Productivity

  • August 7, 2006

    Getting Organized II

    Getting Organized

    Last Time, I talked about a number of different calendars to get organized. I also mentioned my personal favorite was my Treo, as well as a date book (paper organizer). Now I want to talk about To Do Lists. Everyone uses them and I highly recommend using them. Unlike the calendars, you have a little more freedom with a to do or tasks list, as you can write them anywhere. But be sure to keep track of them. I want to tell you about some of the methods I use, as well as a couple of nice resources.

    My Treo:
    As I mentioned in the last post of this series, I use my Treo for everything. The Tasks feature is displayed right with the calendar, and you can set reminders on it. Not to mention it auto-syncs with my PC so I will get reminders while I work too.
    Paper Lists:
    The absolute best for an ad-hock to do list, though I have been known to use my treo’s memos feature for that as well. I will usually scribble a to do list in my datebook, on one of the days of the week that has already past- that way I will still see it when I check my calendar for the week (at least until the end of that week). I will also jot one down on a legal pad I have on me or the white board that is up in my room
    White Boards:
    I have used one every year of school, and plan on it for my senior year. Easy to update, always on display, and writing that list you wrote during class one more time will help you remember it.
    Online Resources:
    Admittedly, I do not use online resources that often. The problem with to do lists I have used online is the same I have with online calendars- You need to be at a computer. I have emailed myself lists (I always check my email, a million times a day. AND I get my email on my treo) on occasion. The best site I have seen is TaDa List. It is nice and easy to use. With that said, I would like to plug a project I am working on, that I hope to have complete soonish. TasksBook.com will be a way to bring your online tasks list to you- It will be clean and easy to use, and it will send you not only email reminders but txt message reminders to your phone. It is really a project I started to hone my AJAX skills, as well as a build a useful app for users. While I have taken on a few clients and school is starting soon, I will use my free time to develop the site and get it into beta as soon as possible.

    What do you use for your tasks?? Is there a website or really good method I missed?? Next time: Contacts List. Later!

  • August 1, 2006

    Getting Organized

    Getting Organized

    With just a few weeks until school started (me going into my senior year I am both excited and apprehensive), I am started now to try and get organized. With the number of credits I am taking as well as my level of involvement, I can’t help but think my senior year is going to be a busy one. Pretty much since high school I have been trying to find the perfect way to get and stay organized, and well, I am not very good at it. But I have tried my hand at ALOT of things, and I will tell you what has worked better, and what I am going with now.

    Paper Organizer:
    Honestly, in this world of tech and cheap PDAs I feel a paper organizer is still great to go with. Really good for use at meetings where you might be taking notes, a nice layout of your week and month, and plenty of room for notes in those places too. Not to mention many come with folders you can put important documents into. This is one method I am going to use this year, as I did last year.
    PDA/Smart Phone:
    I love them. But I find I never used JUST a PDA. As a techie, of course, I would want more features; not just a calendar, address book, todo list. They are small and compact, most are easy to use. I would just need a little more incentive to carry one around- Such as my HP iPAQ with WiFi, or what I currently have, my Treo 650. This is my phone as well as an organizer, etc. So I carry it around everywhere I go, and as a result, I use it for everything. I also use Outlook, which the Treo syncs with
    Computer Organizers:
    I find that while something like Outlook is nice, it’s only really useful if you have something else with it. Unless you plan on having your computer with you, on all the time ready to type in appointments, Outlook or the like isn’t your best bet.
    Online Organizers:
    In the world of Web 2.0, there are an infinite amount of resources for someone to get organized online. However, it poses the same problem as a Computer Organizer- unless you are around a computer all the time with Internet access, you will need something else. Some of you best bets, however, include Google Calendar or HipCal.

    I will be going with a paper organizer, as well as my treo. I could rely solely on the treo, but I suppose I am kind of old fashioned for a techie. I just like the feel of the paper organizer and find it a little easier to use at times. Well, I wasn’t really planning on making this a series, but this post was getting long, so Next time I will talk about tasks/todo lists. Later!

