Keyboard Karma ~ by Helen Crozier

Tungle puts your calendar on steroids to seriously help!

I'm so loving the latest answer to scheduling nightmares - a free website called Tungle. I've not seen such a feature rich service with all the doodahs and gadgets in a long time. Sign up for free at www.tungle.com.

The complete feature list is below:

Calendar & Contact Syncing
Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple iCal and Entourage for Mac (beta).

Calendar Sharing
Share across calendar and company boundaries. Your choice of free/busy or full details.

Create a personal link to your public free/busy calendar where others can schedule meetings with you.

Propose multiple meeting times
The more you propose, the easier it is to get your meeting booked.

Double-booking prevention
Schedule over times proposed in other invitations. Tungle will adjust to prevent conflicts in your calendar.

Invite anyone – No sign up required!
No matter what calendar or platform – all they need is email and a browser.

Quick links (Outlook & Google)
One-click start from your calendar or email inbox.

Time zone auto-adjust
Propose times and relax. Tungle will auto-adjust for invitees in other time zones.

Auto-add to calendar
A meeting gets booked and it’s added to your calendar. Simple as that.

RSS feed
Get your meeting updates in real time

I can't tell you how easy it is to set up and use. There are now widgets that you can add into your blog (as in above) or Facebook - the green 'light' indicates that you are available and Tungle keeps an eye on your calendar in real time turning red when you are busy. You can have your own 'tungle me' link which in my case is www.tungle.me/helencrozier. I chose as well to buy an easy to remember domain so now whenever I say "go to www.bookhelen.com" clients and friends will be taken to my tungle availability page as I've set up a redirect.

Bliss! I'm just waiting and hoping patiently for a working hours box to set up in the options. I don't like the calendar showing me as 'available' when I am actually asleep -people in other time zones might not realise that and could give me a call in the middle of the night!! Tungle promised me it would be possible to specify availability hours in the next major release.

Until then jump on board and enjoy the freedom of not playing telephone/email tag when trying to get someone to commit to an appointment!

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!

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."

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!!

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!!

Ikea Laptop Station - on the wall solution

I had to rub my eyes when I found this advertised on Unclutterer. $69(US) for this snazzy wall mounted workstation for a laptop. I loved it and it's so exactly what I needed for my kitchen. My ex-office is being transformed so we can have a proper dining room and a lovely window seat with fold back windows. Still need something like an office and this fits the bill perfectly. Comes in white or red and when I looked up the IKEA store website they said they have them in stock!! Of course they are dearer $99 but still that's not too bad. Even the residential project manager gave it the nod of approval. Great thing about it is you can lock it shut when you've finished your computer work. Hooray!

Ikea Australia link to product is here.

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?

Back to the store again hoping to bag an iPhone

Yesterday Poppy & I popped into the Apple Store because she hadn't seen it yet. The city was abuzz due to the presence of World Youth Pilgrims and it's fair to say there were a lot of them in the store taking advantage of the free internet flowing from all the iMacs & laptops on the first floor. However I was a bit slow to work out what the queues were for.... silly me.... it was people lining up to buy the iPhone!!

I had been sitting on the precipice of decision making  with regard to that - partially because I was sort of married to Vodafone until December 6th however having touched and played with the iPhone in the store yesterday I was sold. Today I called Vodafone and it will be a relatively minor divorce settlement so Poppy & I are catching the early bus (well early for school holidays anyway) back into town to get one of those phones.

I'm a geek so I'm allowed to be excited! I saw Rove and his colleagues bagging the iphone on his Sunday night television show and I think he's being poor spirited :-).  The enthusiasm I have for this gadget is far greater than what I felt with the launch of the early Palms - yes it's sad but I was given a Palm 501 for Christmas in 2006 and I could have jumped for joy! Tomorrow I will be as reserved as I possibly can.

Aside from this move reducing the number of gadgets I often carry with me I'm really looking forward to exploring and learning about all the apps (software ok?) that are available. Now off to bed.... big day tomorrow! I hope I'm not disappointed and stock runs out just as my number comes up!

Palm Centro: pretty, smart & affordable!

 
Hallelujah! Last week Palm released a snazzy 'smart phone' with Telstra for the absurd price of $299. I've been a fan of the Palm Operating system for years - mainly due to it's simplicity and stability. I've been a little irritated by the dominance of Windows Mobile Palm phones being released. Prematurely there were nasty rumours that the Palm Operating System was on it's last legs. Hopefully with the Centro making a well-received appearance that rumour is just rumour!

Reviewers on the whole have been favourable. There's a lot of 'smart' in the phone for the price. What they didn't like is the small keys - I've had that complaint about my Treo 680 as well but for female users I'm thinking that should not be such a problem!

