Kolz Blog

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Yeah, we know, it's hard to believe that DirecTV and TiVo are continuing to add features for hardware that is no longer available for purchase and that DirecTV takes every opportunity to replace with its own branded DVR. But we can only hope that this is a prelude to a new DirecTV TiVo. [Read more]

Web workers have a love/hate relationship with Backpack. On the one hand, it’s an incredibly simple tool for collecting information. On the other hand, it’s an incredibly simple tool for collecting information. That simplicity is the application’s greatest strength…and its greatest liability. As part of their “Getting Real” manifesto for developing web applications, the folks at 37Signals have been resistant to adding bells & whistles to their tools. But eventually, they had to give in a just a bit while maintaining the essence of the application and the company’s brand. There were already many different ways to be productive with Backpack. Last week, Backpack 2 was released, giving web workers a few good reasons to give the online organizer another look. Consider upgrading to the $5/month plan to get the most out of the service, including more pages and a simple calendar. Relocate items to other pages. One big frustration in Backpack was always its emphasis on the “pretty” over the ability to dynamically move data around. Pages desperately needed to be more flexible. That call has been answered. For example, the new Backpack now lets you dump text, images, links into a single “Collection” page when you’re in a hurry, and then relocate them item by item to organized pages when and how you prefer. In the past this was a deal-breaker for me, and it’s the primary reason I have now come back to the service. Search! Simply about time. OpenID Support. For those of us who use Backpack as a personal organizer while we have Basecamp and/or Highrise accounts for business-related collaboration, this is a welcome addition. More than the ability to log in across all services with a single ID, using OpenID enables the Open Bar at the top of all 37Signals application pages. I’ve found it very handy to bounce between multiple Basecamp accounts and Backpack. OpenID is easy to use on sites that support it, and you don’t have to remember multiple user names and passwords. Don’t forget 3rd party tools that can make the Backpack experience better. PackRat, the $24.95 Mac OS X desktop organizer that works seamlessly with Backpack has recently been updated to version 1.3 to address some of the changes in the new web version of the web application. PackRat is ideal for capturing information whether you are online or off, as it automatically syncs in the background. Unfortunately, some new features are not yet supported in the API that PackRat relies on, so if you use PackRat (or a similar tool that uses the Backpack API), give some time for the dust to settle. A common complaint among users is Basecamp/Backpack’s plain text boxes that can only accept formatting through coded markup (Textile). Nowadays, end users are just too used to visual editors. If you are one of those people and you use Firefox, then install the free Basecode add-in for a right/control-click contextual menu for easy access to formatting commands while in Backpack editing windows. No need to remember whether it’s a * or a _ that bolds text. Basecode’s WYSIWYG editing bar only works reliably in Basecamp, but the contextual menu works in both applications for quickly formatting Textile markup. Are you a new or returned fan? How are you using Backpack to collect and present information? Share This

Heading on your summer vacation soon? If you're like us—and you probably are since you're reading this—you can't go far without your gadgets. In honor of that, [Read more]

SnagIt Output for OneNote 2007 has entered my Top 3 favorite PowerToys. From Kathy’s blog…

The new accessory lets you send almost any snag to OneNote directly from the SnagIt preview. By default, the snags go to your cursor location. But you can easily change the output location to any page in any section in any open notebook or to any page in your unfiled notes. If you want, you can even have SnagIt create a page in a section and put the output there. (New pages get the title “Snag” followed by a sequence number.) You can change the default from your cursor location to any of the other locations as well. (What’s a Snag? That’s a screen shot you take with SnagIt!) I have been testing it out and have found a lot of great uses for it. For example:

• I hate that there has been no easy way to get long/wide pages to my notes. Now I can set up a Snag to grab the scrolling page, then send that straight to the page in my notes that I want.
• I can annotate my screen captures and then send them to OneNote. Since the OneNote clipping tool doesn’t let me do annotations, this is a biggie for me. I hate that when I annotate a capture in OneNote, the annotations don’t move with the capture if I drag the capture. By using Snagit, I can capture my content, annotate it, and then send it to OneNote. Really slick.
• I want to capture specific objects from PPT or a web page and drop them in OneNote. I can copy and paste, but I have to hope that the person who created the object did it right in order to always get what I want. Now, I can snag the object and send the object to my notes.

Technorati Tags: OneNote onenote2007 onenotepowertoy onenotepowertoys onenote powertoys PowerToy printscreen snagit techsmith

Gary Neitzke, a tester for MS OneNote, has created a “favorites” powertoy…

Purpose: Allow a simple way to keep a list of notebooks without having to memorize locations, allowing you to close and re-open notebooks without knowing the path. Description: A powertoy that works like the “favorites” of IE. You add a Notebook to the list then it allows you to close the notebook in OneNote. Then in a few minutes/hours/days/months/years etc… when you need to open it but can’t remember the path, you just click on the favorites and the notebook is there ready to go, no more remember long paths and locations. How to use:

To launch you just click the Favorites from your standard toolbar. The first launch will take a second or two since it is busy creating a file to store your favorites. You can add the notebook you are viewing or all the notebooks that are open. When you want to open a notebook you can double click the notebook to open it, right click it or just use the open command. You can also open multiple notebooks from the list. If a notebook has been removed/moved it will prompt you it cannot find the notebook and lets you know to try again or remove it from the list. You can also copy the paths to the notebooks by right clicking on them and selecting copy.

Setup Files: http://johnguin.members.winisp.net/Shared%20Documents/OneNote%20Favorites.zip

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It's not very often that I find myself with any free time. In fact, if I have any, a power nap is usually in order. However, I have recently been trying to better utilize free time. The time I gain from cutting workplace distractions alone has provided me with at least 45 extra minutes each day. For those that aren't math wizards, that's like 5 hours per week! However, perhaps that time is best utilized relaxing the brain as opposed to clearing out the inbox. Once you master distraction extermination, how can you best utilize the time? Take a peak at the ideas I wrote down on my train ride today and decide if and how you can implement these.

