I fell off the path and am getting back on...

I recently wrote about Beeminder here, and talked about how much I liked it to help keep me on track.  That is all still true. 

Unfortunately, technology can't always overcome human flaws.  You see, in spite of Beeminder, I missed my commitment to post here at least 4 times per month and wandered off my yellow brick road.

What happened?  

I could make any number of excuses - I got busy, I didn't have a good idea for a post, I was tired, I was on vacation, etc. (all of which are true, but irrelevant).

Basically, I decided to procrastinate when I could've taken a few minutes do write something, or I couldn't planned ahead and written posts early & scheduled them, etc.  In other words, I didn't take proper responsibility for my commitment and didn't hold myself accountable.  It happens.

What am I going to do about it?  

I have paid my pledge of $5 to Beeminder, reset my graph, and am back on the horse trying to meet my commitment of at least 4 posts per month through the end of the year.  And this time, it will cost me $10 if I miss my commitment again.

You know, this made me realize another benefit of Beeminder:  consequences are making me get back to my commitment sooner.  Prior to Beeminder, I could've been a slacker for any length of time and nobody would have known - there is some benefit in a public scoreboard.  If you want to watch my progress, check out my current graph to see how I'm doing.

Your iPad sucks - here are 6 examples why

"Your iPad sucks" - ?!?  OK, I was just trying to be dramatic.  I really like my iPad, but I've had a number of discussions with people recently who want to get rid of their laptops and only use their iPads.  I don't think I'll ever get to that point.  Why?  Because I think the iPad is inadequate for some critical business tasks.  Here are 6 examples:

• Working in more than one app at once.  Sure you can switch around between apps on the iPad, but when you really need to have two apps open at the same time (for example, putting a lot of elements of data from a spreadsheet into a Word doc, that switching back & forth is maddening.  The iPad's lack of true multitasking, along with its fullscreen-only presentation model don't cut it when it comes to multitasking.
• Managing files. Managing files on an iPad is very difficult - the security restrictions on iOS alone make this a nightmare.  When you extend this to content-sharing / collaboration sites (Sharepoint is one example) it is very challenging to do any sort of complex file management.  Even DropBox and iCloud, which are fairly iPad-friendly, make file management painful beyond a few rudimentary functions.
• Managing email, especially offline.  My biggest pet peeve with iOS?  I can't delete email when I'm not online.  Often, I like to take advantage of flight time to clean up email.  The iPad is fine for responding to emails but you can't delete or file email when you are not online.  This makes it impossible for me to consider the iPad as my primary email client.  Combine this limitation with the lack of good file management (for attaching files, for example), and it falls short of productive.
• Multi-channel social media.  If you want to monitor multiple avenues of social media and online content, you're going to want a "real computer."  If you want to monitor Twitter and Facebook, you can sort of do that with clients like TweetDeck.  However, if you also want to follow a few RSS feeds, read a blog, along with monitoring Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Yammer, and things like that - and you want to do it while getting your day job done at the same time - you'll quickly hit a wall, even with the fancy new Android-like notification tray in iOS 5.  
• Content production.  Whether you are producing music, video, doing photo editing, etc. you will be far more productive on a real PC than you will on an iPad.  Yes, I know - you can do basic editing, apply filters, and things like that on the iPad.  But if you want to get real work done, pull out your PC.
• Spreadsheet work.  When reviewing and editing spreadsheets, the iPad just frustrates me - I want to be able to zoom, move around, select multiple cells, look at function references while creating formulas, and things along those lines.  I just can't do that on my iPad.  Maybe I could use several iPads together…nah.

These are just 6 reasons I will be using my PC for real work.  I'll still use my iPad for content consumption, meeting notes, on-the-fly research, etc. and taking advantage of its 10-hour battery life as much as possible, but I won't be ditching my laptop any time in the foreseeable future.

What about you - have you successfully moved away from computers to using your iPad as you sole / primary device?  What have you learned and have you successfully overcome any of the obstacles above?

Should you change your password?

There have been a lot of well-publicized data breaches in the news lately, and I always wonder if I've been affected by them.  When credit card data is affected, you get a letter from your bank or card issuer (I've gotten a few), but when it comes to web site hacks that go after passwords, you never know.  Or do you?

I'd like to share a couple of resources you can use to find out whether you should be concerned, as well as a couple of things to help you increase your password effectiveness in the future.

