NOTE BY EDITOR: GUEST BLOGGER SARAH BETH

Image by BenSpark via Flickr

[Editor's note: I want to welcome another guest blogger. Please give Sarah Beth (Think Dammit | Reclaim Your Brain blog & @smallangel on Twitter) a great welcome! :) OK, back to my blog break... ;) I am testing Zemanta. Read Rick Klau's post, Zemanta helps you "blog smarter".] Take some time and stop by One Reality and read the Objectivist Round Up #104. Via Gus Van Horn's post, Quick Roundup 446.]

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PERSONALITIES (SOLD BY PACKAGE ONLY)

Are you a Type A personality? If you are, it's bad news: Doctors say it's one of the risk factors for ischemic heart disease, and, according to this online test, it means you have "a high price to pay" for your ambitions and achievements: You "experience a constant sense of opposition, wariness, and apprehension" and your "bursts of hostility and impatience result in guilt, remorse and anxiety." In a nutshell, you are basically a nervous wreck. Oh, and a second-hander, too, with your "persistent desire for external recognition."

Now, if you aren't Type A, you must be Type B. And if that's what you are, it's bad news! At least according to the same online test, which seems to suggest that the reason Type B personalities don't pay a high price for their ambitions and achievements is because they don't have any. Here are some of the answers that would make you a Type B:

• "I frankly don't care whether I do or do not make it into the top 10%."
  
• "I get no particular pleasure out of acquiring things."
  
• "It doesn't matter whether my family is financially secure. The important thing is to be together."
  
• "It doesn't bother me if I cannot finish what I planned for the day."
  
• "I often choose to spend time with my friends or family, even though I have something important to do."

In a nutshell, Type B means you're a lazy bum. Oh, and a second-hander, too!

Here are my test results:



I scored 50% because I chose the "Type B" answer for the questions that asked about being a nervous wreck and the "Type A" answer for the questions that asked about being a lazy bum. I was told that "in this case, the middle ground is good" and I was commended for having "a very healthy attitude towards life"--but despite all that praise heaped on me, the whole thing left me feeling insulted. After all, if I had given the exact opposite answer to each question, I would have gotten the exact same score! I bet if the authors heard my reaction (consisting mainly of instructions on where to shove their personality test), they would recoil in horror and promptly reclassify me as a terminal case of Type A!

It didn't take me long to recognize this as an insidious package deal meant to discourage people from pursuing their values--but what will it do to the many innocent, unsuspecting people taking the test who haven't been taught to watch out for the false dichotomies and other tricks used by people posing as "experts" to further their anti-man agenda?

A much more rational take on the subject is offered by Dr. Harry Mills:

The specific aspects of a Type A individual that continue to be related to heart disease are explosive reactions, competitiveness, impatience, irritability and hostility. Lumped together these traits equal anger.

[...] Type As seek excellence to prove their worth. Type B people, on the other hand, can also achieve personal success but do so because the process is enjoyable to them. Type Bs feel secure inside and do not need hostility or competition to succeed.

although it still suffers from a conflation of hostility (see Figure 1 below) and competitiveness (see Figure 2).

Figure 1. Hostile people

Figure 2. Competitive people

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EGO BLOGRANK BY INVESP CONSULTING

[Editor's note: I want to clarify that I am not going away on a vacation trip. I will be close to the computer, so I could write a post if I want to... I wanted to book time for getting ready with my workflow procedure and at the same time take a break from the regular blogging schedule. I think it is a great element in the summer period to blend your blog with featured guest bloggers. The following individuals have said that they are planning to write a guest post:

• Elizabeth of Hence the Elizabethan
• Exalted Moments of The Charlotte Capitalist
• Michael Gold of MGTutoring.com
• Roland Horvath
• Grace Ignacio of GirlOpinion
• Cindy King of CindyKing.biz

Please welcome my guest bloggers! Check out their profiles and write a comment...]

After I read Anita Campbell's post, Top 100 Small Business Blogs Per BlogRank, I went to Invesp Consulting's site and registered my blog under the philosophy category (click first on "History & Religion" and then "Philosophy"). For more on blogRank, read Khalid's post, How does blog Rank calculates the ultimate rank?

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WORKLIFE SUMMER BREAK

I hereby announce my worklife summer break. I will try to recruit some guest bloggers during this month. I will go through the below mentioned list as an exercise in the improvement of my workflow implementation. The list of top 25 GTD blogs is compiled by blogRank. [Hat tip to Anita Campbell's post, Top 100 Small Business Blogs Per BlogRank.]

