(Photo: Aaron Benitez)

Would you like to win one of four laptops (and a dozen other items) that I used to write three bestselling books?

Given that a galley of The 4-Hour Workweek once sold on eBay for $2,600, these could end up being collector’s items.  Stranger things have happened.

This post details how to get them.

All funds raised will go to the EFF. More on this important organization later…

The Gear

Each item will be signed by me and delivered to the FOBO offices, where you can pick them up at your convenience, or have them delivered to you via Shyp.

To start off, let’s take a look at the laptops.

They’ve traveled with me through more than 20 countries. Nearly all of my biggest successes since 2004 can be traced to these machines. Hard drives are not included (sorry!), but good karma and mojo is.

Pics are below, and here are basics:

The Acer with “Brazilian Top Team” sticker — This was used for all the notes that became the original 4-Hour Workweek. It was bought in Berlin in 2004 and traveled with me for nearly 18 months around the world, including the Tango World Championships in Buenos Aires (in the “Intro” to 4HWW) and much more.

The Sony Vaio with California sticker — This was used for the very first full draft of The 4-Hour Workweek.

The Dell with Japanese stickers — This was used to write the entire Updated and Revised edition of 4HWW, as well as the original notes for The 4-Hour Body.

MacBook Pro with tons of stickers — This was used to write The 4-Hour Body, start to finish.

Before the pics, please note that I’m offering more than laptops. More than a dozen other items will be available starting tomorrow (2/13/14), including a brand-new (never opened) GoPro Hero3 Black Edition, a pair of LSTN Ebony Wood Troubadours headphones, high end digital scales, and a ton more.

How to Get This Stuff

The auctions will start at noon on Thursday, February 13th on FOBO.

If you’re in San Francisco and haven’t tried it, it’s a slick new app for selling electronics in less than 2 hours; I’m an investor and love it.

Rather than their normal 97-minute auctions, in which everything posted is guaranteed to sell, FOBO is doing special 4-hour auctions. It’ll be a lot of fun, and every dollar goes to the EFF.

Please note — Since FOBO is currently limited to San Francisco, be sure to:

• Join from within city limits, or
• Have a friend in SF make your offers for you.

Hope to see you during the auctions!

More About The EFF

I’m a long-time supporter of the EFF, The Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Simply put, they defend your rights in a digital world, where companies and governments can monitor and abuse you. They’re currently fighting the NSA’s massive phone and online surveillance activities. Even if you don’t participate in the above auctions, I hope you donate to support them.

More — Based in San Francisco, the EFF is a donor-supported membership organization working to protect fundamental rights regarding technology; to educate the press, policymakers and the general public about civil liberties issues related to technology; and to act as a defender of those liberties.

The post Win the Laptops I Used to Write The 4-Hour Workweek and The 4-Hour Body…and More (EFF Benefit) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Smiling with the Hario hand grinder. Combine with the AeroPress below, and you can make world-class coffee on an airplane meal tray.

I dislike shopping, but I do love finding the perfect gift.

Finding that gift, though, gets harder with time. Those damn adults seem to already have everything. That includes me.

More salt and pepper shakers? Nah. Alternate versions of the shirts I got last year? No, thank you. In the eternal quest to eliminate clutter, I now give Santa a not-to-buy list instead of a wish list.

If you’re having trouble thinking up killer (in the good sense) gifts, here are 11 goods that deliver.

Prices are estimates, I advise two of them thanks to obsessions (#1 and #10), and all of them have either changed my life or saved my ass. OK, almost all. A few were thrown in purely for fun…

#1 – CLEAR Card – $49 for six months (35%+ off of normal $79)

I first used CLEAR card in 2007. It’s one of my secret weapons, and I never travel without it.

Hate the feeling of arriving at the airport and wondering if the security lines will take 5 minutes or 45 minutes…maybe longer? CLEAR allows you to skip security lines completely at enrolled airports (San Francisco, DFW, Denver, and more).

Now, I am never anxious going to airport. Uber takes 15 minutes from my door to check-in kiosk (eliminating parking), and I know CLEAR can get me through security in 5 minutes or less. Last time I timed myself during SFO rush hour, I was 25 minutes faster than the first-class line and more than an hour faster than the economy line… all with an economy ticket. Gift cards can be e-mailed or printed, and kids under 18 traveling with you go through the CLEAR lane for free.

#2 – Kershaw Ken Onion Leek Serrated Folding Knife with Speed Safe – $39

I have collected knives since taking pack trips through the Teton mountain range as a teenager.

This Kershaw knife with “open-assist” (basically a side-opening switchblade) is the most all-around convenient and useful knife I own. Fixed blade knives are awesome, and I own many, but the balance and utility of this Kershaw blade makes it my go-to default at home or on the road.

Be sure to get it with the serrated edge. Be sure not to leave it in your carry-on luggage. The TSA will make a frowny face otherwise.

#3 – Three Books, Three Eras

The Education of Cyrus (Cyropaedia) by Xenophon –

This was written a few years ago…in the 4th century BC. If you like Seneca or my other philosophical favorites, you’ll like this one. It was introduced to me by Wofford College president Ben Dunlap, one of the best teachers I’ve ever met in my life. For those interested, here’s his unreal Wikipedia entry. He embodies many of the lessons taught in The Education of Cyrus, as is clear in own his TED talk on lifelong learning and passion (the last 5 minutes are gold, if you need to skip around).

Levels of the Game by John McPhee –

John McPhee is probably my favorite non-fiction writer of all-time. He’s written about everything from oranges to hardwood canoes, and he transforms every subject into page-turning fascination. In Levels of the Game, published in 1979, McPhee writes his first book on tennis. I’m not a tennis player, but I loved this short, 149-page book. The critics got it right: “This may be the high point of American sports journalism.” (The New York Times) “McPhee has produced what is probably the best tennis book ever written.” (Life)

The 4-Hour Chef by Some Long Islander –

Writing The 4-Hour Chef changed how I look at learning, passion, and creativity forever. In 2007, if I’d had the contacts I do now, I would have written this book before The 4-Hour Workweek. Accelerated learning is the foundation for everything I enjoy, and it’s the force multiplier for everything in my previous two books.

Sidenote: If you’d like to explore the gear in the first 150 pages of the book, I’ve put it all here.

