Keyboard Karma ~ by Helen Crozier

Inbox Zero is sticking!

If it takes 30 days to make a 'habit' I'm so close that I'm nearly cracking out the champers for this one! I've tried lots of systems and tools in the past but to be honest after 2-3 weeks those systems and tools start to wear thin and the backlog builds up. THIS TIME seems different and the reason is clear. I have some serious synchronisation going on - where ever I'm working. Previously I was downloading emails into Outlook because it was my preferred method of dealing with email. I tried and liked Taglocity for sorting the emails and putting them into folders but it truly wasn't the simplest system around. More and more frequently I was finding myself out and about and needing to deal with emails - yes I could read and answer emails on the iPhone but then when I got home the emails would be downloaded again into the desktop. Double handling (yuck) and I didn't have the facility to be able to sort the emails into their appropriate folders.

Now since I've signed up to Google Apps for my domain all that has changed. This costs $50US per year to host and what a bargain. Sometimes it's a little fiddly to set up but once it's done you are in for a treat. I collect all my email into one google email bucket (personal and business). I can use google's coloured labels which replicate in Outlook as 'folders'. I'm going for minimal folders however to keep it simple:-
@action
@data entry
@print
@read
@reply
@waiting.

I then have a folder for each of my top 5 projects and one for expenses (which probably isn't necessary - I could do a 'search' for invoice, receipt and that would bring up all emails accordingly - it just feels safer!)

Now here's the great thing. Whenever I handle an email in any of the three places - Outlook, Google Mail or the iPhone a magical synchronisation happens and I never have to double handle anything!! If I have spare time and I'm with my iPhone I can check AND process email at the same time - either replying or filing or reading and deleting. When I'm at my desk and feel like a bit of Outlook work I can get in there and click on the @reply folder and knock of some answers to people. Finally if I'm on anyone else's computer I can log into gmail and work from there.

To think we had to deal with Microsoft Exchange etc before this was happening - at a cost of thousands of dollars... (Of course calendars, contacts and documents are also available to work with in this way.... bliss) I'm putting together documentation on how to put this all together very soon so stay tuned!

Sugarsync - my favourite backup/file synchronization service

As we start to work more and more "in the cloud" it becomes important to have a way of connecting all our data together and making sure the latest documents we have worked on are synchronised (and backed up).

Numerous services exist. I have tried Beinsync but found it confusing and it has made one client's computer extremely slow while backing up. Another client has used Carbonite with some success. The product I'm most excited about right now is Sugarsync. For $24.99US per year you can synchronise/backup 10gb of files. That's a hefty amount of data. Business accounts are available for up to 250GB!

How Much Storage Do You Need?

Here is what you can fit in a 10GB account.

Once you have set up what folders you would like to use the service on it's a breeze to use. You install Sugarsync on every computer (including MAC) that you will be using or use the web interface to access your files. Both web and mobile phone access to your files is then possible .  You can open or email links to files in a snap from whatever computer/mobile phone you are on. The iPhone application is sensational.

Why do I love it?
The interface is not only pretty to look at, it's intuitive.
It doesn't at all seem to be a resource hog - you don't notice it's there.
It's very affordable - I"m thinking about taking the step of moving up to 30GB of critical data for $49.99US a year - so I can sleep better at night and have access to that many files wherever I choose to work.

What will make me love it more?
Outlook PST file synchronisation - as in emails, calendar, contacts and tasks (big ask I know...) (using Mozy purely for that as a supplement right now)
Being able to backup "My Websites" - it doesn't seem to like html files so they aren't carried over - bit of a pity but maybe that will be fixed. I keep those on a memory stick for portability.

Sugarsync is owned by Sharpcast - I tested out their photo synchronising software a little over a year ago and thought it was amazing. This document/file facility is mind blowing really. I'm so pleased they've received a funding boost and can't wait to see what comes out next!

There's a 45 day 10gb trial if you want to test it out. I can't emphasise enough the importance of having at least some of your 'criticals' backed up offsite and this for me seems to be the smartest way to do it.

New Blog - My Fabulous iPhone

I decided that thee wasn't enough room on the one tech blog for all the passion! 

I realise that if you don't have one it can be a little annoying to read anything about iPhone's so as of yesterday.... all iPhone posts will now be written on my new venture www.myfabulousiphone.com.

If curious however.... do please come over and have a drink/check out the decor!

Chapura Key Task issue resolved

I had crashing problems with my task list on the iphone! Chapura support were very prompt in getting back to me with the solution. I needed to remove any & or < > symbols in the category names. Yes.... something quick and simple...what bliss that it works and now my lists are synchronising and keeping me sane.

