Technology Overload - Streamling Processes
These past two weeks have been super hectic, and not for reasons you might think. One of the great tips I read was if you find yourself doing the same things regularly invest in ways to streamline the process. This will reduce the time you spend on those tasks and will allow you to spend more time on activities that generate income, allowing for quick recovery in the investment.
Read on about the technology overload that I have been going through and how I am trying to streamline my processes.
For someone who works with computers you would think that technology would be second nature. The truth is I know the web, when it comes to cell phones, printers, operating systems, computers, smart phones, blue tooth, etc I am probably only a few steps above the layman.
The first thing that has changed my life is a new Blackberry Curve which resulted from an upgrade in my phone plan. Some people call it the Crackberry because of its addictive nature, and after a few days I can see why. It really is amazing to have the internet at your finger tips. I feel like I am back in 1993 when my father bought a dial up modem. I can also see what the big deal about “mobile” is and why so many startups are trying to get it right.
Here are two interesting things I discovered for my blackberry. Hopefully this list will continue to grow.
Nimbuzz - Picture Skype for cell phones. In addition to a plethora of features, this little guy allows me to sign on AOL IM without having to pay for text messages (currently I don’t have unlimited).
Google Sync - Sync your blackberry calendar with Google Calendar. Speaking of Google Calendar, I used to be skeptical, but the “Quick Add” feature alone shaves hours of my time.
Other productivity tools I decided to invest in include Harvest. This is by far one of the best time trackers, budget estimators, client phone book, invoice generating applications I have seen in a while. It is super intuitive and comes with great downloads for your vista gadgets and your cell phone. No more spreadsheets to track client work.
To speed up the way I use the internet I downloaded Flock Browser. Coolest thing about flock, besides the fact that it sounds like another four letter word, is that it really gets web 2.0. I am able to keep all of my email, bookmarking, social, rss, media content all open at once with an easy way to share any content. In fact, this post is being written using flock without having me actually have to go log into my wordpress admin to log in and make changes.
I decided to download Skype again. The first time I downloaded it a year back I did not really need it. I have to admit Skype is awesome. The voice is crystal clear, and video chat is pretty fun. I also don’t have to waste my cell phone minutes since you can call land lines at a very cheap rate.
Now lets talk about some things that drive me nuts about technology.
My girlfriend and I recently purchased an old iBook for $350. After three months the thing starts to freeze upon startup. I spend hours reading forums trying to figure out different boot options and try all of them. I soon learned that the issue was a common issue with my model and Apple used to have a trade back program because it was so rampant. Well lucky for me the program expired and we are out some serious dough.
Another thing I noticed about Apple people is how they handle their technology failing. In the past I had issues with Vista and when I visit their forums people were angry and irritated using four letter words that rhyme with Flock. Apple people react something like this.
That is to bad that the logic board is fried and I have to buy a brand new computer. Oh well I was due to clean out my hard drive anyway.
For my birthday my folks sent me over a printer/fax/scanner. I am pretty psyched, but the damn thing didn’t come with a USB cable. So I go buy one and its the wrong USB. I take care of that and the CD that came with it can’t download the drivers for Vista. Typical BS in the world of technology, where standardization is not embraced by everyone you get some angry people.
Tags: web, online, online tools, blog, technology, blackberry, flock
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Yeah I should, but there are two concerns, one people jacking the sites, two Google slapping them for too much interlinking. If you really want to check them out, look under “my websites” under the sidebar on the following blog. Online Journey
how’s the 30 sites in 90 days coming? You should post links to the sites you have created so far