Sydney Morning Herald Review

APC Mag Review

Currently available with Telstra on a pre-paid deal the Palm User's group have said they imagine post-paid Telstra clients could also take the phone. One user reported that to unlock is $100 now, $60 in six months time. Not too bad.

In terms of keeping your digital life organised it's a very useful and affordable device, synchronising to Microsoft Outlook.  I'm not in the market for a new phone right now but I'll be happily pushing clients in either this direction or that of the soon to be released iPhone.

Here's the blurb from the Australian Palm Website...

Your life, all in one place.

The Palm® Centro™ smartphone gives you a complete organiser and still fits right in your pocket. It's amazing what a little organisation (and a little Centro) can do.

Contacts

Keep your friends' numbers, addresses, and more with you wherever you go. Even enter a friend's birthday in Contacts and it automatically shows up in your Calendar. (Very cool.)

Calendar

Carry your calendar so you never miss a meeting, event, or party. View your day, week, month, or year at a glance.

Tasks

Make a to-do list and take it with you. Then check off items when they're complete, so you can keep track of what you did—and what you still need to do.

Memo

Store random information like hot spots in Vegas or names of movies you'd like to rent. Say goodbye to carrying around crumpled scraps of paper in your pocket or purse!

Sync

Save a copy of all those names, numbers, appointments, photos, and videos by syncing with your computer. You know, just in case.

If you purchase one and would like a 'get to know your centro' session - you know who to contact!

Taxstar - so simple & cheap for personal/family taxes

Now there's no excuse not to sort out all your tax 'stuff'. No matter how tempting it is to shove it all into a shoe box or two and dump it on your accountant's desk I put it to you that there is a better way!!

At last week's AAPO NSW Chapter Meeting our terrific leader Sarah Cottman (Heavenly Order) invited Warren Seeto from  Taxstar to demo his product. This is a fabulous system for typical households and will without a doubt cure all tax paperwork headaches/sleepless nights. A mere $50 per year gets you the software program which is a joy to use AND a very stylish folder for storing all the documents. This is way, way easier than using an excel spreadsheet, Quicken or MYOB - I can't recommend it enough for getting that part of your life organised & your accountant will love you!

One package will cover all family members and keeps historical data in the file should you need to refer to it. Simple wizard's walk you through the process of setting up tables for properties, shares, medical expenses etc.  You can of course print hard copy reports to deliver to your accountant but it's far easier to send them by email. If your tax consultant does not already use the software Taxstar will provide it to them free of charge.  Enter, file and deliver then relax because your tax is sorted! Unfortunately this system is not suitable for businesses registered for GST but that's ok because they have Saasu.

Note: Software requires Windows 98 or above - MAC version coming very soon - order online from www.taxstar.com.au

Saasu - sensational web financial software

With the financial year-end looming it's time to evaluate the systems you use to keep your finances in order.  Tonight I introduce Saasu - a refreshing alternative to MYOB which might appeal to business owners wanting to enjoy the freedom of being able to manage their financials on the web where-ever, when-ever.

Saasu provide a superb online accounting software solution for businesses of any size - from solo to mega-corporates. I had a chat with Founder, Marc Lehmann  and Development Leader, Jusa Chin at CEBIT Australia (where I might add they collected the Business Advantage award for the second year running) and I'm so impressed by the attitude of these guys. You get the feeling that no matter what you ask for they will move mountains to provide for you should there be something missing in their product.

I've had a free account with Saasu for over a year - I am very attracted to it and just need to sort out some background accounting issues before I change over from the ancient and very unfriendly MYOB. I can't wait to move over to Saasu. You pay quarterly or annually and enter your financials onto your file on the web. No more panic regarding computer crashes. No more emailing data files backwards and forwards to your accountant (he/she will have access to the live file when ever required). No more angst over whether or not to upgrade to the latest version (is it worth it, do I need to???) - Saasu are constantly updating their software and finding new features to add to the service.

I LOVE the Saasu 'Catch' for instance.... a genius way to capture little pieces of financial information/action items....

The new data capture tool that is as easy to use as internet search. Just type a few words and hit go and your information is saved in Saasu as a To Do.

From the To Do screen you can turn that snippet of information into a contact, a note, an invoice, a payment, an expense claim, a time sheet or more.

If the convenience of an online accounting system is appealing to you I'd strongly suggest you sign up for a free account at www.saasu.com - it really is an astoundingly simple way to manage your clients, inventory & financials.  Saasu's angle is to help business owners save time and I really think they've totally achieved this to the 'nth' degree so are very deserving of the CEBIT award.

