Saturday, August 2, 2008

Urgency As a Competitive Edge

9:00AM Gina Trapani | CEO Michael Hyatt chose “Urgency” for his company’s annual theme this year, because he says the ability to respond faster than others can is what makes a company succeed. He says that in the early days of his company: …responsiveness became our competitive advantage. We could never pay more than our competition and usually offered much less. But we could out-manoeuvre and out-flank almost all of them. We were lean and mean. As a result, we grew rapidly. In terms of individual productivity, urgency can be a double-edged sword. While being fast on your feet at work can make you indispensable, you’ve got to balance that with thoughtfulness as well. Think urgency is a productivity killer or booster? Let us know in the comments. Creating a Sense of Urgency [Michael Hyatt] More »

Increase Firefox’s Maximum Pop-up Count

6:00AM Gina Trapani | Google Reader user Mitch Wagner leans on the V key often to pop open originating web pages from posts in Reader—but found Firefox’s pop-up blocker would kick in after a certain amount of time, even though he explicitly allowed them. A Google Reader guide explained that Firefox enforces a maximum pop-up window limit per web site, but that a configuration tweak can increase it. If you’ve had this problem, type about:config in Firefox’s address bar, and Filter down to the dom.popup_maximum key. Increase the default value (20) to something high, like 2,000, to stop Firefox from blocking your pop-ups so soon. (Also, the Better GReader extension lets you see the original web page inside Reader automatically or by clicking a button.) How To Stop Firefox From Blocking Google Reader Popups [InformationWeek] More »

Commuto Makes Sharing and Swapping Stuff Easy

5:00AM Tamar Weinberg | Don’t toss that CD you don’t need anymore—swap it for something else you’ve been eyeing with social swapping site Commuto. Find goods you want at Commuto and set up in-person sales (should money be requested) or face-to-face swaps with the member who’s offering what you want. Commuto offers a large database of items to choose from, and it will match up the UPC symbol or ISBN with the title of the product if it can locate it. You can also create a wishlist for prospective swappers. Like Craigslist, Commuto takes no commissions. Currently, Commuto is in beta with small but growing communities, and it looks promising, especially if the sheer size of Craigslist is overwhelming. Commuto [via WebWare] More »

Forget the iPhone–The iPod Touch is Good Enough

2:00AM Kevin Purdy | Back in June 2007, I couldn’t convince my wife that checking my email in grocery lines was worth $US1,320—the cost of an original iPhone and one year of the cheapest plan. These days, the trend-setting phone costs even more money over its life, and it’s more than a little restrictive and even a bit buggy. So I’m amazed at how little love the iPod touch gets. It’s a slimmer iPhone with almost all its features, it requires no contract, and when you can’t get a Wi-Fi signal, your plain, humble mobile phone can step up to take its place. Here’s why anyone considering the iPhone should opt for its oft-ignored sibling—the iPod touch—instead. Photo by sarchi. More »

Calculate the Number of Working Days Between Two Dates

1:16AM Gina Trapani | You already knew that Excel can do straight date math, but it can also take into account holidays to find the number of working days between two dates. Tech blogger Chandoo points out the =networkdays(start date, end date, predefined list of holidays) formula, which turns out the number of days minus holidays (and vacation) between the start and end date—quite useful for work project spreadsheets. Chandoo offers several other “hey I didn’t know that” Excel tricks too, like filtering unique items from a list, sorting data from left to right, freezing panes, and coloring your worksheet tabs. Excel can be Exciting: 15 Fun things to do with Microsoft Excel [Pointy Haired Dilbert - Chandoo.org] More »

Boost Morale with ‘Inbox Fuzzies’

12:49AM Gina Trapani | Reader Jared writes in: It’s easy to become jaded and disheartened in any workplace. I created a ‘Fuzzies’ folder for my Inbox, where I save any particularly inspiring or gracious messages from co-workers. I take a few moments to browse my Fuzzies whenever my morale needs bolstering. This is a really effective way to turn a bad day around. Similarly, I file kind reader email in a special Gmail label to re-read on tough days. (Cue: Awwww.) A similar technique is the previously mentioned “Yay me!” file, where you write down your work accomplishments every time you do something good. That one comes in handy when it’s time to negotiate a raise, too. Thanks, Jared! More »

Disc Eraser Renders Optical Media Unreadable

12:00AM Tamar Weinberg | Destroy your optical media like CDs and DVDs without the fuss or mess with the portable and lightweight Disc Eraser gadget. The Disc Eraser is a pocket-sized plastic apparatus that will make your CD or DVD unreadable in any disc drive or CD/DVD player after it is used. The Disc Eraser opens like a book—place the disc on the small ring, close the lid, and move the plastic slider up and down along the surface. The slider will destroy the surface of the CD so you no longer need to buy a shredder that will spit half of the optical media back into the air and create a mess that you wouldn’t want to clean. The best part? The Disc Eraser is completely safe—even around children, is extremely small, promotes recycling, and will only set you back $US15.99 (plus $US5.99 postage to Australia). Disc Eraser More »