It took a lot for me. I loved my Sony Vaio, but also know the end is coming soon. Like a favorite pet whose years are brief compared to our own, I really want her to hang in there. I realize she isn’t quite as fast or responsive as she used to be, but the aging process is inevitable. Everything doesn’t quite work the way it used to and some things aren’t working at all.
I’ve had it now for, I believe, over five years. About a year ago, the battery couldn’t hold a charge. Okay, no biggee, I don’t generally take it wherever I go, so to sit with it plugged in is a minor inconvenience. I can live with that. Well, the next to go was the internal wifi. So I merely replaced that with an external wifi component.
The gradual degradation of my computer had started me thinking that I would inevitably need to replace it and hopefully before it completely crashed and burned. If I waited till its time of death, there would be the possibility of excruciating pain retrieving and transferring information that I don’t retain on my MyBook external drive, as well as the cost at immediate point of purchase.
Moment of Acceptance
This week my sister and I were off to Costco for some general grocery shopping we do each month. We enjoy traversing through the store to see what new and interesting items they have on display for the coming season. We walked through the electronic section. Cool cameras, external hard drives, iPods, OH MY! We always find it amazing at what new gadgets and features become available. It’s all shiny and pretty, and we manage to walk away. Thank god they’re not Carlos Santana shoes! But this time I stopped…
Netbooks were on display. Lightweight, portable, and cost attractive. Those were features that held me motionless for a spell. I visualized that I would be working on a more compact keyboard and significantly smaller screen. Wasn’t quite sure how I would feel about that. But you never know until you try it. So purchase on I did.
It’s New To Me
Now here I am typing away on my new little Acer Aspire One 722. Not bad, getting used to it. There are a couple of things that I have had to adjust to. Some are just configuring a new system with the programs that I currently use and how to view them now that I am working on a smaller screen; others are working around the fact that I no longer have a cd drive. Also getting used to navigating the keyboard and a different touch on the touch pad to execute desktop programs.
Determining Software Needs
My first hurdle was figuring out how to install software I have already purchased as the netbook does not come with a cd drive. Of course you are not going to find your favorite day-to-day software preloaded on your new computer, but it can be generally found online. You may have to do a little digging around in your search, but you should be able to find it. So a cd drive isn’t crucial. Other than software and loading my music cds, I can’t recall when I use it. In reality, close to never.
Does size matter?
Needless to say, I don’t care to work on the internet from my Droid phone, it’s just too small, but it is about determining what is acceptable when working and viewing online and working in software programs. I don’t play games, but from past experience when playing certain games, bigger definitely is better. It’s about weighing the pros and cons. So as I adjust my perception of what I expect or want to see, I have figured out some ways to compensate. I view my MS Office programs in Page Width and I’ve adjusted my internet viewing options in a larger font size. It’s a start.
Determine Your Deal Breakers
Performance is key. Can it do what I need it to do? I have a crazy amount of disk space it almost makes my external disk unnecessary. Still glad to have the external for backup and to archive information that just “takes up space” on my computer.
My Assessment To Date
At the moment, I’m really kind of digging the Acer netbook. It’s super light and portable, the battery duration is reasonable when I sit out by the pool or take it out with me to a coffee shop, I’m gradually getting used to the screen size, the keyboard is comfortable, and I really haven’t discovered any major downside. Actually, all things considered, it’s just about size and that can be adjusted in options and preferences.
Interestingly, the most difficult thing I have had to do is configure my Outlook. I’ve loaded my Firefox web browser as I prefer it to the Internet Explorer and I’m having to go through everything on my Sony computer with a tooth and comb, which has been interesting discovering what I need and what I don’t need to include on the Acer.
I would still strongly recommend Sony as they continue to be a favorite brand of mine and I do love my Apple products as well. My choices usually reflect cost = worth. If it is dependable, reliable, meets what I expect from it, and am surprised that it provides more than what I had expected, I always consider it money worth spent. Find products that you love and you will always be happy to spend your hard earned cash. Never settle with a product that gives you more aggravation and grief than it’s worth.
With so many choices out there, it can be shopping choice overload. What are the most important considerations for you in a computer purchase? Are you “brand” loyal? Do you prefer referrals? Do you seek out an “expert” to help you make your decision? Also, if you currently have an Acer, I would love to know what you think of the brand. So to all my techie Sparkle Peeps, here’s to happy tapping.