• Do Nothing: You didn't expect this one but instead of napping, just sit and think. Grab a newspaper and plain old relax. While some may call you a slacker, there is a lot to say for increasing your productivity by relaxing your brain. Try it - go somewhere quiet and just chill out.
• Build the network: No I am not talking about anything technical. I am talking about building your personal network. Send an email or give someone a call that you normally wouldn't. There are always people that can help advance your career, the key is to remind them that you exist.
• Get Out: While I hate to use the fitness cliche, getting out for a walk can help clear your brain. The fresh air and the increased blood flow will help you think. Bring your notebook with you because clear thinking provides a unique chance to brainstorm and you'll need a spot to write your ideas. To plan your route and build some diversity, try TrailLink or look for an appropriate resource here.
• Clean: I don't care if it's your office, your inbox, or your mail. Spend some time organizing the things that constantly demand attention. Whatever it is, your busy time will flow if you get rid of anything that slows things down.
• Hit the gym: Ok, I am an internet junkie so many times my free time is allocated to the internet. However, by committing to simply walking or lifting weights twice per week, your energy and health will surely increase. Put together a simple workout schedule and commit to it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you already workout, try mixing it up!
• Challenge yourself to learn: I enjoy trivia so occasionally I will take a few minutes and try to learn 5 things in 5 minutes. The facts and vocabulary I pick up impress the boss, my wife, etc. We wrote a post recently on learning resources so if you have time to kill, read it!

I am all for wisdom sharing so if you have something unique that you do during your down time, let us all know. {Ad} Should you refinance? Find out now!

I’m pleased to announce that Zen Habits has joined LifeRemix, a network of a handful of excellent personal enrichment blogs. LifeRemix blogs explore the topics of productivity, happiness, work and family balance, personal development, organization, and the environment. To help with the network’s launch, I wrote a post called 100 Great Tips to Improve Your Life, which compiles some of the best tips from all the sites in the network. LifeRemix compiles headlines from all of its member blogs, and the reason I joined is because all of them are extremely well written: Black Belt Productivity, Behance, Cranking Widgets, Dumb Little Man, Happiness Project, LifeClever, LifeDev, No Impact Man, Pick the Brain, Success From the Nest, Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Workweek, WiseBread, and Zen Habits. The LifeRemix banner now will sit permanently in the sidebar here at Zen Habits. What are the benefits of this network to you, the readers? They are two-fold, mostly:

1. You’ll have access to great articles from some great sites. While I won’t be displaying the daily headlines from the other blogs every day, you can easily click on the LifeRemix banner in the sidebar to check them out, or subscribe to their feeds, and every now and then I’ll do a roundup of some of my favorites from the network.
2. Great, fresh content on Zen Habits. I plan to ask the other members of the network to write guest posts for Zen Habits from time to time. Like I said, they’re all extremely well written, so this will help the site, especially for those of you who tire of my writing sometimes. :)

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Don't look now, but Microsoft is apparently readying a Vista Performance and Reliability Pack for release, and while it's certainly not available through Windows Update just yet, that doesn't mean it's not hiding elsewhere. Reportedly, the aforementioned pack and the Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack will institute a number of welcome fixes and performance increases in a variety of areas, and though the list is indeed lengthy, a few notables include:

• Increased compatibility with many video drivers.
• Improved visual appearance of games with high intensity graphics.
• Improved quality of playback for HD DVD and Blu-ray disks on large monitors.
• Improved reliability for Internet Explorer when some third party toolbars are installed on Vista.
• Improved reliability of systems that were upgraded from XP to Vista.
• Resolves an issue where creating AVI files on Vista may get corrupted.
• Improves the performance of Vista's Memory Manager in specific customer scenarios and prevents some issues which may lead to memory corruption.

So if all the red flags prove correct, Vista users can eagerly await an official release of the updates, or if you're the adventurous type, you can bypass the whole "waiting" thing altogether and get your download on immediately. [Via TechSpot] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Well, introvert Jay White has some new friends. Today a site named LifeRemix launched and along with a handful other other blogs, Dumb Little Man is a charter member. LifeRemix will feature original content (sample "100 Great Tips to Improve Your Life") and syndicated headlines from its members which are (blush) regarded as some of the blogosphere's best productivity sites. I am pretty honored that I was invited to join. Aside from the new image on Dumb Little Man, you will not see any difference in our content. When invited, I just thought it would be nice to be part of a fun network of blogs that have the same interests. Here is a list of the blogs that are currently involved. I have to assume that you are already subscribed to some of these but if not, have fun reading up on some tips that we haven't discussed.

• Black Belt Productivity
• Behance
• Cranking Widgets Blog
• Freelance Switch
• Happiness Project
• LifeClever
• LifeDev
• No Impact Man
• Pick the Brain
• Success From the Nest
• Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Workweek Blog
• Unclutterer
• WiseBread
• Zen Habits

If you are interested in making life easier, do yourself a favor and check out LifeRemix. If you are bold enough to take my word for it, subscribe to the feed here. {Ad} Should you refinance? Find out now!

There are some Vista patches in unofficial form, leaked on the web, according to a few sites. CRN is calling it Vista 0.5, since a true SP is rumored to be over a year away. The update is supposed to help with driver compatibility, and increase file system performance, among other things. In my opinion, it would be pretty stupid to install this, since it's supposed to officially come out next week. I mean, do you really want to be installing a Beta patch on top of a v.1.0 of Windows? Some people just can't wait to tart up their machines. The full list of improvements:

