Here is the second candidate for information and work hub ... I have started to gravitate towards work on this site because I find that useability of the apps to be extremely good ... the info hub that I described is the Google personalized start page ... I have 4 tabs configured with my home tab as the starting page ... in it I have my gmail, docs and spreadsheets, delicious bookmarks, a note pad, weather, horoscopes, and a world showing daylight ... all of these things make for a one stop page .. the google start page like the netvibes is extremely configurable so making a unique look as you wish is an easy task ... I also find that there is a recipe module that I have used many a time to create quick meals in a snap (good stuff) ...
I like this setup as with the MindMeister mindmapping software I can actually do quite a bit of work without leaving or booting up any programs on the pc (essential if you are to be travelling and need to work from a cafe or business center) ... the google docs and sheets really are more than functional and any work can then be stored and downloaded when you get back to your home machine (or in my case, getting my main machine back from repair). Yesterday I was going through a product development with two of my colleagues ... I used gmail to notify them and did the map outlining my ideas, I then exported to rtf file which I then took into google docs for fleshing out ... at that point, I notified them of the draft and we all then worked on the doc online ... it is a very handy and quick collaboration tool and done almost entirely web based ... when we get the document done, I will then take it into my Word 2007 for final formatting and dressing up ... by doing collaboration in this way, you will also save the clutter on your machine that always piles up when you have many cooks in the stew ...
A final thought, I have also enjoyed some of the games on google pages like two of my old favorites, pac man and bejeweled ... I find them to be a good refresh when I need a break and yet don't want to go too far or spend a whole lot of time ... quick reset for the mind ... Both of these pages give you a gateway to productivity and allow the mobile user the luxury of work on the go .... so far the experiment has helped me to hone down this configuration .... flash or pocket drive with firefox configured to go to Netvibes and Google ... great combo ... more thoughts to follow ...
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
On to the Net ....
Day 3 and feeling it ... puter should arrive tomorrow and be back soon ... I hope I hope ... getting used to working with a new setup ... I am operating on a very OLD compaq presario 2800 ... I think it is going on 4-5 years old now and still going strong ... this is my son's workhorse, so he allowed me to use his machine this week ... he has it humming, so I think there must be some surgery on motion when I get it back to get rid of some of the fat ... this computer is amazingly quick compared to my baby, so it will be time to clean house .. that will be on another day ...
The experiment continues as I attempt to keep a normal workflow utilizing mostly web based services and this kind of simulates being on the road ... today I will comment on my Netvibes setup as it has become one of my hubs to the day ... the netvibes page has evolved to become quite a powerhouse and incredibly useful and enteraining .... I have my site set up with three tabs, one called home which is the start page, another called news where I have multiple rss feeds and the last meebo .. which I have Meebo installed (great web service that allows IM using most services ... no need to install clients on the machine anymore).
My main page contains .... my gmail account that posts new mail ... weather for my home ... ebay monitor that I can see things I have bid on, am selling and watching ... a Remember the Milk module that allows you to add and check off items from RtM (if you haven't tried this service, go for it, like it to a todo list on steroids) ... Del Icio Us module so I can retrieve any item that I have marked (I have firefox add in for bookmarking that allows me to easily post to delicious) ... a little poker module for entertainment and a web note module for things I need to remember just in case ... looking at this whenever I get up throughout the day gives me a great handle on things ... the one great thing being the ajax type page is that you don't need to refresh to get your information ... updates on a timely manner ... the other great thing is the myriad of add ins that you can simply add and move around a page ... any sort of information of service is available from this great service ... try it for yourself .. works for me ...
Tomorrow I will write on my other page that I am trying, Google personalized ....
The experiment continues as I attempt to keep a normal workflow utilizing mostly web based services and this kind of simulates being on the road ... today I will comment on my Netvibes setup as it has become one of my hubs to the day ... the netvibes page has evolved to become quite a powerhouse and incredibly useful and enteraining .... I have my site set up with three tabs, one called home which is the start page, another called news where I have multiple rss feeds and the last meebo .. which I have Meebo installed (great web service that allows IM using most services ... no need to install clients on the machine anymore).
My main page contains .... my gmail account that posts new mail ... weather for my home ... ebay monitor that I can see things I have bid on, am selling and watching ... a Remember the Milk module that allows you to add and check off items from RtM (if you haven't tried this service, go for it, like it to a todo list on steroids) ... Del Icio Us module so I can retrieve any item that I have marked (I have firefox add in for bookmarking that allows me to easily post to delicious) ... a little poker module for entertainment and a web note module for things I need to remember just in case ... looking at this whenever I get up throughout the day gives me a great handle on things ... the one great thing being the ajax type page is that you don't need to refresh to get your information ... updates on a timely manner ... the other great thing is the myriad of add ins that you can simply add and move around a page ... any sort of information of service is available from this great service ... try it for yourself .. works for me ...
Tomorrow I will write on my other page that I am trying, Google personalized ....
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Computerless ... Withdrawal and Fix ...
