I’m liking Gmail Tasks

So far I like the addition of Tasks to Gmail. The feature I like the best is adding an email to my tasks list. This is great for actionable items that come in via email. I use to put a star by emails that I need to do something about. Now I can add them to tasks and put a due date on them.

This morning when I got my Qwest bill notification I added it to my tasks. That put an entry in my tasks with the subject line of the email, “Your Qwest bill is now available online,” as the subject of the tasks and it also has a link to the actual email in the tasks window. I added a due date to it and now I can archive that email getting it out of my inbox.

Now for a few future feature requests:

• I’d like to see tasks with a date on them added to my Google Calendar automatically.
• I’d also like to be able to email a task into Gmail with the subject line as the subject of the task and the body of the email as the notes in the task. Also incorporate a due date in the body of the email. This way I can email my Gmail from work with a task. Maybe use those fancy “+” tags that Gmail accepts like myemailaddress+tasks@gmail.com.

To access this new feature log into your Gmail, go to the labs section and just turn it on.

Del.icio.us : gmail, google, tasks

Technorati Tags: gmail, google, tasks

ForensiT’s Transwiz

I just can’t use Transwiz.  I don’t know why the concept is easy enough and I love Profwiz, but Transwiz fails 50% of the time for me.  Some problem with files it tries to transfer.  Oh?  You have no idea what I’m talking about do you?  I should explain.

ForensiT’s Transwiz is suppose to compress a user’s profile so that it can be moved to a new PC.  Transwiz takes the entire Windows profile so everything looks virtually the same for the user on a new PC.  The compressing of the data seems to work fine but when I put it on the new PC Transwiz will error out 50% of the time.  Coping some profiles can take a long time if they have a lot of data and I don’t have time for it to fail 50% of the time.

I have no idea what the problem is.  It could be failing on a particular type of file.  Luckily (ingenuously) the compressed profile is just a ZIP file so I can get the data out but for me its just easier to use a simple .bat file I created and just get the important stuff.

However I can highly recommend Profwiz.  It’s designed to move one profile to a new profile within the same PC.  We used it at the day job to migrate all of the users to a domain.  Worked great.

http://www.forensit.com

Technorati Tags: Forensit, profwiz, transfer Windows profile, transwiz

Dial2Do

I may stop using Jott.  Lately I’ve been using Dial2Do and I really like the service.  Jott was/is great.  I was even happy they switched to a premium service and ad based model so they can stay in business.  I used Jott so infrequently it wasn’t too bad to go to jott.com to receive my note.

Dial2Do is a very similar service.  However I believe that Jott is using strictly humans to transcribe messages and Dial2Do uses machine and human transcription.  Which I hope translates into keeping basic features free and a cheaper premium model.

At any rate Dial2Do has integration with lots of other services including one of my favorites Sandy and Twitter.  It will even read my twitter or email messages to me using a computer voice.  Also with Twitter I can say reply while listening to a tweet and record a response.  I can go through my history at dial2do.com and listen to my recordings.  And I can see my actually note in the email Dial2Do sends me.  Sorry Jott, turns out that is more important than I originally thought.

Technorati Tags: dial2do, jott, voice to text, web 2.0

Cisco Academy - Day 1

So my first night at the Cisco Academy went exactly how a first day of any college class goes.  Basically you don’t do much except go over the syllabus and nothing works right in relation to the computers.  We spent the first 1/2 of the class watching the System Administrator install the Cisco software just to find out when we logged in it wouldn’t work.  No big deal because the whole course is available online.  The weird thing about that is Cisco apparently gets angry when students use their website to access course material.  They will lock out a class if too many users are accessing the course through their website.  I can’t figure out why unless it’s bandwitdh issues but you’d think Cisco could solve that problem.

The first 1/2 of the semester is going to be very similar to CompTia’s Network+.  The course will consist of learning the OSI model and TCP/IP.  I don’t think we’ll get much into actual Cisco specific material until later in the semester and even more in the next semester. 

