tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24400758393858757982024-03-12T21:31:21.296-05:00XolotechLow-cost, high-tech hacks.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-40308210078487306762018-05-29T10:11:00.000-05:002019-01-04T11:16:42.636-06:00Digital Native or Digital Naive
Digital Native or Digital Naive
Serendipity
leads to many of my blog posts, and usually the trigger is something simple. My
daughter could not find her photos on her cellphone. She was not aware that
most camera applications store images in a folder called DCIM. I knew the
folder name but had to look up the acronym: Digital Camera IMages.
As we
continued the conversation, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-18088398067004342812015-11-06T10:39:00.001-06:002015-11-06T15:17:27.937-06:00Twitter List Curation
Collecting, then Cleaning up a Twitter List
Two weeks of experimentation using IFTTT to build Twitter lists has been very enlightening. Instructions to build the list and preliminary observations are located here:
Building Twitter Lists Using IFTTT
Building Twitter Lists Using IFTTT pt 2
I'm not going to repeat the details from those posts, but will try to offer the process that led me Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-87666647564749899592015-11-02T12:56:00.000-06:002015-11-02T13:11:19.695-06:00Building Twitter Lists with IFTTT pt 2
List Curation - The Human Touch.
Building the Twitter List using IFTTT was the Easy Part
Link to the previous article with How To instructions. But, what about the results?
List launched 10/30/2015 with 0 members
As of 11/2/2015 - Nearly 2096 members
Success? It depends on your definition.
The Good
The best result is that 27 people subscribed toUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-10122804708902071302015-10-30T13:16:00.003-05:002015-10-30T13:16:54.453-05:00Building Twitter Lists with IFTTT
Immature artists imitate. Mature artists steal. ~ Lionel Trilling
Of course, I lost the name of the blogger or Tweep that posted this idea. If I find it (or, if you find me first) - I'll update this post.
The idea: Use an IFTTT (If This, Then That) recipe to populate a list in Twitter.
If you have setup a Twitter list and have enabled IFTTT to connect to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-29572030110873685522015-08-11T09:07:00.001-05:002015-08-12T17:13:05.154-05:00Windows 10 Apps
Windows 10 - Post Upgrade Application Notes
Almost a week has passed since my first PC was upgraded with Windows 10. Whenever a device is upgraded I spend some time on new settings, configuring apps (mostly password and permissions) and culling out any older apps. The Windows 10 upgrade from Windows 8 was easy, with a single exception -- see the: Windows 10 Upgrade article. This post willUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-53883803176654592482015-08-10T08:43:00.000-05:002015-08-12T17:04:52.408-05:00Windows 10
Windows 10 Upgrade - Surprisingly Simple
Over the past two weeks I upgraded several desktops, laptops, even a Windows tablet to Windows 10. Easy, with a couple of small exceptions. This is a review of the install process on equipment that ranges from an 8 year old desktop that refuses to die, to a brand new Inspiron 3000 two-in-one.
Dell Inspiron 11 2-In-1, even more amazing after Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-11676167233516180392015-06-09T09:38:00.002-05:002015-06-09T09:41:58.222-05:00Feedly and OneNote
Collecting Content
Ideas - Feedly and OneNote
Feedly became my
blog consolidation tool of choice when
Google Reader shut down in 2013. If you are still looking for a good
alternative, see the LifeHacker post "Five Best Google ReaderAlternatives". Feedly allows me to track and read 132
different blogs. Blogs are organized into categories and each morning I get a
count of fresh Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-29877026608440370442015-05-28T18:56:00.002-05:002015-07-24T08:46:46.661-05:00OneNote and Excel
Microsoft OneNote and Excel Tables
Yes, they know each other, but they are not really friends.
