For Christmas, my assistant bought me what has become my favorite pen. It is a Pilot G2 pen with a metal barrel. It has just the right amount of weight and retains everything I like about the plastic G2 but with much better materials. I made one change to it, by swapping out the black ink with a blue cartridge from a normal plastic G2 pen. … [Read more...] about Favorite Pen
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Simple Stuff Reduction Tips
The more stuff you have, the more time you have to dedicate to managing and hunting for things. Here are several simple ways you can reduce the amount of stuff in your life to help make it easier to find things that are important. Keyring Cleanup - Get rid of any extra keys. If you are like most people, you probably have several keys that you can't even remember what they go to. Sometimes it helps to keep a separate keychain at home for those odd little keys that you don't want to lose, but don't need to carry with you. Card Shuffle - Go through your credit cards, ID cards, supermarket cards and get rid of the ones you won't use. I keep about 4 cards with me and the rest stay … [Read more...] about Simple Stuff Reduction Tips
Live Large on a Small Budget
Wise Bread is launching their book today called 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. They sent me a review copy and the book is really amazing. It covers nearly every topic imaginable and is full of all kinds of ideas that I've never thought of. (Wise Bread is also having special giveaway today to help promote the book.) … [Read more...] about Live Large on a Small Budget
Interview: Learning New Technology
We interviewed a number of bloggers and asked: How do you learn a new piece of technology? (968) Here are their answers. I play with it! If my mind doesn't start flooding with lots of ways it will save me a ton of time, I abandon it. If it's not intuitive to learn, forget it. In today's world there is no excuse for any technology to be difficult to learn. Ariane Benefit from Neat & Simple Living (rss) Giving yourself plenty of time to just "play" is important. You shouldn't buy a complicated new digital camera 30 minutes before you want to use it to capture a once in a lifetime event. I unpack, fire it up and start using it. I toss the manual in the corner and … [Read more...] about Interview: Learning New Technology
Great Games
Over the Christmas holiday's someone suggested we play a game we use to play in college (Sardines). My first reaction was "we are too old for that and "it will be boring". I realized that I was displaying the first symptoms of old age. We went ahead and played the game and had a great time. So as a reminder to myself of the importance of having fun, we've compiled this list of fun group games. If you have any suggestions, please add them in the comments. 1. Sardines This is kind of like hide and go seek in reverse. One person hides and everyone goes looking for them. When the hider is found, the searcher hides with them. As more and more searchers hide with the hider, it … [Read more...] about Great Games
Adobe ConnectNow
In business or school settings, communication over the internet has brought about many efficient ways to communicate with others not in our immediate vicinity. Although the most productive communication is done in person (in most situations), tools such as email, instant messaging, and now Adobe ConnectNow can make life much easier. ConnectNow features an all-in-one integration of many computer-related communications tools. It allows for the use of webcams, microphones, and file sharing, as well. After the user signs up for an account, the program automatically creates a URL that you can invite participants to type in. They then can chat, share video and other information with … [Read more...] about Adobe ConnectNow
Paperless Signing and Faxing
When it comes to dealing with faxes my two biggest timesavers are using a scanned signature and the ability to sign documents from Acrobat. These two things make a huge difference in my ability to work from anywhere I have an internet connection. … [Read more...] about Paperless Signing and Faxing
Recommended Book
I just finished a fascinating book about how the longitude problem was solved. It is amazing how much effort went into solving the problem. I highly recommend the book. … [Read more...] about Recommended Book
4 Reasons You Should Use a Credit Card
When you pay off the balance each month, most credit cards don't charge you anything. This can be one of the best ways to manage your finances. Below are four reasons you should consider using a credit card. 1. Avoiding Fraud Debit cards and checks are some of the worst ways to pay for anything. Sticking with credit cards or cash can save you a lot of money. Pretty much anything you do involves risk. When you carry around $50 in your pocket, there is a risk that you might lose it or get robbed. When you give a credit card to a waitress, there is a risk that she might steal the number. When you write a check at the grocery store, there is a risk that someone might take your … [Read more...] about 4 Reasons You Should Use a Credit Card
New Fujitsu Scanner
If you've been following my paperless office experiment, you might be interested in Fujitsu's new ScanSnap model. The S1500M for Mac and S1500 for Windows looks to replace the 500 line. Most of the specs are similar, but the 1500s have some more advanced paper handling and sensing to prevent double feeds. … [Read more...] about New Fujitsu Scanner