Category: product endorsements

how to get things done

On By Rick McIn philosophy, product endorsementsLeave a comment

checkmark-shadow.jpgLife would be simple if you could list tasks by priority and check them off one-by-one. I admire those who try.

In reality, getting things done is more complicated:

1) Context – Where are you? What tools are available? What are the limits and possibilities unique to this moment?

2) Time available – Do you have, for example, 30 seconds, 30 minutes, or 30 hours available to you right now? What tasks could you accomplish given the time you have?

3) Energy available – Are you full of energy, is your ass dragging, or are you somewhere in between? Which of the tasks on your list could you finish, given that energy level?

4) Priority – If you had access to all the tools, opportunities, time, and energy you needed, what’s the most important or time-sensitive thing you could do right now?

Check the excellent 43 folders website: GTD: Priorities don’t exist in a vacuum

Mobissimo – travel search engine

On By Rick McIn product endorsements, travel2 Comments

I’ve been raving about Yahoo Farechase. It is great — especially for regular routes in the USA.

But I think I will switch to Mobissimo, a similar site, but which searches a larger number of suppliers to find you the best fare, or the best connection.

I was hiking with one of the Mobissimo developers in California. Though I had never heard of his site, he convinced me that Mobissimo could do a better job on international flights. I did an experiment searching for a fare Sydney to Hobart Australia next February. The best Yahoo farechaser could find was $208.
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But Mobissimo found the discount Virgin Blue airline for only US$75.

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Details on the Mobissimo service.

On a Vegas – Calgary flight search, Yahoo and Mibissimo search results were similar — though Mobissimo still better because it had more options.

time to buy an iPod nano?

On By Rick McIn music, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I’ve long advised you not buy an iPod. There have continually been better players available.

But it is getting close.

The combination of the 8GB nano with the cool new icombi iPod wireless bluetooth headphones almost puts it on my wish list.

One more generation, me thinks.

Icombi Bluetooth Wireless Headsets Made for Ipod Video / Nano

cheap flights – UPDATE #2

On By Rick McIn product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

I am often frustrated trying to find a good deal on a flight on-line.
Note: CheapTickets charges a $9 service fee while Yahoo is still free.

But I really like the (fairly) new Yahoo! site. It has a nice AJAX interface too.

Cheap Airfares on Yahoo! FareChaser.

web interface

UPDATE – Just booked a flight on CheapTickets.com — not quite as slick as the Yahoo site. But it still got the job done. Found the cheapest, most convenient fare comparing all competitors.

MobuzzTV – Karina Stenquist – update

On By Rick McIn product endorsements, TV, videocasts4 Comments

MoBuzz is now my favourite video blog. Check this episode discussing the use of the internet to “shame” those with whom you disagree:

Net-Shaming from Craigslist to Creeps

7 minutes long, high speed connection needed. Far better is to subscribe via iTunes.

Karina Stenquist is the latest of my bevy of internet tech divas. I download her daily.

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Karina

She’s the English language host of a video podcast out of Spain.

Sassy, irreverent — Stenquist is compelling. Check MobuzzTV.com or search for MobuzzTV on iTunes.

Wikipedia vs Britannica

On By Rick McIn internet, product endorsementsLeave a comment

More great stuff from Cory Doctorow. He is on a roll right now!

“The Wall Street Journal hosted a debate between Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Dale Hoiberg, editor in chief of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Jimmy’s performance is virtuouso, particularly when the Britannica editor says that he doesn’t have the space to go into all the criticisms of Wikipedia that have been made in public and Jimmy counters by providing a link to the Wikipedia article on criticisms of Wikipedia!”

Mr. Hoiberg: …We want our articles to be correct before they are published. We stand behind our process, based on trained editors and fact-checkers, more than 4,000 experts, and sound writing. Our model works well. Wikipedia is very different, but nothing in their model suggests we should change what we do.

Mr. Wales: Fitting words for an epitaph…

Boing Boing: Wikipedia founder debates Britannica editor-in-chief

Wikipedia won’t censor in China

On By Rick McIn good news, internet, product endorsementsLeave a comment

“Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has refused to censor the content on the Chinese version of Wikipedia, resulting in its being blocked by the Chinese government. Google, Yahoo and others have folded to demands from Beijing’s totalitarian bureaucrats, but Wikipedia has stood firm. Predictably, Beijing has come to Wikipedia to ask them for some kind of peace-treaty, because China can ill-afford to block critical information resources if it is to remain economically strong. If only Google and Yahoo’s executives were as confident in the importance of their services as Wales is of Wikipedia.”

Boing Boing: Jimmy Wales to Beijing: Wikipedia won’t censor

Good on Wikipedia!

Of course it is much easier for them to stand tall as they do not have any shareholders to riot in the streets.

Wikipedia really is the best success story of the open source movement.

video player – get Democracy

On By Rick McIn internet, product endorsements, TV, videocastsLeave a comment

Democracy Player for Internet TV – best release yet! – Cory Doctorow

Normally I watch on-line video with iTunes. But, in reality, iTunes is an audio player with video capability reluctantly tacked on as an afterthought. (That may change this week.)

After one use of the new open source, free Democracy Player, I think I will switch when possible. (Far, far more shows are available on iTunes.)

“Want to see the future of Net video? Download the open source Democracy Player” – Wired Magazine, May 2006

If you want to give it a shot, you need to download their software. It is very easy to use. No learning curve.

Democracy – Internet TV Platform – Free and Open Source

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screenshot sample

a Pearl of a phone

On By Rick McIn internet, music, photos, product endorsementsLeave a comment

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And today, there’s a new sweet-spot champion, a do-everything phone that comes closer to the bull’s-eye than anything before it: the BlackBerry Pearl.

In a Sea of Cellphones, a Pearl – New York Times

I’m still searching for the ultimate phone. David Pogue almost has me convinced on the Pearl. I do need to check Mac compatibility. And so far it is only available from T-mobile in the States.

If only Apple would announce their iPhone.

new Flock browser – update

On By Rick McIn blogs, internet, product complaints, product endorsementsLeave a comment

For the third time I tried to use ultra cool Flock as a browser.

No go. Again.

Flock is only in beta release, but very basic features do not seem to work on my Mac laptop.

Is there no way to switch posting to my 3 different blogs?

And if I change the default search engine from crappy Yahoo to excellent Google, it defaults back to Yahoo.

And why does the home page take so long to load?

I will give the good folks at Flock a few more months to work out the bugs.

===== original post July 22, 2006

Flock.com — The web browser for you and your friends

It’s for real. Flock is the state of the art web browser. This is the direction Internet Explorer, Firefox and the rest will be going.

Flock is perfect for someone who wants to post a blog and integrate Flickr photos. It’s perfect for me.

Yet I will not be switching. I can already do the many things Flock now automates. There is no killer feature compelling enough for me to jump ship from Safari, my current browser.

But if you are thinking of starting a blog yourself, follow the instructional video on screencastsonline.com — exactly.

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