Keyboard Karma ~ by Helen Crozier

Saasu how did I ever live without you?

Last month Valerie Khoo included some of my preferred web applications in a newspaper (online and hard copy) article. Saasu was up there in the top three. I've got to say that it's given me a large chunk of my life back. I no longer dread doing invoices to take with me to a client. Previously I hated using MYOB so much that I wouldn't raise the bill. Then I might also delay doing it after the client visit. Insanity! Now because of how delightful Saasu is to use I actually look forward to seeing just how quickly I can raise the documentation needed to ensure cash is flowing.  Thank you Saasu. You are a dream. For those not in the know Saasu is online accounting with an almost facebook type interface. It's a Sydney based company and the support is tremendous. I celebrate the day I stumbled upon this service and seriously have done away with any thoughts of ever needing a book-keeper. Zoe Freeman of zfWeb and I were discussing Saasu over lunch recently and we were of the same opinion. It makes doing your books fun!

www.saasu.com

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!

Inbox zero again thanks to Taglocity and focus

Have been reasonably good at keeping my business (calmtechcoach) emails down to under 50 or so but I decided to bring in my personal Gmail account to Outlook. I asked Gmail to only send emails 'from now onwards' but something strange happened and about 700 emails came flying into the inbox. It was pretty gross but perhaps a blessing in disguise. I had to 'face them' rather than ignore them for any longer.

So this morning I disconnected the internet knowing I would need an extraordinary level of focus. Using Taglocity (see previous post here) I managed to obliterate the inbox and get it back down to zero in 5 hours. It wasn't pleasant. I had to take breaks and then go back to it. I was doing a very good clean up though - New Year sort out - unsubscribing to newsletters like you wouldn't believe. Some people/organisations make that easy to do, others make it more difficult and I understand why it's easier sometimes to just hit the delete key rather than kill the source properly!

Anyway I'm all happy now and ready to get answering all of the emails in my @Action folder. Taglocity is great I have to admit..... back to sleeping better perhaps!

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.

Taglocity + Outlook 2007 = inbox zero

Taglocity has recently revamped it's services. I did purchase the program back in version 1 days and was quite impressed. Something stopped me from using it permanently and I cannot recall what that was. With a bit of a reinvention they now provide an easier user experience. I've downloaded the trial account and am so far loving it. For almost two weeks I've maintained 'inbox zero' as a result of reinstalling taglocity.

There is a small learning curve with setting the system up however this is well compensated for with the results.

What are these results?I am able to with one click of a tag on my tag bar assign a category to an email (it is possible to assign multiple categories).

Each tag can have associated actions. For example if I tag a file @read it will immediately put it into the @READ folder for me. If I tag it @Data it sends it off to my @ACTION folder but has the category '@Data' so it is grouped together with other emails requiring me to do some data entry. Nice!

If I tag an email @Call it creates a task in the @ACTION folder with the @Call category making a nice list of people to contact on the telephone.

If I tag an email @Archive180 it removes any other action tags that I have created and stores it in my 6 month archive folder.

I am now down to FOUR email folders and loving it.

My @ACTION emails are categorised within that folder with very little effort at all thanks to Taglocity.
@Call
@Computer
@Data
@Errands
@Home
@Office
@Pay
@Reply
My current @ACTION email folder when sorted by category looks like this!

What I try to remember to do is to 'flag' all the emails that go into @ACTION with a 'no due date flag'. If an email as been 'flagged' it will show up in the task 'to do list' view which is just wonderful. In that view I then have a mixture of tasks AND emails requiring action all in the appropriate categories.

This 'to do list' view in Outlook doesn't force me to convert my emails to tasks - it just treats them as a task because of the flag. On the other hand, items that are captured on the fly via Chapura's Key Tasks on the iphone are also seen in the lists.

The result is a system which is the merger of two different workflow inputs. The things I have to do result I think roughly from 75% emails and 25% other (meetings, calls, brainstorming, weekly review etc).

If I am still happy with this system after 30 days of constant use I will mark it as a complete success but in the meantime if you are having problems with email overload consider giving taglocity a go.

There is a free version but I will be upgrading to the professiona versionl. My main reason for that is with the professional version you can take away the 'travelling tags' at the bottom of your emails. It is not a feature I particularly embrace! Email support is provided for professional users and more premium features are promised. Currently there is a special offer - until 31st December you can purchase Taglocity 2.0 for $60US - 40% discount off full retail of $99US.

I will be writing about other benefits of taglocity soon but there is more information available on the taglocity site - eg Benefits for Individuals.