938979 Vista Performance and Reliability Pack This update resolves a number of individual issues which may be affecting some computers running Windows Vista. These issues have been reported by customers using the Error Reporting service, product support, or other means. Installing this update will improve the performance and responsiveness for some scenarios and improves reliability of Windows Vista in a variety of scenarios. Some examples of the improvements contained in this update are: * Improves performance in resuming back to the desktop from the Photo and Windows Energy screensaver. * Resolves an issue where some secured web pages using advanced security technologies may not get displayed in Internet Explorer on Windows Vista. * Resolves an issue where a shared printer may not get installed if the printer is connected to a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 system and User Access Control is disabled on the Vista client. * Resolves an issue where creating AVI files on Vista may get corrupted. * Improves the performance in calculating the 'estimated time remaining' when copying/moving large files. * Improves performance in bringing up Login Screen after resuming from Hibernate. * Resolves an issue where synchronization of offline files to a server can get corrupted. * Resolves a compatibility issue with RAW images created by Canon EOS 1D/1DS Digital SLR Camera which can lead to data loss. This only affects RAW images created by these two specific camera models. * Resolves an issue where a computer can lose its default Gateway address when resuming from sleep mode. * Improves the performance when copying or moving entire directories containing large amounts of data or files. * Improves the performance of Vista's Memory Manager in specific customer scenarios and prevents some issues which may lead to memory corruption. 938194 Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack This update resolves a number of individual issues which may be affecting some computers running Windows Vista. These issues have been reported by customers using the Error Reporting service, product support, or other means. Installing this update will improve the reliability and hardware compatibility of Windows Vista in a variety of scenarios. Some examples of the improvements contained in this update are: * Improved reliability and compatibility of Vista when used with newer graphics cards in several specific scenarios and configurations. * Improved reliability when working with external displays on a laptop. * Increased compatibility with many video drivers. * Improved visual appearance of games with high intensity graphics. * Improved quality of playback for HD-DVD and Blue-Ray disks on large monitors. * Improved reliability for Internet Explorer when some third party toolbars are installed on Vista. * Improved Vista reliability in networking configuration scenarios. * Improved the reliability of Windows Calendar in Vista. * Improved reliability of systems that were upgraded from XP to Vista. * Increased compatibility with many printer drivers. * Increased reliability and performance of Vista when entering sleep and resuming from sleep.

[Neowin]

Windows only: Freeware app Outlook on the Desktop embeds the Outlook calendar directly into your desktop. Outlook on the Desktop creates a semi transparent layer that pins the Outlook Calendar on the desktop at all times. The premise is to mimic the real life paper calendaring system -- you know the really big calendar you used to keep on your desk. Also, since it uses Outlook, you have full access to all of Outlook's functionality. Outlook on the Desktop requires .NET 2.0. If you do not have it installed, the program's setup will install it for you. Outlook on the Desktop is a free download for Windows only. Outlook on the Desktop [MichaelScrivo.com via Freeware Genius]

Even if you love your work, there will be times when it no longer fills you with passion and energy. You feel emotionally exhausted and cynical. Your health suffers as stress mounts. You wonder whether you have the resources, internal or external, to meet your responsibilities. Web workers may be especially prone to burnout in a hyperconnected world. That damn laptop’s always around, waiting with email at the ready. [Read more]

I can’t escape the fact that having a real centralized project list for the things I’m doing is helping. I want to believe that I have tons of excess capacity in my brain. I want to think that I remember everything I’ve got on the go. But I don’t. And maybe you don’t, either. I’ve recently started using the Mac program iGTD as a central repository. It does a great job of sorting out contexts and projects such that I can sort things by project or context and get whatever done that I can. I’m sure you can recommend the PC or LINUX equivalent in the comments section, right? But to me, it’s not about the software. It’s about the way one uses the product to create a workflow. Here’s what I’ve been experimenting with: 30 Minutes in the Morning I wish I could use less time to do this, but I find that if I give the first 30 minutes of my morning towards wiping out my inbox and either turning the mail into projects or acting immediately, it goes a long way on improving my day. So that’s what I do.

• Open email
• Process mail into a project –> add to iGTD or
• Act on mail immediately: respond in a way that closes the loop with the other person.
• Close email and try to forget for an hour.
• Try to nail some action on a project, hopefully in order of deadline.

Nothing magical here, but getting into the rhythm of it is where the power comes in. I’m starting to come to my iGTD project list to look for what needs doing. And when I identify that something’s not there, I put it on to add it to my active queue. Perform Project “Blasts” Instead of focusing on any one project, I scroll through my project list and try working on closing out the ones due next, and/or the ones I think I can complete in short order. I try to do a mix of these and a few swipes at tasks on REALLY BIG projects. Because I’ve got this set up as projects with tasks underneath, it’s as easy as working on Next Actions. This requires discipline. I find that if I don’t break a project into tasks, then I don’t dig in as quickly to take a next action on something. Daily Review I do a weekly review, but I also do a daily endcap to see if I’ve moved the ball forward on enough of my projects. Because my particular work is almost always scattershot, I look to see that what I’ve done has had any impact on a daily basis. Thus, I can try and influence my next day more. Your Thoughts and Improvements This is the system I’m using to manage my workload right now. How are YOU working? What are you doing differently? Have you tried a program that you like more than iGTD? Talk about it. We’d love to hear. Chris Brogan blogs at [chrisbrogan.com] Bookmark or Share this with a friend!

Recent remaindered links you might enjoy:

• The best time to post to MeFi is between 2 and 3 EST. | MetaFilter - Great MeFi post on the best times to do certain stuff: to buy, to eat, to travel — even when to give birth.
• The Doorknob Condition ensures privacy - Geekologie - Clever design puts your need for privacy into stark functional terms.
• Nelson’s Weblog: tech / iphone / switches - "You can measure the disaster of cell phone UI by how many button presses it takes to silence the damn ringer."
• Getting Things Done, in Emacs - Emacs implementation of GTD [via Anarchaia]
• Parents’ stress and sleep deprivation can be a danger to children - "Always place something in the backseat…that requires you to open the back door every time you park." (scroll down) Life-saving life hacks in the sidebar for a tragic story.
• michael-mccracken.net » Processing Email - "[If] you’re really just tracking bugs, use a bug tracker. If you’re coordinating things in real time, use IMs or IRC." True dat, Michael. (and c.f.)
• ATPM 13.03 - Review: ScanSnap S500m - Ed’s review of the ScanSnap for OS X is thorough and includes great workflow tips.
• Roo Reynolds: Merlin Mann’s tech talk - Roo Reynolds has written up a detailed set of notes based on my Inbox Zero talk. Thanks, Roo!

daily links Featured 43f Job: Ruby/Rails Developers at ThoughtWorks Post your job to the 43f Job Board today, and get 43% off with checkout coupon 43OFFTHRUJUL. Offer ends 7/31.

