Recommended Reading: Khoi Vinh's "How They Got There"

I recently finished Khoi Vinh's "How They Got There". I was so inspired by the first few chapters I wrote this blog post about a passage that really struck me. 

The book is a collection of interviews with renowned designers contrasting their career trajectory on how they started compared to where they are now.

It's a fascinating, inspiring read. While this is design focused, I can't help but feel that anyone in any creative field would deeply benefit from reading it. Musicians, painters, architects, writers, carpenters, product engineers could all draw inspiration from it.

Hell, even if you don't call yourself a designer, maybe it will inspire you to take a Lynda.com course and brush up on your Photoshop skills. I know it did for me. 

You can purchase a digital copy here.

Saul William on Technology

"In terms of hacking in the bigger picture, it’s clear that the virtual world is very much like the New World. We’re in the position of Columbus and all these old-time past explorers in that there’s a lot of freedom to be had and space to be explored. The surface web that most of us use is as limited as the percentage of our brain that most of us use. There’s a lot of information out there and I think that hackers in general have done some fucking amazing things in modern times."

I couldn't agree more. You can read the whole interview here

Nomad ChargeKey [Review]

A few months ago I came across an advertisement somewhere in my travels along the interwebs for the Nomad ChargeKey. Initially I didn't think it was all that good of an idea, until I thought about it a little harder: How many times have I found myself near a computer or USB charger with no cable? The answer made me rethink the genius behind the idea of the ChargeKey. So I decided I was going buy one. As I was poking around the site, I found a tab called "Barter". To my shock, they were open to bartering for ChargeKeys. So I sent a request, offering either my graphic design services or my hand made record clocks (shameless plug: see AnalogArtShop.com for more on these!).

A few weeks passed, and I finally found a message in my inbox from Dave Moses saying "WE WANT A CLOCK!”

SOLD!

After working out details, confirming my address and which ChargeKey I want, I asked them what type of clock they wanted. Dave responded back with:

"I trust your judgement on the clock, just a badass rock band."

So I dug through my inventory and it was decided. I was shipping Dave a Led Zeppelin record clock.

I received my ChargeKey in a very timely manner and really cool packaging. I was even more surprised about how resilient it feels.

After a few months now of having it on my keyring, it's bailed me out of hundreds of jams where I really needed to charge my phone but didn't have my lightning cable on me. I’ve found it to be super flexible and really durable. As a former Genius Bar employee, I can tell you I've replaced more defective Apple Lightning cables than anything else.

With all of that said, the moral of my story is that the people at Nomad not only make a turbo awesome product, but they are the coolest people to do business with. I highly advise picking up a ChargeKey of your own, even if you use a silly Android.

You can pre-order one now at HelloNomad.com