A few weeks ago I told a man who worked at a big company about watching Foursquare employees chatter in a column on Twitter. He said, “I wish my competitors talked so freely on Twitter, but I’m sure they don’t.” I sent an email to the virtual assistant program FancyHands and asked them to look up engineers at said company on LinkedIn, then search for their names on Twitter and send me those usernames. I got enough back that I was able see what lists they had been put on and find more. I then put together all those people on a list and sent it to my new friend – saying “your competitor’s engineers do chatter publicly on Twitter, here’s one link you can click to subscribe to them all in one stream.” Thanks, Twitter.

Fancy Hands mention on TV! (Check out how awesome the site renders in their browser too!)

Hiring, Hiring, Hiring

Fancy Hands is growing. While we always need assistants, we need some more specialized employees as well. Do you know anyone near New York City who is ready to work with a fast growing, totally awesome company? Please get in touch. If you refer someone that we hire, I’ll give you a jar of pickles, or a beer, or a cat*. Heck, if you refer someone who applies, I’ll give you one of those things.

We’re looking for:

* Cats and pickles available while supplies last…

msg:

I’m a big fan of Fancy Hands, a service that allows ppl to outsource tasks.

I’ve created a new tumblr that curates somes of my task requests.

I’m always looking for new ways to train my brain to ask for more requests; would love to hear some of the tasks you request/would want to request. Please submit them here.

bustr:

Oh yeah!

bustr:

Oh yeah!

Ted Roden, a former technologist for The New York Times, developed Fancy Hands in June 2009 not long after his wife gave birth to their first child. He said he needed help with day-to-day minutiae like scheduling baby sitters and resolving problems with his cable bill.
We made a small appearance in The New York Times on Sunday.
brycedotvc:

via @joshk
In Praise Of Vagueness

Precision is dangerous, a closed door keeping us from imagining new possibilities. Vagueness is that door flung wide open, a reminder that we don’t yet know the answer, that we might still get better, that we have yet to fail.

In Praise Of Vagueness

Precision is dangerous, a closed door keeping us from imagining new possibilities. Vagueness is that door flung wide open, a reminder that we don’t yet know the answer, that we might still get better, that we have yet to fail.

(Source: realistthoughts)

(Source: leilockheart, via hiten)