• Think Simple Now
• 43 Folders
• Unclutterer
• Productivity501
• GTD Times
• moleskinerie
• Getting Things Done GTD with Personal Development and Motivation for Success
• Ians Messy Desk
• Rock Your Day
• Getting Things Done
• Lifehacker: GTD
• Event Manager Blog
• Notes on Productivity
• Black Belt Productivity
• eDragonu - the choice of a personal path
• Getting Things Done in Academia
• David Allen Company Podcast
• David Allen Company Updates
• My Stuff for Getting Things Done
• a million monkeys typing
• Daily Routines
• Fresh Focus...on Productivity!
• GearFire - Tips for Students
• Matt's Idea Blog
• How to be an Original

I will reading the following material in the near future:

• Personal Core Values by Lodewijk van den Broek.
• Todoodlist by Nick Cernis.
• Why Preaching to the Choir is a Good Thing by Chris Guillebeau.
• Seth Godin On Social Networking For Business – Is It Useless? by Matthew Ringer.
• The Big To-Do Over To Do's by Steve Rubel.
• Blogaholism - Is It In You? by Lawrence Rubin. [Via Brian Clark.]
• Work-Life Balance section of BusinessWeek Business Exchange site.

How about a summer drink?



Ingredients:

• Milk
• Aronia / chokeberry juice with apple from Wideum Garden.
• Acai juice from Acai Planet.
• Chocolate (melted) from Xocai.
• Wild strawberries.
• Ice cubes.

Cheers!

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STATUE OF LIBERTY CROWN

Graphic by Robert Tracy of Illustrated Ideas.

In the news: Lady Liberty's crown reopens for 4th of July, 8 years after 9/11 attacks closed her to visitors. Matt Lysiak, NY Daily News.

From the Whitehouse: Lady Liberty's Crown Opens on 4th of July. Katelyn Sabochik, Director of New Media for the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Read Ari Herzog's post, How @StatueLibrtyNPS Celebrates July IVth.

From my post, THE STATUE OF LIBERTY REOPENS:

Thanks to Robert Tracy (Illustrated Ideas) for creating this image:


Related: My posts, VISIT TO THE BIG APPLE NYC IN 2009 and LIVE FREE OR DIE.

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INDEPENDENCE DAY

I celebrated Independence Day with fellow members of Vasa Order of America (lodge Gothenburg #452). How did you celebrate?


Vasa Order of America - Gothenburg #452.

and now a word from King George III...

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AL SHABAAB MEETING IN GOTHENBURG

I am reading in the local newspaper (Gothenburg's Post) that the spiritual leader of Al-Shabaab, Xasaan Xuseen, will attend a meeting at the Bellevue Mosque in Gothenburg. According to the newspaper, his mission for the visit is to collect money and recruit new members.

In the news: EU sends warning to Somali militants. [Via Terror Free Somalia Foundation.]

The Swedish special envoy to the Somali Peace Process, Mr Joran Bjallerstedt, ruled out any quick-fix measures in the rehabilitation of Somalia.

In a subtle warning to the militia, Mr Bjallerstedt dismissed them as “having no idea beyond the overthrowing the legitimate government.”

He noted that with the collapsed infrastructure in Somalia, the Al Shabaab militia would find it hard to run the country should they overthrow the government.

“... these insurgents will just cause problems within small territories in Somalia, they cannot manage the whole country,” he said. (July 1, 2009, Daily Nation.)

Related: My post, TERRORIST LINKED TO MOSQUE IN STOCKHOLM.

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LIFESTREAM AND WORKFLOW

I didn't manage to write a workflow post for week 26. My "deadline" (July 4) for the implementation of my workflow system is getting close and I must admit that I will have a hard time to finish in time. I have a huge backlog of papers and other material that I have to go through.

With that said, my regular blogging could become pretty "lite" during the month of July and August. I already "warned" about this in my annual blog report post. I hope I could find some guest bloggers that could fill in a bit. I will continue with some microblogging like Twitter and FriendFeed. I will also be active on other blogs writing comments. I have a couple of pieces in the pipeline for Open Forum blog.

I recommend you to read Steve Rubel's post, Frequently Asked Questions About This Lifestream. It is interesting how an "A-list" blogger like Steve Rubel is changing his blogging pattern and starts to integrate plenty of bits and pieces into one big lifestream with a reference to Leonardo Da Vinci. He has picked Posterous for his new hybrid of publishing stuff online.

Lately I have been shifting more of my reading/sharing to my iPhone. Some days I probably spend as much time or more time browsing the web from my mobile device than I do my laptop. Now that I have a new iPhone 3GS, I also want to do more with photos and video. Posterous seems like the great hybrid solution since I can share things in different places based on context and easily do so through via email. (SteveRubel.com, June 21, 2009.)

