For those that don’t know what the heck I am talking about (which I assume is most of you), the score derived from this test is called the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) To catch you up to speed, here is what Wikipedia has to say about the MBTI:

The MBTI preferences indicate the differences in people based on the following:

▪ How they focus their attention or get their energy (Extraversion or Introversion)

▪ How they perceive or take in information (Sensing or iNtuition)

▪ How they prefer to make decisions (Thinking or Feeling)

▪ How they orient themselves to the external world (Judgment or Perception)

By using their preference in each of these areas, people develop what Jung and Myers called psychological type. This underlying personality pattern results from the dynamic interaction of their four preferences, in conjunction with environmental influences and their own individual tendencies. People are likely to develop behaviors, skills, and attitudes based on their particular type. Each personality type has its own potential strengths as well as areas that offer opportunities for growth.

The reason is that I do a good job of hiding this fact. I mask how completely draining most social interactions greater than a one on one conversation are to me. How much I value and protect my alone time. How my ability to interact socially, and talk, and appear outgoing, and speak my mind is a complete smokescreen to mask what I really feel – which is “I hate this. I’m frightened. Get me out of here so I can be alone”. That going to a small gathering exhausts me for a day. That going to a large event, means that it will take me weeks to fully recover. The way I hide this is by finding someone, or a group of people, that I know and talking their ear off. I cling to them for dear life in the hopes that I won’t have to be confronted with my sheer terror of the situation. Because these people see me as talkative, open, and liable to say anything, they likely assume that I am as outgoing, jovial, and energetic as any Extrovert. And don’t even get me started if I am somewhere I have never been and don’t know anyone. Putting me in a room with a group of people I do not know is like putting me in a tank full of sharks – I remain very still and quiet as possible and pray no one sees me while looking for the easiest exit.

Introversion in the MBTI does not always mean someone who can’t be social or behave in ways that the world would perceive as outgoing. In fact, many famous people and leaders would also fall in the Introversion spectrum. For instance, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela are all INFJs. It does mean that Extroversion is not where we derive our energy. It, in fact, drains it and that we can only recharge that energy through solitude.

What I have always found interesting, and this is purely my own anecdotal observation, is that most Extroverts have no capacity to understand Introverts. They just don’t get it. No matter how many times we might explain to them who we are, how we react in social situations, and how we feel. If you are an Introvert in a relationship with an Extrovert, it is not uncommon when having had a few days full of many gatherings, and then complaining about how tired you are, for them to cajole you into attending another. The reason being is that they derive their energy from such social interactions and have no capacity to understand that such a thing will not be the perfect anecdote to your ills. I should mention that I have spent my life surrounded by Extroverts, including my wife, I think many Introverts are drawn to them. Therefore, my anecdotes are based upon a lifetime of experience.

I guess all of this is just to share a bit about me. Why, though invited, you may not see me at your event, party, dinner or other gathering of two or more. Why, if I do come, and I know someone there, I will seem like a lost puppy, happy to find it’s master. Why you may not see me at another for a while. And why, before reading this, you had no idea why.

Backup is a pain in the ass.

Let’s get real about this for a minute. Backup is not a solution to a problem — at least not one that is actively happening. I know people who have gone through several computers without ever having a problem. Why would they think about backup. Backup is insurance. It’s a solution for the “maybe” and not the “now”. The computers of today are, in general, as reliable as toasters. They just work.

Devices like the iPhone and the iPad won’t change that. In fact, the backup is “built in” — it just happens when you sync it. Increasingly one never has to “think” about backup.

All of this is true until, that one time when you go weeks without syncing or that first hard drive fails taking with it the bulk of your digital world and the maybe has become the now.

I employ what is often called the 3-2-1 backup strategy:

3 Backups (at least) 2 Onsite for failsafe immediate recovery. 1 Offsite in case of catastrophe (fire, flood, etc)

I think most experts would agree that this is the bare minimum of what one should have. That said, any one of the three is better than nothing at all.

