TKnikLy Speaking

The Wonders of Caffeine

2013-01-12T18:59:00.002-08:00

How annoying! You are in the middle of a presentation and your computer goes to sleep. Well, I came across this handy and useful OS utility that keeps your computer awake with a simple icon click. It is appropriately called Caffeine of course. Just imagine, inot having to contact your help desk or play around with the system settings to keep your PC or MAC from dozing. This free (limited 30-day) download is worth a try. Take a look at this great article all about Caffeine.

Share piles of photos and videos for free

2012-08-08T02:14:00.001-07:00

Carly beat me to this one. This tool makes it so much easier to share photos and videos with friends and family. Check it out!

Share piles of photos and videos for free

5 Great Software Apps to help you if you’re working in Business Training or mainstream Education

2012-07-30T05:34:00.001-07:00

These are some really cool tools to use as a way to keep learners engaged. Check it out this post!

5 Great Software Apps to help you if you’re working in Business Training or mainstream Education

What exactly is the Cloud?

2012-05-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, cloud computing is just about finished it’s toddler stage, but it doesn’t appear that it will be growng up anytime soon. Cloud Computing has generated a cult-like following and is a a priority for businesses, both large and small. You cannot beat it for virtualization and enhancing my topic of choice, helping people, schools and organizations move to 100% paperless processes. We are really experiencing a Make IT Happen revolution. Industry experts cry out for organizations to adopt the cloud.

But, I know that there are a lot of folks still wondering what exactly is the Cloud. So what IS the Cloud?

Tkniks for Traveling

2012-05-07T04:33:00.002-07:00

I like Dylan Collins, founder of businessinsider.com, he often posts useful practical ideas for surviving and remaining productive in business. The post below is useful for busy professionals who find themselves trotting through the airport with too much stuff. Here are a few suggesstion to remain productive when traveling. Use the tools to make IT happen!

Mobile/Data

iPad 2 3G
After a particularly galling Orange experience I swore I would never ever again pay a penny/cent in international data roaming rates. So when I’m travelling I now switch my iPhone data off completely and just use it for calls and SMS. All data goes through my iPad 2 via a Maxroam data sim. I took a hard look at the iPad 3 but it really didn’t do much for me.
-critical iPad apps: Onavo (data-shrinking), Uber (US car service), Hailo (London taxi), Airbnb (hotel).

Computing

13″ Macbook Air. Hands-down the finest notebook I’ve ever owned. The larger screen real estate (11″ v 13″) makes a huge difference and still fits into any crazy reclined economy seat situations.

Luggage

-Long haul: still rocking the Travelpro I bought years ago. Unbreakable.
-Short haul: say what you want about Tyler Brule but the man knows luggage. For overnights I use the Japanese-designed Porter Boston Bag. Just wish it had a shoulder strap.
-Day trips: Nothing beats the Tom Bihn Ristretto. It really is perfect.

Audio

Still an area I haven’t quite nailed yet. Up until recently I’d been using the Beats By Dre noise-cancelling headphones. Then I broke them. And so I bought another pair, and then proceeded to ]break those as well. Whatever... you need a good set of headphones. [LM]

Special mention: Jawbone’s Jambox, which survived trips to China and the Middle East before giving up the ghost. Great for both music and conference calls.

Sharing

Pretty simple. Drop Box on every device with custom sync (to avoid unnecessary data usage). Is there really anyone not using it at this stage? Keynote and Pages on iPad for editing and creation.

Follow Dylan Collins on Twitter.

Cloud Workers: TKniks for staying connected to the ground.

2012-04-17T05:06:00.000-07:00

Cloud Workers and their employers may be rightfully concerned that teleworkers will feel "disconnected" from the physical office. However, the short daily commute does not mean that workers need to be cut off from what's going on at work, including those daily coffee clutches.

