Image by Brian Sawyer via Flickr

Did you get any cool new tech for Christmas?  I didn’t…  But, one family member got a new Kindle Fire.  I had the opportunity to play with it a bit and do the set-up.  But this isn’t a review.

It is a two part post.

Part I… I’d love to hear what sort of cool tech you got, and what you think of it so far. 

Part II… Let’s talk about getting to know that new tech so that it does more for you than just provide entertainment or hold down piles of paper on the desk.

Part I is easy…  Post up here or over on our FaceBook Page and we can talk about your cool toys productivity enhancement tools.

Part II is a little more complicated.  But, if we break it down a little more, we can make it manageable.

First, don’t go nuts.  I know a lot of folks that want to get every new device that comes down the pike.  It just isn’t feasible.  Aside from the fact that it is terribly expensive, you’d end up being too scattered.  By the time you approach comfort with a device, there are three more to get.  In the end, you have only succeeded in making the store in which you buy your technology quite happy. Don’t be too reluctant to get new technology, but don’t be too eager, either.  Instead, see if you have a valid business use, and then don’t move on to the next thing until the current thing is getting the attention it deserves.

Image via Wikipedia

Next, spend a little time with the User’s Guide.  Most of the devices out there are easy enough for us to power up and start playing with in just a few minutes.  It’s entirely too easy to just dive in and forget that there is probably a LOT of hidden potential waiting to be unlocked.  A great example is that my 7 year old figured out that he could zoom on my tablet by double tapping.  I missed that while speeding through the User Guide.  If I took my own advice, I would have known that…

Third, Google is your friend.  It is hard to find an even semi-popular piece of technology that doesn’t have a bunch of user generated tips and tricks published somewhere.  Some of the tutorials and videos out there are almost as good as taking a class.  There are some serious nerds (using that term with loads of respect) that are VERY good at figuring out how to squeak the last bit of utility from a device.  And they love to share.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Maybe it is your tech-savvy friend, maybe your teenager or even a class.  Reaching out for help can be a really good option.  Instead of wasting 40 unpaid hours trying to figure out a piece of technology or letting a $500 device sit unused, spending $50 on a class might be WAY more efficient.

So… whad’ja get?

Related articles

• 12 Tech Days of Christmas (brighthand.com)
• Open Thread: Show Us Your Favorite Tech Gifts! (mashable.com)
• Amazon’s Kindle Fire Fits in with Other Mobile Tech – Quick Take (biztechmagazine.com)

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I go through it almost every day…  Writer’s block, inability to find a subject to write about… maybe just a lack of passion for a particular subject on a certain day.  We’re all human, we all have up and down cycles.  We all have days when it just isn’t working.  Ofc ourse, those are usually the days that we really need to make it work.

There are a couple of ways to deal with it, and one may be more suited to a certain situation.  When you can’t come up with ideas for a subject, having a bank of titles and ideas is usually the best answer.  When you are REALLY stopped up, the passion seems to be gone, having some blogs in queue is a great solution.

I try to do both…

Let’s talk tools…

Image via Wikipedia

WordPress Editorial Calendar – This has to be one of my favorite Plugins for WordPress.  I rave about it constantly.  Here is what it does…  It adds a menu option to view a calendar showing when blog posts are scheduled.  The part that I REALLY love, though, is that posts can be moved from day to day by dragging and dropping.  The time of day remains the same, but it couldn’t be easier to rearrange dates for posts.  When something comes up and a post needs to be dropped in, adjusting the schedule just takes a few moments rather than the time to log into multiple posts and manually reset the dates.

Another thing that I do with the Editorial Calendar is to lay out Post Ideas.  If I have an idea (or better yet, a title) for a future post, I try to figure out when it should run and drop a placeholder in for it.  This helps to spur creativity, too…  I tend to write in streaks.  I might kick out half a dozen posts for a specific blog in an afternoon.  That means that for that blog, I might not have the pressure to kick out a post for a week or even two.

Old Fashioned Pad and Pen – Yep… Low tech.  Write down ideas as they occur.  I used to carry a little pad in my pocket and would jot down a title or even an outline of an idea.  I used it for ToDo List items, too.  Although now, it is largely supplanted by my phone.  Using Android Apps like SpringPad (SpringPadIt.com), I can keep my phone, tablet and laptop all on the same page with ideas and other items.