Here is how I execute this strategy:

CrashPlan Pro — I am a big fan of CrashPlan. It just plain works. Quietly, in the background, performing incremental and recursive backups (backs up only changes after the first full backup and does file versioning and deletion protection to boot) and uses so few system resources I find I have to launch it every few weeks just to make sure it’s still working (It always is). I actually have the Pro version running on a Mac Mini, with a Drobo attached for storage, backing up not only my machines but also 20 of my client’s machines (I am providing offsite backup for them). Works around the clock, day in and day out. It even backs up to my server from anywhere, anytime I am connected to the Internet. If I go out of town to a conference, as soon as I connect to the hotel wifi it will back up any changes that occurred while on the plane. It’s pretty badass. CrashPlan does have a free version that works just as well backing up to an external drive or other machines. Furthermore, they also have a paid plan for offsite backup to their servers. Great product and a responsive company. Could not recommend it more.

SuperDuper — I also do a regular complete clone of my hard drive using SuperDuper. The advantage to to is that, should my hard drive fail, I have a complete bootable duplicate. Therefore, I can simply boot off of that clone and keep going just as if nothing happened. There is also Carbon Copy Cloner that does the same thing but I prefer SuperDuper for reasons I can’t explain (mainly the UI I think) since they do pretty much the same thing. I have Super Duper set so it just automatically updates the clone drive every time I plug it in.

Dropbox – Of course, all of my personal crucial files are in Dropbox. I keep all of my documents, several application databases, even the draft of the very post you are reading now is stored in Dropbox. If you are not familiar with this wonderful product and service, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Because Dropbox syncs between multiple machines and “the cloud” I basically have, in effect, an offsite backup. Eventually I will have a “real” offsite backup using CrashPlan Pro to backup to a server outside of my house as well as the one within but I am not quite there yet and, with the two full backups I already have, this is good enough for me now.

Now, if you are paying attention and are very keen, you may notice something about my setup – It is as ass pain free as possible. The tools I employ all work with little intervention or extra work from me. CrashPlan just works silently in the background. So does Dropbox. Even SuperDuper is set up to just work when I plug the right external drive in. I really feel that this is the special sauce that will get most people to back up regularly. Make it something you don’t have to “think” about. It was certainly true for me.

All of this is just to let you know that I get it. I know there are some of you who are paranoid and backup your backups. I know there are many more of you who will read this post, nod your heads in agreement, and still not actively backup because the work of doing something about it does not equal the maybeness of the problem. If that is you, I really do hope you will see the light and adopt something similar to my setup because hearing the post loss stories is painful and so very avoidable.

There is just a wealth of information out there and, with the state of the economy, the information is growing. That said, probably the best way to get a sense of what it takes, especially in your area of the country, is to talk to lots of other consultants near you. Check out the official Apple Consultants Network page and find ones that are near you. Get in touch with them and let them know you are thinking about getting into it. Most everyone I know will be very helpful with what it is like in your area and how to get started. Is there a glut of Mac consultants, so getting clients is hard? Is there a particular niche that is in dire need where you are that you can fill? Things like this are useful to know and they will be the only ones who can tell you.

Secondly certification and training, it is crucial. It is not enough to think you know what you are doing, to have any credibility whatsoever you must prove it. Apple does have an official certification program that covers both Mac OS X client and server but also many of the Pro Apps. Take the test, get the paper, join the Apple Consultants Network – be legit. The Apple Blog recently had a good write up on this:

Complete Guide to Apple Certification and Training

As for me, I decided early on to focus on a market that was very underserved – individuals, very small businesses, and very small non-profits (generally 5 machines or less). These are folks that had no one to turn to and the larger tech consulting firms in town were charging up to $150.00 an hour and focused on medium sized businesses and creative agencies. Far more than most small folks and individuals can afford. Since my goal is to never be more than a “company of one” and my overhead and expenses are low, I could charge $75.00 per hour, half the standard rate, and serve this market at a price the people I wanted to serve could afford.

