If you are amongst the bleeding edge tech hounds that need to be first for every little gadget and upgrade, you might want to rethink updating to iOS 6 until Apple has worked out the kinks. In our culture of “it’s shiny, it’s new so upgrade now!” this particular case can be hazardous (or at least VERY stressful) to your health.
Amongst many of the issues reported, those of us that use our smartphones for business and work will find these issue noted below particularly painful:
Apple Maps – yes, 3D is cool but tell me where I am and how to get where I need to go = fail!
Passbook – nice idea but doesn’t work = fail!
WiFi – the most egregious of all because it’s not connecting = major fail!
Music – disappearing artists, songs, and playlists = fail!
While we love the hype, the energy, and excitement of new Apple roll outs, this kind of roll out is embarrassing. My recommendation is to wait until the kinks are worked out and then upgrade to iOS 6. You’ll be less stressed and your family and friends will like you.
I love my new ScanSnap S1500M! I just do. This product paid for itself not 4 hours out of the box. Tasks that would have taken me days, even weeks, to do were accomplished in a short time.
Business cards that were piled up – done! Oh, and input into my contact manager! Conference manuals and notes stacked beside my desk – now digitized and searchable. Sweet! File cabinet print outs from previous projects are now converted to Word documents.No more paper clutter.
Did I say I love this tool?!
Save files as PDFs, searchable PDFs, Word, Excel, add to your contacts and in color or black and white. Everything I have wanted to do the Fujitsu designers and engineers seem to have thought of. Even if there is a paper jam, a window pops up showing me the last item scanned and asks if I want to rescan it after I clear the rollers and continue with my project. Nice work.
If you are an information hound and collect research, periodicals, newspaper clippings, business cards, and more – you have to get a Fujitsu ScanSnap. If you do, let me know what you think. If you already have one, tell me of your experiences here.
Saw an interesting article today by Kurt Grandis. After a six-month productivity study of teams using Python and C#, Kurt states, “Given our development processes we found the average productivity of a single Django developer to be equivalent to the output generated by two C# ASP.NET developers. Given equal-sized teams, Django allowed our developers to be twice as productive as our ASP.NET team.”
A programmer friend of mine says, “You have to write 3x more code in C# just to do the same stuff….”
Read the article on Kurt’s blog and tell me what you think about Python v. C#
My friend, Heath, introduced me to App Trap the other day and I do not know how I have lived with out. It is a great little app for the Mac and needs to be on every Mac computer (hear me Apple?).
I love trying new software. Yet, every time you download and install an application or trial version, files get placed in all kinds of places. Many apps come with an uninstall feature, but there are many that do not. Welcome App Trap. This free software (although you can make a PayPal donation, which I’d recommend) will save you all kinds of time hunting down pref files and other assorted library files.
Once you install App Trap it sits and watches what applications you download and delete. When you delete an app you will get a message asking you if you want App Trap to delete all the other associated files to that application. Once you say “yes” App Trap neatly rounds up all the files and plops them into your Trash. They are not gone until you empty your trash so you can easily retrieve them if you feel you’ve made a mistake. It is that simple.
Download a copy today and you’ll be singing it’s praises as I am. If you already have it or know of something better, comment below.
I took the plunge. I bought a 3G iPhone today. Some might have said, “bad timing” with the expected iPhone Nano announcement, but I needed a phone now. I actually like the bigger phone because I have bigger hands than most.
I’m checking out of the AT&T store and the salesman says, “would you like a case for your iPhone to protect it from drops?” I look at the selection and prices and told him I’d wait. He then went on to say that if the phone got broke somehow I would have to pay an additional $100 (retail price) to replace the phone.
Say WHAT?!
It seems, when you first buy an iPhone, the cost is $100 off the “retail” price after which you are not eligible for the discounted prices for another 21 months.
HUH?!
Maybe I missed some small print somewhere. Where on the Apple site or AT&T site does it say any of this?
If you install Google Gears, you can edit Docs word-processing documents offline, and Docs automatically syncs them with the online version the next time you sign in online.
