Someday, in my "spare time," I will get around to tech items like these:
1) The satisfactions of finally attaining, through the combined and complementary efforts of SugarSync, DropBox, Gmail, and a few others, the long-rumored completely machine-independent computing life. I have three computers I use interchangeably -- desktop and two laptops -- and (with a few minor exceptions that I'll note) I no longer have to worry about which laptop I should take to a downtown office or on a trip, or which machine has the "current" version of a file. Conceptually this sounds banal and so-last-year. In reality I've found it surprisingly stress-reducing never to have to think about where my info "is," since it's wherever I want it to be. And I think I've learned the right way to combine SugarSync and DropBox.
2) Talk about your sublime software/hardware combos: InstaPaper and the iPad. I've made allusions to it before (and so have Alexis Madrigal and Andrew Sullivan); tips, tricks, and analysis some day soon.
3) The two programs currently occupying the space in my brain devoted to "interesting software I'm tinkering with because, really, it will let me organize my life better." These are (multi-platform) Personal Brain and (Mac-only) OmniFocus. These two have very different strengths and purposes and "visions" for how you should work and think, but for me they overlap in a few interesting ways. I'll explain why I keep being drawn back to the implausible-seeming but elegant and extremely flexible Personal Brain -- and why I also keep using the also extremely flexible (Windows-only) Zoot, which is nearing the release of a whole new years-in-the-making version. And, how (multi-platform) MindManager fits in the mix.
4) The evolution of the MacBook Air: what I've learned by using the original, early-2008-era MacBook Air in China, versus its latest incarnation in the US. Bonus: the evolution of the Android Nexus phone, from the (orphaned) Nexus One, which I liked and like, to the new Nexus S.
5) The evolution of Chrome, including the many ways I rely on it and three huge grievances I have against it. OK, I'll name one of them: Google's odd decision not to support (its own) Google Gears system for (its own) Chrome browser under SnowLeopard, so you cannot use (its own) Gmail while offline. I have two more.
That's the to-do list. Maybe I'll ask Santa just to write these items for me. And while I'm at it, I am glad to hear that a few DC-area visitors took the opportunity of the slack tourist season to watch the Senate in session this afternoon.
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1) The satisfactions of finally attaining, through the combined and complementary efforts of SugarSync, DropBox, Gmail, and a few others, the long-rumored completely machine-independent computing life. I have three computers I use interchangeably -- desktop and two laptops -- and (with a few minor exceptions that I'll note) I no longer have to worry about which laptop I should take to a downtown office or on a trip, or which machine has the "current" version of a file. Conceptually this sounds banal and so-last-year. In reality I've found it surprisingly stress-reducing never to have to think about where my info "is," since it's wherever I want it to be. And I think I've learned the right way to combine SugarSync and DropBox.
2) Talk about your sublime software/hardware combos: InstaPaper and the iPad. I've made allusions to it before (and so have Alexis Madrigal and Andrew Sullivan); tips, tricks, and analysis some day soon.
3) The two programs currently occupying the space in my brain devoted to "interesting software I'm tinkering with because, really, it will let me organize my life better." These are (multi-platform) Personal Brain and (Mac-only) OmniFocus. These two have very different strengths and purposes and "visions" for how you should work and think, but for me they overlap in a few interesting ways. I'll explain why I keep being drawn back to the implausible-seeming but elegant and extremely flexible Personal Brain -- and why I also keep using the also extremely flexible (Windows-only) Zoot, which is nearing the release of a whole new years-in-the-making version. And, how (multi-platform) MindManager fits in the mix.
4) The evolution of the MacBook Air: what I've learned by using the original, early-2008-era MacBook Air in China, versus its latest incarnation in the US. Bonus: the evolution of the Android Nexus phone, from the (orphaned) Nexus One, which I liked and like, to the new Nexus S.
5) The evolution of Chrome, including the many ways I rely on it and three huge grievances I have against it. OK, I'll name one of them: Google's odd decision not to support (its own) Google Gears system for (its own) Chrome browser under SnowLeopard, so you cannot use (its own) Gmail while offline. I have two more.
That's the to-do list. Maybe I'll ask Santa just to write these items for me. And while I'm at it, I am glad to hear that a few DC-area visitors took the opportunity of the slack tourist season to watch the Senate in session this afternoon.