I should also state that I have held full time jobs for most of the time I have been doing this (over 10 years now). This is the sort of thing that may take years before you are able to have a client base large enough to be able to sustain you and yours. I recently read this post over at Lifehacker which is as good as any at explaining how to balance this fact of life so that it is sustainable:

How to Start Freelancing (Without Quitting Your Job)

Also, my friend Randy Murray recently offered up some good advice should you be starting from a point of not having a job (or still looking for one):

Make Your Own Way – Life Without Full-Time Employment

Finally (and this is the most important part), it takes a certain balance of personality traits to be able to do this day in and day out. I like to say it takes an even balance of patience and tenacity. You have to be the sort of person who will exhaust every possibility in search of a fix to a client problem and, then, have the know-how and finesse to tell them what to do next if you are not able to solve it. They are looking to you, hero, for the answer or, short of that, where to find it – because they haven’t a clue. You also have to be able to explain the same thing, over and over, multiple ways, until you find the one that clicks for each client. Then, once you figure out their ideal learning style, you have to remember and apply that to save you from having to do that dance over and over again, much to your mutual frustration.

Oh, and I know I said “finally” above, but we are still on the same subject of personality types so, I get a pass… What you want to be is a Mac Consultant, and you will be, but it won’t be your primary job. Your actual job description is this:

Frustration Removal Agent and Simplifier of Difficult Things

(P.S. Don’t bother using that on a business card by the way, I already beat you to it.)

Seriously, before you even begin to troubleshoot a problem, your first task will usually be to talk your client down from a ledge of frustration and angst so high – from whatever crisis has brought you in – that they will not even hear the words coming out of our mouth until you do. Then, you will calmly explain to them that there is no problem that does not have some solution, even if that solution is throwing the damn thing out the window. You have now not only reassured them but also empathized with their frustration. Now, you can get to work doing that thing that the paper you earned said you were good at.

In closing, I really hope this gives you a nudge in the right direction. I can confirm, from years of experience, that there is nothing more challenging or rewarding than doing something you love and getting paid for it. And, (Of course there is a pitch. I do so at every opportunity. So should you.), if you want to pick my brain even further on this stuff via phone, book a Remote Support call with me via the Appointment Widget at Machine Methods (that little red tab on the right). I love to help others get started and $25.00 a pop is a small price to pay for one on one business coaching.

I have divided my feeds into the following folders:

• a-list – These are everything I consider a “must see”. This is also my shortest list of feeds. To make it to the list you have to have a long history of providing top value content. Not just occasionally, but with almost every post. Daring Fireball is here, Kottke is too. I look at everything that shows up in this list no matter the count. It’s worth it.

• b-list – These are feeds that deliver value but not near the regularity of the ones in the a-list. This is an especially good place for the true weblogs where interesting links with short commentary rule the day over long form posts, and not everything is a must read.

• friends – These are people I know personally and feel compelled to read them not only to keep up with their lives and what interests them but also so that when they bring up these things in conversation I have background (“Hey, did you see my post on…?”). That said, my friends also very often are first source for interesting content. I hang out with the right people I guess.

• other – These are everything that do not fit into the above. Things that are nice to know but not need to know and that I can easily ignore without missing anything. In general, if it is important, I know that someone in the above three lists will cover or link to it. This is also a place for the sites that generate the most posts (Gizmodo, Lifehacker, etc.). The noisier the feed the more likely it is to go here. This is, by far, my largest list of feeds and always contains the bulk of the items in any given day.

• probation – Pretty much everything new I add goes here first. Only after a couple of weeks, do I then decide where it belongs in the lists above or, more likely, delete it entirely. A blog has to earn it’s way out of here fairly quickly in order to be a keeper.

Now, how that works in practice is this. If I have a lot of feeds to go through, more than I have the time scan or read, I know I can read the a-list and friends and safely declare bankruptcy and “mark all as read” on the rest. I do this more often than not and have never regretted it.

• Eat Well – Continuing the theme of my post of a couple of weeks back (I’ll save you the drumbeating – go read the post), I have committed myself to eating in a manner that is consistent with humane, sustainable, and low-impact practices as much as possible. I am sure I will have my failings at this. For instance, I enjoyed every bit of the baked potato, smothered with nebulous foodstuff ingredients from questionable sources, I had at a suburban restaurant last night – at least while I was eating it. Today, I wish I had made a better choice that was more consistent with who I would like to be going forward. The way to get there is simply one meal at a time.

