As I was typing a “note to self” in Gmail, something occurred to me. I use Gmail everyday for all kinds of significant information- correspondences, quotes, idea collection, photos, articles, invoices, writing, journaling, blog posts, and yes, those “notes to self.”

If anyone wanted to know anything about me, all they would need to do is read my email.

With all that valuable information sitting on Google’s servers, something else hit me- I should put my Google account information (ID and password) in my will. Or at least write it down some place where my family could find it. (My wife actually has my login information and full permission to my Gmail account).

Think about it. If I were to die right now, I would want my wife and kids to have access to my Moleskine notebooks, files, letters, pictures, journals, etc. Why not the same with my Google account? Then I thought about all of the various web applications I use like Wordpress, del.icio.us, Technorati, Flickr, Google Docs, and more. That stuff should be passed on to my family in case I pass away sooner than expected.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a company who offered services that stored all this information that can be retrieved at death? Maybe there is. Or…maybe it’s someone’s opportunity.

Just thinking…

Blogged with Flock

Tags: gmail, google, email, wordpress, del.icio.us, technorati, flickr, death, will,

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An honest look at students today. This is more than a statement about classroom learning, colleges, and universities. It’s a reflection of a generation who are sick of going through the motions in life. Good stuff. Thanks to Noel for passing this along.

Filed under: Current Events, Life, Productivity, Technology | Post a comment

Why didn’t I see this before I went to college? This is what the average college graduate remembers after five years from graduation in five minutes courtesy of Father Guido Sarducci.

Watch and learn.

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After answering this question for a friend, I thought maybe someone else could use this information.

1. To publish blog entries into your notes, go to your profile on Facebook, click to drop down the “more” applications from the left sidebar menu.
2. Click on notes.
3. On the right hand side you should see an option to import notes or “import a blog.”
4. You’ll see options for adding an RSS feed. Paste the link to your RSS feed there.
5. After that, Facebook reads the feed and imports the notes.  It should show up up on your mini-feed allowing your friends to see it.

That’s it.

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I read this post on Lifehack.org today. Very interesting. Here’s a snippet.

1) Your short-term memory has a max capacity of seven.

Humans have three forms of memory: sensory, long-term and short-term. Long-term memory is like hard-drive space, while short-term memory works like a very small RAM. This short-term memory can hold only about five to nine (average is seven) items at a time.

Remembering information longer than this requires you to either compress it down into seven units or store it in long-term memory. Most phone numbers are only seven digits.

Click here to read the rest of the article

Blogged with Flock

Tags: Lifehack, Learning, Blog

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I’m checking out the Flock web browser. So far I like it. It’s easy to navigate and I like the built-in features especially the drag-and-drop blog editor and the web clipboard.

Flock’s hedgehog is that its the social web browser differentiating itself from Firefox, Explorer, Safari, and Opera. I still favor Mozilla Firefox but may keep this browser for blogging. Here’s a screenshot of the browser with my iGoogle home page. Of course, the best way to check it out is to download it and try it out yourself.

[Click the image to view full size]

Filed under: Blogs, Productivity, Technology | 1 Comment

One of my favorite bloggers, Scott Hodge, wrote an excellent post about his time management, productivity, and rhythm. Scott says:

Lately, part of that growth has had to do with the rhythm of my schedule and time management.  In fact, recently I came to the realization that I was unintentionally sabotaging myself and our team by giving the BEST PART of my day for things that didn’t necessarily require my best - which also meant that I was giving the WORST PART of my day for some of the things that DID deserve my best.  And when this happens, EVERYONE loses.

I can relate.  Perhaps you will too.  Check it out the entire post.

Scott takes an alter call at the end of the article.  Classic!

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1. Search- You know that email you sent two years ago but can’t remember who you sent it to? You can Google your Gmail and find it in a snap.
2. Storage- Google offers a huge amount of storage. You get over 2 GB and growing of space. You can archive all e-mail.
3. Labels- If you’ve ever organized your emails by folders then you probably know what it’s like when an email message could go in more than one folder. That’s where labels come in. You can apply multiple labels per message making it easier to retrieve.
4. Chat- You can email and chat at the same time.
5. Multiple Email Accounts- You can have multiple email accounts (one for personal, one for subscriptions, etc.) and check it all in one email box.
6. Stars- You can mark your favorite or most important email messages with a star.
7. Filters- You can automatically apply a label to an email message containing criteria you determine.
8. Archive- Rather than delete your email, archive it for future retrievel.
9. Spam- It’s easy to report spam.
10. RSS Feed- You can set Gmail up to automatically appear on your Google home page.
11. Notes to Self- Because of the search, storage, and label features, I find it useful to write my brain dumps into Gmail.
12. Clean- Gmail is straight-forward and user-friendly.

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This morning I read this article in my local paper, the Rapid City Journal, about a dress code policy change at a regional hospital. I read through the comment board associated with the story and there a bunch of current employees of the hospital sounding off on their employer. Among the dress code policy changes are no jeans on Fridays, no multiple ear pearcings, no crocs, no facial piercings, or multi-colored nail polish.

From my experience in human resources, I can tell you that backlash from something like a dress code policy from your staff is usually indicative of a larger culture/morale issue.

But here’s the question du jour- how much do dress code policies matter?

What about businesses? Do jeans really affect productivity? After all, there are very successful companies who allow jeans to be worn everyday. Do jeans affect your reputation with a customer? Maybe but what if your customer never sees you? What about a church? I know of a church where the ladies who work there can not wear slacks- only dresses for fear the ladies will wear slacks that are “too tight.” What about sports? Has the fact that NBA players have to wear suits to and from games affect their actions off the court? What about schools? Does a dress code improve student engagement and prevent deliquency?

This is a surface issue and dressing casually can work for or against you. Rather than viewing dress codes as a policy, perhaps they should be viewed as a tool. They should align with the mission of your organization and target who you’re trying to reach.

If you’re a church- the way you dress should be targeted towards who you’re trying to reach. That’s why many pastors preach in casual wear. Wearing suits often create barriers and seperation- dressing casually can help to remove a barrier and connect. If you’re a business- you would use the same approach. You want to build a connection with your customer or client- dress accordingly. The same is true for hospitals, schools, professional athletes, etc.

Don’t kid yourself. Clothes do not make you a professional. If you think that by dressing casually or formally makes you (or your staff) better- you’re sadly mistaken. They are a tool- a means to and end.

Again, dress code policies should tie into the mission of your organization- whatever that might be. And your people have to buy into it too. If they don’t- your organization may be like the hospital from the article and have a surging mutiny on your hands.

Who wants their organization to suffer over an issue like blue jeans?

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