7.) Take a break from all your electronic connections to the world once in a while. You'll be amazed at how life slows down.

“Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”
- Bruce Lee

Yes, I quoted Bruce Lee. I do it quite often. His quotations are surprisingly relevant to the world of technology.

6.) Simplicity is the central tenant of truth, genius, and all good design.

"Never memorize what you can look up in books."
- Albert Einstein

I can't pinpoint an exact source for this quote, but I love it. I can only imagine that, if he were alive today, Einstein might have said, "Never memorize what you can Google."

5.) Be patient with your elders when they get confused by technology. My father assures me that, one day, it happens to everyone.

The Little Rules of Action

Here are a few more rules I've drawn inspiration from, this time from The Power of Less by Leo Babauta. (A fairly good books of modern Zen philosophy.)

1. Don’t overthink. Too much thinking often results in getting stuck, in going in circles. Some thinking is good — it’s good to have a clear picture of where you’re going or why you’re doing this — but don’t get stuck thinking. Just do.
2. Just start. All the planning in the world will get you nowhere. You need to take that first step, no matter how small or how shaky. My rule for motivating myself to run is: Just lace up your shoes and get out the door. The rest takes care of itself.
3. Forget perfection. Perfectionism is the enemy of action. Kill it, immediately. You can’t let perfect stop you from doing. You can turn a bad draft into a good one, but you can’t turn no draft into a good draft. So get going.

Hacker Ethic

As I said when I launched this blog, The Great Geek Manual is heavily inspired by a lot of better works that I grew up reading. One book that's always been an inspiration to me is Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy. Every time I re-read the book (which I do often), I never fail to be surprised by just how relevant the work remains.

In chapter two of his book, Levy spells out the general tenets or principles of the hacker ethic:

1. Access to computers—and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works—should be unlimited and total.
2. Always yield to the Hands-on Imperative!
3. All information should be free.
4. Mistrust authority—promote decentralization.
5. Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race or position.
6. You can create art and beauty on a computer.
7. Computers can change your life for the better.