If there's one tknik that makes it easy for Cloud Workers to stay connected to their colleagues and boost productivity, it's the capacity to share information online. This may include sharing information using public networks like Twitter or internal private sites. Research shows that many companies are implementing private social networks, like Twitter and Facebook. Use these tools! Other services to keep Cloud Workers connected include Dropbox, Evernote and ShareFile which allows you to share documents, notes and webpages instantly with colleagues. Google Docs gives you the ability to team up in real time with colleagues on documents, presentations and spreadsheets. And, yes “Face Time” is still critical! When you need to meet in person, go ahead and meet, create a Skype account and video call someone, meet with your team via GoToMeeting or create a Google Hangout. This also may not be necessary for those working for larger organizations as video conferencing or other live meeting resources are available, or meet with the whole team through. There are many sharing and collaboration tools available to help you always be connected. Use the Tools You Have to Make IT Happen!

Lucy McRae: How can technology transform the human body?

2012-04-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

Drag and drop it like it’s hot!

2012-04-05T19:42:00.001-07:00

A friend suggested that I try drop box and I am grateful that she did. "Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily". No more emailing files or managing multiple thumb drives again! I have added this tool to my arsenal of resources to manage my paperless office. Give it a try and Drag and drop it like it’s hot!

Peggy Duncan's emailPetPeeves

2012-04-04T13:21:00.001-07:00

http://www.peggyduncan.com/articles/emailPetPeeves.htm

It's National Spring Cleaning Week: 10 Techniques to Create a Paperless Office | PRLog

2012-03-20T19:55:00.001-07:00

It's National Spring Cleaning Week: 10 Techniques to Create a Paperless Office | PRLog

Work Shifting - Insider Tricks for New Teleworkers

2012-03-15T13:34:00.001-07:00

Work Shifting - Insider Tricks for New Teleworkers

The Paperless Office — A Business Saga

2012-03-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

‎5 Ways to Use Your Professional Skills to Give Back

2012-03-08T04:21:00.000-08:00

‎5 Ways to Use Your Professional Skills to Give Back http://bit.ly/cFNz09

Tool, Tip & TKnik - Schedule time for email.

2012-03-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

Take a look at your daily planner, task list, calendar (whatever tool you use on whatever device or system). It contains appointments, meetings, and other things that you must do or attend during the course of the day. I have heard and witnessed the never ending task of responding to email. After the coffee, you open the email and two hours later, you haven’t prepared for the meeting in fifteen minutes and now you are stressed. The stress could have been avoided if periods of time are blocked during the day to open and address email. Try this Tip. Schedule certain times during the day to check email. For example, determine that the email will be opened and processed at 9am, 1pm and 4pm. At all other times you must not touch it!

"Use the tools you have to Make IT Happen"™

Tool Tip & TKnik™ - Syncing Your Information

2012-02-29T07:29:00.002-08:00

E-Mail, Contacts, and Calendars

The chances are you need to access your information and data from your computer or mobile device. Fortunately, accessing your email, contacts and calendars has never been easier. Smartphones and tablets include a USB cable that connects them to a PC to synchronize data. The challenge is how to keep things up to date when you're away from the computer. Here are some Tkniks to consider.

For some devices, default systems are in place. For example, smartphones and tablets running Google's Android OS work best when connected with the series of Google services, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, and Contacts. BlackBerry devices work best with BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Microsoft Windows Phone 7 work best with a Microsoft services. Note, however, that it is possible to use other solutions for e-mail, contacts, and calendars, but in the effort to simplify your life, it is much easier to embrace the standard system for your specific mobile device, and rely on that system for keeping your data synced on your PC and on other devices as well.

TKniklySpeaking

TKnikLy Speaking - What is a TKnik

2012-02-29T07:03:00.002-08:00

TKnik is text shorthand for Technique. The purpose

Simplify your Email: Make Outlook Your Default Email Program

2012-02-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

How to Make Outlook Your Default Email Program from Heinz Tschabitscher

I think that Heinz did a great job with this topic. If you are using Outlook and are comfortable with it, don't change. You will improve your email saavy and efficiency if you and make it your "default" email program. You can do this in your Windows settings so that Outlook is used for mailto: URLs, for example.

Take a moment to see Heinz' recommendation. I liked it and thought he made it plain enough.

Make Outlook Your Default Email Program

To configure Outlook as your default email program in Windows Vista and Windows 7:

›› Step by Step Screenshot Walkthrough

Click Start.
Type "default programs" in the Start Search box.
Click Default Programs under Programs in the search results.
Now click Set your default programs.
Highlight Microsoft Office Outlook or Microsoft Outlook on the left.
Click Set this program as default.
Click OK.