There is a new experimental feature in Gmail that will let you read the reply to emails when you aren't online. It is done using Google Gears which is an add in for browsers that let the store data locally and run offline. Google previously brought this offline functionality to their RSS reader. … [Read more...] about Working Offline with Gmail
Archives for January 2009
Excercise and Cognitive Performance
Most of us have gone for a walk to clear our heads at one time or another. Most often, we tend to take this form of exercise while working on very mind-intensive problems, such as studying or reading a hard-to-understand piece of material. According to some researchers, there may be a connection between exercise and clear thinking. According to this article, your daily run may not only keep you in good health physically, but may also help "clear the cobwebs" from your mind. One of the more widely publicized benefits of exercise is its positive effects on stress levels. As our society moves toward technical jobs rather than those involving physical labor, the number of people living a … [Read more...] about Excercise and Cognitive Performance
Making Habits of New Years Resolutions
New Years resolutions are a very familiar concept to most of us. The tradition of these habit-changing goals originated in ancient times in Babylon, according to most academic sources. The Romans picked up and carried on this tradition and interestingly enough, one common resolution was to ask forgiveness from enemies of the prior year. In Medieval times, the date for the New Year was changed several times, but was eventually returned to January 1st. Cultural Differences According to this article by Brooke Williams, some cultures take their New Years resolutions quite seriously. The Chinese, for example, have made house cleaning an important customary event on the first day of … [Read more...] about Making Habits of New Years Resolutions
Webnotes Review
There are many jobs and tasks today that involve very extensive research and preparation. With the advent of the internet in recent times, the search for information for students, employees and those at the executive level is much simpler and more convenient than it was several decades ago. The internet has many advantages that we could discuss; however, it does have one shortcoming for those that are conducting extensive research. If the articles were on paper already, the researcher could easily jot down some notes directly on the paper, sharing his or her thoughts with colleagues and fellow students. It could be argued that the person could print the information from the web pages, … [Read more...] about Webnotes Review
HyperSpace
HyperSpace is small OS that lets you boot up a computer very quickly for basic tasks like web browsing and email. It doesn't replace windows, but provides a lightweight environment that boots in seconds with very low battery consumption. It looks like a great way to check your email when you only have 5 minutes and don't want to spend half of that time just getting your computer OS up and running. If you find yourself constantly running out of battery or waiting for your laptop to boot, this might be worth looking into. … [Read more...] about HyperSpace
Study Tips
Many people will be going back to school this semester, and we thought that a list of study tips would be helpful to students as they start out a new set of classes. Study your notes after each class period, not just before tests. Start reviewing a week ahead of time if you can. That way you'll have a margin for error. Find a good, quiet place with few distractions to study in. Study in sections. For example: one hour of studying, 20 minute break, and so on... Study during the day if you can, rather than leaving it for the evening. Take a look at your classwork and determine early on which one needs the most time devoted to it. That way, you know which one you might need to … [Read more...] about Study Tips
Skydeck
Skydeck is a new service that integrates with your cell phone to give you a number of features. It syncs with your textmessages, transcribes your voicemail and lets you call people from your computer using your cell phone as your caller id number. You can then do stuff like search through all of your voice and text messages just like you'd search through your email. Plans are $10 to $30 and you have to have a Blackberry or Android phone. If you place a lot of outgoing phone calls, the ability to make them from your computer may make the service pay for itself. On of my favorite Skydeck features is the way it handles new phone numbers. When you dial a number on your phone, Skydeck will … [Read more...] about Skydeck
Lotus Symphony
IBM has released a free office suite called Lotus Symphony. It runs on Windows, OS X, and Linux and includes a wordprocessor, presentation software, and a spreadsheet. If you are looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office, it is worth checking out along with Google Apps, Open Office, and iWork (OS X only). We will do a review of it in the near future once we've had more of a chance to play with it. … [Read more...] about Lotus Symphony
SugarSync Review
Ever felt like you were tied down by carrying around too many gadgets? For those that use both Macs and PC's, transferring files across platforms can be time consuming or downright difficult, causing many to cart around two different machines to have access to both sets of files. However, the developers at SugarSync have come up with a better way of doing things. Staying connected There are a few programs out there that sync mobile devices with your computer. SugarSync not only does this, but also syncs files across the Mac and PC operating systems and automatically backs up those files to your own, personal SugarSync web site. This web site is secure, and allows the user to … [Read more...] about SugarSync Review
Career Renegade