• Live Well – As part of the above, I want to take better care of my body in general and be more active. I now have the Fitbit to help track my progress. What’s a Fitbit? Merlin Mann provides a pretty good bulleted overview. What I think I like is the idea of having a practically hands off way to get real data metrics on your activities and using that data to set realistic exercise/activity/sleep goals. I have such great shops and restaurants all around me where we live. This is a very walkable neighborhood, more so then even other parts of the city. I plan to navigate it on foot as much as possible. I also want to put the practically new, but barely used, bike I own to greater use.

• Observe Well – We were walking through the warehouse section of our local IKEA the other day, when Beatrix took the time to stop, look directly up, point and yell “Fan!” with the glee only a two year old can muster. Above us was, in fact, a giant ceiling fan – I’d guess at least 20 feet in diameter. As we stood there, heads craned in wonder, looking a little closer, I noticed something even more surprising. The brand name on the fan was Big Ass Fan. That’s right, it’s a real company that makes, well, big ass fans. Despite the near endless chuckle this discovery gave me, it taught me something else more important – Take the time to notice. Delight in the small details that are revealed and, when you think you have seen all there is too see – look a little closer. I plan to do this more from now on.

• Give Well – I want to be more active in the giving of my time, resources, talent, and, of course, money to the projects and people I care about. That means a lot of things, from charity to volunteering to more posting here and the other projects I craft to guest posting on other blogs. I also want to be mindful of my consumption by acknowledging that for everything we take, someone else has to give.

• “I will learn and use keyboard shortcuts more and use the mouse and/or trackpad less.” – I have been working really hard at this and would call this largely a success. It is not perfect but I use key commands far more than before, especially in apps I use on a daily basis. I have made a conscious decision to learn the shortcut for any command I find myself doing more than once a day. Also, hiding toolbars and their associated buttons in certain apps has helped because I am then forced to pause a sec before trying to use them and think of the corresponding key command instead.

• “I plan to be much more mindful of the signal to noise ratio of my online life.” – Success here as well. I think my RSS feeds are better organized and more regularly trimmed and evaluated for usefulness than before. I have worked really hard to keep Twitter at a manageable level (I am very picky about my follows and regularly tuck and trim that list). Recently, I have been making a real effort to try to meet people in real life wherever possible. I have met some amazing people and had unbelievable opportunities through social networking. Certainly, the signal currently outweighs the noise.

• “Of course, the signal and noise argument cuts both ways. For this reason I will continue to post here according to the following criteria and schedule – Only when I think I have something of real and original value to add to the greater internet conversation.” – Yep. And I hope I added even more real and original value at The Random Post and Minimal Mac as well. Same plan for next year.

• “In addition, I will be adding regular and more reliably scheduled content over at my other project, work.life.creativity.” – If I had any failure for the year it was this one. I am actually rather perplexed by why it was not quite working on my part. I’m not sure if it was my general discontent with the idea of talking about things like creativity and productivity instead of simply “doing” or “making”. The other founders and I have had some conversation about the project in general and can’t seem to come to terms on where to go or what to do next to breathe life back into it. I sure would hate to see it just die but I’m not sure quite where to start with the CPR.

• “I will continue to seek ways to grow my consulting business into something that can reliably sustain me and mine.” – Machine Methods is continuing to grow and I have done a lot of things I am proud of to help that. The majority of my business comes through word of mouth and I have been doing everything I can think of to maximize that while at the same time testing new marketing methods.

• “As is the case with many a couple, Princess Bethany’s resolutions and goals are, by proxy, mine as well. Towards that end, I also will work towards a better appreciation for our home.” – Not everything we had hoped is done but many things are and my appreciation has grown. Our new library sure is a nice place to spend time.

In a while, I will post the modest goals I have set forth for this coming year. Stay tuned…

• Our nation’s food supply is controlled by a handful of companies with deep ties to just about every level of our Government including those agencies in charge of regulating them.

• They put profit ahead of everything else, including our health, the income and well being of farmers, the safety of workers, and the environment.

• They use chemical and genetic manipulation to manipulate the size of chicken breasts, the growth cycle of livestock, the yield of corn and soybeans (which almost all of our food now contains), and shelf life.

