Category Archives: remainders

More field notes from my internet safaris…

Lifehack.org had a great post about the ninja notetaking skills of Thomas Edison. This guy was a badass when it came to the art of paper and pen and his copious notes span five million pages. Both inspiring and daunting for sure but this article outlines some great take away advice.

I know these sorts of lists are becoming ubiquitous Digg-bait, but here is 24 things you can do with an index card – exactly 17 of which are really useful.

Here’s a great video of a casual talk that Merlin Mann gave at IDEO. He is looped up on cold meds so he is extra talkative. It is kind of funny actually.

Looking to outsource your life a la Tim Ferriss? Well, here are a couple of posts by someone who has. First covered is how to prepare for doing so. Then, another post covering actually doing it, the success and the pitfalls.

New site alert!!! Brassing Adds Character is a new blog devoted to paper pr0n and analog love. The first few posts cover Dixon Tri-Conderoga pencils and some Levenger hacking. Awesome!

More reports of my stumbles around the internets…

Macworld has a great little tutorial for Mac users on creating a smart folder in the Finder to find recent files and applications. This is a great way to get at documents you have worked on recently that may be scattered in different folders. (via Lifehacker)

Moleskine is now offering it’s classic notebook line with soft covers versus the normal ones. The soft covers are a bit more pliable and, therefore, perhaps even more pocket friendly. (via Moleskinerie)

Like the Pilot G2 series of pens but the point is a little thick for your tastes? Well, Staples is now offering the Ultra Fine Point version (.38mm). Only $14.99 for a dozen. Having been a Pilot G2 fan, I can personally attest that these are a great and relatively inexpensive option. (via Daring Fireball)

Lifehacker has some good tips on how to cover your butt by taking good notes. The idea being that, if you have good notes on a situation, you can have a log of who said/did what, when and how. Great example of how simply having pen and paper at hand can save the day. Here is a quote:

>_The best way to avoid conflict is to understand what you are being asked to do. The next best way is to have proof that you’re doing what you were asked. That proof is complete and accurate notes. Of all the ways to keep yourself out of trouble and get ahead, your notes—if thorough and detailed—can provide you a clear path._

Great stuff!

Wired Magazine has a great write-up on David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, in it’s current issue. One of the better articles I have seen. They even peek a bit into his personal life and associations with Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness.

Speaking of The David, his series at The Huffington Post continues to impress. His latest entry, “What Does ”Organized“ Really Mean?“

Zen Habits comes through again with 10 Things You Can Do Today to Simplify Your Life. There are some good tips here including one I am a recent fan of – the small to-do list.

Favorite productivity site 43 Folders has had a complete overhaul with not only a new look but new features that make it a lot more easy to find popular and related content. I am still trying to come to terms with some aspects of it. I love the design and feel but I _hate_ the new forums (which I was an active contributor to).

I have a whole backlog of stuff to catch up on so this might be one long, rambling mess. Also, since it has been a while, some of this may already be old news to you. This being said, you may find a a gem or two in the rubble. Let’s get started.

**On the productivity front…**

Kelly Forester of David Co, recently wrote something that really resonated with me and has caused me to look through, reevaluate and clean up my lists. For GTD best practice, she argues that one does not DO projects, you DO next actions. One should review the projects list regularly but one should only be _working from_ the next action list. Great little post that helps to get your GTD back in focus.

That being said, one thing I have been doing lately that kind of goes against the tenants of GTD is making up a tiny todo list on an index card at the start of each day as recommended in this post by Leo Babauta at Web Worker Daily. This has really worked for me and keeps me from being overwhelmed by the giant working list of next actions I seem to have (which I probably need to refocus a la above).

There have been a few good recent reviews of Grand Central, a recent Google acquisition. Grand Central allows you to sign up for a local phone number and, with that one number, control all of your phone routing and voicemail. Merlin Mann has a nice little write up on how it has helped manage his telephonic life. Planet Intertwingly has an even longer review. I have signed up and have only just begun to dip my feet in the water but so far it looks very cool.

LifeClever cites a recent interview of Jason Fried of 37 Signals on the negative productivity costs of working closely together with others. In fact, Jason says “Proximity is an invitation to interrupt somebody. And interruption is the biggest enemy of productivity that there is.” Interesting stuff.

In a little bit of related self promotion, your truly was featured when the 37 Signals Product Blog took a look at Ideas for Getting Things Done with Backpack. Color me honored!

Hey paper nerds. Do you like lined paper for taking notes but wish you had grid paper for sketching on the fly? With Doane Paper you can have both. It combines both into a single sheet. You have to click the link and take a look for a better explanation of why they mean. The prices for each pad are not bad and the paper looks to be of good quality so well worth it. They also have a free template to download and print your own if that is your thing.

**In other news…**

As a sort of addendum to my previous iPhone post (and why I am waiting to get one), Thoughtfix has a fabulous post up comparing the iPod Touch to the Nokia N800. It is very thorough and makes a very strong case for the reasons why you may want both.

The New York Times has recently (finally) dropped the paywall they had for many of the archives of their articles and Jason Kottke is dumpster diving for the best stuff. The journalistic history here is astounding. Some of his finds include the firs mention of the World Wide Web, an early report of Lincoln’s assassination, and a report on the sinking of the Titanic. If you are even a casual fan of history, this post will save a lot of the hard work of trolling through this vast archive for you. Outstanding.

I have written about Flock before. It is an amazing new web browser, based upon the Mozilla engine, that is built around the idea of the “social web”. It has tight integration with many social networking and blogging services such a Flickr and del.icio.us. Flock is looking like it will be a real winner once it officially hits 1.0 as this video with CEO Shawn Hardin at PodTech indicates. I am betting my friend Jane at Social Days will be all over this when it hits.