Category: Life

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Business Life Technology

Keeping Track 2

I’ve experimented with the best way to keep track of “stuff” for a long time and I have never settled into anything for even a semi-permanent time. Most of the time I drift between  different programs as I try and find something that sticks with me.

I’m no closer right now, but I’ll go ahead and document what I am working with right now.

There are three categories of “things” in my life right now: tasks, lists, and projects. I’m using three different ways of keeping track of everything.

Tasks – Field Notes

I have Field Notes notebooks both at home and at work at Martin Luther College. The brand really doesn’t matter, but I use those notebooks to keep track of the little tasks I need to complete each day and to take stock of what I will need to complete right away the next day.

It really is that simple.

Lists – Reminders

I’ve settled on Reminders for now even after trying Clear for a week or so. Clear was cool, but Reminders really has three things going for it:

  • iCloud integration
  • shared lists
  • standard application

I use the iOS applications exclusively right now and share a list or two with my wife so she can have access to them on her phone. From there, I’m excited to get my hands on Mountain Lion so that I have access to those same lists on my Mac as well.

Projects – Things for Mac

I’m being very specific here. I’ve removed the iOS applications for the moment because they don’t serve any purpose when Things is used only for larger projects.

I keep three “Areas” for now and then add projects to each area so that I have some semblance of structure to what I am doing. I try to make sure I have a due date for every project and then add tasks into the project and work from there.

I’m not sold on this right now, but each category has its own special needs and I really don’t know if a single program can really beat any one of the above methods … but I’ll keep looking.

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Life

MLB.com At Bat 12

Go get it now. Baseball is almost upon us!

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Life Technology

TV Is Broken

Patrick Rhone of Minimal Mac just posted TV Is Broken, and I have to say that I agree. Through the story of his daughter and her encounter with “normal TV”, we learn a lot about how jarring it can be to try and enjoy anything that is currently available on any TV network.

I look forward to a future where we can choose what we want to watch … and all of the choices are there. That future is coming, but it is coming slowly.

One benefit I can already see is that I, as a parent (or my children, as parents, I guess) will have better tools to choose what my kids can watch, when they can watch it, and also more choices as to where they can watch it. That’s something that excites me.

Already we use Netflix more than broadcast TV and we do not subscribe to anything more than “grandma cable” in our house and I feel the better for it (mainly because we save the $40/month to bump up to a higher package).

The main thing I miss out on is sporting events … hopefully we will see the leagues push for no blackouts and streaming-only solutions in the future.

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Life

Medical Services Billing

Since I have a family, I deal with medical bills quite often. It’s just a fact of life when you have two kids.

One thing I cannot understand is how inept our medical system is at billing. This should be a solved problems and here are my recommendations for Allina mostly:

  • Give me a login, or have me sign up (or at least be able to)
  • Consolidate ALL OF MY BILLS under that single account
  • Let me sign on and see all of my current, past, and pending bills
  • Allow me to pay for the bills from that site
  • Give me information about how much I have spent historically
  • Be more transparent with where the money is going
  • Profit?

I know I’m asking a lot, but we are talking about millions upon billions of dollars here, so having a good system for customers to see information and pay bills would be great.

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Life

My Quick Review of Clear

Everyone else seems to be talking about Realmac Software’s newest app, Clear for iPhone, that I thought I should chime in with one of my quick reviews! I’ve only used it for the past day … but there really isn’t too much to the app that I’m pretty confident I have it nailed.

Feature-wise, you’ll be saying “meh” quite a bit. There is no syncing, no sharing, no times, no dates, no places, etc. This is simply a list app. You make lists, you sort lists, you mark things off of your lists and … well, that’s about it. If you are looking for a task management app, go somewhere else.

However, after the “meh”, if you just use it for lists, is where people get a little excited (maybe a little too excited). Clear has almost no buttons and the interaction design in the application is pretty great. Here are some things you can do:

  • Swipe right to mark an item as complete
  • Swipe left to delete an item
  • Pull down a little to create a new item at the top of your list
  • Pull down a lot to go “back”
  • Pull fingers together to go “back”
  • Push fingers apart between items to create a new item between items
  • Pull up to clear completed items
  • Tap and hold to grab an item and then move it where you want it

That’s all I’ve got right now. It is very pretty, has some nice sounds, and is fun to use.

That’s about it. There isn’t much more to the app which is going to limit its appeal to many people and I could see the interaction being quite tricky for some people. I know that buttons are considered a “hack” on touch screens by some, but they are an enlightened hack. Having the interaction explicit can be considered good as well.

Verdict

It’s $0.99, you owe it to yourself to play with it. However, you’re probably going to go elsewhere after a day or two.