Evernote for Mac Update (1.7.1):

With each update, Evernote for Mac gets a little better. My personal number 1 wish list item is to be able to tag multiple notes at once. In other words, I’d like to be able to select 5 notes and tag them all at once. If you’ve already figured out how to do this, please let me know! Thanks.

Opinion: Time to get smart about smartphones:

I completely agree with this opinion piece. Mobile technology is here to stay, and we’ve only just seen the beginning. The benefits to your personal and business life are immense. If you don’t own a smart phone, or if you’re a manager who is reluctant to give your employees mobile access, it’s time to rethink that mindset. Mobile technology, with its risks and rewards, are not going away. Avoidance is not a wise solution.

We’ve learned to take much of the look and feel of the Windows operating system for granted. For many of us, Windows is all we know. Windows is computing. This is largely due to the fact that Microsoft absolutely dominated the PC market in the 1990s, a decade when computers were burned into the fiber of mainstream living and business. Computers revolutionized the way we communicated, worked, and played in the 1990s. Physical desktops gave way to virtual desktops on screens. Spreadsheet programs replaced hand-based methods for calculating. Windows 95 and Microsoft Office were groundbreaking technologies.

Fifteen years later, I would argue that they are antiquated.

In 2010, most office workers stare at the same screen they did in 1995. There are fundamental aspects of the design of Windows and the design of Microsoft Office that are rooted in the pre-computer world, or what I call the “hard” world. In the hard world, objects can only be one place at a time. A piece of paper can be filed in one, and only one, folder at a time. A stapler can only be in one place on your desk. A phonebook can only be stored in one drawer.

The soft world of computing has no such barriers, yet the design of Windows and Microsoft Office fails to leverage this. If you look in Windows Explorer, you see a series of little yellow manila folders—cartoonish versions of the same dusty paper products in your office filing cabinet. Commands in Microsoft Office applications appear in one place on toolbars or ribbons. To use objects in Windows, you have to know where they are—just like you need to know where that stapler is before you can bind that TPS report.

But there are no filing cabinets on hard drives. The quantity of “soft” objects in a computer does not depend on the physical space of your motherboard. In fact, there is no reason at all that anything has to be in any one spot. Everything should be everywhere.

Too much to ask?

Well think about this: It is often easier to find a web page on the vast expanse of the Internet, a system of some 25.21 billion pages as of March 2009, than it is to find a command on the Office 2007 ribbon. If you don’t know where a file is on your hard drive, you will spend much more time searching for it than you would doing a Google search.

With Google, you’re given one simple text field, a slender, narrow box representing a portal to the cyber universe. You tell Google what you want, and Google gives you answers. You don’t need to know the location of CNN’s web server or the location of web servers containing information on growing daisies. Location is irrelevant.

Why can’t the same be said of Windows and Microsoft Office? Why is there no text field above the Office 2007 ribbon that lets me type in “pivot” if I want to create a pivot table or “bar chart” if I want that? Why am I forced to memorize and recall the location of countless virtual buttons that reside in one, and only one, location?

I look forward to the day when Microsoft finally leaves the hard world behind—much like Google has and also Apple. One of the reasons I view my introduction to Apple computing in 2008 as somewhat of a personal computing renaissance is because of features like Spotlight, which allow me to just type what I want to do. Mac apps like LaunchBar take it to a whole new level. Again, the common thread is that location does not matter in the soft world, and it shouldn’t.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web

If you think about it, we’re in an unprecedented era with freeware. There are so many free products and services available online, it’s dizzying to even try to keep up with them. Some of them, like Gmail, are amazingly useful—even game changing—and best their paid counterparts by miles. We use these free services daily without even thinking about the fact that we’re getting something amazing at no cost. Moreover, we expect it now. We expect to pay nothing for many things. If you stop and think about it, this is a little crazy. Has there ever been a time in human history when we expected so much for free?

For the past few years, I really enjoyed the abundance of freeware and frequently snapped up new free services as they appeared, but I’ve started to have second thoughts, especially as I realize just how much my workflow depends on these free services. The good part of “free” is the cost; the downside is that you have no leverage if things go wrong. What incentive does a freeware maker have to respond to your customer service inquiries or spend time troubleshooting a problem specific to you?

If I’m paying for a product or service, I feel like I’m entitled to support, and I also feel like service provider has more to lose by not providing a good customer service experience.

