calmtechcoach

Macworld Keynote Summary

Have been watching a live feed (with comments) via a twitter page. Armed with strong coffee, peanut butter toast I was almost as excited as if I was there on the ground in San Fran. I didn't set the alarm but woke up because of the heat at 3.30am so decided to stay up and observe!

To summarise we have:-

iLife 09 - with some nice improvements to iPhoto - face recognition and geo-recognition plus syncing both ways to Facebook and Flickr.

Garage Band 09 - now incorporates music lessons for guitar and piano - with additional modules for different artists able to be purchased. (Poppy would LOVE this)

iWork 09 - various improvements

Keynote 09 - various improvements including an iPhone app to remote control presentations

iLife09 is shipping end of January. iWork is available now. To run new applications however you do need Leopard. A package for the all three is being offered for $169US

iWork.com - documents in the 'cloud' - to be shared, collaborated on - free while in beta but moving to paid (similar to google docs which of course is free)

17 inch Mac Book Pro - again the world's thinnest, lightest, 8 hours battery on a single charge - battery is not removable and after 1000 charges you have to pay to get it replaced.Laptop is $2799US and I for one would NOT say 'no thanks'.

iTunes - new price tiers for songs - $69c and $99c (US) with DRM being removed and higher quality files available for the more expensive price if I gather correctly. Benefit of this? Sharing the music you buy from iTunes will be a whole lot easier without restriction from April.

Finally Tony Bennett sang "The Best is Yet to Come" but it seems the punters were disappointed. Last year's keynote set the bar too high I suspect and made everyone hungry for more. The calls of the twitter feed I was watching were mostly for new hardware - iMac, Mac Mini, iPhone Nanom a 'netbook'.... but it seems that it was not to be.

Sadly also this was the final of this particular 'circus' with Apple pulling out of the Macworld show. 

New Blog - My Fabulous iPhone

I decided that thee wasn't enough room on the one tech blog for all the passion! 

I realise that if you don't have one it can be a little annoying to read anything about iPhone's so as of yesterday.... all iPhone posts will now be written on my new venture www.myfabulousiphone.com.

If curious however.... do please come over and have a drink/check out the decor!

Twitter gives me the warm fuzzies

Happy 2009!  Back from Fiji, survived Christmas/New Year and one 'child's' birthday along with renovations. Is it a holiday when builders are banging on the door at 6.45 each morning? I'm not sure but gradually this house that hasn't been touched in the 12 years we've been here is getting a bit of a facelift. 

I'm still using Twitter and now after almost three months. I've not been madly racing to get hundreds (or thousands) of followers but I've been slowly involving myself with a small group of very interesting and inspiring people and now I'm really enjoying and 'getting' twitter. Sometimes it feels like a tiny window into someone's world that you would otherwise not experience. Other times it feels as if I am in an enormous room and  can hear all the conversations going on. Occasionally someone will start a conversation that I can contribute to and that makes me feel good. What's also kind of cool is that I've just launched my iPhone blog and within my group of people I follow I can see who actually has an iPhone from their tweets. I was thinking for a while that I was a bit of a lone ranger on the iPhone front but now it's great to see I'm in company.

Like anything in this new world Twitter takes time to develop and turn into something useful or worthwhile. I'm loving the way it makes it easy to make good connections and I'm also loving the way everyone loves to share helpful stuff.

What more can I say? Give it a try... go on.

Buy someone a bicycle for Christmas

This is so nice and why I LOVE the internet so much. I'm trying to get gifts sorted for my family in NZ before I take off to Fiji on Monday. I get back on the 23rd so will only in in 'cooking mode'.

My sister is a very kind soul and I know she would love the fact that I'm going to do this for her. I found that for $44.90 NZ I am able to purchase a bicycle through UNICEF.

"Stuck for a gift idea? Buy a bike. But not just any bike, a bike which can ensure female health workers can reach vulnerable children in remote communities. A bike like this one can help improve health standards of children in remote villages. Or it can help keep vulnerable girls in school, who would otherwise find the combination of their daily chores and a long walk to school too difficult. It costs just $44 and will be perfect present for anyone who likes surprises.

