My Blog has moved to the non-hosted WordPress

Effective October 25, 2008, I’ve moved my blog.

Go here to read my future postings. Thanks for being a reader.

 

Vista Tips – Save Time

The Vista OS has grown on me and now feels almost as comfortable as my favorite flannel shirt (yes, I like flannel). When I first started using it a year ago, it seemed like I was ignoring the new and cool features and trying to make the experience feel more like XP. So, this week, I wanted to talk about some things I’ve found helpful and hope you will too.

Modify Your Start Menu

Have the applications you use most appear when you click the ‘start’ button. I like the Vista way of simply scrolling down the list of applications, much less annoying than XP’s cascading windows that collapse just when you’re ready to click! Choose the app you want to pin, then right-click on the icon and select ‘pin to start menu’. To remove, just right-click on the icon and select ‘remove’.

Now, the top two icons on the Start Menu are reserved for Email and your favorite Internet Browser. Mine happens to be Outlook and Firefox. Of course, IE is the default here, so if you want to change that here’s how to do it. Right-click the start button, choose Properties, and then click the Customize button in the Start Menu Properties dialog box. In the Customize Start Menu dialog box, pick the web browser and e-mail app you wish and you’re through.

Keyboard Shortcut for Accessing Start Menu

I like using the keyboard rather than the mouse, so I’m always looking for keyboard shortcuts. Here’s one for accessing your Start Menu without the mouse:

Press your Windows key, or the Ctrl+Esc keyboard shortcut to open the Menu. Then, press the Up Arrow key once to get to the All Programs. From there, you can expand All Programs by hitting Enter, or the Right Arrow key. Then, use your arrow keys to navigate up and down and use Enter to select your program. To close a sub-menu, press the Left Arrow key, or Esc.

Search

Maybe everyone knows about this, but it’s one of my absolute favorites for Vista. I have quite a long list of applications and instead of scrolling around and finding the one I want, I just hit the Start button and type in the name of the program I want and it quickly appears. This is a wonderful time saver. You can also use this feature to find documents, pictures, whatever. If you want to see all the excel documents on your computer, hit the Start button and type in *.xls. It will return not only the excel files in your folders, but excel files in your email as well. You can also save your searches for using later.

 

Always Log In Securely To Gmail

After hearing and reading all the hoopla regarding Gov. Palin’s email being hacked by a college student, I’m sure many of us have thought about the security of our own web email accounts and the ‘security’ questions we’ve answered to keep our passwords secure.

There are some pretty logical and sensible tips for doing this. Of course, if you have a public presence, you’ll not want to use your true birthdate and other easy-to-find-out-facts on-line.Even if you’re not a ‘celebrity’, it might be wise to pick a fake birthdate and birthplace for many things web-related.

Gmail is the only web-based email provider (I believe), that will allow secure (or https) sign-ins. This is a great benefit for those of us who want to check email while traveling, in a coffee shop, etc. Probably not many of us stop to think that when we’re on our wireless laptops in a coffee shop, and decide to login to our Yahoo, or other web-based email, that there is a chance that our passwords could be hijacked by someone lurking on the wireless network. Since there is no security on an open network, everything is wide open and those with the know-how can intercept our data.

In addition to offering the https login, Gmail gives us the added security of choosing our own security questions. Take advantage of this feature.

Enabling https in Gmail is a simple click. Login to Gmail and click “Settings’. Scroll down to the bottom and click the “Always Use Https” radio button. Save your changes and from now on, wherever you login, your password will be encrypted.

After you do this, you’ll notice the Google mail notifier has stopped working. (The notifier is the mail icon that appears in your system tray when new email comes in.) You can fix this two ways. You can do a manual registry hack, or you can download the Google downloadable registry hack that will automatically do this for you. Google conveniently provides an uninstall to the hack, should you later change your mind.

 

Calendar Sync Tool – Plaxo

A few weeks ago, I talked about using Google as a 2-way calendar/tasks/contacts/notes sync tool to access either your own or your client’s calendar without having to login to a desktop client or a remote computer.

