Not flippant at all. I don't disagree with your advice, unless it's to be taken as some axiomatic truth for all first-time workers. Your experience does not jive with mine—that's cool, man. I have no doubt that what you're saying is true in your experience and in your industry.

You gonna discount my perspective because isn't doesn't gel with yours? Or perhaps accept that very rarely can you give a piece of broad spectrum advice that perfectly suits all people in all environments. And yes, that was a strong reaction to a posting on an internet forum—I'm a bit bemused by it to be perfectly honest.

As a veteran of 30 years in offices around the world, please go into your job with the motto "Big ears, Small mouth."

Mostly listen. Talk little.

Unless you work in a creative industry, do any sort of client servicing, problem solving, researching, or project planning. In which case, not talking makes people think "why are we paying this guy."

1. Surf

2. Go diving/fishing a lot more

3. Explore ways to live more sustainably. Share my experiences with others.

4. Garden

5. Buy dog. Walk dog.

6. Read/write

7. Be more available. I'd love to be able to help people with whatever at the drop of a hat.

I'm from Auckland too. I guess my experience has been biased by the fact that I'm only six or so years out of high school. All of my friends have bought secondhand, and the majority seem to be manuals. Most new vehicles (and newer secondhand vehicles) do seem to be autos though so I guess the manual fleet is getting slowly replaced.

Same thing in New Zealand. Most people buy manuals. Also, the secondhand vehicle market seems to be much more robust in NZ than the US which explains a preference for manuals as they tend to age a lot better and are easier to service or work on yourself.

I was talking to an American cousin a while back and he explained that in his state secondhand vehicles were impractical because the salt used on the roads in the winter drastically reduces the lifespan of any given vehicle.

I've owned both and, in the long run, my auto ended up costing me a lot more in terms of servicing and parts replacements.

I'm gonna go with the first things that spring to mind:

The bible. Or maybe just the gospels, and genesis through to the end of 2 Chronicles (skipping leviticus and numbers).

Paul Simon's Graceland.

The Brothers Karamazov.

Bambi.

Bowie's greatest hits.

The land before time.

The Goonies.

LOTR. books and films.

Chronicles of Narnia. just the books.

Jumanji.

Give me a yell when you get to Cambodia. I'm in Phnom Penh. We'll grab a drink if you're keen.

I definitely identify with this. For me a huge motivating factor is the embarrassment of letting people down, so I need to put myself in situations where I'm accountable to other people. Otherwise I stagnate. When nobody is relying on me directly, I struggle to get anything done. When I have somebody waiting for me to finish a job on Wednesday and I'll look ridiculous if I don't deliver, suddenly I'm super motivated. Consequently I've learned to structure my work life/social life/general goals in such a way that I'm always accountable.

I'm Max. I'm enjoying being 24. Life's cool, I'm trying not to overthink it. I'm not an artist but I like making things and I probably make something new every other day. I just made a pineapple smoothie—that probably doesn't count but it was delicious. Felt like art going down.

It's cool when your travels coincide with a piece of history. I was in Jakarta when Jokowi took office last year, also in Cleveland when Lebron made The Decision and they tore down that massive "We are all witnesses" poster downtown (lol). And I visited Borobudur the day after ISIS threatened to blow it up (more worrying than cool).

Fellow pinterest-using dude. It's fantastic for making inspiration boards when you're working on something creative. Like when I was designing my sister's wedding invites, I made a board called "wedding invites" and pinned a whole bunch of shit I thought was cool until I had a clearer idea of what look I was after. I have that extension that lets me pin stuff from all around the web when I'm browsing, it's awesome to have an ever-expanding catalogue of creative/inspirational bookmarks.

Several days later Murray asked me about a tourist attraction known as the most photographed barn in America. We drove 22 miles into the country around Farmington. There were meadows and apple orchards. White fences trailed through the rolling fields. Soon the sign started appearing. THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED BARN IN AMERICA. We counted five signs before we reached the site. There were 40 cars and a tour bus in the makeshift lot. We walked along a cowpath to the slightly elevated spot set aside for viewing and photographing. All the people had cameras; some had tripods, telephoto lenses, filter kits. A man in a booth sold postcards and slides -- pictures of the barn taken from the elevated spot. We stood near a grove of trees and watched the photographers. Murray maintained a prolonged silence, occasionally scrawling some notes in a little book.

