Skype recording on PCs
1 April 2008 | 6:22 pm | fkronenbergNever found a really good, free PC program for recording Skype calls. I’m a big fan of Call Recorder, but it’s a Mac program. In comes Call Graph. Read more about it here (via Lifehacker).
File conversions
19 March 2008 | 11:10 am | fkronenbergAhh, the curse of file formats! Not a day goes by when we fact some more or less cryptic files that a colleague, student, friend, or family member sends us. What to do with a WPS? How to play a WMV on an iPod.
Fear not, there are some great tools. Zamzar offers easy conversions online, of course for free. But it doesn’t allow you to perform batch conversions. For video files I use the excellent VisualHub, which costs under $20 (Mac; demo available). Alternatively, there is iSquint, which is free, but only converts to iTunes/iPod format (m4v).
For audio files I use Switch. It comes in two flavors, a free version that will suffice for some, and a pro version, which handles even more formats.
What do you use? Any good PC freeware you could share with us?
Tech-o Tuesday #10: Forget Your Passwords to Get Things Done
26 February 2008 | 8:11 am | RyanWe’ve all had days (weeks?) where it seems like we spend all day working and get nothing accomplished; the piles of paperwork and tasks-in-progress get deeper no matter what we do. To keep those days at bay, Felix and I often turn to GTD (Getting Things Done) principles.
One of the first steps to Getting Things Done is uncluttering not only your workspace, but your mind as well. This week’s episode is an overview of some of the applications you might consider using to help you save brainpower by outsourcing password management to your computer.
Resources mentioned in the show:
- Password Gorilla
- KeePass and KeePass X
- 1Passwd (OS X only)
Getting Things Done (GTD): An Introduction
25 February 2008 | 8:11 am | RyanOver the past couple of years, the amount of “stuff” I need to get done, both at work and at home, has increased exponentially. The amount of hours in my day / days in my week, however, has not. What’s an overachieving geek with ADD to do? The easy answer is: don’t do so much. And I have weeded out most of the things that really aren’t my strengths, or my interests, or that I shouldn’t be doing anyway. But I still have more stuff than I have time.
A second answer, and one I have grown to become fond of: the Getting Things Done method. At its simplest, GTD is a personal productivity philosophy (say that three times fast) that hinges on working smarter, not harder or longer. It’s also very personal; GTD is really just a framework each individual can and should tailor for themselves, including only the parts one finds appealing, and doing them in whatever high-tech or low-tech way makes sense for them. That’s what geeks love about it so much … for those of us who spent our childhoods taking things apart and trying to put them back together (our way makes so much more sense, doncha know), GTD is a godsend. As a result, we can seem cultish when we talk about our processes. We’ll try not to, but please accept our advance apologies if we fail. 
You don’t have to read David Allen’s book (although I would strongly recommend it) or subscribe to any number of sites that provide GTD tips and tricks to incorporate little pieces of the philosophy into your own day. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be talking about some of the tools, tips, and tricks we use daily … the series kicks off tomorrow with a new podcast!
Let us know if you have your own GTD story to share … and have a great week!
TGIF: Go fish!
22 February 2008 | 8:04 am | RyanYou don’t have to do tech support at a non-profit to identify with the following comic, drawn by Rob Cottingham from Social Signal:
Happy Friday, all … here’s to real vacations, and real weekends!
