Tell your friends, k?

When a woman tells a man something has upset her, he is likely to tell her what she should do, she said.

Instead he should say “Honey, I know how you feel,” Brizendine said. “She wants that resonance of emotional empathy.”

But rather than get annoyed, women should learn the typical response is men’s way of expressing love and care, she said.

Even men like Brizendine’s husband, a renowned neuroscientist, fall down in the empathy department but she has trained him well.

“I put on my husband’s computer a little yellow sticky that says ‘Honey, I know how you feel,’” she said. “He says the words out loud and even though we know the words are scripted, we laugh and it does feels better.”

This is why we can’t have nice things.

To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be GOVERNED is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality.

P.J. Proudhon, General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century, translated by John Beverly Robinson

When the name of Gail Wynand became a threat in the publishing world, a group of newspaper owners took him aside—and reproached him for what they called his debasement of the public taste. “It is not my function,” said Wynand, “to help people preserve a self-respect they haven’t got. You give them what they profess to like in public. I give them what they really like. Honesty is the best policy, gentlemen, though not quite in the sense you were taught to believe.

From The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

In a way, iPhone users all got a huge upgrade today, yeah?

But in all seriousness, the iPad packs quite a punch for it’s cost—especially for an Apple Product. Maybe it’s an ideal substitute for a netbook for some consumers.

Recipe World Peace/Korova Cookies

When Dorie Greenspan included Pierre Hermé’s recipe for to-die-for chocolate cookies in her Paris Sweets cookbook, she called them Korova Cookies (Sablés Korova), after the restaurant off the Champs-Élysées for which Pierre Hermé created these cookies, not the milk bar in A Clockwork Orange. In her most recent book, she calls them World Peace Cookies, as her neighbor became convinced that a daily dose of these cookies was all that is needed to ensure planetary peace and happiness.

So I’m retiring myself from any kind of freelance work for the foreseeable future. There will be the occasional side project, but it’s time to pursue new goals I’ve been thinking about for some time.

New Goals—New Blog. It just seemed appropriate.

I really appreciate all the help everyone’s given me over the past few years finding my way, and seeking new endeavors. It’d take a while to thank all of you, and I hope you’ll forgive me for just rattling off a few people here:

• Thanks so much for all the help and fun so far Matthew Kammerer and Andrew Maier. Between UX Booth and all our other adventures, your talents and friendly attitudes have kept me excited about the future of the web and there never seems to be a dull moment.
• Kyle Steed, Aaron Irizarry, Chris Wallace and friends: Maybe the future of blogging won’t be so bleak when we have people like you fighting for quality, community and value.
• Atlanta’s web community is in good hands between masterminds like Mike Schinkel and the friendly faces at the locally owned Regator.com. It’s been a blast watching people like you developing such a helpful culture!
• Vitaly Friedman from Smashing Magazine keeps demonstrating how kind and awesome their team is by throwing dogs like me bones and new opportunities I don’t deserve.
• Between awesome conversations, and Michael Caldwell’s insane work ethic, life sure has been interesting and eventful these past few years!
• And I must admit that it would have been hard making it this far without the inspiration and help along the way from people who clearly love what they do, and do a gosh darn good job of it: Tony Hsieh, Darren Rowse, Collis Ta’eed, Nick Finck, Chris Coyier, Fabio Sasso & Many More.

This isn’t goodbye of course, but a shift in direction. I’m going to continue with my (increasingly simple) chores around UX Booth and Tutorial9 this year where we’ve built fantastic communities of contributors and helpful readers. However, it’s not my goal to become the next great innovator on the net. I will probably always do this for fun—I’ve always considered myself to be nothing more than an enthusiast…

This year I’m committing myself serving around my community in new ways, and knowledge building. Goals are set for the new year, and I’m excited about finally having the opportunity to give back. Hopefully I’ll have more chances to connect with you all in the new year!