Office Productivity Tip

Its ages since I have written about anything office related.

I don't know about you but my email box is very busy and can get full very quickly. One of the great things I have found to stop emails disturbing my work is to turn off the automatic notification features. After all does any email really need to be looked at instantly, if it does then the sender is communicating badly as they should pick up the phone. Email may be a convenient way of communicating but it isn't an urgent method, if someone needs to contact me urgently they should pick up the phone, but be warned I screen my calls. I certainly don't feel the need to pick up a ringing phone.

Anyway by turning off the automatic notification I only look at my emails a couple of times an hour rather than the up to 14 times an hour I get an email, result better focus and concentration on other stuff I am actually doing and productivity increases.

Trust me, give it a go and see if it works for you.

Creative boost - revitalise the creative thought process

Announcing the launch of my latest web project.

This is a quirky little site based around random images designed to boost the brain, by making you think or perhaps look at things from a different perspective.

At the moment there are 40 random images but I am expanding them as I go and have invited other people to submit their own.

The best thing to do is go and have a look and see what you think.

Dear Google,

This is an open letter, mainly because I couldn't easily find out how to contact them.

I have several google things running and it would be really nice to switch between products via the my account link or even better some kind of drop down menu.

However the menu they do have which works very nicely isn't consistent across the product range. In some it is there in others it is the proverbial vanishing lady.

This is very un-google like behaviour, a simple solution that isn't properly integrated across the product range.

Anyway just to keep it simple, this small menu should always be in the top right hand corner of the screen no matter what part of google you are in so you can always get back to your 'my account' screen.


p.s. its not click able, its an image.

p.p.s. google should read this post within a day or so via the googlebot, but will anyone from google ever read the page and do something about it. Secondly, how long will it take them?

Review of Cloverfield

I saw Cloverfield last night on DVD and although normally monster flicks are not normally my thing just because they turn out to be cheesy. This one was quite good, it was fast paced and not overly gory.

The idea is that it is all shot from a personal video camera which helps add to the atmosphere.

For a monster movie where you never really find out much about what the monster is, it has an excellent plot. There are one or two bits which are hide behind the sofa cushion time but if you are looking for a good monster movie then this may be right up your street.

I particularly like the sequences down the subway tunnels, being underground, in the dark hearing noises always adds to the tension.

Camping for yummy mummies (The Guardian)

Don't let the title of the article put you off. This is the halfway house between a tent and a cottage, a rather posh tent with wooden floors and wood burning stove.

It looks very luxuriousness and has a bit of the Arabian nights about it. My only criticism is that it is aimed at families, hence the yummy mummy connection. Personally I think it would make a very reasonably priced romantic get away for a young professional couple.

The other good thing about this is that it is a good diversification project for farmers, if you look on the website you will find that the whole concept can be franchised out to a farmer. There are the usual key concepts to each site but from a farmers point of view well organised and a strong well behaved target market.

Quite an interesting concept and quite an interesting holiday.

Can anyone hear that picture (BBC)

This BBC article is about hos some people can hear what they see after a student reporting sounds from a screensaver.

There is even a test to try to see if you can hear pictures. I don't think I could hear anything but I could imagine the sounds of rushing a bit like a wave coming in and out.

Anyway her is my DIY test? Can you hear the dots?