For months now, I have been surviving without ever having to open MS Outlook in any of my computers. I have found GMAIL and GCAL to be very good alternative to my longtime favorite PIM – MS OUTLOOK. Today, I discovered that I could change the looks of GMAIL by giving it a fresh coat of paint, sort of. You can gain access to the theme selection by going to SETTINGS then THEMES. I have selected DESK on mine which gives you a feeling of working on an open notepad sitting on top of a desk. Whoa.
The Philippines in my opinion is indeed the texting capital of the world for it to be included in the list of the first 4 countries where this service will be rolled out. According to an article from USA Today, within the next few weeks, Yahoo Mail users from these countries will be able to send SMS messages to cellphones from right inside Yahoo Mail. There are other services (e.g. Chikka, Callwave, etc) that allow one to send SMS from their computer. But this means having to open yet another window in your computer. This is another productivity booster in the making.
Here is the full article.
Yahoo Mail thinks there's more to life than just sending e-mail.
On Monday, Yahoo (YHOO) expands the Web mail service into a "social communication" tool — adding the ability to send text messages to cellphones directly from e-mail.
It has also tweaked the interface to make it easier for people to go back and forth between e-mail, instant messaging and text messaging.
"We're responding to our customers," says John Kremer, vice president/Yahoo Mail. "They don't want to bounce around to many different areas."
Yahoo dominates the domestic Web mail market, with 83 million U.S. users in July, according to researcher ComScore Media Metrix. (Worldwide, it's in a tight race with MSN Hotmail.)
The Yahoo Mail update also adds more sophisticated capabilities to check maps, directions, hotel and travel information directly from the e-mail itself.
Say someone writes an e-mail suggesting a trip to San Francisco and dinner at a specific restaurant. Put your mouse over the address, and a pop-up window emerges with tabs for maps, calendar and travel information.
That kind of information also is found elsewhere on the Yahoo network, "but this way, users don't have to leave mail to perform the tasks," says Kremer.
Yahoo says it is the first Web mail service to offer e-mail to text messages for free. It's performed by adding phone number information for the people in your list of contacts. Click on a name, type, and it goes directly to their cellphone. When they respond, the message shows up in your mailbox as an instant message.
Mike McGuire, an analyst for research firm Gartner, says the upgrade keeps Yahoo "on par or just a little bit ahead" of competitors.
"This is a realization that we don't just use e-mail to communicate anymore," he says. "We all now have cellphones and instant messaging, and both can do text messages. This is a valuable feature that enhances the platform."
The changes take the updated Yahoo Mail out of beta, or test, mode.
The text messaging will be rolled out in the next few weeks, and is available in the USA, Canada, India and the Philippines.
In a previous blog, I talked about the jump in Apple sales primarily due to the latter's ability to run both Windows and Mac OSX. My take then was that it was due to Apple's decision to put Intel processors into their systems and the increasing number of their stores worldwide.
However, I also agree with the IDC Analyst's that the phenomenal growth (equaling the #1 PC manufacturer, HP) may be as a result of Apple's marketing blitz of its iPhone and other products. Below is the comparative analysis of PC shipments for the 2nd quarter of 2007 and 2006.
US Shipments in thousands
But what really contributed to Apple's recent phenomenal rise - Is it Apple's switch to Intel chip or its marketing strategy? Let us take a look at another chart, this time the comparison between the online activities of Apple and Dell users, the #1 market share holder.
The above chart shows that there are significantly more Apple users online when compared to the sheer number of DELL PC users. The chart by the way is culled from the August issue of Macworld.
Does this mean that the most productive online members of the computing society have always been Apple users? Definitely not, let us look closely at the chart.
The chart simply illustrates that more Apple users today, with almost double the number of DELL users, are active online either as content creators or as spectators. IMHO, this may mean one of two things. One, that DELL users are either using their PC's exclusively for offline work. I know of companies who issue PCs to their staff but prohibit strictly connecting to the web. Or two, that more PC users who need to stay online are now shifting to Apple.
Not having the comparative data from two years back on the number of APPLE and DELL users who go online, it will be impossible to make a definitive conclusion. But my best guess is that more and more former PC users who need to stay on the web are shifting to Apple's Mac OS X because of:
As a former PC user myself, my gut feel is that the main reason for Apple's phenomenal rise is its shift to the Intel chip that now enables it to run Windows either natively (Boot camp) or virtually (Parallels or VM Ware). You put on top of that the fact that an Apple computer is now priced the same as its equally configured PC counterpart, then you have a formula for success.