Tomorrow I will write about Taxstar - the brilliantly simple book keeping software for individuals and families which will save money on accountant's fees (no more shoe boxes!!).

CEBIT Australia 2008 - some hidden gems!

Had a busy five hours today at CeBIT... trawling the aisles looking for new & useful technology.  Snazzy thing at the entry - I used for the first time an m-ticket - when I registered an sms was sent to my phone with a code. I held the phone up to a scanner at the door showing this code and voila out printed my 'badge' to get me into the show. Bluetooth download of the exhibitors catalogue failed unfortunately because it wasn't compatible with my Palm Treo 680 :-(

I had a great day there - met some nice people face to face that I  had previously spoken to on the phone (Zoho, Saasu) and saw several interesting products. I was of course in my element but have to complain about one thing.... this is of course not to CeBIT generally but more to the 'industry'.... There were approximately half a dozen (I wasn't really counting) exhibitors who decided that having sexy looking women in short shorts and low cut singlets (in the middle of winter... ) were imperative to increase brand awareness leading to increased sales. I have to say I was gobsmacked. The first stand I chose to checkout was a mobile phone protection product. One of these young women handed me a sample... what was in it? A condom for a mobile phone. I kid you not - upon opening at home (much to the amusement of my son) I found it to be PINK and RIBBED... Momentarily I had to rub my eyes and make sure I hadn't accidentally strolled into a SEXPO!!! The strange thing is though.... there were actually women visitors.... quite a few of them. Are the companies using this strategy completely ignorant that there are intelligent women in the IT industry making important decisions? I end my gripe now but you know what I mean and exhibitors... you know who you are... come on next year try something different ok? It's not a car show..... please!!!

What/who did I like?

Wacom's bamboo tablets - these plug in via usb and convert your PC into a tablet
Mhits - a free service that lets you make a payment to anyone with an Australian mobile phone (check them out on new inventors 4th June)
Zoho - the guys were so friendly and helpful - they've offered to set up a chat session later in the week to iron out any issues I have with Zoho Projects
Saasu's Marc Lehmann was equally responsive and informative regarding his terrific online accounting product
Mint's portable payment system was very enticing as was the.....
PocketSurfer2 proudly demonstrated by Derek Kopfe.

In the very near future I will review and pass on more info regarding these exciting products .... (no not the mobile phone skins come on now.....) so stay tuned....

Oh I forgot to say... I had to traipse through countless VOIP and Cable/Router stands to find these gems...it amazes me just how many players there are in these markets... how do they survive when they all seem to be doing the same thing?

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?

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!

AirMail Notebook Sleeve: how fast was that?

So less than two days after the witnessing the MacBook Air announcement two bright young things come up with THIS.

A notebook sleeve to replicate the Steve Jobs manila envelope.
Called AirMail and selling for $29.95US. Innovative huh?

Snapfish photos - 9 cents per print!

After reading Leo Babauta from Zen Habits' terrific e-book yesterday I subscribed to the 'big rock' idea. First big-rock was to get a survey out to clients and prospective clients asking their preferences regarding workshops/teleclasses etc. I used surveymonkey and it was very easy to set-up. I needed a quick way of finding out what was needed and other things eg "can you bring your own laptop?", "will you use Skype for the teleclasses?" etc. I'm really happy I did it as I've wanted to for such a long time. Today's 'big rock' was to submit my digital photos to Snapfish (which ironically I've not used for myself - I've only used it to send a photobook to England and have never seen the final result. I'd been putting it off because I knew it was going to take a long time. The only reason it did however was because I had left it so long since getting prints and there were literally thousands of photos to sort thorough. I used Adobe Photoshop Elements to edit and tag the photos with a 'print label'. It was then possible to cut and paste quickly into a windows folder and upload to Snapfish. I went back only two years of the six I have to do but at least ordered 211 x 6"x4" (9 cents each) + 41 x 5"x7" (45 cents each). Postage was $10.95 so for $50 I will get over 250 great photos! The 5 x 7's will be going into these beautiful sleeves I bought at the divine Zetta Florence store in Melbourne and then they will be hung on this timber frame the Bagman made. (He was getting cross that after 3 years of asking for it he had done it but only a few photos were displayed - fair enough). The 6x4's will be used for albums and also I have some other interesting ideas for display which I'll divulge later on. I had to get this done so I could schedule the digital photo management/creation workshops. Yay!! I'm really happy. Delivery promised 2-4 working days. Can't wait!!!!

Zen To Done: The Simple Productivity E-Book!

Zen Habits won "Best Overall Blog 2007" and it's not hard to see why if you hang out there for a while. Leo Babauta's a brilliant writer and seeing as I"m the 'calm tech coach' I can relate well to his 'zen' habits.