Day 2 ... suffering from severe tablet withdrawal .. the anxiety is extreme and driving me to find other ways to alleviate the fear of falling ... enough drama ..
Here is how I have used the net to function as my puter away from my tablet ... I am using netvibes to create a super info page that I have my gmail, ebay, news, weather, rss feeds, and remember the milk listing ... this is my daily start page and command center ... from here I can get a good picture of what's happening and what is needed todo ....
I have found that while I do not have my primary machine I download docs and sheets to my google account and keep them there for download when I get my baby back ... I can also work on the items along with create new ones and store them online for now ... this will work great on trips as I can then synch them down ... this is where the second portion of the functionality comes in ... I have a flash drive with all my current and needed docs, spreadsheets and mind maps ... if I need to get anything, I mount the flash and upload to google (zoho or thinkfree also) to work on them ... if I need to work disconnected, my drive has copies of open office on it and I can use the drive like a standalone machine for light duty work (keeping all on a portable drive using portable apps keeps everything secure) ...
The MindMeister app works great as the final link in my work chain ... it does a great job of manipulating maps (I can even upload current maps from my drive) .. when I want to use them on my main machine there is an export to rtf file which can then be imported for work in MindManager .... works like a charm as I had to think through a project yesterday and the setup worked beautifully ....
All in all, I am feeling less anxious now and glad I am going through this exercise ... having to make do and see it fall together like this creates a nice safety net (I use a real time mirror on my tablet, so all data is effectively archived on an external hard drive) ....
Here is how I have used the net to function as my puter away from my tablet ... I am using netvibes to create a super info page that I have my gmail, ebay, news, weather, rss feeds, and remember the milk listing ... this is my daily start page and command center ... from here I can get a good picture of what's happening and what is needed todo ....
I have found that while I do not have my primary machine I download docs and sheets to my google account and keep them there for download when I get my baby back ... I can also work on the items along with create new ones and store them online for now ... this will work great on trips as I can then synch them down ... this is where the second portion of the functionality comes in ... I have a flash drive with all my current and needed docs, spreadsheets and mind maps ... if I need to get anything, I mount the flash and upload to google (zoho or thinkfree also) to work on them ... if I need to work disconnected, my drive has copies of open office on it and I can use the drive like a standalone machine for light duty work (keeping all on a portable drive using portable apps keeps everything secure) ...
The MindMeister app works great as the final link in my work chain ... it does a great job of manipulating maps (I can even upload current maps from my drive) .. when I want to use them on my main machine there is an export to rtf file which can then be imported for work in MindManager .... works like a charm as I had to think through a project yesterday and the setup worked beautifully ....
All in all, I am feeling less anxious now and glad I am going through this exercise ... having to make do and see it fall together like this creates a nice safety net (I use a real time mirror on my tablet, so all data is effectively archived on an external hard drive) ....
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Day 1 and counting ....
Packed my trusty M1400 and mailed out yesterday back to Motion for a repair ... that was total stress ... the tablet is my primary, read only, work machine .... I knew this was going to be the acid test for several things that I had been working on as I was trying to get to the truly mobile configuration ... let me start with two configurations ... both aimed at giving me portable apps in a small form factor that I could use when I travel ....
1) U3 equipped 2G flash drive ... I went to the U3 downloads and configured the flash with open office and firefox ... then I configured firefox with my normal browser add ins ... fasterfox, delicious bookmarks, and a nice theme .... a little limited because the firefox is a 1.5 version, but nonetheless a great browser ...
2) 5G Seagate pocket hard drive that I used Portable Apps and loaded the same thing but configured the browser to my normal as it is a 2.0 version.
Both of these I then loaded with my current work files that I figured I might need ... I used synch programs to put the data on the drives ... now here is where it gets a little tricky ...
I rely on MindManager for a lot of sythesis of ideas and starting writing and projects ... I have hundreds of maps and I could not carry the mindmanager program on the drives so I needed a workaround ... I mentioned yesterday MindMeister ... it works as described and answers the call ... my plan is to keep all work on the net if at all possible, including using Google docs to store attachments, etc that I need to work on ... well the MindMeister map that I worked on today was as I would have used the MindManager normally (a little slower - small price to pay for the ability to map) ... worked like a charm and is saved on the net ... later on I can take the map into MindManager easily as it has a export to rtf that I can then import into MindManager when I get my machine back ... Voila !!!! actually quite liberating as I have worked on the map on three different machines and three different locations .. just open it up and not skip a beat ...
In the next installment I will elaborate on how I am managing the work by using just the browser ... truly portable working situation ....
1) U3 equipped 2G flash drive ... I went to the U3 downloads and configured the flash with open office and firefox ... then I configured firefox with my normal browser add ins ... fasterfox, delicious bookmarks, and a nice theme .... a little limited because the firefox is a 1.5 version, but nonetheless a great browser ...
2) 5G Seagate pocket hard drive that I used Portable Apps and loaded the same thing but configured the browser to my normal as it is a 2.0 version.
