| Greetings!
Hello all! Hope you have been enjoying this far-above-average September. I certainly have, and finally have nearly everything on my home checklist completed, which is really good, as my crazy fall client/travel season is taking off now. I think I have a powerful combo of tips for you this month, so take a look at this issue closely.
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Make Your Smart Phone (& Tablet) Truly SMART!
| This is ALWAYS the place to look for your Timely Tip!
In a recent issue of Timely Tips, I brought up (in very brief fashion under the Featured Apps section) a comment about how you could make your smart phone and or tablet a reference/information powerhouse. This is such an important point, I wanted to expand upon this idea/discussion.
If properly configured with the right selection of applications and services, your smartphone and or tablet can put, at your fingertips, nearly all knowledge ever known or created by man. This is not an overstatement, and may be one of the single best uses of these devices. It can make you smarter, more informed, and more prepared for what the day and the world throw at you.
Consider this: right now, I have available on my device the Wikipedia app, the Ask Wiki app (which allows me to search Wikipedia using Google voice-to-text tools), the Dictionary.com app, the MapQuest, Google Maps, and Google Earth apps for geographic/mapping knowledge & GPS capabilities (as well as they related Yelp and Poynt apps for local GPS-based reference), the Sky Watch app (opening up the stars for me and my kids), the Bloomberg and NBC News apps giving me real-time news feeds, the calculator app, and the WolfRam Alpha app (which basically gives you access to all physical and mathematical computations ever solved by man). There are even powerful apps that can allow you to even translate other languages.
I also have the Evernote app, where I store and save individual notes that allow me to be smarter on my own -- with personally-built notes with things like 800 numbers for major hotels, airlines, and car rental companies, packing lists for business trips, camping trips, beach trips, trips with the kids, etc., valuable information on key clients and project that I'm working on, and more. I can also use the Evernote app to store and reference PDF documents and files that contain valuable information I would like the access to, as well as the Box.com app which is another good location to store backup documents and files in more than just PDF form.
And of course, I have the voice-based search tool for Google on my Android device, opening me up to all knowledge stored in the Google knowledge database (I used my Google voice-to-text tool to write the first draft of this month's e-news). And yes, you Apple users can you Siri for the same basic searches.
And don't forget that the YouTube app may give you access to reference videos for nearly any how-to situation you may find yourself in (yes, I have a series of Outlook tutorials on my YouTube channel). I even have a suite of home handyman apps that allow me to use my smartphone to get projects done around the house.
I challenge you to think about what information would be really handy to have in your pocket at any time, and then research and build the suite of apps on your smartphone and or tablet that will allow you to have easy push-button access to this information. We are living in a golden age of information access, yet far too many of us are simply using these devices to play games and stream media. They can be so much more. Take advantage of these opportunities, so that even if you aren't that smart, your devices are (which, thus, in my opinion, does make you that smart!)
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| Leading Open Public Session for Michigan Works! on October 22 in Okemos, MI (near Lansing) |
I have received several requests recently for an open public session on my most popular topics, and coming on October 22, I'm actually holding TWO of them on the same day (Taming the E-mail Beast & Smart Phone/Tablet Success), sponsored by Michigan Works! (And you do not have to be a Michigan Works! member/customer to attend these programs.)
In one day, I'll get your e-mail inbox back under control and also get you using those smart phones and tablets they way they were truly meant to be used from a productivity-enhancement perspective.
Use this link to access the program information page, and please feel free to share this information with others in your firm. |
| I'll be everywhere this month! |
Look for me at the SCTEM event in St. Pete tomorrow, the CMU Global event in Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday, the Iowa Trust and Iowa PMI conferences on Friday, the Iowa Bankers event next Tuesday, the Midland (MI) Chamber of Commerce event on 10/15, the Michigan Governmental Procurement Officers event on 10/17, the Michigan Works! event mentioned above on the 22nd, the Missouri EDC event on 10/23, and the IFAI conference in Orlando on 10/25. I finish my travel for the month at the ACEC Convention in Scottsdale, AZ, on the 28th, and then do a day of Smart Phone Success at U.M. HRD on the 30th. (And I'm not even telling you about 2-3 private client events that are scheduled in October too!)
Yes, this is a nutty schedule. But, did I tell you we bought a new house recently? ;-) Hope to see you somewhere on my travels. |
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Hope your fall is as busy and productive as mine looks to be. And please remember to use the links below to connect "socially".
Until next month, Stay Timely!
Randy Dean
Randall Dean Consulting & Training, LLC
http://www.randalldean.com
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App of the Month
Apps Migration for Google (for your PC!)
| Apps Migration for Google is for free download onto your PC from Google
Since I dedicated the main article this month to the configuration of apps for greater reference and knowledge on your smart phone and tablet, I would like to put some emphasis on an app for your PC.
Apps Migration for Google is a free app you can install on your PC that may be of great interest to Microsoft Outlook users that also use the Google suite of productivity apps (specifically Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts). Apps Migration for Google allows you to take information from your Microsoft Outlook functions (calendar, contacts, and email inbox) and port a copy of this information out to the derivative Google productivity suite apps. Using this, you can effectively back up your your calendar, your contacts, and even your email inbox in your Microsoft Outlook to your Google derivative.
I am primarily using this as a way to synchronize my Microsoft Outlook with my Android devices. By porting a copy of my Outlook calendar and contacts to my Google derivatives, I can now have the same information on my phone and tablet that I have in my PC Outlook. The first time you do this port, you can port everything in these three key Outlook function to the Google Apps. This does not delete them from your Microsoft Outlook account -- it merely makes a copy on Google. And, after you do the first-time port of data from your Outlook, you have the option to then just port new items every few days.
This will allow for an effective method for "syncing" your Outlook and Google productivity suite of information (it is not really a sync, as the information only flows one way from Outlook to Google.) The only flaw I have seen with this is that if you delete something from your Outlook, those deletions do not port over so you have to manually go into Google and delete those same items.
I can see great value to this tool for both keeping your smart phones and tablets effectively synced with your Outlook, as well as for providing some insurance to your data in Outlook in case of a computer error, hard drive failure, etc.
Counterpoint: this does potentially create a bit of an information security risk for your firm. You may want to think about the consequences of people being able to make copies of their Outlook data that is now stored into a personal Google account on the cloud. (For this reason, I do not make a copy of my email inbox from Outlook out to my Google derivative.) Once again, this provides you a great way to utilize your smart phone and tablet for better reference and information access -- perhaps it single most powerful usage. |
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