You’ve decided to be awesome, your toolset is in place, your workplace is ergonomic and your productivity is up, nothing can stop you now. Can it?
Losing data is the number one fear for most information workers as they come to rely on their PC’s and mobile devices for almost everything they do. I propose you take 30 minutes to check out some of these options available to protect yourself and your data.
- Online Backups – consider backing up your data to an online service, it is a click and forget process to set up and ensure that you have continuous incremental backups running to a service like Carbonite or Mozy. I keep my essential work data in Live Mesh – which replicates it across machines, giving me the added benefit of being able to access it from any PC.
- Security software – make sure you have up to date and reliable security software (firewall, anti-virus, anti spam etc) – Symantec, McAfee are all available at a price – and new to the block is the free Microsoft Security Essentials – I’ve been using this on Beta for a while and it’s very reliable, lightweight and unobtrusive.
- Encryption – your data is important, right? Then consider encrypting your data on your drive (including portable), again you can pay for this, but there are free products closer than you think. I use BitLocker to encrypt my laptop and any USB drives that I use, its free and included in Windows Vista and Windows 7.
What else are you doing to make sure your data is secure and your work stays safe?
Another selection of music you really should be listening to now – don’t take my word for it, check out the links to listen to these essential tunes…
- XX by The XX – Hotly tipped band, vaguely reminiscent of Interpol. Intense and epic sounding music from south-West London.
- Trueloves Gutter by Richard Hawley – Memerising songs by one of Britains true national treasures. Truly a beautiful thing.
- Blueprint 3 by Jay-Z – Kanye, Jeezy, Rhianna and Drake amongst the collaborations on this, doesn’t detract that he is still the king of rap.
- Splitting the Atom EP by Massive Attack – a taste of things to come as Bristol’s finest ready themselves for LP5. Features Guy Garvey, Tunde and Horace Andy.
- Declaration of Dependence by Kings of Convenience – it feels like ages since we heard new material from Erlend Oye and Eirik Glambek Boe, but business is as usual – gentle vocals, delicate plucked guitars, and a great sense of humour.
Getting Things Done has become an industry in its own right – as have the zillions of productivity blogs that have popped up to grab our interest. It is easy to become obsessed with getting productive, rather than actually doing the stuff in the first place.
However, it is actually quite simple – there is a hierarchy of distractions, where one channel trumps the next and evokes specific emotions.
(click to enlarge – original here)
This chart explains exactly what is at the top of the chart – a text message is only trumped by a loved one shutting the laptop on your fingers!
Found here – and a book – Visual Miscellaneum to accompany (I’ve ordered mine)
So, like many others, you’ve started to use Bing as your search engine – maybe it’s the visual search, or the awesome maps and birds eye views.
However, it may be as simple as the beautiful pictures on the homepage – which change daily and provide great eye-candy as you make one of your many searches each day. You may even have thought that you would like to set one as your desktop wallpaper.
Now a site allows you to do that easily – Bing Images – shows all the homepage pictures for the US and UK (sometimes they are different – and other markets are selectable) and allows you click an image, and then set as wallpaper.
Update – another site does similar but automagically – site is in french, but you can make the application work in English.
A great chance to see Steve Ballmer in action as he answers your questions at ‘The New Efficiency’, a launch event for Windows 7, Exchange 2010 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
At The New Efficiency site you can submit your own questions, and watch the live webcast.
I like the fact that my company are engaging like this – I think the old Microsoft may just have done a press junket, and maybe tried to get all the influential peeps in one place – this seems like a great way to get involved and maybe see your question answered by the big fella himself.
What are you doing to evangelise to your customers?
It is all very well being on the cutting edge, using your rapier like insight to the music industry to mine the zeitgeist and choose music based on what is truly hot, but if you have the best new MP3 player (or an alternative)– you will want to kit it out with the best music of all time – from when new music meant slabs of vinyl, purchased with reverence from a record shop.
Don’t take my work for it, click the links to view of these classic discographies that everyone should own at least some part of:
What would your building blocks be for the perfect music collection?
Alongside the Sunday papers – and maybe some fresh coffee – how about adding some inspiration?
- Eddie Izzard – 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief. Amazing determination.
- Leonard Cohen – still working hard at 75 to make up the money stolen by his former manager – get well soon (Bonus points – slip on ‘The Future’ by Leonard Cohen for a taste of what makes him so brilliant).
- Tom Peters – Legendary business writer, read his blog (dispatches from the new world of work) for nuggets of wisdom that will spark your imagination.
- Massive Attack – it is the space between the notes that make the difference, check out their ‘Splitting the Atom EP’ (MP3 Download link from Amazon – also features the marvellous Guy Garvey on Bulletproof Love) for what I mean.
Who or what gives you inspiration? How do you track them?
The Purple Cow stands out, because it is remarkable. In a field of black and white cows, the purple cow is the one that you would remember – turning to your travel companion and saying, “did you see…?”
That’s the premise of Seth Godin’s book from 2002, a highly enjoyable spin through the act of being remarkable, and how businesses have transformed their fortunes by standing out from the crowd.
Buy The Purple Cow by Seth Godin here (Amazon Link)
It is an inspiring read, prompting you to evaluate everything from your business models to your personal behaviour – and establish whether what you do is really outstanding.
I devoured this again in one sitting on a 2 hour plane ride – and have come away with a new set of ideas I’ll be implementing, including some that will make my support teams even more remarkable, and also some that will hopefully make me a step closer to ‘awesome’.
What are you doing to ensure you or your business/team are The Purple Cow?
Bing continues to see a number of enhancements – and seems to be garnering attention and gaining small amounts of market share. Bing is becoming the Purple Cow, remarkable in its features.
Today, the Bing team rolled out visual search, which allows searchers to find product information from a scrollable interface (does require SilverLight), then using filters in the navigation, narrowing down your search visually to find the info you need.
Some of the searches are just amazing to play with – I particularly like movies at the cinema and the awesome digital camera search (try that and narrow down the features you need to get to a cool gallery of the right cameras).
It even appears that Bing is a BETTER place to search for iPhone applications than iTunes itself.
Here are 7 albums you really should be listening to now – don’t take my word for it, check out the links to listen to these essential tunes…
- Speech Therapy by Speech Debelle – winner of the 2009 Mercury music prize, socially aware and funny London hip-hop tunes.
- The Resistance by Muse – absurdly pompous follow up to Black Holes and Revelations, amazingly produced and performed – essential stuff!
- One Love by David Guetta – perfectly made, accessible house music – ideal for prolonging those summer days, or dancing round your living room.
- Break Up by Peter Yorn and Scarlett Johannson – yep, that Scarlett – think of this as a modern day Gainsbourg and Bardot. Which can only be awesome. See Also.
- La Roux by La Roux – The Eighties revival gathers pace with this impossibly poppy debut from Elly Jackson aka La Roux – electric stuff, literally. See Also – Little Boots
- West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Kasabian – currently ubiquitous, but for a reason. This is head nodding, hip shaking rock and roll. Enjoy Loud.
- The Beatles – Remastered- Stunningly remastered to sound beautiful, every music lover should have some Beatles in their collection. From the exuberant pop of Please, Please Me to the acrimonious Let it Be – there is a Beatles album to please everyone.
What do you think should be in everyone’s music collection?
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