Random Episode 11: The Future of Digg, New Favorites, and More 151 Comments

Written by Topics: Random

This is a truly random episode of Random. What has Kevin learned in his new role as CEO of Digg? Which new books, people, and websites are we finding interesting? From management lessons to language learning (and a critique of Rosetta Stone), this episode meanders all over the place.

This is also our first sponsored episode — Sonos! It’s quite cool that we’re now sponsored by a company whose products made a cameo as early as episode 2.

Thanks to awesome readers DynastyDC and Ben, here are the show notes and links…

Tim talks about his week in Amsterdam, the Queen’s Day celebration, The Next Web, the status to his upcoming book and DailyBurn’s business exit.

Kevin Rose, Digg Inc. CEO discusses product development, work frustrations, and the new Digg version with Cassandra back-end. The new version includes 3-5 core features, followed by weekly releases.

Show sponsor: Sonos—http://sonos.com/random

• Reference: The Next Web http://thenextweb.com
• Reference: Queens Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koninginnedag
• Reference: Tim’s upcoming book http://su.pr/2iZgRr
• Reference: DailyBurn.com Exit http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/20/iac-dailyburn
-Business Exit def. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/exit.html

Tim’s Recommendations

• Book: How to Break A Terrorist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Break_a_Terrorist
• Clothing: Cordaround http://www.cordarounds.com/blog
• Person: Nassim Nicholas Taleb http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com
– Taleb’s book: The Black Swan (same link as above)
– Nassim Taleb on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nntaleb
• Website: Livemocha.com- Language learning http://www.livemocha.com
• Product: Pimsleur Direct- Language learning http://www.pimsleurdirect.com
– Turkish: Lonely Planet Phrasebook (Paperback) http://www.amazon.com/Turkish-Lonely-Phrasebook-Arzu-Kurklu/dp/1864503165
• Websites: www.livemocha.com and eduFire.com

Kevin’s Recommendations

Show Sponsor: http://www.sonos.com/random
• Reference: http://cassandra.apache.org
• Reference: Six Apart Co. http://www.sixapart.com
• Reference: Digg iPad App http://about.digg.com/blog/announcing-diggs-iphone-app

• Book: Rework 37 Signals- business minimalist philosophy http://smarterware.org/5373/rework-37signals-recipe-for-running-a-business (includes PDF excerpt)
• Person: Phillip Rosedale- Founder of Second Life, Founder of LoveMachineInc.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Rosedale
- LoveMachineInc.com
– employee 2 employee praise http://www.lovemachineinc.com
– Phillip Rosedale on Twitter: http://twitter.com/philiplinden
Philip’s awesome pants: Cordarounds— http://www.cordarounds.com/catalog
• Website: Evernote http://www.evernote.com

Glenn
• Glenn on tour with Delivering Happiness Book Team http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com

Elsewhere on the web:
5 Alternatives to Traditional Retirement – US News and World Report

###

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Posted on June 7th, 2010

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151 Comments

  • Aitor — June 7th, 2010, 10:17 pm

    I love this videos, they always show really interesting stuff. Thank you guys!

    Reply

  • John Paul Grant — June 7th, 2010, 10:17 pm

    Truely random … been hanging for a new random show

    Let me know if you are ever in the philippines, I will buy you a beer.

    Congrats on Daily Burn too … they are quality!

    Reply

  • Craig Wilson — June 7th, 2010, 10:21 pm

    Tim,

    Great to finally hear what Kevin has planned for Digg. I have been following the changes there with interest. Seems like a challenging and interesting time for him.

    Looking forward to the new book too.

    Cheers,

    Craig

    Reply

  • Ross Hudgens — June 7th, 2010, 10:25 pm

    Props to Digg for not stagnating with their old business model, and finding ways to evolve into a product that has potential to give them long term sustainability.

    Few companies are capable of pivoting, especially when reaching a critical mass, but Digg managed to. It wasn’t a huge pivot, but a pivot nonetheless, so much respect to them for what they’re about to pull off. All signs point back up for Diggnation.

    Reply

  • Sofia — June 7th, 2010, 10:34 pm

    great new video Tim – really love you guys doing this… RANDOM! :) interesting about digg, thanks for sharing and yeah when is this new book of yours coming out!? ;)

    Reply

  • Edward Henderson 2nd — June 7th, 2010, 10:35 pm

    Can’t Wait For The Book To Come Out Tim. I’ve Always Been Interested In Just How Far A Person Can Overcome Their Body’s Limitations. I Do Have A Question Though, If A Person Consumes A Balanced Diet And Takes A Standard Multivitamin Daily, Just How Much Of A Role Do Additional Supplements Play In A Person Day To Day Performance?

    Thank You And Keep Up The Cool Work,
    Edward Henderson 2nd

    Reply

  • Stephen — June 7th, 2010, 10:48 pm

    As soon as you said, “There’s something about those pants, I like those pants,” I said “Gotta be Cordarounds.” Sure enough. Ha!

    Reply

  • Max Schwartz — June 7th, 2010, 11:04 pm

    I really think that it is amazing that Kevin wants to keep digg dynamic. Releasing an update every week and the ‘trains’ plan are both great ways to keep digg new and fresh. It must be tempting to let digg just sit and become more or less static.

    I can’t wait to see what you do with the company.

    Reply

  • Chris Hughes — June 7th, 2010, 11:06 pm

    hahahaha Orange Fest looks like a blast!

    Congrats on the success with the investment and to Kevin, it’s great to see digg’s next direction :)

    I just ordered a copy of ReWork now, can’t wait to dig into it and see how it applies with my current work. Thanks for the recommendation.

    Where can I get more information on the love machine code?

    Reply

  • Justin K — June 7th, 2010, 11:07 pm

    Enjoyed the episode as usual — are there any openings in coming months for new sponsors?

    Reply

  • Derrek — June 7th, 2010, 11:21 pm

    Tim, in the name of time management, it’d be great if you’d post a list of the points you guys discuss. That’d save me from having to pay super close attention to the 34 min video.

    Reply

  • Digg’s Looking For A Replacement CEO — June 7th, 2010, 11:22 pm

    [...] within the company and he focused primarily on angel investments and other projects. Today in a random episode of The Random Show with Tim Ferris, Rose elaborated on the decision, specifically he says he was [...]

  • Eric — June 7th, 2010, 11:26 pm

    Good stuff, Tim. Seems like Kevin will never be able to come close to a “4 hour workweek” ever again. :)

    Reply

  • ConcreteMatt — June 7th, 2010, 11:29 pm

    So true with evernote. I have been using it for almost a year and I love it. I love that it syncs between different devices. So I can work on one document at home, at relatives, at a public terminal, on my iPhone etc.. Really great app probably my favorite iPhone app. Love the what your doing, even though we are in different fields and i work way more than four hours I find inspiration in your blog postings and book. Also just finished “Rework” last week, great book for self employed, very concise.

