Productivity

  • My Everyday Things, Part 1: Workflow

    Recently I started following Everyday Carry, a blog dedicated to showcasing the items that people must have on an everyday basis. I decided that in an effort to blog more, I would do a short, 3 part series on the stuff I use everyday. The series will be broken up into 3 parts: today’s installment is Workflow, then Carry/Misc, then Home Setup. Let’s jump in!

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  • My One Month Learning Plan

    I have a confession to make. Lately I’ve felt like my skills have been slipping, or at least stagnating. Part of it is because I’ve been so busy, but part of it is because of feeble excuses like, “I’ve been so busy.” This year I’ve resolved to do a whole bunch of things, including learn more. Before I WordCamp Phoenix, I devised a plan that would take place pretty much the moment I landed back in Scranton; WordCamp Phoenix really reinforced I need to do this. So, here is my one month learning plan.

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  • 10 Android Apps the Make my Life Easier

    It’s no secret that I love Android as a platform, and I favor Android phones over the iPhone. I did my Master’s Thesis on the G1, bought the Motorola Droid- the first Android phone available on Verizon, and recently upgraded to the HTC Droid Incredible. One of the reasons I like Android so much is because of the openness of the Market Place, and the ability to install non-market apps on your phone. Apps are very powerful for any platform because they make your phone more personal. Today I want to tell you about 10 Android apps that have made my life easier!

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  • Quick Tip: How to Un-shrink a Sweater

    So this isn’t really tech related, but I’m a guy and not a very bright one at that. Last week a bought a new sweater, wore it out over the weekend and had to wash it. I of-course ignored the dry-clean only label and my brother’s warning and threw it in with the rest of the clothes. The result is that it was about 3 times smaller. Luckily I took to the Internet and found this awesome site, detailing how to un-shrink the sweater.

    1. Soak the sweater in warm water with a mild soap for about 10 minutes.
    2. Lay the garment out on some towels in a cool place (I hung it up on a hanger).
    3. Stretch the sweater out to its original size.
    4. Allow it to dry.

    The website explains in a little more detail the whys, but I tried this and it worked. If you try it, good luck! Let us know in the comments if it works. Other tips are also welcomed!

  • My Online Development Resources

    Recently, I made it practice to keep my most important web development resources in my bookmarks bar in Google Chrome (which is awesome, because I also use Bookmark Sync). These aren’t my development tools of course (Coda on Mac, Notepad++ and Filezilla on PC, Photoshop on both), these are online resources I use on a regular basis. Click on to see them!

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  • Quick Tip: Manage Call List with Google Maps

    This year I resolved to be more aggressive in getting clients, my marketing campaign, and my business in general. a few days ago I started compiling a list of business in my target market to reach out to. I decided to choose Google Maps to create a custom map of  those business. Here’s the Why & How.

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  • My Favorite Android Apps

    When I got my Droid, one of the first things I did was tap into Android’s vast app market  to check out apps and widgets (modules you can throw on one of your home screens for instant access to some app or information). I’ve had the device about a month now and there are a few apps that have proved themselves useful and/or awesome. Here is a list of my favorites. (more…)

  • Using Google Voice for Business

    google voice logoAs a freelancer, I don’t have an office, or employees, or all the extra stuff that one might have as a business. I work from home, with my laptop, my cell phone, and if I need to offload some work, I have a group of subcontractors I can call. This of course makes it harder to separate personal and professional life, especially if I’m giving people my cell phone number as a means of contact. That has changed with Google Voice.

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