Don't Forget!

Don't forget to sign up for Sweet Bean's Shop Swap by August 5. More details here. I think I'll be making Parisian macaroons. I'm "famous" for baking/cooking brand new things for special events...sometimes to spectacular success, and sometimes not!

I'll be taking a blogging break these next couple of weeks. My class is coming to a crashing halt (3 tests coming up within the next week and a half), and I need to simplify a bit. Wish me luck, and check back in now and again to read my twitter update.

Geek of the Week: Twhirl

Looking to get more out of twitter? Try twhirl.

twhirl is a cool "desktop twitter client," which means, in Lauren-speak, that you don't have to go to the twitter website to tweet or see tweets from your friends. It "sits" on your desktop, and has an interface like google talk.

Other cool stuff? twhirl will shorten urls for you on the spot (like tinyurl, but it's a part of the client), and let you post pictures in twitter via twitpic. It makes using twitter a total breeze.

Also cool? I can send a direct message to my personal assistant, Sandy, without opening up my browser. By the way, Sandy is really awesome.

Geek of the Week: Sandy

Need a personal assistant? How about a free one? Meet Sandy.

Sandy is a "remote command line app (I have no idea what that means)," or, in my mind, a nice lady you tell stuff, she remembers it for you, and reminds you about it in a timely fashion. It's cool.

Check this out. I e-mail her this:



It appears in my Sandy account like this:




I also receive a daily digest of the day's activities. Here is an example from someone who is much busier and more important than I:



Sandy synchs with my Google calendar (and with my husband's, or whomever I choose), so I can just send her a quick e-mail with a list of appointments, and she calendars it for me. I can also create lists, set shared reminders (via text or e-mail), organize my contacts, and many other cool features that I have yet to discover.

Favorite thing: I can communicate with Sandy via my Twitter, my Jott, or g-talk accounts. That's right! I can send her a tweet, call her, or send her an IM. SO convenient.

Least favorite thing: Communicating with Sandy is relatively straightforward, but there is a definite learning curve to do more complex things. Right now, I'm struggling to add something to a grocery list I've already created.

Overall? It's PERFECT for adding appointments and to-dos to my calendar, and might be cool for all of my GTD lists, especially once I'm back 2 skool and life becomes much more of a juggling act.

Geek of the Week: Jott

My husband introduced me to a new service called Jott. Jott is a call-in service that converts your voice to e-mail, text messages, notes to self, lists, and appointments. It's pretty sweet, especially for someone who hates texting like me.

How does it work? After setting up an account, you add people to your contacts (e-mail and phone). Then you can call Jott, leave a recording for someone, and it sends them a text and an e-mail. You can also send yourself reminders for specific times (like a wake-up call), and make lists.

Even cooler? You can use it with Twitter, Blogger, and all sorts of other cool things I'm going to blog about later.

The only downside, it doesn't always perfectly transcribe your voice. However, you can spell things out for it to cut down on errors.

For example, I Jotted Tony, "Please pick up YoBaby."

He received, "Please pick up your baby."

All in all, it's pretty cool. It's perfect for someone like Tony who is out and about all of the time.

Twitter Me This!

Hey all you web 2.0 people! Come join me on twitter. It's a great way to waste valuable time!

It's my new favorite web-thingy. It's sort of a social media site, wherein users answer the question: "What are you doing right now?" You can follow other users (with their permission), and be followed, as well (stalkers!).

For example, did you know that Guy Kawasaki is following me? Um, he is. I'm pretty awesome. He probably wants to know what I'm doing right now. I'll twitter this: "writing kind of a lame post because my camera is acting funny and my husband isn't home to help me and I'm a techie moron."

Of course, YOU (Krista) could write something like: "I just got a Fulbright to Germany, and I'm trying to figure out how to pass the oral defense of my comps in a few days." Then again, Guy Kawasaki isn't following you, is he?