PS My inbox was persistently clogged at around the 200 email level - not huge but not what I was happy with. Since using Taglocity I've gone to sleep almost every night with an empty inbox. Do I sleep better? You bet!

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?

Blog vs Website

Back from a fun AAPO (Australasian Association of Professional Organisers) Chapter Meeting (thanks Susanne, Less Mess and Sarah, Heavenly Order). Great time to just chat about what's going on with us all and learn from eachother's experiences. I was chatting to a couple of the girls about their plans for web presence and they were thinking of putting a small site together. They asked me how I did my 'site' and I explained that it's just a Typepad blog ($89US/year) - very economical really. I pointed out all the obvious things about flexibility, google's love affair with blogs, etc. Yes a blog 'is a website' .... but with Typepad's (or Wordpress's) 'page feature' you really can make your own site without spending hours and hours learning Front Page or Dream Weaver.

Here's a thoughtful article on the issue.... Thanks Trish Jones!

Logitech Clear Chat Wireless Headset with microphone

I'm working in an office now - it's not a huge office but nonetheless there's a bit going on in terms of phone calls and conversations at times. I decided to invest in a wireless headset that I could listen to music with and also make skype phone calls so I needed a mic. Not a lot to choose from but after a week of trying it out I'm happy with this Logitech version. Not cheap but the quality seems reasonable ($149 from Dick Smith... watch the price plummet now I've bought from there as normally happens). The sound quality of the mic is very good - I've used it so far to make video screencasts with sound and it's incredibly clear. Skype calls are good tool. Final thing I thought was a bit of fun was being able to keep the headphones on while making a coffee in the kitchen, all the while listening to my iTunes. I have to remind myself to be careful not to sing at all while listening - could be incredibly embarrassing!! Wireless range claims to be up to 33 feet so it's nice that you can move to a quieter room to have the skype phone call. You can get a headset with wires but to be honest it's nice to be able to roam free!

"Enjoy high-performance, stereo audio for PC calling, music, and games from up to 33 feet away from your computer."

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!!!

Flickr makes the distance more bearable

Alhambra, Granada
Originally uploaded by nelsongirl

Must admit it seems that I am a million miles away from normal life in Sydney but it´s nice to have such a great camera with me and the luxury of this whole week in Granada so everything doesn´t have to be such a race. Trying to be a bit of a ´slow coach´.

Friends at the wedding in Spain persuaded me to do Flickr for sharing the photos. I had used it before but for some reason just didn´t quite ´get it´. Now I do...it´s wonderful. I´ve been uploading a selection of high resolution photos from the trip to my account here.

I´m very happy with the resolution and quality of the pictures from the panasonic lumix FZ28.

I´m also in love with flickr... just wish I had more time to upload as there are loads of beautiful photos.

There´s an iphone application called mobilefotos which does a good job of transferring iphone pics up to flickr as well.

Hasta Luego..... wish you were here - honest!!

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.

Coffee Break Spanish is excellent

In one week's time I'll be winging it to sunny Spain and it would be an understatement to say I was excited! When I was 10 I had a penpal in Zaragoza - no unfortunately I didn't keep contact but all the same I've had a very soft spot for that part of Europe. In 2000 we had one week in Barcelona which was just wonderful - so to have nearly two weeks in southern Spain is like a dream come true.

I've written about Earworms Learning before - I have been using Volumes 1 & 2 and find them very easy and enjoyable. I think that the background and help given to me by earworms has given me the confidence to try to take it to another level (I was desperate for volume 3 before I left but they weren't quite ready for me!).

I decided to expand my vocabulary with Coffee Break Spanish - I actually bought a 'season pass' for lessons 11-40 and have downloaded the very descriptive pdf documents that accompany the lessons. The podcasts themselves are free via itunes or the coffee break spanish website but I wanted to get my teeth into learning more words and grammar so that I might be able to hold a conversation of more than a couple of sentences before I ran out of things to say! Here's hoping.

The coffee break spanish 'team' are Mark (the teacher) and Kara (the student). Like the earworms team they have a lovely rapport and it's a pleasant experience to listen to a lesson or two as you are doing chores/driving or walking the dog.

The pace is good and the handouts are great. I've printed them out in colour to put into a folder and will take them with me - with the enhanced podcasts on my ipod nano. It's a 22 hour flight to Madrid - I'm actually looking forward to studying hard on the journey in order to be able to communicate more effectively.

Coffee Break Spanish does French as well.
Earworms does a broader selection of languages - I'm very keen to attack Japanese, Mandarin and Russian when I get back!!

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 - two sample photos

The sad thing was that I was so busy today I didn't get more than about 20 minutes to play with my new camera. What little I did experience though was pure joy. I was fiddling with all the different buttons and modes - playing 'spy' ..... and really would have loved to have spent all day taking shots like a pro!

