzling to work out what the problem is, and if your brain is overstressed this may of itself be a challenge. Ask trusted friends to help you - their objective views can be vital. Ask doctors and shrinks what they think. It may be that you need a good vacation before getting started again. Keep in mind that evolutionally speaking, the brain is now in a period of great challenge - it's never had to deal with large society issues, jobs, taxes, mortgages, programming and whatnot before. The demand on the mind is immense and there's bound to be limits and problems. Give yourself the space to breathe and don't overdo it, and you should find that not only will the problems solve themselves, you'll also enjoy life much more and be much more motivated do get things done, to such a degree that life becomes automatic. I recommend reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's books, Flow and Creativity, as well. It has a lot of good info on creativity, the mind, and what we call "flow". Good luck!

- Jynx

Depends. Do monitor lizards climb walls and get pulled off by Hulks? If so, probably both.

It's more likely for something used this much to have functional features than not. Fingers and claws have been around for quite a while. It's hard to imagine them not evolving useful properties. Of course, this can go too far. Try peeling a gecko from a wall, you need to call the Hulk to help.

Sounds about right. Such micro-ridges, I think, WOULD increase grip on rougher surfaces, which is what we would run into in daily life. Also, if those ridges - generally the top layer of skin - would rip off or shred, the damage done to the hand would be less than were it smooth, I would guess. IOW, maybe a safety feature?

It's a good point, actually. What you then would need to do is attach some form of "importance rating" to a rush job, where the importance drops drastically relative to the number of rush jobs already requested over a certain time frame. Thus, if $salesrep has requested 5 rush jobs over the last month, his rating drops drastically. You have to explain it to them and let them see it, of course. That way it will force them to plan ahead and save their rushies for actual cases they can't help. (Of course, if you have an internal billing system, or you're a one-man PC Repair guy, this is even easier: triple rates for rush jobs, as mentioned elsewhere under here.) It's an old story: you have to keep a reward vs effort system in there somehow.

For the rest, I think honesty is the only way to go. Tell them when you think they're saying something that's not nice. Explain to them that IT is a difficult job and you're doing the best you can, and that they live in a world of entropy where all systems slowly break down and that IT's not your fault, and that you would appreciate a thank-you once in a while. Let the screaming people run to the boss; as long as you've covered your bases with him before that, there's nothing they can do but whine. You might even set up an internal website with a list of how-and-why's, which explains basic concepts like security, website blocking etcetera, why you do it, and what the consequences would be if you didn't. That way, they'll at least understand it, even if they don't like it.

If they still disagree or whine after that, they're self-centered emotists who should probably be fired anyway since all they care about is their own agenda's, probably far above that of the company. You know them: the women (or bitchy men) who talk trash behind your back, the drama queen, and other unenlightened humans who have yet to rise over their emotions. You can as a last resort explain the consequences of having such high maintenance fools in your company, and tell him he'd best lay them off. That will benefit you, your colleagues, and the company culture the most in the long run, and it will force the emo's to a track where they have to grow up. (Just be sure to explain the reasons to them, so they also learn where their behavior is causing such a problem, and get them to go do yoga or something.)

Despite the somewhat amateurish interface, I've gotten better and faster results with GDB than any other out there. I've done PC repairs for small companies and private persons for over 7 years and I've tried them all, and nothing else gets the job done this efficiently.

If you're in the same business as me, it's great to introduce victims of data loss to an online backup solution where you get a commission, there's plenty of 'em out there.