  • April 12, 2006

    PC Starter Kit

    Let me start by saying I suck for not bring my PC charger home over break. No worries though, I have a back up PC with none of my files and stuff on it. But it is enough to get by. Unfortunately, this is a bare bones PC with none of my regular software on it. I have to rely on freeware, both new and old. So, here is a list of the software I am using to get by. Eventually I want to make all the installs part of a .bat file so I can run that one script and everything I need will be installed!

    Firefox
    First and foremost, I need a good browser to get all my other stuff. Firefox, without question.
    Gaim
    For all of my Instant Messaging needs
    Notepad++
    In my opinion, the best text editor. Supports many languages and it’s very lightweight.
    FileZilla
    I will always be doing FTP/Web Stuff, and for that, I have FileZilla.
    The GIMP
    For my photo editing needs
    Open Office
    When I don’t have MS Office handy, this is the next best thing
    Fox It PDF Reader
    I know Adobe Reader is free too, but Fox It reader is 100x better.

    And there you have it. My quick and dirty list of stuff I constantly use, no matter what PC I am on. You can find a huge list of freeware here too. Later!

  • July 2, 2005

    Why you should buy a laptop for college….

    I just read This- it’s entitled “Why you should not buy a laptop for college. Ok so this post isn’t why you should, but I’d like to help shed some light on the situation. I have both a laptop and a desktop. I built my desktop. I’m a computer geek. However, I find my laptop incredible useful for school and otherwise. Let’s take this guy’s post point by point.

    Price Issue: A laptop will cost considerably more then an equally matched desktop system… While this is true, most students should by laptops because they don’t need a really powerful machine. Something that can run MS Office (Word, Excel, etc.), AIM and a web browser (use FireFox) really should be sufficient. My laptop (Averatec Tablet PC) was $1300, is very small, and is currently running gAIM, Firefox, a notepad clone, Excel, Word, Windows Media Player and Adobe Photoshop as well as Gmail Notifier and Windows Updates. and it’s running fine. if your laptop breaks down you will nearly always have to send it to the manufacture to get repaired. That’s if you are still covered by the warranty… In my experience, the same thing will happen with a desktop. Most people are afraid of the inside of a computer and don’t want to deal with it. Depending on the damage, no matter what you have, you will b e sending it back. and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get the extended warranty. At best buy, it will extend it to 3 years.

    Portability Hype: Not all locations on campus will support wifi… This is true, so you will have to find out if you school does, and where. My school does and is expanding it throughout campus. And if your school doesn’t offer it, chances are someone living just off campus did no configure their wireless router correctly, and you can mooch off them. Sitting in a parking lot on campus, i found 16 WiFi connections. Also forget about using your laptop as a notebook… This one he’s pretty right about. But it’s good for those times where you want to bring it to class for other reasons, because you are giving a presentation or something- I’m a programming major, so I find that bringing my laptop to class helps sometimes. But, what our friend didn’t mention is those times you go home for the weekend or breaks. The Laptop is definitely great for this. You aren’t going to lug your desktop home for a weekend. It would take to much time and effort and probably not pay off. Also, those longer breaks- laptop breakdown is much easier. Since I am often in need of My computer- because of certain resources- I find myself bringing my laptop all over the place. Plus, Laptops are great for commuters who often spend the whole day on campus because why drive back and forth in between classes.

    Productivity Hype: Your going to be as productive as you want to me. He mentions online research and distractions- that is true. But you will be able to get the internet anywhere on campus. If you want to do online research at the library you can do it on their PCs, but it wouldn’t be a hassle to bring you laptop there and connect. Either way you will have those distractions, might as well be comfortable, web wise.

    Durability & Security Issues : hey are more easily prone to getting nicks, dents and scratches and a bad fall could just spell the end. Also unlike desktops, laptops are more likely to getting stolen or lost…. This is where being a responsible adult comes in. Keep an eye on your laptop, get an nice case for it for when it’s not in use and you will be fine.

    I hope this has been helpful and I would be happy to answer an questions on the issues for anyone. Just leave a comment or email me (Joe@Casabona.Org). Later!