Here are two sample shots - click on the image to see a larger (not the largest of course) version.

Here is my  scruffy dog. Often she is difficult to photograph because she is so wiggly. I managed to hide behind a chair while she was having a peaceful moment, zoom in and snap her in her glorious wooliness.

Secondly... this strange gadget is my pool cleaner - at the bottom of the pool - taken from my balcony (ie) not close. I just love how much detail you can get from miles away from you subject.

Probably mentioned it last night but the brightness/lighting quality of the photos is wonderful. I'd just love a spare day to get out there and shoot but I have to be a little patient - that joy will soon be mine.... 2.5 weeks of travelling on my own in exotic Spain!! So hard to decide now... which do I love more? iPhone or Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28? If familiarity breeds contempt I should be loathing the iPhone by now - I"m actually quite grateful to have such a worthy distraction!

I promise to get some more interesting photos into an album as soon as I have a chance to do the camera justice!!

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 - wow!!!

I'm so excited I think I won't sleep! This afternoon I picked up this camera from dirtcheapcameras.com.au (actually a part of the more respectable sounding Fletchers Photographics. Last week I had determined that this was the camera I wanted after studying all the reviews I could find. The earlier models were highly praised and this was a brand new model - in fact the guy at the store said I would be one of the first in the country to own one!

Look I haven't had very long to test it out and I've been indoors but just messing around with it has brought immense pleasure!! My last camera was a ricoh 3 megapixel number and really it just didn't cut the mustard any more. I have a much loved but now not used at all Nikon F4. Fabulous, professional, expensive but so heavy and so not-digital! This little lumix is stunning. It weighs 400 grams. It has a multitude of great 'programs' that I can't wait to explore but also has complete manual over-ride. With an 18x zoom it has a range of 27mm-486mm - how great is that? The flash is built in but playing around tonight I've taken great shots without the flash. The FZ18 which I was eyeing up had 7.2 megapixels but this has 10. All very respectable for a tiny little package.

I purchased this for $599 and will get the GST off at the airport when I leave for Spain on the 15th. I also purchased an 8gb SD card and an extra two years warranty. I shall report more as I put it through it's paces but so far I'm in love and am happy to say I've got something to take me away from my iPhone!!

I have always been passionate about photography but without a decent camera sort of let the desire ebb away. Now it's back and I was telling my son this afternoon that I could see myself doing the photographer thing of getting up very early in the morning and taking photos in that great dawn light.

So excited about Spain now.... :-)

Shall post some photos as examples in the next day or two.

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.

Information Overload Tip: Use Google Reader to capture news/blog articles & have a life

I am a huge fan of Google Reader for  RSS (really simple syndication) - in other words a place that captures news/blog articles as soon as they are published thereby saving you a trip to that particular site to see what's been written. Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new content. Whether a site updates daily or monthly, you can be sure that you won't miss a thing.  It also shows you all of your favourite sites in one convenient spot. It's like a personalized inbox for the entire web. You have the added advantage of the Google search facility. Save all the articles - even if you don't have time to read them all you will be able to search for a particular item when you need it via the all familiar Google search box. Google Reader is a free tool that comes with every Gmail account. You don't have to use the gmail part of it but I'd strongly suggest you do - even if it is just to keep a safety deposit box to store all your emails thereby a handy backup facility.

My Lenovo Idea Pad dY510 has died or is at least very unwell

Disaster has struck and I'm so upset. My Lenovo laptop which I was just so happy with has crashed and burned. A couple of weeks ago it started to do some strange things when I turned it on (ie) it would turn on, the fan would make a loud noise then it would turn off before windows had even booted. I started to worry when it was happening every second day or so consequently I called Lenovo service on Wednesday.

My call went through to Canada of all places. However, the service man was exceedingly polite and apologetic for the inconvenience. We tried a restore to default bios as the first remedy.

That  night I went to write a blog post and the damn thing started blue screening me and shutting down. I couldn't do anything.

Thursday morning I spoke to Candada again - we tried a system restore but it would get to 20 percent then turn off!!  I have to say my heart felt like breaking. I'd been so very happy with it - to make up for all the dramas with the stupid ACER I bought last year. For once I thought Ihad a machine I could rely on!
When I broke the news to Poppy she said "Don't you ever feel like doing a job that doesn't involve computers?"

I have to confess I was momentarily attracted by the idea however it's going to a service centre and will fingers crossed come back as new. Compared to ACER service - Lenovo has been a charm - all the service reps in Canada (Jeremy, Chris & Chuck) were incredibly polite & helpful which does take the edge off the experience just a little.

