The Action Machine – A Great Productivity Tool
Posted by: John The Geek
I’ve recently been evaluating a new piece of software from Derek Franklin. Derek came up with a really interesting and effective productivity strategy and wrote an application to support it.
In a nutshell, the strategy is very simple: allocate a certain amount of time to a task, set a timer, then focus only on that task until it’s either done or the timer goes off, whichever comes first. This increases your focus because you tend to want to get the thing done before that timer goes off!
It becomes something of a game with yourself to see if you can accurately estimate the amount of time a task will take, and then to see if you can get it done in the time you estimated. You know you can’t be sidetracked by anything else or you probably won’t get it done, so that increases your ability to shut out other distractions and concentrate on the task at hand.
Because it can be a hassle write several to-do lists, then to locate a timer and carry it around with you, Derek had the idea to write a software application to address the problems. What he came up with is called The Action Machine.
I bought The Action Machine v1.0 because I liked Derek’s strategy and the idea of the software. It was good, but had some limitations. Derek asked the users to let him know how the software could be improved and got a ton of great feedback. He’s just released The Action Machine v2.0 incorporating many of the requested features and enhancements.
Here’s what the new version of The Action Machine looks like:
I had to shrink the image so depending on your screen resolution you may not be able to read the text clearly. The lower left pane is the task list. The software comes with a default task list, but you can create your own.
For example, I have a list (shown) of my routine activities, daily, weekly, etc. This is my default task list to which I can add tasks to be done that day, or new daily or weekly or even monthly tasks. I can export the list to save it for future reference, or to copy it to another computer.
I have another list that is specific to the steps involved in a particular product creation and promotion process. When I’m going to be focusing on that process, I load that list to serve as my checklist to determine my progress. More detail on that to come in another post.
On the right, there is a grid of 12 squares each of which may contain a separate timer. In the screenshot above I have five timers loaded. Two of them are set for 30 minutes and the other three are set for 60 minutes. The total time shown at the top is 4 hours, so I know how much time I’ve allocated to the tasks I’ve committed to get done this day.
Timers can be started, paused, reset, cleared, or checked as completed. Completed items can be listed in a report. Lists of timers can be saved under specific names and reloaded at any time. If you know you’re going to work on a certain group of your default tasks regularly, you can simply create timers for each of those tasks, save them as a timer group and reload them when you’re going to work on that task group.
You can see the full demo video at The Action Machine web site. Check it out, I think you’ll like it as much as I do. Highly recommended!
Protect Your PC Before April 1
Posted by: John The Geek
As some of you may already know, the Conficker worm is due to begin contacting its “home base” for instructions on April 1, 2009. It is estimated that this worm has infected millions of PCs worldwide.
Windows Secrets has published an in-depth article on how to secure your PC from the Conficker worm and what to do if you already have it. I strongly suggest reading this article and taking the recommended steps to avoid having your PC contribute to the problem:
http://windowssecrets.com/2009/03/30/01-Run-a-Conficker-removal-tool-before-April-1
Viral Inviters: Still a Bad Idea
Posted by: John The Geek
I was happy to see the top story in this week’s edition of the Windows Secrets newsletter pointing out the dangers of viral inviters. I have to wonder what took so long, but better late than never.
Some of you may recall that almost exactly a year ago I wrote a post in this blog on that very subject. I thought viral inviters were a bad idea at that time and I still do.
I know people aren’t going to stop using viral inviters. I’m just hoping that they’ll at least give it a moment’s thought before giving up the user IDs and passwords to their email and other accounts. It’s already way too easy for the bad guys. We just need to exercise a bit of common sense before doing something with such a potentially large downside.
I’d like to know your thoughts on this subject. Please leave a comment.
- No Comments - Tags: internet ripoffs, phishing, viral inviters
WordPress Plugins Site For Users and Developers
Posted by: John The Geek
I’ve been a fan of Mass Automation’s WordPress plugins and tools for some time. These are high quality blog administration tools, for the most part, that save me a tremendous amount of time keeping my many blogs updated. If you’re just running one or two blogs, these are not for you, but if you’re like me and have a number of blogs, I highly recommend them.
The Mass Automation folks have recently opened a new site featuring free open source plugins for WordPress called PluginEdge. PluginEdge is a repository for WordPress users to get some very handy utility plugins. It is also a place for WordPress plugin developers to upload plugins for distribution and additional exposure.
I’ve installed several of the free plugins from PluginEdge and found them to be very useful. There are still others I’ve got on my list to check out when I have a chance to do so.
