OK, I’m a sucker for anything remotely related to improving productivity in any way. Especially if it involves technology. Well, I came across an app that may very well become the most useful tool in my productivity arsenal. It’s called Evernote and you owe it to yourself to check it out and get to know how it can organize all your information chaos, especially if you a knowledge/information junkie like me.
As described on their website, Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere.
It even allows you to take photos of whiteboards, web pages, notes, business cards, airline tickets, napkin sketches, you name it, and it will actually recognize your text or handwritten scribbles, convert them to searchable text and find them across all the computers and devices you use.
I attached a screen shot of their Mac app, you know what a Mac fanatic I am, but it also has a version for Windows.
I absolutely love this talk by JJ Abrams at TED. Now I know why I am so drawn to all of Abrams’ work, Lost, Alias, Cloverfield, Mission Impossible. It has to do with Abrams’ mastery of mystery.
He talks about buying a Mystery Box at a little magic shop in NYC. It was decades ago that he went there with his Grandfather and bought the box for $15, completely sealed with a big question mark on the front. I can’t imagine the discipline it took to leave the box unopened on a shelf in his office! But a few things he said really rang true for me. Here are a few highlights if you don’t have the 18 minutes to watch his talk…
• To Abrams, the unopened mystery box represents infinite possibility, infinite hope, infinite potential.
• Mystery is the catalyst to imagination, it’s more important than knowledge, and mystery boxes are in everything.
• He is an Apple fanatic (as am I) and when he sits down at his PowerBook laptop, he feels inspired by the technology in front of him. His Mac asks him “what are you going to write worthy of me?”
• The blank page is a mystery box, waiting to be filled with spirit, thought, and emotion.
• Going to the movies, watching the lights go down is a mystery box.
I love what he implies about technology inspiring creative people to be creative, which inspires technology people, an endless look of inspiration.
I’ve been a Firefox fan for quite a while now but I think I may have found a browser that is perfect for the new social web. Check out Flock if you’re at all into social media. It combines all the features of Firefox 3 with all your favorite social networking tools integrated into the left side bar. I’m brand new to it but already impressed!
OK, so I am actually losing weight and excited about it. What did it take? My wife’s gentle promptings? My frustration with tighter and tighter fitting jeans? My desire to look better and more fit again? Maybe all of the above. But as a tech lover and iPhone fan, it took a little app called Lose It! to get me committed.
It’s pretty hard to believe but the process of goal setting it took me through and applying an actual date, coupled with the forced accountability of knowing I am entering everything I eat into the app, along with my exercise for the day, has actually made it fun to lose weight. And I love the little downward line chart showing my weight progress! I’m a fan of this cool little app and it’s free!