Firefox 3 - it's the best!

Firefox 3 is simply the best browsing experience. 

Clearly it's more secure but it's also faster to use. I love being able to type the first couple of letters in the address bar to be given a selection of possible url's to click on.

I've tidied my browsing area up - it looks so clean and inviting. I loved it back on version 1.5 but now  Firefox totally has me at 3. I guess 8 million downloads in the first 24 hours of release proves there is a bit of a following.

Absurd to think there were 'launch parties' happening last week to celebrate! I had a bit too much going on I'm afraid.. and no I wasn't sleeping outside the Apple Store :-)

Download Firefox here.

Lenovo Idea Pad Y510 200 - most definitely not a volvo!!

After last week's visit to CEBIT I made up my mind that it was time to get a new machine. I tried so hard not to get stressed out about it - sometimes I agonise over such a purchase but this time it was painfully quick!! On Tuesday night I skimmed through the May issue of PC Authority which I was given at the tech show. I had seen some Lenovo notepads on sale at CEBIT - so reliable, so solid, so boring and boxy - however this magazine had a review of the new Y510 Idea Pad (cute name...) and I was rather smitten.

Unbelievably I went to the mall the next day an instead of just returning with my usual bags of food to feed the hungry hords I had a nice brown box containing not a volvo.... no... my new Idea Pad including:-
2gb Ram
250gb hard drive
15.4 crystal clear screen
built in 1.3 mega pixel web cam
face recognition security (my daughter says it's SO Charlie's Angels!)
superb sound (4 speakers - never heard a laptop so good)
Microsoft Office
3 years warranty
a 1 hour 'lesson'.... can't wait
stunning good looks........

I'd been wary of Vista still - worried about incompatibility issues but there hasn't been an problem with anything. Vista seems stable AND fast... a complete delight .... I'm very excited to finally be so productive - the ACER has really been getting me down.... I didn't yet summon the energy to confront ACER again - sometimes I think it's easier to surrender!!

I am actually the happiest I have ever been with a new computer and that'saying something. Solid, reliable but way too racy to be now compared with the Volvo!!
.

Earworms mbt - language learning by osmosis

One of my significant goals is to become at least semi-fluent in the languages of my favourite countries.... Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian & Greek. I have smatterings of French & Italian in my brain.... could order coffee at a pinch - and I studied Greek at weekend uni for about two years but because such a long time has passed I feel as if I've lost it. I have been downloading podcasts and storing them on an ipod but I stumbled across this learning system and am now quite excited that this bold dream of mine is closer to reality than I imagined.

Earworms Musical Brain Training is available in 10 languages and uses a novel way to get that vocabulary inside your head. I tried the demos and immediately purchased the courses for my chosen languages. The teaching is done to the background of funky music - each lesson is like it's own song - there are two presenters talking you through - they both have a very pleasant manner and make the learning seem like fun. Within minutes you seem to have the foreign sentences flowing out of your mouth! Each course has it's own very attractive handbook with the vocab covered - if you purchase online you can download the books from the Earworms website. So far most languages have two volumes - they say on their website that there will be five.... I can't wait and really feel that once I've let these lessons soak into my brain I'll be much more confident about adding to the vocabulary using additional podcasts available on the web.

Best value I've seen is not to purchase through the Earworms site direct because it takes you to audible.co.uk and the exchange rate is not as attractive as the audible.com site based in the US. I signed up to audible.com and downloaded a small program that sends the files I've purchased directly to iTunes. Of course you don't need an iPod to use iTunes but it is very handy.

A six month sabbatical is now looking very necessary to test this all out don't you think?

Belkin 8 port gigabyte switch - goes fast!

See this tiny little box? Well it is tiny - take my word for it - I can hold it in the palm of my  hand. What is it? It's a little hub or switch made by Belkin that I ordered a few weeks ago. My home office was getting a little 'busy' with two computers, two printers, the Philips Skype phone hooking into the router. I decided that I needed a few extra ports and this is the device I chose to supply them. My router is one of the faster N1 types from Belkin as well and what I'd forgotten when I bought the switch is that this is a great piece of equipment because it has increased my internet download speeds by about 10 times!! Fastest with just the router was 100mb - now I'm zipping along at gigabyte speeds. I love it!!! It's as if I upgraded my internet plan but I didn't need to..... RRP $125 or so.... a bargain considering it comes with Belkin's lifetime warranty.  Here's the blurb from the product web page.