Inbox Zero Tech Talk 7/23/2007 00:58:38 During the Q&A portion of my Inbox Zero presentation at Google the other day, an audience member stumped me with a question about how to manage action around mailing list distributions (the question starts at about 48:22). He said he frequently receives email requests and questions that are also distributed to the other 20 people on his team. He describes a “waiting game” in which team members hang back to see if other people will respond first — at least partly out of not wanting to duplicate effort or flood the sender. I thought it was a really intriguing question, although I said (and still believe) that distributed email would not personally be my first choice to handle this kind of communication. Well, based on the reaction in the room that day, I gathered that this is a common dilemma for Googlers. Funny thing is that, since the video went up, I’ve received a lot of email from people outside the Googleplex who share the same problem — a few of whom were aghast that I wasn’t aware what a huge pain this is for knowledge workers. And to an extent, I’ll admit those folks were mostly right. I do know about the pain of being on multiple email lists, and it’s why I’ve spent the last ten years trying desperately to stay off of them. I also know and dread the poorly-worded action request that requires vivisection with a magnifying glass and tweezers. But I suppose I never really thought about the cumulative effects that distribution lists can have across a company — especially given the geometric nature of their influence, and especially if some 500 emails a day must be monitored and processed for potential action items. That’s just stunning to me. So: open thread for you email veterans to chime in… How does your team handle these sorts of distributed requests? How are you personally managing possible actions that stem from email distributions? Are there success stories for the distributed email approach? Anyone found better media than email for managing this stuff? Do we all just need to make our peace with getting 2,000 interoffice emails a week, and move on? What’s the solution? action based, email, google, inbox zero, vox populi, world of work Featured 43f Job: Ruby/Rails Developers at ThoughtWorks Post your job to the 43f Job Board today, and get 43% off with checkout coupon 43OFFTHRUJUL. Offer ends 7/31.

Discover your thought patterns, then act on that knowledge. We all develop habitual patterns of thinking: channels along which our minds run all too easily into recurring patterns of mental behavior. People often aren’t fully aware of these patterns precisely because they are so much part of their lives. It’s terribly easy to miss the role they play in limiting your options and determining how things will nearly always turn out for you. Once you grasp the automatic way that your mind tends to work, you’ll be better able to see what part you are playing in keeping things the way they are now; and what you will need to do to change. The only sure way to change anything for the better in your life or career is to change what is causing it to be the way it is. To do that, you must step outside the fog of your habitual thoughts and opinions and see things for what they are, not what you unthinkingly and automatically assume them to be. Those habitual mind-sets are not “the truth,” even if you believe they’re true. There’s always more that you don’t know and aspects that you haven’t yet considered. Coming to grips with your own thought patterns offers you new possibilities. You can make choices that are far more likely to work well for you, since they’re based on understanding first what conclusions you’re most likely to jump to, and then what aspects of the situation you’re almost bound to ignore as a result. Once those are clear, you can choose deliberately to step outside your habitual mental attitudes too increase the information and possibilities available. Doing so will immediately give you more positive influence over just about all aspects of your life. Some typical thought patterns. There are many variations on habitual patterns of thought and no two people’s will be precisely the same. These are some of the commonest, simplified for the sake of clarity. Your own pattern may contain a little from all of these, but there will probably be a preponderance of one, or at the most two, patterns.

• Do you feel best when you have lots of people around you? Do you enjoy making new relationships and keeping old ones fresh? Do you have many friends, yet are always adding more? Do others see you as more of a social animal than most? If so, your mental habits have probably become set in a Relationship-oriented pattern. You’ll spot all the human, relationship-based aspects of a situation easily. Other aspects may be much harder for you to see without concentrated effort.
• Do you prize fairness? Does injustice and hypocrisy make you angry? Are you naturally drawn to good causes? Do those who know you well see you as the kind of person who feels high standards of behavior are critical? If so, your typical mode of thought probably lies in an Ethics-oriented direction. In any situation, you’ll jump right away to noticing what’s fair and what isn’t. That may grab your emotions so completely that you become almost blind to anything else.
• Are you an active go-getter? Do you prefer less talk and more action? Are you driven by the need to succeed and the sense of satisfaction that comes with reaching your goals? People like you gravitate towards fast-moving roles with clear objectives and challenges to be overcome. Their natural thought pattern is Achievement-oriented and focuses on what can be done right away. Putting nearly all their attention on that often obscures anything else that won’t lead quickly to action of some kind.
• Do you enjoy ideas for their own sake? Are you drawn to discovery? Are you always taking classes and adding to your knowledge? Are you the curious kind—the type of person who wants to know how things work? Are you the one that others naturally turn to when they want to know something? If so, your thought pattern is Expertise-oriented. It can lead you into approaching situations with such a narrow viewpoint that you fail to see the overall picture. Experts often focus only on those few aspects of a situation that relate directly to their area of expertise. The rest is ignored.
• Do you need to feel what you’re doing has a specific meaning? Do you like to see things done correctly? Are you careful and precise in what you do? Do your friends know that you won’t give up on a task until it’s completely finished—and as near perfection as you can make it? People like that usually develop Precision-oriented mind-sets. The result can be anything from getting lost in the details to that old cliché: “paralysis by analysis.”
• Perhaps you’re creative and innovative? You prefer to solve problems with brain rather than brawn. You’re excited by innovative possibilities. You may even be a visionary who sees far into the future and thrives on radical change. People around you can’t always follow you; maybe see you a something of a dreamer? Creative-oriented thought patterns probably come naturally to you. The obvious draw-back is a tendency to miss what is right in front of your nose.