Find out if you've been a victim

A site called "ShouldIChangeMyPassword.com" has aggregated (as of this post) 11,802,026 compromised passwords from a large number of the publicly disclosed data breaches.  If you go to the site and enter your email address, it will tell you if your email shows up in the list of compromised accounts.  In my case, I've been breached at least once, as the graphic below shows.

My password was compromised in the Gawker Media breach but, fortunately, I used a unique password so my exposure is very limited.  I also changed my password the moment I found out (Gawker was very responsible in their notification, and I knew within a few days).

Other sites you can use to find out if your password's been compromised include:

• LinkedIn leaked password checker
• eHarmony leaked password checker

 Stronger passwords in the future

If you want to protect yourself better in the future, here are some tips that can help:

• Use different passwords for each site you visit
• Use complex passwords (mixture of upper & lower case, numbers, random characters that aren't in the dictionary, etc.)
• Don't write your passwords down

The challenge with this is that it makes it nearly impossible to remember what password belongs to which site.  To make it easier, I recommend using a "password vault" that can generate complex passwords for you and then help you remember them.  The best ones are multi-platform, never store your data in an unencrypted form, and allow you to share your password data securely across multiple devices.

I've tried quite a few of them and the one I like best is called "1Password."  It works on Mac, Windows, Android, iPhone, iPad, and I've been using it faithfully for a couple of years.  It stores an encrypted data file on your system (the makers of 1Password don't store your passwords on their own systems), and it easily shares your encrypted password data using Dropbox as the conduit.

1Password also has the ability to store other information such as credit card numbers, software license keys, and more.  It can also generate and stores secure passwords for you, which makes it easy to satisfy the tips I mention above.

If you want to take a more manual approach, there is a good "personal algorithm" method using Steve Gibson's "Password Haystacks" model, detailed on the Gibson Research Corp. site.  This is also a great educational site on how longer passwords offer exponentially more security.

Beeminder is keeping me on task

I'm roughly 100 days into my use of "Beeminder" and wanted to provide an update.  If you recall from my earlier post on Beeminder, it is a "put your money where your mouth is" kind of commitment tool.  I committed to blogging at least 4 times per month and, if I don't, I owe money.  Yep, cash money.

I got into this base purely on curiosity, but I am now a huge fan.  There is nothing like a commitment to someone else to keep you honest, and nothing like a commitment of money to get you to take things seriously. When I first found out about Beeminder, it was relatively unknown.  Last month, the Beeminder team (now located in lovely Portland, Oregon along with me) received some well-deserved publicity from LifeHacker.

Here is how my progress is going so far:

Basically, the yellow line is my "yellow brick road" and my goal is to stay above it - below it, I owe money.  This is a great system and I am growing addicted to it.

They do a great job of providing you with updates via an email from the Beeminder Bot.  You can provide updates via email or on the Beeminder site, and provide data to make your graph go, as mine has. Rumor has it they are working on even more mobile-friendly ways of updating your status.

Got a goal that could use some pressure / encouragement?  Head on over to Beeminder and give it a try.  You'll love it.

MacBook Air field guide: privacy and safety

A couple of months ago, I switched to using an Apple MacBook Air as my primary system and I really like it (I have the 13" version, and was moving from the a MacBook Pro).  The Macbook Air is a very small, light computer with great battery life and a very nice screen.

Since this switch has driven a few changes in some of my accompanying accessories, I thought I'd share some of the accessories I've found that I really like.

Note:  All of the items below are available for other computers - if you don't use a MacBook Air, simply click one of the links below and adjust the search to find one for your computer.

I like my privacy

I spend a lot of time on airplanes, as well as working with my computer in public spaces.  For years, I've been a big fan of 3M's privacy filters to keep curious eyes out of my business.  When I first switched to the MacBook Air, I ordered one of the 3M privacy filters, but I wasn't happy - the filter fit just fine, but I got this strange moiré pattern on the screen and couldn't stand it, so I ended up returning the filter.  I don't like to travel with a "naked" screen, so I continued to do research on this.   

I found that 3M makes a specific model number that works with the MacBook Air, as these computers have a higher-res screen than normal notebook computers, and they need a special filter to prevent screen distortion.  I ordered one of these higher-resolution filters and I really love it.  I also moved from the standard, grey-toned privacy filters I've always used to the newer, gold-toned privacy filter and I think I like the gold ones better.

