Resolution Matters for a Paperless Office

As part of my paperless experiment I’m slowly moving my data  to PDFs I’ve really started to notice the difference in resolution between my various computers.  I recently got a new laptop with a 17 inch 1920x 1200.  My previous laptop had the same sized screen but only 1440 x 900 pixels.

On my older laptop it was difficult to read a full sized PDF–especially if the print was small.  On my new laptop I’m finding that I can read print that was unreadable at the lower resolution.

Here is a screen shot from the older laptop with the lower resolution monitor:

If you are good at guessing you might be able to read it, but it is going to be difficult.  Here is the same size (relative to the screen) capture on the higher resolution monitor:

The text is still small but it is much easier to read.  Now I know looking at this post, the second example is much bigger, but keep in mind they are actually the same size on the two screens.  The second one is bigger because it has more pixels.  (I guess I should have enlarged the lower resolution one so you could see the comparison, but I don’t have photoshop installed on the new computer just yet.)
If you want to go paperless pay just as much attention to the resolution of the screen as you do to the physical size.

Tuesday’s Tip: Removing Superglue

Have you ever gotten superglue all over your fingers and had to live with it for two weeks as it wore off? There is a simple way to take it off, but first let me tell you a story.

When my wife worked in the ER of a large county hospital in Dallas she saw a lot of very strange cases. One of the most interesting was the guy who came in with his eyes closed. Evidentially his wife had accused him of looking at other women and they got into a fight. Some how he decided that he could prove that he wasn’t looking at other women by super gluing his eyes closed. (I am not making this up.)

After the glue dried he began to think it wasn’t such a great idea and got some people to drive him to the emergency room. My wife said the doctors and nurses laughed at him for awhile and then gave him Vaseline to rub in his eyes.

Petroleum will break down super glue, so you can easily remove it with gasoline. However a less flammable and less dangerous solution is to use Vaseline to rub the hardened glue off your fingers.

Folder Templates

If you have a lot of computer folders that need the same organizational structure you might consider creating a template folder.  For example I have a standard layout I use for the folder to keep track of client information. This includes folders for billing information, contracts, notes, etc.

I created a folder in my Clients folder called z_template.  This makes it stay at the bottom of the list.  In that folder I setup my layout.  I usually name my folders with an underscore beneath them so all of my standard files stay at the top–regardless of what else ends up in the folder.

When I start a folder for a new client, I simply copy everything from my template into their folder and on my way to a well organized business relationship.

You can make the structure as deep as you need.  It is also helpful to pre-create common files.  For example, I usually have a text document that I use as a scratch pad for any access information.  So if a client gives me access to their intranet, the URL would go in this file.  If the file is already there, I’m much more likely to use it than if I have to create it.

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