Another Reason I enjoy working on a MAC

I have started using the application Things for Task Management. It has been AWESOME at helping me stay on top of projects at work and the tasks associated with them as well as managing those ad-hoc requests that we all get through out the day.

I am not only using Things for work but also at home. In other words I am using Things for pretty much everything!

One of the challenges I have is that I want to synch both my iPhone and iPod touch with Things. As far as I can tell Things only lets you synch one device.

I use a MacPro at work and a MacBook at home, both with Things installed. At home I synch with my iPod Touch, at work I synch my iPhone. But I want them both to have the same information so I needed a way to synch Things on my MacPro and MacBook.

The MAC has an AWESOME application called Automator. Automator allows you to create workflows to Automate tasks. Using Automator I created a workflow that creates an archive of my Things folder on my MacPro at work and then saves the Archive to my iDisk. Using iCal I scheduled the automator application to run daily at the end of the business day. At home I pretty much created the same script that Archives the Things folder on my MacBook and sends that to my iDisk at the start of the day. This, I think, will help keep my Things library synchronized between my two machines. If this works as well as I think it will then I am going to create another automator application to copy Things from my iDisk to each machine on a schedule this way I don’t have to do that manually.

Not to mention, this also creates a backup of Things. An added bonus!

After setting this up I began thinking of what it would of took to do this on a PC. Yes it is possible and not difficult to do. However these Automator scripts I created on the MAC took less then a minute to put together. On a PC I don’t think the same could be said. That’s why this is just another reason why I enjoy working on a MAC.

Twitter – I can’t Tweet it Anymore!

I think I am given up on Twitter, I just can’t deal with it anymore. I really got into it when it first came out but lately I just can’t deal with it any longer.

The reasons are pretty much the same as everyone else who is giving it up.

- not enough real news, I find myself staying updated just by using my RSS feeds. Yes maybe on twitter, if you catch it, you will know about something right away but I don’t keep after it enough to even worry about that.

- I have gone nearly 3 weeks if not more without starting up TweetDeck and I can honestly say I do not miss it at all.

- It started to get very overwhelming when logging on, I just don’t have the time or desire to keep up with it.

- Twitter is becoming more of marketing tool then what I originally was using it for, a news source. This probably works well for some, not me.

- People are just following to get more followers!

I began to think that I need to be more selective in who I follow. I don’t follow everyone that follows me. I really only follow technology, nascar and the outdoors. I probably need to narrow that down to just news sources and tweets that I find valuable and stop following everyone and everything that has to do with the topics I listed. However, don’t RSS feeds really accomplish this as well? And aren’t a lot of tweets links to websites? Don’t RSS feeds accomplish this?

Also it seems that those who are on twitter are also on Facebook and post the same thing to both sites. I don’t find Facebook as overwhelming as Twitter and Facebook provides a better venue for discussing a topic with others who are also interested in the same topic.

How do you feel about twitter?

Staying In The Loop – How I Do It

I am often asked the question of how do I stay “in the loop” or rather up to date with technology. While my method may not work for you it definitely is the best method for me. With that said I have come up with a list of “how I stay in the loop”.

It’s rare for me to surf the web. I subscribe to RSS Feeds. If a web site doesn’t provide an RSS feed then I don’t consider that site a valuable resource and I will probably never visit it again. I normally do not bookmark web sites. It comes down to me not having the time or no real desire to go looking for the latest and greatest in technology by surfing web sites, I prefer it to come to me. This is done of course with RSS feeds.

1. I manage my RSS feeds using NetNewsWire on my MacBook, and I synchronize my feeds with NewsGator. Could be via a web browser or the NetNewsWire application on my MacBook or iPod Touch. My feeds are synchronized. NewsGator also has a Windows client called FeedDemon.

2. My process for sorting through the new posts is pretty simple. Again this is what works for me. In the morning over a cup of coffee I go through my RSS subscriptions on my iPod Touch. What I am doing is filtering out the posts that don’t interest me, if something interests me I use the “add to clippings” option in NetNewsWire.

3. After I am done with that I then fire up Twitterrific on my iPod Touch. I read through the tweets and the ones that interest me I add to my favorites. Usually I am just finishing up my morning coffee when I finish with Twitterrific.

