Tech Tips for Catholics

Many of you know that my son Eric is in the throes of applying to college. It’s likely during the next several months that I’ll be writing a great deal on this topic, not only for those of you with high school seniors, but also for those with younger children too. You’d be amazed how quickly this process sneaks up on you, and it seems impossible to be “overprepared” to apply to college.

So many things have changed since I applied to college, including the many technological advances that now exist. So when I ran across this USA Today article this week entitled To friend or not to friend? College admissions in the age of Facebook, it caught my eye immediately. This article deals with the ethical issues that surround college admissions officers’ use of social networking sites. Here’s an amazing statistic from the article:

While 86% of college students have a Facebook account, according to a 2008 survey by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, only 13% of the 401 admissions officials surveyed this year say their schools have a policy about interacting with students on social networking sites, Olson says. “That’s the picture of the changing landscape that we are in right now.”

I’m certain that most of you with teens who are online are carefully supervising your kids’ use of tools such as Facebook. But it’s worth having a discussion today about the types of “friends” your child should be accepting online. We had a personal experience of this during the summer, when Eric received a personal letter from the Dean of Admissions at an Ivy League school. This professional shared all of the usual information about their wonderful college and then invited Eric to be his “friend” on Facebook. Thankfully, I was standing nearby when my son zealously grabbed the letter and headed to the computer. I was able to stop him and have an immediate conversation about the propriety of this use of Facebook. While I’m certain that the college official in question is likely simply using Facebook as another marketing tool, we were able to discuss the importance of Eric’s personal profile – both his own postings there and what his friends write on his profile.

It seems that history is now being written about the role of Social Networking profiles in the college admissions process. We’ve always discussed around our home the need for Eric to have the attitude that his Facebook profile serves in a way as his “online resume”. In other words, don’t post (or allow the posting of) anything you wouldn’t want a potential college or future employer to consider.

For those of you who use Facebook or have teens who are on any social networking site, I’m curious to hear how you handle these issues around your home. How do you regularly monitor your child’s online presence? Do you feel it is ethical for colleges and universities to consider information posted online as part of the application process? Please chime in with your thoughts!

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

Over at UniversityParent.com, there is a terrific article entitled Social Media Do’s and Don’ts for College Students.  The facts and ideas presented in this column are important to review with your children of any age who may be using Social Media.  Around our house, my kids are constantly reminded that their Facebook pages are their “online resumes” — future college choices, employers, and even their own parents will be closely watching their online activities and judging their characters as a result.

The information in this article is also pertinent to adults of any age who are active online.  Think twice before you type, post a photo or video, or hit “send”.

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

I’ve been a fan of Google’s Calendar feature for a few years, as well as a user of Gmail for all of my email needs since before it came out of beta testing.  Google recently answered one of my personal productivity “wish list” items with its launch of a new “Tasks” management system.

The Tasks, available from Google Labs, enables you to add items to a virtual “to do” list, assign due dates, and document details in notes.  The feature even gives “type A” personalities like me the satisfaction of checking a box when you’ve completed a task and seeing it crossed off your list.

I have been using Google Tasks with both my Google Calendar and with Gmail.  A wonderful feature of the application is the ability to quickly and easily create a task from an email in just a few clicks using keyboard shortcuts.  I tend to keep my email inbox stocked up with items that need my attention, so this new Task feature enables me to confidently add them to my “to do” list and then move them out of the inbox and into files without fearing that I will forget to complete the necessary action item if it’s not sitting in my inbox.

If you are already using Gmail, you will need to go to the “Settings”, click on the “Labs” tab, find “Tasks”, select “enable” and then scroll to the bottom of the page and save your changes.  Once you’ve done this, you can add a task either by keyboard shortcut or by selecting “Add to Tasks” from the “More Actions” menu directly above the email you are reading.

Because the task list resides online, you can access it anywhere you have internet access simply by signing into your Gmail account. If you are fortunate enough to own an iPhone, you can easily access your Google Tasks from your phone.

For a complete overview of the Tasks feature, complete with images and easy to follow directions, visit the Official Gmail Blog.  To integrate Google Tasks with your Google Calendar, visit this post.  The simple integration of these powerful tools and their ready access continues to please this Geek Gal.  I love having access to my data and to do list at any time.  It turns waiting situations into opportunities to cross tasks off of my list, which is always a good thing in my book!

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

Much has been made of Twitter’s having gone mainstream in the past few weeks with the Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN Smackdown and Oprah’s foray onto my favorite social networking site (for the record, I’m not one of her nearly half a million followers).  For those of us who have been tweeting for the past few years, we long ago realized the power the site has to help @ Home businesses network, to help those who work @ home feel less isolated, but also to become a major addiction and time dump if not managed productively.

Today, I ran across this great article by Dan Zarella at Mashable on “The Science of Retweeting”.  It’s worth a few moments to read this through if you use Twitter to promote your website or business and want your inforation to extend beyond your personal network.  For what it’s worth, looks as though content that adds value is key – not a surprise but an important reminder about using Twitter productively.

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

Amazon recently announced the availability of the new Kindle 2 App for the ubiquitous iPhone. As an iPhone owner and someone who’s been coveting the Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation) since its release, I hustled over to the iTunes app store to download the free application.