• Our food is increasingly tainted with drug resistant bacteria like E-Coli because we have genetically bread our livestock to easily pass it on.

• Diabetes and obesity is at epidemic rate among children and adults (nearly 1-3 Americans will contract diabetes in their lifetime) due to increased exposure to sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup.

• We, as consumers, vote for this every day with our money. We demanded cheap food and we got it at a cost that was deliberately hidden from us (i.e. the cost of our health and well being). This is OUR fault. We can change it by demanding better and voting with more of our money.

  The movie is available via “Watch Instantly” streaming on Netflix right now. I urge you to watch it.

I was deeply affected by the film and have since been putting a lot of thought into, at the very least, becoming more educated about the food I am eating.

I am lucky enough to live only two blocks away from a really good food co-op that is big into locally sourced food and educating their customers. I have not been using it enough but decided last night to go and really spend some quality time there looking around, comparing prices and asking questions. Here are some things I discovered:

• Most of the beef they sell is from Thousand Hills Cattle Company. It is locally produced, locally butchered, grass fed, and ethically and humanly treated. It is about three times the price of what it would cost you at the average supermarket. The reason: It costs what beef is supposed to cost.

• Most of the chicken and pork (forgot the name of the farm and did not write it down) is also locally produced and ethically and humanly treated. It costs more (about double) but your are getting an immeasurable amount more quality.

• The reason meat at the supermarket is so cheap is because it is fed steroid enhanced grain, raised on barren land, crowded together by the thousands, standing in each others manure, slaughtered by the thousands per day in less than clean or safe conditions by big companies that care only about delivering you what you are paying for – cheap food at a high profit by whatever means necessary.

• Lots of the veggies they sell are locally grown by independent family farms. In the winter (this is Minnesota after all), the number of these decline but the ones that remain are grown in greenhouses. This includes lots of root vegetables, lettuce, mushrooms, and some tomatoes. All origin of food in the section is clearly labeled as to place and/or country of origin. In the case of things grown outside of the region, they still only buy from wholesalers with a commitment to buying from family farms with ethical and sustainable growing practices. Once again, this costs a bit more but it costs what food should cost.

• Not all Milk that says it is “organic” is in fact organic. Just like your meat, make sure that the cows it comes from fit all of the same requirements. The brand at my co-op that meets that standard is Cedar Summit Farms. It is a bit less than double the cost of milk from the supermarket. Once again, this costs more because it costs what milk should cost (do you sense a theme here?).

The bottom line is this:

• Know what you are eating. Become educated about it. If you are shopping at a place where no one can tell you exactly where the food comes from, how it is grown, how the animals are treated, even after death… Don’t shop there!

• Be ready to pay 2-3 times what you are paying right now. Cheaper rarely equals better and this is especially true when it comes to food. Quality food that is safe to eat is more expensive at every level of it’s production. And it should be.

• Eat locally produced food as much as possible from independent and/or family run farms that practice ethical and safe practices. Find a good food co-op that buys from and supports these folks and/or local farmers markets and/or CSA to buy directly. Not only because you will have a better idea who and where your food is coming from but it is less impactful on the environment because it does not travel as far to get to you.

• If you do have to eat out, choose a place that does it’s darndest to adhere to the same standards (example: Chipolte).

I really believe that all of this can change if enough people decide they are done with the way things are, pay a bit more money, and educate ourselves. Here are some links that will help you:

• The Cornucopia Institue – They promote economic justice for family farms but what is really insightful is the reports they produce. Especially about “organics” (not all “organic” is organic).

• Fair Food Fight – A forum and blog community built around this topic. Tons of good information and recipes here.

• Local Harvest – Find where to buy locally produced food in your area.

• Eat Local Challenge – Seriously, I challenge you to eat local as many times a week as possible.

• My Eat Well Pinboard – as I research more on this subject, I will be updating my links here under the tag “eatwell”.

The reason things have gotten this way is because not enough of us have stood up and chosen to eat well. I, for one, am standing. Stand with me. Let’s stand together.

