There are other people who should read this book. Your girlfriend will better understand why you turn into a jerk in your home office. Your mom will understand why you don’t call. Giving this book to your boss is a tricky proposition. Even if he needs it, you can’t tell him that, so surreptitiously leave it in his office… like a pen.

Managing Humans is 209 pages with 34 chapters. The 6 pages per chapter average is ideal for your attention deficient lifestyle. People dig it.

This book isn't just about management, it's about creating places where people can comfortably build stuff. It's about what to do during the first ninety days of your new gig, and explains why you should pick a fight, because bright people often yell at each other.

Managing Humans

I'm linking here to the full report. From the TechCrunch summary:

JPMorgan’s Internet analyst Imran Khan and his team released a massive 312-page report this morning titled Nothing But Net that paints a bullish picture for the major Internet stocks

A quick look from Paul Kedrosky:

JPMorgan's new 312-page "Nothing but Net" report on the outlook for Internet-related tech equities in 2008 is good reading, but the initial headline takeaway is a big ramp in the forecast for online ad spending this year. From a prior estimate of 19.9%, analyst Imran Khan and team have ratcheted their forecast for U.S. paid search growth waaaay up to 31.9%.

'Nothing But Net' in 2008 [PDF]

How the author helped Afghans build a thriving soap and body-oil business — and overcame the incompetence of America’s aid establishment

Scents & Sensibility

Following up on The Race for the Tallest Skyscraper (sort of):

Plans are underway to create the world's biggest building in Moscow, a gigantic monstrosity dubbed Crystal Island that'll dominate the skyline. The $4 billion "city in a building" will cover a whopping 2.5 million square meters of floor space and feature all sorts of smaller buildings in its interior. There'll be hotels, apartments, museums, cinemas, and more, with enough space to house 30,000 residents. In fact, it'll have 3000 hotel rooms, 900 serviced apartments, offices and shops, and an international school for 500 pupils.

It'll feature spectacular views from its 1,500-foot-high peak, to be sure. It's not just a design that'll never be made, either; plans are underway to get this thing under construction within 5 years. Fortunately, eco-friendly energy usage is at the heart of the design, utilizing on-site renewable and low-carbon energy generation. Perhaps this will actually make me want to visit Moscow. We'll see.

Crystal Island in Moscow to be the world's biggest building

Hackers often go into technology precisely because they feel uncomfortable with the amount of fakeness required in other fields.

The lessons are clear. A woman is sexier when she is most fertile.

Satellite radio is soaring in popularity. Of course, that may not be a reflection of XM or Sirius' quality so much as the mundanity and drollery of Clear Channel America.

Why not rejoin that inner circle of the select for an evening?

Selling out is the only way to escape childhood.

What appears to be wasted time is really jell time.

There are a lot of talented groups out there that you've probably never heard of.

Many hedge fund managers ... are just picking up pennies in front of a steamroller. And sometimes the steamroller accelerates.

Funny. (British Funny.)

A long wave of foreclosures seems inevitable.

Even if necessary changes in policy are implemented, the odds now favour a US recession that slows growth significantly on a global basis. Without stronger policy responses than have been observed to date, moreover, there is the risk that the adverse impacts will be felt for the rest of this decade and beyond.

Most people who try Second Life do not like it.

If you want to be an innovator, you have to take the long-term approach.

The number one thing not to do is other things.

Climate change offers “the greatest business opportunity that has ever come along."

In truth, the perverse reality of luxury consumption today is that so few people are complaining.

The 2008 pay rates will become effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2008 (January 6, 2008) if no further action is taken by Congress.

Federal Employees: Draft 2008 Salary Tables and Related Information

The one forecast we can safely make for 2008 is that the consensus will prove to be wrong.

Swan Song | Economist

The 2007 IPO market has had the highest volume and largest proceeds since 2000, with 231 offerings raising $53 billion as of Dec. 17. The IPO market's performance was driven by Chinese companies and some blockbuster U.S. technology deals. VMware is now the fourth-most-valuable software company in the world, behind Microsoft, Oracle and SAP.

The Strongest Year for U.S. IPOs Since 2000

Concentration is essential for creative work - certain stages of the creative process require single-minded focus on the task in hand. When we’re really in the zone, we experience ‘creative flow’ - the ‘almost automatic, effortless, yet highly focused state of consciousness’ that psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has identified as characteristic of high- level creative performance. Interruptions, multi-tasking and the anxiety that comes from trying to juggle multiple commitments - these are in danger of eroding the focused concentration that is vital for your creativity.

If you’re worried about the effect of all those interruptions, frustrations and distractions on your creative work, this e-book is for you. Over the next seven chapters I will offer you some principles and practical methods for maintaining your creative focus under pressure, and for managing the stream of information and demands so that it informs and stimulates your creativity instead of drowning it out.

And that means being organised.

Time Management for Creative People

What really goes on in the back rooms of car dealerships across America?

What does the car salesman do when he leaves you sitting in a sales office and goes to talk with his boss?

What are the tricks salespeople use to increase their profit and how can consumers protect themselves from overpaying?

These were the questions we, the editors at Edmunds.com, wanted to answer for our readers. But how could they really know that our information was accurate and up-to-date? Finally, we came up with the idea of hiring an investigative reporter to work in the industry and experience, firsthand, the life of a car salesman.

Confessions of a Car Salesman