How I got my iPad for free

As I've mentioned here, I recently got an iPad. And now I want to share how I got it for no additional cash out of my pocket (OK, technically, it wasn't "free" but it didn't make me go over budget, at least). You may be able to use this same method for an iPad or any other discretionary expense you are thinking about

While I'm a "gadget person" for sure, I couldn't justify shelling out a bunch of money for yet another gadget. So, I set out on a quest to figure out how to pay for this wonderful toy.

How'd you pay for that iPad?

If you're not familiar with Gazelle, it is a site that purchases used gadgets and pays you in cash (or cash equivalents, depending on what you choose). You simply go to their site, find the article you're looking to sell, answer a few questions about its condition, and they will make an offer for it (this happens in real-time -- very convenient).I turned to an old familiar site: Gazelle.com. If you're not familiar with Gazelle, it is a site that purchases used gadgets and pays you in cash (or cash equivalents, depending on what you choose). You simply go to their site, find the article you're looking to sell, answer a few questions about its condition, and they will make an offer for it (this happens in real-time -- very convenient).

If you like their offer, follow their process to send your device in (every time I've used them, they send me a free box and shipping label (they pay shipping) to send it in. When they receive your device, they will confirm its condition and either honor the original quote or make you a counter-offer (typically because their opinion of the condition of the item is different than yours - this has happened to me a couple of times). If you agree to the revised offer, they pay you; if you disagree, they will ship the item back to you at their expense.

I pulled together some old gadgets (an Archos portable media player, my Kindle, some old smartphones) and got enough to pay for my iPad. This killed 3 birds with one stone: I got the iPad I wanted, I got rid of the clutter from devices I wasn't using any more, and I got to check off one of the items on my "getting things done list" to get rid of my old devices.

By the way, Gazelle is a "green" recycler, which is another reason I really like them - details are on Gazelle's site, as part of their "recycling promise."

So look around. If you've got old gadgets, check out Gazelle as a fast, easy way to sell them - it's an easy way to get that other new gadget you've been eyeing.

free , Gadgets, iPad, iphone 4

Portable Wi-Fi access for my iPad

In spite of my initial desire to wait for version 2, I caved and decided to get an iPad. I got the Wi-Fi only version, rather than the one with built-in 3G.

The quandary now, is that I sometimes find myself in situations where I don't have access to a Wi-Fi signal (I travel a lot). For my laptop, I have a USB broadband modem which allows me to get on the internet. The iPad, however, doesn't have a USB port, so I couldn't use the USB broadband modem with my iPad.

I have found a great solution, though: the Cradlepoint PHS-300 personal hotspot. This is a small, battery powered device (rechargeable) that I plug my USB broadband modem into. It provides power to the modem, which then connects to my wireless carrier's broadband network. The PHS-300 then acts as a wireless hotspot, enabling me to share my broadband connection among up to 16 devices.

So far, this thing has worked like a charm. I used it for about 3 hours yesterday because I didn't want to pay $14.95 for a daypass on the local Wi-Fi provider. I surfed on my iPad the whole time, and it worked flawlessly.

The device works with just about any 3G or 4G USB modem you can throw at it, worldwide. I happen to have AT&T (as you can see from my picture above, but have verified that it works with my friend's WiMax (4G) modem without problems. The Cradlepoint product page has an extensive list of devices from around the world.

Enjoy your freedom!

Gadgets

Your opinion counts - action requested

If you've been following the blog for a while, you know I write about a fairly wide variety of things. Moving forward, I'd like to tap into your opinion to help me write more about the things you're interested in and less about the things you aren't.

With that in mind, I've added a way to rate each blog post at the bottom of the post. You'll see that rating widget at the bottom of each article (see below). You'll have to read the site itself to do this rating - it isn't yet available in the RSS feed. Also, you may have to actually click into the post to see the voting buttons (click the title of the post to get there).

I'd appreciate it if you'd spend a few minutes on the site and rate 5 to 10 of your favorite articles (and any you don't like) to help me focus my writing time in the future. And thanks for following Genuine Curiosity!

Blogging

Easy parental control and filtering

In the past, I've used lots of different parental controls products to help protect my kids from certain internet content, it always seemed difficult to manage, created compatibility issues, etc.

A while back, I found a much better solution: OpenDNS.

If your not familiar with the term "DNS," it stands for Domain Name System, and it's the service that allows us to use "friendly" URL's on the internet (http://genuinecuriosity.com, for example, instead of a long string of numbers).