Zen Habits covers: achieving goals, productivity, being organized, GTD, motivation, eliminating debt, saving, getting a flat stomach, eating healthy, simplifying, living frugal, parenting, happiness, and successfully implementing good habits.

This morning I purchased his e-book Zen to Done and read it from cover to cover. One of the best e-books around - you can buy it here and the reason I recommend it is that it merges some of the best productivity theories around (David Allen, Stephen Covey) but brings a whole new fresh look of simplicity and possiblity to the idea of getting the IMPORTANT done rather than just the URGENT.  I'm going to buy more copies and GIVE them to my clients.

What is ZTD?

Simply put, Zen To Done is a simple system to get you more organized and productive, and keep your life saner and less stressed, with a set of habits. ZTD teaches you:

1. The key habits needed to be productive, organized, and simplified … and no more than that.
2. How to implement these key habits … tips on forming a habit.
3. How to organize these habits into a simple system that will keep everything in your life in its place.
4. How to simplify what you need to do.
5. Minimal ZTD. Also includes an even simpler version called Minimal ZTD.

Leo's got an astronomical 32900 subscribers to his blog - and the great news is that today he QUIT HIS DAY JOB and he attributes the success of his e-book to being able to do that so let's keep buying his work and supporting him.

Congratulations Leo I'm so happy for you!

Mio Digiwalker C520 will you finally be mine?

Found this little gem - the Mio Digiwalker C520 GPS - back in May when it first came out and so wanted it!! Alas it was $699 and I could not justify such a big spend. I loved the idea of it's 4.3 widescreen, split screen, bluetooth connectivity and the Good Weekend section of the Sydney Morning Herald would taunt me almost weekly with sexy advertising - "I'll show you the way" -  indeed!

Anyhow I have some Christmas present money generously sent by family sitting in the bank account so I just thought to check on the latest pricing. Woohoo....  Gadget Guy thought this model was good value at $699 but now the recommended retail price has been reduced to $499. Research shows Ryda.com to be the cheapest  at $438  with $90 added value (external gps + screen protector) PLUS a $25 fuel voucher kind of bringing the price down to $324!  Am I glad I waited this time or what?

Reviews are very positive and I think this is a small price to pay if you are anything like me and can't read a map to save your life. I can't stand using a street directory and if I don't have someone in the car to navigate for me I truly will break out in a cold sweat once I lose my bearings. I'm so hopeless and I could just kiss the person who invented these devices. (I did own one years ago which hooked up with my Palm PDA  - unfortunately Navman stopped supporting Palm so it became useless). I am going to sleep on this one more night but no doubt will order in the morning. How exciting!!

Casio CW-E60 Disc Title Printer

I have a yukky small basket of 'stuff' to sort out - and the thing that puts me off attacking it is that  the major component is unlabelled CD's. I don't even know if they are just blank or have data on them. I hate using black felt tip pens to write on discs and I find my Brother labeller to be ok for files but not for discs for some reason. This little gadget looks to be the perfect solution. It's a thermal printer which prints directly onto the disc. Runs on batteries or power. You can use text and images and there is a preview available before you hit 'print'.  Seen for $129.85 at PCX.  Very tempting!

Plaxo is such a big helper!!

It's only a few days since I moved my office but I'm still adjusting and finding out what works, what doesn't, what's here, what's there.... I've set up a separate user on ET's grumpy old Dell which is a handmedown from a client - for the odd occasion that I need to access or finish something off. So tonight I opened up Outlook and it was of course completely empty. Not to worry.... I downloaded Plaxo which I've been using to synchronise my desktop Outlook information to my travelling laptop. I then accessed my plaxo user account and told it to synchronise to this PC. Sure enough it started to download all my Outlook contacts, appointments, tasks and notes into the empty Outlook. Within three minutes or so it was all downloaded. I'm so happy with Plaxo - it's free unless you want a backup service or de-duplicate ... in which case it's $50 dollars a year for premium. I've chosen not to pay as I backup via Beinsync. The great thing is that if I get a few moments to do some data entry (business cards, appointments etc) I can do so, knowing that when I log onto my computer at work it will automatically download all the new information. Love it to bits!!!

SMOY Photo Cuff - cool gift idea

Found in my bookmarks from last year! I love this idea and am going to get it together to finally order a few - great presents. These SMOY photo cuffs are designed and handmade in New York and are perfect for holding passport size/mobile phone photos. Photos are held securely in between layers of the cuff along with a clear plastic cover to protect them for every day use. Pictured here is the Soho 4 - $34.95 if purchased from the Australian site.  Click here to see a demonstration of how they work.

Smoy Australia www.smoy.com.au (a recent development?)
Smoy USA www.smoy.com