Both of these I then loaded with my current work files that I figured I might need ... I used synch programs to put the data on the drives ... now here is where it gets a little tricky ...
I rely on MindManager for a lot of sythesis of ideas and starting writing and projects ... I have hundreds of maps and I could not carry the mindmanager program on the drives so I needed a workaround ... I mentioned yesterday MindMeister ... it works as described and answers the call ... my plan is to keep all work on the net if at all possible, including using Google docs to store attachments, etc that I need to work on ... well the MindMeister map that I worked on today was as I would have used the MindManager normally (a little slower - small price to pay for the ability to map) ... worked like a charm and is saved on the net ... later on I can take the map into MindManager easily as it has a export to rtf that I can then import into MindManager when I get my machine back ... Voila !!!! actually quite liberating as I have worked on the map on three different machines and three different locations .. just open it up and not skip a beat ...
In the next installment I will elaborate on how I am managing the work by using just the browser ... truly portable working situation ....
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Being Truly Mobile ...
Hi all ... this episode has been generated because of the dreaded event of having to send my Motion M1400 in for repair ... my machine is over two years old (has never skipped a beat) and yet the tech support there unhesitatingly sent me an RMA and FedEx prepaid label to send my machine in for a repair ... now that is service, Motion is a breath of fresh air in the sea of manufacturers and outsourcing ...
Anyway, this event has caused a few sleepless nights ... let me describe my work ... I run a company that has deals and projects going internationally ... most of the standard office type files and I rely heavily on MindManager as any that have followed my blog ... so being without my machine has caused me to think through my needs and how to be without and yet being able to work on present things and allow for any new items .... therein was the problem ...
I have a couple of other machines, but this is where all work takes place, so I needed to find a solution fast before having to ship the machine out ... I tried loading my Seagate 5G drive with my files (use MS Synch Toy) so anything that I worked on new would be synched up when this primary machine got back. I rely on Evernote for a lot of my information odds and ends, so they have an elegant solution to this problem. With their newest version, they have a mobile client and the program will synch the database and keep most current entries up to date, so while away I can use the mobile client and it will update my regular machine when it comes back ...
I think I got ahead of myself ... the Seagate was good, but I was trying to use a MojoPac installation so I could run MindManager on the drive, it worked, but kinda slow and was balky in using on other machines ... so I went to a U3 enabled flash drive ... 2G was enough to synch all my maps and working documents ... I also installed the evernote mobile and synched and then installed via the U3 a full copy of Open Office so I could work on docs ... the idea of doing this is the flash will not leave any pieces on the computer you are using, so security is not compromised if you are travelling ... I also used the firefox from U3 and configured it to my open tabs so I could simply carry all my web enabled items to any machine ...
Now the crowning piece ... I was reading on the web today about a web enabled site called MindMeister .. this is in private beta, but I was able to get an invite and tried the application ... it is GREAT ... for quick work and uploading maps that I have made before and working on it ... it is wonderful ... now with the other web enabled suites (I use Zoho, ThinkFree and Google Docs) this completes my needs .. it has really set me free ... I am working with the program now, but will put it through it's paces more in the coming week ... I think I now can let me puter go ...
Anyway, this event has caused a few sleepless nights ... let me describe my work ... I run a company that has deals and projects going internationally ... most of the standard office type files and I rely heavily on MindManager as any that have followed my blog ... so being without my machine has caused me to think through my needs and how to be without and yet being able to work on present things and allow for any new items .... therein was the problem ...
I have a couple of other machines, but this is where all work takes place, so I needed to find a solution fast before having to ship the machine out ... I tried loading my Seagate 5G drive with my files (use MS Synch Toy) so anything that I worked on new would be synched up when this primary machine got back. I rely on Evernote for a lot of my information odds and ends, so they have an elegant solution to this problem. With their newest version, they have a mobile client and the program will synch the database and keep most current entries up to date, so while away I can use the mobile client and it will update my regular machine when it comes back ...
I think I got ahead of myself ... the Seagate was good, but I was trying to use a MojoPac installation so I could run MindManager on the drive, it worked, but kinda slow and was balky in using on other machines ... so I went to a U3 enabled flash drive ... 2G was enough to synch all my maps and working documents ... I also installed the evernote mobile and synched and then installed via the U3 a full copy of Open Office so I could work on docs ... the idea of doing this is the flash will not leave any pieces on the computer you are using, so security is not compromised if you are travelling ... I also used the firefox from U3 and configured it to my open tabs so I could simply carry all my web enabled items to any machine ...
Now the crowning piece ... I was reading on the web today about a web enabled site called MindMeister .. this is in private beta, but I was able to get an invite and tried the application ... it is GREAT ... for quick work and uploading maps that I have made before and working on it ... it is wonderful ... now with the other web enabled suites (I use Zoho, ThinkFree and Google Docs) this completes my needs .. it has really set me free ... I am working with the program now, but will put it through it's paces more in the coming week ... I think I now can let me puter go ...
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