    Reply

  • Chris Miller — June 7th, 2010, 11:35 pm

    Rework was awesome!!! Great book! Tim, when are you going to come out with your own iPAD app……. The time management app, or superhuman app, or the dreamline app! You could have your dreamline as a game, or the actual sheets that someone could constantly update and change and keep with them at all times….

    Thanks for doing random episodes. Oh and I know that I cant live without my sonos and music in the bathroom when I am face down in puke!

    Cheers guys, looking forward to meeting you both someday.

    Chris

    Reply

  • Erica Douglass — June 7th, 2010, 11:40 pm

    Hey Sonos, where can I get a Sonos for less than list price? Want to send me a review unit? (I’m a biz blogger :) I’m really interested in that product…

    Would also love to see some Sonos giveaways!

    -Erica

    Reply

  • Norman — June 7th, 2010, 11:44 pm

    It’s great how you guys are so relaxed with each other and just having fun. Keep up the laid back, chill vibe. Really brings the viewer into the experience.

    Great job, Glen. Don’t listen to the “low quality” comments. Those people are just so, you know, like, uptight, man.

    I’m so excited to read Superhuman I think my head is going to explode.

    N.

    Reply

  • JF — June 7th, 2010, 11:52 pm

    So Tim, what’s that CD you kept spinning around in front of you the whole show?

    Reply

  • Benny Lewis — June 8th, 2010, 12:39 am

    I love the light teases Tim makes of Kevin :P Always the funniest parts of Random!

    I tried out Livemocha myself and I have to say that the actual material in it is as bad as Rosetta Stone and actually uses a very similar lazy template set-up. There were too many holes (no genders/articles to indicate genders with words, course useless to get beyond absolute basics etc.) and the translations (same for all languages) not being tailored to specific cultures could be felt as quite unnatural. It’s an effective business model since all they need is a translator for the content, but it’s going to ultimately hold back the actual learners.

    The website’s main advantage is to find native speakers and to skip the course material entirely and just get their Skype details. That aspect of it is free and definitely recommendable since it’s one of the biggest social networks of language learners (despite wasteful courses).

    I’m also a big fan of Lonely planet’s phrasebooks for the reasons you outlined! I’d recommend people check out the “meetup” website or couchsurfing to find natives and other learners and get off their computer and try to use the language with people in person.

    There’s this temptation to find the “perfect” course to learn a language, but what we really have to do is mix in some studying with actual application. For Tim that’s logically going to happen since he is travelling to the country to use it very soon, but most people who spend years studying will unfortunately end up nowhere and just end up forking out thousands of dollars for new materials. They’d progress a lot faster if they used the languages (by Skype or in person) in conjunction with studies.

    Loved yet another Random episode! When you talk about languages, you always leave it for the last part. I’ll retweet this to fellow language lovers but recommend they start the video there :P

    Reply

  • Brian Hart — June 8th, 2010, 1:05 am

    Another great show as always
    What kind of tea are you guys drinking?

    Reply

  • John Fotheringham — June 8th, 2010, 1:31 am

    @Tim,
    It’s probably not a good time to ask considering you are still neck deep finishing your upcoming Superhuman book, but have you considered writing a book on effective foreign language learning some day?

    @ Kevin,
    I can’t wait to see the Digg iPad App. Now I just need to get an iPad…

    @Benny,
    I agree there is no “perfect language course”, and in fact, I often recommend that learners stay away from “courses” as teachers, textbooks, and CDs tend to spend too much time trying to teach you “about the language” instead of exposing you to the actual language itself. As you know, the former can be interesting but does little for reaching fluency in a language. Courses do have their place but they are certainly not a requirement, especially in today’s world of podcasts, blogs, IPTV, etc.

    Reply

  • Wolfgang Stricker — June 8th, 2010, 1:54 am

    Language:

    I have very good experience with the language program http://www.busuu.com and can really recommend it!

    Reply

  • Adam Lamotte — June 8th, 2010, 2:11 am

    Hurry up with the book Tim! Can’t wait.

    Do you plan to go for another best seller?

    Reply

  • Leon — June 8th, 2010, 2:24 am

    I have just started using the Pimsleur tapes to learn Japanese, and having tried numerous exercise books, rosetta stone, etc, these are great. You can do a 30 minute session in the car and pick up an entire new set of vocab and grammar structure. The staged repetition is also extremely helpful to retain learning.

    Reply

  • Ron Turner — June 8th, 2010, 5:04 am

    Hey Tim, as always enjoyed the episode! I have tried both RS and LiveMocha, and have to say that I found LM to be a much easier and more effective way to learn a foreign language. I think I WILL look for the Pimsleur CD, have heard great things about that as well (maybe they will have them in the Chinese bookstores here).

    Can you recommend some fave coffeshops, pubs, etc to visit in Amsterdam?

    Reply

  • Marinos — June 8th, 2010, 5:13 am

    Tim,

    I’m experimenting with Mango Languages to learn Portuguese, and I’m a big fan of their word-by-word translation approach. It is similar to the Lonely Planet phrasebooks you describe in the video and it helps gain immediate insight into the structure of the language.

    I’ve been following your language learning adventures with great interest, and I have a hunch that you might like the Mango Languages approach. Best of all, it’s free to use (all you need is access to a public library in the U.S.).

    On a slightly different note, I’m waiting to read more about your experiences in Turkey, which is where I’m currently based. It’s a great place, and I’m sure you’ll love it!

    Cheers from Istanbul,
    M.

    Reply

  • Joe — June 8th, 2010, 5:16 am

    Queens Day! A citywide swap meet? How has that not caught on in this country?

    Good to hear what’s going on with Digg and can’t wait for the new book. Have a blast in Turkey.

    Reply

  • Vinay — June 8th, 2010, 5:33 am

    Cool video as usual. I was also in Amsterdam for Queensday – was Amazing!
    The terrorist book sounds awesome too!

    Reply

  • Rob F — June 8th, 2010, 5:37 am

    This show makes me feel like I should be buying more Apple products (I don’t have any at the moment).

    Evernote sounds interesting, especially for travel, menus abroad would be a good thing to take note of.

    I still want need a pair of cord rounds, I remember when you wore red ones on a previous episode :-)

    Reply

  • Randal — June 8th, 2010, 6:24 am

    Gods I love these things! Informative from a techie sense, personalized so we see what kind of people you guys really are, and fun. I find myself grinning like an idiot at times and thinking really hard at others. It is this mix, I think, that gets me coming back for more.

    BTW Tim, you should consider putting better text explainations on your flicker shots. I, at least, had a hard time placing the pictures in realtion to the ‘story’ they were telling.