I started using Plaxo with a client over a year ago. It was how I originally accessed and made changes to her calendar, contacts and tasks. It was a simple login from my web browser and my entries were synced to her Outlook. If you do use Plaxo with a client, either they will need to do the download and install to their email client, or you will need to log in and do it for them. After the install, the software leads you through choices about syncing. For example, you can choose to sync only the calendar and not contacts, etc. There will be Plaxo icons appearing in Outlook after installation.

You’re not limited to using Plaxo with just Outlook. Plaxo gives you the option to add “sync points” with Yahoo, Google, MSN, Windows Mail, Mobile and Outlook Express. It must be noted that these are all 1-way syncs. So this means if you are entering calendar updates, contacts or new tasks in, you’ll need to enter them in Yahoo, Google, etc. Then, they will sync to Plaxo. See below for an excerpt from the Plaxo Help Site that explains how it handles Google:

Google Synchronization Limits
Currently, the Google sync point is a one-way sync. It can only read data and changes to the data from Google to Plaxo. Any changes on the Plaxo side will not reflect back to your Google address book.
In addition, we only support contact deletions and additions during the sync. Changes to existing contact records will not sync to your Plaxo account.

It also must be pointed out that the web mail apps mentioned above are the 1-way sync. Since Plaxo has a software download for Outlook, that is a 2-way sync. This means when you enter a new appointment from within Plaxo, it will sync with the linked Outlook account.

When setting up your sync points with your various web accounts, Plaxo does give you options on what to sync. For example, you can choose to only sync your calendar and nothing else. If you change your mind and decide to remove a sync point, there are no worries about deleting any information. It simply stops the sync.

If one of your Plaxo contacts updates their contact information, it silently communicates this to your Plaxo account and updates it – nice.

There is a Plaxo Premium service that offers some benefits. A new service added is the ability to sync (again only 1-way) from your LinkedIn contacts to Plaxo.

There are many other features and benefits from Plaxo, such as ability to see and send your picture with each email, see pictures of your contacts (if they’ve uploaded one), get reminders of people’s birthdays and many more.

Plaxo also has a popular Pulse feature. This is Plaxo’s social networking side of things. You see your contact’s updates, blog postings, comments, etc. This can be delivered to your in-box, or you can view updates from the web.

Earlier this year Plaxo was acquired by Comcast. This gives me reason for pause, although they initially said privacy policies would not be changed, policies can be changed at any time. By choosing to be on-line and participating in a number of social networks, I have no expectation of being anonymous. Since Comcast is an information-collecting gorilla, digesting Plaxo just made it a bit bigger. To put that in perspective though, just mull over all the information Google has on all of us!

 

Microsoft Outlook Mail Tools- Back-up & Repair PST/OST Files

Since I’m using Outlook all day, everyday, it seems inevitable that things will go wrong from time to time. Here are two tools I use to help keep things running smoothly and to back up my mail files:

Microsoft Back-up Tool

Microsoft In-Box Repair Tool

First, we’ll talk about the Back-up tool. I don’t know why Microsoft doesn’t include this tool when Outlook is installed (works with 2002, 2003 & 2007), but it doesn’t. So go here read through the brief instruction set and download and install the program.

Before getting the backup file download, you may have to install the anti-piracy plug-in (office genuine advantage tool), so Microsoft can assure themselves you aren’t a pirate.

After the download is complete, close Outlook and install the software. Then, after opening Outlook, go to the File menu and you’ll see a new menu item called “backup”.

Click on it and you’ll see the below box.

Here you can choose to backup your main pst file, your archive files and whatever other mail files you may have. You can choose how often to backup and where the backup will be stored. I would strongly suggest you backup these important files in a couple of places (using Carbonite, Mozy, or an external hard drive). If your hard drive goes down and that’s where your backup is, it won’t do you much good! Another thing to remember – the backup tool won’t

run unless you exit Outlook. So, if like me, you hardly ever close your Outlook, set a reminder to do so regularly so a backup can be made.

Microsoft In-Box Repair Tool

This second tool will scan and repair your mail file. Ever go to open Outlook and it just won’t open! It’s happened to me and it created quite a bit of anxiety! Whenever I get these lovely cryptic messages from Microsoft, I google them to see if anyone else out there has had the same problem and I can usually find the answer from a fellow blogger.

