Episode description

TOPIC: Enough.

This week, Dan and Merlin meander around the meaning of, "enough," pondering the deep existential pit we dig for ourselves and maybe how to get out of it.

Merry Christmas. Get your head out of your ass.

Links for this episode:

• Even An 85 MPH Highway Can't Fix Austin's Traffic Tangle : NPR
  Austin is the largest city in America with only one interstate running through it. Just six lanes wide through downtown, Interstate 35 backs up for miles regularly.
• The Postal Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  The Postal Service was an American electronic musical supergroup composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie), producer Jimmy Tamborello (of Dntel and Headset) with Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) on background vocals/keyboards & samplers live. For the band's reunion tour in 2013, Laura Burhenn (of the Mynabirds) joined the lineup throughout the tour to provide additional vocals and instruments, with Jen Wood filling in for a few shows.
• Operator assistance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  A person-to-person call is an operator-assisted call in which the calling party wants to speak to a specific party and not simply to anyone who answers. The caller is not charged for the call unless the requested party can be reached. This method was popular when telephone calls were relatively expensive.
• F.D.A. to Require Proof That Antibacterial Soaps Are Safe - NYTimes.com
  The Food and Drug Administration announced on Monday that it was requiring manufacturers of antibacterial soaps to demonstrate that their products are safe for long-term use or reformulate them.
• Should We Toss Our Vitamin Pills? - NYTimes.com
  One in two adults takes a daily vitamin pill, and Americans spend tens of billions of dollars each year on supplements. Now, a small coterie of physicians writing in a leading medical journal has offered this blunt advice: “Stop wasting money.”
• Twitter / hotdogsladies: Appropriatism
  'It's not that I'm opposed to "minimalism"—but, in practice, I get way more interesting results from "appropriatism."'
• Twitter / hotdogsladies: Minimalism
  'A blog series about introversion is like a cat lady about minimalism.'
• Chromecast
  
• Amazon.com : Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player : Streaming Media Clients : Electronics
  
• Amazon.com: Roku LT Streaming Media Player (Purple) (2700R) (2013 Version): Electronics
  
• Amazon.com: Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player: Electronics
  
• Amazon.com : Roku 3 Streaming Media Player : Streaming Media Clients : Electronics
  
• Set up a 3rd-gen Apple TV with a tap from your iOS 7 device
  Have a third-gen Apple TV and an iDevice running iOS 7? If you've yet to set up Cupertino's set-top box, you can do so now by simply touching your iPhone or iPad to the Apple TV. Okay, Apple's take on Bump requires a few more steps than that
• Studio Neat — Cosmonaut
  The Cosmonaut was born out of our desire to have a really great stylus for our iPads. We love to sketch out quick ideas or doodle on our tablets, and using a stylus is much better than a finger for such tasks. The problem is, all the styluses on the market are designed to look and feel like a pen. But why? Writing or drawing on the iPad feels nothing like using a pen or pencil. The perfect tablet stylus is one that feels like a dry erase marker: fast, simple, low fidelity.
• Ep. 92: "Born on a Ball" - Roderick on the Line - Merlin Mann
  The Problem: A snowstorm of quotation marks.Programming note: Hey, come out to see John
• 2013: The Year 'the Stream' Crested - Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic
  "Remember that line: permanently unfinished."
• Pencil | FiftyThree
  "PENCIL.THINK WITH YOUR HANDS."
• Frozen (2013/I)
  Fearless optimist Anna teams up with Kristoff in an epic journey, encountering Everest-like conditions, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf in a race to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.

This week's episode of Back to Work is kindly sponsored by:

• Squarespace (10% off with offer code, "GROCERYLIST")
• HostGator (use coupon code "BACKTOWORK12" for 30% off)