And some ideas…

Check your email – Some of my best posts come from my clients and other consumers.  They ask me questions, and rather than writing the answer 20 times for different folks, I post up a blog post.  I can then point future inquiries about the same thing to the post.

Grab your camera – Depending on the subject of your blog, a nice photo essay might be a great option.  Local interests might be better served by a photo essay than by a long winded text post.

Make a video – I probably just freaked out half of my readers…  But honestly, it isn’t that tough, especially if you have a smart phone or a tablet, or even a laptop with a built in camera.  Here is a little of the heresy I’m known for…  Don’t bother with a lot of editing.  Most of the folks that will view it are NOT expecting a slick production.  They are looking for the information.  And they want it quick, so

• Get to the point
• Keep the time under a minute if possible… at least under two minutes
• Don’t get creative with camera movements
• Don’t flip out if it doesn’t look like the footage from the news
• Have an idea of what you want to say… maybe even practice it a couple of times beforehand.  This will give you a better chance of knocking it out in one clean take

Do a ‘Best Of’ – Grab several of your previous posts on a subject and collate them into a ‘Best Of’ post.  This also gives you GREAT SEO from the backlinks to the original posts.

Find a good InfoGraphic – One of my favorite sources is Visual.ly.  There are a LOT of different subjects and styles.  BTW, if you have a creative eye, Creating an InfoGraphic might be an option.  They can be licensed to link back to your site, which can REALLY help push up your Page Rank and give you better visibility in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Finally, remember that the person that knows the most about you probably lives in your house.  If you can’t sit and write a bunch of posts in a row, don’t try to do that.  If you have streaks of creativity, carve out some time for that to happen.  Figure out what works for you, and just do it.

Related articles

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• Blog Better with an Editorial Calendar and Style Bank (hubspot.com)
• 10 Ways to Never Run Out of Blog Ideas Again (hubspot.com)
• Three Reasons Bloggers Need an Editorial Calendar (blogherald.com)
• 10 Business Blog Posts You Should Write NOW (hubspot.com)
• Are You Teaching Your Customers? Pssst…Your Competitors Are! (kissmetrics.com)

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I have a thing about ‘To Do Lists’…  I don’t know why.  But, I do.  At least on my computer.

I use WP Editorial Calendar to schedule posts, and ToodleDo to keep track of what posts should be upcoming, along with other tasks.  Without these tools I would be completely lost.  Even with as bad as I am at updating this blog on time, I still produce around 20 blog posts a week.  It needs to be closer to 25.

At any given time, I have 15 or 20 tabs open in my FireFox browser.  The tabs have a variety of things, ranging from website where I am tracking things on a daily basis to articles or posts that I want to blog about.  I also have source articles for things I am researching for blog posts.

And I have a new one that I am really liking…  SpringPad.

Image via Wikipedia

I picked up a Tablet computer a few weeks ago (Toshiba Thrive).  This is in addition to my laptop and my smartphone (T-Mobile G2).  I work on all of them.  And one of the things I was missing was a way to keep information (not just files) synchronized between all of my devices.  There are tools like DropBox, which I love, but it required that I have a way to edit the same filetype on all of my devices… or the devices of others I might share an item with.

SpringPad is a bit different.  There is a website (SpringPadIt.com) as well as device apps for my Tablet and SmartPhone (both are Android).  They also have a suite of apps available through the iTunes Store for Apple devices.

One of the nice things with SpringPad is that it has a built in editor to write notes, build out To Do Lists and even surf.  There is a plug-in for FireFox so that I can clip items while surfing and send them to notes in SpringPad.  I can email items (forwards, especially) to a notebook.  I can also add resources to a note like links, videos or photos.

Image via CrunchBase

Like DropBox, users can share their content with other users… unlike DropBox, notebooks can be sent via email to others that are NOT users of SpringPad.  And while DropBox is better for some file types, especially those that involve a lot of editing (manuscripts, images, etc.), I find that SpringPad is a little better geared towards sharing information.  In fact, I can even share things on FaceBook, Twitter and through RSS via SpringPad.  Content can be organized and tagged, as well. Sync’d content is also available when you are not online (except for the website… but if you don’t have a data connection on your phone or tablet, you can still access and edit notebooks for syncing later).