One really cool piece of software we get is Packet Tracer 5.  Basically its a network simulator.  So you can add Cisco specific routers with a variety of cards in the back.  For instance I put up a Cisco 1800 series with a fiber and Ethernet cards in the back connected to a switch and a couple of computers.  The cool thing about it is when I drilled into a router I could get to the command line interface of the router and make changes there.  The end game is that I could construct an entire network in Packet Tracer and if it worked in the simulator it would work in the real world.  I could even take the router configs out of the simulator and copy them into real routers.  How cool is that?

The class was full and supposedly there was one girl registered for the class.  She wasn’t there that night and I am surprised that only one girl was registered.  We didn’t have too many girls in IT courses back in my college days (1995-2001) either but I expected more would be taking these classes some 10 years later.  Not that I’m looking to meet girls, I just find it interesting that not much has changed with women entering the IT field.  Of course this is strictly anecdotal evidence.  I did hear about a study that suggested women are just as good as men in science and math (if not better) but they tend to choose fields in social sciences.  That says to me that women tend to like dealing with people and men… not so much.  Of course this is all generalizations and that will earn me nothing but trouble.

I’m not really interested in the college credit but for anyone who needs a lot of quick credits this class is one to consider.  The entire course is divided into four classes.  Each class is 1/2 a semester long so when I registered for this semester I registered for class 1 and 2.  Class 1 will end in a couple of months and class 2 picks up immediately after.  Class 2 will be in the same class room with the same instructor etc.  So it seems like just one semester long class.  However each class is worth 5 credit hours.  So at the end of this semester I will have obtained 10 credit hours.  Twelve credits is considered a full course load even though 15 is a true full course load.  So by the end of the two semester I’ll have 20 credit hours and nothing to do with them.  Too bad I can’t sell ‘em.

Well I’ve got some reading to do by the next class.  Guess I better get to it.

Technorati Tags: Cisco Academy, cisco certification

Cisco Academy

Very shortly tonight I’ll be attending my first Cisco Academy class.  I’ll post updates regarding what I learn and how it’s going.  Maybe somebody out there will find this useful information.  Especially if they are considering plunking down so dough for the education.  Of course the end result is hopefully a CCNA cert.

Technorati Tags: CCNA, Cisco Academy, cisco certification

Jott goes Premium

Jott, the words to text generator, has gone premium, and good for them.  I often wonder how these Web2.0 services will ever stick around if they have no business plan, you can’t keep getting venture capital forever.

Anyho, I love the service and I will keep on using it but I’m opting for the free option.  I did a test run today and besides the intro message telling me there are some changes at Jott nothing was different on the phone side.  However with the free option I can no longer read my Jotts in my email.  Instead an email is sent with a link back to jott.com where I could view my Jott.  So I’m speculating that they will soon be showing ads on their site and this will force free users to return to the site to view said ads.  If I want to see your Jotts in email I’ll just have to pay.

Also the free account is limited to only a few Jott links.  Jott links link Jott with other services like Twitter or Remember the Milk.  I use to use Jott with Sandy (iwantsandy.com) so I could send things I wanted Sandy to remind me of latter through my cell phone.  Now I will have to pay to use that feature.  Although the Jott link for Twitter is free.

In the end I don’t find myselft using Jott all that much.  I mostly use it when I’m in the car listening to something I want to remember from the radio and I can’t write anything down.  So maybe 6 times a month.  The free version will work for me.  I just hope they don’t start playing ads when I call in.  I don’t mind seeing ads on their website but I don’t want to listen through an ad just to record a Jott.

Technorati Tags: iwantsandy.com, jott, jott premium service, remember the milk, sandy

The glory of LiberKey.

If you are an IT Technician and you don’t have Liberkey then you are missing out big time.  Over the years I’ve collected a variety of programs that I use as a software tool kit (maybe I should list those) but I could have save a lot of time all those years just by downloading Liberkey. 