Chapura key tasks for iPhone crashing

Was loving Chapura's Key Tasks for iphone especially since categories were added but today I went to sync (over the air) and got this lovely crash. Last time it happened the only solution I found was to take the app off then reinstall. Support didn't know of the error. Have emailed them again asking for help. My task list is on the laptop which I left at the office and also on the Chapura server but I can't get to it. Should I possibly consider using a moleskine notebook? Anyone else finding this error?

Chapura Key Tasks adds Outlook category support for iPhone

Thank goodness. I swear to you I've been almost checking  my iphone three or four times a day waiting for this update. I was in bliss when Key Tasks appeared for Microsoft Outlook but without category support it was next to useless. Now it's there and it works I'm in heaven. Thank you Chapura... my only suggestion would have been to wait until you had it before you released. In plain english..if you have separate lists (like David Allen from GTD fame suggests) you can now have those lists appear in proper order on the phone - my lists are simple but necessary.

Here are mine....
@Calls
@Errands
@Home
@Work
@WaitingFor
Projects
Someday/Maybe

Now I can abandon all the other todo applications I had to use until this was sorted... yay!!!

Travelling Coach reporting in from Spain!

So it is Friday evening here and I just this afternoon arrived in Granada after a gruelling 35 hour journey from Sydney to La Herradurra. But hey.... it was so so so worth it!! I was at the wedding of a very dear friend and if you can imagine an almost Spanish ¨Mamma Mia¨situtation in terms of the beautiful location - it was an experience I will never forget! I was one of three photographers and was very happy with the Lumix FZ28 and to be honest the results of some of the photos has made me want to rethink my career. My friend used to always call me ¨hjc famous french photographer´..... and push me towards one of my dreams to be just that (the french part only because we were in Paris at the time!) - so perhaps it is fate (she thought it so)that she was the reason I purchased the camera and found my artistic side again! In the next day I will find a good photo to put up. The one in this post is just from the iphone but it is the view from where I write this!

Technology woes and wins on the journey so far?
Panasonic Lumix FZ28 - big win!! 356 photos - a lot of beautiful natural portraits at the wedding making use of the spectacular zoom.
Hopeless keyboards on the free internet at Singapore Airport however there were free charging booths available for all manner of gadgets.
Forgetting to turn on global roaming for the iPhone with Optus so I could make arrangements by text.
Not being able to log on to a free wi-fi bar on the iphone despite showing as being connected (frustrating)
Free wi-fi at the b&b where I stay works very well however & there is a computer for general use as well (so I can finally track down the Optus phone number to get them to turn global roaming on).
Lonely Planet Speaking Phrase Book (Spanish) has been helpful.
Earworms MBT Learning Spanish has also planted quite a few phrases into my brain - sometimes they just pop out!!

Love it here ..... can´t wait to get out and take more photos and writing!!

Kensington mini battery pack saves the day

I've been critical of the iphone's battery life. Considering how much the iphone is expected or demanded to do it's probably reasonable but in reality it's never enough. If I'm surfing/emailing/taking the odd call or browsing the app store I can run out of juice within 90 minutes. I can't imagine what it's like if I were to try to use the iphone to play music as well!! Anyway Kensington have come to the rescue and supplied us with this nifty little battery pack/charger. They are available in Australia next week according to Kensington themselves but I managed to get this one off a local ebayer. It does what it says it should - restores function to the iphone when it has run out of powerand charges it. I probably could have done with two to cover me while I'm away but I'm getting into the habit of having the iphone in the wall charger as often as I can remember when I'm at home. You plug the charger into the iphone and then the power cord into the charger - thereby charging both the battery pack and the iphone at the same time. Brilliant! It cost $54 - not too bad - and it's not only small but very slim .... I'm happy.

Sydney RTA Traffic Cams on iPhone

This morning was a nightmare for those commuters unfortunate to be travelling over the harbour bridge. A poor man had to be cut out of a car - imagine having an accident at 6am in the morning! Terrible.... the bridge was affected for hours.

The RTA have had their webcams available for some time. Strategically placed eyes surveying our clogged roads have provided insight to occasionally make decisions about whether it's possible or even wise to attempt a journey across the city.Images are updated every 60 seconds but that makes them only useful as you walk out the door. Between the time you do that and get part way to the camera things could have changed as they often do in a split second.

This morning I happened to find and download a free iPhone application (SydTraffic) which sends images of all the cameras to your iPhone. Now that's much more useful. I just sneaked a look at the Harbour Bridge as you can see below and all seems quiet...... For those of you in other states - put pressure on your local authorities to provide the same service - it's the least they can do!