#4 – Amazon Prime + Roku + Escape to River Cottage – Around $152 ($79/year, $70, $1.99/episode)

I own an Apple TV, but I barely use it. Why?

Simple: An Amazon Prime membership gives me free 2-day shipping on almost everything Amazon.com, as well as 1,000s of free streaming movies and TV shows. To watch them on my TV, I just need the Roku box, which I also bought for my parents. It’s dead simple to use.

The most inspiring and life-affirming TV series I’ve watched using Prime/Roku combo is the British Channel 4’s Escape to River Cottage with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. If you’ve ever fantasized about escaping the city to live in the country and live off the land, you will love this series.

#5 – AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker – $32

For this beauty, more than 300 reviewer said something like this: “I have a drip coffee machine, a french press and a Krups espresso maker, and they are all officially retired thanks to the Aeropress.”

If you combine it with a hand grinder and a non-stabby pocket thermometer, you can make the best coffee of your life on a plane flight…on the meal tray of a middle seat. I’m not kidding. Baristas often travel with an AeroPress for this reason exactly, and it takes less time to clean than a butter knife. Winning.

Extra trivia: The AeroPress was invented by the same rogue Stanford mechanical engineer who created the Aerobie toy craze.

#6 – BioTrust Low-Carb Protein Powder – $49.95

(Non-affiliate link)

I am always asked about protein powders, often related to my “30 within 30” recommendation of consuming 30 grams (g) of protein within 30 minutes of waking up. My dad, as one example, went from 5 pounds of average monthly fat loss to 17.85 pounds/month in the first month of adopting this habit.

But what to use?

For the last several months, I’ve used BioTrust low-carb protein powder, and I plan to continue doing so. It contains just 4g net carbs per serving, mixes easily with a spoon, and I find the combination of undenatured whey protein isolate, micellar casein, and other proteins easy to digest but filling enough to act as a (small) meal replacement. This is an unusual combo, and I regularly keep six or so jars at home, and I travel with two jars. During book launch, I used the “30 within 30” rule to sustain immune function while sleeping 2-3 hours per night at hotels around the country.

Be forewarned: I love the product, but like many companies, BioTrust has frequent e-mail follow-up for their related nutritional products. I’m allergic to e-mail and in elimination mode, so I opted out of this.

#7 – WaterPik Ultra Water Flosser – $45

I’ll keep this one short.

I have hated flossing my entire life. Each year, I got a lecture from the dentist, and each year, I’d attempt flossing for 2-3 days and throw in the towel. No longer.

Using the WaterPik in combination with the free Lift app got me to floss consistently for the first time. Now, I look forward to it. Weird.

#8 – Jumpcut – Free

This free download saved my sanity. It is my small gift for you.

As a writer, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve copied something important to the clipboard, gotten distracted, then copied something else…losing hours of work! Damnation! At the very least, such mistakes meant frustration and feeling like a sad keyboard monkey.

Meet Jumpcut.

Jumpcut appears on your toolbar and saves around 40 items you’ve copied to your clipboard. You won’t realize how time-saving (even life-changing) this is until you start using it. There are positive side-effects, too. Know all those temporary text files you use for notetaking for later in the day or whenever? Forgettaboutit — Jumpcut to the rescue. Special thanks to Maneesh Sethi for introducing me to this tool.

#9 – Splurge at The Billionaire Shop -$1,000,000+

Finally, a way for you to shop for your Danish Zenvo ST1 (limited to 15 in the world) online!

Ah, the conveniences of the Internet. No more shlepping down to your local Lamborghini dealership or waiting for helicopter catalogs. You can max out your AMEX black card here with one click, and that perfect X-mas gift will depreciate in 30 minutes more than the value of my current house. Enjoy!

#10 – Quarterly – My 4-Hour Obsession – $100/Quarter

Readers have been asking me for a box of physical goodies for years. So, my Lords and Ladies, I have created one with the start-up Quarterly.

Every three months — 4 times a year — you’ll get a box full of my favorite things, my newest and favorite obsessions. Through my global travels, my guinea pig self-experiments, my extensive product testing, and adventures/misadventures, I’ll find the coolest gems to share with you and pick the best for the box.

Tim Ferriss not your thing? A little too Ferrissy for ya’? Well, then… get off my lawn! But seriously, there are other cool folks to choose from, including Veronica Belmont, Mark Frauenfelder, Tina Roth Eisenberg (swissmiss), Jason Kottke, and Megan Collins. For gifting, you have the option of sending the gift confirmation directly (and immediately) to the recipient, or sending it to yourself so you can print or forward it as you see fit.

And Most Important of All…

#11 – What You Already Have – Priceless

The holiday season shouldn’t be all about stuff. It should be about connecting with others and reconnecting with yourself. Don’t get me wrong: I like toys and encourage you to play. Just don’t get so lost in the X-Box that you skip a proper year-in-review introspection.

Looking back on the year, looking ahead to the next, ask yourself:

– What and who am I grateful for?

– What and who should I be more grateful for?

Remember that if you don’t appreciate what you have now, nothing you get (e.g. house, jet, business, spouse, whatever) will make you happier, much less fulfilled. There’s more to life than increasing its speed and size. Drive both without focus and your life will end up resembling the Exxon Valdez: unwieldy and hard to control.

In the new year, what will you remove from your life? What will you learn and teach? What will you simplify?

Just as I recommend these questions, I’m asking them myself.

Happy holidays, all!

Wishing you and yours the most joyous of holiday seasons,

Tim

The post 11 X-mas Gifts That Can Change Your Life (Or Save Your Ass) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

(Photo: Small Dog Electronics)

Macs are easy to use. Intuitive!

Viruses? Never heard of ’em!

Well, perhaps. But problems do crop up, even with the venerated Macintosh. Not long ago, I went to use Spotlight (cmd + spacebar) and, well, it looked a little off.

It displayed “Indexing Spotlight,” with an estimated finish time of several MILLION hours.

I’m no computer scientist, but that seemed like an abnormally long time. Alas, “ruh-roh” realizations alone do not diagnose problems, let alone fix them. Much of the world has felt the same at one point or another: “My [fill in the blank] is screwed, but I don’t even know where to start.” Cars? Computers? Health? We’re all ignorant of something, as mastering everything just isn’t an option.

