Friday Freeforall…what a deal on THURSDAY

A round up of varied but no less interesting reads from our great interwebs…and a day early!

behaviorGap “Investing is an Act of Faith”

Investing is an act of faith.

Faith in the future.

Faith in the underlying concept of capitalism.

Faith in humanity.

Without faith, the act of investing becomes very hard.

Right now, it is getting increasingly hard to have faith in the current system, leadership, and structure. It seems that every day we get a new reason to not believe.

So what is left?

The basic belief in the goodness of people. The notion that human beings will figure out the best way of organizing themselves and their capital (financial & human) and putting them to the highest and best use. The faith that if the current system does not work, we will collectively find a way to change it

Ramit err’ “Carl Richards – 5 ?’s to ask your friends who think this time its different”

“Given the decade we just finished, the question about what to do now is becoming part of our national conversation. With the insane amount of noise in the press, here are a few things to think about.

First some assumptions:

1. Your long-term investments are super diversified and low cost (broad-base, index funds, for example).
2. You are only investing money in stocks (see #1); that is long-term.
3. You have a plan for meeting short-term needs.

With that out of the way, here are a few things to think about…

Defend against life “feature creep” – Zen Habits

How does Apple keep its minimalist interface if it wants to keep adding new features? How does the designer of asimple WordPress theme keep things simple if he wants to add new features for his users?

How do you declutter a room and keep it from getting cluttered again? How do you simplify your work routine— and keep it simple?

The short answer is thoughtful reduction, and routine editing. The long answer is below, in six steps:

1. Be very clear about your mission. This is crucial — without it, simplicity for simplicity’s sake is worthless. What are you trying to deliver to the customer? What are you trying to accomplish for yourself? Apple could keep its interface simple because it knew what user experience it was trying to deliver: A simple way for people to listen to their music. Know your mission, and the rest is details.

2. Figure out what matters most. This is really the logical progression of Step 1 — what is most important to delivering on your mission? If your mission is to have a simple room for…

Celebrating Small Victories – April Capil

It’s important, when recovery seems like a long and endless journey, to break it up – especially if you have a tendency to bite off more than you can chew. Set small, immediate goals – one a day, even if it’s flossing, or eating a healthy meal, or getting to work on time. Celebrate your achievement of those goals – don’t let the moment go by without a pat on the back – you deserve it!

New “Green”er concrete technology elimnates strom drains?

Startribune Article Link
Shoreview is betting on a new “green” concrete paving method that lets rainwater pass right through the street surface to prevent damaging runoff.

Pervious concrete — made of gravel and cement minus the sand that gives regular concrete its impenetrable density — has the porous quality of a Rice Krispies bar.

Because it will allow water to drain straight to the ground below, Shoreview will install about a mile of pervious concrete streets without storm sewers in the Woodbridge neighborhood on Lake Owasso….

Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune Shoreview Public Works Director Mark Maloney says that pervious concrete allows water to flow through, preventing runoff and eliminating the need for storm sewers.