Continuing with the theme of my last post, below are the main web services i use on a regular basis or sites I'm a fan of. I don't have a lot of time to research and find new tools, so I hope I can get some useful suggestions from others.

ToodleDo: This is the best online task management system I've tried. It has a mobile app which syncs, supports tasks with complex recurrence patterns, and is pretty easy to use. I put all my life's tasks in here, even small ones, just to get them "out of mind."

Google Calendar, Docs, Gmail: These are sort of no-brainers. They sync nicely with my phone and allow me to share my data with my family and classmates.

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook: I check these once a day and use them just for networking/contact info and keeping up with my friends. I'm really not a power user of these yet.

Delicious: Nice site for bookmarking with tagging and private bookmark capabilities. I rarely remember that I have a Delicious account when I run across something I like, but when I do, I'm happy about it. It'd be nice if it could save a snapshot of the page in case it gets taken down, but I'm sure other services out there do that.

Flickr: I've been trying to get into photography more, and I host some of my work here. I generally just upload completely raw/unedited files that I'm proud of. I have a good friend who is an inspirational photographer who puts up TONS of photos on Flickr; maybe one day I'll be as cool as him. The site is easy to use and their desktop uploading app is pretty handy. I haven't played much with the social features of Flickr.

SoundCloud: Only used this once for my own mix, but it was a breeze to set up, and browsing the site had a really nice UX.

Issu: This is a site that lets you "publish" your own high-quality, full-screen readable documents/magazines (a bit like Scribd). I've used it a couple times and enjoyed it.

DropBox: I've started using this to collaborate on files a lot since starting at UCLA. It's much more easy to use than Google Docs for files that live on my computer and across computers, like Excel and Word files that I don't want to convert to Google Docs yet.

Kindle, Audible, LibraryThing, Netflix: These are my "entertainment" sources. I've had the pleasure of reading my Kindle books across a number of devices and enjoy the page syncing across them. I've recently been trying out Audible and have been impressed by how many books I could potentially "read" in my car (especially on double speed). I only wish that one "purchase" of an Amazon book allowed me to read it (in sync) across Kindle and Audible together. I use LibraryThing to catalog the books I own and need to read and the books I want to purchase/borrow and read in the future. Netflix is what I use for movies on DVD and streaming (though I love going to the theater too). I wish on-demand films came out day-in-date with the theatrical release and feel that will eventually happen. I don't really watch TV or play games anymore, hence the lack of those on my entertainment roster.

If there are sites or services you think I'd find useful or interesting, definitely leave a comment.

To change up the topics a bit, I'm going to write a few posts about the sites and services I use on a regular basis as well as the content I read. I'm doing this for two reasons. First, some of these took me a bit of time to find and may be useful to people who read this post. Second, I feel like I'm not very knowledgeable about what lesser known services and sites are useful, and I'm hoping my readers can comment about that and share their insights.

This first post will be about the feeds in my Google Reader. Seems like a concise enough topic that I hope others can find something interesting in and hopefully contribute to. I'm not sure if there's already a mechanism to learn about what feeds a person reads online; that could be an interesting thing to use.

Below, I list the feeds I read, their RSS URL, and perhaps a comment on why. If you're a friend of mine who has a blog that I'm not following, I probably just don't know about it, so email me or leave a comment. Also, if you know of a blog that you think I'd be interested in, let me know as well. Thanks.

BankersBall (finance/investment banking)
http://www.bankersball.com/feed/

Bootie Blog (mash-ups, DJing inspiration)
http://bootiemashup.com/blog/feed
         
Both Sides of the Table (entrepreneur/VC in SoCal who is extremely  knowledgeable and experienced)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/BothSidesOfTheTable
         
BrandonK.com (entrepreneur friend of mine from LA)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Brandonkcom
         
Can Sar (CS friend of mine from Stanford)
http://www.cansar.com/feed/
         
DealBook (finance)
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/feed/
         
DJ Earworm - Music Mashups (mash-ups, DJing inspiration)
http://djearworm.com/feed
         
dotgrex dsp (CS friend of mine from Stanford)
http://www.dotgrex.com/dsp/?feed=rss2
         
Dustin's newborn blog (UCLA MBA friend)
http://dustingoot.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
        
Embark Entrepreneurs (CS friend of mine from Stanford)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/tristanharris_blog
         
Eric Sornoso's Cave (LA tech/social media friend)
http://www.ericsornoso.com/feed
         
Feld Thoughts (entrepreneur/VC from Boulder who is a great writer and gives excellent start-up advice)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/FeldThoughts
         
FX Week (currency trading mag)
http://feeds.fxweek.com/rss/latest/fxweek/all
         
Hacker News
http://news.ycombinator.com/rss
         
Jim Stengel (UCLA marketing prof)
http://www.jimstengel.com/thought-leadership/feed/
         
Kaizar's posterous (UCLA MBA friend)
http://blog.campwala.com/rss.xml
         
Kukhahnyoga's Blog (one of my yoga teachers)
http://kukhahnyoga.wordpress.com/feed/
         
lalawag (LA tech scene)
http://www.lalawag.com/feed/
         
Mashable!
http://feeds.mashable.com/Mashable
         
Master of 500 Hats (VC)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/typepad/500hats
         