I recently became a little obsessed with this topic and put out a call to folks I know to ask them the hows and whys behind the private blogs and accounts they keep. I’ve asked if I could post their answers here, with the promise of anonymity. I’ve done all I can to strip out any identifiable information. Therefore, some of the wording has changed from the originals provided. Without further ado…

In deference my seemingly outgoing, say anything to anyone, personality – I actually share very little. People who know me would likely describe me as an extrovert. In fact, I find strength in solitude and privacy. If I spend to much time around people, even people I love, I tire easily and need to retreat for a few days or even weeks. There are things that I think and express daily that even those closest to me will never know. It’s part of who I am.

I think there are many reasons I am compelled to do this. If I write that I feel down, or sad, or lonely, to myself, getting it out there – putting a name on it – actually helps me overcome it. Same thing with how I feel about someone, if I express it it helps me deal with those feelings in a way I can’t internally.

For instance, I have had a practice for years of writing letters to people that I never plan on sending. Everything from things I wished I could say to the crushes I’ve had, things I’ve wanted to say to people close to me that I feared might ruin our relationship or cause ill will, and very mean things to people I’ve been angry with. I write these letters in text files and I keep them in an encrypted and passworded archive.

I also tweet things into Birdhouse on my iPhone that I never plan on actually sending out. I’m tempted to make a separate secret twitter account just to separate that stuff from the stuff I actually tweet from there just in case. That said, it’s built in “are you sure” feature keeps me from making a mistake.

I recently started to wonder if I was the only person doing this. Even someone who enjoys solitude is often comforted by not feeling “alone”.

I keep a bunch of things — draft blog posts that I’ve never published, emails I’ve sent to myself, text files on my computer. I don’t really have a definitive place for them. Most of them are long-ish pieces that remind me of something I figured out and really don’t want to forget. For instance, I recently realized that this weird obsession I’ve always had with wanting to be a “celebrity” (I know, that sounds really lame — guess why it was always private thing) was actually an obsession with wanting to be happy being a creative person. It was just a co-incidence that, up until recently, all the creative people I looked up to happened to be really famous. I’ve now found a whole bunch of people who aren’t really famous by any real-world metric but are successful on their own level and whose work I find really inspiring. One of the things I wrote down is that I don’t have to have that traditional “fame” to be happy being a creative person. I just want to find my niche, find that thing I’m great at, do that thing and don’t worry about what other people think — the right people will get it, and who cares about the rest.

Why write that kind of stuff down? I find that by writing it down, I know exactly what I think about something, rather than have it swish-swashing around in my head with all of the other semi-opinions about half-topics. At the end of writing, I have a concise piece of writing that describes exactly how I feel about a certain topic.

Another reason I write those things is kind of the converse of the first reason — sometimes I’ll start writing something to myself, forming an argument or something, only to find that my opinion is totally wrong (maybe the premise was off-base, maybe I was making some assumptions that were too far-fetched, maybe I can’t find a way to justify something I just wrote). Writing down what I think is a great way for me to make sure that what I think is actually true and right and/or find out if it’s totally wrong.

Long ago, I used to try to write in a notebook every day. A couple years ago, I went back and read through that notebook, and it was interesting to see what I was doing/thinking 10 years ago. It occurred to me that blogging software would be perfect for that kind of thing; it would even be searchable, etc. So as an experiment, I set up Apache, MySQL, PHP, and wordpress on my laptop. It was perfect. I had my own blog, but it was local to my laptop.

A couple years ago, I took a trip far away. I wanted to be able to communicate with my family while I was gone, so I moved my blog online, where it still is today. The catch is that I block search engines, so anyone can read it if they know where to find it, but it doesn’t show up in any online searches. As far as I know, only my wife, daughter, and a few of my siblings ever read it.

So it’s not that I’m writing super secret private things. I just find that writing helps me organize my thoughts; that’s why I do it. So unlike most blogs, I’m not advertising or looking for more subscribers. I don’t mind if a few people read it, but I also don’t care if nobody does.

I use Expression Engine to run a members-only site. I also use robot.txt files to block it from search engines, and the domain is privately registered. I will be writing a PHP script, too that redirects anyone who might find it through a search engine back to the referring search engine. Nope, not paranoid. At all.

