Since the IPad has come out this year the attention on tablet devices has increased. Even though they have been around for some time the popularity of the IPhone has brought the technology to the limelight. I have been using a slate device from Motion Computing for some time and really like using OneNote with it. Before I started using this application, I was never quite happy with using it. Most applications were not ‘pen’ enabled and using it was a bit clunky. Not to mention he processer and hard drive were not as fast as a laptop. My device is only a tablet, not a convertible one, which makes it lighter, but until the software caught up with the use it was more like an expensive toy. Now with multi-touch screens the possibilities are increasing for these devices. Here are some of the new devices that are coming out if you are in the market:
http://www.cio.com/article/614623/7_New_Windows_7_Tablets_In_Pictures
I have discussed the use of these devices with many people and have gotten mixed results. My original focus on the devices was to implement these devices in a healthcare environment. Adoption of them 6-7 years ago was not very good. Battery life and weight were issues, as well as software was not yet designed for them. I was working for a medical software company at the time and we primarily were using touch screens which made it easier, but the tablets never got popular with our users. Although mostly seen as a ‘home’ device I do believe that there is a place for them still in them in the business world, especially in healthcare. Now that the operating systems support the technology and devices are easier to use, the possibilities for large scale adoption are much greater. However the software has to support these devices and make their use comparable if not better than a laptop, or paper use. Even if the unit is light and has a great battery, if does not make the user experience easier, it will face a tough time generating adoption.
When asking a manager to define this what their top mistake might be I’m sure that it would get various responses. I happen to agree with a book I read several years ago, Peoplewareby Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister, which states that wasting peoples time is the “ultimate sin.” This is an excellent resource for managing productive projects and teams. Most projects these days are not only being pressed for time, but also being pressed to stay on budget. Loss of productivity will affect both of these variables.
To keep your team from unnecessary time and productivity loss, make sure that your team members have clear and accurate description of what their roles are on a project. If needed, over-communicate. For instance, I get several e-mails a week sent to a group of recipients. Usually they list a number of items to be completed, but it never clearly states who is responsible for each item. We use to have an old saying “If you want to make sure nothing gets done, send an e-mail to as many people as possible.” This does not imply that people are lazy, it means that everyone looks at who an e-mail is sent too. If there is a long list of recipients and the e-mail does not clearly state who is responsible for each item, most likely people will assume someone else is doing tasks unless stated.
It is quite common to send shorter emails and phone calls in order to keep up our fast paste lives. However, do not cut corners when it comes to communication in order to avoid the pitfalls later in your project.
For those of you that use a dual monitor (and others that do not), one of the little annoying things I have dealt with is while looking at application one screen and working in another, I could not scroll without clicking on the other window and scroll down to a different part of the page, then I had to click back on the document I was working to start typing again. There is a program called WizMouse that allows you to scroll with your mouse when the mouse pointer is hoovering over a particular window, even if it is not the active window. I wish that I had learned about this years ago as I am a big advocate of dual monitor use and this application makes it even more efficient. All this and this application is FREE. Check it out.
http://antibody-software.com/web/software/software/wizmouse-makes-your-mouse-wheel-work-on-the-window-under-the-mouse/
I have always abused my desktop for saving files and keeping items that I need to track on my desktop. I also dislike having my desktop unorganized. I was constantly adjusting documents to be in one place, folders in another, etc and then I ran across a nice little application called Fences. What it allows you to do is to create boxes on your desktop to categorize similar types of items. This is truly one of my favorite applications and best of all it is FREE. They do offer a Pro version that offers some benefits such as auto organization and sorting by types. I will likely upgrade. For anyone wanting a little less cluttered desktop, this program is for you.
http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/index.asp
Edit Lengthy Documents More Efficiently
To save time scrolling when you’re editing a long document, you can use the keyboard shortcut SHIFT+F5. This shortcut switches back to the area of the document on which you were working previously. For example, if you were working on the tactics part of your plan and moved to edit something in the budget, by pressing SHIFT+F5, you immediately return to the tactics section
Generate Random Text in Word 2007
On a blank line in a Microsoft Office Word document, type =randfollowed by (PC,SC)—where PC stands for paragraph count and SC stands for sentence count—and then press ENTER. For example,=rand(2,3) will create two paragraphs of three sentences each. Word inserts random text. You can use this new text for testing form controls. Print Page Backgrounds with Your Document
By default, page backgrounds created with the Page Color option in the Page Background section on the Page Layout tab in Microsoft Office Word 2007 do not print. However, you can print them with the document if needed. To include the page background when printing, click the Office button and then click Word Options. On the Display tab of theWord Options dialog box, select the printing option Print background colors and images, and then click OK. (Note that this setting is not document-specific and will apply to all documents that you print from Word 2007 while the setting is active.)