Here's the short story on OpenDNS:

• When you use it as your DNS server, OpenDNS becomes your means for looking up names on the internet. Because it intercepts all of your browser's requests, it has the ability to block or filter those requests.
• OpenDNS allows you to configure a list of categories of sites you'd like to block (see example screen shot, below) including adware, phishing sites, adult content, hate speech, and other things.
• OpenDNS also tracks your DNS requests (blocked or not) so you can find out what sites are most popular, most blocked, etc.

How I'm using OpenDNS:

• I've pointed my broadband router at OpenDNS so that any traffic out of my house (wired or wireless) defaults to OpenDNS for address lookups.
• I've selected a number of categories to block using the user-friendly configuration page at OpenDNS's site.
• When one of my kids tries to access one of those sites, they get a "blocked" page that tells them they are trying to access a page that is restricted.
  • They are also given the option to request access to the page if they think it's been mistakenly blocked (this does happen occasionally - one example is that some of my kids' game sites are miscategorized as gambling sites).
  • I get an email if they request an exception. If I agree they should access the site, I can click a link in the email to "whitelist" (allow) that site.

How much does OpenDNS cost?

OpenDNS has a free option that should be enough for most home users. I wanted some additional flexibility, so I recently upgraded to a Family account ($9.95 per year - you can compare the features of the plans, including business plans, on their site).

I've found this to be a cheap, straight-forward method of managing access to inappropriate content at my house - without the compatibility issues I've seen with software-based solutions.

Even if you don't want to block kids from adult content, you can use the free version of OpenDNS to block adware and other annoying things on the internet.

Gadgets

Jabra Cruiser: A Great Bluetooth Car Kit (Updated Review)

[12/30/2009: Product links corrected - sorry about the error!]
[05/31/2010: Updated with pairing instructions - see end of post]

A while back, I broke my Bluetooth car kit (I knocked it out of the car onto the concrete - doh!). I did without a car kit for a while, but my state (Oregon) will begin to require hands-free devices for all cell phone use in cars beginning January 1, 2010. As I was looking for a new device, I discovered the Jabra Cruiser. This is a compact device that clips on your visor, providing an unobtrusive option for handsfree calling.

This device was very easy to set up, and paired with my iPhone automatically - much easier than with any of my previous Bluetooth devices. The controls are very simple to figure out and it is easy to use without creating lots of dangerous distractions while driving.

Hey Listen - I'm on the radio!

But the fun doesn't stop there. One of the other things I really like about the Jabra Cruiser is that it has a built-in FM transmitter. This means:

• I can either use the Cruiser's built-in speaker for calls, or I can pipe the call audio through my car stereo.
• I can use the Jabra Cruiser as a "relay" to stream music, podcasts, etc. to my stereo without any additional cables, adapters, etc. Note that this requires a phone that supports Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP), such as any iPhone with v3 iPhone OS or higher.
• The added advantage of using this device as a relay for my iPhone's audio is that I can listen to podcasts while driving and, when a call comes in, the audio is automatically paused while I take the call and the podcast resumes when I hang up. Way cool.

Nice quality audio

Easy to hear

I've tried other FM transmitters for my iPhone before, but I returned every one of them because their signals were too weak and I got a lot of hissing and static over my car stereo. In contrast, I am very pleased with the Jabra Cruiser's quality over FM.

The Cruiser will automatically find and announce (with its built-in voice) the frequency to which you should tune your stereo. I have been using the FM capabilities for a while now and, while I've heard static occasionally when I'm near large power lines, I haven't been bothered by static or hissing with this device. I think one of the things that makes a huge difference is that the Jabra Cruiser uses its wire visor clip as an antenna, which seems to greatly improve the effectiveness of its FM transmitter.

You can pause and resume audio using the Jabra's buttons which means you can start music on your phone while it's still in your pocket. If your device supports it (alas, the iPhone does not) you can move to the next or previous track with the Jabra's controls, too.

If you would rather use the built-in speaker, it is loud and clear - easily heard in a moving car.

Easy to be heard

Callers have commented that I am easy to hear on the Jabra Cruiser, and that it does a nice job of filtering out background noise and road noise (and this is true whether I use the built-in speaker or the FM stereo audio output during calls).

In case you're wondering how it sounds, I left a short message on my voice mail using the Jabra Cruiser while driving, and you can have a listen by clicking the following link (now updated in MP3 format for broader device support):

Sample Audio from Jabra Cruiser call (Now in MP3)

Other features

There are a number of other useful features provided by the Jabra Cruiser, as well (all subject to your phone supporting the feature over Bluetooth):

• Voice dialing
• Address book support so that incoming callers can be announced by name
• Support for multiple languages (English, French
• Multipoint device support so you can connect to 2 devices at once
• Great battery life (rated at 14 hours talk-time and 13 days standby time)

In short, I really like the Jabra Cruiser - it's far better than any Bluetooth car kit I've ever used. (And I am happy I'll be quite legal when January 1 rolls around!)