 

Beware iPhone auto-correct

I've been having a few problems with the iPhone auto-correct feature lately!! I like to try to type as fast as possible and the iPhone usually does a good job of correcting my mistakes on the thumboard (please please Mr Jobs, we so need a nice apple bluetooth keyboard for this gadget).

Often however I don't check the auto-correct and it will put some strange words in if it doesn't 'know' what you are trying to say.

Example being.... this text conversation with Poppy....  I was trying to give her something to look forward to when she got home for 'arvo' (translate teenspeak - afternoon tea) but instead the phone wrote 'argo'.... what/who the heck is Argo?

Anyway I managed to see it in time but earlier today sent a totally jumbled message that hardly made sense because I had not checked as I was typing. Memo to self - check, check and double check the whole message before pressing send... this feature might send something totally inappropriate if I don't keep an eye on it!

Outlook Tasks on iPhone with Key Tasks from Chapura

One of the things that gave me a heart attack when I picked up my iPhone was the realization that there was no synchronization of tasks from the desktop! I tried a few replacements but was not so happy that I had to stop using Outlook to manage my to-do list. I had been doing it for so many years - it was kind of hard to stop! Anyway I was working with toodledo - which synchronised at least to the web - meaning I didn't have to solely enter and manage the lists on the phone (I'm still pretty slow at typing on the phone ... please please please Mr Steve let us have a bluetooth keyboard!). It was working ok but didn't feel right to have to use something outside Outlook.

However.... on Friday night I discovered a little surprise! Chapura had released keytasks for the iPhone. Woohoo!! I was downloading it faster than the speed of light - excited about going back to my nice Outlook 2007/Getting Things Done lists!

I was unfortunately a little premature with my excitement. This version does not support categories. Oh dear!!! I find it impossible to work from one big long uncategorized list but tech support have promised that category support and a date problem fix will be coming asap in the next update. Can't wait.....

One nice benefit of the keytasks is that your tasks are synchronized to the 'cloud' on Chapura's server. You download free software for any of the computers you are using Outlook on and in a couple of minutes you are synchronizing away on auto pilot every 15 minutes. So technically I could have a computer at home and at the office plus a phone. When-ever I change my task lists by adding, deleting or completing etc the next time I use a computer it will synchronise and bring in the changes. Vice versa as well. This is what you pay $12.99 (in Australia) per year for.... The advantage is that if you dash out the door before synchronising via iTunes, you can still synchronize on the iphone itself and it will bring any new tasks down through the air. Bliss......and thank you Chapura - once the category support is here life will be restored to better than normal.

ps I've been a big fan of Chapura's Keysuite for Palm for many years - it gives you a much better interface and many more options than using just the inbuilt Palm calendar/contact/task & note applications

Did technology make me sick?

Been laying low with a wicked pneumonia-type cough. Not nice being woken up by a rattling chest! Anyhow the antibiotics and puffer seem to be working and I think that
after ten days of being very under the weather tomorrow I will feel much more like taking part in life.

Mostly too weak to do much apart from a little Spanish and a tiny bit of research for my sabbatical next month.

Very happy to have booked accommodation in Granada at a flat with wifi. Great to be able to email family from the iPhone at no cost!

I'm getting the hang of this silly keyboard.
(sent from my iPhone)

Second iPhone working like a dream

After another technological disruption it seems as if I'm finally back on track. I posted my faulty iPhone to Apple last Monday. On Thursday morning a brand new replacement arrived by courier. It's fine.... I must have just been unlucky. I've been locked away with it for the last week putting it through it's paces. Pushing it every which way in terms of new applications, email, web surfing etc. I've gone a bit crazy with the applications - it's almost addictive 'shopping' to see what new software is available. It's a bit like ebay in a way! I've installed 28 new apps so far and will be reviewing them over the next few days.

Concerns? Well the major one is battery. Really I am getting used to using the iphone as a laptop replacement on occasion. I can surf, read my news, check email, really do a lot of things on it which is great. The thing is I have to remember to keep the phone plugged into the wall as often as I can because 1-2 hours of full-on use will drain the battery. That's not so good..... I need to look at my different options because it's not like other phones where you can buy a spare battery and put it in when you run out of juice!!

SplashID - one place for all your codes, serials & logons

I've been a big fan of SplashID for years (since I started with the Palm handheld devices 6 years ago. It's a simple but sophisticated piece of software that enables you to carry all your codes, sreials, logons, identification info with you where ever you go. Enter the information on your desktop if it's easier. Set up categories and different 'types' of data. Icons can be used for visual clarification.