Non Tablet PC users would really need to think deep and hard if they should join the Apple bandwagon. There is just no way of telling what they are missing until they experience the worry free web surfing and general computing afforded by Mac OS X.
Let me count the ways…
I am currently using 3 software when blogging here in Techno Cop. Actually 5, if you count Mac OS X's grab which I use to clip images and Parallels, which is my VM software of choice.
Here is a step by step:
DNS ver 9.0 is indeed the best version ever. After just a couple of trainings after the initial install, I can already get close to 98 percent accuracy. I have in fact written a number of blogs here while lying in bed without even touching the Macbook's keyboard. I now seldom write anything without my headset tethered to the Macbook and DNS transcribing for me.
I find it essential to use One Note primarily because of these 3 reasons: 1) it stores and organizes all my blogs in separate pages of a notebook; 2) it allows easy layout both for text and images; and 3) it interfaces flawlessly with Microsoft Word 2007's blogging client using the Send To command.
For those who would like to give this system a try, you should be aware of the following:
I find this system very efficient and a joy to use. I honestly believe that any blogger who adapts the same could easily double their blogging productivity.
Techno cop out.
In 2001, I decided to take up photography once more after being laid off for more than a decade. This was the year when I realized that digital photography and the internet will revolutionize the art. Revolutionize in the sense that what took the master photographers decades to accomplish could now be done in a matter of years given the proper approach.
I did some soul searching to find an answer to this question – what is it that makes me thrive in most of the things that I do? I was able to identify the following as some sort of a generic step by step method that I always go through:
LEARN & FORGET
RESEARCH & MENTORING
READ, LOOK, & SEE
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
Looking back, I learned that I actually kept going around this four stage cycle, L2RP, every time I try to learn something new. This is exactly the same process I went through before deciding to 'switch' to MAC OS X. Here is how I apply the concept in photography.
1. LEARN & FORGET. I am talking here of basic photographic techniques. A week before I decided to buy my first digital camera, I bought my first photography book- Idiot's Photography Like A Pro. I found this book wanting in the sense that it did not satisfy my craving for more information about composition, the rule of thirds, color, tone, etc. So, I surfed the web looking for more advice from the "masters." I even enrolled in an online Photo School which had me taking pictures of an egg in 25 different angles. Another lesson entitled "the Cat's Eye," had me taking every picture at low level which made me sore for about a week. When I finally completed the online course, here is what my diploma says, "now that you have the basics of photography, forget all about them and just go out and take pictures that pleases you." Just like in driving, learn to trust your instinct.
2. RESEARCH & MENTORING. It is through research that I found out that a lot of amateur photographers could not afford the equipment they really want simply because they have splurged on cameras, accessories, software, etc. which they do not really need or found later to be wanting. The web is where you should start your research. I never buy any equipment without first reading the reviews on the web. Do your research first before reaching for your wallet. Also, you should not underestimate the value of your mentors. The best resource person in photography is someone who is already established in the craft. My mentors not only inspired my creativity but also saved me tons of time and money by pointing me towards the right direction.
3. READ, LOOK & SEE. Read photography books, magazines and look at tons of pictures to include posters and even billboards. With what you have learned in Stages 1 & 2, you will note that you will be looking at pictures with a more discerning eye. At this stage you are also armed with the necessary information to decide which equipment is right for you. Looking at pictures, you should find yourself studying their composition, color, tone and texture, the type of lighting used, etc. In the short period that I have been involved, I have collected quite a few books on photography. Now, seeing is a totally different ballgame. I must admit that this is one area that I still need a lot of work. Seeing photographically is a skill that allows you to see in your mind how a particular scene would look photographically even before raising your camera at eye level.
4. PRACTICE. PRACTICE. PRACTICE. I must admit that a good number of my choice shots were as a result of luck. But as Ben Hogan aptly puts it about golf, "Golf is a game of luck. The more I practice, the luckier I get." Of late, I pride myself for being able to look at a scene and immediately say that that might make a good picture. Of course I am only right, maybe, less than half of the time. But, I can say that I have improved my batting average tremendously over the years. I now find myself taking more time before I click that shutter. I attribute this improvement to constant practice. I consider this stage as the most important which could make or break one's photographic skills. It is also the stage where one could turn something good into something great.
I still consider myself as an advance amateur photographer in terms of the quality of images that I am presently capable of producing. Heck, in Lightroom, I only rate my 'portfolio' shots 3 stars when 5 stars is the highest. However, provided that I continue applying L2RP, I know that a 5 star rating is not that unreachable.