Understanding your primary thought patterns is the key to making change work. The purpose of trying to understand your commonest thinking patterns is two-fold: to avoid being blind-sided by what they won’t show you and to broaden them whenever you can. People’s thought patterns focus naturally on the areas where they have learned most, gathered most experience, and feel most at home. They act like blinders or mental filters, presenting you with a neat picture of the world, tuned to your biases and assumptions. What you see as the truth is only what they let you see. What you do as a result may therefore be seriously flawed, as well as limited. Relying on patterns of thought that have become too narrow involves high risks. Like animals and birds that become over-specialized, fitting too closely into a single niche can lead to disaster when times and circumstances change. To be able to prosper in the widest possible range of environments, you need to become more adaptable—which means adding to your ways of collecting information and reaching conclusions. The wider the kinds of thinking in which you can you can operate with reasonable success, the more successful you are likely to be. True “geeks” are often hyper-intelligent, extremely determined, and amazingly well-informed . . . but in a very narrow field. If they are often denied the respect and success they deserve, it’s mostly because their thinking and interests are too narrow for their own good. What you need to do next. Which thought patterns from my list do you most recognize in yourself? If you’re still uncertain—or want to check out your conclusions—you can often get a sound grasp of them by considering what people say is “typically you.” You may not be immediately aware of the typical paths your mind follows, but nearly everyone else will be. Careful reflection is vital, as is the honesty to see what’s there, whether it’s what you expected (or wanted) or not. Many people find that keeping a journal helps. So does talking openly with trusted friends. It’s also worth listening to criticism, which often focuses on what patterns in your assumptions and opinions most irk other people. However you do it, it will be time well spent—but only so long as you then act on what you find. A thought pattern—a mind-set —is neither something to be ashamed of nor a reason for pride. It’s always a call to focused action to move your thinking into other directions to provide greater balance and flexibility. No one can control their future; yet everyone can influence it to some extent. How successful that influence will be depends a good deal on luck. But a sound understanding of where your habitual patterns of thought are going to lead you, unless you re-direct them on occasion, can give that luck a strong push in a positive direction. Adrian Savage is a writer, an Englishman, and a retired business executive, in that order, who now lives in Tucson, Arizona. You can read his other articles at Slow Leadership, the site for everyone who wants to build a civilized place to work and bring back the taste, zest and satisfaction to leadership and life. Recent articles there on similar topics include How to find and recognize a civilized job and Why fear of failure is the most common blockage to success. His latest book, Slow Leadership: Civilizing The Organization, is now available at all good bookstores. Bookmark or Share this with a friend!

Windows only: Freeware application ColorPic is a simple but powerful utility for designers that determines the HEX and decimal code of onscreen colors and manages color palettes for broad design or web-safe color use. Not only is ColorPic strong on features and simple to use—it's also very light on system resources (which is a nice bonus if you're used to having system-heavy image editing programs open). Another nice aspect of ColorPic is that it doesn't grab colors based on mouse-clicks, but rather through the keyboard, meaning you can still interact with open windows while you're looking for that perfect color. ColorPic is a free download, Windows only. On the other hand, if you don't need a full-fledged color picker, here's how you can grab colors from anywhere on your desktop with Photoshop. ColorPic [via FreewareGenius]

The 80/20 is based on the principle that 80% of results are produced by 20% of the effort. This comes into play in many circumstances, such as marketing, sales and productivity. i.e. Most of the work you do may actually be the result of only 20% of your time, the rest you’re procrastinating etc. Scott H Young has extended this idea into almost all facets of life including relationships, time-management and internet usage. Is there merit using the 80/20 rule as much as possible?

Budget - Calculate all your discretionary expenses (after taxes, food and necessities). Now compare the money value of each expense with the utility of the purchase. If you wanted to compare different entertainment items in your budget, you could value each expense on the pleasure it brought you. If you wanted to compare different investments or tools you could compare return rates or productivity gained.

What it all comes down to is evaluating the worth of anything. It’s just handy to have a rule to work with. Twenty Unique Ways to Use the 80/20 Rule Today - [ScottHYoung] Also see: Pareto’s Principle: The 80-20 Rule - [NotesToSelf] Bookmark or Share this with a friend!

Many people wonder what the big difference is between those who are constantly entrepreneurial and those who aren’t. A big part may be in the difference between these two kinds of thought processes. Causal Reasoning is based on having a goal and defining what means and choices can be made. The opposite, Effectual Reasoning, involves being given the means and choices and defining what the goal is.

If you are interested in entrepreneurship or in working with an entrepreneur, understanding how you approach problems is vital. While I believe some elements of effectual reasoning can be learned, entrepreneurship may not be the best path for you if you find you naturally think causally or strategically.

Do You Think Like An Entrepreneur? - If Not, Maybe That’s What’s Holding You Back - [FreelanceFolder] Bookmark or Share this with a friend!

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Beta Microsoft beta testers have been playing with a few major updates for Windows Vista for a few days now. It's not quite a full service pack release, but the Vista Performance and Reliability Pack and the Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack do include quite a few bug fixes that should make Vista slightly more bearable. The packs should be available to all users through Windows update on August 14th. But if you can't wait (and if you don't mind downloading software from an unofficial source), some folks have taken it upon themselves to release the beta software to a wider audience a few weeks early. There's a whole slew of features in the update, but here are a few of the most exciting:

• Resolves an issue where creating AVI files on Vista may get corrupted.
• Improves the performance in calculating the 'estimated time remaining' when copying/moving large files.
• Improves performance in bringing up Login Screen after resuming from Hibernate.
• Resolves an issue where synchronization of offline files to a server can get corrupted.
• Resolves an issue where a computer can lose its default Gateway address when resuming from sleep mode.
• Improves the performance when copying or moving entire directories containing large amounts of data or files.
• Improved reliability and compatibility of Vista when used with newer graphics cards in several specific scenarios and configurations.
• Increased compatibility with many video drivers.
• Improved reliability of systems that were upgraded from XP to Vista.
• Increased compatibility with many printer drivers.

