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Happy Download day everyone! This is an exciting thing on all ends, because not only is this my first techy blog on good ole automaticable, but today is the Firefox 3 Download Day!! There’s many plans going on, the biggest of all, of course, is the ability to pledge to download the new update today, in the next 24 hours, to be apart of the Guinness Book Of World Records 2008! That’s right, with the new release of Mozilla Firefox is trying to have the most downloads in a 24 hour period. When I pledged, just moments ago, there were 1,683,932 other pledges just like mine! So head on over to www.spreadfirefox.com and make your pledge today! While you’re there check out some of the other cool things happening. You can plan an office or school Download Fest where you all meet up on your lunch breaks and download the new Firefox 3, join some of the great Download Day groups on Facebook, or Myspace, or become a campus rep for Firefox! All of these things are very exciting and I want to encourage ALL of our automaticable fans to head on over and make the pledge to download Firefox 3 today and be apart of the magic happening all around the world!

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If you work with raw data on a daily basis, you are probably more than familiar with Microsoft Excel. But do you really know how to use Excel to its fullest extent? My goal is to be a master of efficiency, and many of Excel’s native features allow me to achieve that and are only a click away.

I would like to make a habit out of posting Excel tips, so if this first installation seems rudimentary to you (it is Excel 101, after all), make sure you check back for more advanced tips over time. But don’t run off too fast, even Excel 101 might teach you a thing or two.

Continue reading “Excel 101: 4 Tricks Everyone Should Know”

With Finals just around the corner, I look back at my college career thus far and I see all the good decisions that I’ve made. I switched from Medical Science with a hopes for Orthotics and Prosthesis to Recreation Management and I couldn’t be happier. I came back home from SIU to finish up my general education classes and receive my AA from College of DuPage and I love every minute of being home. I’ve switched around from a couple jobs and finally found something that I enjoy doing and that gives me hope for a brighter future. The relationship aspect of my life couldn’t be better. I have a steady girlfriend of over two years now, and we’re always talking about what the future brings, planning little trips with each other, and we can never stop smiling when we’re with each other.

With the weather turning nice I’m becoming more and more optimistic and becoming less stressed. Finals should be pretty much a breeze this year due to the classes and the requirements that they have for me. I gave two huge project presentations yesterday that I worked for 6 hours straight on over the weekend, and I found out immediately afterwards that I had aced both of them. I feel a sense of accomplishment this semester through all the trouble and stress that my classes brought me. I feel I did the best I could in all my classes and I’m not afraid of anything that future classes throw at me.

I used to sit in my room with the blinds closed to keep the heat in my room so it doesn’t get too cold, but I came home the other day and my mom had opened them, and I realized how beautiful of a view out my window I have. There’s a beautiful backyard with trees lining the perimeter of the half acre backyard, thick green grass, a flower island in the middle of the yard, and horseshoe pits in the back. I could probably sit and look out my window all day and watch the birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and the neighbors cats run through our yard all day and be content.

Basically what I’m getting at here is that through all the stress and hard work that have been hitting me this entire semester, I’m glad that it’s finally over and I have a bright, relaxing summer to look forward to. The warm afternoons, the stormy nights, the bonfires, the hookah parties, or just relaxing on the screen porch, falling asleep in the chase lounge are all things that I have to look forward to. So all you college students out there fretting over finals and worrying about grades and their futures, take a step back and look at all the good things you’ve done so far and all the great things in the future that lie ahead of you. Realize that ultimately they’re just grades and a beige piece of paper, and that what you should be worrying about is how many times your going to ride Superman at Six Flags this summer.

Working on SEO projects can be difficult and time consuming, but with the right tools you can cut your research time down significantly. Firefox has made the job of the SEO expert not only easier, but more efficient at the same time. So without further ado, here is my list of the top 12 SEO Firefox extensions. Continue reading “The Top 12 SEO Firefox Extensions”

One of the key reasons blogs have gained popularity is because they are a constant source of new material. Because of this, a system was put in place for people to easily aggregate all of their frequently updated blogs (and many regular websites) into one place. Blogs, news sites, message boards, podcasts, and pretty much everything in between create “feeds” which send information every time something is updated on their site. The nice thing about these feeds is you, the user, can import them all into one place using RSS, or real simple syndication. Using RSS, you can import all of your frequently updated sites into one place, such as Google Reader (my favorite, among a plethora of other options), so you don’t have to go and check all of your favorite sites individually in case they have new content. More than anything, it is an efficient way for you to scour the web for updates on sites that you frequent anyway.