I’ve had Stanza on my iPhone for a few months and have been slowly working my way through my free download of Emma. The truth is, I don’t have a lot of time these days to cuddle up with fiction, so I’ve wondered how much I would truly use the Kindle 2. I’m attracted by the thought of discontinuing my periodical subscriptions and going paperless via the Kindle. As of now, the Kindle iPhone app will not allow access to periodicals.

Having downloaded the app, I’ve used it to get a few sample chapters of books that have caught my eye. At this point, however, I likely wouldn’t actually purchase a full Kindle book and read it on my iPhone. For the brief amount of time I spend reading on the iPhone, I will likely stick with sample chapters or free downloads of classics via Stanza.

It’s not surprising that a free app won’t replace a $359 tech toy. For a complete and extremely thorough look at this new iPhone app compliment to the Kindle 2, check out this awesome article by CNET’s Nicole Lee, who owns the real thing!

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

Thanks to Kelly for the heads up on a great post entitled 20 iPhone Apps to Increase Your Productivity.  The selected apps include choices for organization, money & business, travel, and home/personal tools.

Having tried a few of the suggestions on this list, I can vouch for Jott and the Mobile News Network, but am looking forward to trying several of the other suggestions.

20 iPhone Apps to Increase Your Productivity – Web Design Schools Guide

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

View our other Mobile Posts!

I’m having fun playing around with all of the new applications offered on my iPhone through the App Store. Even though I haven’t upgraded, my phone still feels like a new toy/tool for productivity. I thought I’d investigate a few of the apps in the Productivity category of the App Store and share my thoughts with you. I will only be reviewing the free apps, but if anyone wants to give me access to their tools with fees, I would love to check those out as well and share my thoughts here.

Since Productivity @ Home is a Typepad blog, it made sense to me that one of the first apps I should check out is the new Typepad application. The app downloaded quickly (despite my lack of 3G) and was immediately installed. Upon entering the app after installation and verification of my blog info, I now have three options for quickly posting on my blog from the iPhone. I can either create a post, take a photo, or add a photo – all are fairly self explanatory. Under “create a post”, one cool option is the ability to immediately twitter the post. Since my posts tend to be fairly long, I likely will have limited use of this feature but it’s nice to have the option of blogging on the go. I think the best feature of the Typepad app for me will be the ability to take a photo and then immediately blog it – I can determine the category, decide whether or not to “tweet” the photo, and include text all from one easy screen. Other components of the Typepad iPhone app include the ability to review and work with pending and draft posts and some basic settings for my account.

All in all, I would say that the Typepad iPhone app is one I will definitely implement immediately and one that will certainly enhance my productity. So be on the lookout for more mobile blogging soon from Productivity @ Home!

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

In a recent episode of my podcast, I was mentioning with a guest that I have a tendency to conceive some of my best ideas while showering.

The unfortunate thing is that I also tend to have the attention span of a gnat, so many of those flashes of brilliance are history by the time I begin to towel off.  I’ve also been known to wake up in the middle of the night with a blog post fully written in my head – I now keep a pen and notepad on my bedside stand so that these ideas can be documented before they flee.

But the shower thing has confounded me until this week when one of my Facebook buddies, Bryan Murdaugh, shared a great idea with me.  It seems that Bryan, a songwriter and gifted musician, is graced by the same episodes of shower time genius.  His solution – a “writing slate” intended for scuba divers!  This waterproof tool with a pen attached is perfect for documenting those thoughts that come when you’re all lathered up!

I’ve located this Instructor Size Underwater Writing Dive Slates 8″ x 10″ on Amazon, and think it looks like the perfect tool for my shower!  My husband already thinks I’m crazy, so I’m sure he won’t surprised to find me sitting in the shower writing blog posts, as long as I’m not sporting a diving mask in the process!

Where do you get your best ideas, and what do you do to capture them before they’re gone forever?  What are some of your favorite tools for capturing brilliance?

On the Bookshelf:
Stimulated!: Habits to Spark Your Creative Genius at Work

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

Last week, I worked my annual stint at our local county college fair, representing my alma mater as an alumni representative.

In the process, I met countless kids and parents, giving away close to 500 brochures and flyers.  The night was a whirlwind, with the majority of the kids (and several parents too), cruising by looking for freebies.

I can count on two hands the number of student who took the process seriously enough to leave a lasting impression.  They were the ones who stopped squarely in front of me, introduced themselves, shook my hand, looked me in the eye, and listened attentively when I answered their questions.

Two students stood out above the crowd.  One handed me a meticulously prepared resume as she expressed her strong interest in our University.  She had clearly done her homework and left me with something to remember her by.

The second student had prepared a series of hand written index cards, each containing a question about the school.  She cautiously advanced through each question, clearly looking to garner enough information to make a truly informed decision.

Both young ladies taught me a lesson Wednesday night.  It’s one that I already know, but that can’t be reiterated often enough – first impressions count.

As people who are looking to make the most productive use of our time, their lesson is valuable for all of us.  We never know when we are going to have the opportunity to make an important contact, obtain crucial information, or leave a lasting impression.

We need to be mentally and physically prepared, every day, to make the most of even the most chance meetings that arise.

Maybe we don’t need to constantly carry a resume, but we do need to always have business cards on hand and not be afraid to hand them out.  More importantly, we need to remember that through the course of every day the people we meet have importance and meaning.  Let’s remember to address them with professionalism, compassion and an open mind and heart.

On the Bookshelf:
When the Little Things Count . . . and They Always Count: 601 Essential Things That Everyone In Business Needs to Know

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.