Oh yeah, and not that we'd condone downloading unauthorized software. But when you do, you'll need 7-zip to uncompress the files. [via GHacks]

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In 1973, a study was published by John M. Darley and C. Daniel Batson. It is often referred to as the Good Samaritan study, and it is a remarkable glimpse into how powerful a force our situation is on our behavior. Subjects in the study were put into a situation where some had to hurry from one building to the next, and some did not. Directly in their path was placed a person who pretended to be hurt. The experimenters wanted to know what impact urgency, among other things, would have on helping behavior. Only 6 in 10 unhurried people stopped to help the crumpled, moaning figure in their path. Even worse, only 1 in 10 stopped when they were instructed that they were urgently needed at the other location. Now this result could be interpreted as a conscious decision about priorities, but post experiment interviews revealed that the urgency of the situation so dramatically influenced their perceptions that most didn't even remember the confederate being there. The Effects of Urgency But it isn't just urgency's impact on our perceptions that can cause us problems. Other research, for example, shows that urgency causes us to:

• make decisions quicker and with less information than we usually think we need.
• fall asleep slower than when there is no urgency to do so.
• become anxious before we are even consciously aware of the urgency of the situation.

From an evolutionary perspective, our reactions to urgency make a lot of sense. It's important to take notice and act on the roar of a nearby lion, to put yourself out when you accidentally catch fire, or to put up your hands when someone tries to punch you. On the other hand, evolution did not build in a way to decide if the ringing phone is something important or not (at least not yet anyway), so the fact that it could be, and that it has to be answered now or you'll run out of time to answer it, activates the urgency response of focused attention and agitation. So, while you are stuck with the response, there are things you can do that productivity experts say can help keep it from exerting too much control. Experts' Suggestions One method of urgency control focuses at the immediate level on prioritizing your to-do items in your daily task list based on both importance and urgency and then sticking with the list until it is completed. This is the method advocated by Stephen Covey. But the main focus for Covey is to accomplish the important (but not urgent goals) that will eventually lead to a decrease in the number of urgent (but unimportant) activities or crises that arise. For example, training your receptionist to deal with certain correspondence will free up the time normally spent answering it. The more bottom up approach of David Allen's GTD deals with urgency in a different, perhaps more efficient, manner. Allen's method is to schedule date specific/urgent items primarily on the calendar as appointments as opposed to the to-do list, creating a time for the item to be accomplished. Beyond that, the use of contexts allows for a further efficiency in that tasks are left off the radar until something can be done about them. You can leave the urgency of work at work. When you put the bottom up and top down approaches together, you see that it is the combination of planning and execution that deter the negative effects of urgent but unimportant tasks. Planning allows you to create a schedule to prevent tasks from becoming urgent, and proper discretion in the execution phase allows you to decide which urgencies are actually important. Other urgencies should not disrupt the plan. Using Urgency to Your Benefit

• Turn large projects with deadlines into a series of small tasks with your own deadlines based on conservative estimates of how long they'll take.
• Always shave at least a day off every deadline you're given.
• Schedule pre-deadline meetings with a colleague to have them briefly inspect your work. The artificial deadline will motivate you.
• Use urgent, unexpected situations to learn where you aren't planning well. If the same emergency keeps showing up, figure out how to stop it from happening again.

As an analogy, urgency is like the rapids in a river. If you've planned ahead, and you are diligent in the moment, you'll be able to use the useful ones to move you along quicker, and you'll be able to avoid the ones that will just turn you around in circles. This post was written exclusively for Dumb Little Man by John R. McCarthy, Ph.D. of CampusCoach.com. {Ad} Should you refinance? Find out now!

Before we even begin, answer these questions:

1. Have you ever tried dieting?
2. Have you ever failed in your attempt to maintain a diet?

I’m sure that 99% of people reading this article will answer “Yes” to the first question and 75% will answer “Yes” to the second question. You will need to change your HABIT first in order to change your current diet into a healthier one. Be it for weight loss or to achieve a normal blood sugar or cholesterol level, whatever be your goal in changing your diet, changing your habit is never easy! It may not be enough to know about nutrition or to know what you should be doing differently. Most people need strategies and plans for making these changes. This section will help you change your overall diet. It will address the following problems:

• Getting Started
• Setting Goals
• Staying Motivated
• Overcoming the barriers of dieting
• Social Support

Getting Started: If you have never paid much attention to your diet before, making changes to it or using a recommended diet plan can be overwhelming. If you have tried many diets, you may be frustrated if you have not been able to stick to them. The following are the most important things to remember: 1. Make Small Changes Don’t try to change your whole diet at once. You are more likely to be successful by making small changes and sticking to them for the long term. 2. Highlight the improvements Any positive changes you make will improve your health. Your diet doesn’t have to be “I must never eat this or that”. If you go back to old eating habits for a meal, for a day or for a week, it doesn’t mean that you have failed and should stop trying to make improvements in your diet. 3. Consult a dietitian Although this blog serves as a destination for all people seeking to improve their diet, there remains the fact that some people need to consult a dietician in order to supervise what they eat. Setting Goals:4. Track your progress Write down your goals. Keep track of your progress. Periodically go back and check your progress. Small successes can add up quickly and make a big difference in your life. 5. A change a time Make only a change a time. For example, you may want to work on improving what you eat for lunch, or you could try to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Pick a change that will be easy for you to make. 6. Add instead of Subtract Add something nutritious to your diet instead of taking something away. Try to add foods that you need more like fruits or vegetables. Removing things from your diet (for example, foods high in fat or sugar) may leave you feeling deprived, which may make it more difficult for you to make a change. 7. Opt for the healthier foods Make a list of the foods that you enjoy and choose the healthier ones. Staying Motivated: Getting motivated to change your diet is essential but hard to achieve. Motivation problems may have gotten in your way in the past. Try not to let bad experiences and attitudes from the past stop you from becoming motivated now. 8. Record your efforts Circle the days on the calendar when you meet a nutritional goal. Use a notebook or diary to record your food intake. These records will motivate you on your dieting endeavor. Pour over your food records when you start doubting yourself or your dieting abilities. 9. Make it a habit Sticking to a particular diet over a certain period of time may seem to require too big an effort for certain but staying committed to your dieting goals will reinforce the diet. Eventually this diet will form part of your eating habit. The point here is not to lose focus on your diet goal. 10. Make it 12 weeks Try to stick to your diet for 12 weeks. For some people, 12 weeks is not sufficient to achieve your diet goals. Commit to your diet for 12 weeks until the “new” diet just seem to be another normal part of your day. 11. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat… and Repeat again! When you’re getting started, try some new routines and stick to them. You can make changes later, but creating an eating habit requires repetition. Barriers To Eating Well: [Read more]