I use a locked down twitter account as well under a name that most people would never guess. Just in case they search for me…

I keep the most private, venty type things in a Moleskine, because somethings REALLY don’t need to be on teh interwebs. *grin*

I use a secret wordpress blog which i protected through several password systems in which i post kind of a private journal to collect my thoughts and my very private ups and downs in life. I use it every end of the year to have kind of a backview of my passing life and to hand it over to my kinds once i will have to die. It will be a very private present for them.

Additionally, I use a second blog just for my close friends which is also password protected, so that they can follow me while i am traveling. I came up with this idea because i have a lot of international friends and so i can keep in touch with them on a special way.

I started an “anonymous” blog on Blogger in 2002. Created a self-deprecating pen name and blogged about my depression, anger and ADD to no one in particular. I figured eventually I would find an audience of people who would read me, even if they did not agree with me.

I was driven to anonymity from being so bold (or stupid) as to write openly, online, about feelings as myself. This lead to trouble in my primary relationship and of course curious parents with web browsers could also find and read the same things—which lead to awkward conversations. In my online travels I noted people who were writing things I suspected or things I had been thinking, but doing so freely under assumed names. I decided I wanted that for myself.

Currently I own a domain name, a TypePad account, Tumblr blog, a Gmail address, and a Twitter account for this alter-ego. My domain registrar has identity obfuscation tools, allegedly for security, but through which I can remain compliant with ICANN without revealing to any WHOIS request who I really am. But I am not so foolish as to think anything I do can’t be found out. I assume most people in my life don’t know, but I also assume more people know than will tell me.

I don’t mind telling people that I write under a pen-name, but there are very few circles in which I would reveal my topics of interest let alone the alias I use. I revealed my identity to one old friend, left a breadcrumb trail for another, and I would not have been engaged to the woman I am engaged to without it. But it is risky. The one person who I most did not want to find out about it did ultimately find out, though my own mis-steps. An alter-ego is not to be taken lightly. I have created and destroyed relationships directly and indirectly as a result.

That said, on the same token that alter-ego has opened doors, revealed new worlds, and lead to much deeper understanding of myself than would have been possible without it. It gave me the chance to take risks that I would never have before, and, dare I say it, the bonds I forged through it buoyed me during some of the darkest times of my life.

I apologize if this is particularly cagey, but I am still protective.

A final thought is that I suspect many technical and web-savvy people have donned alter-egos at least once. I know some who have had many identities, simultaneously or serially. Most “anonymous” blogs have a shelf life of 6 to 9 months. Either the raison d’etre disappears, they are found out, or they realize it’s a lot of work. And it is.

For me, it’s a labor of love. I relish the sense of risk, the clandestine, and the other-worldly or under-worldly aspects. And, ultimately, I do it for the feedback that I am not alone, that in the world there are people who think in feel in many ways the same as I. No matter how frank I am, no matter the topic, I am encouraged for the honesty and the willingness to put it into words. Rarely does anyone troll or flame me.

I’m pretty grateful for that.

Still this got him thinking about the idea that I should find some way to offer remote support. I have been consulting for a long time, my head is filled with years worth of tools, tips and troubleshooting tricks. The technology for me to be able to remotely support a Mac is not only out there but I do this anyway for a few clients already. The only question was how to “sell” that. How does one leverage the goodwill and following I have on Twitter, Minimal Mac, and elsewhere to help get the word out about my business, my remote support service offering, as well as help people who need it? We scheduled a conference call and brainstormed the idea a bit but nothing solid came out right away.

Then, a couple of days ago now, I was having lunch with another friend of mine. He is a really good friend and I value his advice and ideas. Therefore, I mentioned my other conversation about providing remote support. He then mentioned what became another crazy idea – Why not offer Mac support, on Twitter, for free? The thought being that, if I could answer the query on Twitter for free I would do that. If not, I would offer the person the option of getting their issue solved remotely for a reasonable fee.

I fell in love with the idea immediately. I went back to my home office right after lunch, got my business account – @machinemethods – set up, configured and ready for action. After consulting with Princess Bethany and others about the idea, I launched it the next day. The verdict: Lots of win!