If you make other folks collaborators on Docs documents and spreadsheets, everyone can work on the files simultaneously. To invite collaborators, head to the upper-right Share button (for documents) or Share tab (for spreadsheets).
It’s a snap to publish documents created in Docs as blog posts—just select “Publish as web page” from the Share menu, and then click the “Post to blog” button.
If you want to embed a Docs presentation in a Web site, just go to the Publish tab, click “Publish document”, and then copy the HTML that appears in the Mini Presentation Module box. Paste the code into your site’s HTML, upload the revised version of the site, and voilà!
Google gives you a whole slew of functions to help make working with spreadsheets more efficient. (The GoogleLookup function is particularly nifty.)
If your Docs list is getting cluttered, you can hide files (documents, spreadsheets, or presentations) to keep your list clean. Just turn on the checkbox next to any file you want to hide (you can select more than one), and then click the Hide button. To make a hidden file reappear, find All Items in the left-hand menu and, if necessary, click its + sign to expand it. Then click Hidden to see your hidden files; select the one(s) you want to see in your Docs list, and then click Unhide.
You can easily turn spreadsheet data into all kinds of charts: column, bar, pie, line, area, or scatter. To create a chart, open your spreadsheet to the Edit tab, select the range of cells you want to convert into a chart, and then click the “Add chart” button. In the Create Chart box that appears, tell Docs what kind of chart you want to create and fill in the other info it needs, and then click “Save chart.”
If you create a chart based on a Docs spreadsheet, you can save it as an image and insert it into a Docs document. After you create your chart, click its upper-left Chart link and select “Save image”. Save it to your computer, and then open the document you want to put it in. Click Insert and select Image, then tell Docs where to find the file on your computer.
If you don’t like a change that you (or someone else) made to one of your Docs files, no problem. Just head to that file’s revision history (click File and then choose “Revision history”) and pick a previous version that you like better.
If you’re working on a computer that doesn’t have Adobe Reader and you need to print a document, click Share and select “View as web page (Preview)” to open the formatted document as a Web page. You can then print it from your Web browser. The formatting isn’t quite as good as if you print from a PDF—and you’ll probably have the browser’s header and footer—but all the content is there.
If you’ve published a Docs document as a Web page, you can make the Web page update automatically whenever you edit the document. Just click Share and select “Publish as web page”; then turn on the “Automatically republish when changes are made” checkbox.
To see how your Docs document will look to folks you share it with, click the Share This Document page’s “Preview document as a viewer” link. If the preview doesn’t look quite right, then go back and edit the document before you share it.
You can add YouTube videos to your Docs presentations. In the blue bar above the edit pane, click “Insert video”. Google opens a box where you can search YouTube videos by keyword. Find the one you want and click it to select it. Then click the Insert Video button to put the video on your slide. Once it’s there, you can move, resize, or delete it, just like any image or shape. During a slideshow, viewers can play the video by clicking the Play button on its slide.
When you’ve got several collaborators editing the same document all at once, have each person choose a different color for his text to help sort out who made what changes. (The simplest thing is to have each person use the same text and highlight color.) Then, when you finalize the document, simply select the whole thing and click the “Text color” button to change the rainbow of text colors to basic black.
With Google Docs, you and your coworkers can edit the same document simultaneously, so you don’t have to waste time emailing files or tracking down the current version.
Put the Gmail gadget on your iGoogle page so you know right away when new email lands in your inbox (and can read it with one click).
When you’re away from a computer, check your Google Calendar events and appointments by sending a quick text message from your cell phone. Send one of these messages to GVENT (48368):
“Next” to get a message about the next event in your calendar.
“Day” to get a message listing all of today’s events.
“Nday” to get a message listing tomorrow’s events.
Don’t waste time waiting around for a friend or coworker to answer your email. Use Google Talk to see at a glance whether the other person is online; if she is, click her name to start chatting.