While using OneNote to track my blog information I ran into a simple problem. The table that I was using grew just a bit too large. I wanted to track simple things: page name, permalink, whether the format was updated (titles and font sizes were messed up on older posts), and the topic of the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-31624769229859593112015-05-15T15:07:00.000-05:002015-07-24T08:46:15.500-05:00OneNote Image as Background
OneNote - Image as Background
My online class had a very simple assignment: use their template, provided in PDF format, to create a Strategic Execution Map using a Wall Based Process. You know, the standard "let's whiteboard / sticky-note this solution" process. It works for any brainstorming or ideation or process flow review session where a group needs to create, sort, group, re-sort, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-88100810986645012015-05-13T10:58:00.001-05:002015-07-24T08:44:59.349-05:00OneNote Meetings
OneNote Meetings for Efficiency and Effectiveness
Did you ever attend a meeting and not get minutes until three, five, seven days
later? Did the minutes match your recollection of the meeting? Do action
items line up, are commitments captured? Do you keep your entire life in email - every message, every task, every appointment? This may work great if; your meetings are super effective and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-12294317432236068342015-04-30T11:18:00.000-05:002015-07-24T08:44:24.170-05:00OneNote Tags and Summary Page
OneNote Tags and Summary Page - Managing a Pile of
Stuff
I have been feeding
content ideas for blog posts into OneNote using IFTTT and Feedly. Now I have a
very large collection of "stuff" that needs a bit of structure.
Search functionality in OneNote is great, but my content is tightly clustered
around a few topics, so search result redundancy makes the process of retrieving information
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-44670026179727732762015-04-16T10:32:00.000-05:002015-07-24T08:43:42.619-05:00Amazon fire Phone
Amazon fire Phone
The Amazon fire phone went on sale, down from $449 to $189. But does this make it a good deal? Overall reviews of
the fire phone have been mixed, and the longevity of the product might raise a
few concerns. So, why did I buy the Amazon fire phone?
Amazon fire Phone Reviews
C|Net review (3 stars)
TechRadar Review (2.5 stars)
Engadget Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-5676657868833977542015-03-11T08:27:00.002-05:002018-03-19T13:37:55.932-05:0055000 Pages Reveal Lack of Character
Hillary Clinton hands over 55000 pages of email.
Think about that... a ream of paper is 500 sheets of paper. So 110 reams of paper, or 11 cases of paper (weighting ~26 pounds per case) were loaded into a printer, printed, stacked back into a box, then delivered to the State Department in December of last year.
Think About it Some More
Who read and filtered the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-24477710525205458332015-03-09T19:56:00.001-05:002015-07-24T08:42:17.086-05:00Accuracy and Precision
Surfing for Accuracy (or Precision?)
A cousin of mine posted on Facebook that she was returning her Fitbit since it didn't seem to track her heart-rate properly. I had similar doubts about the step counting ability of my Garmin Vivofit. I've posted my observations, and was not sold about the measurements (especially when walking on a treadmill).
Wikipedia: Accuracy and Precision
Garmin Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-4795838440118329952015-02-18T13:53:00.000-06:002015-07-24T08:41:09.247-05:00NOKIA 520 521 Quick Tips
Nokia 520 / 521 Windows 8.x Quick Tips
The nice lady that had my telephone number before me doesn't like to pay her bills. Three years later she still gives out my number! The calls are annoying, are never going to end - no matter how many times I explain the situation.
I suspect bill collectors are paid by the number of times they dial a number and that they get extra points for Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-65698411944104049512015-01-30T11:56:00.000-06:002015-05-29T09:08:50.440-05:00Still On the Prowl for Thought Leadership, Falling off of the Curve Part 2
Social Media Thought Leadership
Way back in August of 2011 I authored the popular post: On the Prowl for thought Leadership, Falling off the Curve. Denis Pombrant (LinkedIn profile) quoted Marc Benioff (LinkedIn profile) right after a 500+ point Dow drop – at a time when the universe was collapsing and paradigms were shifting more than paradigms are supposed to shift. So we took a few minutes Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-8091159659468965312015-01-21T12:57:00.001-06:002015-07-24T08:40:37.062-05:00Light Bulbs and Hard Disk Drives
Florescent Light Bulbs and Hard Disk Drives
Filling a Data Center
From 2011 to 2014 my job was to fill data centers with hardware. Tons of hardware, thousands of servers, hard drives by the truckload. There is a lot of concrete and steel in the cloud.