What a great day… and it’s Valentine’s Day! It is a beautiful day outside and I get to hear the horse carriages trotting around my corner waking me up this morning with an Old World feeling. There are days when it is so amazing to get to wake up in Old Sacramento. All the lovely couples will be down here treating their sweetie to a gorgeous day of interesting shops and restaurants and either sitting alongside the river or sitting on the deck enjoying a cocktail on the Delta King overlooking the river. Old Sacramento really gives you that Old West feeling when women were ladies and men were gentlemen.
In two days, the 16th, it will be my birthday and I feel kind of spoiled today. I usually take the whole week for my birthday because I have Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, and I take the week off from work. Yes, I have this week off. Also, this year starts the 2010 Winter Olympics and the United States is doing pretty good and we’re ranking pretty decently. So grab your cup of coffee because I’ve got something for you. My gift to you. I know it’s my birthday, but I love to share great things.
Goal setting and evaluating my accomplishments and my “stupid” moments really hit me around my birthday. That is why I joined the gym in November and set the goal to weigh 145 by my 45th birthday (I am super duper close) and weigh 125 by the end of May (that’s my daughter’s birthday). Also, big decades are motivators, this being 2010. So my big reflective milestones every 5 years.
I failed to mention this to you at the beginning of the year, but you still have time to catch up. My first gift is for you to check out Darren Hardy’s blog at the Success blog (this is one of the links I share on the sidebar). He is literally giving away his Designing the Best 10 Years of Your Life for FREE. I actually paid for this last year and it is the exact same material, with accompanying worksheets (downloaded PDF), for all who register for their blog feed. What I love about this idea is that it is like joining a massive Mastermind group. You can read and participate in the comments. With the written material, this interaction isn’t available. So how awesome is that?!
If you use Firefox, I do, you can use Add-ons. Here is the second part of my combined gift to you. Grab the add-on called “Read It Later.” I mentioned in an earlier article that I purchased the iTouch for my birthday. I love it and have a technique for utilizing it in your productivity. “Read It Later” can be downloaded as an App to your iTouch or iPhone, and it’s FREE.
I am able to save my Google Reader items that have some length to them and sync to read it later on my computer offline if I choose, but this isn’t where I really need it. If I’m sitting at my computer already, than I can read it. I need it for when I can use it productively away from my computer. Such as, commuting and you are not the driver, waiting in an office, standing in a lengthy line, etc. For me, I use it when I’m on the cycle at the gym.
Yesterday, for my one hour cycle workout, I listened to music in the background for the rhythm intensity to keep my legs pumping me into a sweat and read my Darren Hardy blog. “Read It Later” has you sync for offline. Here is my learning lesson for you after using it yesterday in my workout. You can sync for offline web and/or text viewing. I only had it on web viewing. It’s pretty, but small and on the iTouch you are not able to zoom. So, my suggestion would be to sync the text view for readability.
So with the combination of these various technology items, you can still be productive during your downtime when you don’t have access or it isn’t reasonable to have your computer in front of you. It is a great series and I promise you will get so much information, ideas, and motivation by reading it. You don’t have to sign up to view the blog, but you do to access the worksheets and the worksheets are a great supplement to the program. I highly suggest it. Darren also does videos, which were not a part of the written material purchased last year. So the program has really expanded with how he has incorporated this being a live participation model. Do not leave this site without checking it out.
I promise, you will love what he is doing with this program. Like me, I can’t afford the thousands of dollars it costs to go to week-long seminars, and I don’t have the time. This is like an online education/seminar for everyone who participates for FREE. I know there are some people who don’t tend to value information or things unless they have to pay for it, but I am telling you that it is the same thing and, to be honest, an expanded version of what you had to pay for just a year ago. So I appreciate Darren for offering this to so many people who can use it, but can’t afford to pay for something like this and who need it the most to acquire the skills, techniques, and tips that it takes to be successful.
So, Happy Valentine’s Day to you, Happy Birthday to me, and I wish you all great success.
I would love to hear from you if you decided to join and your thoughts on the program and any other ideas you have that make you productive and encourages your success. I also hope you find information here helpful, so please share with the people who could you positive things in their life. Also let me know how fantastic your Valentine’s Day is. I’m off to see my mom for Valentine’s Day and I texted my daughter to tell her she is my lovely Valentine’s girl. Did you tell your special people how amazing and appreciated they are today? Well… get to it!
With great love and affection to my Sparkle peeps.
-Layne
I am an electronic techie geek.