The Belkin 8-Port Gigabit Switch allows you to easily upgrade your network to achieve gigabit transfer speeds. Back-ward compatible with your existing 10/100 network, this Switch simply plugs in for instant high performance. It provides your servers and workstations the capacity to transfer large video, audio, and graphic files throughout your network - gigabit speeds. Engineered for compact convenience, it features an 11-inch case, a durable metal chassis and quiet, fan-less design that easily is positioned on your desktop.         

Features
•	Adds 8 high-speed, dedicated 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports
•	Installs quickly, and offers convenient backward-compatiblity
•	Auto-senses and adjusts for network speed and cabling type automatically, for easy integration into your existing 10/100 Ethernet network
•	Features 11-inch case, durable metal chassis, and fan-less design for quiet assimilation into your small-office environment
•	Comes with a Belkin Lifetime Warranty and free Technical support

Use Firefox 2 to browse the internet for advertising-free web pages - bliss!!

Firefox has long been considered safer than Microsoft's Internet Explorer - less security/hacking type vulnerabilities. Most IT experts shudder in horror if they find anyone using Internet Explorer. One fabulous advantage to using Firefox however is that you can install an add-on that automatically zaps most adverts off the page!! No more flashing banners urging you to buy, click or join. If you haven't already, download & install Firefox 2 from here. Next install Adblock Plus. Finally install the Easy List/Easy Element Filters. It works everywhere - including social networking sites & Google search results.  Why not write and tell me how happy you are to have such uncluttered web pages!

Last.fm radio: your musical taste completely organized

Last year I visited last.fm and liked what I saw. It's a social networking site for music with free/paid membership - so very useful and inspiring. On my blog (just below the zen habits info there is now a 'player' "Helen's Calm Playlist where I've tagged some of my most favourite tracks and they are available now to listen by clicking on the 'play' button'. Feel free to listen while you explore my blog or just keep the window open while you work! I've found some great new bands/vocalists in the last week or two - Duffy, Phoenix Foundation, etc. Go check last.fm out. You can sign up as a member, download the free software and then every time you play a track on your computer or ipod your music profile will be added to - you will then receive recommendations - a great way to broaden your musical knowledge/library beyond iTunes. After an hour or two on here you will be able to compete with your teenagers & their MySpace I promise you!

3 Skypephone - great mobile solution for your teens

Poor ET has been having mobile phone problems - the Sony that he had for just over a year has been constantly turning off (feels like there is some electromagnetic disturbance over here with all this shutdown/restart of gadgetry). We've been using Savvytel prepaid which has been moderately successful. Great for Poppy who has self-control and uses the phone as an emergency communication tool - not so great for ET who is a professional Gen Y specimen needing to be in communicado with 'everyone' 24-7.

Last week we investigated the options and I managed to persuade him to go with the 3 Skypephone on a prepaid plan. The phone cost $149AUD. It has a 2 megapixel camera and music playing facilities but the best thing by far is the Skype button. ET wasn't too enthusiastic to start with because Skype is not considered 'cool'  as a communication tool for 16 year olds. However when I explained to him that he could reach any of us in the family via Skype for NOTHING ie not eating into his prepaid he was prepared to give it a go. I'm hoping he will persuade his closest friends to sign up to Skype as well thus reducing the stress that evolves whenever we see him texting away. A kid without phone credit is no fun! With the 3 Skypephone you receive a 4,000 Skype to Skype call minutes and a very generous 10,000 Skype instant messages PER MONTH - gratis. He then only needs to purchase his prepaid credit at $29 which lasts 60 days.

If careful - his phone expenses should be down to $14.50 per month and if he can be an early adopter persuading his pals to sign up for Skype he will really be able to talk/text for free to his heart's content - will it make things happier? Perhaps.... just while I was writing this I sent him an instant message telling him what he missed out for dinner because he's at a friend's house - unusually we had a sweet mini-conversation about the great steak he had - perhaps because it was free he will be far less precious about his SMS credits now!!

All the family has their own Skype account and we have it running in the background. Our main home phone is the Philips Skype phone which is great - we can reach each other on this for nothing. I'm thinking he will be at least be able to reach one of us if necessary for zilch whenever he needs to and keep communicating with his mates without stressing out so much.

You can buy two phones for $279 - and you get $20 credit for each - worth considering if you are going through mobile phone teen angst at the moment!!

One thing to be aware of if you are purchasing however - the guy at the three kiosk was honest with us about the black version of this phone - apparently after a few weeks of use the black paint starts to peel due to the heat on the unit. Yes it's covered under warranty and they will replace it but that would be a hassle. Seems to be a design fault so be aware of this. I didn't think ET would go for the blue version (which is really white with a blue edging) but in the end he preferred that to a gothic black with paint peeling off!!