Friday 23 March 2012

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review
Multi-tasking vs Priority-listing. I suppose it does depend on your goals and personality. I found this article appealing despite my preference of having the TV or radio as background noise while flitting from computer to computer (I see little reason in sitting and staring down the screen while a program updates or downloads or whatever - it should wait for me, not the other way around). On the other hand, there is some sense to the idea of getting that most important task done (taxes anyone) on time when required.

Monday 12 March 2012

Chamber Meeting Notice Tue 13 Mar 2012 7:25am Roosters

Meeting Notice Tue 13 Mar 2012 7:25am Roosters Print

Reminder - Early Morning Chamber Meeting Tue 13 Mar 2012 at 7:25 AM at Roosters!

If you can make it out to our meeting that would be great!

  • Trade Show 2 .. We are busy preparing for our upcoming Spring Trade Show, our 2nd annual!
  • Magrath Pharmacy suggests we consider a New Year's Baby contest sponsored by the Magrath Chamber for the first baby of the new year born in our area.
  • Welcome to new Chamber Members!

 

Sunday 11 March 2012

Mormonism 101: FAQ - LDS Newsroom

Mormonism 101: FAQ - LDS Newsroom
I found this useful in summarizing the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Yes, Virginia, there is a Mormon Blogger on your computer .. he he

Saturday 10 March 2012

Canada Get Your Business Online see: magrath-ab.ca

I read this on the net the other day and said, hmm I wonder if it works: "Websites are now free for all Canadian businesses. If you're a business owner without a website, you probably have a good reason for it. Maybe you thought it was too expensive or took too much time?  Maybe you were overwhelmed by the technology and didn't know where to start? Canada Get Your Business Online is a new program that provides businesses a fast, free, and easy way to get online. Google is investing in Canadian businesses by creating gybo.ca and by paying for your .ca domain registry for 12 months. Yola is providing you with hosting, their leading site building tool, and support."

Sure, I thought .. although, I suppose Google has much to gain by having more businesses online to purchase their services .. so, I gave it a whirl.

1) Free .ca domain name (for first year - thereafter about $30/yr). It only took a few minutes to select and submit magrath-ab.ca and then simply answered a phone call to my number confirming I lived in Canada. Done. Never had to give any credit card information.
2) Hosted by Yola.com website .. also free (for first year - thereafter up to $10/mo). Selected a template (basic) and added an applet (a link to my tumblr blog aka ssdirect.tumblr.com). Previewed and Published. Easy.
3) A while later the website was live on the internet. Wow.

Of course, now they would like to sell us on their 'other services' such as: " To increase your marketing reach, you might consider: 
 • AdWords - Target customers locally or anywhere in the world. Pay only for ads that bring prospects to you.
 • Google Base - Add your entire catalog to our free product search site.
 • Google Checkout - Sell online with Google Checkout and increase sales by driving more traffic and higher conversions.
Maybe later ..

--
Roger Davies .. the computer guy
at Soft Serve Direct in Magrath, AB
rdavies@ssdirect.com

Fear of a Google planet | Blog | Futurismic

Fear of a Google planet | Blog | Futurismic

I searched this out in response to a series of recent requests from some of my recent requests to 'uninstall Google' and to 'remove Gmail and Google Search' from their computer. Hmm. I am starting to see a pattern, but I am unsure of just where the source might be.

Why don't you want your Gmail account anymore? I suppose it stems from the recent mudslinging regarding Google's forthcoming change to it's privacy policy and it's deciding to 'combine' our user data, the information we freely gave it in exchange for the ability to freely use their resources, across their varied projects and services. Isn't that a good thing? If I call up company X and want to discuss their product Y and Z, shouldn't Mr X know all about my dealings with both Y and Z?

Mr Raven makes a good point, actually several good points. Google is chosen for use. It only has a de facto 'monopoly' because we all choose to use it. Why aren't we all Bing'ing or Yahoo'ing or whatever the next search name of the day will be? How is Google forcing anyone of us to use it's (often free) services except by being magnanimous enough to be the best at what it does.

So .. back to my sweet little old customers. I love them dearly, but really fail to see any reason or benefit to make a switch. I use a free version of Google Apps for Business for my own email - spam is way down, it works from any internet station I happen to be working on, and it maintains and updates itself. Sweet. In their cases, one switched from Gmail (back) to Incredimail (a questionable product 'in my opinion' at best see fileforum.betanews.com/review/968954106/1/view), one switched to Thunderbird, keeping Gmail (just a bit under duress) on my advise, and another switched to Yahoo Mail exclusively.

I expect to be called back soon to de-virus-fy the Incredimail user's computer. The Thunderbird computer user will continue to require training on how to perform basic tasks on her computers (Thunderbird on her XP works differently than the Win7 version and contacts are not synced between the stations). My Yahoo emailer got into trouble by forgetting her email username and password. She was frustrated by Google's insistence of a human-check captcha entry after so many wrong passwords, and someone told her that Yahoo was so much easier to send photo attachments with.

Oh well. Meanwhile, back (here) at the ranch, I will continue using Google for Search and Email and Image Manipulation, and Blogging and whatever else is cool .. and free. Now, back to my TV show - the commercials are almost over.

Sunday 4 March 2012

Power of Music – Mac Strong & Matt Bardsley - Episode 23 | Mormon Channel

Power of Music – Mac Strong & Matt Bardsley - Episode 23 | Mormon Channel

Listened to this broadcast as I was contemplating putting together a narrative for our upcoming Stake Easter Musical Fireside. Have settled on theme using concepts from our Preach My Gospel Chapter 6 Developing Christlike Attributes manual. I hope it turns out .. I am sure it will .. I hope.

Friday 2 March 2012

LDS Gems will resume under the new name "Inspirational Messages."

Dear subscriber,


LDS Gems will resume under the new name "Inspirational Messages." Some significant improvements have been made to simplify and optimize the system. Because you originally opted to receive LDS Gems, you will immediately begin to receive notifications again, unless you choose to unsubscribe [via the 'unsubscribe now' link below]. Here are some of the features you can expect:
  • Short, inspirational messages selected from the scriptures, general conference addresses, and First Presidency messages
  • Multiple delivery and frequency options available through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or RSS
  • Text message option (coming soon)
  • A new section on LDS.org where all past messages will be labeled, indexed, and stored [http://www.lds.org/ study/messages?lang=eng]
We hope you enjoy Inspirational Messages and thank you for subscribing.

Create Your Epub Ebooks with Sigil Ebook Editor

Create Your Epub Ebooks with Sigil Ebook Editor

I have used Sigil briefly, but forgot that it can be used as a standalone EPUB electronic book creator. I am working on my 'The Power of Procrastination - A Practical Guide' magnum opus and plan to consider using this program to assist me in my initial efforts. Stay tuned.