So, I put a notice out on the Internets asking for help and learned a lot about Macs in the process. First and foremost: It need not be complicated to bulletproof (or unf*ck) your Mac.

But what if your Mac crashes or is stolen? Does that goddamn spinning beachball mean that my computer’s going to implode? Is there a simple way to sleep soundly at night?

My hope is that this post somehow helps you to do exactly that. It won’t be fancy, and it won’t impress the Carnegie Mellon CS crowd, but it will get the job done with minimal headache and paradox of choice. Here’s what I’ve learned so far…

We’ll start with an e-mail thread from Jared Cocken, Creative Director of The Wonderfactory, then we’ll lead into personal suggestions.

If you have alternative solutions or more elegant fixes, please let me know in the comments!

Enter Jared

Most software glitches on OS X are permissions-based. Permissions set the read/write characteristics of every file and who those files can be viewed by; it’s an old system that comes from Mac OS X’s Unix underpinnings. Luckily, it’s usually pretty easy to repair permissions.

Below are a few steps that will (A) Fix common issues on Macs, and (B) Keep your Mac running smoothly.

Step 1: Backup Data and Repair Permissions

1) Backup your data using one of the following methods:

Local Incremental Method – You can use Time Machine to perform incremental backups. I like the freedom of no wires, so I back up over WiFi to a Time Capsule ($299). The initial backup will take awhile, so plug your Mac into the Time Capsule’s ethernet port and let it run overnight. The subsequent, incremental backups take far less time since they only back-up items that have changed. If you don’t want to spend the cash on a Time Capsule, you can opt to plug in an external drive. I like these drives from Western Digital; they’re affordable and easy to store.

Off-Site Incremental Method – If you don’t want to spend the cash on an external drive and you’re more worried about your data than your OS, I recommend Backblaze ($4 per month for unlimited storage). It won’t backup your OS files, so if you want to avoid the pain of hand-restoring your system, you’ll want to double up with one of the other methods, as well. If you have a lot of data, the first back-up will take you a long time even on a fast connection; incrementals will speed through. Should you have a fatal drive error and don’t have time to wait for a large data download, Backblaze will expedite you a harddrive (for a fee).

Off-Site Clone Method – I recommend SuperDuper! ($27.95). It allows you to create a bootable clone on an external drive, meaning you’ll be able to get your machine restored with all of its data in no time. It can be scheduled, or set to run when you plug in a specific external drive. I perform a clone weekly and store it off-site.

2) Open up ‘Disk Utility’ – [Location: “/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility”]

1. On the left, you’ll see little drive icons. There should be a slightly indented icon ‘Macintosh HD’ underneath another icon with a number (mine is 500.11 GB)
2. Select the one named ‘Macintosh HD’
3. Select ‘First Aid’ from the tabs
4. Hit ‘Repair Disk Permissions’ and let it run
5. When the repair is complete, click the non-idented drive and run another repair
6. Congratulations, you just repaired your permissions. It’s actually good practice to run this every time you install/update software. I normally set a calendar reminder so I don’t forget.

3) Restart your Mac

Did that solve your problem? No? Not time to reach for the whisky just yet. It’s time for some drive repair.

Step 2: Fixing A Corrupt Directory

Another common problem is a corrupt directory file. The directory keeps track of how all the files are connected. If it gets messed up, your computer will effectively be driving in the dark. But this can be fixed.

Remember that DVD that came with your Mac? The one that has the ‘Do not throw these DVDs away’ label on it? It’s time to go and dig that out.

1. Insert your OS X DVD
2. Restart your Mac
3. Press and hold the ‘C’ key until the Apple logo appears (you’re now booting from the DVD)
4. Open up ‘Disk Utility’

1. Select Macintosh HD on the left

2. Select ‘First Aid’ from the tabs

3. Hit ‘Repair Disk’ (NOT ‘Repair Disk Permissions’) and let it run

4. If you see any red results, they were likely the cause of your Mac’s problems

5. Restart your Mac (making sure to select ‘Restart’ from the hard drive, not the DVD)

Did that solve your problem?

No? DAMMIT MAN… what have you been doing to that poor computer?!

Time to move onto the final step…

Step 3: Enter DiskWarrior

If Disk Utility wasn’t able to fix the problem, you’re going to need to bring in the big guns. Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m talking about DiskWarrior ($99), the Spartan Army of OS repairing awesomeness. I’ve been using it since 1998, and it’s saved my bacon on numerous occasions. Sure, it might not look like much, but it’ll bring a whole world of hurt to those evil directory demons. How? It wipes them from the face of the earth by building it’s own directory.

Here’s how to use DiskWarrior:

1. Insert the DiskWarrior DVD
2. Restart your Mac
3. Press and hold the ‘C’ key until the Apple logo appears (you’re now booting from the DVD)
4. Agree to the ‘Blah, Blah, not our fault if you lose stuff, but we’re TOTALLY claiming the credit if we fix it’ disclaimer
5. Select Macintosh HD from the drop-down menu, and hit ‘Rebuild’.
6. Once DiskWarrior has finished building a preview directory, you’ll get two options: ‘Preview’ or ‘Replace.’ Click ‘Replace’ while shouting “This. Is. SPARTA!” (wearing an adhesive beard is recommended during this step).
7. Restart your Mac
8. Rejoice that all of your problems have gone away!

No? Okay… Now would be a good time to book an appointment at an Apple Store. The specialists at the Genius Bar will probably perform the exact same steps you just walked through, so it’s worth printing this post out beforehand to show what you’ve tried already, just so you don’t waste your time (or theirs).

If you call Apple Support, chances are that they’ll just tell you to reinstall your OS. Unless you followed Step 1 and backed up your data, that’s going to be a giant pain in the ass. Consider yourself warned!

Good luck!

Afterword and Additional Thoughts from Tim

Ultimately, I did all of the above but remained unconfident, even after adding other safety nets like using DropBox for redundancy and the lightweight Prey for theft protection. Why still unconfident? Simple: I’ve f*cked this type of thing up in the past with alarming regularity.

After all, the basic concept of a “bootable drive” eluded me for an embarrassingly long time. In plain-speak: you need a way to look at your computer without *using* your computer. Duh. The afflicted machine needs to be treated like a patient etherized upon a table, hard disk as still as a dead heart.