Right Now…

At this moment I am working on a Winter Pack Trip for our Cub Scout Pack.  In order to do this, I have to keep the input of all of the Pack Leaders in mind… and keep them abreast of what is happening.  I also need to keep track of which resources belong with which venue.  I’m tracking costs, things to do, amenities and timelines.  And I can share as much or as little as I want with as many or as few people as needed.  And there is a Social component to the SpringPad network.  You can share items with your SpringPad friends and use it for collaboration.

Related articles

• DropBox (garydenness.co.uk)
• ToDo or ToodleDo, that is the question ” the trouble with normal (filsalustri.wordpress.com)
• Apple iPad, Day 9: To-Do Lists and Task Managers (pcworld.com)
• GD Quickie: Toshiba Thrive Tablet Gets A “Special” Sneak Peak Unboxing via YouTube (geardiary.com)
• Toshiba Thrive successor leaks suggest an ultraslim Android tablet announced at IFA (geek.com)
• Toshiba Thrive: Tablet dark horse? (zdnet.com)

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WordPress is a great Content Management System (CMS).  It can be a blog, but it can also be so much more.  It can be a VERY easily updated website as well.  But in order to really get the most out of WordPress, you need to deploy a few plugins that aren’t included with the basic package.  Luckily, they are all free.  I have 40 active plugins on LaneBailey.com and 20 here.  And all of the plugins listed below are on both sites.

These aren’t limited to just real estate sites… they can be used by anyone, especially those utilizing WordPress as a business website.

Here they are in no particular order…

1. All in One SEO Pack*.  If you are blogging for business or to get noticed, you will need to be optimized for search engines.  This plugin, after it is set up, handles a lot of the drudgery of SEO.  You still need to provide the killer content, though…
2. FaceBook Share.  There are a variety of ways to do this, but the basic point is that FaceBook is second only to Google in importance for growing your site.  You NEED to have a way for readers to easily share your killer content with their friends.
3. 

   Image via Wikipedia

   MobilePress.  This is a plugin that builds a mobile version of your site.  You can tweak the mobile version so that it is faster and easier for mobile users.  And the growth in mobile web surfing is astounding.

4. TAC (Theme Authenticity Checker).  If you like to use free themes, this is a great plugin that will look through the theme for potentially malicious or junky scripts.  If it does catch something, it isn’t always completely bad code… but it is a good prompt to look into it further.
5. SoJ Tag Feed.  Turn any post tag into a RSS feed.  This is great for sending some of your content to your other sites.  It is also a great way to have a feed that is targeted for a specific audience (like maybe a different feed for buyer and sellers).
6. WordPress Editorial Calendar*.  I’m writing this post a few days before it is going live.  I usually try to have anywhere from 3 to 10 posts in queue at any given time.  This allows my blog to be more consistent.  With the WP Editorial Calendar, I can look and see at a glance when I have posts scheduled to run.  If I had other bloggers, I could also see who is posting what… and when.
7. 

   Image via Wikipedia

   WP-DBManager*.  This allows you to inspect, repair and optimize your databases from right within the WordPress admin panel.  But, it also allows you to get scheduled back-ups.  You HAVE to have back-ups coming in regularly in case there is a problem.

8. Zemanta*.  This is one of the plugins that I leverage more than any other.  It allows me to easily find and use images and related articles.  I can use just my own or I can use items from around the web.  One word of caution, though… KNOW if it is content you are allowed to use.  The articles are generally not a problem (they are just linked), but you CAN get into trouble with images.
9. Page Link To.  This allows you to build a “holder page” so that you can link in the menu to items outside of the WordPress installation.  If you have a squeeze page, sales page or other site that you want included in your menu, this is the way to do it.
10. Blog Copyright (by BTE).  If you don’t protect your content, nobody else will.  This doesn’t keep it from being stolen, but it keeps the reasonably honest people honest… and can make it easier to find the scrapers that steal it.

The plugins with a “*” after them are the ones that I think EVERYONE needs to have on their blog.  These are the ones to grab first.  I would have a hard time blogging without these…

Image via CrunchBase

What do you think?  What plugins do you find essential?

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About 5 months ago, I embarked on a journey.  I expected it to last over a year… but I have found myself ahead of schedule.  I’m still not there, but still ahead of schedule.

What is this journey, you ask?

I decided to lose weight.  My goal was to lose 60 pounds, at a rate of about 1 pound a week.  As a dad with two (active) small boys, I needed to get back into some semblance of shape.  I had put it off long enough…

But what does this have to do with a technology and social networking blog?