Jonathan Fields sent me a copy of his brand new book to review called Career Renegade. I've skimmed it and am now working my way back through reading it. The book looks at how you can turn what you love into income. Jonathan knows what he is talking about. He used to be a NYC attorney before he quit and started a string of businesses doing things he enjoyed. The book is divided into four sections: 1. What Makes You Come Alive. This section encourages you to figure out what you actually enjoy doing. It also helps you get past the idea that you need to be at the top of a particular field in order to do what you enjoy. I was impressed by how practical Jonathan is. No matter how … [Read more...] about Career Renegade
Coffee and Hallucinating
A study has linked coffee to hallucinating. They think it is caused by the caffeine. Seven cups a day makes you three times more likely to hallucinate than the average person and as little as three cups may make you start hearing voices in your head. … [Read more...] about Coffee and Hallucinating
Password Resolutions for 2009
Our passwords give us access to a number of very valuable resources. They control access to our bank accounts, photos of our families, email correspondence, and all kinds of other information. As valuable as all this information is, it is amazing how little effort most people put into making sure they have good passwords. Here are six password resolutions for 2009 to help protect your data with more secure passwords. 1. Resolve to use different passwords on each website. There are a few ways to do this. The most secure is to use a completely different randomly generated password on each site. If you use a password management program like 1Passwd this isn't too difficult. Another … [Read more...] about Password Resolutions for 2009
Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
Though many people don't give a second thought about getting adequate rest, those that struggle with insomnia know that lack of sleep can have a very detrimental effect on one's productivity. According to this article from the National Sleep Foundation, "about half of Americans report sleep difficulty, at least occasionally." With this many people being affected, sleep deprivation may be the cause of some things we never would have associated with it before. Effects of Sleep Deprivation Many of us have walked into work and seen sleepy or irritable co-workers struggling to concentrate on their daily tasks. However, one of the things that we often miss is the loss of productivity … [Read more...] about Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
LiveScribe on OS X
LiveScribe is a pen that records the audio as you take notes. You can then click on each section and hear the audio that was recorded when that part of the note was written. They have released a beta of their software that now works on OS X. The concept is pretty slick and I could see it being a very nice tool for students. … [Read more...] about LiveScribe on OS X
drop.io Review
In today's business world, it is very important to be able to share information in a safe and secure fashion. While email attachments can take care of some kinds of file sharing, there is a limit to the size of file attachments. This is where a tool such as drop.io becomes useful. However, drop.io is far from being a simple file sharing service, although it remains simple to use. Some of the abilities this tool possesses are the options to view the uploaded files in a media, blog or system view, record voice mail for the drop, and many others. How drop.io works Drop.io works by creating specific information storage spaces for information uploaded through "drops." Users can share … [Read more...] about drop.io Review
Mathematics – Best Jobs
CareerCast rated 200 jobs. Five of the top 10 are careers that involve the study of mathematics including actuary, statistician, and software engineer. Lumberjacks, dairy workers and EMTs made it into the bottom 10. WSJ has a nice article about it and you can read about the methodology here. Personally, I've found that mathematics is one of the most rewarding fields to study. Regardless of what you do, math is essential in making decisions and analyzing data. … [Read more...] about Mathematics – Best Jobs
Habit List
As we enter the period of New Year's resolution, I wanted to republish the Habit List which is my most powerful tool in developing new habits. Happy New Year! Note: The PDF mentioned in this post is now available as part of the Habit List Course. You can enroll using the form below: Name: Email: Earlier I talked about the "Habit List" I've been using. I wanted to walk people through the tool and show you how it works in this post. First lets revisit the theory behind it. This tool was created with the premise that "habit" type tasks should not be on our regular todo list. There are several reasons that keeping these types of items on … [Read more...] about Habit List
Matthew Cornell – Open Workshop
Matthew Cornell is doing a public workshop Reboot Your Work: Modern Methods for Productivity, Sanity, and Control in North Carolina. I've been impressed with Matthew's approach to organization and productivity, so if you are anywhere around Durham I'd encourage you to look into it. … [Read more...] about Matthew Cornell – Open Workshop
Redeeming Your Time
Whether you run a home business or simply want to be more productive with your time each day, time tracking tools are a technological aid that can diagnose tasks that are efficient and those that are not worth the time invested in them. The time tracking tools that are available today are customized to suite different needs and preferences and help make productivity an achievable goal. We thought that our readers would find a list of time tracking tools useful, as well as a bit of information about each one. Rescue Time This tool offers time tracking service in a neatly organized package that is easy to install and operate. Rescue Time works by tracking which applications the user … [Read more...] about Redeeming Your Time