I think that Steve Rubels ideas are well aligned with the "getting things done" method in that you should do the right stuff at the right moment depending on where you are located at the moment. Personally, I am doing almost all my blogging sitting at the computer desk. I have done a little bit of blogging when I am around and about, for example, sitting at a coffee place with a subnotebook. In order for me to start to blog on the go and in different places, I need to have reliable and user friendly tools, like a really "smart" smartphone and a small portable video camera. What's your take on iPhone 3GS, Flip Ultra HD and Kodak Zx1?

Here is an informative illustration from Steve Rubel's post, A Lifestreaming Workflow.



[Editor's note to self: I have to check out Zemanta.]

A new trend that could be coming along nicely is audio microblogging for your worklife. [Via BizSugar.] I will test Chirbit and Ipadio so I could start broadcasting and adding my own audio files on my blog.

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LIVE FREE OR DIE

I prefer to do some catblogging instead of talking politics, after the recent incidents in Sweden and America.


Do you see "camouflage" Morris?

But after an exchange with Larry Robiner on Twitter, I had to write a post on today's situation and what could come in the future.

@lyceum yes, "everything is possible" in free America, including the election of George W. Bush to president. TWICE! Why is that so great??
3:33 PM Jun 21st from Seesmic Desktop in reply to lyceum

@LRobiner Here is an example of "American in spirit," my post http://bit.ly/NvNZB
3:19 PM Jun 21st from web in reply to LRobiner

@lyceum what does it mean to be "an American in spirit"?
2:24 PM Jun 21st from Seesmic Desktop

and now a word from George Orwell...

I would have been hesitant to vote for George W. Bush the second time around. The first time I would probably vote for him on his "cowboy merits," and as a protest vote against Al Gore. I wonder what will happen next. Could supporters and the leading members of the "Grand Old Party" get their act together and find a decent candidate next time? I am not sure about that. The problem is what you could end up with Hillary Clinton as a "comeback kid"... I don't think that Obama will manage another period.

Here is an excerpt from Glenn Beck's interview with Barry Goldwater, Jr.:

GOLDWATER: And we have a two-party system and that system basically, historically has worked well.

I think the Republicans have gotten off-track. My father, Senator Goldwater, set the tone for the conservative movement back in 1964, established a philosophy which appealed to a lot of people and still do today — and that's less government, protecting our liberties, personal freedom, personal responsibility, a strong national defense and a free market.

Those are the core principles that Senator Goldwater and also Ronald Reagan adhered to, were spokesmen for and governed by.

But in the '70s, all of a sudden, under Ronald Reagan, they started to embrace religion. And they began getting these personal issues into the political spectrum. And as a result, we're — we are constantly debating wedge issues — like abortion, prayer in the schools and the definition of marriage.

And we've gotten distracted and away from those core principles. And the Republican Party needs to get back to that. (Fox News, June 3, 2009.)

Listen to Yaron Brook's speech at the Republican Party of Virginia 2009 State Convention (Part 2 of 2). You could listen to the first part if you go to the featured video section on this blog.



On a personal level, I am very interested to find the right political climate in my future "neighborhood". Please continue to give me tips on places that you think could match my views and profile. How did you celebrate Flag Day? How will you celebrate Independence Day? Are you attending a tea party? Read Sylvia Bokor's post, Tea Parties and Going John Galt: America's New Direction?, Edward Cline's post, The New Sons of Liberty and Zev Barnett's post, In Defense of Liberty as intellectual ammunition and preparation for the future...

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WORKFLOW WEEK 25

This weekend I started to read the e-book, Todoodlist by Nick Cernis. I think that this book could have a great impact on my work-life. Talking about list, here is a sample of individuals who are interested in "getting things done"... I did a #GTD search on Twitter and scanned Alltop's GTD page.

• VMaryAbraham of Above and Beyond KM.
• jlindenthal of Lindy's Journal.
• TanyaatDBT of Dezigns by T.
• LaneInc of Ron Lane.
• contactabe - Abe Awasthi.
• TesTeq of BIZNES BEZ STRESU (in Polish).
• gtdtimes - GTD Times.
• webmaid of Rheinhessenarchiv :: Genealog (in German).
• SebastianJ - SebastianJohnsson.com.
• joshrace of GTDPeers.com.

• masontech of Did I Get Things Done.
• hdbbstephen of Business Development In Context.
• RockYourDay - Rock Your Day.
• thinksimplenow - Think Simple Now.
• UncluttererTips - Unclutterer.
• ericmack of Notes on Productivity.
• ianmckenzie of Ian’s Messy Desk.
• JasonWomack of Your best just got better.
• blackbeltprod of Black Belt Productivity.
• Lifehacker - Lifehacker GTD.

I have to add nickcernis of Put Things Off. OK, time to read further in Todoodlist...

[Editor's note: Please come with additional names to the list...]

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