4. When I get to the office I open up NetNewsWire on my MacBook and it synchronizes with NewsGator thus getting the new postings I clipped using my iPod Touch.
I will also open up TweetDeck on my MacBook, this of course gets the tweets I added to my favorites when using Twitterrific.

5. Throughout the day I am reading the newest posts that show up in NetNewsWire as well the tweets in TweetDeck. I read some of them right away, others I add to the clippings folder in NetNewsWire or add to my Twitter favorites using TweetDeck.

6. Typically at lunch time I catch up on all that I have clipped in NetNewsWire or what I have added to my favorites on Twitter. I will also do this again later in the afternoon.

7. I also subscribe to a few podcasts via iTunes. The shorter podcasts, like GeekBrief, I watch/listen to right away. The longer podcasts, like MacBreak Weekly or BowCast, I will listen to while working. I like using the Notes application on the iPod Touch if I hear something of interest while I am listening to a podcast.

8. During the evening at home I am constantly checking NetNewsWire and Twitterrific on my iPod Touch for new information. When something catches my eye I clip it or favorite it for later.

9. I am also a big user of Evernote, if I find a product or solution that I like I will add it to Evernote. This keeps everything in one place and organized. Not to mention, Evernote is synchronized on every device I use!. I am going to a separate blog posting on how I use Evernote.

On weekends and holidays this all goes out the window. If we are home I may have my MacBook turned on so throughout the day I go and check NetNewsWire and TweetDeck. Typically I just leave them both running. If I know I may not be using the MacBook much then I don’t leave NetNewsWire or TweetDeck open and do the clip and favorite thing on my iPod touch.

Of course all my RSS feeds are not technology related. I do have a few NASCAR and Outdoor feeds I subscribe too!

Like I said this way may not be perfect, may not be ideal but it’s what works best for me.

How do you stay “in the loop” with technology or any other interest you may have?

How to Space Your Sight Pins

How to Space Your Sight Pins

(Via NYBowhunter.com.)

NASCAR moving year-end awards banquet to Vegas

NASCAR moving year-end awards banquet to Vegas: “NASCAR is trading the Christmas lights of New York for the neon of Las Vegas.“

(Via NASCAR.COM – NEXTEL Cup Series Headlines.)

NASCAR.COM Video – Off Track with Tony Stewart: Property Tour

NASCAR.COM Video – Off Track with Tony Stewart: Property Tour.

Tony Stewart glad to be back in a Kevin Harvick Inc. Nationwide car

Tony Stewart glad to be back in a Kevin Harvick Inc. Nationwide car: “FORT WORTH, Texas – It’s up to Tony Stewart to keep the Kevin Harvick Inc. momentum going this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.”

(Via Latest Daily Headlines.)

Canadians find vast computer spy network – report

Reuters: Canadians find vast computer spy network – report: “Reuters: Canadians find vast computer spy network – report“

(Via Rootsecure.net.)

BusinessWeek with Cisco CEO John Chambers: “Smart Management for Tough Times”

BusinessWeek with Cisco CEO John Chambers: “Smart Management for Tough Times”: ”

Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers talks with BusinessWeek about how he innovates and how that leads to changes at the company.

BusinessWeek Management Editor Jena McGregor cites Chambers in writing the introductory essay to this week’s cover story ‘Game Changing Ideas For Business.’’ Her full essay is here, ‘Smart Management for Tough Times: Breakthrough management ideas for a world in which the game will never be the same.’’ She quotes Chambers as saying: ‘Without exception, all of my biggest mistakes occurred because I moved too slowly.’

This comes from Peter Burrows, BusinessWeek senior writer, interview with Chambers:’ ‘At Cisco, ‘Downturn’ Screams Long-Term Opportunity’

In the following video and Q&A with Burrows, Chambers explains ‘how he’s building network share while moving into such new markets as health care and security and surveillance.’

“

(Via The Platform.)

Cisco CEO “On Leadership” with Washington Post

Cisco CEO “On Leadership” with Washington Post: ”

Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers talks with Pulitzer Prize winning business columnist Steve Pearlstein as part of the Washington Post’s ‘On Leadership’ video series.

Chambers talks about managing during the downturn, how collaboration is the next phase of management style, change, and identifying market transitions.

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(Via The Platform.)