Readers who’ve been following PickTheBrain for the past few months may have noticed my inability to pick a tagline and stick with it. Each one I chose felt wrong after a couple weeks because the purpose of the site continued to evolve. I started writing without a plan and followed my inspiration. After more than 6 months of experimentation and feedback, I’ve finally found a purpose and a tagline that I’d like to explain. Click here to continue »

People love tips. A list of tips is the easiest way to make the front page of Digg, attract dozens of back links, and acquire hordes of RSS subscribers. The tips don’t even need to be new or insightful, they just need to make sense and cover an interesting topic. Who doesn’t enjoy useful information in an easily digestible format?

The problem with tips is that they’re too delicious. People become obsessed with prepackaged information nuggets and stop thinking for themselves. When an article focuses on theory, no matter how brilliant it is, people complain that the information isn’t “useful”. The definition of “useful” has become so narrow that it only includes information that applies directly to a concrete problem. This reluctance to master and apply conceptual knowledge is a symptom of intellectual laziness. Click here to continue »

The sheer number of blogs in existence makes a writer’s most difficult task distinguishing themselves from the pack. From an informational standpoint, this is practically impossible. Somebody, somewhere, is sharing the same knowledge you are, and odds are they’ve been doing it longer and have more authority. How then, can a beginning writer break through the wall of anonymity and attract a large audience?

The answer is style. Writing is an art form, and although it can’t be taught, it can be learned. Understanding the principals of this article will help you channel your inner author and attract a devoted following. Click here to continue »

Note: This post is the last update in an experiment with the slow carb diet. For a better understanding, read about how it all started.

It’s been a full 30 days following the slow carb diet. After the first couple weeks it became routine and I barely noticed it. If anyone wants to lose weight, I’d recommend giving it a try. The hardest part is cutting out all the white carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes, etc.) and the sugar, especially from drinks. Click here to continue »