Technical information: Bicycle, heavy duty, roadster, for ladies."

I won't order it until I get back on 24th but then she will get a gift certificate telling her what I've done. I'm so happy... :-)

Taglocity + Outlook 2007 = inbox zero

Taglocity has recently revamped it's services. I did purchase the program back in version 1 days and was quite impressed. Something stopped me from using it permanently and I cannot recall what that was. With a bit of a reinvention they now provide an easier user experience. I've downloaded the trial account and am so far loving it. For almost two weeks I've maintained 'inbox zero' as a result of reinstalling taglocity.

There is a small learning curve with setting the system up however this is well compensated for with the results.

What are these results?I am able to with one click of a tag on my tag bar assign a category to an email (it is possible to assign multiple categories).

Each tag can have associated actions. For example if I tag a file @read it will immediately put it into the @READ folder for me. If I tag it @Data it sends it off to my @ACTION folder but has the category '@Data' so it is grouped together with other emails requiring me to do some data entry. Nice!

If I tag an email @Call it creates a task in the @ACTION folder with the @Call category making a nice list of people to contact on the telephone.

If I tag an email @Archive180 it removes any other action tags that I have created and stores it in my 6 month archive folder.

I am now down to FOUR email folders and loving it.

My @ACTION emails are categorised within that folder with very little effort at all thanks to Taglocity.
@Call
@Computer
@Data
@Errands
@Home
@Office
@Pay
@Reply
My current @ACTION email folder when sorted by category looks like this!

What I try to remember to do is to 'flag' all the emails that go into @ACTION with a 'no due date flag'. If an email as been 'flagged' it will show up in the task 'to do list' view which is just wonderful. In that view I then have a mixture of tasks AND emails requiring action all in the appropriate categories.

This 'to do list' view in Outlook doesn't force me to convert my emails to tasks - it just treats them as a task because of the flag. On the other hand, items that are captured on the fly via Chapura's Key Tasks on the iphone are also seen in the lists.

The result is a system which is the merger of two different workflow inputs. The things I have to do result I think roughly from 75% emails and 25% other (meetings, calls, brainstorming, weekly review etc).

If I am still happy with this system after 30 days of constant use I will mark it as a complete success but in the meantime if you are having problems with email overload consider giving taglocity a go.

There is a free version but I will be upgrading to the professiona versionl. My main reason for that is with the professional version you can take away the 'travelling tags' at the bottom of your emails. It is not a feature I particularly embrace! Email support is provided for professional users and more premium features are promised. Currently there is a special offer - until 31st December you can purchase Taglocity 2.0 for $60US - 40% discount off full retail of $99US.

I will be writing about other benefits of taglocity soon but there is more information available on the taglocity site - eg Benefits for Individuals.

PS My inbox was persistently clogged at around the 200 email level - not huge but not what I was happy with. Since using Taglocity I've gone to sleep almost every night with an empty inbox. Do I sleep better? You bet!

Lenovo Ideapad Cat Warmer

Bitterly cold yesterday and today... have been working at home and supervising tradesmen. Yesterday as I was typing I realised that my hands were completely frozen but I had a visitor join me on the table. Purring and schmoozing so very close to me. I was slow to realise the reason Chili had joined me. It wasn't because he enjoys my company so much it was because my laptop was acting like a mini heater for him. After a while he managed to get his backside into just the right place!! Thank goodness he didn't tell the dog about this!

Outlook Express? Not for running a business

I often find clients who are using Outlook Express for their email and using it to try to run a business. Outlook express comes pre-installed on most Windows PC's but some people don't realise that if they have purchased Microsoft Office (not the Home & Student version) that they have Outlook installed. This is by far the superior tool for running a business. Outlook Express has very few features and is not suitable for using as a contact database. Outlook gives you so many more features - calendar (including meeting requests), tasks, notes, categories. Even if the client doesn't have Outlook installed I suggest they purchase a standalone copy of it and export their emails plus contacts over from the express version. It is a move I have never seen regretted!

