Tag Archives: Dropbox

Writing with Byword

Byword LogoI upgraded to one of the new iPads, which reignited my interest in alternative writing tools. It has been an off and on interest of mine for a while and just because client requirements dictate the tools at my day job doesn’t mean I can’t keep my fingers in other apps. Therefore, I recently decided to check out Byword, a text editor for Mac OSX and iOS, and put it through its paces.

If anything, I think knowing alternative tools has helped with my ability to troubleshoot problems in the tools I use on client projects.

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3 Things People Forget About When Posting Resumes Online

Having your resume online is the nice bond paper of twenty years ago now that so many companies have an online first approach to recruiting employees. However, the state of network security in some organizations might be directly at odds with the tools job hunters use to post their resumes online.

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ProjectPlanner HD for iPad

When I first thought about enterprise uses for the iPad, project management was at the top of my list. When I first held the device in my hands, I could imagine it replacing many paper based tasks and offering an unprecedented level of mobility for tasks like project management. ProjectPlanner HD for iPad helps fulfill that early of vision of mine for the iPad as a project management tool. While it can be easy to argue that iPad project management apps lack the robustness of mainstream project management applications like Microsoft Project and cloud-based apps like Liquid Planner and Zoho Projects, they do offer the features that the non-PMP ninja PMs should find useful.

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The Changing Nature Of Office Productivity Applications

Microsoft Office applications have been a major part of my working life for years. Throughout my work as a technical writer and later as a computer book technical reviewer and then freelance writer, I’ve been able to watch the growth and changes in Microsoft Office from all sides.

The most exciting developments for me have been seeing Office applications move to the web and onto mobile platforms other than PCs. I remember the first time I saw a demo of Zoho Business and got first access to Writely (now Google Docs) and could see the potential for such applications on the web. But my question even back then was how smoothly could such applications integrate with desktop applications. This question is getting easier to answer now with many recent developments.

I’ve comes to see the desktop suite extend beyond its desktop origins into both the web and mobile layers. These are natural layers for Office applications since the way people work has changed so dramatically. This new model also accommodates the diffe

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Writing And Reviewing Documents Remotely

I’ve worked on a number of remote technical writing, reviewing, and editing projects throughout my career both full time and part time. Over time, I like to think I’ve learned a lot from these projects and put the effort to refine my workflow and approach based on what I learned on the previous project.

With some clear expectations and a little planning upfront, a remote writer or editor can be just as productive as one that is working onsite with the rest of the team. A  little bit of upfront work means that remote writing and reviewing projects won’t be left out of sight and out of mind.

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Managing Part Time Freelancing While Working A Full Time Job

I currently work for a federal government contractor for 40 hours a week but still pursue freelance writing projects on the side. Having such projects makes me feel safer with a second income stream but also help provide me with new professional challenges and keep my skills sharp.

Working a full-time job and freelancing may seem daunting to some but there are some simple things part-time freelancers can do to ensure success in their day job and freelance projects, while living a good life.

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5 Ways I Use Dropbox: Is It Time To Move On?

The last year or so has seen many changes in how I manage my project files. Now it is important for me to be able to access project files, research, and documents I want to review from multiple PCs and devices. Dropbox, a cloud-based file storage service, has come to play an increasingly important role in how I manage my active files.

Their recent security failure and amateur hour bungling of their Terms of Service changes were both very disconcerting to me as a customer but before I consider moving away from the service, I wanted to think of the ways I use Dropbox in pursuit of my freelance and personal projects. I am already looking at Box.net, SugarSync, and SkyDrive not because I distrust the motivations or ethics of Dropbox as a company but these two back to back amateur mistakes were very disappointing to me. I am a paying customer who has definitely benefited from the service. Unnecessary drama from my vendors is something I don’t need right now. I went to Dropbox as a solution to take some worries off of me. They failed me twice on that front in big ways.

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Cross Platform Working means the Cloud for Me

My home office is split between Mac and PC  . The first computer I ever really learned to use was a Macintosh  so getting back to using it was quite nostalgic for me. But I digress. Once you throw in my iPhone and iPad, I grew to have more requirements for email, calendar, and other productivity apps that I would have if I owned just one Windows PC and a “dumb” phone.

I’ve always been better organized electronically than I ever was in my yellow legal pad/day runner days so I’ve taken painstaking care to keep a workflow that keeps me on schedule for meetings, deadlines, and tasks. In fact, my moves to finesse my toolset offer even more chances to get reminders on things.

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The Cloud versus Portable Media

I was discussing the launch of the iPad 2 the other week at work with two colleagues of mine who are amateur photographers and pretty serious about their tech. Their use cases for the iPad are much different than mine but one bemoans the lack of an internal SD card slot.  I have many technical discussions with these two colleagues and our iPad discussions have gotten me wondering, “Is the cloud overtaking portable media?” after I was able to explain where I store the bulk of my files.

The iPad and iPhone are prime examples of the cloud overtaking portable media with a growing list of apps offering DropBox and/or Box.net support. When I was looking at the iPad 2 specifications for myself, I confirmed how much memory I was consuming on my 32 GB iPad 3G+WiFi and was pleasantly surprised I had more than half my space free because much of my data is in the cloud whether on Dropbox, Google Docs, or in Gmail.

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Staying Productive after Thyroid Surgery

I am still on the road to getting my medication adjusted after my thyroid surgery meaning I still get very fatigued sometimes but I was ready to compensate well before I even had my surgery.  I didn’t want my health to interfere with my work and certainly didn’t want to become one of those sob stories I read online and in thyroid books.

Prior to my surgery, I took a hard look at my average work week and slowed down on the freelance work front and came up with the following in order to stay productive:

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