As the name suggest Liberkey is designed to run on a usb stick.  Like Portable Apps, Liberkey is a collection of portable applications.  214 applications to be exact (Ultimate Edition).  There are so many that often I will download new software to try it only to find out later that my Liberkey already had it. 

As I’m typing this Liberkey is updating itself and the really cool thing is its updating the applications as well.  I popped it in this morning to see if it had a screen shot program (which it does) and Liberkey told me there was an update, downloaded the update and it starting installing updates on all the application that need them.  What a great feature.  One of the biggest pains I have is keeping my software tools current.

Portable Apps is a great program too but I find Liberkey to contain more applications related to my work and just more applications in general.  Also the GUI interface isn’t as pretty but that means it is more responsive and easier to use (for me).

Anywho between Liberkey and Nettools I doubt there is much else I need as a Network Administrator and PC Technician.  I should mention that the site comes up by default in French but there is a little flag to click on for English.

Oh yeah, it’s free.

Links:
Liberkey:  http://www.liberkey.com
Nettools:  http://users.pandora.be/ahmadi/nettools.htm
Portable Apps:  http://portableapps.com/

Technorati Tags: free, liberkey, nettools, portableapps, Reviews, Software

Xstarter vs AutoHotKey

Lately I’ve been using AutoHotKey a lot.  Work wants a display that rotates through various reports from websites.  Some of the reports show sales figures and others appointments.  So basically I have to open websites, log in with a user name an password, and pull up the correct report.  Then each report stays on the screen for a while before flipping to a different one.  Also the sites need to be refreshed periodically.

Prior to AutoHotKey I was using Xstarter.  Xstarter is very simple to use and is a great program.  Basically I would call Xstarter a Windows Macro program.  Once I’ve set up a series of commands I can kick them off manually or on a timed schedule.  The big advantage to Xstarter is the GUI interface but that is also one of the disadvantages.

AutoHotKey is more like a scripting language with very simple commands.  I’ve basically just been using AutoHotKey to perform the same functions as Xstarter.  However AutoHotKey has some big advantages, besides the fact that it is much more powerful.  First AutoHotKey has a much smaller footprint.  The scripts are just writen in a simple text file.  Second, it can compile the script into an executable.  For Xstarter to work it need to be installed on each machine I want to perform the tast.  With AutoHotKey’s exe I can just compile it once and run it on any machine I want.

I guess I should mention that AutoHotKey is free.  That’s another advantage.  However if you are looking to create some Windows marcos without learning any commands, Xstarter is a good option.  Since I’m new to AutoHotKey I find myself using the Recorder that comes with it.  I record the things I want the script to do then I edit the script to make it more consise and functional. 

AutoHotKey also comes with a GUI creator.  With that anyone could build software just using AutoHotKey.  On the simpliest level I’m envisioning a GUI interface that has a bunch of buttons that kick off various scripts.  On a more complex level, people write commercially viable software using AutoHotKey and the GUI interface builder.

Links:
http://www.autohotkey.com/
http://www.xstarter.com/

Technorati Tags: autohotkey, marcos, Reviews, Software, xstarter

Microsoft’s Steady State.

Microsoft’s Steady State.

A lifetime ago, I owned and operated a coffee house.  The shop was also an internet cafe with wireless access and 6 terminals for people to use.  Back then I had a program, who’s name escapes me, to remotely control registry settings within the terminals to circumvent infections and spyware.  This was only mildly successful.  The number one law of public terminals is “if they can be infected they will be.”  Microsoft’s Steady State would have been a god send back then.

The basic idea is this:  Setup a PC exactly how you like it, Microsoft’s Steady State will take an image of the PC in that (um…) state, and every time the PC reboots it reverts back to that initial (um…) state.  So that’s the basics but it goes well beyond just the basics.  There are a lot of other security features that allow an administrator to lock down Users.

So let them eat cake because really no harm can come to the system.  If a user downloads a virus or malware of any kind just reboot the PC and BAM! it’s gone.  Do you see it’s potential for your kids (or even kid like coworkers)?