In the end, I took perhaps the simplest route as an insurance policy: I made an appointment at my local Mac store’s Genius Bar and brought DiskWarrior along with me, hat in hand. Long story short, my friendly Mac Jedi fixed my laptop using the store’s external drive, and the computer’s been fine since.

During the wait, I peppered this fine gentleman (nameless for reasons that will become obvious) with Mac questions of all sorts. There were a few additional takeaways that I found helpful:

1) If you’re going to run around with your laptop in a backpack, as I do, it’s best to get a machine with a solid-state drive, like the new Macbook Air.

2) To speed up reboot time, take all the crap on your desktop and put in a folder labeled something like “Desktop stuff to July 17, 2011.” This eliminates the need for your laptop to generate thumbnail images and accelerates everything.

3) Think Macs are impervious to viruses? Not forever, at least that’s my bet. I ended up installing the simple Sophos Anti-Virus for peace of mind.

4) You don’t need to buy new licenses for software when you get a new computer. Just copy and paste the following folders to your new computer in the appropriate locations:

– “Applications” folder

– Within “Library” (in your home directory), the “Applications Support” and “Preferences” folders.

Can anyone confirm or refute that this works?

5) Computers inevitably end up clogged with crap: stupid applications that don’t pan out, bloated unnecessary files, etc. I asked him: “If you were starting from scratch, what would you put on your short list of must-have applications?” His survival list included the following:

– Tuneup – for cleaning up and unbloating iTunes.

– Cocktail – use 1x per month to clean up your OS.

– Handbrake – for ripping DVDs to your hard drive.

– VLC media player – for playing various media files.

– Transmission – for downloading torrents (BitTorrent client).

– 1Password – for (not)remembering log-ins and passwords.

– Quicksilver or Alfred – for quickly launching apps (Call me old-fashioned, but I’m perfectly happy with Spotlight for the app-launching feature)

– Netnewswire – RSS reader (I don’t have an RSS reader installed)

– AppZapper (Tim addition to the list) – aptly called “the unintaller Apple forgot,” I use AppZapper to delete all the niggly hidden files, sometimes dozens, associated with applications that you want to get rid of.

Any other votes for elegant must-have applications? Other Armaggedon-avoiding Mac tips?

###

Odds and Ends: $1,000 Travelocity Winner and Stats

The winner of the $1,000 Travelocity Voucher is…James McDaniel! James, please keep an eye on your email for all the juicy details.=

And here are stats for the entire PunchTab giveaway, as of competition end:

Entrants – 697

Referrals – 8859

FB Likes – 639 (now closer to 1,000)

FB Fans – 430

Blog Comments – 539 (now closer to 700)

Retweets – 397

Total Entries – 10,894

The post How to Bulletproof (or Unf*ck) Your Mac appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Playing Santa isn’t easy. (Credit: GarlandCannon)

I dislike shopping, but I love finding the perfect gift.

Finding that gift, though, gets harder with time. Those damn adults seem to already have everything. That includes me.

More salt and pepper shakers? Nah. Alternate versions of the shirts I got last year? No, thank you. In the eternal quest to eliminate clutter, I now give Santa a not-to-buy list instead of a wish list.

If you’re having trouble thinking up killer (in the good sense) gifts, here are 12 goods that deliver.

All of them have either changed my life or saved my ass…

—

#1 – Israeli SilentEar Ear Plugs – $17.90 for trial pack

I have tried almost every earplug and noise-canceling gadget on the market, from $1 throw-away pairs to Bose headsets. I wasn’t really satisfied until I ordered these SilentEar plugs, introduced to me by Andrew Rosca when we were traveling in Vietnam. Get the trail pack, which includes multiple sizes. It’s not fun to order the wrong size and have to re-order.

#2 – Zorba the Greek – $10.20

Zorba the Greek is one of the two most impactful books (the other is the short Letters from a Stoic) I’ve read in the last two years. It’s both Epicurean and Stoic philosophies wrapped into a laugh-out-loud story you will never forget.

#3 – Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 Color Mobile Scanner – $242.99

This is the only scanner I have ever liked. Like isn’t strong enough. I love this scanner and have used it to remove at least 90% of the paper from my life. No more binders and folders for records, no more stacks on tables and desks.

I’ve never had a single paper jam, and it’s small enough to throw in a backpack for travel.

#4 – YouBar Customizable Protein Bars – $15+

Forget the maltodextrin-laden candy bars masquerading as meal-replacement bars. Adding protein to a Snickers bar does not make it good for you.

Skip to YouBars and create your own from all-natural ingredients. I suggest about 12 grams of protein per bar for optimal texture. Delicious and unique to you. They will even label the bars with someone else’s name for gifts.

#5 – Kershaw Ken Onion Leek Serrated Folding Knife with Speed Safe – $36.30

I have collected knives since taking pack trips through the Teton mountain range as a teenager.

This Kershaw knife with “open-assist” (basically a side-opening switchblade) is the most all-around convenient and beautiful knife I currently own. Fixed blade knives are awesome, but the balance and utility of this Kershaw blade is outstanding.

Be sure to get it with the serrated edge.

#6 – The 4-Hour Workweek Organic Yerba Mate Set – All profits go to DonorsChoose.org – $49 (only 250 sets available)

This is an exciting one for me. Samovar Tea and I have partnered to create an Argentine yerba mate set of three mate blends!

Here’s the bonus: All profits will go to DonorsChoose.org to benefit US public school students, and when you buy the set ($49), you get a $50 gift card to DonorsChoose! For obvious reasons, this is limited to 250 sets.

Yerba mate, with it’s unique nutrient and stimulant composition, is my favorite beverage on the planet. 3-4 hours of kick-ass zen productivity with no caffeine crash. Most people have never tried organic mate, and this is your chance.

#7 – Motor Trend 11-410 Power Center Jumpstart with Compressor – $84.16

I bought this Motor Trend device after getting stranded at the airport due to a dead battery. This compact powerhouse has prevented disaster on at least half a dozen occasions. From inflating tires to jumping the car without a second car, this is the Swiss army knife of fixing car trouble. I don’t take any trips without it.

Sidenote: The reason my battery was dead the first time? GPS plugged into the adapter. Even though it was turned off, it was draining the battery while I traveled. Unplug or be prepared.