What’s more, I believe that if someone creates a product or provides a service of value to others, the creator is entitled to compensation. This is how things work in a normal economic universe. In the long run, we all benefit from paying for software because it creates more incentive for software makers to enter existing or create new markets.

The only exception to this argument is open source freeware like OpenOffice.org or even free OSes like Ubuntu. With open source, there is enough of a community motivation to maintain quality, and Web 2.0 platforms like message boards create customer service systems from the users themselves. If you rely on free open source software, I would encourage you to donate to the efforts of those that maintain it.

If you found out tomorrow that your favorite free service now requires you to pay, would you? How much?

If you browse the web in Windows, the latest shenanigan that hackers are using to hijack your computer involves tricking you into pressing your F1 button to get help while browsing online. It seems like there is no end to the creativity of hackers targeting Windows users, and trying to be safe online while browsing in Windows is an exhausting, if not futile task.

If you must use Windows to browse the web, one of the most immediate, easy, and effective measures you can take is to use something other than Internet Explorer to browse the web. Those of us that are tech savvy take it for granted that we know about alternative browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and others, but many people do not. Google recently asked a number of ordinary people on the street what a web browser is, and many of them could not answer correctly. So if you don’t even know what a web browser is, don’t feel dumb; you’re not alone.

There seems to be a great deal of misunderstanding and ignorance regarding the fundamental tools that people use while browsing the web. In some ways, it’s not surprising. These things were never taught in school to the vast majority of people browsing the web, and you don’t learn anything unless you are taught or enthusiastic enough to figure it out on your own.

The 2 most fundamental tools are web browsers and search engines. A web browser is the program installed on your computer that you use to access the Internet. A search engine is a web site like Google, Yahoo, or Bing that lets you search for information online.

For many people, their browser is the little blue e on their desktop that opens Internet Explorer (IE), which is the stock web browser included with Windows and made by Microsoft. IE users are by far the most susceptible to hacking attacks because it is the most popular browser in use, most businesses use it, and as a group, IE users are less tech savvy than users of alternative browsers. The bad guys are naturally going to shoot at the biggest target.

So again, step 1 to protect yourself is to put yourself on a smaller target. If that was the only reason to switch away from IE, that would be enough. However, there are many other benefits. Browsers like Firefox and Chrome are faster than IE and better equipped to handle modern, complex web pages. Sites load faster, and your browser crashes less often. What’s more, browsers like Firefox are highly extendible, meaning that there are tons of add-ons that you can get for free that give you even more flexibility online. For example, you can get add-ons that block annoying ads from appearing in web pages. There are too many others to name.

If you don’t do anything else in this year to protect yourself and your family while browsing online, do this one thing: try another browser.

I spent last week in Vancouver and the surrounding area to see the Olympics. I had a great time and highly recommend going to see the Olympics the next chance you get.

Before I left, I was very happy to discover that Verizon offers a Global Travel Program, which allows you to temporarily change your data plan so that you can use unlimited data in certain countries including Canada. Verizon doesn’t provide a lot of details on their site about this plan, but if you call the toll-free number on the Global Travel Program page, you can have someone activate it for you. This is a very good idea if you’re traveling out of the country because you do not want to pay per usage for your data. The current data roaming rate is $.002/Kb, which would probably result in a devastating bill with even moderate usage over the course of a week. I did some quick arithmetic using my latest phone bills and concluded that a week of data roaming would run me close to $500. However, with the Global Travel option, I was able to pay only $8 for the time I was in Canada.

And I used a lot of data there.

Smart phones are becoming an almost must-have accessory for travel. Whether you use apps like Yelp to find great restaurants, Google Maps, to find your way around, or simply use the web to get information while you’re on the go, today’s mobile technology allows you to spend more time enjoying your vacation rather than pouring over maps, getting lost, and missing important sites. For example, while in Canada, I frequently used Google Maps to get directions around Vancouver, find Olympic sites, and even find our way back to our car one time when we got lost. We also used Google Maps to get bus route information. Not only can Google Maps give you driving directions, but it can also give you walking directions and public transit routes. You have so much navigation information in the palm of your hand, it’s astounding. The GPS antenna in my Motorola Droid is accurate enough to tell me where I am within a hundred feet or so of the true location. This is tremendously useful when walking around an unfamiliar city.

So in summary, if you do not have a smart phone like a Droid, iPhone, or Blackberry, now is probably a good time to think hard about getting one. Yes, the data plans will add to your monthly expense, but the benefits far outweigh the costs in my opinion.