    Kevin, congrats on the promotion (I think…?) One thing I would ask is that if it is not already in the works for Digg is to take into consideration the real marketers who use the site. While it might not be the sole driving force behind much of the traffic, I think it likely makes up a pretty good chunk. We like to use it for headline brainstorming. But we also like to get some link love. Perhaps this is over used by the ‘bad marketers’ so I dunno if there is a fix action for that or not…just a thought.

    Another fun episode guys.

    P.S. Love the cat. Like that famous SNL skit with BOC (but with a twist) “More cat! I want to see More Cat”

    Reply

  • Ben — June 8th, 2010, 7:59 am

    Stuff mentioned:

    The Next Web—http://thenextweb.com

    Queesday—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensday

    DialyBurn—http://dailyburn.com

    Kevin is CEO of Digg—http://digg.com

    Scalable database system: Cassandra—http://cassandra.apache.org/

    Sonos—http://sonos.com/random

    Logitech Squeezebox—http://www.logitech.com/en-roeu/speakers_audio/wireless_music_systems

    Pandora—http://pandora.com

    Rework by 37Signals—http://37signals.com/rework/

    How to Break a Terrorist by Matthew Alexander—http://howtobreakaterrorist.com/
    http://amzn.com/1416573151

    Philip Rosedale—lovemachineinc.com
    http://lindenlab.com/about/management#rosedale
    http://secondlife.com

    Philip’s awesome pants: Cordarounds—http://www.cordarounds.com/catalog/

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb—http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/
    http://twitter.com/nntaleb

    Evernote—http://evernote.com

    LiveMocha: Communal language learning—http://livemocha.com

    Pimsleur Audio language learning CDs—http://www.pimsleur.com/

    Lonely Planet travel guides and phrasebooks (complement to Pimsleur)—http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

    EduFire: Live video learning—edufire.com

    [I think i got everything...]

    Reply

  • Thomas M Sonos — June 8th, 2010, 8:13 am

    Erica – you’re welcome to follow-up with us via email (you can find my contact info on this Website: http://pr.sonos.com. TM

    Reply

  • Max — June 8th, 2010, 8:18 am

    I knew that tattoo was fake! :) ))

    Reply

  • Steve — June 8th, 2010, 8:19 am

    Thanks for the video, I enjoyed it. I don’t care for Rosetta Stone. I’ve heard it works for some, but not others. I like Pimsleur’s just for repetitive pronunciation. Studying some vocab and sentence structure seems to work well. I liked your post (a long time ago) about learning language in an hour along with the learning in 3 months.

    Reply

  • Steve — June 8th, 2010, 8:25 am

    I love hearing the news on digg and whats in the pipeline for release. Love the Rework suggestion, just finished it and it’s a great read. Black Swan was a tough read on the flip side, and at times it was getting a little to technical for my tastes. Overall it certainly challenged my thinking and gave me a new outlook on large scale events.

    Reply

  • Oskarbravo — June 8th, 2010, 8:43 am

    Kevin seems a bit flustered and almost uncomfortable in the 2nd half of this episode. Is there any reason for this?

    Reply

  • Will — June 8th, 2010, 8:50 am

    new cat?

    Reply

  • PendaGoddess — June 8th, 2010, 9:03 am

    Well, I didn’t watch the vid but I tooked the time to practice the speed reading tips in 4-hour and real all comments in lieu of transcript for vid. Thanks commenters! Well worth the time. PendaGoddess

    Reply

  • Joshua Lykes — June 8th, 2010, 9:19 am

    Tim! I can’t believe that you are learning Turkish – I live in Texas but I’ve studied Turkish now for 2+ years. I fell in love with the country and the language after living there for six and a half months. I still have a lot of friends who live in Istanbul who I could connect you with – who might be able to show you around, give you pointers on using the language, etc. I can also answer any questions you might have about getting around, places to visit, etc. Just email me and I’ll hook you up.

    ?yi ?anslar dostum, görü?ürüz.

    Reply

  • Oskarbravo — June 8th, 2010, 9:28 am

    I honestly don’t understand Kevin’s decision to move to CEO after being a floater within Digg. Surely maintaining IP and having freedom to maximize revenue outside the office walls is favorable to 80+ hours of stress (regardless of salary increase) per week?

    Reply

  • Oskarbravo — June 8th, 2010, 9:30 am

    Tim, why haven’t you hookup FB Connect on this blog?

    Reply

  • Guy — June 8th, 2010, 9:36 am

    34 minute video…who has the time for that? Where is the highlights edition or the commuters option to read?

    Reply

  • Aidan — June 8th, 2010, 9:44 am

    Any plans for an itunes feed Tim? These would make great listening while running! :)

    Reply

  • Greg Paull — June 8th, 2010, 9:57 am

    Its great that you are reccomending Sonos. I like it as much as your book! I got one of the very first units ever made almost 5 years ago when I read about it in Popular Science mag. Cant live without it kind of like your advice

    Reply

  • DynastyDC — June 8th, 2010, 10:01 am

    Wow- Love Machine Inc. has a cool concept behind their products.

    Reply

  • Patrice — June 8th, 2010, 10:06 am

    Funny, I just bought the rework book this week after buying the 4-hour workweek and getting addicted to reading this kind of literature. Nice show guys, it is really refreshing and makes one feel as if sitting across the room with a coke listening to your short stories an lifestyle tips. Can’t wait for the next show. Please keep it the way it is…

    Reply

  • Jason Krueger — June 8th, 2010, 10:16 am

    Not a comprehensive summary, but here is a list of some of Tim’s and Kevin’s suggestions from the video (for those too lazy to watch)

    Language Learning
    Pimsler Audio CD’s
    EDU fire

    Evernote – Tim is a sponsor and huge advocate of it’s potential

    Recommended books:
    Black Swan
    How to Break a Terrorist

    Sonos.com – music in your home (sophisticated software/hardware)

    Nassim Taleb
    Twitter – @nnTaleb
    Fooledbyrandomness.com – logical fallacies – his book

    @PhilipLinden – second life creator
    http://www.LoveMachineInc.com – new project
    Employee-to-employee praise

    Looking forward to the new book. As per your suggestion in “Tim Ferriss – SCAM!” i’m now reading Seneca’s “Letters from a Stoic.” Fabulous suggestion!

    Reply

  • Alex — June 8th, 2010, 10:17 am

    glad to hear you like k-os! i’ve been listening to him for years now. not sure what album you have there, but my favorite album of his is “joyful rebellion” though they’re all good.

    Reply

  • Vic Dorfman — June 8th, 2010, 10:28 am

    Hey Guys!

    I’ve been using Mixxer Language Exchange to chat with native speakers for years now.

    http://www.language-exchanges.org/

    You just sign up and exchange Skype info and jump right in!