I actually fell into this by accident. I actually started out as a hairdresser in California. I have always been creative and hair, beauty, and style was always interesting to me. And, it seemed, I was pretty good at it. I always had friends and family who wanted me to do their hair or change their look. Soon after getting my Cosmetology license, I met the man of my dreams, got married and pregnant, and we were soon moving to different states when he decided to leave the Air Force. We moved to Ohio, where he was from; then off to Pennsylvania, for his college to work on airplanes (he used to work on fighter jets); and then to Minnesota where he took a job with one of the big boys (at the time) with Northwest Airlines. The excursions that took us outside of California eliminated my ability to work as a “beauty consultant” as each state requires its own licensing. I was moving around to too many different states to keep up.
So off to college I went to attain knowledge in a profession that was more “practical” with my circumstances. So I chose the certificated program, “Legal Secretarial Specialist” at Rasmussen Business College in Minnesota. I chose to take the most difficult administrative program with the thinking that I could work in the administrative field in any industry and any state. This was the time when home computers were starting to take off and my little nomadic tribe of a family decided to get one. The days of DOS.
That is where it all began. Whenever we had problems with the computer, I was the one who was asked to fix it. Most of the time it was about how slow the computer would run. So I picked up books on DOS and learned the various macro systems that would increase the speed, ran the defrag program, and tweaked his games so they seem to run seamlessly as he enjoyed shooting things up.
I got a job with a law firm who represented several cities as the “City Attorneys.” They did a large amount of criminal documentation that was given to the assistant as dictation. Before I came on board, every word was typed in. Most of the information was for the offenses and redundant, used over and over again in most of the Criminal Complaints. This was when WordPerfect was the only choice for word processing and most law firms still use this software today. This is where I honed my skills in creating templates and macros. After that, we were able to get the Complaint done within days instead of weeks. This was also when “reveal codes” was a necessity to examine because you did not always print what you saw onscreen. This was before WYSIWYG. I still use reveal codes to see the details of what is in a document today with Word.
That is the evolution of my electronic techie geekiness. I have since built my own desktop computer, that is still wicked fast today, even though most of the time I work on my laptop.
I am always surprised when I come across administrative assistants who still use the computer and various applications as a glorified typewriter. The programs offer so much functionality and access to creating truly creative and dynamic ways of presenting information. Most have a handle on the more intermediate applications of programs today. You have to in order to keep up with the needs a company has in presenting information.
Today.
I continue to keep up with technology by visiting the various sites you see on my sidebar to learn new skills and applications that the various programs can do. I don’t go out and buy the really big books like I used to, but would like to. I also keep up with the new programs shortly after they are offered. I usually give a little bit of time for the company, usually Microsoft, to work out the bugs. And then I am off and running.
I find the program that I probably live in the most in today’s technology age is the Calendar. I use the “Task” function a LOT and should probably do a write up on that because there is so much you can do with it. The Calendar also houses the email system. Email has become the method of communication. No longer is the boss coming to you with the request of a project or task, it is now being sent via email.
On my quest to seek out technology that simplifies my life, I was greatly interested in the new iTouch with the Apps feature. I had put it off for quite some time as I was hoping they would come out with one that had the same GB as my current one, which they now call the “Classic.” However, I decided to go for it.
There is a bit of a back story to the reason why I ended up getting it before they hit 120 GB. I thought I lost my “Classic” at the gym. I know, God forbid. On my way to Best Buy, I stopped by the gym and, shocking to me, someone had turned it in. YAY! So I began to reassess my purchase. I started thinking, “Well this month is my birthday. You wanted to get this in the past, so what would you get yourself instead for your birthday?” I could get a nice pair of shoes, or maybe go to the bookstore, or maybe something that I needed. I decided on the iTouch.
One of the reasons I actually wanted the iTouch was for the functionality that of a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). I used to have a Palm, but something went crazy on it. I also had a Palm phone when I was on Verizon. I could carry all my information with me wherever I go. I realize that many of the phones have the various features, but I didn’t find the features to be quick and easy to use on the phone. After all, that isn’t their primary function. The iPhone has all of this, I realize, but I am not with AT&T. However, I am a big fan of Apple and have had the iPod for many years. So getting the iTouch was upgrading, again. I still hope to get a Mac. Maybe next year’s birthday gift.
I downloaded some Apps and am really interested in getting back to you on my impression of a free app called “Intuition: Mom’s Assistant.” I also read about an app called “Siri Assistant,” which I hear is phenomenal, but can only be used on the iPhone. Oh well.
I would love to hear from you what programs, features, and technology you just can’t live without. What makes your job and life easier? What helps you to be more efficient, productive, organized, and sane?
Don’t forget to take a look at the sidebar for websites that offer tutorials and tips on making you the “go to” person in the office when something techie needs to be done.