The PluginEdge home page lists the 10 most popular plugins in terms of downloads. Because the site is only a couple weeks old as of this writing, the list changes pretty frequently. As of today, the top 10 plugins are:
- GAFMonitor – monitors the Get A Freelancer site for project requests
- ScuttlePlus – create your own social bookmarking site
- WP Bazaar – turn your blog into an online store
- Plugin Remover – removes unwanted WP plugins without FTP
- Robots.txt – creates a robots.txt file for your WP installation
- WP Database Reverter – restores a WP database to its previous state
- Trackback Search – search for and find trackback URLs to add to your posts
- Comments Pinger – pings comments instead of posts
- Set Permalinks – makes .htaccess file writable via FTP
- WP Checkup – pings a list of your blogs and warns if any are unavailable
Since this site is so new, you’ll want to check it on a regular basis to see what new goodies are uploaded. Enjoy!
Using WordPress? Update Now!
Posted by: John The Geek
If you’re a blogger using WordPress, be sure you’re at the latest version 2.7.1. Earlier versions of WordPress are vulnerable to a security loophole that allows the bad guys access to your server via a “back door”. Needless to say, you don’t want this to happen!
I was recently hacked through an old version of Joomla I’d left laying around on my web host. Fortunately, no real damage was done, but it brought home the folly of running old versions of popular software. The fact is: the more popular the software, the larger target it is for those who get their jollies finding ways to exploit it.
WordPress is the most popular blogging software on the Web, so it stands to reason that vulnerabilities will be found and exploited. For that reason alone it is important to keep it updated to the latest version.
If you need help updating your WordPress installation, get my free guide to upgrading WordPress quickly, easily and safely:
http://JohnTheGeek.com/wpupgrade
Royalties: The Key To Ongoing Income
Posted by: John The Geek
We’ve all heard about royalties, usually in the context of musicians, songwriters, and authors. The basic concept of royalties is that you create something, then every time a copy of it gets sold, you get part of the price that was paid for it.
As an example, let’s say you write a book. You get it published and it goes to book stores all over the country. The book sells for $15. To keep things simple, your royalty is $1 per book. So, every time somebody sells one of your books you get a dollar. Sound good so far?
“But, wait!” I hear you say “That means I’d have to write a book in order to get royalties! I can’t write a book. I don’t have the time or talent for that!”
Maybe you do and maybe you don’t, but that’s not the issue here. The problem is that your definition of “royalties” is too narrow. Royalties don’t have to be for a book or a song. They can be for pretty much anything that gets bought and sold. You just have to figure out how to get a piece of the action, so to speak.
More importantly, you need to know how to make that happen on a recurring basis so that you’re not limited by the amount of time you have or the number of promotions you can send in a day. That’s the beauty of royalties!
Royalties mean passive income. That’s income that you’re not trading your time for. Ideally, it’s recurring income that you receive while you’re working on something else. You don’t think Stephen King’s royalties from his last book stop when he starts writing a new one, do you? Of course not!
Christopher Westra has been making his living from royalties for years now. He has created a course called “Royalties University” that will teach you step-by-step how to create royalties in your life. You’ll receive one lesson each week plus bonuses as time goes on.
I’ve known Christopher for a couple of years now and I’ve purchased many of his products. They’ve always been top-notch and “Royalties University” is no exception. I highly recommend it, especially if you’re looking to create streams of income that don’t require your attention 24/7.
Google Chrome Security Update
Posted by: John The Geek
If you’re using Google’s Chrome browser, be sure to update it to the latest version (version 1.0.154.48 as of today). A critical security flaw has been found which is fixed in the latest version.
Google Chrome is a great browser for limited applications, especially Google’s own applications like GMail, Google Documents, etc. Chrome has been optimized for Javascript and runs Javascript noticeably faster than Firefox or IE.
I use Chrome for GMail, Google Calendar, and Google Documents, primarily. I use Firefox for everything else because of the rich set of plugins available. It’s a bit of a pain switching back and forth, but the additional speed in GMail is well worth it, IMO.
WordPress Automatic Update Plugin Updated
Posted by: John The Geek
A few days ago I reported that the WordPress Automatic Update plugin (WPAU) was no longer working in WordPress 2.7. I’m happy to report that the author has updated the plugin so that it now works with WordPress 2.7.
As I reported at the time, WordPress added its own “automatic” upgrade function to version 2.7. So you may well ask “Why do I need the WPAU plugin any more?”
The big advantage of the WPAU plugin is that it provides for very easy backups of your files and database before actually upgrading WordPress. WordPress’ automatic upgrade warns you to back up the files and database, but gives you no way to do that as part of the process.
There is actually no way to backup the fiiles short of manually copying them to another location via ftp or a script of some kind. The database can be backed up via CPanel or other means, but again, it’s a manual process.