This tool does come installed with Outlook (2002, 2003, 2007), but is buried deep within your folder structure (see below for location). To use this tool, you will again have Outlook closed and then navigate to the correct folder and double click on either the application .ost or .pst to scan the file type you wish. Then, you’ll need to navigate to where your mail files resides and select that and then click ‘start’. The tool will begin running and go through the check. When it’s through it will let you know how many errors (if any), were found and then you have the option to back up your file before it does its repair. After the repair process is complete, start Outlook and see if your file will open.

I hope you’ll give these tools a workout. I’ve found them to come in pretty handy. It’s worth noting that if you don’t have a pst file that represents your outlook file, you won’t be able to restore your mail files. So it’s important to have regular mail backups in place. In addition to using the back-up tool, I use the free and popular Gmail IMAP feature so I can access my Outlook from either the web interface or my desktop client. I blogged about it here. Redundancy is good.

Below are detailed instructions on how to use the In-Box Repair tool (from Microsoft).

Quit Microsoft Outlook if it’s running.

Run the Inbox Repair Tool

1. Click Start and point to Find, or Search, depending upon your operating system.

2. In the Search for files or folders named box, type scanpst.exe.

3. Double click the Scanpst.exe file to open the program.

4. Type the path and file name of the pst file, or click Browse to locate the file using the windows file system.

5. Click Start.

Sometimes many errors will be found and you’ll have the option to back-up your file before repairing. After the repair process (usually very fast), start Outlook again and hopefully, your file will open for you.

At the Microsoft link given above, continue reading for instructions and information on more detailed information if you need to do additional repair work on your mail file.

 

Google Calendar 2-Way Sync & Contacts

It seems we all are looking for the ‘magic bullet’ of syncing software. We want to be able to access our email, contacts and calendar remotely, on our main computer and on our PDA.

A big ‘must’ for Virtual Assistants is the ability to access our clients’ calendars. We need access to post appointments, send invitations to meetings or find free time for setting up meetings, trips, etc.

When I moved a client to using gmail so I could access her email, I did some research into the google calendaring feature. I had heard so many great things about the google calendar and how easily it synced with people’s smart phones and outlook and other mail programs.

To my delight, I found that Google had introduced the very desirable ’2-way sync’ feature earlier this year. Google has all the instructions here.

So, download the file and follow the instructions to install it (you’ll have to have outlook closed). After installation, you’ll get the below box where you’ll then enter your gmail address and password. Then you will want to select the 2-way radio button. The only other option is how often to sync. Default is 120″, the lowest interval you can select is 10″.

Google Calendar Sync Options

Then pull up outlook and you’ll see a little calendar icon in your system tray. Hover your mouse over it and it identifies itself. When you see arrows moving on the icon, you know it’s syncing.

If you have more than one google calendar, it will only sync to your main calendar, so choose wisely. If you have a calendar further down on your list, you can go into the google calendar settings and decide which calendar will be your main calendar (a nice feature).

In addition to the sync function, google also has some other interesting calendar features. For example, code is provided if you want to insert your calendar inside your blog or website – handy if you have events to publicize. There are a host of options available for sharing your calendar on-line with others. Just choose the permissions you want others to have.

I’ve been using it for several months and it seems to be working well. You can also import your outlook contacts into google. From outlook, I did a file export into a .csv file (currently the only supported import/export method), and then imported that into google. More information here.

 

Jott – Out Of Beta and Introducing New Features

After 2 1/2 years, Jott has dropped the beta and announced that all users must log in and choose a plan. Here’s a snapshot of offerings:

Jott’s by-line is “turn your words into action”. You register for an account on-line using your cell phone number. Set your account preferences (do I want audio, written or both reminders and where do I want them), and you’re ready to go. Call the Jott phone number and an automated voice will ask you pertinent questions. Then some mystery person transcribes your words and gets it back to you. It’s amazingly accurate.