People need to stop laying claims to ideas. It's ridiculous. And while I recognise the necessity of allowing for a company which invests millions into R&D to gain some returns on their investment, I think this is a business model problem and shouldn't be protected by something as limiting as copyright. Over time it has shown the fractures in its shell too often. There are alternatives. For example:
- bands could say "fill up this bank account to $100k and we'll release our new album"
- companies could form investment groups (they already do), ask the people or government for funding (they already do) and then make an open tally of the costs, say "we want 250% profit on that" and release the drug/idea/whatever to the public once the gains have been made, like the former example

The release of a new idea can ONLY be controlled - and that, only if the people in question agree to it, else even this is difficult - before launch. We are in a phase where ideas are increasingly technical in nature. Hence the chance of someone else coming up with the same idea is less likely. But once the cat is out of the bag, it's subject to reverse engineering, speculation, dismantling etcetera, and eventually the concept will be copied. It's built into nature: cells copy each other, protons / neutrons appear identical and particles change into and from each other at random, kids copy parents' behaviors. Trying to block these natural processes take vast amounts of energy and are ultimately ineffective. Moreover, I think every kid should have the right to download any NGC documentary they want. It's better than watching Spongebob reruns for the 6th time.

Remember that the concept of "making it rich" or "gaining millions" is a very unnatural state. If you want $10m, you have to talk a million people out of ten bucks PROFIT. I don't think somebody should be able to sit on their ass for more than a year or so just for coming up with a great idea or writing a few great songs, much less their whole family (like Beatles copyright shelf life going up 20 years), nor for coming up with a scheme where they can essentially rip people off. It's all because people are naturally lazy and will protect any advantage they have in being able to be so. No problem there, it's just human nature, but spare me the pretentious crap of it being "unethical". There's no such thing and you've been brainwashed.

Encryption has some nasty surprises: you can easily maintain an I-didn't-do-it or I-didn't-know-it level of innocence. This is going to give P2P encryption techniques as well as anonymisation networks a HUGE boost. A LOT of french programmers are going to be quite pissed off, and rightly so.

Oh man, do I want to do a rant against the French right now. But it'll be allright, just another felix culpa. Die gedänken sind frei, plagiarism is built into nature and the French politicians are swimming upstream; they'll tire sooner or later. Unfortunately this will mean that some families will start using iTunes stores and such, and no doubt the Big Four will take and twist those statistics into an I-Told-You-So.

I remember him from Sesame Street.

"Now you know why they call them the Mighty Mighty Bosstones! Count them: One Mighty, Two Mighty! Ha-HAH!"

Of course, nobody beats the Cat in the Hat. One fish, two fish. I use that in online poker.

Yep. This is only going to stimulate: - a rapid development of secure p2p protocols. - a rapid adoption of encryption. - a lot of annoyance and public backlash. On the side, Ireland has one of the highest budget deficits in the EU. That means they're in a lot of financial trouble already, and lots of people are going to be out of jobs. But they aren't going to let "them" deny them access to their movies, songs and audiobooks; moreover, things like The Teaching Company (TTC) and BBC documentaries provide an extremely rich source of self-enrichment. People are going to be teaching themselves all matter of upgrades in their newfound free time. Anyway, all you Irish people can do now is roll out the Guiness and write your local political factions that this just isn't a good idea.

They're protecting their interests, of course. And like most firms guided by anal retentive lawyers, they don't know how to react decently, only "legally". But I think the concept of login / auth is fine. One might expound upon the idea by combining it with a shell of some sort - say, a VM - which contains only the game you want to play, and whatever security software it needs, and nothing else. That would prevent (or at least slow) hackers from cracking it up again.

But the root of all greevil is of course, humanity: hacking is too easy to learn, and the kids have the IQ far before they have the sense of responsibility. Try souping up education for a change. It's something that has to be relearned by EACH fewkin' generation! Our teachers should be well-paid and well-respected, instead they're downtrodden. And we think it's strange so many kids are so mentally fucked up? Unlimited corporate economics is at fault here, simple as that.

In TrekSpeak, Pesticide sounds strangely Ferengi. But I also have to admit reading the two compounds and thinking: "Holy smyte, where can I get tickets to that!" Maybe the arsenic was a giveaway.

Hey, with the prices of repeaters these days, that doesn't actually sound too bad.. or.. waitaminit, these are those complicated fiber optic multiplex thingamajiggers, no? Ah, well. Plenty of IT companies going bust to buy them off of, too :P