    Reply

  • Patrick Hitches — June 8th, 2010, 10:39 am

    Tim,

    Totally jazzed about evernote and livemocha! I love these episodes man… They are thoroughly enjoyable to listen to as I pound away at my online work.

    Keep em coming…

    Cheers!

    Patrick Hitches

    Reply

  • Oskarbravo — June 8th, 2010, 11:12 am

    For those with too little time to watch the full vid… Has anybody thought about a “light” version that just skims over the subjects? Users can then delve in and grab what they need further down the line.

    Reply

  • George Resch — June 8th, 2010, 11:17 am

    Tim I saw you mentioned K-Os, even though you usually hate hip hop. I usually hate hip hop too, BUT Jay-Z is a totally different story. Being a business minded, person, do you know his story? And if so, have you found lessons in his lyrics? If not, I will send you a list of lyrics that are geared towards business people to inspire, motivate, and direct. He really is the greatest business man of our generation, save for maybe Steve Jobs, and ahem…Tim Ferriss. No a** kissing there, just speaking the truth.

    Reply

  • Kyle — June 8th, 2010, 11:23 am

    Do people really not have 30 minutes to spend on something that interests them? That seems a little ridiculous. Break it down and watch 10 minutes a day over three days if you are really that busy. These guys used to try to keep it under 20 minutes, but lots of people requested longer episodes. I guess there really is just no way to please everyone :)

    Reply

  • Laura Hess — June 8th, 2010, 11:27 am

    Merhaba Tim,
    You will LOVE-LOVE-LOVE Turkey – I spent a couple weeks there in 2005. Mainly the SE Coast from Bodrum to Kusadasi. We traveled by Gulet, so we sailed and swam the turquoise waters everyday — so relaxing & beautiful! Daily we would make trips to visit the sites – I really enjoyed visiting the local people that still live at these archeological sites, like at Zeus Labranda, we had a picnic with a family at the ruins of this ancient spring.

    Spent a few days in Istanbul – which was NOT enough time, I easily could have stayed another 2 weeks in Istanbul alone.

    Enjoy the sites & sounds of Turkey!

    Güle güle
    Laura

    Reply

  • jlocicero — June 8th, 2010, 11:40 am

    I second the request for the iTunes feed – as a video podcast – please! That would be very convenient. I always find your posts interesting, Tim. Thanks!

    Reply

  • Erick Recors — June 8th, 2010, 11:47 am

    Bout time you did a post! You’re looking jacked Tim, guess you’re following your books principles pretty well. =)

    Reply

  • Melissa — June 8th, 2010, 12:21 pm

    Tim you like K-OS! Awesome! He’s very talented and I wish more people would listen to his music. Curious to know why don’t you like hip hop?

    Reply

    • Tim Ferriss — June 8th, 2010, 11:40 pm

      Hey Melissa,

      I just dislike most hip hop lyrics, and I think that “artist” is overused for crappy overproduced junk. There are a few gems out there.

      Tim

      Reply

  • DynastyDC — June 8th, 2010, 12:27 pm

    Show Sponsor: http://www.sonos.com/random

    Kevin Rose, Digg Inc. CEO discusses product development, work frustrations, and the new Digg version with Cassandra back-end. The new version includes 3-5 core features, followed by weekly releases.

    • Reference: http://cassandra.apache.org/
    • Reference: Six Apart Co. http://www.sixapart.com/
    • Reference: Digg iPad App http://about.digg.com/blog/announcing-diggs-iphone-app

    Kevin’s recommendations

    • Book: Rework 37 Signals- business minimalist philosophy http://smarterware.org/5373/rework-37signals-recipe-for-running-a-business (includes PDF excerpt)

    • Person: Phillip Rosedale- Founder of Second Life, Founder of LoveMachineInc.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Rosedale
    - LoveMachineInc.com – employee 2 employee praise http://www.lovemachineinc.com/
    – Phillip Rosedale on Twitter: http://twitter.com/philiplinden

    • Website: Evernote http://www.evernote.com/

    Reply

  • Pam Mark Hall — June 8th, 2010, 12:28 pm

    Tim,

    I love to *Digg* and I’m a member of your “Four Hour Work Week” tribe. I Love your ideas – I just wonder if your model is suitable for the masses, and if it is sustainable over the long haul?

    Many of my contemporaries (who had govt. or corporate jobs) are now retiring. I, on the other hand, have reinvented myself numerous times, have very colorful stories and songs as result. I’ve hung out on the streets with homeless songwriters, and I’ve rubbed elbows with the elite and have sat in briefing room at the White House. My philosophy has always been “I’d rather enjoy one exquisite piece of Godiva, than acres of Hershey Bars.”

    I’m just now emerging from a sabbatical after loosing my last *job* in traditional media. I’ve spent this past year learning, retooling, renewing, regrouping and strategizing my next tactics to leverage my history, knowledge and relationships to generate new revenues for my next adventures.

    I’ll be doing this as long as my battery is re-chargeable.

    Peace,

    Pam Mark Hall

    Reply

  • Chris Mower — June 8th, 2010, 12:37 pm

    As far as language learning is concerned, I really love the approach these guys take:

    http://www.japanesepod101.com

    And the video was enjoyable. I enjoy listening to the musings and thoughts of you guys.

    Best wishes

    Reply

  • DynastyDC — June 8th, 2010, 1:00 pm

    Video Notes:

    Tim talks about his week in Amsterdam, the Queen’s Day celebration, The Next Web, the status to his upcoming book and DailyBurn’s business exit.

    • Reference: The Next Web http://thenextweb.com/
    • Reference: Queens Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koninginnedag
    • Reference: Tim’s upcoming book http://su.pr/2iZgRr
    • Reference: DailyBurn.com Exit http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/20/iac-dailyburn/
    -Business Exit def. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/exit.html

    Tim’s recommendations

    • Book: How to Break A Terrorist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Break_a_Terrorist

    • Clothing: Cordaround http://www.cordarounds.com/blog/

    • Person: Nassim Nicholas Taleb http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/
    – Taleb’s book: The Black Swan (same link as above)
    – Nassim Taleb on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nntaleb

    • Website: Livemocha.com- Language learning http://www.livemocha.com/

    • Product: Pimsleur Direct- Language learning http://www.pimsleurdirect.com/
    – Turkish: Lonely Planet Phrasebook (Paperback) http://www.amazon.com/Turkish-Lonely-Phrasebook-Arzu-Kurklu/dp/1864503165

    • Website: eduFire.com- Language learning http://edufire.com/

    Glenn

    • Glenn on tour with Delivering Happiness Book Team http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com/

    Reply

  • Daniela — June 8th, 2010, 1:21 pm

    Great random episode! Thanks for posting another one, they are always interesting to watch. Just a quick question – since you have just started having sponsors for the show, what will the sponsoring go towards? Are you guys planning on having any new features (i.e. giveaways, etc) now that you are sponsored?