Two things…

• MyFitnessPal.com
• My phone…

First off, MyFitnessPal.com is a website that helps count and track calories.  And there is NO way to make a weight loss plan without knowing and controlling what you eat.  There are a lot of calorie counters out there… and I have no doubt that they are very nice.  This happens to be the one I landed on.  MFP also has a forum, a blogging platform, FaceBook integration (which I don’t really use) and a social interaction component.

The idea is that having a peer group to interact with, in addition to a database with a few hundred thousand foods, weight loss will be easier.

And of course they have an app.  And that is the icing on the cake (sorry…) for me.  Instead of typing up a bunch of foods to enter them, most foods can be entered simply by scanning the package barcode.  And having the database at your fingertips while deciding what to order in most restaurants helps a lot…  I was seriously shocked with the amount of calories in many of my favorite foods.

For me, it isn’t about denial of everything I like, but rather, it is about being aware of what I eat and eating a reasonable amount…

You can check out the badge below to see how I’m doing with my goal…

Related articles

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MyFitnessPal – Free Calorie Counter

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The app has been sitting on my phone for months… and months… and months.  I got the phone back in October, 2010, and Vlingo was pre-installed.  But I never took the time to figure out how to use it.  I just shoveled it off to the side and ignored it. And then I decided a few days ago that I needed to go through all of my apps and use them or kill them.

I have long been interested in speech recognition for blogging and to replace typing while driving.  To start with, I don’t type that fast… and I often have my best blogging ideas when I am on the move.  And while video can be a viable option, it isn’t always the way to go.  Typed posts are easier to scan for interest, as opposed to videos that may only be watched if the prospective viewer already knows they want the information.

I took the opportunity to try it out on a few different tasks…

• Text Messaging – I sent a few texts.  It was as easy as it could be.  The speech recognition and spelling were spot on.  The messages were short, so punctuation and paragraphing weren’t an issue.  The only annoying part was that I had to select which of my contacts numbers it needed to go to… instead of defaulting to mobile.
• Emailing – This didn’t go quite as well.  The message was a lot longer, and needed paragraph breaks, but Vlingo didn’t seem to know where they should have been.  There were also a couple of spelling snafus.  Depending on the email, going over it and tweaking the formatting before sending it would be a pretty good idea.
• Voice Search – This was great…  I asked for a particular restaurant and the result was a list of their locations, based on the distance from my location.  Simple and accurate.
• Navigation – Again, this did an acceptable job.  I asked for navigation to an address and the phone fired up the Nav app and gave me the right directions.
• Note to Self – I didn’t actually try this one out, but I think it will be a nice option.  When I can type on the phone, I often email post ideas and other items to myself.  NtS should send me a nice reminder and place an item on my ToDo list.

One of the ways I would like to use this is to post to Posterous.  Since it is VERY straight-forward to email a post, complete with pictures and/or video to Posterous, it seems like it should be a slam dunk to dictate a post, add a few pictures or a video, and easily create nice content.

Give it a rip.  Vlingo is a nice way to bridge between sitting down typing a post and video blogging or podcasting.  For Android, the app is free.  They also have apps for iPhone, BlackBerry and other devices.  And isn’t this why we get the groovy-cool mobile devices… to make life easier and a little more efficient?

Related articles

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• Mobile makers experiment with input methods (theglobeandmail.com)
• 4 Innovative Ways to Dial A Friend on Your iPhone (iphone.appstorm.net)
• Top 5 Android Apps for Journalists (mobilejournalists.wordpress.com)
• These Apps Will Add Android-Like Voice Commands To Your iPhone (businessinsider.com)

Learn More about Mobile Tagging at Microsoft Tag.

Among the requirements I have for a to do list are:

• Repeating Tasks… I write on 4 blogs and maintain a couple of dynamic websites that always need fresh content.  So, I need to remember where I need to write posts each day.  My repeating tasks include:
  • Same day each month (gathering statistics in my local MLS)
  • Same day each week (weekly posts like my 53 Cool Concept series each Sunday)
  • Every X number of days (for places I post every four or eight days, etc)
• Ability to tag or note which tasks are for which purpose
• Prioritization (so I don’t get caught up in stuff that doesn’t matter… missing things that are more important)

Ability to sync between my mobile device and other devices (laptop, cloud, etc.)

That seems pretty simple…

Image via Wikipedia

Fifth up is Taskos.

