Kernel Panics & Shredding Cellos: What I Learned This Week

• On the same day the PC was demoted my main desktop computer at home had a kernel panic. Heat is not the friend of technology. It also means backup often, then backup again, especially now that so much of what we create will live on the cloud. Think about how you work and how you use your files and put a backup strategy in place, because the cloud will crash and the PC, demoted and all, will have a kernel panic attack. 

• It's easy to forget how satisfying a great meal with smart colleagues can be, especially when there is no work talk and instead people enjoy each other's company. 

• Yes, it's true, people that waste my time with inconsiderate email etiquette drive me crazy. And I'm not the only one that feels that way. Let's work together on an Email Charter (to learn more see this post from last Thursday.)

• Thank you John Gruber for inventing Markdown.

• The post on this blog that so far has been retweeted, liked, commented on and shared the most this year features two classically trained cellist playing the hell out of a classic rock song. (See the post here.) Rock enthusiasts went crazy for it. Classically trained musicians enjoyed it. It was deemed cool, better than the original and as a whole really made a profound impression. 

I discovered 2Cellos performing "Welcome to the Jungle" via the blog Cover Me, a fantastic blog that finds some of the best covers available on the internet. What I particularly love about the site is that they showcase artists that are not remixing, sampling or mashing up the original, they are instead creating a brand new interpretation, making new art from something that already existed without really changing it.

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.