    Reply

  • Arthur — June 8th, 2010, 2:03 pm

    Love the… intro actually. 4, 7, 11 – hahaha

    Makes for a new idea – to use something creative at the beginning of every YouTube video – I get the feeling it adds a lot of value.

    Reply

  • Jeremy Campbell — June 8th, 2010, 3:08 pm

    I love the idea of shipping something new every week to boost morale, and to increase innovation on a consistent basis.

    Such an intelligent and fun conversation to listen to and watch. Loving it Tim and Kevin.

    P.S. Would love to see you Tim become the new Digg CEO!

    Reply

  • Mark — June 8th, 2010, 3:26 pm

    Hey Tim,

    I am still working on learning my second language (English is first). I totally agree with your Rosetta comment. I am basically confused the whole time and feel I would better benefit with some kind of explanation of the conjugation. I have Pimsleur too and like how he explains what the words mean.

    There are some great podcasts too, any recommendations for your audience on this media?

    Reply

  • Bailey Jones — June 8th, 2010, 3:41 pm

    Random is always a pleasure to watch, thanks Tim and Kevin.

    I love the longer format and agree with Aidan about the iTunes feed, that would make work seem to go by much quicker.

    As a hip-hop enthusiast I can pledge that K-OS is something special.

    Can’t wait for Superhuman to drop, best of luck w/ editing.

    Have fun in Turkey!

    Reply

  • Mac — June 8th, 2010, 4:22 pm

    Isn’t there some Havard Business School startup that does something similar to Livemocha? I remember stumbling across it 1 or 2 years ago, in fact, I think I heard it from you.

    This was a cool random episode. Although I would have enjoyed more of you talking about language learning and sharing a more resources you’ve found helpful.

    Reply

  • Josué Diaz — June 8th, 2010, 6:49 pm

    Tim,
    Love the random episodes. I really like the book/people recommendations you and Kevin share and the “Goth girl with a baseball cap” comment cracked me up! LOL! I also agree with you about Black Swan being a good book to sharpen critical thinking skills.

    I dropped this comment on your Yabusame post/video, but I’m sure you don’t comb those posts for the tidal wave of comments, but I’m curious about the K-Tape you used in the vid and your mention of an tearing your Achilles Tendon. Was it a partial tear?

    I’m a year removed from a complete rupture (that was surgically-repaired 3 days later) and would love to hear any tips on how to push the limits and get back to peak physical performance.

    Keep doing what you’re doing and HURRY UP with that BECOMING SUPERHUMAN book!! :)

    Josué

    Reply

    • Tim Ferriss — June 8th, 2010, 11:37 pm

      Hey Josue,

      The K-Tape can be found by searching “kinesio-tape.” It works well and hurts less than tight wraps with normal athletic tape. I had a partial tear.

      Becoming Superhuman will have two full chapters on reversing injuries. It’s coming! :)

      Tim

      Reply

  • eugene — June 8th, 2010, 9:16 pm

    Here’s my hack for Pimsleur. I used my protools to double the playback speed then put it on my I-pod. So I can review the whole Spanish Level II and III in under two weeks comuting time.Once you’ve heard it at the regular speed the fast playback is good ear training.

    Reply

  • Patrick McGinley — June 8th, 2010, 11:19 pm

    Been meaning to try Evernote – that is pretty slick how it converts pictures into text.

    As for Rosetta Stone, I used it for additional study for a foreign language class a few years ago. I found it to be really cheap feeling and outdated.

    Surprised Kevin didn’t [mention] the Dodocase he has for the iPad. They are actually cool guys as well – emailed them regarding some random question with materials and they were more than helpful. They are also on Shopify’s platform – I wonder if they are in the competition.

    Reply

  • Chris Chardon — June 9th, 2010, 12:21 am

    Regarding the connection between Turkish and Japanese… If you look at a linguistic map of the world, you can see a huge curved swath starting from Turkey in the west and going up through Russia, Mongolia and ending with Korea and Japan in the east. This is the Altaic (some linguists add other stuff as well) group, and it has a lot of common elements such as vowel harmony and so on. Here’s a very brief overview if you’re interested:

    http://www.krysstal.com/langfams_altaic.html

    Reply

  • Kevin Chen — June 9th, 2010, 12:24 am

    I just wanted to add italki.com to the suggested list of language learning websites. There’s a vibrant community of language learners who are interested in helping each other. It’s great for finding friends, language teachers, asking questions and getting corrections on your writing. (And it’s especially good if you’re interested in learning Chinese.)

    In terms of the earlier comment on podcasts — I’m also a big fan of chinesepod.com and popupchinese.com if you’re learning Chinese. I’ve used Pimsleur as well (for Chinese and Japanese), and I think that’s also a good way to start. Of course, you’ve got to eventually put your language skills to the test by actually speaking or chatting with someone (and that’s when you turn to sites like italki).

    Best

    Reply

  • Brian — June 9th, 2010, 1:37 am

    which scanner is kevin using for evernote? i’m looking for a scanner that can handle a large volume of multipage documents (college notes –> evernote!), and am curious which scanner on the evernote website he found useful (i found them to be underwhelming). thanks!

    Reply

    • Tim Ferriss — June 9th, 2010, 4:12 am

      Hey B,

      I use the Fujitsu ScanSnap and love it. Click on the “Gear” section to see the specific model. I’ve had no trouble with anything up to 10 pages.

      Tim

      Reply

  • Cem — June 9th, 2010, 2:42 am

    Hi Tim,

    I’ve been reading your insights and blog for some time now. When you are in Turkey, if you feel like joining us (me and my friends) for a night in town drop me a line. It’d be a pleasure to meet you.

    We’re also heading windsurfing at the south of Turkey on June 21st if you are still around.

    Cheers

    Reply

  • Chris Brisson — June 9th, 2010, 5:08 am

    A site that is the originator of employee love is called http://www.GratitudeLog.com Very cool site and social network for just that… sharing the love :)

    Great video guys, always good to hear whats new and up and coming.

    Cheers,
    Chris

    Reply

  • Ian Stewart — June 9th, 2010, 6:46 am

    What are you guys drinking – it looks like green beer!?

    Reply

  • Digg’s Looking For A New CEO | Tech Jives Network — June 9th, 2010, 6:56 am

    [...] gradually diminished as he focused more on angel investments and other projects. Today in an episodeof The Random Show with Tim Ferris, Rose elaborated some more on what exactly went down. Rose says [...]

  • Mac — June 9th, 2010, 9:14 am

    Here’s an idea: do “random” shows with other cool people you meet. You could record your convos over dinner or whatever whenever Grenn is around.

    Reply

  • Martyn — June 9th, 2010, 12:18 pm

    Tim – how did you find Istanbul? I was there back in April (and stranded due to the ash cloud). A little too touristy for me – did you find any non tourist gems you could share?

