My New Gadget – Coffee Cup Power Inverter

Awhile ago I was browsing through my RSS feeds and came across a post from NikNik over at mytechopinion.com.  She listed her Techie Gift List for this year.  So I found something that I knew I wanted….the  Coffee Cup Power Inverter.  

I am happy to say that this is something that Santa left for me under the tree this year.  This allowed me to use my laptop all over place this past week.  I am already planning how to use this when I go camping this summer.  My wife thinks that she can bring her blow dryer…

Anyways this power inverter is a simple way to convert your power into a usable format in your car.  It also allows for USB powering to charge your ipod on the go.

Web 2.0 – Getting People Involved

Here is a great article from the Wall Street Journal online: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122884677205091919.html  that talks about Web 2.0.  They discuss what it is and how it is used in today’s marketplace to sell.  If there is one thing that I took from the article it is how people are utilizing Web 2.0 strategies to engage others.  If you get a chance (I know that it is a little wordy) let me know what you think and how you might implement or strengthen your online tools.

Google Chrome is out of Beta Testing

For those of you that have yet to read my postings on the new internet browser, Chrome from Google, now is the time to check it out.  Google has taken it out of its “beta” stage and moved it to the full blown application.  I have been using it on both of my home laptops as well as my work one.  The speed and ease of use is so much superior to that of Internet Explorer and even better than Firefox.

Times are changing and you need to change your browser.  Just because Microsoft installed IE on your machine when you first got it, does not mean that you are stuck with it.  Go to Google’s site and start using Chrome!

Here is a great article from CNET about it as well.

Blackberry Storm Released Today

If you didn’t already know…the Blackberry Storm was released today.  This is Blackberry and Verizon’s answer to Apple’s iPhone (AT&T).  This greatly anticipated phone will be the next step in the progression of Blackberrys.  Offering a virtual keyboard to users, we will see if the users are happy with the change.

You might be disappointed if you have a different network than Verizon, but going over to eBay you can see there are already auctions going on for unlocked copies of the Storm.  These prices are already topping $700, which is quite a bit more than the $199.99 price at Verizon’s website.

For more information there is an interesting article on the Wall Street Journal.

How to enter all those business cards into your database

When I first became a Sales Rep I found myself gathering a lot of business cards and entering them by hand into my Outlook database. This was going along fine until I reached the point were it no longer became time efficient. The first thing that did was just stop entering the people into my database, and of course this didn’t work for me. I needed that contact information for the people that I was meeting.
I then was introduced to a Business Card Scanner. I personally use the CardScan Personal. This is a great little gadget that allows me to quickly and correctly scan all of my business cards into my computer. I then am able to sync the CardScan files directly into my Outlook, including all of the categories.
You should be able to pick one of these up for around $160. I just did a search at both Best Buy and Circuit City and the price was the same. Also another scanner that would be beneficial to many of you is the Neat Receipts.  This allows you to easily scan all of your receipts on the road.

Black Friday and other great deals!

Tis the season for some great deals for laptops and other gadgets.  The Friday after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday and that is the day when I have bought my laptops the past 2 years.  You can really find the deal of the year on this day.  But now some companies are trying to diversify in this economy by opening their specials early and online.  

This weekend Walmart is offering a pretty nice laptop on Saturday in their stores at 8am for only $298.  2GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive.  At this price you may want to get there early!

A resource that I use to decide on where the best deals are for this upcoming season is BFAds.net.  This site give you actual scans of the unreleased store advertisements.  They also email you when there have obtained a new store’s ads.

Good luck and happy hunting!

Paste Special – How do I copy and paste and not lose the formatting?

Have you even tried to copy and paste some text from a website only to have it appear in your email or document in a font, size and color you didn’t want?  Then you have to try and duplicate the formatting of the rest of the text to match what you just pasted in.  This can really be a pain.

There is an easy solution.  You may not be aware of the option to “Paste Special” when pasting in text from another source.  On your edit menu in most Microsoft products, right under the Paste option is probably a function you have never noticed.  The Paste Special feature is something that I use on a daily basis and whenever I show someone this little trick they had no idea how easy this is.  

Here is a screen shot from my Email:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is an article from Microsoft with further details: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HP011082761033.aspx

If you have any questions or comments please be sure to let me know.

Google Phone – T-Mobile G1 released today

Hopefully you have heard that Google’s new phone has been released today.  This new phone is going to be a big player in the smartphone world.  It has the touch screen like the iPhone.  More importantly it has a brand new mobile operating system designed by Google.  This OS is called Android.  

If you are in the market for a new smartphone, this phone has to be on your short list.  I would say that you would have to check out the G1, the Blackberry Bold and the iPhone.  I myself currently have a Blackberry Curve, but am very interested in moving up to the Storm once it is released.

For more information on the G1: http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/android/hpp.html
or http://tech.yahoo.com/blog/patterson/29075

Putting your Favorites in Order

So if you are still using Internet Explorer, you may have had an issue finding a site that you recently bookmarked.  Hopefully you are utilizing the folder options for organizing your favorites.  But I have sat down at many computers and pulled up the bookmarks to find it full of random sites in the order that the person chose to save the site.  

I had someone asked me today how to put them in an order that they could work with.  It is easier than you think.  When viewing your bookmarks in Internet Explorer, all you have to do is right-click on them and select the option of “sort by name.”  This will now alphabetize the bookmarks in the order that you have saved them.

One tip – when bookmarking a site you get the option to type in a name for the site.  There will already be something in there from the site, but you have the option to type something in that makes sense to you.

Another tip – this same principal can be applied to the programs that you have installed that show up in your Start Menu.

For a detailed article from Microsoft click here.

Real Estate Listings on the iPhone – Coldwell Banker

Coldwell Banker recently launched a new iPhone version of their website at http://iphone.coldwellbanker.com.  This site allows iPhone users to search for homes on the road.  As this is a great advance for mobile users, there is a downside to the consumer.  You are only searching Coldwell Banker listings.  Now don’t get me wrong, this is a great first step toward a fully mobile home search.  But as a consumer are you really going to use this site to see a select portion of the available listings??  I would be more inclined to download an app for my smartphone from Trulia or HomeFinder.

For more on the Coldwell Banker iPhone site visit: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10055456-1.html
For more information on iPhone real estate apps visit:http://www.inman.com/news/2008/08/28/iphone-real-estate-app-showdown

Here is a screen shot of the CB Site: