Will Kelly

Importing Email & Contacts into Gmail

 
Gmail is increasingly becoming the email provider of choice for many individuals and organizations alike. Google is well aware of that fact and recently rolled out a new Import Mail & Contacts feature that joins Gmail settings. I found the new feature in my Gmail account but didn't see it in a Google Apps account I maintain under a personal domain.

The new import feature is a simple affair. Go to your Gmail settings and open the Accounts and Import tab. Click on Import Mail & Contacts and a new browser window appears. Enter the email address of the email account you want to import into Gmail.  Click Continue.

WWD Post: Compare Multiple Documents With CompareMyDocs.com

One of the banes of many writers’ existence (including my own!) is inheriting a slew of documents where the people working on them previously haven’t paid much heed to document versioning, leaving you trying to make sense of a mishmash of documents. On more than one occasion, I’ve been left hoping for a tool that would enable me to compare documents in bulk so I can get a mess of a documentation library under control before I can begin the real work on a project.

via webworkerdaily.com

WWD Post: Corporate Telecommuting: The H1N1 Virus Edition

News of a possible H1N1 virus, or “Swine Flu,” pandemic is causing many commercial firms and government agencies to examine their Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans so business can soldier on during the crisis. The threat of an H1N1 outbreak is even prompting the United States Centers for Disease Control to recommend that small businesses have telework and business continuity plans in place.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest post to WebWorkerDaily was inspired by one too many discussions about how an organization can extend their infrastructure in short order to maintain a continuity of operations in the advent of an H1N1 virus outbreak.

Recent Thoughts about Personal Information Management

One of the great things about writing for WebWorkerDaily is the exposure I get to the latest technologies and thoughts about Web 2.0, productivity, and web working. Professionally, it has helped me think deeper into some of my own personal information management issues and approaches.

Growing up with dyslexia always made personal organization a challenge for me. Also, I found out years ago that I am better organized electronically than I am in a traditional paper and filing cabinet method.

WWD Post: 5 Tips For the Aspiring Part-time Freelancer

The down economy is making many workers realize that it is no longer safe to have just one source of income. On the flip side, employers are also making smaller jobs available to outside contractors, opening up more opportunities for people to have side projects outside of their regular day jobs.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WWD post is drawn from my own experience in managing side projects. Today's economy is driving more people to diversify their income sources and part-time freelancing is the way. It can also help make you feel more secure if your day job appears to be shaky.

WWD Post: Create Mind Maps on the Go with MindJet for iPhone

Meryl recently wrote about the benefits of developing mind maps with pen and paper. However, what about those of us who are cursed with poor penmanship and want to develop mind maps on the go without having to carry around paper and a pen?

via webworkerdaily.com

MindJet for the iPhone is one of the first apps I purchased for my new iPhone and I am finding it a very usable and well done application.

WWD Post: Manage Information Overload with iKnow

As the amount of data we all use and store grows, information management is becoming an increasingly important topic. It’s often ignored until something happens, like losing a software serial number or other vital piece of information in what was once thought to be an organized email inbox or My Documents folder.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WebWorkerDaily post is online. If you are looking for a Windows-based information, I recommend giving iKnow Standard Edition a try.

WWD Post: Evernote 3.5 Beta Launches, Features Now on Par with Mac Version

Evernote has released Evernote 3.5 Beta for Windows, as James over at jkOnTheRun reported yesterday. I was keen to try it out as I’ve come to depend on Evernote to keep track of the random ideas I need to record, like WWD post ideas and other project research. The beta is available to both premium and free users.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WebWorkerDaily post is now online. The Evernote 3.5 Beta client really raises the bar for Evernote on Windows. However, they just need to get rid of the introductory multimedia!

WWD Post: Yojimbo 2.0 Adds Usability Refinements

Yojimbo 2.0 from Bare Bones Software is the latest release of this popular information organizer for the Mac. It’s a tool that users can use to stow their random bits and bytes in an organized manner, making them easy to search for and retrieve.

via webworkerdaily.com

Yojimbo is where I stash some of my most important personal and professional information. The latest update adds some great refinements to the product.

WWD Post: Yojimbo Adds Usability Refinements

Yojimbo 2.0 from Bare Bones Software is the latest release of this popular information organizer for the Mac. It’s a tool that users can use to stow their random bits and bytes in an organized manner, making them easy to search for and retrieve.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WebWorkerDaily post is now online. Yojimbo is a useful information manager for the Macintosh.

WWD Post: When Evernote Meets Twitter

Along with the addition of collaboration features, Evernote now integrates with Twitter. My first reaction to this news was that Evernote was falling into the “me too” trap that some companies get into with social media, especially with Twitter.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WebWorkerDaily post went live today. It is the second time I've written about Evernote and look forward to seeing what else is coming from their product roadmap.

Deciding On My Next Primary Desktop PC

I am still one of those writers who uses a desktop PC. Reason being is that I like the fact I can have a lot of hard disk, heavy duty processing power, and two large screen monitors. While I use a MacBook Pro as my other primary writing machine--nothing beats a large monitor for my eyes.

Back to Writing on my Blog

I've been spending time getting up to speed on my new role at WebWorkerDaily and pitching some new client projects and now plan to get back to the backlog of posts I have for this blog so please stay tuned for some upcoming posts.

Checking Out Google Voice

Google Voice is coming out of beta as more Google Voice invites trickle out to users which is good news to web workers because Google Voice includes some nifty features for better managing voice and SMS communications.

The power of Google Voice is that it enables you to forward your Google Voice phone number to multiple phone numbers like your office phone, mobile phone, and client site phone. This makes web workers always accessible via phone and also gives them a client facing number that isn't one of their live working numbers so they can maintain privacy.

Random and Recent Projects

I've been in a real tinkering mode as of late. Perhaps it's because I reread my copy of the Lifehacker book at the pool over last weekend.

Gaining Perspective While Cleaning Out My Home Office

I've been spending some of my downtime cleaning out my home office. My work as a technical writer, computer book technical editor/reviewer, and freelance writer have made me a pack rat.

The other fact is that my office is at the highest point in my town house so I have to carry things up two flights of stairs meaning some things stay up there.

Google Tasks and Google Calendar Integration

Google Calendar  is my calendar of choice for tracking my personal and professional lives because I switch back and forth between multiple Windows and Macintosh PCs during the course of my work day. This means that Google Calendar is always open in one or another of my browser tabs during most hours of my online/work time.

One of the many bright spots to come out of Google Labs is Google Tasks. While its initial integration with Gmail was uninspiring but Google made the right move and took the next and proper step to integrate Google Tasks with Google Calendar.

Life After MobileMe

Considering my initial experience with MobileMe, I couldn't justify renewing my account for another year. Apple really let me down with the launch of MobileMe but I plan to follow MobileMe developments and I am optimistic given time that Apple will get MobileMe back on track to reach its full potential.

As a customer, I can say Apple made the right moves with me. They gave me a great deal when the service was called .Mac and offered me free months of extra service after the botched launch and rebranding of the service. However, during this time it seemed that Apple paid zero attention to making MobileMe (a fee based service) competitive with what was going on in the Web Office, online collaboration, and

Zoho Writer 2.0 Review

I've spent the better part of my professional career with Microsoft Word open on the desktop of one computer or another. I know Microsoft Word for its strengths and been stung and even burned by its weaknesses especially at deadline time.

 While writing for Processor Magazine, I opened up my mind to  the concept of Web Office productivity applications like those from Zoho, ThinkFree, and Google. This chain of events has made me

While Google has brand, I am the first to say that Zoho is perhaps the most innovative players in the Web Office productivity space. The recent release of Zoho Writer 2.0 builds upon their innovation and offers a Web-based word processor that rivals traditional desktop word processors in terms of usability and functionality.

How Google Wave can drown Technical Writers

The impending launch of Google Wave is something for every technical writer to watch. Because if they have been doing their job the same way from day one, then Google Wave's undertow is going to pull them down into the surf.

However, if they are embracing online collaborations tools, instant messaging, and related technologies then they are going to think Google Wave is game changer for technical communications because it offers a new range of communications and collaborations options.