    What are your travel plans now? Come to Scotland.

    Reply

  • Moneymonk — June 9th, 2010, 1:05 pm

    Kevin-Digg needs innovation now. Digg needs you.

    I plan on purchasing an iPad 3G looking forward to the app

    Reply

  • Drew Blaisdell — June 9th, 2010, 4:00 pm

    I am aggregating all the episodes at http://www.random-show.com/ so people can find them more easily (I couldn’t find ep 10 forever and Kevin tweeting the wrong name didn’t help).

    Reply

  • Alden Tyrell — June 9th, 2010, 4:04 pm

    forget about K-OS, when you have die antwoord

    Reply

  • Lance — June 9th, 2010, 6:02 pm

    I found myself asking the same questions of several people commenting here, some of whom you answered… Man, can we get an overview on this 34 minute wander-fest? I am a HUGE Tim Ferriss supporter. I have bought your book for countless people, and I implement your stuff everywhere. Watching Kevin’s body language and eye movement when he described his situation with Digg was painful.

    I look forward to the time when your new book is published, you are a great writer and a man of great thought.

    Reply

  • Theo Lopes Garcia — June 9th, 2010, 6:21 pm

    Tim,

    Would you tell us how much your return (%) was on DailyBurn ?

    Reply

  • Theo Lopes Garcia — June 9th, 2010, 6:43 pm

    K-OS ??

    Canada owed the world good music just to make it up for Justin Bibier.

    Reply

  • winston — June 9th, 2010, 9:26 pm

    i see that you mention that berlitz and that you were an adviser of theirs. Its a little unclear as to whether or not you disagree with their methodology for language learning. i just bought one of their books for french, but before i invest time and energy, i thought I’d ask you if are pro or anti berlitz. any help would be great, thanks.

    Reply

    • Tim Ferriss — June 9th, 2010, 11:12 pm

      Hi Winston,

      I contracted for them long ago. I do not think their methods are great. Similar to Rosetta Stone. Give Pimsleur and Living Languages a go.

      Tim

      Reply

  • Brian — June 9th, 2010, 10:57 pm

    Just to set the record straight:

    Wealthy people do not jump in and out of gold to make a quick buck when the markets tumble. Wealthy people hold gold because they understand how truly fragile the casino really is. Wealthy people understand that Keynesian theories are corruptible at best, and that the Federal Reserve is a man made institution.

    Gold is not a paper or digital asset to be traded on 10, 20, or 30 minute charts.

    Gold is the ultimate hedge (history tells us this). When you have real money, you get scared, and physical gold helps you sleep a little better.

    Who cares what price it’s at today, in the long run, paper is dead….

    Reply

  • Camiel — June 10th, 2010, 3:11 am

    Hi Tim,

    Great book, great site and inspiring talks.
    One question: you and Kevin speak about a lot of products. Can you clearify if you or Kevin have any financial interest related to the products mentioned? As an angel investor, consultants, what so ever.

    Thanks and good luck,

    Camiel (The Netherlands)

    Reply

  • Joey the bum — June 10th, 2010, 6:17 am

    @ Brian, Not to say I know anything about gold but at that point in the video they were talking about the book The Black Swan, which (as reviewed by Chris Anderson on the amazon page) argues

    “The problem, Nassim explains, is that we place too much weight on the odds that past events will repeat (diligently trying to follow the path of the “millionaire next door,” when unrepeatable chance is a better explanation). Instead, the really important events are rare and unpredictable.”

    Irony… Gotta love it.

    Reply

  • Ebun — June 10th, 2010, 6:49 am

    Another cool language learning site is Smart.fm. I don’t know if they offer Turkish but there are a ton of other languages there. While it may not be the best way to learn grammar, I’ve found it pretty useful in studying and learning vocab

    Reply

    • Lonpar — September 14th, 2011, 12:39 pm

      Does anyone have any suggestions of a website platform similar to Smart.fm?

      I used to play the Brainspeed game on a regular basis. Since the website to learn French but since the site has transformed into iKnow all of the great content is now gone!

      Any ideas anyone?

      Reply

  • Ilina S — June 10th, 2010, 10:53 am

    Great episode you guys! Checking out Nassim Taleb now, thanks for the recommendation – very interesting writings.

    Reply

  • Vince — June 10th, 2010, 6:37 pm

    What type of iPad case is Kevin using. I’m in the market and his looks good.

    Reply

  • Philip Green — June 10th, 2010, 7:46 pm

    Hey Tim,

    Another great episode! Sorry to keep drowning you with comments on the new book but you kept mentioning writing and it made me think is there going to be any sort of insight as to what it is going to include? Is it going to basically just talk about pushing your body’s limits or is it going to include more practical topics like different work out regiments and dieting?

    Reply

  • Michael Hanley — June 10th, 2010, 7:59 pm

    Tim,

    I e-mailed Amy about a possible sponsorship for an upcoming episode of Random. Any details about becoming a sponsor that you can provide would be appreciated.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  • Binky — June 11th, 2010, 3:37 am

    The love machine that Kevin was talking about sounds like an introverts nightmare.

    Reply

  • Bruce — June 11th, 2010, 7:25 am

    I thought I read or listening to one of your previous blog posts where you mentioned that Pimsleur was a really slow way to learn a language. I think for the Pimsleur French there were 90, 30 minute lessons! I also tried Pimsleur Thai which was equally painful. Pimsleur seems to use only straight memorization and crazy amounts of repetition which was so hard.

    I’m curious to know if Pimsleur have changed their format a bit since those days.

    My favorite language programs were Michel Thomas Spanish & French.

    Reply

  • Ian — June 12th, 2010, 10:46 pm

    Hey Tim,

    Just recently started reading the 4 hour workweek again. I listened to it on Audible and then had a hardback that I lost. Now I’m reading the revised edition. Great stuff.

    If you’ll notice there are many comments about language. Could you expand a bit on language on this blog? I love languages and learning them and I’d really like to know more of the techniques that you use.
    It seems to me much of language learning is still stuck in the 20th century. I traveled to Germany, Austria and Czech republic last year for a month. I used rosetta stone before I went to learn a bit of German. The problem I had that no one has mentioned is that Rosetta stone doesn’t use practical phrases and words for travelers. It uses phrases that you won’t use most of the time. My favorite is that ‘the Bicycle is Green’. This can be really frustrating like when you are at the train station and trying to order a ticket from the ticket booth. The best free solution that I’ve found is actually youtube. There are so many different language videos that you can easily find what you need and some will explain male/female nouns and grammar. These videos can be played again and again. I memorized German phrase videos and I actually used this 85% of the time when I was over there and 15% for Rosetta stone.
    There are also many different local terms that you get into with Youtube with the native speakers that Langauge programs won’t mention. You won’t get into trouble using “Guten Tag” in Bavaria but the locals will definitely notice.