One of the drawbacks of using RSS is you don’t always see the author’s intended formatting of each story since each RSS reader translates the data a little differently. Also, if you are a fan of participating in the comments on different sites, you will still need to visit each site to do so, as the comments are generally not included in each feed.

Anyone who frequents even a handful of blogs will be able to tell you of the benefits of using the RSS feed on sites. It saves you the time and energy or scouring the internet for new content and will also allow you to cover a lot more content in much less time. If you’d like to subscribe to automaticable’s RSS feed, you can click here or on the red button in the upper right hand corner of your screen. And just FYI, that button (usually orange) is the universal symbol for RSS, so any time you see that symbol you can click on it and have updates imported to your RSS reader automatically.

Recently I started using a service called RememberTheMilk. Their website is dedicated to helping you manage your to-do lists. The premise is simple, but they do a very good job with it. I use Google Calendar to sync and keep track of most of my scheduling, but I wanted something more task-oriented, for things that don’t have a real due-date. I’ve also tried Lightning integrated in Thunderbird, but the downside there is that there’s no online integrate. For me, RememberTheMilk works.

The reason why they’ve won my vote is how robust they’ve made their service. You can have multiple lists organized in tabs, for which you can have unlimited tasks. Each task can be tagged, recurring, have a due date, priority, notes– you name it. It’s full options, but without being complicated. The interface is very Web 2.0, which brings me to the real kicker– integration. They’ve set it up so you can access your lists from just about anywhere– on-the-go with your PDA, on your Google homepage, and even through Gmail and Google Calendars. This is what really won my heart. For something as simple as to-do lists, they’ve really done it right, and kept it simple at the same time.

As every power-user does, I enjoy working on my own computer because everything is tweaked and customized just how I like it. I use the programs and preferences that work best for me. I organize my data in a way that fits my lifestyle. Everything is perfect for me on my personal computer. But, there is always a question of how to access your setup when on the road and away from home. I’ll describe a few different syncing techniques below. Each has it’s own advantages and disadvantages, and finding the right one depends on what’s important to you.

1. Use a Laptop
Of course, probably the simplest solution is to use a laptop as your primary workspace. Then, whenever you’re on the go, you can simply bring it with you. No setup, no hassle– everything is there for you when you need it.

2. Sync with an external device
Similarly, you can take what’s important with you on a separate piece of hardware. This could range from syncing your email and music on a smartphone or iPod, to carrying important data and programs on an external hard drive or flash drive. If you go the USB drive route, you might consider PortableApps Suite– a system for loading many common programs from a flash drive, as well as organizing your documents.

3. Use online syncing services
Another approach is to upload your data to web services, so you have everything you need as long as there’s an internet connection. This could mean sticking to using purely webapps, such as Google Documents, and storing your documents there. Or, you could simply backup your documents on one of the many online backup services. There is a useful post here detailing the best online backup solutions.

4. Remote Access to files
The solution I prefer is to setup remote access to your computer. Then there is no need to sync documents or upload them online– you’ll have access to everything you had on your main computer. It’s probably also the most complicated, as you’ll need to open some ports on your router as part of the setup. I won’t go into the specifics, but there are many different options for remote access. For Windows, Remote Desktop is probably the easiest, and will give you access to your entire desktop. For any platform, VNC accomplishes the same thing, and supports multiple connections to the same desktop. Also, particularly useful in Linux, you can setup an SSH server. This gives you access to your computer through a terminal, but is very fast for small tasks, and you can even run programs from your home computer remotely.

So, as you can see, there are a variety of options, and perhaps even a combination of a few is the best choice. Each has its own setup requirements, so plan on spending some time getting things running. But once you do, it becomes a great resource next time you need to remember a phone number in an email, or find a webpage you bookmarked but can’t remember.