I currently use it for a public terminal at one of my dealerships.  Every time the system gets clogged up with malware I just tell one of the employees to reboot it.  I’ve also got it setup to erase any user changes upon log off and I coupled that with forcing log off every 60 mins (all features in Steady State).  This insures that someone doesn’t walk away leaving their bank’s website logged in or leave a file with personal information in it.

Check out Microsoft’s website for all the features and demo videos.  If you have kids that have their own PCs or public workstations that you manage, give it a try.  How can you go wrong, it’s free?

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx

Technorati Tags: microsoft, Reviews, steady state

Mojopac, ye could be great.

First lets face a fact, we all do things on work PCs that we aren’t suppose to.  Well assuming you are running XP then Mojopac (http://mojopac.com) will help you do bad things more ninja like. 

Basically, Mojopac runs your XP on top of your companies XP, or any XP for that matter.  The idea here is that one could take all their documents, applications, and settings with them anywhere they go as long as they have access to a machine running XP.  I keep saying XP because so far that is the only option.  The support at Mojopac.com suggests they are working on a Vista version.  Mojopac needs the existing XP install to run your XP on top of it. 

One might think this is similar to U3 USB or Portable Apps on a USB key and it is somewhat.  However with Mojopac you can install any application you want that runs in XP.  So lets say you have an 80 gig iPod (like myself) you could turn that into an 80 gig hard drive running Mojopac and install all of your games on there.  At work (during your lunch break of course) you can plugin the iPod, run Mojopac and have access to all of those games in no time.  When you shutdown Mojopac it was like you were never there.  Nothing is installed on the host system.

So that’s what I did, I installed Mojopac on my 80 gig iPod.  I even optimized my iPod for running Mojopac.  During installation I setup my user name and password.  I also got the option to bring over some of my data, internet favorites, documents, and the like.  I thought that was a nice feature however I skipped it.  I registered with Mojopac.com prior to installing but I was given the option to do so during the install as well.  Another nice feature. 

Upon running Mojopac I did a little poking around.  I was presented a very limited Control Panel (see pic) and the only way to get to the taskmanager (that I could find) was Start | Run | type taskmgr.  I could change my display settings including the background etc.  This may sound obvious (otherwise it would defeat the point) since this runs on my iPod all changes are persistent by saving changes back to the iPod hard drive.

After poking around a bit, I installed a few applications.  The first I tried was Launchy.  The install went fine however the default alt-space hotkey to bring up Launchy would not work.  I changed it to alt-enter and it worked just fine.  Alt-space has a default use in XP so my guess is that overpowered Launchy’s use.

I also installed Flock.  Which went flawlessly as well, until I tried to install the Del.icio.us addon.  Installing the Del.icio.us addon locked up the whole works (including my host system) requiring a hard reboot.  One interesting note here, if Mojopac is shut down incorrectly it will ask to run a CHKDSK, which I think is really cool.  I tried the Del.icio.us addon again and FAIL.  I was using Flock 2.0 (beta) so that may have been the problem, not all of the addons are up to spec for that yet.

My biggest disappointment was when I got home and realized I could not run it on Vista.  That pretty much made it a no go for me.  However when they get it up and running on Vista I’ll be all about it.  Although finding my Mojopac documents on the iPod was easy enough.  The file stucture basically mimics XP’s user profile.  So from my Vista machine I could just explore the iPod and goto Documents and Settings, my username, and My Documents was right there.  That may explain the difficultly running it on Vista and XP, different User profile storage locations.

On a side note they claim (in one of their demos) that you can run iTunes from this.  Seems to me that if I’m running iTunes on my iPod via Mojopac I will end up with duplicate files.  The first set will be in my iTunes (in Mojopac on my iPod) and then when it syncs to my iPod I’d have another copy of anything synced, ready to be played.  Maybe not but would have to test that out.

My next mission will be installing it on my Moto Q.  Although for no other reason than to see if it works.  However until Mojopac works on Vista I don’t think I’ll be heavy user.

Technorati Tags: ipod, mojopac, Reviews, Software, xp