Ars Technica posted an article Hard disk reliability examined once more... that really hit home.
"Across a range of models fromUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-12781949869004712062015-01-20T11:08:00.003-06:002015-07-24T08:32:14.412-05:00Feedly - I've Reached the End of the Internet
I've Reached the End of the Internet
So what do I do now?
All done... I've reached the end of the Internet
Every now and then you will finish reading all of your Feedly articles. Once you have a grasp on the basics (see my previous blog: How to Use Feedly), you can start leveraging some cool and free features.
47 Subscriptions is usually PLENTY of reading.
Look CloserUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-78642774446336128552015-01-15T14:50:00.000-06:002015-07-24T08:30:40.828-05:00Time Warner Cable From Slow to Fast
Time Warner Cable - Slow
Slow. So... very... slow. Not where my kids are directly connected to the TWC modem. Heck they sometimes pass 100 Mb/s. For Minecraft this was Nirvana (not the band, the mythical place where all Minecrafting is fast and easy).
But down here, downstairs, on the wireless connection where the office is... Where I spend huge chunks of my day, and sometimes hours in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-30499071294993832232015-01-06T10:59:00.001-06:002015-07-24T08:29:25.012-05:00Mailbox Management - Rules to help with Clutter
…and stop processing more rules.
You Keep Using That Action, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means
How many Out of Office messages are in your In Box? Did you spend the last two weeks of the year learning that you are the only responsible person still working? Do you really need to see these out of office / vacation messages in your In Box? Are you on the cc list of every Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-42659924610945494702014-12-04T13:16:00.001-06:002015-07-24T08:27:52.414-05:00Loading the New Laptop
Loading the New Laptop - Top Software
In July of 2011 I had to replace a laptop. I previously posted a short article - 9 Top Apps - describing the minimal software that needed to be loaded to make it functional. The new laptop is a Dell Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1, running Windows 8.1. (Disclaimer, I previously worked for Microsoft, and currently work for Dell).
My wife prefers the web Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-3211924340762450362014-10-08T13:00:00.000-05:002015-07-24T08:23:05.960-05:002014 BMW 328 iDrive - The Bob Eucker of Data
2014 BMW 328 iDrive - The Bob Eucker of Data
Success!
I recently posted about issues with Contacts and iDrive, and I'm happy to report that all of the area code fixes for my contacts have been updated. My PC, online Contacts file (People app) and semi-Smartphone (Nokia running Windows) are all in sync.
About that BMW Technology Package
The Technology package (~$3000) just didn't Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-65655129891532934562014-10-03T15:59:00.002-05:002015-07-24T08:21:11.265-05:002014 BMW 328i iDrive and MS Outlook Contacts
2014 BMW 328i iDrive and MS Outlook Contacts
Feature (Default Behavior) or Bug (Glitch)?
My new car (2014 BMW 328i 100 Mile Review) revealed an interesting “behavior” in Outlook. I linked my phone by Bluetooth to the BMW iDrive application, uploaded my Contacts, and noticed that many of my contacts had the wrong area code.
Situation:
When I joined my current company and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-40867429651826693462012-12-26T15:43:00.001-06:002015-07-24T08:16:00.358-05:00SkyDrive and the Windows 8 Music App
SkyDrive and the Windows 8 Music App
Problem: Your music library is on SkyDrive and the Windows 8 Music App does not see
or manage all of your music – especially songs and albums in M4A format.
I found this when
using my brand new Microsoft Surface R/T device. The Music application reported
hundreds of songs under: “Unknown Artist”. When I scanned the titles in the
folder IUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440075839385875798.post-85365199181396648232012-03-05T19:44:00.000-06:002015-01-15T19:08:41.026-06:00GasBuddy... Get the App, get Gas
Get the App, Get Gas
SmartMoney reports on the 10 Things Gas Stations Won't Tell You:
"You can't actually buy gas online, but Web resources can help you find the cheapest fill-up in town. Among them, GasPriceWatch.com and GasWatch.info help people track pump prices.
But the most comprehensive of the bunch is GasBuddy.com, which includes a network of 174 local sites, complete with mapsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1