Mac Software Suggestions

I just purchaseda MacBook Pro and I need some suggestions for software to convert from Windows. Can you help?

Here are my current apps and the ones I propose to replace them. Are they any good?

1) Password management. Currently using KeyPass, looking at 1Password
2) Blog creation: Currently using LiveWriter, looking at MarsEdit
3) Note Taking: Currently using OneNote, looking at ??
4) Money Management: Currently using MS-Money, looking at Quicken or bank website and spreadsheets?
5) VPN: Currently using SonicWall, looking at ??
6) Delete key: Currently using Delete key, looking at ?? what's up with no delete key!?

Movie stunt crew in Denver

I stepped off the commuter bus on to a movie set this morning! It looked like they were getting ready to total a 5 series Benz, if it wasn't for a 9am meeting, I could have been a star!

BC

Help Save Pandora and Internet Radio

Trouble viewing this email?...Click here Hi, it's Tim from Pandora, I'm writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays and broadcast radio doesn't pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora. In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us. Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541 Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends - the more petitioners we can get, the better. Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I'm no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians. The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster's business potential. I hope you'll take just a few minutes to sign our petition - it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies. As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support. -Tim Westergren (Pandora founder) © copyright 2006, Pandora Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 360 22nd Street - Suite 440 - Oakland CA - 94612 You are currently subscribed to receive email updates from Pandora. If you would like to unsubscribe, please log in to your account at www.pandora.com, click on the account button, click 'edit my account', click edit, uncheck the checkbox in the lower-left of the screen, and click save. If you have any trouble, please email pandora-support@pandora.com. Privacy Policy

Get Buzzed

Hey check out my new Buzz!! (The sidebar on the left)

I am testing a new NewsGator feature called Editors desk (available at www.newsgatornews.com)

Very hot stuff!!!

First, its Really Simple: click a few buttons, make a few choices and copy the code from the Editors Desk into your blog. Done.

It's beta, so let us know what you think.

Back in the saddle

Its been a while since I wrote, but I'm back...

I'm still not sure what to write? You know, the whole privacy thing. I mean, do I really want the whole world to know where Logan & I were today? Where we will be tomorrow? The fact that I left Buster dog at the car wash yesterday (more on that later I'm sure)?

Anyway, I have pretty much given up the privacy battle. I work for a Web 2.0 company for petes sake!

So after the privacy debate, I have to overcome some personal growth issues like spelling, grammar and research. This blog will force me to be better. I mean this stuff is the permanent ink of the web. I say bring it!

Getting Things Done

I have been a consultant of sorts since high school, and I have been doing it in some fashion ever since. And ever since I have been doing unstructured work, I have been searching for and experimenting with ways to capture everything, execute and reference information.

I have had some great systems (The Franklin Planner) and some not so great (The Apple Newton), but the whole time I have adapted, learned and adjusted... I really thought I knew it all when it came to time management and organization.


A little more than a year ago, my world changed by taking a manager role in the support department for a (then) small start-up NewsGator Technologies. Recently, my work world changed dramatically again when I left the highly structured world of technical support and moved back into the world of fast paced, high profile sales and professional services.

Armed with a new quiver of tools, and faced with being out of the free-form task and client Malay for a few years and compounded by working highly structured support queues for 12 months, I needed a Chaos Theory refresher.

My research revealed this book by David Allen / Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (Paperback)

Not only did this book teach me a few new tricks, I really felt connected to the author. This guy really gets me! I highly recommend you buy this book!!

I dedicate this blog post to my good buddy Peter Tighe for shaming me into posting more often. :)

BC

This had great meaning when I first heard it...

But now, I have no clue.  Maybe it will strike someone else?

 

The reward is not in your admiration of the work, but in the work its self. (I can’t find the quote reference on the net, so maybe it came in a dream)

PS. Checkout my Newsgator blog @ BC Blog

 

Computerization

I use a computer so much now, that I can’t even mess up the date!!  It used to be that I would get the year wrong until at least late January.  You know, checks, documents, etc.  We since everything is on computer, I haven’t had that problem.  Crazy!

 

 

Playing at the Apple store

I’m playing with Apple’s Photobooth and drooling over the new MAC laptops at the Flat Irons Apple store. I think I need two or three of these MacBook Pros, but I’m holding out for the MAC tablet…

… Yes Michigan tanked in the Rose Bowl, but at least they made the show. Was your team there?

I swore I would never do this...

How many times have you heard that coming from a new blogger?

 

Personally, I see it a ton.  In an effort to “do the right thing” I started monitoring bloggers that mix work and play in their writing; you know, to see if they said anything stupid, got fired, etc?  Well, I’m happy to report that the group of bloggers I monitored have enjoyed great success and still have jobs.  Not that I’m worried about losing my job.  It’s just that I’m a private and relatively low key individual, and I have never been entirely comfortable hanging “it” all out there for the world to see.

 

I mean, I still use e-mail proxies when I sign-in to Gmail & MyYhaoo.  I have 3 firewalls and 2 http proxies in my house!   So needless to say, I was hesitant to jump on the blogging band wagon.  Why would I advertise  my life to the world? 

 

The answer to this question became obvious as I was trying to update two websites (www.brian-collins.com & www.logancollins.com) with pictures and descriptions of a recent vacation to Moab, UT. 

 

Basically, I found myself e-mailing the same photos and descriptions to friends around the globe and I kept repeating myself.  Now, for those of you that know me, you know that I am an efficiency nut… OK wacko (I have a production management BS and Kaizen training from Toyota; more on that in a future post), so I set out to find a solution.

 

… I have worked for a leader in the RSS space (NewsGator Technologies) for 13 months now, and I have resisted blogging because I work with it all day, and the last thing I wanted to do is type more when I go home… well I hit the tipping point, and here I am.

 

So enjoy, and rest assured that this will probably be the longest post I write.  Also note that the views expressed here are my own and not of my employer  NewsGator Technologies.

PS. Before you go looking for the uber cool website you would come to expect from a casual geek like me, be warned: I killed the site to put up the blog.  Why have static content?  Maybe someday (in my spare time) I will put up a new site.  I have no idea why, but I might.

 

BC

E-mail post test

The new Blogger is pretty sweet!!

 

What do you mean boil the ocean?

OK. I agree. This phrase is overused in the consulting world. However, that's not my fault, and it is still useful. Right?

Boiling the ocean is a phrase that can go any direction. On the one hand, you can use it to describe an idea, project or task that is overwhelming or even impossible. On the other hand, you could use it to provide hope and perspective. I use it both ways; You decide.

Boiling the ocean has several meanings and has been credited to several people over the years.

I like the phrase because it has multiple meanings. An oldie but a goodie is:

When asked by a reporter what to do about U-boat sinkings during World War I, Will Rogers is said to have responded: "Boil the ocean". "But how would you do that?" the reporter continued. Without a beat Rogers replied, "I'm just the idea man here. Get someone else to work out the details."

Pasted from <http://www.bobcongdon.net/blog/2004/06/boil-ocean.html>

Hello World

My first Blogger post on Brian-Collins.com