#8 – Logitech Squeezebox Boom – $275.37

The Logitech Squeezebox Boom was my introduction to Internet radio streaming at home. Though I now use Sonos for higher-end playing, Sonos costs 4-6x as much as this simple and compact device. The Boom allowed me to listen to Pandora (here is my channel) and Rhapsody, the only two places where I now find and listen to music, while jamming on whatever needed jamming.

I haven’t seen anything better for the price.

#9 – Kindle with Global Wireless – $259

I resisted the Kindle for ages, as I like to take copious notes in my books. Then I went traveling with Matt Mullenweg and Kevin Rose on two trips. Then two things happened. First, note-taking became possible (which you can export as text files), and second, I was getting scoliosis from carrying a stack of books with me while Matt and Kevin sat pretty with their slim Kindles.

So I bought one. Now I won’t go anywhere without it, though I still prefer reading paper at home, so I often get both paper and digital copies of books I like.

#10 – Aqua Sphere Kaiman Swim Goggles – $11+

Some of you might recall how I conquered my fear of swimming. I went from a maximum of two laps to almost two miles in about two months. It’s still hard to believe.

In doing so, I logged a lot of swim time–I now love swimming–and tried every goggle out there. These are the bomb and elegantly seal the eye chamber without me feeling like my eyeballs are getting sucked out of my head. In world where it is rare, these puppies are comfortable and stay in place.

#11 – Sous Vide Supreme – $449

I first saw this French-inspired water oven, designed by Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, demonstrated by the world-famous Heston Blumenthal, head chef at the Fat Duck restaurant in the UK, which was voted by his peers as the best restaurant in the world in 2005. This is the first device to allow the “sous vide” method (French for “under vacuum”) of cooking at home.

I had the single best chicken and steak of my life using this machine. It is possible to evenly cook just about anything while retaining all of the juices. From main courses to desserts, Heston called it the greatest home cooking innovation of the last several decades.

#12 – Dedicated Virtual Assistant Through AskSunday – $279

AskSunday is the personal outsourcing service I’ve used most in the last two years. Speed-dial a NY 212 number and get connected to someone in India or the Philippines who speaks English well and can do just about anything. For everything from fact-checking to travel on the run, it makes life infinitely easier.

#13 – The New and Expanded 4-Hour Workweek – $14.85 (Kindle $9.99)

First, let me apologize, as I know this is my book. But there is a good reason.

The truth of the matter is that since April 2007 when this book first came out, my life has changed dramatically. It’s hard to believe how much has happened. 100s of case studies have come over the transom from 35+ countries, I’ve found gaps in the material, more families have provided tips, and this new and expanded edition adds in everything I’ve wanted to add for the last 2.5 years. It quite simply applies to more people and provides more examples.

Don’t get me wrong: the older edition still works just fine. This version is just better, and includes the best updated resources as voted on by 60,000+ people.

If you order two copies, you can get free shipping, so why not give one to your friend or dog? Dogs love the 4-Hour Workweek.

I will also do a live 2-hour Q&A on Dec. 22nd for all who order now. Take a perusal through the new edition and think up some questions!

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Happy hunting!

May you get what’s on your wish list, and give the same to your loved ones.

The post 13 X-Mas Gifts That Can Change (or Save) Your Life appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

This pre-China trip includes the below:

– Personal experiences with Y-Combinator, demo days, and pitching new ideas through avenues like YC.

– Five things you can do as a new startup to get your ideas, app, or product in front of influencers.

– Tweaking your website: per-user metrics, cost per acquisition, lifetime value of the customer, etc..

– The iPhone 3GS, talking some about the new updates and then a short comparison with the Palm Pre.

– Learning new languages and reactivating old ones (in this case, Mandarin Chinese).

The above list is taken from Glenn McElhose’s blog, where you can also find links to all of the sites and products mentioned in the show.

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Want to get Random episodes delivered to your iPhone or iPad? Now you can! Just subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or get the audio-only version here).

The post Random 4: Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose on Y-Combinator, Language Learning and More appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

The wrong chair = real health problems. (Photo: watz)

(Total read time: 8 minutes)

In this post I’ll cover how I identified the best high-end chairs in the world, which I ultimately chose, and the tangible results that followed.

In January of 2005, I found myself on a veranda in Panama after the usual afternoon rain, dreaming of the upcoming year and reflecting on lessons learned since leaving the US. Maria Elena, the matriarch of the Panamanian family that had adopted me, sipped her iced tea and pointed at my bruised feet:

“Tim, let me share some advice I was once given. Buy the most comfortable bed and pair of shoes you can afford. If you’re not in one, you’ll be in the other.”

I followed her advice upon returning to CA and the results were sudden: Plantar Fasciitis disappeared, as did shoulder impingement after switching from coil-spring to foam-layered mattresses.

But what about chairs? On January 4th, 2009, I tweeted out the following:

“Is the Aeron chair worth it? http://tr.im/2uxd Do you have any fave chairs for extended sitting and writing?”

…

Even though I’m financially comfortable now, I didn’t grow up spending a lot of money, which I’m thankful for. To this day, I’ve never paid for first-class airfare for myself. Not that it isn’t worth it — I just can’t do it. Similarly, I had trouble believing a chair could possibly be worth $850-$1,200, but my back pain led me to pose the question to the omniscient Interweb.

How did others feel?

More than 95% of Aeron users replied with “yes, absolutely”, but it wasn’t the only chair with a cult-like following.

Four of the five are manufactured by Herman Miller (HM) and Humanscale (HS). Prices are from Amazon, as are the star reviews, but discounts of $200-400 can be negotiated with dealers. Both eBay and Craiglist offer similar discounts.

In descending order of popularity:

1. Aeron (Fully loaded) (HM) – $879 (1 review; average review: 5 stars)

Used at NASA mission control and tech start-ups worldwide.

2. Mirra (fully loaded) (HM) – $829 (14 reviews; average review: 4.5 stars) Note: the Herman Miller sales representatives I spoke with preferred the Mirra seat feel for shorter legs vs. the Aeron. Easier to adjust: Mirra is about 9 revolutions from loosest to tightest settings; Aeron is 40+.

3. SwingChair – $495 Recommended by a strong contingent of writers, including one of my favorite visual storytellers, Kathy Sierra.

I like the design concept, but I would suggest other forms of “core exercise”.