"No one sees the barn," he said finally.

A long silence followed.

"Once you've seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn."

He fell silent once more. People with cameras left the elevated site, replaced by others.

"We're not here to capture an image, we're here to maintain one. Every photograph reinforces the aura. Can you feel it, Jack? An accumulation of nameless energies."

There was an extended silence. The man in the booth sold postcards and slides.

"Being here is a kind of spiritual surrender. We see only what the others see. The thousands who were here in the past, those who will come in the future. We've agreed to be part of a collective perception. It literally colors our vision. A religious experience in a way, like all tourism."

Another silence ensued.

"They are taking pictures of taking pictures," he said.

He did not speak for a while. We listened to the incessant clicking of shutter release buttons, the rustling crank of levers that advanced the film.

"What was the barn like before it was photographed?" he said. "What did it look like, how was it different from the other barns, how was it similar to other barns?"

—White Noise, Don Delillo

Sounds wicked, I'm really keen to get to Sri Lanka at some stage. Um, this trip started in Bangkok, spent a few weeks in Thailand, a month in Laos, a month in Cambodia, two months in Indonesia, then came back to Cambodia and decided to make a go of it in Phnom Penh for a while. I've been in PP for four months now, living in a Khmer-style apartment in the city.

I love Bangkok, can't wait to get back there for a proper stay (my last visit was in-and-out in two days). Are you doing a trip around Asia?

Do you live in Bangkok or just visiting?

Ten-year-old me says Stig of the Dump read by Martin Jarvis.

Thanks for that link, it's fascinating. I had a wee google and found this which is an interesting supplement to the former.

I want to play this on the Oculus Rift. Just need need to acquire this rig so I never need to leave the house:

This excerpt from the statement issued by the former writers and editors of TNR really struck me:

The New Republic cannot be merely a “brand.” It has never been and cannot be a “media company” that markets “content.” Its essays, criticism, reportage, and poetry are not “product.” It is not, or not primarily, a business. It is a voice, even a cause. It has lasted through numerous transformations of the “media landscape”—transformations that, far from rendering its work obsolete, have made that work ever more valuable.

You see writing referred to as 'content' constantly nowadays. It makes it sound so hollow, so soulless. This whole thing is tragic.

Found out today I didn't get a job I interviewed for. It was to be Editor of a consumer tech magazine. I felt like I came really close so to be pipped at the finish line was a bit gutting. It was a two-horse race between me and some other guy apparently. He's older than me and "knows the market better". C'est la vie. It was really cool to even be considered, and I learned a lot from the process.

God I love War on Drugs' Lost in the Dream. So good. As for the list, I dunno. I don't really think I'm its target demo. I agree a lot more with pitchfork's.

Great photo and story to go with it. How long ago was this?

That's me, coming up for air. I think it says something about me. I love the ocean. I love surfing, diving, spearfishing, whatever. That picture was taken recently on an old iphone inside a ziplock bag. I really like the shitty quality of it. Makes it look old. Like I've been in the water for ever, which I feel like I have.

#GodIsDead #NoWaitHe'sAliveAgain #AndHe'sAComputer #RoboGod #SuckItNietzsche

Saw this cool tree in the Eka Karya Botanic Garden, Bali:

It was surrounded by shifty macaques.

What we do in the shadows

That profile pic is wicked. What program did you make it in?

The one outside the UN headquarters is fantastic.

Stimulating the food sensor made the robot move forward.

It would be cool if version 2.0 utilised wireless charging, and the "food sensor" was stimulated when the wormbot neared a wireless charging station and obtained charge. Then maybe you could add obstacles and introduce a Darwinian element where only conectomes that could successfully "feed" themselves made it through to the next iteration. You could add random mutations to provide variation and weed out the bad ones by testing them irl with the bot.

I have the exact same relationship with volleyball. I love playing it but am an absolute muppet when it comes to actually getting the ball over the net.