The web, contracting, travel and tech
Archive for May, 2011
Nozbe – Get Organised Easily !!!
May 19th
As someone who was constantly writing to do lists, I came across a great book, Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen .
Getting Things Done (GTD) is a simple but very effective method to manage, commitments, information and communication. Nozbe is an indispensable way of organising your tasks and projects into manageable items using GTD.
Nozbe has a fantastic, feature rich, web interface which allows you to organise and prioritise tasks easily, being able to share projects and tasks with multiple people.
There are also
Andriod
iPhoneversions that allow you to keep up to date, while on the move.
Nozbe has full integration with Dropbox and Evernote, ensures that you can track your tasks and supporting information all in one place.
There is also, for Mac OS X users, a very useful Bookmarklet and AppleScript, which allow you to add tasks directly from your browser !!!
I am new to GTD but find is easy to manage my tasks and to do lists using Nozbe. SInce using it, my productivity has really increased, and I am certain less worried about missing things, as I know when I have a task, I simply add it to Nozbe, therefore allowing me to concentrate on the task in hand.
To support you there are very useful and active:
Michael and the team at Nozbe have done a fantastic job, and if you, like me, are swamped by to do lists, this is an excellent way to organise them.
To get started, I recommend signing up for a FREE account and try it yourself.
If you are interested in Getting Things Done (GTD) David Allen’s book is excellent.
GTD® and Getting Things Done® are registered trademarks of the David Allen & Co.
Garmin nüvi 3790T first impressions
May 18th
Having finally had enough of my TomTom 720 not working properly, (No full postcode search, very slow…)I decided to try a Garmin and last week purchased a Garmin Nüvi 3790T.
So why the Garmin, well it is one of the few that allow you to load US maps on a separate card, it has voice commands, it’s very thin. I also had Garmin forerunner 405 which I was very happy with.
So what do I think, well it is excellent. It certainly doesn’t have the same functionality as the TomTom, changing settings, marking map corrections, changing colours, turning off key tones, etc. And after initially being frustrated about not being able to do these things, it actually works really well.
Navigation is clear and precise, although sometimes the traffic avoidance redirections (turn next left, then follow parallel road for 20 yards, and then turn right), can be a little stupid. It does pick up traffic well, and as long as you ignore the minor detour, it works well. Full postcode search works well, and the camera free trial (1 month, I think it’s £30 per year) is good, although it’s not clear which are fixed and which are mobile camera (you have to read the small text) the speed is clearly displayed and if you are over it turned red.
Favourites are easily added, although it’s a little annoying you have to save address, as the road name, then edit this to change name to ‘Diane and Bobs’
Voice control is excellent, and can be very useful when driving. Simple commands with easy to read prompts on the screen make it a doodle to use.
Bluetooth connection to phone is excellent too, and microphone and speaker seem to work well. You can view you last calls, and make and receive calls. Although you can make call by voice command, haven’t been able to answer using voice command yet.
There is an interesting Eco tool, that tracks your mileage and fuel usage, it gives a display on the screen with Red, Orange or Green leaf showing how economically you are driving.
You then click ‘at the pump’ to input the fuel used and cost to keep tabs on your mpg. It seems to work well and does make me think when I am driving to dry more smoothly to keep the leaf green. Have yet to fully see the mpg, but it sounds like a great idea.
Overall I am very impressed, and after 2 weeks, really like it and don’t miss the TomTom at all.
I had heard very bad stories about Garmin support, so I hope I will not need them 
