I’ve been tinkering with OS X 10.5 Leopard, and played with its virtual desktop feature, Spaces – but just tinkering. And I’ve only just realized what it is I’m waiting for before I really commit to it:

I’m waiting for Merlin Mann to tell me how to use it.

That’s how you know when you’ve arrived as a productivity guru: people aren’t productive until you tell them to be.

(Anyway, now that I’ve realized what I’m waiting for, I’ve embarrassed myself into taking on some more serious experimentation.)

From my friend (and standup instructor) David Granirer, this year’s Stand Up for Mental Health grad showcase is coming in two and a half short weeks:

Stand Up For Mental Health: Grad 2007 Showcase, Sat Nov 17, 7:00 pm.
http://www.standupformentalhealth.com

Led by Vancouver counselor, stand up comic, and author of The Happy Neurotic: How Fear and Angst Can Lead To Happiness and Success.  David Granirer, Stand Up For Mental Health teaches people with mental illness to take control by turning their problems into comedy.

Featuring our 2007 class and alumni comics doing hilarious new material!

Also featuring psychiatrist Judy Allen making her comedy debut and discussing treatment options!

When: Saturday November 17.
Time: Doors 6:15, show at 7:00 pm.
Location: Arts Club Granville Island Stage.
Tickets: $24. Arts Club Box Office (604) 687-1644

Get there early and buy a Stand Up For Mental Health shopping bag made from 100% recycled jeans only $15.00!!!
David will also do a booksigning
Buy these great Christmas presents and support a great cause!
All proceeds from bags and books go to Stand Up For Mental Health

Stand Up For Mental Health was featured in the CBC documentary Cracking Up.

• 88 Percent of Businesses Expected to Increase Social Media Spending in 2008
  A study from Prospero suggests a big boost in social media spending is on its way… and that most respondents aren’t putting ROI at the top of their list of reasons why. (I’m actually surprised that over a third are actually reporting positive ROI.)
  (tags: roi social_media prospero study data business)

• Facebook Developer Garage – a photoset on Flickr
  Kris Krug’s gorgeous (as always) photos from the Facebook Developer Garage in Vancouver. (Man, I need to get me one of them cameras that works well in lowish light…)
  (tags: photos facebook vancouver developer kk+)

• Handi Mobility
  Handi Mobility is a mobile software development company based in Vancouver. We use mobile and web technologies to create simple solutions to problems that we encounter in our everyday lives.
  (tags: mobile software developer vancouver)
• LiveVote.ca – Free SMS voting. Anywhere in Canada. No Catch.
  Here’s a fun way to hold a quick mobile-based survey. The free version allows up to four responses, and polls can run for up to an hour.
  (tags: mobile survey tool free)

A service update that promised new functionality for setting up keyword searches also, unless I’m losing my mind (always a possibility to consider), added a bunch of new graphics. The navigational icons and highlight now have a little depth plus the kind of glossy finish I first encountered when Apple launched Mac OS X’s Aqua interface several years ago. (How long ago? Apple was still using Garamond.)

(It’s actually driving me a little nuts: I can’t find a reference to this change anywhere… not in the service update message, not on the TiVo web site, and not in the blogs of any of the folks who obsess about TiVo even more than I do.)

It’s worth noticing, because TiVo thinks about usability the way Yogi Bear thinks about picnic baskets. So when they make a change like this, you have to conclude they’ve had a resounding mandate from their testing labs and ethnographers. You also have to conclude that little touches like this really do matter… and that a little attention to that third dimension can yield real benefits for their users.

• LOLZIES!!1@! — The worst comic on the web. Seriously.

  By Charlie Trotter, this new strip is a scream, combining bland stock photography with oddly twisted dialogue. (And it gave me my new personal motto: What Would Wikipedia Do?) Best of all, turns out he’s one of the Trabian guys!

  (tags: comics funny stock photos webcomic)

• Free Photoshop Brushes at Brusheezy!

  (tags: brushes photoshop free design resources)

• Sermo – Know more. Know earlier.
  An anonymous venue for doctors to ask questions and share expertise. The business model: selling access to their conversations to businesses that want to know, for example, how doctors feel about a new drug.
  (tags: business collaboration community healthcare physicians medicine doctors crowdsourcing health medical social social_networking)