Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
Laziest Way To Convert to PDF
Apr 27th
My brother recently emailed me about converting documents into PDF format. It can be a pain in the neck to generate PDF format files if you don’t own Adobe Acrobat software (not the Reader).
There are great online PDF conversion services, as well as free PDF printer drivers that let you print to a virtual printer which produces and saves a PDF document on your hard drive.
However, sometimes, you don’t even have the time to spend doing these simple tasks.
Here’s the easiest, laziest way I know of creating PDF versions of your Microsoft Office documents. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Timeshifting Emails: How to Schedule Emails To Be Sent In The Future
Apr 10th
Recently, I’ve been discovering and using productivity tools like reminder services to help organize and keep me efficient. There’s a bunch of websites that allow you to ping yourself in the future via text message, IM, Google Calendar, Twitter, etc. I personally like www.OhDontForget.com but some of the other one’s I keep coming across are:
- www.ohdontforget.com - simple text message reminder service
- www.gottakeepup.com - good for birthdays, anniversaries, other appointments
- www.rememberthemilk.com - more robust service with lists and other features – also IM reminders
- www.sportsTVinsider.com - couch potatoes can remind themselves to procrastinate and be lazy by reminding themselves of games to watch on TV
If you get into the habit of using a reminder service, it can be a real big help. But there are plenty of times where you wished other people are as (re-)mindful as you about things they shouldn’t forget…Or there are different circumstances where you just want to be able to email someone in the future, but know that you won’t be by the computer.
Perhaps some of you may think about using it to email co-workers during that “2nd hour of lunch” so that people think you’re back at your desk already…or even afterhours to make sure everyone knows just how hard you work…while you’re on your way home already! 
Of course there are tons of other possibilities that open up once you can schedule your emails to be delivered in the future… Read the rest of this entry »
You’ve Got Mail! (Even Though You Don’t Want To Read It)
Feb 19th
If you’re like me, you’re innundated with tons and tons of communication.
Snail mail, junk mail, voicemail (home, cell phone, business line, VoIP), live voice calls!, rss feeds, email, spam, and listserv email lists…and on and on and on.
Sometimes you just want to TURN IT OFF! Or at least just a channel or two — like when one of those community email lists goes bizzerk over an off-topic post that ignites the passion of every single subscriber-hermit that has never ever responded or contibuted to the list in decades….”long time listener, first time REPLY-ALLer…”
One simple feature of most email programs is to set-up a quick filter or rule that will handle that email thread the way you want…even making it so that you never ever see another message regarding that topic again. Here’s how to do it in Microsoft Outlook. . .
4 Gigs for Emailing..for Christmas
Dec 25th
Christmas is all about expecting the unexpected.
Hope, Peace, Love and Joy. And the beauty of gifts.
Merry Christmas everyone!
This season is one where people discover the essence of gift exchange. Giving and receiving.
Google seems to be in the holiday spirit and has been in the giving mood with it’s Gmail service. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Email Tip: Sending Email On Your Laptop When You’re Not Home
Oct 21st
IF YOU TRAVEL OR USE YOUR LAPTOP AWAY FROM HOME, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST TECH TIPS YOU CAN READ TODAY.
Laptops are not just for business people anymore. Students just finished the back-to-school wave of purchases for tons of laptops while campuses are now being wired for wireless access in the libraries, classrooms, etc.
And with the fact that the laptop is becoming everyone’s “main” computer, email is managed from that machine as well. When you set-up an email address the free accounts that come with your Internet service provider, there can be a downside to using these accounts when you connect from remote location that’s not serviced by your ISP — any WiFi hotspot, friend’s house, vacation, hotels, etc. This is the same situation when trying to use your personal email account on a smartphone, PDA phone like a Treo, Blackberry, or Blackjack.
Depending on your Outlook, Apple email or Eurdora email settings, you may find yourself STUCK with mail in your outbox unable to be sent. That’s because you need to be connected to your ISP’s network in order to send through their “email gateway”. (Incoming emails aren’t problem – you can download and read your inbox from anywhere in the world with all regular email accounts out there) Using web-based email accounts to send emails when you’re away from home could be a solution, but it’s also a hassle to go back and forth, and have emails in different accounts all the time.
Here’s a great tidy solution to the problem of being able to use your laptop anywhere you want, the way you want. . . Read the rest of this entry »
60 Outlook Email Tips Guaranteed To Give You An Additional 2 Free Hours/Week
Aug 3rd
David Allen’s best selling “Getting It Done” book preaches about the power of getting your email inbox down to ZERO emails. Can you just imagine what that would be like? Impossible? Absolutely not. Read the rest of this entry »
I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!