4. Liberty (HS) – $899 (6 reviews; average review: 3.5 stars)

5. Freedom Task Chair with Headrest (HS) – $999.99 (1 review, average: 4 stars) Used at the FBI and by other governmental agencies with three-letter acronyms.

6. Embody – $1,800 list price (negotiated with dealer: $1,200-1,300): Basis of chair design – sitting is bad; movement is good. Even in locked position, it still has some backward flex at the top position. No forward tilt option.

For personal testing, I also added a Swiss-ball chair (Isokinetics Balance Ball Chair – $75) to the mix, as seen below:

3 Key Findings

Surprisingly, the Isokinetics chair is more comfortable than most fixed chairs I tested, though there is some minor… ahem… testicular compression that isn’t nearly as pleasant as it sounds. If you don’t have jewels to worry about, this chair could well be an ideal cost-effective choice.

The chair I most wanted to test was the Mirra, which seems to have the best combination of price point (bought used or via eBay) and multiple 5-star reviews. Not to mention it’s also the name of one of the best BMXers of all time. But I digress.

In the end, I bought a used C-size (technically a bit too large for me) Aeron for $450 on Craigslist. I’m impatient and didn’t want to wait over the weekend to schedule sittings for other Herman Miller chairs with a certified dealer. Once I have some conclusive comparable data, I want closure.

Aeron sizing chart. I’m 5′ 8″ and 170 lbs., but the C works with no problem.

3 Personal Lessons:

1) The lumbar support is — by far — the primary determinant of comfort or pain. I’ve lowered this adjustment and found that maintaining the natural S-curve through pressure on the lower back is what prevents pain most consistently. Comfortable sitting time is now 7-8 hours vs. less than 2 hours, with no ill after-effects.

Sliding lumbar support on the Aeron.

2) Seat height (and secondarily, depth) will determine the rest.

If the flats of your feet don’t make complete contact with the floor, you will move your hips forward and slouch, eliminating the S-curve in the lower lumbar. If your seat is too low and your knees are above your hips, you will shorten the habitual range your hip flexors (negative neural adaptation) and end up with severe lower-back pain.

Aim to keep your hamstrings parallel to the floor, and if the seat is too long for your femur (thigh bone) — as is mildly the case with my C-size Aeron — just separate your knees a bit. If you’re not wearing a tight skirt, I’ve found a basketball of space between the knees to provide the best lateral stabilization, which reduces torso fatigue. Take off heels when sitting at a desk, lest you end up with hot calves and Quasimodo-like posture. Not good for mating. If you are wearing a tight skirt, I suggest taking up the Japanese tea ceremony and sitting on tatami side saddle. It’ll be more comfortable than crossing your legs all day.

Parallel hamstrings?! True, I’ve thought more about chairs in the last few weeks than anyone should, but I do it to save you the trouble. Benefit from my OCD so you can obsess on other things.

3) Using a 3′ long and 6″ diameter foam roller three times per day for 5 minutes can eliminate persistent middle-back pain from mediocre chair use; conversely, it can extend your comfortable sitting time by 30-40%.

A Visual Before and After

Knowledge workers often log more ass-in-seat time than sleep. Coders, in particular, are often subjected to a steady diet of Mountain Dew and hunching for 12+-hour marathons. I don’t put in these hours, but I found myself with severe mid-upper back pain from using a non-adjustable chair and craning over a desk that was too low, even for 30-60 minutes per day.

Two doctors suggested various therapies, but a quick experiment (placing a laptop on top of a dresser and writing while standing for two days) proved that posture was the problem.

In less than a week following my switch to the Aeron, all upper middle-back (lower trapezius, rhomboid major) pain disappeared completely. The results: better output during work and writing, faster and deeper sleep, and a huge smack on the forehead. Why the hell didn’t I do this earlier?

In my case, was it worth it at $450? Most definitely. Particularly looking at the value of time per hour and the lost income due to doctor visits, massage, etc., this is $450 I should have invested years ago.

Before:

After:

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Odds and Ends: Twitter Giveaway Winners

Coming soon! Patience, young Jedi. The travel bag and Fujitsu color travel scanner are gone. More giveaways coming here this week…

The post Finding the Perfect Office Chair: Aeron vs. Swiss Ball vs. the FBI's Pick… appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

This video (link) was the end result…

It contains some fantastic visual effects and showcases my aversion for wires. Note: the book fondling was requested by the team, so apologies for the Groundhog Day What About Bob?-type moment.

Most of the gadgets we filmed were edited out or just a blur in a camera pan, so here are a few of the goodies that I showed at home:

Suunto Core wrist-top computer

BonJour laser culinary thermometer for cooking and mischief

Fujitsu ScanSnap travel scanner and Canon SD300 Powershot for capturing documents (I don’t use a fax machine)

Philips noise-canceling headset (the best dollar-for-value noise-canceling headset I’ve found)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech-recognition software (Note to Nuance: Mac version, please.)

Sony VAIO VGN-TXN27N/T 11.1″ laptop (no longer available; similar model here) with extended battery and tweaks for 12-hour+ life

17″ MacBook Pro (I don’t use a desktop at home because you can’t “close” a desktop screen for closure and work-life separation)

Victorinox E-Motion 360 4.0 25″ Trek Pack Plus (Trial by Fire winner of this bag to be announced next week!)

Firelite external USB-powered storage for travel and back-ups

Cellphone – LG basic (recently replaced with the LG Chocolate) from Verizon w/ extended battery – I go low-tech here for reasons obvious in my book. I don’t email from a handheld. I have multiple cell phones for overseas use.

Safedrive pocket breathalyzer (I originally bought this to bring to a party; it’s the ultimate conversation piece — “I can beat you!” “No, I can beat both of you!” Use responsibly.)

Sony DreamSystem home entertainment system with 5-DVD changer and surround speakers

Sony Grand WEGA 60″ HDTV-ready widescreen TV

Belkin PureAV power surge protection

These students really busted their asses to get the video done, and it’s a view count and ratings competition, so if you like it, please click here and rate it well! This team flew to SF, shared rooms, pulled all-nighters, and — in my opinion — deserves it. It could be their big break.

What new digital tools or toys can’t you live without at home? Do you have anything that sets you apart, or that provokes “oooh”s and “aaaah”s from friends?