By the way - if you order through Amazon, it's elegible for free 2nd Day Air shipping in the US via the Amazon Prime program, so you can get it in time for Christmas if you want to give it as a gift.

---

Jabra Pairing Instructions for use with iPhone (similar process for other phones)

Several times a day, someone comes to this page searching for something like "Jabra cruiser pairing mode" so I figured I'd provide the instructions here to make it easier:

• Turn the Jabra Cruiser on.
• Press and hold the answer/end button for approximately 5 seconds until “pairing mode” is announced.
• On the iPhone, go to the Settings icon, then select "General."
• Select "Bluetooth."
• In the Bluetooth screen, make sure Bluetooth is set to "On," and you should see "Jabra CRUISER" appear in the Devices section of the screen.
• Select Jabra Cruiser, and pairing should finish automatically. You shouldn't be prompted for a passphrase but, if you are, use 0000.

I hope you find this helpful!

Gadgets

Traction: A fabulous resource for your business

I've gotten some emails asking why I'm not posting more on the site lately - the short answer? I've been really busy lately! As I mentioned in the past, I've recently taken on a new role in my company - running a new line of business. As part of this move, I've been building a new team and trying to establish new "habits" around the way we communicate, work, collaborate, etc.

As is often the case, some resources showed up at just the right time to help me (I love it when that happens). This time, it was in the form of Gino Wickman's book, "Traction: Get a Grip on your Business." This book is really designed for a someone running an entire business - not just a division like mine. However, the concepts can easily be adapted for a team, a department, or anything larger.

Even more intriguing to me: this book just showed up for me, but it's been out there for about 3 years. Apparently, there is a re-launch going on around this book - Providence, just in time for me.

Write your own EOS

Core to Traction is the 'EOS,' or Entrepreneurial Operating System - a set of practices, principles, and more - designed to help you establish and maintain clarity, accountability, and alignment within your business.

The book focuses on what I believe is the "trifecta" of a successful business:

• everyone is on the same page about what you're trying to achieve, how you plan to get there, and has the right metrics and indicators to track progress;
• everyone is crystal clear on their roles & responsibilities (and there is only one owner for everything);
• everyone agrees how they will work through issues, red flags, and obstacles encountered along the journey.

Wickman's content is crisp, actionable, and supported by a great tool set (the EOS Toolbox, available from the EOS Process web site for free). The book takes you through a lot of essential exercises, geared to help you establish the artifacts you need to align your business. This Toolbox makes the "hard work" of business a Hell of a lot easier. I'm not sure where Wickman got all of this content, but it's good stuff. While it intersects with lots of things I've read already from other authors, Wickman's approach smacks of real-world, tried & true process - not a bunch of theory.

One example is the notion of "Get the right people on the bus, and get people in the right seats," popularized by Jim Collins in his book "Good to Great." I've read this advice before, but have never been quite sure of how to really go about making sure that was happening. Wickman provides a set of tools and techniques to figure this out pretty quickly - using a simple "plus / minus" analysis of people's suitability to their roles. The book provides an example of this evaluation, and a worksheet is available on the EOS Process site.

Leadership Abilities - they're not just for the leader any more

One thing I think you'll like is "The Five Leadership Abilities" in this book:

1. Your ability to simplify.
2. Your ability to delegate & elevate.
3. Your ability to predict.
4. Your ability to systemize.
5. Your ability to structure.

Each of these five areas is addressed as you progress through the book, and you'll get better at every one of them if you use the methodology in the book.

I really like the way all of the techniques drive toward focus and alignment - for example, pushing to get you down to a small number of metrics you focus on to run your business, making sure everyone is focused on "one number" for their job, driving toward small objectives that move toward bigger goals, etc.

The side benefit of this process is that you end up spreading leadership throughout the team - each person gets to own some part of the business, and act as a leader within that area. This is key for scalability, engagement, and keeping people challenged as the business changes. I've worked in environments where I never felt a sense of ownership or empowerment, and I want to try to prevent that within my team.

Test your business - and see if you need Traction

This book is a quick read, but it is jam packed with content, and each aspect of the EOS is a significant project. If I were to detail every bit of the book here, this would probably be the longest post I've ever done. To boil it down: I recommend this book to leaders (and aspiring leaders) without reservation.

If you want to quickly find out whether Traction would benefit your business, why not take an organizational assessment today? It's free, and only takes a few minutes. Then, if you find out you should be better than you are, pick up your own copy of Traction and get to work.

By the way, if you aren't convinced but want a taste of Wickman's work, there is a free ebook called "Decide! The One Common Denominator of All Great Leaders" that you might enjoy.

Books, Leadership, management