Today, it’s my birthday.

We’re gonna party like it’s my birthday.

We’re gonna sip Bacardi ((Actually, no. Never. Bacardi is the most horribiliest rum in the world. Really. Unfortunately, a tiny island in the North Sea isn’t the best place to get decent rum, so we opted for 7-year-old Havana Club. Better than nothing.)) coz it’s my monstertrucking birthday.

I decided to make us two birthday presents.

One for me, one for you.

Here’s mine:

The New TFA

You might already have seen it last week: The Friendly Anarchist looks different now.

When I started to think about the redesign, I had a few ideas in mind: I wanted a new logo. I wanted less marketing bullshit. I wanted an increased focus on the content.

The Logo

As great as Banksy’s flower thrower is, it’s being used on too many mediocre products now. I wanted something new, while preserving the basic idea of friendly anarchism that characterized my old logo. After thinking about it for more than a year (ask Mars, if you don’t believe me) and working with two designers on the problem, I’m extremely happy with what we came up with.

I don’t want to explain it. Ultimately, everybody has her own view on these things. I just hope you like it as much as I do. ((Because, at the core, this gift is as much for you as it is for me, of course!)) The logo is what friendly anarchism is all about. That’s it.

The Marketing

Social media buttons are useful because they bring traffic to your site. They are also ugly as hell and they track your visitors. That’s why I decided to throw them out.

Facebook never existed in my world. Google Plus didn’t matter too much, either. I deeply appreciate when users of these platforms share my content with their peers, but while I like the people, I didn’t want the buttons on my site anymore. That’s why they’re gone.

The Hello Bar is gone, too. I coded my own bar, and, honestly, I prefer it.

Finally, even the Twitter button is gone. But there’s still a “Tweet this” link at the end of each post because Twitter is the only larger social network I still use. ((Who knows how long that will last. They are behaving like anti-social apes recently, so  I’m not sure until when they’re going to be around. In my life, at least.))

The Content

The most central thing in the new design is: The content. I’ve got some interesting stuff lined up for you, the At Work interviews only being one part of it. One indicator is the new tagline: (Un)Productivity. Personal Sovereignty. Interestingness!

Prepare for some nice things to happen here over the next few months.

But for now, let’s turn to your present!

Your Present: Productive Anywhere, 50% Off

As a small surprise for you, I decided to offer a birthday sale for Productive Anywhere – the e-guide that takes you out of the office and onto the road. I never did a sale like this before, but now that I’m turning 31 it’s certainly a good moment!

Here’s the deal: 100% of the goodness for 50% of the price.

That means that you can get the complete e-guide (including the interviews, the anti-overwhelm guide, and my personal toolbox) for less than 20 bucks!

All you have to do is follow this link to get straight to the shopping cart and use the discount code BDAY2012 before proceeding to checkout. (Or, if you’d rather like to read a bit more about Productive Anywhere first, here’s all the info.)

This offer is only valid until September 5th, so if you’re on the fence, now is a great time to buy!

Update: The sale is now finished. Thanks to everybody for your kind wishes and for supporting my work! I deeply appreciate it!