• Devo - The dudes are like 60, but they still rocked it so hard - great visuals, outfit changes, ripping sleeves off shirts, etc. They were definitely one of my favorite acts this year.
• The Black Keys - I've seen the keys before, so this was nothing too exciting. They don't put on much of a show, but they definitely sound amazing live.
• Chromeo - Awesome. Just an all around good, fun, danceable show. Plus, the Robert Palmer backup singers were awesome.
• Lady Gaga - This was definitely the best show at Lollapalooza this year. Lady Gaga is batshit crazy and it's awesome. Her show was a giant storyline with a mixture of pop, a hint of metal, a ton of outfit changes, and a few awkward moments. It was definitely a performance.

• Against Me! - Meh. They sounded good, wore a lot of black, and were rocking pretty hard but I just wasn't feeling it.
• Gogol Bordello - Great! I didn't really know anything about them, but definitely loved the show. They sounded good, were having a good time, and the lead singer was drinking a bottle of wine on stage. Gypsy punk!
• AFI - The lead singer rules. I totally wasn't ready for how good they were gonna be live - they sounded amazing.
• Social Distortion - Sounded good and played some good songs but it was a pretty blah show. Still, I'm glad I saw them.
• Phoenix - I was completely torn between seeing Phoenix and Green Day, but since Phoenix was going to be in Des Moines the next Tuesday, I skipped this show and saw them in Des Moines. ;) They are ridiculous good live - this is another lead singer that sounds just as good live as he does on his albums.
• Green Day - Super good. They were totally just up there rocking and having a blast - it was awesome. They Invited a ton fans on stage, talked kids into stage diving, gave away guitars - totally catered to the crowd. They even let one kid sing Longview (all the way through) for them.

• Nervo (DJ set) - These girls are not really good DJs, haha. They played some good house and dance music, but they weren't really doing a whole lot - aside from looking cute of course.
• Chiddy Bang - The vocals were kinda messed up, but it was still a great show. Chiddy can freestyle for sure! At one point he was even able to work "inflatable penis" into one of his rhymes, ha.
• Erykah Badu - Showed up 20 minutes late, which was pretty annoying, but once she finally got on stage, she sounded amazing. What a voice!
• MGMT - Sounded like shit, seriously. I was not impressed with this at all. They just sat there (no performance, no interaction), and the dude really can't sing. I was really excited for this show and was definitely let down. I'll just stick to listening their studio recorded albums.
• Cypress Hill - Duh. This was a really good set full of great tracks (mostly weed inspired of course). B-real is awesome and so was the crowd.
• Soundgarden - They sounded great, but they're just not really my thing. I was pretty sad when no one played the spoons on spoonman.

1. Make your home office shine
   or better yet - make your home office make you shine. Having a comfortable and versatile work environment is huge. Not only are you working at home, but you're also living at home... you better like it there.
   
   I find that versatility is huge for productivity. Being able to change up my work position and location is great. I've set my office up so that I can work while sitting at a desk, on a couch, or even standing. and of those three, I completely endorse standing and working - I've been standing 95% of the time for over 2 months.
2. Stand up for yourself
   I'm not the most in-shape dude in the world, but making the switch to stand-up working has been amazing. It was a bit straining on my neck and hamstrings for the first week, but since then - I've felt great. I find that I'm WAY more productive and can stay WAY more focused while standing. If for some reason I do get fatigued, I switch to sitting for a bit.
   
   Standing is also great because at the end of the work day - I actually feel like I worked. I want to sit down and relax for a minute. I never had that with my previous office jobs... I like it.
   
   If you want to give stand-up working a try (and I hope that you do)
   • Get an anti-fatigue mat, seriously. It's your new office chair and helps a TON.
   • Try not to use a laptop, or at least get an external monitor for it so that you can look straight ahead as opposed to down. This is just better posture and helps with the neck pain quite a bit.
   • Check out the Geek Desk. I just got mine and it rules! I can switch from standing to sitting on my yoga ball with the flip of a switch.
3. Communicate
   The next huge (and probably obvious) way to stay productive at home is communication. When you're not working together in an office, everyone has to make a real effort to communicate. In my situation, our whole team sends short update emails daily - basically just a list of what you did yesterday and what you will do today. We're also on IM all day, use Basecamp extensively, and have weekly video chat meetings. I highly recommend all of these things.
4. Get in the zone
   GET. IN. THE. ZOOONE. sorry... but seriously, find a way to get in the zone somehow. For me it's blaring music and dancing around while I'm stand-up working. This is much easier to do at home than it is in the office. ;)
5. Visit the office
   Even though today's technology makes working remotely way easier, there's still something to be said for in-person face-time. I'm 1800 miles from my office... So in my situation, I fly in to spend a week with the team quarterly. It's great for our relationships and great for being able to focus on the product together.

• Not having to commute to work has saved a ton of money and wear on my car
• Not eating out every day has also saved a lot of money. Plus I am eating healthier and have easy access to great snacks.
• Having my own, clean bathroom.
• Being able catch up on house projects, mow the lawn, run errands, etc. Not having to commute or take lunch breaks near the office gives me about 2 extra hours a day.
• Being able to work on the back porch, in the sun, shirtless (cause I be stuntin like my daddy).

• Take plenty of breaks. Everyone gets burnt out or hits brick walls, even after a couple hours. Take a few minutes to play with the dog, ride your skateboard around the block, weed the garden, take a shower, whatever. I've come back rocking so hard after nearly all my short breaks.
• Keep a sigg, nalgene, klean kanteen, or just plain ol glass of water nearby. I'm really bad at this, but always trying to get better. Staying hydrated totally helps.
• Keeping your office clean helps you stay focused.
• Work without pants on. Trust me.

Important Notice: Google Apps browser support

Dear Google Apps admin,​

In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology. This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5. As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010. After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.

Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.

Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser. We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.

In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience. We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,
The Google Apps team

so last nite i wake up to you getting all excited, rubbing all over me, trying to make out and laughing hysterically...

me: "wtf derek? what are you doing?"
you: "oh boy!" rubbing your hands together, and clapping

then i thought you went back to sleep, but a couple minutes later you were laughing, looking at your phone...

me: "derek, what are you doing? go to sleep babe. you are dreaming."
you: "well! where is the map?"
me: i am getting hysterical now... "what map? what are you looking for derek?"
you: "well you said you had the map to the nite stand!"
me: "what?! you are dreaming... there is no map for the nite stand!"
you: "you're a liar! the map for the alarm on the nite stand! where is it? you said you had it!"
me: "derek! there is no map, you are dreaming! you aren't even making sense! go back to bed!"
you: "you are lying!"
me: "okay." hysterically laughing! haha!

then you just got pissed, and went back to sleep. and when i tried to rub your back, you were real mad at me.. hahaha!