    Where youtube really shines though, is not only native speakers but also obscure languages. I picked up some Czech phrases and words from a couple of videos that really impressed the locals when I was in Prague. Course I guess anything is better than trying to get them to use English.

    On an unrelated note: What the hell is the green bile-like liquid you’re drinking in the video.

    Reply

  • Norman D — June 13th, 2010, 10:00 am

    Hey Tim,

    Right after watching the random episode, I went on LiveMocha and have been using it for the last couple of days. Man, is it ever useful. I’ve been trying to learn through audio tapes using Michel Thomas and it’s been good, but had a hard time memorizing due to the volume of information, quick progression and lack of people to train with. LiveMocha is much more practical for us who have to stay at home and learn. So much online support out there. Thanks for sharing this site with me, it will definitely help with our trip to BsAs in August.

    Also, Evernote rocks! been using it since you first mentioned it in one of the earlier episodes of Random.

    Saludo,

    Norman

    Reply

  • Gary — June 13th, 2010, 6:39 pm

    “Gold is the ultimate hedge (history tells us this). When you have real money, you get scared, and physical gold helps you sleep a little better.”

    Gold and paper money are both symbols.

    You can’t eat symbols–well you can, but they are not very nutritious.

    Kevin seemed stressed in this video. I’m miss fun, innocent, happy Kevin.

    Reply

  • Steve — June 14th, 2010, 3:38 pm

    Hey! I really liked your suggestions on language learning. I found a ressources which goes a little bit more into detail

    Check it out: http://dam-age.com/?p=226

    Take care

    Reply

  • Brian — June 14th, 2010, 8:38 pm

    Gary: Bartering works in small communities but in the big wide world you’ll need a currency to hop on that boat or that train to get the hell out of dodge. You stick to your wheelbarrow of corn, I’ll stick to my gold coins, because the migrant man is a surviving man….

    Joey the Bum: The problem with Nassim’s quote is that it’s based on a corrupt economic system that’s on a verge of a collapse. LTCM, housing bubble, toxic derivatives, even September 11th, were not rare nor were they unpredictable, only to people who weren’t paying attention–like your average Facebook user.

    Reply

  • Lawrence — June 14th, 2010, 10:20 pm

    Watched Random last night and went and got a copy of Rework and read it today. I enjoyed it, however, the entire book is written from a negative perspective- a continuous list of things *not* to do. Human brains have a hard time learning by constantly telling them what not to do rather than from a positive, do-this-then-that point of view. There was a ton of really helpful advice in Rework, however, its going to be one of those books that wont help many people due to the way it is structured. It will only be one of those kinds of books that seems obvious to people like Kevin who already understand whats inside it, after they’ve had to live through it.

    Kevin, I you should still think about writing your book, only, from a positive frame of reference.

    Reply

  • Bret Royster — June 15th, 2010, 1:44 pm

    Hey Tim!

    I totally dig your stuff, man! Just discovered Random Show, great suggestions! Evernote – wow. In the W-2 world I’m a software engineer, and I can’t express to you how many times I’ve instinctively thought – ‘search’ – when I pick up a paper document or like you said a menu or something.

    Here’s the thing… I feel like you share too much great info. I’m hooked. Its addicting.

    I won’t watch the news… but I’ll find myself reading this blog for hours, haha.

    When I was 12, my hero was Wolverine. At 27 its Tim Ferriss.

    Keep it up, friend.

    - Bret

    Reply

  • Chaz — June 15th, 2010, 2:37 pm

    For language learning, the Easy Learn programs from Learning Strategies Corporation are great. The most natural, enjoyable method I’ve tried (besides living in the country.) Unfortunately, they are only about two hours of audio for each language. Not nearly enough. And only Spanish, French and German. I wish they’d make more. I’ve been thinking of taking the basic idea and hiring out to create longer versions of the same thing. Perhaps someday.

    Reply

  • ops30 — June 16th, 2010, 5:58 am

    In case anyone is wanting to download these random episodes to mp3, I’ve had great luck w/two sites:

    - http://www.video2mp3.net (handles all but the vimeo stuff)
    - http://www.tubeminator.com (converts both youtube and vimeo)

    I’ve enjoyed all the random episodes Tim, thanks so much.

    Reply

  • Jason Palmer — June 16th, 2010, 11:25 am

    The black swan is a great book, and it works, I often say ‘well, i just don’t know but I can hedge’ :)

    Reply

  • Klaus — June 16th, 2010, 5:24 pm

    After watching the RDM Episode I started to play with Evernote. Way too much paper around my desk and Justin Case tell some to hold on to some of it. Scanning with my Iphone 3G and utilizing the OCR on Everynote has been hit and miss. Maybe the iphone4 will make things smoother and faster.

    Long story short. In the video you guys mentioned scanners. What scanner would be a sold recommendation for a 1-10 page scan per day workflow? Small footprint desired. Reasonable budget.

    Reply

  • Michael Medlock — June 17th, 2010, 9:30 am

    Absolutely concur with what Tim says about Rosetta Stone, they work on the Berlitz churn it out pronciple. The idea that adults should learn a language like children sounds so logical, but it doesn’t really stand up in practice.

    I’ve had a go a Live Mocha. It is useful but as pointed out elsewhere by other commentors also suffers from the cookie cutter approach. The best feature is the ability to contact native speakers. However, I must say that even that is hit and miss.

    Reply

  • Roger Burdette — June 17th, 2010, 2:20 pm

    Good stuff Tim. Thanks for the direction on languages. I need to pick up French to better communicate with my wife’s family. (or not) :o )
    I’ve done small biz interviews with owners in Marrakech and now doing them in Sens and Paris. What hardware/software/process do you use abroad when you are filming for the web? ie. filming, editing, uploading Your video quality and sound is always excellent.

    Reply

  • Anatoly Petrenko — June 17th, 2010, 4:54 pm

    Thank you for a very useful and inspiring episode. I gleaned a lot of positive measurements of creative mindset that you guys emanate. Plus realistic overview of language products, but the most, I’m taking the evernote. The best of adventure in Istambul!

    Reply

  • Paul — June 18th, 2010, 4:12 am

    Sorry guys, but couldn’t get past the first five minutes of back slapping!

    Reply

  • Junji Kinoshita — June 18th, 2010, 9:32 pm

    It was interesting video.I am a Japanese native speaker and currently trying to learn French as second foreign language.I have a question about your comment about Pimsleur series.Did you work on comprehensive course or conversation course for you feel confident enough to speak target language.If you finished comprehensive level three.It costs twice as much as cost of Rosetta stone software level 1 to 5.Well,you would say Pimsleur has better content than Rosetta stone.Pimsluer is each level for 345 dollars is good investment and I don’t want to waste it.
    Are there alternative other than Pimsleur learning structure of new language?I do not want to work on conventional book study like I did for learning English.It took loooong time to reach before starting communicate native speakers.