If you have a MacBook Air, the correct privacy filter will include "…MA…" in the model number - those are the ones specifically for the MacBook Air.  You can find the 3M Gold Privacy Filter for the MacBook Air (GPFMA13 for 13" computers, and GPFMA11 for 11" computers) on Amazon.  You can also get it in the "normal" grey-tone filter if you don't want the shiny gold effect (PFMA13 for 13" computers, and PFMA11 for 11" computers).

If you haven't seen these in action before, they do a great job of limiting the opportunity to shoulder surf while you're working on your computer.  If you look at the computer screen straight-on, you see a normal screen, but as you move to the side, the image becomes unreadable.  Be aware- you will have to turn up your brightness a notch or two while using these, as they do absorb some of the light, but I think it is worth it.  You can easily remove the screen if you want to allow others to see what is on the screen.

I like to protect my screen

One of the unfortunate drawbacks of using these privacy filters is that they add a bit of thickness to the screen, which can make the screen rub against the keyboard.  Over time, this can cause a key-shaped abrasion pattern on the privacy filter, with a buildup of scratches up over time.  

To prevent this, I've always used RadTech's Screensaverz - microfiber screen protection cloths.  Not only do they prevent abrasion between the keys and the screen, they also prevent the transfer of finger oil (from the keyboard to the screen), and they double as cleaning cloths.

This is another area where a MacBook Air-specific version of the product makes a big difference.  I tried to repurpose my RadTech Screensavrz cloth from my previous computer, but it was too thick for the MacBook Air and prevented the screen from closing fully.  You can order the RadTech Screensavrz from Amazon, as well - I got the "Indigo" version.

And, I like to protect the computer itself

One of the main draws for a MacBook Air is its light weight.  I decided to try another RadTech product to help protect the computer as I carry it around:  RadTech Radsleevz (yeah, I know - funky spelling…) in matching Indigo.  Man, was this a good choice.  These are extremely thin, and make it easy to hold on to my computer while I carry it around.  It is form-fitting for the computer, and adds almost zero bulk to my MacBook Air.  That means I can stick it in my bag without taking a lot of room, and its TSA-friendly design means I just drop it in the bin in the interrogation line at the airport.

So, if you're a MacBook Air user like me, I hope this gives you a few ideas on how to travel light while protecting your privacy, your screen, and the pretty silver case of your computer.

Sharpen your saw with THINKBook

A while back, I bought a THINKBook, which was developed by my old friend Rajesh Setty.  The problem?  I got busy and forgot I had it, so I just got around to using it a few weeks ago.  I am very impressed with this unassuming little notebook.

What the heck is a THINKBook?

In simple terms, a THINKBook is a hard-bound red notebook, about the size of a Moleskine notebook.  But it's way more than that; sure, it has ruled paged you can use for writing, but it is more than just a general purpose notebook.. This is a thinking person's journal, for challenging your thinking.  

The thinking challenges are framed by "prompters" on various topics interspersed throughout the THINKBook (see the example on the right).  There are a bunch of topics relevant to both business and personal introspection, and I like them very much.  Full disclosure, I didn't think I'd like them at first, but I surrendered to the process, tried a couple and found that they were very useful.

The structure of the prompter exercises in the book really pushes you to think at a fairly deep level, and definitely promotes "out of the box thinking."  It feels very soothing to follow this process and begin writing journal entries in the THINKBook - this is all about crystallizing your thoughts and devoting some time for your own improvement.  That's something a lot us us don't take time out to do, and I think we'd all be better off with some periodic deep thinking.

Spread the Thinking

I really like one of the suggestions from the THINKBook web site, which is to use the THINKBook as a personal and professional gift.  I particularly like the thought of giving it as a business gift, and I just may try that to see how people react.

I like the framing of the "why" behind the THINKBook, according to Rajesh:

THINKBook makes it easy to pull your people’s own best advice out of them. It can be used to super-charge group brainstorming sessions or as a trusted advisor to help you improve the brilliant idea keeping you awake at 3am.

Pretty cool, don't you think?

If you could use some time working on your own creativity and mental health, I encourage you to  grab a THINKBook and give the process a chance.  And, if you like it why not give one as a gift to someone you like (a new one, not your old used one)?