Women in Small Enterprise

Had a delicious and fun lunch today at Alchemy in Mosman with the Women in Small Enterprise (WISE) group in Mosman - run by Michelle McCallum from Colour Design Studio. I knew a few of the girls there but met some new ones as well and we had great fun telling eachother what we did, what we were celebrating and also recommending a good book to read. I was really happy because I grabbed 11 of my favourite books and gave them all away. Everyone seemed to get a book that they were very pleased with - good karma!!

I'm looking forward to catching up with and even writing about these very entrepreneurial women in the very near future!!

Chapura Key Task issue resolved

I had crashing problems with my task list on the iphone! Chapura support were very prompt in getting back to me with the solution. I needed to remove any & or < > symbols in the category names. Yes.... something quick and simple...what bliss that it works and now my lists are synchronising and keeping me sane.

Chapura key tasks for iPhone crashing

Was loving Chapura's Key Tasks for iphone especially since categories were added but today I went to sync (over the air) and got this lovely crash. Last time it happened the only solution I found was to take the app off then reinstall. Support didn't know of the error. Have emailed them again asking for help. My task list is on the laptop which I left at the office and also on the Chapura server but I can't get to it. Should I possibly consider using a moleskine notebook? Anyone else finding this error?

Blog vs Website

Back from a fun AAPO (Australasian Association of Professional Organisers) Chapter Meeting (thanks Susanne, Less Mess and Sarah, Heavenly Order). Great time to just chat about what's going on with us all and learn from eachother's experiences. I was chatting to a couple of the girls about their plans for web presence and they were thinking of putting a small site together. They asked me how I did my 'site' and I explained that it's just a Typepad blog ($89US/year) - very economical really. I pointed out all the obvious things about flexibility, google's love affair with blogs, etc. Yes a blog 'is a website' .... but with Typepad's (or Wordpress's) 'page feature' you really can make your own site without spending hours and hours learning Front Page or Dream Weaver.

Here's a thoughtful article on the issue.... Thanks Trish Jones!

Big Juicy Twitter Guide

I'm studying the validity/usefulness & fun of twitter and came across this excellent guide written by Caroline Middlebrook. It's a superb easy to read comprehensive work - brilliant. Thanks Caroline!! If you have any questions or queries as to whether you should be using twitter or HOW to use it then this guide will have the answers.

Big Juicy Twitter Guide

Google Video Chat

Well this is interesting. Google Video Chat has finally arrived.

We've been having huge problems with Skype when trying to link to family in England so I'm looking forward to testing this out.

Will need to do it at the office however as my bandwidth is on slow speed due to being hacked? yesterday.

Check it out here and I'd love to hear what it's like.

Logitech Clear Chat Wireless Headset with microphone

I'm working in an office now - it's not a huge office but nonetheless there's a bit going on in terms of phone calls and conversations at times. I decided to invest in a wireless headset that I could listen to music with and also make skype phone calls so I needed a mic. Not a lot to choose from but after a week of trying it out I'm happy with this Logitech version. Not cheap but the quality seems reasonable ($149 from Dick Smith... watch the price plummet now I've bought from there as normally happens). The sound quality of the mic is very good - I've used it so far to make video screencasts with sound and it's incredibly clear. Skype calls are good tool. Final thing I thought was a bit of fun was being able to keep the headphones on while making a coffee in the kitchen, all the while listening to my iTunes. I have to remind myself to be careful not to sing at all while listening - could be incredibly embarrassing!! Wireless range claims to be up to 33 feet so it's nice that you can move to a quieter room to have the skype phone call. You can get a headset with wires but to be honest it's nice to be able to roam free!

"Enjoy high-performance, stereo audio for PC calling, music, and games from up to 33 feet away from your computer."

Busy week....reading/writing & linking!!

My son was back at school this week after the dramas of last week but my daughter had exams - I had promised to volunteer as a reader/writer for some of the kids sitting exams so I was up at the school a big chunk of the week getting writer's cramp!!

Aside from that I've been spending literally hours finalising my online booking system - adding appointments and workshops then 'testing' to see how it all looks. It was set up previously but I've decided to rejig what's on offer so this is what has caused all the work. I've also been incredibly busy on Linked In - adding contacts, adding to my profile etc.