The WPAU plugin’s first two steps are to prepare your files and database for backup, giving you download links so you can copy them off to your machine for safekeeping before proceeding with the upgrade. Except for clicking the download links, it’s automatic!
For complete instructions for downloading, installing, and using the WPAU plugin, see my free ebook:
How to Upgrade Your WordPress Blog
WordPress Automatic Upgrade Update
Posted by: John The Geek
Many of you downloaded my free ebook on using the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin to make upgrading WP as easy as it gets. I wanted to give you a heads up that some things have changed that impact the instructions in that ebook.
With version 2.7, WordPress began including their own automatic upgrade function. As of this writing, the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin is incompatible with WP 2.7!
If you are still on a version of WordPress prior to 2.7, the ebook instructions work fine. If, however, you have already upgraded to version 2.7 and you have the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin activated, be sure to deactivate it before using WordPress’ built in automatic upgrade. If you don’t, you will get an error message and the upgrade will fail.
I would suggest leaving the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin on your blog site for the moment. The author may update it to work with 2.7. I sincerely hope he does as backing up the blog code files is now a manual operation. The built in WP upgrade warns you to backup your files and database, but gives you no way to do that automatically.
At the moment, I don’t have a suggestion for backing up your blog files, however, for backing up your database, I highly recommend the WordPress Database Backup plugin. This plugin provides a way to schedule backups of your database at regular intervals and also lets you backup your database on demand. One of the options is to have the backup emailed to you, which I find very handy.
The WordPress 2.7 built in automatic upgrade works like a charm. I’ve upgraded a number of blogs to 2.7.1 using it and had no problems. The key is to remember to deactivate the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin first, if you have it activated in your blog.
Be sure to backup your blog files first using whatever method works for you. Use the WordPress Database Backup plugin to backup your database. Once you’re backed up, get your blog updated to the latest version (2.7.1 as of this writing).
Gizmo’s Vista Kool-Aid
Posted by: John The Geek
The latest paid version of the Windows Secrets newsletter contains an article by editor Gizmo Richards touting the superiority of Windows Vista over Windows XP. Sorry, gang, but I couldn’t resist. Below is the email I just sent to the Windows Secrets crew:
Hi, guys,
First, let me say that I have the utmost respect for Gizmo Richards and have been a subscriber to his TechSupportAlert newsletter for some time. In general, his reviews are helpful and accurate.
So, after reading the latest column under Gizmo’s byline regarding the alleged superiority of Vista over XP, I’ve gotta ask: who is that guy and what’s he done with Gizmo?
I’ve owned a Vista laptop for almost a year and been through the initial version as well as SP1. While I will admit there are a few things about the Vista interface that are actually improvements, in general, I’ll take XP over Vista any time. The big reason: it actually works! Things do what they’re supposed to do, even if they don’t look quite as cool.
Vista’s Wi-Fi management is terrible. XP’s Wi-Fi management is simple and straightforward. Vista wants to connect to whatever network it can find despite being told innumerable times to remove offending networks from its list. Sometimes it actually connects to my own network on the occasions when the random-order generator puts it at the head of the list. In these days when virtually every Internet user has a Wi-Fi network broadcasting all over the neighborhood, the list of networks Vista finds gets pretty long and there’s no way I can find to tell it to ignore all but mine and any others I’ve approved. At least XP only connects automatically to those networks to which I’ve specifically connected in the past AND in the order I specified.
Vista’s Windows Explorer apparently has a random view generator, as well. When I create a new directory, it’s a real adventure to see which view configuration it will decide is appropriate. The defaults have the file name…period. No date/time stamp, no size, no file type, all the things XP users take for granted. I carefully set the directory view the way I want it, go into the Tools | Folder Options menu and tell it to set that view for All Folders and the little folder gnomes inside must bust a gut laughing. The next time I go into a directory it’s decided to Group things!
What genius decided that it’s necessary to group my file listings by 0-9, A-H, etc? Alphabetical order is sufficient, thankyouverymuch.
Exploring in Vista is more exciting than ever because I can attempt to access certain directories and be told that I don’t have access to them. Excuse me? This is my machine and I’m the administrator thereof. By definition I have access to whatever I want access to!
Before you ask, of course I’ve turned off UAC, another stroke of genius by the Microsofties. Apparently, there were numerous meetings of the design team to find ways to make Vista as annoying as possible for users who have a clue. If I want a machine that insulates itself from me, I’ll buy a Mac.
I could go on, but suffice to say that I beg to differ with Gizmo on this one. The only reason I haven’t downgraded my laptop to XP Pro is a lack of the required time to do so. The real improvements in Vista are so few and so far outweighed by its stupidities as to be meaningless.
All the above notwithstanding, thanks for Windows Secrets and the work you guys do.
Recommended!