If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. -- Peter Drucker? [1], [2]

As a follow-up to Afraid to click? How to efficiently process your RSS feeds I decided to time a few of my RSS processing and organizing [3] sessions. I've included the results below, with average time spent/post in bold. (Note: See the above article for the simplified workflow I use.) Here are the results: Test 1

#    : 139 postsavg  : 33 minutes / 139 posts -> 14 seconds/post

Test 2

#    : 81 postsavg  : 26 minutes / 81 posts -> 19 seconds/post

Test 3

#    : 242 postsavg  : 43 minutes / 242 posts -> 11 seconds/post

Test 4

#    : 132 postsavg  : 22 minutes / 132 posts -> 10 seconds/post 

hits : 247 new to-read articles, 4 posts to reply to

Crucial to rapid processing is having a great follow-up system - especially an Actions list (I have a "To-Print" sub-category) and a Read/Review cache. On curious thing I noticed: When I'm timing myself I'm much more aware of the two minute rule, which results in a more focused, more efficient session. So how does this compare with your speed? I'd be very curious to hear some of your stats! Note: If you try this experiment for yourself, you might also want to track how many "hits" you had, i.e., how many of the total # of posts passed the first phase. In Firefox you can get a quick count of open tabs by closing the window. It will ask you to confirm, and the message contains the count: "You are about to close ____ tabs. Are you sure you want to continue?". WARNING: It's possible to turn this off, so first do a dry-run, or bookmark the group of tabs (control-shift-D in Firefox) just in case! References

• [1] This quote is often attributed to Peter Drucker, but a bit of digging indicates it's not that clear. Searching for the phrase - and the original "If you can measure it, you can mange it" - yields some surprises. For example, A Hacker's Guide to Project Management credits it to Tom DeMarco, who starts with it in his book Controlling Software Projects: Management, Measurement, and Estimates.However, going back a bit, the book Measuring the Value of Information Technology says it was Lord Kelvin who originated it:

  It was the scientist Lord Kelvin who said, "When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the stage of science." Later, this statement was abbreviated to "if you can measure it, you can manage it," and "if you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it."

  BUT, even further back the authors of Geography Matters! state "The Renaissance astronomer Rhaticus suggested that if you can measure something, then you have some control over it." Wikipedia has more at Rheticus.
• [2] You might also enjoy To Improve Productivity, Measure It First.
• [3] More at How to process stuff - A comparison of TRAF, the "Four Ds", and GTD's workflow diagram.
• [4] For bloggers this is why you should use great titles (see 8 Ways of Creating Compelling Blog Post Titles). Sadly, I admit I should use more care in titles. For example, instead of Four small Gmail tweaks Google could make to increase user productivity, it should have been more dramatic, e.g., "Four small Gmail changes that could save the world $500M" :-) Oh well, something for my lessons learned file!
• [5] Exceptions: Email-based feeds, which have no corresponding URL to view - must be read in situ. See Move email-based subscriptions to RSS for why you should not be receiving news via email.

It started out as a simple task. Build a software installer to deploy my new version of Achieve-IT! goal software for desktop, Pocket PC as well as the WiFi and ActiveSync components. Everything is working great, except for the installer. It is a complex project. The entire installer hinges on 11 separate programs playing nicely together. Like tumbling dominoes, each program has to sequentially build so the next one’s dependencies are built and so on. I elicited help from my friend Sasha and he is about as baffled as I am. It installs everything, but it seems to unregister a .dll on the Pocket PC side - this wrangling is what developers commonly call “.dll hell.” The .dll in question is a critical component creates the program’s database connection. With no database connection, there is no Pocket PC application and the sync becomes a needless application. Software development has taught me know how Edison must have felt. Like Edison responded when asked if he would give up after ‘failing’ 700 times to create the filament for the light bulb… He responded that he did not fail, but instead discovered 700 ways that didn’t work. For me, each failed build brings me closer. So I would ask, how many failures are you willing to endure before you decide it can’t be done? I’ll tell you when I’ll stop. When it’s done. I may not break through today, tomorrow or the next, but it will happen; one way or another. I hope it won’t take me 700 tries. But if it does then that means I’ve done something very few people can do. Ultimately, creating something new - be it a new invention or a new life - is always going to be fraught with setbacks and delays. It’s part of the process. So there is no need to fight it. Setbacks are where everyone else quits. But you and I can’t quit during these challenges. Persistence is what makes you and me different than others. Climbing to the other side of the mountain even though people say it’s “impossible” or “can’t be done” has got to be our specialty. Experts told me from nearly day 1 that my project was impossible. They said things like “Nobody takes goal setting seriously.” “You’ll never make enough money to survive.” Developers with 10 years experience over me thought it unlikely - maybe even impossible for this project to come together without shelling out 10’s of thousands of dollars for a team of developers. Fact is, I got help with some parts. I am not an interface guy. And I needed some assistance fixing the sync components and other odds and ends. But I don’t have a team working for me and I haven’t spent $10,000 or even $2,000 over the years. Recently, an upper level management type implied that I somehow bought the Achieve-IT! software and re-branded it. “It’s just not very realistic that you could do something this big without a team.” Oh really? I have to say that I am still curious how someone could look with their own eyes at an existing product that someone built and still say “it’s not realistic you did this.” I guess the point of me writing this is to say one failure is ok, 100 failures is a whole lot better. If you don’t fail and fail a lot you probably aren’t stretching yourself. You aren’t creating, inventing or designing extraordinary results. Failing, and adjusting your actions and failing again is how success happens. Staying in the safe zone (i.e. where failure never happens) ensures you won’t be criticized, but you’ll probably never impress either. And I’m not just talking about other people. Don’t you want to impress yourself? Don’t you want to stand at the top of the mountain and take it all in? If so, you have to be willing to endure failure and the people who won’t shut up about it. These obstacles will be there. We’ve known this all along. But the obstacles make us better, more accomplished and eventually more successful. Achieve IT!, application software development, dll hell, edison, failure, Motivation, need to fight, pocket pc, setbacks, success, Thoughts