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Follow Tim’s misadventures and experiments in real-time on Twitter.

Odds and Ends: Victorinox Winner

Thank you all for your patience — and awesome promotion — with the Victorinox Trial by Fire competition! I was totally overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and innovative approaches. I’m humbled and honored to have you as readers. Kick-ass! No word back yet from History Channel on the show, but you’ll be the first to know.

Without further ado: the winner is Mr. Raley, who got the show (and The 4-Hour Workweek) mentioned on the Dennis Miller live radio show with 1.5+ million listeners. The runner-up is Lee Burrell, and an honorable mention goes to Markus for his Facebook campaign. Markus, the .jpg link in the comments wasn’t working!

Many thanks to Charlie Hoehn for helping with selection. Mr. Raley and Lee, please look for an e-mail in your inbox in the next 48 hours.

Thanks again to all, and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

The post Digital Cribs: Homes with Practical (and Impractical) Technologies (Plus: Victorinox Winner) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Don’t pimp real foxes. That’s just mean. (Photo: wildphotons)

38.16% of the people who visit this site are still using Internet Explorer (IE). It’s like buying a hybrid car for the gas mileage and then driving with flat tires and the doors open.

This post will serve two purposes: first, to introduce beginners to features of Firefox (FF) that make it worthwhile; second, to introduce more experienced users to the favorite add-ons of Matt Mullenweg (lead developer of WordPress) and Garrett Camp (co-founder of StumbleUpon). Perhaps you’ll like one or two of mine…

If you aren’t using Firefox, here are a few short reasons to start:

* Built in spell-check

* Lightweight and fast

* Intuitive shortcuts

* Continually being improved

* Better than a college degree (some think)

* Extensions (also called “add-ons” or “plug-ins”)

Extensions lead us to this post. Kid in a candy store time.

After you’ve made the leap and switched to Firefox (download it here), here’s are the extensions you can use to take it to the next level:

Google Toolbar

Installing the Google Toolbar is the key to Firefox efficiency. It is the starting point.

It gives you one-stop access to Google RSS, Google Docs, Google News and Google Blogsearch. Google Docs lets you store and collaborate with word processing without being tied to local Microsoft applications. Google RSS lets you read news without surfing and Google News and Blogsearch are two of the best methods for bloggers to track trends and events. I use Google Highlighter to find terms on pages with tons of text.

The FF search bar in the top-right corner is one of the most helpful features of the browser. Instead of going to Google.com to do your searches, you can search Google and others sites from a drop-down window in the top-right of any window. Just hit Cmd + K to jump to the top-right search box, then Cmd + arrow up or arrow down to choose among searching on Amazon, Creative Commons, eBay, and more. If you get stuck without FF, you can do the same in the Google search field on any browser with “parkour site:youtube.com” to find parkour videos on YouTube, for example.

Alexa Sparky Toolbar

Try and use simple tech tools to separate professionals from amateurs whenever possible.

The Alexa toolbar – a small plug-in – lets you do that in a ruthlessly numerical way. As you surf, it gives you each site’s traffic rank (and historical chart of traffic, like a stock chart), based on several metrics, in the bottom right-hand corner. I often use the web for meme research, media filtering, and competitive analysis instead of web dev, and this tool is my first line of defense.

Some estimate that a million-plus rank is just a few dozen people a day. In the mid-six digits (Ex: 200,000), you’re looking at people with sizeable audiences, and once you crack 100,000, you’ll begin to find professionals, some with readerships larger than most newsstand magazines.

General Rule: Alexa is a valuable first-look tool to keep you from giving too much credence to a professional design, or — alternatively — being scared off by site that doesn’t care much for first impressions.

Alexa is not a complete rank, however, and is flawed in many respects. It’s the first step for me when evaluating media opportunities or baseless traffic claims, but I supplement Alexa with the following analytic tool: SEO for Firefox.

SEO for Firefox

The SEO for Firefox add-on is used for search engine optimization. I don’t use it for tweaking this site. I use it for media and competitive research, as it allows you to see in normal Google results — once turning the add-on “on” — the resulting sites’ pagerank, links on Yahoo!, Alexa traffic rank, Compete traffic rank, Bloglines rank, Technorati rank, and much more. To supplement this, if serious about competitive research, I suggest viewing Quantcast when possible.

Important: turn off this add-on when not in use.

Definr

I’ve used clunky dictionary extensions for Firefox before and — in all cases — I’ve found simple to be better. Definr is a company that takes clean interface to a new level – the homepage has four links and one of them is the search button. It caches the most commonly searched words so it doesn’t waste your time.

Delicious

Using Delicious, every article I’ve ever felt was worth saving is available to me anywhere in the world from any computer. This is something we’ve discussed here before.

Delicious lets you batch your daily read (I tag things with “to_read”) into one single task instead of an unending barrage of distractions or tangents. It also makes it possible to quickly and conveniently track down things resources you’ve used in the past, so you don’t waste time in fruitless searches.

Make sure you install the Classic Delicious extension — it’s cleaner, easier to use, and less prone to feature abuse.

Matt Mullenweg and Garrett Camp’s Favorites

Matt Mullenweg‘s favorites, which he explained on a ferry en route from Santorini to Milos island in Greece, include:

Foxmarks – syncs bookmarks across multiple computers

Google Browser Sync – syncs cookies and passwords (see these newer substitutes)

PWDHash – auto-generated customized passwords for various sites

Firebug – according to Matt, “one of most significant web dev tools of the last 3-4 years.” It’s a “net profiler” that indicates how long each element on a page takes to load.

Google Gears – faster and improved browser performance (local caching, etc.)

Garrett Camp‘s must-haves include:

TabCatalog – shows contents of all of tabs as a thumbnail-style list (using F8 or other hotkey you designate). Great for not having to flip through tabs to see what is open or find what you’re looking for.

Stylish – Customize the look of your browser or mail client. Stylish is to CSS what Greasemonkey is to JavaScript.

StumbleUpon (please slap yourself if you’re surprised) – Learn how to stumble across things you like, kill memes dead, or spread idea viruses. Here’s the description of how it works.

Experiment, extend, and go nuts. Have any of your own favorites to share? Better alternatives to the above? Please share in the comments.