Quit slowing yourself down by reaching for the mouse. Use the keyboard shortcuts available for Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Calendar to bring your data entry up to power-user speed.
If you use Firefox or Internet Explorer to browse the Web, install the Google Toolbar so you can keep an eye on Gmail, add events to your Calendar, and open files as you zip around the Web.
Use Gmail’s colored labels so you can scan your messages and quickly find what you’re looking for. Or simply use Gmail’s awesome search feature to zero in on a message.
Creating a Web site? Don’t get flummoxed by HTML, CSS, or any other what-the-heck-does-that-mean acronym. Use Google Page Creator, which comes preloaded with layouts and color-coordinated themes so you can see your pages as you build them.
Speed up data gathering by creating a form that automatically feeds data into a Google Docs spreadsheet: Create a new spreadsheet, and then click the Share tab. In the “Invite people” section, turn on the “to fill out a form” radio button, and then click “Start editing your form”. The form can have text boxes, multiple choice lists, checkboxes, and radio buttons. Click “Next, choose recipients” and specify who’ll receive the form. You can publish the form to the Web or embed it in your Web site or blog. When someone fills out the form, the info goes straight into your spreadsheet.
Send or receive files as you chat in Google Talk—no waiting around for someone to remember to send them via email or drop them off at your desk. Just drag-and-drop the file into the chat window, and off it goes.
Gather the info you refer to most in one place: your iGoogle page. Using Google gadgets, you get at-a-glance access to news headlines, weather forecasts, local movie times, a dictionary, and a whole lot more. So instead of chasing information around the Web, you’ve got the info that’s important to you right where you want it, all on one page. Best of all, you can put mini-versions of your Google apps on iGoogle, including Docs, Gmail, Talk, and Calendar, making it easy to keep an eye on your work and sending your productivity through the roof.
As a reader of WeirdGuy blog I’d like to humbly ask you to help me. I have a short 10 question survey running from August 28 – September 7, 2008 on Zoomerang. The survey should take 2-3 minutes to run through. Your thoughtful responses will aid me in future developments for this blog.
I realize I am asking you to volunteer your time, but I value your opinion. Please follow the link provided today — the survey is only available for 10 days.
And, if the survey takes longer than 2-3 minutes then you can feel free to spam me with your hate mail.
Thank you for your patronage…can I say “patronage”?…whatever, you know what I mean.
By the way, I’ll reveal the findings here on WeirdGuy when the survey is up, so if you want your response to count, now is the time to act…now! If you do not care, then what are you doing here at WeirdGuy blog to begin with?
I’ll be taking a week off to focus on closing out a project (July 28-August 1). More to come from the lessons learned during this engagement. It’s a really cool online course with custom hooks into a client app. The back-end was designed as “plug and play” so content can quickly and easily be swapped out while still being applicable to the course testing and grading scenarios.
I attend a lot of meetings. I find that I take better notes when I write with pen on paper than trying to type with my 4-finger method. Consequently, I find myself transcribing my notes into my laptop so I can have electronic copies of them.
This takes a LONG time for me.
I have tried scanning in documents and using OCR software, but with handwritten notes it is terrible. I will not even attempt to clean up the documents. It is faster to transcribe.
I have been looking into digital notepads and wondered how well they worked. If you have used one or know someone who has, drop me a note in the comments section below. I wonder if it would be worth inversting in one….
Here is a post from dAlen about Flock, the Social Web Browser. If you blog, use Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, or YouTube you will want to check this browser out.
Flock also provides tools for bloggers and other users who want to create content—and that’s where this browser really shines. If you run a blog, you have the option of inputting your log-in information for a number of common weblogging hosts and services, such as Live Journal, Movable Type, or Blogger. Once you’ve entered that information, you can click on the browser’s Blog option to launch a pop-up window that is preconfigured with your weblog’s categories and posting options, and also provides space for writing an entry.
This video from Digital Ethnology demonstrates the changing paradigm of content/information transfer and their inter-relationship with our shifting lifestyles.
After watching it, tell me what you think will be our greatest challenges over the next 10 years. Comment below.