Repeating Tasks

This is the one that kicks out most of the To Do Lists for me.  There are several options, which may make this a great opportunity for some folks, but I felt a little limited.

• Daily – You can set tasks to repeat daily, or every x number of days.  Not every Tuesday or any other variant.
• Weekly – Tasks can be set to repeat on a weekly basis, as well.  So, if you have a task that needs to be done every Tuesday, this is the option you would use.  You can set it to repeat on multiple selected days without entering each of them separately.  That puts this above many other task apps.
  

  Image via CrunchBase

• Monthly – The next option would be a monthly task.  This can be set a specific day (November 20th for example) but not on a trigger (like the 3rd Saturday of the month).

Categorization

Tasks can be applied to specific categories.  This helps to keep things organized.

Prioritization

We HAVE to be able to focus on the things that are most important.  Checkmark has three priority levels: low, medium and high.  One thing I would note here, though.  You CAN change the order that tasks appear on the list, however, the changes aren’t controlled enough.  For example, I keep several tasks without due dates.  With my tasks organized by date, they appear first, even though they are not a priority for me.

One thing that Taskos does is to sync well with Google Calendar.  I personally find a lot of limits in Google Calendar (not the calendar as much as the accompanying tasks).  If Google Calendar and Google Tasks could do exactly as I wanted, this would be a viable app for me to handle Task Management.

Related articles

• To Do Lists… GOALS ToDo Free… (lanebailey.info)
• To Do Lists… Checkmark (lanebailey.info)
• What To Do… (lanebailey.info)
• Getting Things Done… (lanebailey.info)
• One of My FAVORITE WordPress Plug-ins… WP Editorial Calendar (lanebailey.info)
• The Six Best Apps for Getting Stuff Done [Appbattle] (gizmodo.com)
• Producteev Organizes and Syncs To-Do Tasks With Google Calendar [Personal Organization] (lifehacker.com)
• Top Android To Do List Apps (brighthub.com)
• Upcoming Changes to Google Tasks (searchenginejournal.com)

Among the requirements I have for a to do list are:

• Repeating Tasks… I write on 4 blogs and maintain a couple of dynamic websites that always need fresh content.  So, I need to remember where I need to write posts each day.  My repeating tasks include:
  • Same day each month (gathering statistics in my local MLS)
  • Same day each week (weekly posts like my 53 Cool Concept series each Sunday)
  • Every X number of days (for places I post every four or eight days, etc)
• Ability to tag or note which tasks are for which purpose
• Prioritization (so I don’t get caught up in stuff that doesn’t matter… missing things that are more important)

Ability to sync between my mobile device and other devices (laptop, cloud, etc.)

That seems pretty simple…

Fourth up is Todo of Me.

Repeating Tasks

Image via Wikipedia

This is the one that kicks out most of the To Do Lists for me.  There are several options, which may make this a great opportunity for some folks, but I felt a little limited.

• Daily – You can set tasks to repeat daily… just daily.  Not every Tuesday or any other variant.
• Weekly – Tasks can be set to repeat on a weekly basis, as well.  So, if you have a task that needs to be done every Tuesday, this is the option you would use.  You can’t set it to repeat on multiple selected days without entering each of them separately.
• Monthly – The next option would be a monthly task.  This can be set a specific day (November 20th for example) but not on a trigger (like the 3rd Saturday of the month).

Partial Completion

Tasks can be made partially complete.  This is great if you have multi-part tasks.  They can be unstarted, in-progress or complete.

Prioritization

We HAVE to be able to focus on the things that are most important.  Checkmark has four priority levels: low, medium, high and emergency (I named them that… they have different color stars in the app).

This app is pretty bare bones.  It might serve for some, but my calendar/task needs are well beyond this app.  There is a paid/Pro version, and I have not reviewed that version.

Related articles

• To Do Lists… GOALS ToDo Free… (lanebailey.info)
• To Do Lists… Checkmark (lanebailey.info)
• What To Do… (lanebailey.info)
• Getting Things Done… (lanebailey.info)
• One of My FAVORITE WordPress Plug-ins… WP Editorial Calendar (lanebailey.info)
• The Six Best Apps for Getting Stuff Done [Appbattle] (gizmodo.com)
• Producteev Organizes and Syncs To-Do Tasks With Google Calendar [Personal Organization] (lifehacker.com)
• Top Android To Do List Apps (brighthub.com)
• Upcoming Changes to Google Tasks (searchenginejournal.com)