journal
Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad; whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.
- John le Carre
- John le Carre
 I have a few moments to spare and have been thinking about this since this morning so I thought I'd jot it down real quick and share.
What tabs do you have open most frequently? I'm asking because it really says a lot about where your focus is at that very moment. Does it align with your daily goals or is it just a mish-mash of different pages that interest you? When you click that browser open, which tabs do you leave open longer than the others? Maybe you're one of those rare breeds that can actually just leave one tab open at a time. I'm not. I've been consciously keeping tabs on my tabs for about a month now and for the last week I've had these 3 open almost all of the time: one to make lists, one to take notes, and one to keep time. More specifically: Teuxdeux - the most simple to-do list ever. Anything you don't finish automatically rolls over to the next day. I take care of web-based tasks in the order that I can knock them out the fastest. Evernote - I can't say enough good things about this. I just wrote an entire novella on it. Eggtimer (yes it's an actual site name) - My default is 1 hour of writing. If I feel up to it I just add another hour or two. You'd be surprised how much more you write when you have a timer silently chasing your ass in the background. Honorary mentions: Spotify - it's technically not an open a tab, but a desktop application. Gotta keep that music flowing, helps me focus. Hootsuite - When I take my breaks in between, I pop in here to chat. I can broadcast simultaneously to Facebook if I want to. When it's time to get back to writing I click it close or else it takes over everything.So be aware of how you spend your time, what's keeping your attention, and how that fits in your goals of the day, or goals for the week, or whatever. P.S. I purposely did not put the hyperlink on the sites mentioned because then you would've clicked on it and not finished reading, a quick Google search is all it takes to track them down. =) P.P.S. In case you were wondering what's up with the picture of a panda with a gun....nothing behind it really. I think it's funny. And it's a panda...with a gun! Come on. It's a wee bit funny.
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I recorded this video awhile back and never got to upload - my classes this last semester kept me super busy. So now here it is. Snapped it up for an excellent price, I was looking for something more portable and pocket-sized and I originally thought I'd end up w/ a Flip but I couldn't pass this up. Anyway in the vid I mentioned that there didn't seem to be any ArcSoft software. I was looking for an actual disc but apparently the camera is pre-loaded with it. The first time you plug it into a USB drive the option to install the ArcSoft software pops up. My mistake. Also, there's an update on the software which it will automatically detect and ask you if you'd like to skip on it or proceed. It was painless, no hassle and only took a minute or two. I've tried the editing software that came with it and it works well, I'll try to do a more in depth review or at least a follow up once I get a little more use out of it. Let's start with the bad. 1) When you zoom in, the quality of the video file becomes noticeably grainy during playback and the image stabilization won't work that well. It gets a bit shaky.So no extreme close ups taken from all the way at the back of an auditorium or whatever. 2) The camera froze a couple of times since I've had it (maybe a couple of months or so), no biggie, just pop the battery out and pop it right back in. No loss of data. 3) Overall product design is nice except for the USB connector plug that pops off from the side - it's too short and the camera ends up bumping with all the other wires I have plugged in next to the USB input. Minor issue but it gets really annoying when you have to unplug the mouse or the laptop cooler just to make room for the camera. (I'm just being nitpicky I guess) 4) Not for low light settings, it doesn't have an external light source. 5) This is more on Office Max - where I ordered this. The camera came in a large box, just shuffling around inside with no packing peanuts or anything. Could've been packed better I think. The Good: An external mic can be plugged in for better audio. As I mentioned in the vid I'll be picking one up and trying it out, will let you know how it goes. Even without it, the audio is sufficient. It has a place for a tripod attachment. Expandable storage. HDMI cord - most companies don't include this (as I've mentioned in the vid) Tons of accessories. What I use it for: Mainly to capture images of my family and whatever we're up to at the moment. I also use it to take pix of food - yeah I'm a bit of a foodie. I like cooking when I have time and we enjoy eating out when we can. Take reference photos for drawings/illustrations as well as images used as photoshop textures (for photomanipulation). I'm not going to go over specs here but it has a lot going for it. Overall impression Great portable and affordable HD camera for casual use. Takes pretty good quality vids (in MOV format), just keep it short (easier to edit). The still camera produces great images (plus there's a macro mode). Recommended nerd gear to add on to your arsenal. 
Word!
First things first:
I'm on Kindlegraph - if you want signed and inscribed copies of my eBooks A video review of Bad Juju: Vol. 2 - many thanks again to @meandersfit for taking the time do this.
Writing-related stuff I managed to get done in the last week and a half:
This upcoming week's writing-related goals: 1 post - zerotorockstar.com Finish one of my many WIPs. That's right, finish it. I'm starting this sucker today - have the outline in front of me. Will let you know next week how it went. Oh yeah, school started this week so the time management skills is in fuel rocket mode right now. Woo!!! How's your week been? ****** If you like this post pls. take the time to Tweet RT, link back, send a link to someone who might like it, subscribe to my blog, sign up for the newsletter, leave a comment, etc. |