Hard work and too much physical activity can do a number on your back. [Read more]

XTimeline, a tool for making timelines about pretty much anything that tickles your fancy, also offers users the opportunity to create timelines from RSS feeds. All you need is the RSS feed URL and you're good to go. This is a great visual way to connect with what you've been doing over a period of time; you can add images and tag each entry with appropriate keywords in order to better find it on your timeline. Once you make a timeline, you can embed it on your site or pass around your timeline's URL to friends. xtimeline - Explore and Create Free Timelines

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Productivity, Microsoft, Troubleshooting

"Performance tip" is the easiest way to describe this link, but the truth is that it's really a way to avoid an ugly problem in Windows Vista. It turns out that if you're a power user, and tend to have a lot of windows open on your desktop, you could very well run into what appears to be a flaw in Vista's memory handling when it comes to the "desktop heap". If you have no idea what that means, don't worry. We're not sure exactly what it means either. The gist of it is that Windows has a certain amount of memory set aside for handling open windows, and by default it may simply not be enough. If you run up against this issue, you may experience one of the following problems when attempting to start a new program:

• You get a strange "out of memory" message, despite the fact that you're using only a fraction of the RAM installed on your system.
• The window opens but its contents refuse to load.
• The window opens, but menus are missing, dialog boxes are empty, or buttons don't work.

Luckily Ed Bott has some great instructions on how to go about working around the problem. The fix involves editing your registry which isn't for the faint of heart. But honestly, we've done this sort of thing a million times, and it's nothing to be afraid of. If you're experiencing this kind of slow-down in Vista, it's probably worth the risk.

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The download includes updated Group Policy Administrative Template files, OPA files, and an updated Microsoft Excel workbook that lists the Administrative Template policy settings and OPA settings.

Follow these easy instructions to get Windows Home Server quickly set up and configured.

Not long ago I gave a speech about how much companies can afford to invest in creating customer promoters. I ended the talk by stressing how important it is to understand who the target customers are and what their loyalty is worth. Afterwards, an industrial sales manager came up to the stage and described his recent experience with American Express—a company I often cite in my talks as a loyalty leader, since its NPS is the highest in the credit-card industry. This executive had arranged a wedding rehearsal dinner for his son. He chose a restaurant in Philadelphia where he had done quite a bit of corporate entertaining and had come to know the manager. He had always used his American Express card for these business functions, and the year-end statement reminded him that he was a very good customer for that eatery, spending well over $10,000 there in the past year. The dinner was a big success, and all the guests enjoyed themselves. The host signed the bill at the end of the evening without paying close attention. But at the end of the month, he studied it in detail and concluded that the bar portion of the bill (about $450) was excessive. When he reviewed the number of drinks supposedly consumed by his small party, he concluded that the total was mathematically impossible. Someone had padded the bar bill. When he raised the issue with the restaurant, he was chagrined to find that despite his loyal patronage over the years, the manager refused to adjust the bill. So he resolved never to patronize this restaurant again. But he also reported the restaurant to American Express, thinking that the company might help him negotiate a settlement. To his surprise, the American Express representative who answered his call was sympathetic but did not offer to negotiate with the restaurant. Instead, she quickly checked his historical spending pattern with American Express (while he was on the phone), then asked him what he thought the correct amount of the bar bill should be. He told her $250—and she refunded the difference to his account on the spot! Clearly, American Express can’t afford to give away money to every unhappy cardholder, even in cases when its own failure is the root cause of disappointment, let alone when the culprit is the behavior of a merchant partner. Yet by identifying its target customers and understanding the value of turning them into promoters, the company was able to delight this particular customer. The result: he not only resolved to consolidate all of his personal and business spending with American Express, he retells this story as often as he can. That is the kind of advertising that builds a great brand—and it would probably make the phone rep feel pretty good about her job as well.

The human body needs seven or eight hours of sleep per day - that’s a largely accepted fact that we’ll use as a premise. Most people get their sleep during one stretch in the night, mostly because that’s the time when they’re not working or in school. For me, though, I realized that this sleeping pattern may not be the most optimal. What I actually found is that spacing out the sleep worked much better for me. I still get seven hours or sleep or so in a twenty four hour period, but I moved my sleep periods apart to provide breathing space for all of the activities that I accomplish. On an average day, I have four sleep periods. I take a one hour nap around noon (during my lunch break at work - I requested and received a longer lunch break in exchange for coming in a bit earlier), a one hour nap around five in the afternoon (directly following work), a two hour sleeping period between ten in the evening and midnight, and another period between three thirty and about six thirty in the morning. I’ve only recently adapted to this sleeping routine because it has freed up that patch in the middle of the night to write. What’s the logic behind this pattern? For the most part, I discover that after I’m awake for about six hours, I hit a strong groggy period. When I would sleep a normal eight hour period at night, I would have a period in the early afternoon where I would be hit with incredibly intense grogginess, almost falling asleep when I should be productive. I then implemented the noon nap, but then I found that the groggy period would hit in the middle of the evening when I’d want to be playing with my son, around six or seven o’clock. Thus, I figured out that I could come straight home from work and take a brief nap before he arrived home from daycare. This enabled me to be wide awake during the evening hours, then give me a few hours of alertness after he goes to bed to take care of household tasks. Very recently, I’ve been actually waking up at midnight and working on writing for three hours. I tried, for a time, waking up early to write and this worked well, but then I would get groggy about ten in the morning at work. [Read more]