By Phil Dunn, co-author of The 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing
Your customers and prospects live in an information-driven world. They respond to the latest news, product developments, insights, tips and announcements, and they build relationships and purchase accordingly. By inserting yourself into the news stream and building targeted audiences online, you become part of the authority system and enhance your value to prospects and existing customers.
This sounds like a difficult thing to do, but it’s not. Follow the steps below to launch a few key initiatives that improve the quality and quantity of your leads, and increase your profits.
1. Establish authority and expertise online and in the press by automating a news gathering, posting and dissemination system for your specific niche.
Once you’ve established a few Web pages for company news, press releases and updates that are focused specifically on your niche audience, you need to automate its ongoing development. Use someone in your own company or outsource this updating process. The key is to keep the information fresh and dynamic. Subscribe to news alerts and RSS feeds. If the stories are copyrighted, have the staff summarize them and then link to the article/post. If not, you can re-post the content with a link to the attributed source in many cases. Direct prospects and customers to your news site/blog when articles specific to them materialize. As this system matures, you’ll be seen as a very focused expert in your particular business niche. Yet, all you’ve really done is employ the services of outside journalists and news gathering systems.
2. Create a link on your site for press inquiries, speaking engagements and interviews.
Make sure your blog or news micro-site has a highly visible link that shows journalists how to contact you and the process for scheduling interviews or event engagements. Use this page as a filter, so you can weed out time-consuming inquiries and busy-bodies that have little value to you. You can do this by writing a short description of your specific expertise and experience. You’ll also want to set up auto-responders for the email link you provide here.
3. Post to industry/niche-specific discussion boards.
Many of your blog posts and ideas can be posted as advice, instruction or step-by-step processes on discussion boards that focus on your particular technology, niche or business audience. Find the communities where your prospects congregate for information, and post.
4. Reference testimonials and case studies.
One of the best ways to establish authority is to have others do it for you. Use quoted testimonials from existing and past customers to toot your horn for you. Make sure they’re specific to you personally (if you’re a sales person) and to your specific expertise/niche. Make this a part of your ongoing business development process, and use them everywhere. Put them in the right side margin of your news site/blog. Use short testimonials as signatures for emails. Print them on the back of business cards and post cards that you send out.
5. Maintain trust by eliminating hype, sticking to facts and offering help.
When you’re writing copy for your sites and lead-generating materials, pay particular attention to your tone, style and choice of words. Keep it simple, clean and free of excess. No excess verbiage, adjectives, adverbs or claims. Don’t post rumors, half-truths or agenda-driven articles. If you’re truly offering value, then you don’t need to sugar coat it or pump it up with “marketing-speak.” You can be enthusiastic, of course. Emotion helps you sell in all of your selling-related endeavors. But, be aware that the emotions and feelings you’re looking to build—trust, confidence and respect—are best established with clarity, straight-forwardness and expertise. Most importantly, make sure every piece of information you pass along to your audience has genuine value for their particular needs and interests.
Source: Phil Dunn writes marketing materials and provides strategic consulting for Fortune 500 companies. Visit his Web site at www.qualitywriter.com
Alright Apple, spin this however you’d like, but the fact remains people want more memory at a better price. The “cool factor” is starting to wane and many iPhone adopters see their friends with inexpensive phones and iPod’s with lots more memory that still get the job done.
So, Mr. Jobs, get off your high-horse and eat the bitter pill of unmoved iPhone inventory. Yank out the low memory guts and replace it with more. Then you’ll be able to recoup some of your production and marketing costs.
Like I said in the article, Your Virtual iPhone, what I have works great and I am not switching until this product gets where it needs to be — and it will get there. To bad many will spend 2 to 3 times over what it would have cost to wait for the “right one.”
Apple doubled the capacity of the iPhone and the iPod Touch on Tuesday for an additional $100.
Apple thinks that there’s still room for an 8GB iPhone in the mix, said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of worldwide iPod and iPhone product marketing. The first time around, people signaled pretty clearly that they wanted more than 4GB of storage, but he thinks that there’s still a “sweet spot” at 8GB of storage.
