As I write this article, I am getting ready to trek off to the mountains for a week with my family to participate in a “camp”. We stay in dormitories and eat in the cafeteria, but we have to bring items that are not standard for other trips. Here is how I have simplified preparation for this yearly event:
General Packing Lists
I have general packing lists that will apply to any trip we take. For each family member, they list clothes, toiletries and other necessary items, such as electronics chargers or entertainment. By filling these out, I figure out how [...] Continue Reading…

Too many people think that to read a PDF document, you need Adobe Reader. PDFs are standard these days, but there are also non-standard readers out there.
Reader is a good tool, but it has bulked up over the years, making load times extensive. Because of the load time, it also leaves parts of itself resident in memory, even when you have closed the program, to make startup the next time faster.
FoxIt Reader is an alternative to Adobe Reader that I use on all my computers. It is lightweight, fast, and clean.
If you are looking for an Adobe Reader replacement, [...] Continue Reading…

I like my current client, because I know what to do, when to do it, and with minimal interference in how to do it. It was not always so. My previous client was very complicated, stressful, and at points I loathed it.
I love the way Zen monks always look so peaceful and happy. So the article about Six Tools To Enjoy Your Job Like a Zen Monk over at the Positivity Blog caught my eye, and I was impressed. Even with my current client I can apply some of these ideas.

Stay aware of yourself and your surroundings. If I [...] Continue Reading…

I’ve been falling into habits of both not writing things down, or writing things down on bits of paper. I decided to take a look at this, because my backsliding into these habits indicates to me there is a problem with how I am capturing information.
Why Don’t I Capture?

Inconvenience. My PDA would logically be the primary target of capture, but it takes too much effort to get it out, turn it on, and write the information - even if I don’t write it in the correct place. My online methods, currently through Jott/Sandy/Remember the Milk, require having an Internet [...] Continue Reading…

I have a tendency to overbook and take on more than I can accomplish. As my life gets busier, I get more stressed. But it seems to me that there is a need to step off the hamster wheel and start living a more relaxed schedule.
I ran across an article over at Dumb Little Man called 8 Ideas To Break the Hurry Habit. It’s more about how to cut back on your load than anything else, limiting the amount you have to do. I have summarized them here, and added one idea of my own that in addition to [...] Continue Reading…

Spybot Search and Destroy is a really good spyware detector. I’ve used it in conjunction with Lavasoft’s Adaware and my AVG anti-virus for years. Spybot, though, unlike the free versions of the other two applications, can be automated.
Why Automate Spybot?
Spyware protection has two phases: one as information is coming to your computer, and one for information already on your computer, or camouflaged in place. By automating Spybot, you allow the system to look for the second type without your having to remember to run the program.
Advanced Mode
In order to apply these changes, you will need to put Spybot into [...] Continue Reading…

Morning Coffee gets the day going. And I’m not talking about the beverage here, I’m talking about the FireFox extension.
Most people I know check multiple websites per day. We may want to glance at the headlines, read comics, check email, read a few blogs or whatever.
It is possible that you can set your home page to open up to all these sites; but what if you want to change what you look at depending on the day of the week? That’s where Morning Coffee comes in.
Morning Coffee FireFox Extension
Morning coffee allows you to set, by day of week, which [...] Continue Reading…

I am trying to instill in my daughter the non-consumer mentality. She understands at a certain level that commercials are meant to make you want to buy things, even if you don’t need them or like them. However, when the influence is coming from her friends, this is much more difficult to combat.
The recent rise of Webkinz in the neighborhood is exactly of the issue. There are five little girls in the neighborhood my daughter is regularly in contact with, and each of them has at least 10 Webkinz (I am not exaggerating, I asked them). These animals, at [...] Continue Reading…