<p>Human creativity does not live in a vacuum. Of shoulders and giants, right? This is the short story of one thing leading to another.</p>

<p>I've been really inspired and motivated lately (largely) because of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/blackbeltjones/" title="Flickr: moleitau">Matt Jones's</a> make believe poster design that read <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackbeltjones/3365682994/" title="Don't keep calm and carry on. on Flickr - Photo Sharing!">Get Excited and Make Things</a> in response to an old WWII poster that said "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/18/keep-calm-carry-on-poster" title="Keep Calm and Carry On">Keep Calm And Carry On.</a>" I've been very productive and moving forward on a <a href="http://theveganstraightedge.com/" title="The Vegan Straightedge">new project</a>. </p>

<p>Shortly after that, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber" title="John Gruber - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">John Gruber</a> of <a href="http://daringfireball.net/" title="Daring Fireball">Daring Fireball</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_Mann" title="Merlin Mann - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Merlin Mann</a> of <a href="http://www.43folders.com/" title="43 Folders | Time, Attention, and Creative Work">43 Folders</a> did a "panel" at <a href="http://sxsw.com/interactive" title="SXSW Interactive: March 12-16, 2010 | SXSW.com">SXSW</a> called "<a href="http://sxsw.com/interactive/talks/schedule?action=show&amp;id=IAP0901308" title="Full Schedule of SXSW Interactive Sessions | SXSW.com">149 Surprising Ways to Turbocharge Your Blog With Credibility!</a>". Basically it was about how to not be a douche bag, do something great and incidentally make a little money doing it. Or there abouts.</p>

<p>There were several little nuggets of 'wisdom' that really resonated with me. But one had a great impact on me than the rest: Obsession Times Voice. <a href="http://daringfireball.net/2009/3/obsession_times_voice" title="Daring Fireball: Obsession Times Voice">Gruber seems to agree</a>. You can listen to the full audio of the session from <a href="http://www.43folders.com/2009/03/25/blogs-turbocharged" title="43f Podcast: John Gruber &amp; Merlin Mann's Blogging Panel at SxSW | 43 Folders">43 Folders</a>. (While you're listening follow along with <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davegray/" title="Flickr: dgray_xplane's Photostream">Dave Gray's'</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davegray/sets/72157615766728785/" title="SXSW 2009 - a set on Flickr">speaker notes in comic form</a>.)</p>

<p>Obsession Times Voice. That's been ringing in my head for a few days. I decided to make it my desktop background for constant reminder, especially as I work on my new <a href="http://theveganstraightedge.com/" title="The Vegan Straightedge">vegan straightedge site</a>. </p>

<p>They are available for free download either as a PNG or a PDF. There are two variations: dark on light and light on dark. Both colors used are Daring Fireball grays<sup><a href="#bottom_footnote_greys" name="top_footnote_greys">1</a></sup> (hat tip). I made them very large to work with big screens. You can either crop them or just set them to center up on your desktop. I don't suggest scaling it down. </p>

<p>The URLs are:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969357/" title='Flickr Photo Download: "Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Dark on Light'>Dark on Light on Flickr</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969357/sizes/o/" title='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Dark on Light on Flickr - Photo Sharing!'>original size PNG</a>. Or as a <a href="http://assets.veganstraightedge.com/photos/linked/2009-03-27/obsession-times-voice-dark-on-light.pdf" title="Dark on Light PDF">PDF</a>, if that's your thing.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969353/" title='Flickr Photo Download: "Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Light on Dark'>Light on Dark on Flickr</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969353/sizes/o/" title='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Light on Dark on Flickr - Photo Sharing!'>original size PNG</a>. Or as a <a href="http://assets.veganstraightedge.com/photos/linked/2009-03-27/obsession-times-voice-light-on-dark.pdf" title="Light on Dark PDF">PDF</a>, if that's your thing.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969353/" title='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Light on Dark by veganstraightedge, on Flickr'><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3436/3390969353_b245e8a045.jpg" alt='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Light on Dark'></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969357/" title='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Dark on Light by veganstraightedge, on Flickr'><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3390969357_b1c7dc6ecf.jpg" alt='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Dark on Light'></a></p>

<p><a name="bottom_footnote_greys"></a></p>

<ul>
  <li>Dark Grey RGB (74 82 90)</li>
  <li>Dark Grey HEX (#4a525a)</li>
  <li>Light Grey RGB (238 238 238)</li>
  <li>Light Grey HEX (#eeeeee)</li>
</ul>

<p><a href="#top_footnote_greys">Return to story</a></p>

<p>Today I got an email from a recruiter who found my resume online. Typically, recruiters are pretty douchey, but this email was pretty good. Not too <em>used car salesman</em>. You know the type. But the part of the email that rubbed me wrong was the obligatory legalese non-sense footer. It goes like this:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>This message contains information which may be confidential and privileged. Unless you are the addressee (or ized to receive for the addressee), you may not use, copy, re-transmit, or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received the message in error, please advise the sender by reply e-mail @[REDACTED].com, and delete the message. E-mail communication is highly susceptible to spoofing, spamming, and other tampering, some of which may be harmful to your computer. If you are concerned about the authenticity of the message or the source, please contact the sender directly.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Oh yeah, it was in 9pt Arial. Pretty tiny.</p>

<p>Here's the part that's bullshit, that a person / organization can try to presume that I have obligation to maintain some secrecy about the contents of a first email or any email without my express agreement. It's like a one way contract. It'd be like if I mailed you a lease saying that you owed me rent. And just because I said it was so, you would be obligated to mail me a check every month. Whatevers. Shenanigans.</p>

<p>On top of all that, there was absolutely no confidential or privileged information in this email. So many people are so uptight about their 'intellectual property' that no one else cares about.</p>

<p>(And, yes, I'm aware that it's probably enforced upon the employee from the employer to include this footer. I'm not blaming the dude. I'm just saying it's bullshit.)</p>