And the iPod Touch can also store more music and videos now, with 32GB of capacity for $499. That device is now available in three versions, with Apple also selling a 16GB model for $399 and an 8GB model for $299.
WireTap Studio from Ambrosia Software is an entirely new audio application with a broader range and appeal for Mac users everywhere. The major feature of the original WireTap Pro application was the ability to selectively record and format audio from any Mac application. Uses ranged from recording Internet radio to ripping audio from DVDs. WireTap Studio provides a more complete solution with tools to preview, record, edit, and manage your audio.
My friend, Dalen, recently turned me onto WireTap Studio, and for only $69 that rivals most other competitors. A few standout features highlighted on the Web site:
After recording, edit your clips with WireTap Studio’s revolutionary and completely lossless editor. Lossless master recording technology enables you to edit your recorded audio without any loss of quality or content. Come back days, months, or even years later and undo the changes you’ve made. You can even take a file you mistakenly recorded at a lower quality and increase the quality at any time, without the need to re-record!
Even better, patent-pending LivePreview™ technology enables you to preview your audio before you capture it, saving you lots of time and stress. No longer will you need to record multiple bitrates and formats and then compare them side by side. Change the bitrate, compression format, or even add Audio Unit effects, and hear the changes in real time – before you record!
You can also set up a timer to record and format audio while you’re away from your computer. Also, exporting files is drag-and-drop easy. You can even export to your iPhone — cool!
After you watch the short series of tutorial videos you’ll want your own copy of WireTap Studio or you’ll want to try the free trial version. System requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later, QuickTime 7.0 or later, 1GHz G4 or faster, or any Intel Mac
Tell me what you think in the comments section below. Have fun!
Even with all the advancements in social networking and security, we still need to be careful. The increasing number of attacks is dismaying. To borrow a line from Lemony Snicket, “The world is not a nice place.”
Social networks such as Facebook were one of the main targets of cybercriminals this year, according to security experts.
According to MessageLabs, sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo present rich pickings for cybercriminals as many people give away a lot of personal information in their profiles.
“The rapid adoption rate of social networking sites such as Facebook has inevitably been exploited by cybercriminals intent on adding the content in these sites to their portfolio of tools,” said Mark Sunner, chief security analyst at MessageLabs.
“As we have seen in the past, mass adoption of new communication or web-based tools is often followed by a rise in the number of threats against it and the ‘Facebook’ effect will present new challenges to corporate and personal online security,” Sunner said.
To make receiving articles from this blog easier for you, I have supplied an email link (top/right). No more having to surf over to WeirdGuy, you can have WeirdMail sent directly to YOU! Get the latest on fun, creativity, and learning — all with a business mindset, sent to your inbox weekly.
Waiting for the price of hyped gadgets to come down is the most sensible strategy, according to research.
David Kuo of Fool.co.uk said: “We’ve tracked some of the top gadgets on the market today and on average, �87.20 has been slashed since a product first launched. If you can hold out until the original hype has died down, you can make some significant savings.”
“However, if you do find the latest technology too tempting, there are some gadgets that hold their value longer than others, but there are no guarantees they will do so over the long term,” Kuo said.
Fool.co.uk found that the Nintendo Wii was still the same price – �179 – as it was in December 2006. However, a Samsung Blu-ray Disc player that went on sale in March 2006 for �800 now cost only �476, a saving of �324.
One example of waiting for prices to come down being the best option was seen recently when the Apple iPhone was launched in the US.
If you are amongst the bleeding edge tech hounds that need to be first for every little gadget and upgrade, you might want to rethink updating to iOS 6 until Apple has worked out the kinks. In our culture of “it’s shiny, it’s new so upgrade now!” this particular case can be hazardous (or at least VERY stressful) to your health.
Posted by ebrown 
Waiting for the price of hyped gadgets to come down is the most sensible strategy, according to research.
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