Hints & Tips: Google Chrome for Mac:

I have become increasingly fond of Chrome on my Mac. The link above has some great tips.

Many of us are constantly juggling an unnatural number of items on our to-do lists. In the past two years, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I cannot manage it all in my head, and I employ a number of technological GTD techniques to keep up with it all. I’ll provide more tips on using technology to stay organized and stress-free later, but one of the best conclusions I’ve come to recently involves no technology at all. I call it the crystal ball approach to prioritization, but fortunately it requires no psychic ability.

As humans, we seem wired to stay focused on the here and now. We forget things quickly, and our foresight is often lacking too. Today’s busy world seems to lock us into the here and now even more because we barely have time to really think about things; we’re always trying to keep up.

But what I find really effective in the long run is to focus on the projects and decisions that will provide the most long-term value. It requires you to make decisions based on what you think you’ll be happier you did X months or years from now. If you employ this approach, I can guarantee you that you will change some habits. And you may also save more money since this strategy may make you think twice about buying things—like cars, for example.

A car is a great example of something that brings instant, fleeting pleasure in exchange for years of burden. Most of the pleasure of buying a car takes place when you’re anticipating buying it. After you buy it, you still get a buzz from the newness of the car. However, 6 months later, it’s just a car with a ding in the door and stains on the floor mats. The newness is long gone, but the monthly payment will be around a long, long time.

This also works with eating healthier. Eating is another immediate pleasure that lasts only minutes. You probably spend less than 2 hours a day actually enjoying food. The other 14 hours of your day, you’re more focused on your physical self image. If you eat healthy, and that in turn makes you feel better about how you look, then you’ve maximized your happiness. In other words, the 87% of your day that you’re not eating, your happier because of the choice you made to be smart about what you did in the 13% of the day when you were eating.

It only makes sense that you’re better off doing things that maximize your lifetime happiness. What techniques do you use?

PleaseRobMe highlights dangers of over-sharing online Those of us who use social media, particularly public outlets like Twitter, have to use discretion when posting information about being out of town. It’s very tempting to keep friends and family members posted on your vacation happenings, but just think about who else might be watching.

Being healthy starts with being informed. Mobile technology takes the “being informed” part to a whole new level if you use it effectively.

There are a whole slew of apps dedicated to health and fitness in Apple’s app store, and Android Market has its fair share too. The most beneficial apps in this genre are those that let you quickly get calorie counts for thousands of known dishes at restaurants and popular recipes.

Mobile devices like iPhones, Droids, etc. allow you to retrieve this information in seconds. I use an app on my Droid called Calorie Counter, and I can often get calorie counts on menu items while standing in line at a counter service restaurant. By the time I’m at the front of the line, I can make an informed decision.

What’s been most startling to me is that often menu items that sound healthy are not the healthiest choice. In some cases, I’ve even found that some better-tasting sandwiches have fewer calories than their healthier-sounding counterparts.

What health and fitness apps do you use?

Do me a favor. The next time you’re typing or reading something on your computer, reach up with your right hand and tap yourself on your left shoulder. Be gentle but persistent. Now imagine that it’s not you doing it, but rather someone standing behind you. Now do it again. Now do the right shoulder—that’s someone else. Now the left shoulder again. Pretty annoying to imagine, right? How could you ever concentrate if this is the environment you worked in?

Unfortunately, this is the environment you work in—only it’s not a physical person tapping you on your shoulder; it’s your email program.

By default, popular desktop email clients like Microsoft Outlook display alerts every single time an email hits your inbox. If you are like most people, you leave your email program open all day as you work. Therefore, while you’re attempting to actually do work, your email program is tapping you on the shoulder constantly. Do you respond by looking?

Such distractions erode your productivity by an enormous degree considering that many people get boatloads of email on a daily basis. They’re also mini stressors that can really accumulate throughout the day.

If you want to be productive and run those annoying people tapping you on the shoulder out of the room, you need to turn off those automatic alerts. Virtually all email programs give you options for receiving email alerts.

For example, in Outlook 2003, the setting is buried under Tools > Options > Preferences tab > Email options button > Advanced email options button. Uncheck everything under “When new items arrive in my inbox.” You’ll no longer hear those dreadful piano key notes or see a balloon pop up in your task bar every single time an email arrives.

If you use some other email program, I would encourage to find the email alert settings in it as well. Everyone should experience the zen of being free from shoulder tapping. Yes, email can and should wait.

What tips do you have for taking control of your email? I’d like to hear about them.