Kolz Blog

Some of you have been asking how to flip images horizontally, so here's how. In 2007 Word, PowerPoint or Outlook:

1. Click the image you want to flip or rotate in order to select it.
2. When the image is selected, you will see the Format tab become highlighted [Read more]

During the past week, many readers have asked us to compare the physical traits of the second-gen Sony Reader and the all-new Amazon Kindle. (If you feel a bit behind, catch up by reading our full Amazon Kindle review and verdict from last Friday.) The Sony Reader is much smaller, and weighs three ounces less than the Kindle, but the screens are exactly the same size, and use the same E-Ink technology. They have more or less the same comfort advantage over LCDs and other glowing screens—and of course, they have no backlight. For seven days now, I have comfortably read in many lighting conditions with the Kindle and can safely say it has not been a strain of any kind. I'm a guy who stares at a laptop screen for hours on end, and that can suck. Reading E-Ink from either the Kindle or the Sony Reader is a vacation by comparison. My wife has also stolen it from me every chance she's had, and especially likes reading the New York Times on an airplane, something she says she wouldn't normally do because it's just too much paper. No complaints about readability, guys. I wish you doubters could experience it. Side by side, fonts appear smoother on the Kindle than on the Reader, and the Kindle has a choice of six font sizes, as opposed to Reader's choice of three. Both let you bump font sizes up or down on the fly, a major convenience. The Reader has active screens—showing animated status indicators and so on—while Kindle screens are always static. If anything on the Kindle page changes, the whole screen does a full refresh. The Sony has a dedicated music player and JPEG viewer; Amazon hasn't quite nailed that yet. However, the Kindle does have one thing the Reader doesn't have in this department: a speaker. It's not bad either, if you're mostly hoping to hear audiobooks and background music.Even though you can drag and drop files to the Reader, you can only do that with unprotected stuff like PDFs, MP3s and JPEGs. Kindle's drag-and-drop potential is even less, since you can only drag a certain subset of compatible files over to it. [Read more]

Do you ever get frustrated with your level of productivity? I know that I do. Whenever I feel a slowdown happening I employ this productivity technique and it has never failed me. On average, I would estimate that I get at least a 3-fold boost in productivity every time I use it. Here's how you can boost your productivity too! 1. Energy Check. Make sure that you're not exhausted. If your productivity is suffering because you have an uncontrollable urge to sleep, then I suggest you click here to find out how to take a nap at work. Do this first and then come back to the remaining steps once you've refreshed your energy. You could also refresh your energy with a quick 5-10 minute brisk walk, jumping jacks, or power stretching at your desk. 2. Timer. Get a timer of some sort even if it is an analog kitchen timer. If you work on the computer here is an online timer and here is a timer that you can download. If you work on the go, then you could use a digital watch countdown timer or your cell phone timer. 3. Plan Your Day. This step is crucial considering the amount of distractions we all encounter everyday, and it's not that hard. Just take 5-10 minutes to brainstorm your day. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the center of the page. Create your blueprint for the day on one side of the center line. Label one side "To-Do" and the other side "Done." Write out the things you want to do today. Prioritize them and then set realistic time frames for their completion. Be sure to schedule in buffer and transition time. Schedule the most important tasks first. And leave time at the end of the day for processing your inbox and capture notebook. 4. 30 Minute Productivity Parcels. OK, here's the real juice of this technique. Set your timer to go off every 30 minutes. When it goes off, get up from what you are doing and take your blueprint for the day and your capture notebook with you. Go somewhere else. Take 3 minutes to review what you've accomplished in the last 30 minutes. Write down the main things you've done in the "Done" column and review where you need to be according to your daily plan. You might even want to take a moment to do a quick stretch while you're up. When you go back to your work, adjust your focus accordingly or just continue to crank if you are already in line with your blueprint for the day. 5. Distractions and Unplanned Interruptions. Running your day according to a plan is all well and good, but each of us know that every day presents roadblocks to completing our plans. Here's how to handle them: Distractions: As you come up with ideas that you want to take action on or remember later, write them in your capture notebook/device that you should carry with you at all times. Leave time at the end of each day to either process or assign what you've captured to a task list, project list, or a reference file. [Read more]

A Monday Motivator You come into the office after a great weekend and the boss tells you that your job is redundant due to down-sizing. Perhaps things are going well at work and the company wants you to move across the country to take over the east-coast office. Few things test a positive attitude more than making a lifestyle change. While making such adjustments, the following suggestions can help: (more…) Advertisement: Make Money with Chitika eMiniMalls Cost Per Click Advertising for your Blog

Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. Bil Keane Is there any better time to start living your life to the max than today? I don’t think so. Today is a gift. It is the best time for you to live in, not yesterday nor tomorrow. So be sure that you make the most out of it. Make today the best day ever, both for you and for other people. If you do so, I believe the future will somehow take care of itself. How can we get the most out of today? Here are nine simple tricks: 1. Listen Listen to your heart, and have the courage to follow it. What does the little voice in your heart say? You may need to turn off outside noise to clearly hear your heart, but it’s worth the effort. Wasting years of your time to live someone else’s life is too big a risk too take. Here are some ideas to help you:

• Limit your information intake (especially news) It prevents noise from entering your mind.
• Slow down Don’t do things so fast that you no longer have time to listen.
• Take time in solitude Being in solitude makes it easier to hear the little voice of your heart.

2. Prepare Preparation is your recipe for success. In fact, Eric Butterworth says that “behind every brilliant performance there were countless hours of practice and preparation.” So make a good preparation to make today a brilliant day. Here are some things you can do to prepare for your day:

• Pray or meditate It makes you spiritually fit to face the day.
• Exercise It makes you physically fit to face the day.
• Plan Plan what you are going to do today. If you listen to your heart, you will know what is right to do.

3. Think In the course of the day, make sure you think before you do. Of course, you shouldn’t think so much that you never do. But not thinking is not right either. So take time to think. Here are some questions you may want to ask:

• Do I need to do it? The best way to save your resources (time, energy, money, etc) is by simply not doing something. Maybe you can just eliminate it or delegate it to someone else.
• How can I achieve the best result? Think of ways you can do to increase the value or usefulness of the thing you are going to do.
• How can I do it efficiently? Is there a way to do it with less resources?

4. Do To achieve something, thinking is not enough; you have to do what you are supposed to do. The most difficult part is usually to start doing. 50 minutes rule is one way to help you start doing. Here is how you use it:

• Set your timer at 50 minutes (you can use CoolTimer if you want to).
• Start doing what you do and do not stop before time is up.
• After 50 minutes, you can take a 10 minutes break before starting another 50 minutes session.
• Or, if you like, you can work continuously without taking a break.

Since your mind knows that you will work for only 50 minutes, it will be easier to start. 5. Flow Your productivity will be highest when you can concentrate fully on the task at hand in such a way that you lose track of time. To do so:

• Allocate enough time Once you are in the “zone”, you should try to continue working until you finish the task. This requires you to allocate a large enough block of time.
• Eliminate all potential distractions Block everything that may distract your attention away from the task at hand. One common example is the browser (unless you need it).
• Eliminate all potential interruptions [Read more]