First of all, I really love what I do. I love to help people. I love to come up with solutions to otherwise frustrating problems. I love to be challenged by complicated issues. Furthermore, doing this kind of rapid support, keeps me on my toes and exercises skills and knowledge that I don’t use as often in my regular travels. Finally, doing so with the added constraint of a 140 character limit is a whole lot of fun when it is accomplished. Not only that but, even though it has not resulted in paid business yet, Machine Methods is getting a wealth of exposure and will continue to if I prove that I know what I am doing when it comes to Macs. It has kept me busy but it is not overwhelming (yet). But the few people I have really helped make it all the more worth it.

If you you have a Mac, are on Twitter, and need some support, have I got a deal for you…

A couple of weeks ago I had just tucked myself into bed, had turned off the light, and was beginning to let my mind wander down the long path to sleep. The road to sleep for me is usually a long one. It is just about that time of the day that my manic brain starts to swirl with thoughts. It usually takes me at least a half hour after I close my eyes for my brain to shut down enough to actually turn off. Sometimes it takes much longer than this. What goes through it is usually thoughts of items to do the next day and new ideas which, if I have not captured them, I must get up and do so, thus starting the process again. It was in this swirl of commitments, responsibility and desire that the following two words came to me:

Minimal Mac

Now, I don’t know what most of you do when intriguing words and phrases pass in that fleeting space that lies between the ears. My first thought is always, “I wonder if that domain is available”. You would be surprised at the domain names I own because of this habit. I pick up domains like most people retrieve squandered heads-up pennies on the street and largely for the same reasons. So of course I had to get out of bed, wander over to my Macbook, and check to see if serendipity might allow me to own this one. As luck would have it, it was available. I registered it.

Of course, this was a big mistake. Why? Well, I just guaranteed that I would not get to sleep for several hours as my head swam with ideas of what I could possibly use such a thing for. I mean, my head was exploding with possibilities. Yet, in the midst of the chaos, one thing came floating by that made me pause. One memory that I have had bubble to the surface of my brain since I was a much younger man. One idea, that I recount in this post from my new project, quoted here in it’s entirety:

Many years ago, I saw a picture in a magazine. I can’t even remember which magazine but it was in a feature article about creative office setups. One of the examples was essentially a large square low table, probably a coffee table, with large floor cushion for seating and a single Powerbook on the desk and nothing else. That image burned a hole in my brain like no other for some reason. I remember it just as clear as if I was looking at it now. I think it was just the idea of being able to have something so simple as your “office” was inspiring to me. No chair, no desk in the traditional sense, no filling cabinets – just a laptop and a cushion and a surface. There was something so raw, simple, yet complete about it. I’ve been dreaming of achieving the same ever since.

It was really then that Minimal Mac was truly born and I was able to get some sleep for the night.

The next morning, after waking up, dealing with helping get Beatrix off to “charm school”, having coffee, etc. I continued to run through my head possibilities of what the site should really be. I knew the goal was to challenge myself, as much as my readers, to get to an equally ideal and complete state as that image in my head. But there is so much more about the back end stuff that needs to be decided before lauching a blog…

What blogging platform? Wordpress? MT? No, Tumblr. Tumblr is easy to post stuff to. OK, gotta find a theme. Has to be a minimalist one (obviously). Let’s look at whats out there. OK, hate that. Hate that too. Oh, this one is OK. Need to customize it a bit though. Hate that font size. How’s the CSS? Not to poorly formatted. I can figure this out. OK, let’s do this… Wait! I haven’t even thought of the content. What about the content? Screw the content for now. Let’s build this thing. OK, it’s built. Font size still not right globally but I’ll do that later. Need to think about content. Let’s see, I got all of these links and quotes and photos and links and stuff about minimalism and simplicity saved up in my Evernote. I can front load this thing with a bunch of stuff and just throw it out there. See how people respond.

… and here we are today. To say the response has been tremendous is an under statement. Without going into details on the numbers let’s suffice to say that it has far exceeded any other project I have ever launched and naturally my wildest dreams. The feedback I continue to receive, the submissions from my readers, the people emailing to let me know it has helped them come to terms with what is “enough” for them – humbling does not even touch it. Every time I think it has reached a new highlight I discover there is another just around the bend.

Not bad for an idea that was conceived and executed in 24 hours.