Noah's Big Adventure (high school friend)
http://blog.noahlevin.com/feeds/posts/default
         
paidContent (media/advertising)
http://feeds.paidcontent.org/pcorg/
         
Private Equity Wire
http://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/rss.xml
         
Slashdot
http://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdot
         
Steve Blank (VC, good start-up advice)
http://steveblank.com/feed/
         
TechCrunch
http://feedproxy.google.com/TechCrunch
         
Techmeme
http://www.techmeme.com/index.xml
         
The Gates Notes (Bill Gates)
http://www.thegatesnotes.com/rss.aspx
         
The Good Men Project Magazine (cool mag/blog on modern manhood issues)
http://goodmenproject.com/feed/
         
The Happiness Project
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/TheHappinessProject
         
The MBA Insider's Blog (UCLA MBA blog)
http://mbablogs.anderson.ucla.edu/mba_admissions/index.rdf
         
The MBA Student Voice (UCLA MBA blog where my classmates write)
http://mbablogs.anderson.ucla.edu/mba_students/atom.xml
         
The Smooth DJ (DJ friend of mine)
http://www.thesmoothdj.com/atom.xml
         
Valleywag
http://feeds.gawker.com/valleywag/full
         
WayTooEarly (VC)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/waytooearly
         
xkcd.com (funny nerdy cartoons)
http://xkcd.org/atom.xml
         
zero hedge (finance news/crazy conspiracy theories)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/zerohedge/feed

In the midst of an in-depth lecture on intellectual property and contracts with talent, my entertainment law professor went on an aside about doing business properly and ethically. It was a captivating few minutes that really rang true to me and echoed a lot of the principles that I've written about here before. Below are the suggestions of my prof; let me know what you think.

1. Business success is dependent on relationships. So much of the way deals get done and people get hired is through relationships, referrals, and networking, so it's important to make meaningful connections and build a strong reputation.
   
   Two concrete actions my prof recommends towards this end are being nice to your staff and placing your own calls. Your staff and colleagues are the ones who spread information about you and affect how you are perceived, so it's important to keep them happy (among many reasons for doing so). And when people don't place their own calls and instead rely on third parties like assistants, it creates an unnecessary distance, inefficiency, and sense of haughtiness that eventually harms the relationship.
   
   
2. It's not a negotiation unless you’re willing to walk and have a legitimate Plan B. Otherwise, it's just a robbery. It's critical to have other options and a reasonable BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) so that the discussion can be a real negotiation and compromise rather than one party clearly taking advantage of the other.
   
   
3. Don’t do business with lunatics or those who have any reasonable chance of going bankrupt. It's clear that both of these situations cannot perfectly be avoided or are in one's total control, but whatever one can do to prepare through checks and research (due diligence, references, UCC-1 filings, liens, etc.) can save a lot of trouble later. Lunatics can cause immeasurable headaches and immensely expensive lawsuits, and bankruptcy can completely destroy any value through canceling executory contracts.
   
   
4. Always prefer short, clear, simple, and complete contracts. I wrote about this before, but my professor reiterated the point again. So many problems can be avoided by having clear, direct, and short contracts that avoid misunderstandings and lengthy court proceedings. Don't be afraid to tell your lawyer to cut the agreement in half and remove extra sections, even if they argue they're "standard." In contracts as in speeches and life (and blog posts--though I have trouble following my own advice here), brevity is king.
   
   
5. The image of your work is critical. Perception is a reality, and every detail affects your reputation. Fix typos, and learn to punctuate correctly. Don't be lazy. (I've written about this before and suggested some good books on grammar and punctuation.)
   
   
6. Cultivate the bond of trust through thoroughness and taking your time. My professor gave us the example of a client calling and asking for something "tomorrow" when in fact the work would require 2 days. While most people would cave and deliver suboptimal work tomorrow or just be late on their promise (and maybe try to hide from them), the right way to go is to tell them you need a week and deliver excellent work a couple days early.
   
   As a recipient of the "wrong" approach before, I know how annoying this is. I definitely prefer people who set expectations realistically and deliver great results as promised, even if it's slightly slower than I'd want.
   
   In failing a client with the wrong approach, you break the bond of trust that can never be restored (or with great difficulty).
   
   In addition, many people err by saying what they think (with 90% certainty) is the answer rather than expressing uncertainty and expressing a need to research. The right approach is to say that you'll do the research and get back to them and most importantly do as you've promised.
   
   
7. Happiness is the freedom to leave whatever you're doing or wherever you are and to do what you want. This was sort of a counterintuitive thing to hear, but it made sense after some consideration. If you are in a place where you can leave and say good-bye to your firm or your boss, it means you have a true power and inner freedom to do what you want, and that brings happiness. My professor loves his firm and his work, and hearing him say this sort of message affirmed this in a new way.
   

If everyone stood behind a set of principles or advice like this, I think business would operate a lot more smoothly.