If you subscribe to one of the premium plans, you can utilize their new ‘Jott for Outlook’ feature. This download will install software in Outlook. Cool and useful things it will do:

• Call in a calendar appointment-Jott will guide you through the information needed and it’ll be on your calendar when you get back to the office
• Dictate an email and it’ll be waiting for you in your draft folder. Say you just finished one appointment and are dashing to the next. Call Jott and dictate a follow-up email.
• Add something to your tasks list

Another new feature (free), is called “Jott Express“. If you want Jott on your desktop, download and put the app on your desktop. It syncs with your on-line Jott account.

I prefer to put Jott on my iGoogle page and view my reminders from there. Jott also has an iPhone & Blackberry app to keep the road warriors organized.

We’ve been enjoying a plethora of free products on the web the last few years. We all scratch our heads and ask each other, “how can this be free?” I think we all knew the day would come when we’d have to pony up for using these products, which is only fair. It’s great that Jott still has a free version of their product (ad supported). What are some other web apps you’ve used that were formerly free, but now are fee-based?

 

Convert Music, Video & Documents On-Line With Zamzar

Do you have a video file you can’t play on your windows computer? Here’s a great and free web tool (in beta right now), called Zamzar. Convert it to the popular .wma from .avi. .mov, .vob and more. Also available is the ability to convert YouTube and other popular video sites so they will play on your iPod or other mp3 player. Also supported is converting videos for use on your smart phones.

For working with documents, Zamzar will take a .pdf file and convert it to a .doc file for you. What a time saver if you need to do some editing on a document. Ever get a Microsoft Publisher document and don’t have the program? Just convert it into a format your computer has and you’re all set.

Zamzar has a very long list of document types they handle – from Office 2007 to WordPerfect and Works. Here’s a link to all the various file formats currently supported.

There is no software to download. You don’t even have to sign up for an account to convert a file. Go to the site, upload the file you want to convert, tell Zamzar what you want to convert it to, enter in your email address and you’ll get an email within a few minutes to go and download it.

There are size limits to the free account. You can upgrade to a paid account and not see any ads and size limits are increased, depending upon the level you choose (from $7/month to $49/month).

 

Post Audio In Your Social Networking Sites & Blog or Website

So you’re already a user of quite a few of the social networking sites and are getting comfortable with their uses, both personal and business.

A natural progression would be to add some audio to your blog or Facebook site. Think of the uses for your business. You could record a short audio inviting contacts to an upcoming training program you’re going to have. Perhaps you want to start a phone-in discussion group on…collaboration tools, outlook, gmail – whatever! In addition to the audio, you could attach text, pictures and even a video to highlight your event.

Here are three free web tools you can check out and get started being a podcaster, the host of a discussion group, or just a listener. All are free.

TalkShoe

This site looks well established. It’s promoted as being a great community-type site. You can join or set up a group based upon your interests. There are about 20 or so categories to look through. If you don’t like one, start one! Up to 250 can be on one call. Tools are provided to help you manage the invitation process.

There is a software download from the site, then you start creating your content. There are convenient widgets and apps for using TalkShoe. Check out those features here. This web tool is only audio. There are widgets for posting to a blog or FaceBook.

Utterz

Utterz gives you a quick and dirty way to post your podcast to your blog or website. A caveat with Utterz is that it works only with cell phones. Something about cell phone companies supporting them…

A benefit of Utterz is that you can set up your account to cross-post – that is, send your post to several sites simultaneously. In addition to audio, you can also email text, pictures or video to accompany your podcast.

Spoink

This site looks a little more sophisticated and business-like than the others. Call a Spoink number from a land or mobile telephone and speak your piece. Send along video, text or pictures from a mobile phone, email or web browser for inclusion with your post and it’ll be inserted in your social networking or blog site for you.

Spoink has a feature where you can make postings private or public. It’s all up to you.

If you are outside the US, you can use Skype-out to call Spoink’s toll-free number to record your post.

It looks like all three give you the option to post your words of wisdom right on their website and you can create quite a following with your podcasts – kind of twitter-like.

If anyone is using or has used these tools, would appreciate your comments.

 

Reached the breaking point yesterday–took the plunge and reformatted my business laptop…life is much brighter today!