    Reply

  • Brian S — June 19th, 2010, 6:30 am

    Tim – huge thanks for the Nassim Taleb recommendation. He’s got tremendously insightful quips on his twitter feed, and I’m expecting his books will be similarly excellent.

    Reply

  • Junji Kinoshita — June 19th, 2010, 9:13 pm

    Thank you Tim.
    Great idea.I joined livemoca.Learning from sound is good idea.Oh,conversational is not hundreds of dollars for try.
    I think you should publish the language study reference book.You learned many languages and you know how to learn efficiently.Your experience is shared as a book.It will help so many people study foreign languages.
    You can add some materials for Major languages which may be popular among many people.Your experience help many people step up to next level.

    About English,I live in California and also I am an immigrant.I need to keep using English and learn it all the time.For communication,I am ok with most of situation but I want to reach to educated native speakers level.

    maybe I will be “language Otaku” after I learned French for fun language.

    Reply

  • Lars — June 20th, 2010, 4:06 pm

    If you like Pimsleur, you should check out “Fluenz” at fluenz.com. In a nutshell, it’s the Pimsleur method of spaced repition plus video and exercises. I’m a visual learner, and seeing the words on a screen definitely helps retaining them. Also, a teacher explains how the language works. I’m better at understanding rules and applying them instead of mindless memorization.
    Downsides: It’s a little expensive (though not expensive as Rosetta Stone) and the language selection is rather limited.

    Reply

  • Toshi O. — June 21st, 2010, 7:31 pm

    Agree with most other comments, more videos, hurry up with the book, and dont take Glen’s cat.

    To.

    Reply

  • Christopher — June 21st, 2010, 7:59 pm

    Hi Tim –

    Thank you so much for all you do. The Four Hour Work Week literally changed my life. More on that later. I truly need a recommendation from you, your staff and your online community.

    I am beginning to market a new supplement using a zero employee company concept. Things are moving along well and we truly ready to start production. I would love your recommendation as to what company to use to create the private label product. I am familiar with private label companies inside the USA, however not familiar outside the USA.

    The question directly : If you were to package and sell a supplement product today, what company, in what world location would you use to produce the product?

    Thank you so much for your input. Full story to follow really soon.

    Reply

  • J.D. Meier — June 22nd, 2010, 7:57 pm

    I think Digg still has plenty of innovation and game changing opportunities lurking within … it’s got enough tribe and crowd-source power to move multiple metaphorical mountains.

    I’ve been surprised lately how some old apps have spruced themselves up and you can *feel* the difference … for example, LinkedIn is way more Facebook’ish now, and even Wikipedia’s facelift helps … it’s Web-based urban renewal in action.

    Reply

  • C. Vincent Plummer — June 27th, 2010, 4:55 pm

    Hey Tim…

    Yo… you and Kevin are total badasses. I very much dig your vibe and philosophy on life. I’ve watched all the randoms, and am going out to get your book!

    I have a quick question: (I’m a musician/music business guy sitting on a super crusher of a business plan for a new way to distribute independent music… although I have no capital and can’t code.)

    If you were me would you?:

    A) Go directly to angel investors and pitch the business trying to find seed money for a web development guy and not give % to them?

    B) Give a smaller % to a web development guy, and pay a little bit?

    C) Make full partner with web development guy and lose controlling interest of company?

    I’ve done a shitload of market research and am ready to crush… I’m just nervous step 1 (setting up the business and finding seed money)

    Keep killin’ it.. you’ve been a major inspiration and I watch you closely.
    Peace,
    Vincent

    Reply

  • Dave — June 28th, 2010, 1:26 pm

    Hey Tim,

    Awesome post, I wish I knew when more of these were coming out, and I wish, you and Kevin would schedule the next recording so we all knew when we could get our fill of the random podcast again!

    Reply

  • Michael Corley — June 28th, 2010, 9:08 pm

    Lets see some more of these. Kevin and Tim are two people I love hearing their perspective from. Read a lot of Tim’s stuff, some of its BS, lets be honest, but his perspective is awesome. I’ve been a Kevin Rose fan for a long time too.

    Reply

  • Victor — June 29th, 2010, 6:38 pm

    Hey Tim,

    I’d just like to say FINALLY! lol

    I mentioned in a comment on an age old posting of yours (maybe an old episode of random) where you were talking about language learning (possibly chinese) and i had referred to you Live Mocha. Glad to see that you are now using the system and it is proving useful!

    cheers,

    Victor

    Reply

  • Rolf Siebelink — July 5th, 2010, 8:22 pm

    Can I suggest 2 alternatives for some of the products/services you’ve mentioned?

    Streaming (and downloading) music for free: http://www.soundcloud.com
    It’s myspace done right and absoluyely great for discovering new artists in all genres.

    Taking notes (with optical recognition) everywhere and store them into the cloud: Microsoft Onenote 2010
    It’s a pretty decent alternative, especially for the corportate readers amongst us who have been bounded by their IT department to Microsoft software. Use for free at office.live.com

    Reply

  • sai — July 9th, 2010, 7:29 pm

    do they have the four hour work week in chinese … cause ive been looking for it … if anyone can help … thankyou

    Reply

  • Brian Kenny — August 3rd, 2010, 5:23 am

    I love these episodes of The Random Show. It’s a mixture of it now having built up a reputation that you will actually learn at least 5 nuggets of wisdom and the fact that you guys make it personal.

    Keep up the great work and I’m looking forward to the next episode!

    BTW Tim, did I read you were a hurling champion over here in Ireland ? :) Bring it on :P

    Reply

    • Tim Ferriss — August 5th, 2010, 11:23 pm

      Hi Brian,

      Not a hurling champion by a long stretch! I just trained and played a little over in Galway. What an awesome (and brutal) sport. Love it.

      Tim

      Reply

    • Damien Lewis — October 4th, 2011, 7:39 pm

      Tim was also National Chinese kickboxing champion! Not to mention that he holds the Guinness Book of World Records’ record for the most consecutive tango-spins in one minute.

      Who’s your partner at that time Tim?

      Reply

  • jeffrey worsley — August 9th, 2010, 3:09 am

    when it has a camera like the iphone on the upper right corner (as it should have when this tablet came out) i will get one… hell i will even get my grandmother one so she can ‘face talk’ with it

    Reply

  • beryl — December 28th, 2011, 4:08 pm

    tim!

    i’m really into language learning as well, so thank you for the lovely link!
    also, if you’d like to practice some pronunciation for turkish, i’m a native speaker, i would love to help! your chinese sounds great!!! i’m behind on my japanese.

    love the 4 hour workweek book btw, it’s been amazingly motivating. thanks!

    Reply

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