Due to feedback from the AAPO conference I've scheduled three weeks of workshops with topics that I briefly covered in my presentation. I've scheduled the local ones and will publish dates Monday.... will also include some remote options for those not close.

A wave of new work is rolling in which is good.... like many others I"m refusing to acknowledge all this global recession talk....

Chapura Key Tasks adds Outlook category support for iPhone

Thank goodness. I swear to you I've been almost checking  my iphone three or four times a day waiting for this update. I was in bliss when Key Tasks appeared for Microsoft Outlook but without category support it was next to useless. Now it's there and it works I'm in heaven. Thank you Chapura... my only suggestion would have been to wait until you had it before you released. In plain english..if you have separate lists (like David Allen from GTD fame suggests) you can now have those lists appear in proper order on the phone - my lists are simple but necessary.

Here are mine....
@Calls
@Errands
@Home
@Work
@WaitingFor
Projects
Someday/Maybe

Now I can abandon all the other todo applications I had to use until this was sorted... yay!!!

Addicted to text!

Having a sick teenager can be downright exhausting and for the last few weeks my ET has been more than off colour. After two shocking nights of coughing so hard it might have woken people streets away the doc said 'time for hospital'. Antibiotic drips are great I think he's on the improve already. Intermittent phone signal but here he is trying to communicate with the outside world!

AAPO Conference - Calm Tech Coach presents

Well the AAPO conference is over for another year and if the pattern continues it seems that each year they just get better and better. We had a two day conference at the Sydney Marriott Hotel for Thursday/Friday and it was absolutely brilliant. I learned so much, met loads of new organising 'pals' and also I'm proud to say managed to pass on some good tech ideas/info in my "Sixty Minutes of Keyboard Karma" Presentation. I loved doing it actually and while it was a lot of work with regard to preparation I'm so happy from the feedback afterwards that the material was helpful.

I've started a special blog for Professoinal Organisers here. This blog will be maintained for busy women who are NOT Professional Organisers :-).

I was so impressed with the calibre of the speakers at the conference and will mention some highlights later in the week. In the meantime I'm still trying to catch up on some sleep. My 16 year old has been keeping us awake all night with a horrendous cough - something like croup or hopefully nothing worse. Reminds me of when he was two... how did I ever survive those sleepless nights?

Twitter in plain English & why I've succumbed

So I finally succumbed to Twitter!! This is the tag line....     
"Communicate and stay connected through the exchange of short status messages"

I watched the cute little video about it I was sold. I can get where they are coming from and partly I suppose because I've been spending a little time on facebook since returning from my trip. Finding the 'status' updates particularly useful and quick so twitter will most likely be similar.

I'm not going to flood the blog with updates... just the one most recent.... am keen to see how this all pans out :-)

Global Roaming - did you turn it on?

Back in the country for a week now and more or less sorted. Busy preparing for the AAPO (Australasian Association of Professional Organisers) Conference happening here in Sydney next Thursday/Friday. Looking forward to delivering 60 minutes of Keyboard Karma as a presentation.

Whilst travelling I wrote many notes and made observations of what worked (and sometimes didn't) in terms of technology so shall begin feeding those into the blog in the hope they will benefit others travelling a far in the near future.

Travel Tech No 1 - don't forget to turn ON international/global roaming
Did you turn on your Global Roaming? This is so basic that I'm almost embarrassed to write it. For 10 years I was with the same mobile phone company - Vodafone and once global roaming is on.. it's on. You don't normally need to worry about it again. Foolish coach that I am... I forgot that I was now with Optus since the iPhone entered my life and guess what... I had NOT made the call. Not pleasant to arrive at Malaga Airport - 35 degrees and 35 hours of travel ... with no mobile phone signal to send a text message to the person picking me up! Thankfully I had thrown a few spare Euros into my purse and managed to make the call using a payphone but what a drama it was to eventually get the phone turned on for international use. Funnily enough I bumped into others in exactly the same situation at the wedding I was attending. Optus, new iPhone, no mobile access.... trying to track down the right phone number to call was another story!