Happy to see that an iPhone version has been released. With the luxury of more screen real estate it will be much more useable than it was on the Treo. Even though my laptop did a crash a couple of weeks ago I had backed up the data and have just restored it to the returned laptop, then synchronised to the phone.

The application for the phone has cost $12.99 - a small price to pay to be completely organised with these tiny bits of information often used on a daily basis but not often enough to be memorised!

Technology merry-go-round & iPhone day 6

Spending far too much time on the keyboard as it were - sorting stuff out. Of course being the impatient one, I couldn't wait for my laptop to come back from repairs before I started using the iPhone. This was a bit silly but I suppose understandable to a degree. I was synchronising the iPhone to the old toshiba then the repaired Lenovo returned Monday morning and wanted a piece of the action. Since then I've been spending far too much time getting things 'right'. I found I was entering appointments however on the iPhone and they wreen't coming through to my Outlook. Panic stations! Have spent a lot of time today on the phone to apple who were pretty helpful. They think there was a corrupted events section of Outlook causing the issue. I'm not so certain as there were loads of people on the Apple forums complaining about similar problems. Yuck!!

I also found out this strange fact. The iPhone has bluetooth but it only works with Apple headsets - nothing else!! Go figure!. So if I want to synchronise via bluetooth or god forbid send some data to another iPhone it won't happen. Weird.

I've found a suitable Outlook tasks replacement which I'm very happy with. I'll write about it later in the week. I think it will actually work better than Outlook which is great. There's the ability to link tasks to goals which I think is pretty cool. Back to work tomorrow, no more fiddling or tweaking!

All complaints aside I'm still loving my new phone.

iPhone Day 3

Well I'm still mostly a happy vegemite with my new gadget. I find it a joy to use - very easy to read and intuitively easy to get to know. The iTunes Apps store is a big time killer but eventually that will wear off. I keep downloading applications eg typepad (simple blogging via the phone), New York Times, Lonely Planet Spanish Phrase Book (yes I paid for something ...this was $12.99), Evernote, and a few others which I will write about as I become more familiar.

The ringtones are nice. Battery life is not so bad considering how much time I'm spending on it. I have a problem with the bluetooth which I will investigate on Monday - it doesn't seem to want to pair up at all and continues 'searching' for devices... a bit annoying but I'm sure it's fixable.

I'm still getting used to the digital keyboard. I hope it wouldn't be too much to ask for a bluetooth (when it wokrs) wireless keyboard. I like this device so much I could almost see it being a laptop replacement so if I could type faster on it as I did with the palm keyboards I'd be over the moon!

Sorry Palm, but I'm besotted with the iPhone

Mission accomplished this morning! Poppy & I were in the city by 8.30am and there was a fairly long queue at the Apple store - the meet & greet man said there was a 1.5 to 2.0 hour wait but in actual fact it was closer to 40 minutes in the line followed by 20 minutes doing paperwork. I signed up with Optusnet for 24 months on the plan that gives me 850mb of data. That gave me a 15gb black iPhone as part of the contract. I added insurance and extended warranty. By the time Poppy & I got to the cafe in Dymocks my number had been ported over. The very generous Dymocks had an open wi-fi network which I didn't need because the data component is completely unlimited in the first month. Still, it was good to be on the  look out of where there are these networks to email & browse without eating into my Optusnet limit.

I bought a hot pink neoprene case which is a snug fit and does the job.  I had fun taking photos during the shopping trip and on the ferry home. There have been grizzles about the quality of the camera but I found it to work well in low light conditions and the images seemed sharp to me.

Here is a shot from the ferry. Nice day for all the World Youth Day kids to be in town! This afternoon  I  set up email, itunes etc and added varous nifty applications. On the whole I'm incredibly happy with the decision to change over. I'd been dreaming of the iphone before it was even invented so to finally have my own is really great. I find that compared to the Treo 680 the large screen is the bonus. It does take a bit of  getting used  to entering info with the digital keyboard. I seem to misjudge the spot and haven't quite worked out which fingers or thumbs are the most accurate  ones to use! I was pretty shocked as well to find out that while the iPhone synchronises to Microsoft Outlook Calendar & Contacts - it does NOT synchronise Tasks and Notes from Outlook. I have to get my head round this as I've been using the task side of things for years. There are plenty of applications around that I could use instead however and I will just have to investigate which of those will be the best.

Oh... while I was out the service centre called me about the Lenovo -  they were asking me if it was OK to reformat because they couldn't turn it on. I asked them to try to save the data on drive D as there were a few documents I would like to have - they then said "Not sure if that will be possible..we will try.. but if not is it ok to reformat?" What could I say? NO?