The post Pimping Firefox: The Basics (Matt Mullenweg, Garrett Camp, and More) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Bigger is better? (Photo: ikelee)

According to University of Utah researchers, using a larger monitor could save you 2.5 hours per day.

Specifically, test subjects completed everyday tasks like editing documents and massaging spreadsheets 52% faster when using a 24-inch monitor than they did with an 18-incher.

Not sure who uses 18-inch screens (17″ and 19″ are more typical), but I’d be curious to see how productivity with a 24-inch screen without Expose compares to a 17″ Mac with Expose activated.

If they are referring to docs and spreadsheets, it would seem to be a mostly scrolling-based discrepancy, n’est-ce pas? I suspect that if we use double-finger dragging on a scratch pad to scroll vs. a mouse, this gap would narrow.

Any theories to explain the difference, and how to make a smaller screen behave like a larger screen? Top picks for afforable 20-24″ monitors? I’m planning on a 22″ Acer LCD in black and hope to quantify the difference over a 4-week period.

[Thanks to Scott Allen via Wall Street Journal for the tip.]

The post Size Does Matter — Bigger Monitors Save 2.5 Hours a Day appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

The Slingshot Monkey is guaranteed to make anyone a 6-year old. What could be better?

I love Christmas.

Bright colored lights, snow, butter cookies, multicolored socks, scarves, pine trees, garland, the warmth of flames in the fireplace and uplifting cheerful music that gets everyone tapping and smiling… ah, X-mas!

But… sometimes it’s hard to figure out what to ask Santa for or what to tell Santa to get for other people…

I was recently asked, along with some fun folks like Kevin Rose of Digg and futurist Ray Kurzweil, by Popular Science to name my ideal Christmas present and dream gift. Here are all of the answers.

But a lot of next-gen tech stuff is hit-or-miss. Here are 10 random gifts I love — from $3.45 to $379 — that have perfect batting averages thus far as crowd pleasers:

1) Slingshot Flying Monkey – $3.45

My little brother got one of these for X-mas last year. In between wanting to stomp on his head, I played with it so much that I had to buy my own. It’s really, really hard to stop… that is, until someone has a complete meltdown and threatens to rip your arms off.

2) Bumble Bars, Original Flavor With Almonds, 1.6-Ounce Bars (Pack of 15) – $22.90

Flax seed and “gluten-free” don’t usually set the taste buds off, but these Bumble Bars are AMAZING. I first had one when my mom was suffering from food allergies several years ago and they were one of the few permitted goodies. I decided they were my new diet-compatible addiction and bought a boatload of boxes. My favorite flavor is almonds. If you prefer fruit, I also like Lara Bars, though they tend to stick in your teeth, which makes me nuts (get it?).

3) Planet Earth DVD Set – $54.99

Shot over 5 years with 40 cameramen in 200 locations… all in HD. This is has been called “the best DVD you’ll ever see” and it’s by far my favorite DVD set of the last two years. It’s breathtaking, and I’m hoping to interview the producer on this blog soon. Want something more fictional? Try the white-knuckle Epitafios from HBO, filmed in my second home of Buenos Aires.

4) Michel Thomas language learning CDs – $50.37

Michel Thomas is one of the few language teachers I recommend, and he walks the talk. If you want to get to conversationally fluent in record time (1-3 weeks for basics), give these a shot. It’s hard to find better, and you learn in real-time. No written drills whatsoever.

5) Victorinox E-Motion Travel Bag– $239

The only all-purpose travel bag I’ve had survive my beatings through 15+ countries. Here are a few things I like: the handles revolve so you won’t break them or your wrists; the wheels are the best I’ve ever seen and won’t jam; the bag converts to an exceptionally good backpack — sufficient for hiking — in about 30 seconds; the damn thing is just near impossible to tear or break; and it just looks cool. This bag is 10x better than several bags I’ve owned at 3x the price. If you want a home-run bag that you might never need to replace, this is the one.

6) Subscription to Audible.com (also from Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari) – $7.49+

Have iPod will travel. Get your loved one something they can use — a subscription good for at least one audiobook per month. Want to listen to audiobooks faster? I saw a demo of FasterAudio, and it speeds up the rate without distorting it into Alvin and the Chipmunks.

7) Griffin Evolve Wireless iPod Dock – $300

iPod content is one thing, but what about the kickin’ home sound system? Hating wires like I do, you might consider getting a dock with wireless speakers that you can put anywhere in your house. One charge seems good for about 13-14 hours (!), which is plenty for any party or relaxed night of audiophile activities.

8) Lavazza Blue Pininfarina LB1010 Cappuccino Machine – $379

Lavazza is usually associated with $5,000 machines. This new personal- or office-use cappuccino maker brings world-class espresso, coffee, and cappuccino to your door. For book deadlines or just marathon sessions of Planet Earth, this is a must.

9) Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-inch portable GPS navigator (also from Mark Frauenfelder, co-editor of BoingBoing) – $300

Not much bigger than a deck of cards, this is a “personal GPS system,” meaning that it can help you whether you are on wheels or on foot. It is designed to fit in your pocket and also doubles as a player of music files and audiobooks. Just plug it into your computer via USB and you’ve got external storage. Very cool.

10) The 4-Hour Workweek – $11.97

It’s one of the Best Books of 2007 and a Top 10 (!) Customer Favorite on Amazon, and it’s now in its 26th printing after hitting #1 on the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and Businessweek bestseller lists. What type of marketer would I be if I didn’t suggest it as a good X-mas pre-New Year’s resolution gift for those who would enjoy more time? You could even be the 500th person to review it (at 496 now)!

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Odds and Ends: Outsourcing Olympics results and more…

Outsourcing Olympics:

Who won the Outsourcing Olympics? Who did you vote as the best sites for personal outsourcing? Check out the results here.

Best Blog Designs of 2007:

This blog was voted one of the Top 53 Blog Designs of 2007 by Adii! Thanks to a few of you for letting me know. Who woulda’ thought? Congrats to everyone on the list, including the uber-cool-hat-wearing Ryan Carson and WebWorkerDaily, who just voted 4HWW one of its Top 10 Books of 2007 for Web Workers.

4HWW featured on The NY Times blog:

Marci Alboher writes about combining 4HWW, GTD, and 43Folders for time management here.

The post 10 Random Gifts That Please Almost Everyone appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.