Useful Coach

Spent the last few days with my in-laws in England... (they are both a sprightly 86) - achieved my mission of persuading them to upgrade from their ancient imac to a nice new 17 inch toshiba. They were keen when they heard of friends having skype/video chats with their family in Australia. Have just finished taking off all the rubbish and putting on firefox, thunderbird, skype & yugma so I can help them out when I am 10,000 miles away but am so happy they will have something decent to use now.

Just about to give my final lesson before catching a taxi to Heathrow and beginning the long journey home.

Hasta pronto!

Flickr makes the distance more bearable

Alhambra, Granada
Originally uploaded by nelsongirl

Must admit it seems that I am a million miles away from normal life in Sydney but it´s nice to have such a great camera with me and the luxury of this whole week in Granada so everything doesn´t have to be such a race. Trying to be a bit of a ´slow coach´.

Friends at the wedding in Spain persuaded me to do Flickr for sharing the photos. I had used it before but for some reason just didn´t quite ´get it´. Now I do...it´s wonderful. I´ve been uploading a selection of high resolution photos from the trip to my account here.

I´m very happy with the resolution and quality of the pictures from the panasonic lumix FZ28.

I´m also in love with flickr... just wish I had more time to upload as there are loads of beautiful photos.

There´s an iphone application called mobilefotos which does a good job of transferring iphone pics up to flickr as well.

Hasta Luego..... wish you were here - honest!!

Granada is great.....

Originally uploaded by nelsongirl

Travelling Coach reporting in from Spain!

So it is Friday evening here and I just this afternoon arrived in Granada after a gruelling 35 hour journey from Sydney to La Herradurra. But hey.... it was so so so worth it!! I was at the wedding of a very dear friend and if you can imagine an almost Spanish ¨Mamma Mia¨situtation in terms of the beautiful location - it was an experience I will never forget! I was one of three photographers and was very happy with the Lumix FZ28 and to be honest the results of some of the photos has made me want to rethink my career. My friend used to always call me ¨hjc famous french photographer´..... and push me towards one of my dreams to be just that (the french part only because we were in Paris at the time!) - so perhaps it is fate (she thought it so)that she was the reason I purchased the camera and found my artistic side again! In the next day I will find a good photo to put up. The one in this post is just from the iphone but it is the view from where I write this!

Technology woes and wins on the journey so far?
Panasonic Lumix FZ28 - big win!! 356 photos - a lot of beautiful natural portraits at the wedding making use of the spectacular zoom.
Hopeless keyboards on the free internet at Singapore Airport however there were free charging booths available for all manner of gadgets.
Forgetting to turn on global roaming for the iPhone with Optus so I could make arrangements by text.
Not being able to log on to a free wi-fi bar on the iphone despite showing as being connected (frustrating)
Free wi-fi at the b&b where I stay works very well however & there is a computer for general use as well (so I can finally track down the Optus phone number to get them to turn global roaming on).
Lonely Planet Speaking Phrase Book (Spanish) has been helpful.
Earworms MBT Learning Spanish has also planted quite a few phrases into my brain - sometimes they just pop out!!

Love it here ..... can´t wait to get out and take more photos and writing!!

Kensington mini battery pack saves the day

I've been critical of the iphone's battery life. Considering how much the iphone is expected or demanded to do it's probably reasonable but in reality it's never enough. If I'm surfing/emailing/taking the odd call or browsing the app store I can run out of juice within 90 minutes. I can't imagine what it's like if I were to try to use the iphone to play music as well!! Anyway Kensington have come to the rescue and supplied us with this nifty little battery pack/charger. They are available in Australia next week according to Kensington themselves but I managed to get this one off a local ebayer. It does what it says it should - restores function to the iphone when it has run out of powerand charges it. I probably could have done with two to cover me while I'm away but I'm getting into the habit of having the iphone in the wall charger as often as I can remember when I'm at home. You plug the charger into the iphone and then the power cord into the charger - thereby charging both the battery pack and the iphone at the same time. Brilliant! It cost $54 - not too bad - and it's not only small but very slim .... I'm happy.